338 Mr. Hatchett’s Experiments on a Substance, 
afforded by the varieties of Bovey coal, yet these, as well as- 
the alder leaves, and also a coal like that of Bovey, found in 
Sussex, at Newick Park, (an estate belonging to Sir Elijah 
Impey,) and also the surturbrand of Iceland, yielded some 
resin, which at Bovey is likewise found in distinct masses, 
intermixed with the strata of coal, and combined with as-r 
phaltum, in the proportion of about 41 parts of the latter with 
55 of resin.* 
Now, exclusive of the other vegetable characters which are 
so evident in many of the varieties of Bovey coal, of the 
Sussex coal, of surturbrand, & c. &c. the presence of resin must 
be regarded as a strong fact; for this substance has always 
been attributed to the organized bodies, particularly to those 
of the vegetable kingdom, and I do not know of any instance, 
previous to my own experiments, in which, resin had been 
discovered as constituting part of any of the different species 
and varieties of coal. 
From the external vegetable characters possessed by the 
Bovey coal, the Sussex coal, the surturbrand, and many 
others, together with the resin, (allowed to be exclusively a 
vegetable substance, or at least one which only appertains to 
the organized natural bodies,) there cannot be any doubt, 
that such coals have been formed from wood and other sub- 
stances belonging to the vegetable kingdom. 
But some mineralogists attempt to draw a line of separation 
between the coals above mentioned and the others, which 
therefore they call the true mineral coals. 
* Observations on the Change of some of the proximate Principles of Vegetables 
into Bitumen. Phil. Trans. 1804, p. 405. 
