A very inflammable hydrocarbon occurring in masses of a yellowish or greenish colour, and foliated structure, which emits a fetid odour when burned.

(a) a thinly foliated variety of coal, esp. one consisting of the matted remains of the cuticles of plants; (b) the resinous mineral dysodile (rare).

A mineral hydrocarbon, called also inflammable cinnabar; ‘it is massive and opaque, with greasy lustre, and greyish or brownish-black colour’…

A reddish-brown hydrocarbon, found in the brown coal of Uznach, Switzerland.

Originally: the carbonaceous material in oil shale that gives rise to crude oil on distillation. In later use extended to denote any organic…

A naturally occurring brittle, highly lustrous, black mixture or complex of carbon and hydrocarbons with uraninite.

Any of a class of saturated hydrocarbons with a steroid structure which are found in crude oils and derived from the sterols of ancient…