1823.] On the Temperature of Mines, 441 



Article XL 



Substance of certain Papers on the Temperature of Mines, pub- 

 lished in the Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of 

 Cornwall, 



When reviewing the second volume of the Transactions of 

 the Cornish Geological Society, Annalsy N. S. v. 295, we men- 

 tioned that a memoir would shortly appear in our journal, con- 

 taining a full account of the facts detailed in four papers on the 

 temperature of mines published in that volume. Various circum- 

 stances have interfered to prevent the completion of the memoir, 

 and as the period of its appearance is now uncertain, we purpose, 

 in the present article, to give the substance of three of the 

 papers alluded to, that of the fourth, by Mr. Moyle, having 

 already been detailed by its author in the Annals for January 

 last, p. 43. 



I. The first paper (Trans. GSC. ii. 14—18) is by R. W. Fox, 

 Esq. Member of the Society. 



My attention, he says, havingbeen called to this subjectin 1815, 

 I instituted inquiries, and caused some experiments to be made in 

 the mines of Huel Abraham, Dolcoath» Cook's Kitchen, Tincroft, 

 and in the United Mines. The information I have thus acquired 

 I have endeavoured to communicate in the accompanying scale, 

 which exhibits at one view, the results which have been obtained 

 in each of those mines. 



The temperature in Cook's Kitchen and Tincroft, it may be 

 remarked, was inferior to that in the other mines at correspond- 

 ing depths ; owing, I presume, to the bottom levels of the two 

 former having been for a considerable time filled with water, 

 accumulated, without doubt, partly from above; by which 

 means, the temperature, not only of the water, but also of the 

 air, in these mines, must have been affected. In the United 

 Mines also, there was some water when the observations were 

 made ; but it remained too short a time, I apprehend, materially 

 to affect the general temperature of the mine. Dolcoath and 

 Huel Abraham were clear of water to the bottom ; and it will 

 be observed that the temperature in the corresponding levels of 

 these mines differed very little, and, with a few trifling excep- 

 tions (which probably arose from local causes), the heat progres- 

 sively increased, even to the greatest depths to which they have 

 been hitherto explored. 



From Mr. Fox's engraved scale, as mentioned above, the table 

 on the following page has been drawn up, with a shght alteration 

 in its arrangement to suit that mode of giving it : — a signifies 

 the temperature of the air, w that of the water. 



