60 COAL RESOURCES OF THE YUKON. [no. 218. 
To avoid confusion with the usages in the eastern coal fields of the 
United States, the writer in the following classification has made use 
of the term lignitic coal for those grades which by approximate 
analysis fall between typical lignite and typical bituminous. The 
lignitic coals of the following table are coals in which the quotient of 
the fuel ratio divided by the percentage of water falls between 9 and 
11 in value. 
In the following table of analyses (p. 61) of coals from the Yukon 
Basin many heretofore published analyses have been added to those 
made for the writer from samples collected the past season. The 
authorit}^ for these old analyses is given. The samples collected by 
the writer and analyzed by Dr. E. T. Allen, of the United States 
Geological Survey, were treated as follows: On being collected they 
were placed as soon as possible in tin cans, with tight-fitting covers, 
to prevent escape of moisture. The samples, however, were collected 
under extremely varying conditions, some being taken from the 
breasts and faces of the mines, some from mine dumps and from piles 
of coal alreadj^ delivered to the consumer, and some from surface 
croppings of undeveloped coal beds. On their arrival in the labora- 
tory it was found that the amount of moisture contained in the cans 
with the samples varied greatly, depending on the condition of the 
samples when collected, whether from wet or dry places in the mines, 
or, if from mine dumps, whether taken on rainy or fair days. To 
secure uniform conditions the samples for analyses were spread on a 
table in a vacant room, of which the outside windows were open, and 
left exposed to the air for about twenty-four hours. They were then 
crushed and prepared for analysis in the ordinary way. 
In the second table a comparison is made between the Yukon River 
coals and some from Washington and British Columbia. 
