THE 



LONDON AND EDINBURGH 



PHILOSOPHICAL MAGAZINE 



AND 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



♦ ' 



[THIRD SERIES.] 



MARCH 1837. 



T' 



XXXII. Notice of a Vein of Bituminous Coal in the Vicinity 

 of Havana^ in the Island of Cuba. By Richard Cowling 

 Taylor, Esq,^ F. G.S., and Thomas G. Clemson, Esq,^ 



'HE substance of the following article was recently read 

 to the American Philosophical Society, and its authors 

 are desirous of extending a knowledge of its details by means 

 of the Philosophical Magazine. 



The bituminous coal mine of Casualidad is situated about 

 three leagues east of the city of Havana, and on a main road 

 (CaminaReal) leading to the city of Guanabacoa, from which 

 place it is distant six miles, and from the sea, at a place of 

 embarcation, only two miles. 



From Guanabacoa eastward, the surface of the country is 

 undulating, and partakes of those characters which are so 

 marked elsewhere in this island, where the serpentines and the 

 euphotides are the predominant rocks. In leaving Regla, on 

 the south side of the bay of Havana, the euphotides, — which 

 Baron von Humboldt has described here, and which we 

 found also to exist with similar characters in the district of 

 Holguin, and for many miles throughout the long chain of 

 barren savanas which stretch along the north-eastern portion 

 of the island, and contain fine veins of copper, — are here evi- 

 dentlv the most prevailing rocks. They occupy a breadth of 

 about two leagues, within which area the city of Guanabacoa 

 and the adjacent petroleum springs are situated. 



When within half a mile of the coal vein in question, a 



* Communicated by the Authors. 

 Third Series. Vol. 10. No. 60. March 1837. Y 



