CANNEL-COAL, or CANDLE-COAL, a hard, opaque, fusible, inflammable substance, of a black colour. It does not effervescence with acids. The amphilites, though much inferior to jet in many respects, is yet a very beautiful fossil; and, for a body of so compact a structure, remarkably light. Examined by the microscope, it appears composed of innumerable very small and thin plates, laid closely and firmly on one another; and full of very small specks of a blacker and more shining matter than the rest, which is evidently a purer bitumen than the general mass. These specks are equally diffused over the different parts of the masses. There is a large quarry of it near Alençon in France. It is dug in many parts of England, but the finest is in Lancashire and Cheshire; it lies usually at considerable depths. It makes a very brisk fire, flaming violently for a short time, and after that continuing red and glowing hot a long while; and finally is reduced into a small proportion of gray ashes, the greater part of its substance having flown off in the burning.—It is capable of a very high and elegant polish; and in the countries where it is produced, is turned into a vast number of toys, as snuff-boxes and the like, which bear all the nicety of turning, and are made to pass for jet. Husbandmen smear their vines with it, as it kills the vermin which infests them. It is likewise used for the dying of hair black. In medicine, it is reputed good in colics, against worms, and of being in general an emollient and diuretic; but the present practice takes no notice of it.