1874.] ( 261 ) 
PROGRESS IN SCIENCE. 
MINING. 
Owinc to the alteration in the system of colle@ing the Mineral Statistics of 
Great Britain, introduced by the new Mines’ Regulation Ads, the publication 
of the last volume of Mr. Robert Hunt’s valuable Statistics, giving the 
returns for 1872, was unavoidably delayed until so late in 1873 that we were 
unable to notice them in the last number of this Journal. The method of 
obtaining voluntary returns, originally initiated and for many years success- 
fully carried out by the present Keeper of Mining Records, has been displaced 
by a compulsory system, under which the returns are forwarded, through the 
local Mining Inspectors, to the Secretary of State for the Home Department. 
It may be well to point out that the working of this system, in its present 
form, is fraught with much inconvenience. Thus, by a curious accident in 
the wording of one of the clauses of the Coal Mines’ Regulation Act, no one, 
except the Inspector and the Home Secretary, is permitted to see the returns, 
unless express consent be given by the coal-owner. Hence the Keeper of 
Mining Records himself is actually shut out, in most cases, from consulting 
the very returns which it is his duty to collate and present, in an aggregated 
form, to the public. 
One great cause of delay in the publication of the last volume of ‘‘ Mineral 
Statistics ” is attributable to the faé that, although the Metalliferous Mines’ 
Regulation A@, 1872, requires that all returns shall be made to the Inspectors 
by the rst of August in each year, yet many of the returns on this first occa- 
sion were not in the Inspector’s hands until late in November. Moreover, the 
Aé& requires only a return of the ores raised, and consequently their value and 
percentage of metal have to be obtained from other sources. Mr. Hunt has 
therefore made use of the returns to the Stannary Court for the ores of Devon 
and Cornwall, and the Public Ticketings for the copper-ores sold in Cornwall 
and Swansea. 
Following our usual course, we here present a general summary of the 
quantity and value of the minerals raised in the United Kingdom during the 
year 1872 :— 
No. of Mines. Tons. Cwrts. Value. 
STMT ya) <0!) fc) | Sa) se 2 5) 3007 123,497,316 o £ 46,311,143 
oon One, GAS noes 266 16,584,857 0 71774874 
SG! ORS 4 AGB SGN soba aac moe 117 91,983 O 443,738 
OS Ge re 162 14,266 o 1,246,135 
neti! 282, 2 Qe 455 83,968 3 1,146,105 
Zinc ore .. BEV eoe 63 18,542 12 73,951 
Tron pyrites (sulphur ore) ot MRE 35 65,916 3 39,470 
ARSENIC .. . ‘ Bteate ts 15 PEG aueds 17,964 
Bee CINIMM sry 'ofsy & sis ssid fehl) co's 3 88 5 993 
Cobalt of TLC Ween Bis Me Ban ice I ro 20 
Manganese co Pek She price 3 773110 38,865 
Fluor spar. RS ese te I 80 12 40 
Ochres, umbers, ‘&e. Sess Het sts 5 35320) 55 8,227 
Bismuth OLE by, siz we I 250 — 
Barytes and chloride of barium .. 26 0,157 17 7,208 
Clays, fine and fire (estimated) .. — I,200,000 Oo 450,000 
Other earthy minerals (estimated) — — 650,000 
a a tia. ees 1,309,497 10 654,748 
Coprolites (estimated) Se) Sele. tots — 35,000 oO 50,000 
Total value of minerals produced in the United Kingdom in 1872..£58,913,541 
VOL. IV. (N.S.) 2L 
