Explosions in Coal Mines. 27 



time of the issue of gas, then the gas may have taken fire at 

 them ; or if they were not bruised by a fall before the explo- 

 sion, but by one consequent upon it, then it is possible (though 

 not probable) that the third lamp, with the oil plug out, may 

 have occasioned the firing. 



When once the combustion began, even though from only 

 a small quantity of gas sent out of the goaf, it would instantly 

 reach up into that greater portion within the goaf vault, and 

 we believe that it was the inflammation of this large portion 

 which gave such force to the blast as to blow down the stop- 

 pings between the Meadow and High Brockley Whin work- 

 ings, and to reach so far as to the goaf of the latter works. 

 Here, from the appearance of the posts and walls, and also 

 from the burnt bodies found, it would appear as if the fire- 

 damp in this goaf had been driven out, mixed with air and in- 

 flamed; a very natural result of the circumstances. 



In considering the extent of the fire for the moment of ex- 

 plosion, it is not to be supposed that fire-damp is its only fuel ; 

 the coal dust swept by the rush of wind and flame from the 

 floor, roof, and walls of the works would instantly take fire 

 and burn, if there were oxygen enough in the air present to 

 support its combustion ; and we found the dust adhering to 

 the face of the pillars, props, and walls in the direction of, and 

 on the side towards the explosion, increasing gradually to a 

 certain distance, as we neared the place of ignition. This de- 

 posit was in some parts half an inch, and in others almost an 

 inch thick; it adhered together in a friable coked state; when 

 examined with the glass it presented the fused round form of 

 burnt coal dust, and when examined chemically, and compared 

 with the coal itself reduced to powder, was found deprived of 

 the greater portion of the bitumen, and in some instances en- 

 tirely destitute of it. There is every reason to believe that 

 much coal-gas was made from this dust in the very air itself 

 of the mine by the flame of the fire-damp, which raised and 

 swept it along; and much of the carbon of this dust remained 

 unburnt only for want of air. 



At first we were greatly embarrassed by the circumstance of 

 the large number of deaths from choke-damp ; and the evi- 

 dence that that had been present in very considerable quanti- 

 ties compared with the small proportion of fire-damp, which, 

 in the opinion of those in and about the works just before, 

 must have occasioned the explosion. But on consideration 

 of the character of the goafs, as reservoirs of gaseous fuel, and 

 the effect of dust in the mine, we are satisfied that these cir- 

 cumstances fully account for the apparent discrepancy. The 



