IV.—Drift Coal in Sandstone

Extract

The most exclusive advocates of the hypothesis of the terrestrial origin of Coal admit that those small irregular patches, veins, and nests of the same occurring in beds of sandstone are formed of drift vegetation. And admitting this, it is difficult to draw the line until we have ascribed a similar origin to certain definite coal seams of considerable extent. Granting this much, however, is obviously a different thing from the belief that all coal seams are to be ascribed to drift vegetation; and while the following remarks are intended to show what a strong argument such drift coal in sandstone furnishes for the probable drift origin of certain coals, there is no intention of ascribing such an origin to coal in general.