The ceramic sample of La1.4Sr1.6Mn2O7.06 exhibits the metal-insulator trans
ition and a negative magnetoresistance in the vicinity of the Curie tempera
ture (T-C similar or equal to 100 K). The de magnetic susceptibility betwee
n 100 K and 280 K is nearly constant and decreases gradually with increasin
g temperature above 280 K. The measurements of de resistivity and the therm
oelectric power indicate that small polaron hopping conduction takes place
at T > 280 K. The spin ordering due to the two-dimensional d(x2-y2) state o
ccurring at T > 280 K is directly related to the hopping conduction above 2
80 K, although the spin ordering due to the one-dimensional d(3z2-r2) state
takes place at T > T-C. The two-dimensional d(x2-y2) state extending withi
n the MnO2 sheets starts to narrow and leads to the carrier localisation at
280 K. The effective number of holes in this sample estimated from the the
rmoelectric power is considerably smaller than the nominal value. This indi
cates that the small polaron hopping conduction takes place predominantly w
ithin the in-plane MnO2 sheets. A discussion is given of the experimental r
esults of the ceramic sample of La2/3Ca1/3MnO2.98.