and, though small deposits of anthracite are to be found in the Western Alps in the extreme north of Italy, the most abundant type of non-asphaltic pyrobitumen that is found in the region once known as Liguria is lignite, and this is also of fairly common occurrence in Greece.76 Some important evidence is also given by Theophrastus himself in his treatise On Fire (sec. 75), where he explains why prepared coals (i.e., charcoal) are blacker than the kind that are dug up. This seems to indicate clearly that the latter was brown coal or lignite. The allusion in the present passage to the earthy nature of these coals leads to the same conclusion. It is interesting to note that at the present time lignite is mined on a large scale for domestic and industrial purposes in the same part of Italy. Large quantities are also mined in Greece.
Even though this passage does not refer to the use of true coal, it is nevertheless of historical importance as containing the earliest known account of the use of a mineral product for fuel. The use of lignite is scarcely mentioned elsewhere in ancient literature. Apart from Antigonus of Carystus," who says that according to Theopompus coals were dug up for use in the neighborhood of the Thesprotians, Theophrastus appears to be the only ancient writer who touches on the subject. Hence it seems almost certain that lignite was not commonly employed in ancient times. From what Theophrastus says, it is not certain to what extent lignite was used as a general fuel, since he merely states that metal workers made use of it. They probably found it of special value for the operation of forges and furnaces. Modern writers on ancient technical processes have often assumed that wood and wood-charcoal were the only fuels available and in use among the Greeks and other ancient peoples, but this passage gives unquestionable evidence of the use of mineral fuel, at least in certain industrial arts.
16. amber. This is mentioned again in section 29, where it is said to be found in Liguria, but that is certainly incorrect. See the notes on section 29 for a discussion of this question.
™ Ibid. "CLXX (186).
