4io Mr. Hatchett’s Observations , &c. 
discovered, it seems proper that it should receive some specific 
name ; and, as it has been proved to consist partly of a resin 
and partly of a bituminous substance, I am induced to call it 
Retina sphaltum ,* a name by which a full definition of its nature 
is conveyed. 
I have lately seen, in No. 85 of the 'Journal des Mines, p. 77, 
an account of a peculiar combustible fossil, found near Helbra, 
in the county of Mansfield, and described by Mr. Voight, in 
his Versuch einer Geschichte der Steinkohle , der Braunkohle, &c. 
p. 188.' This substance is of an ash-coloured gray, passing 
to grayish-white; it is found in a bed of bituminous vegetable 
earth, which has apparently been produced by the decomposition 
of fossil wood. The purest specimens are in the form of nodules ; 
the fracture is earthy ; it is opaque ; soft ; brittle ; and is very 
light. When applied to the flame of a candle, it burns and melts 
like sealing-wax, at the same time diffusing an odour which is 
not disagreeable. This substance appears to accord in so many 
properties with the retinasphaltum of Bovey, that I cannot but 
suspect it to be of a similar nature, and I have little doubt that, 
by a chemical examination, it will be found to consist partly of 
resin and partly of bitumen. 
From eylm, resin ; and uo-Qurtl&, bitumen. 
