28 Original Articles. [Jan. 
and in 1861 reached 19,144,965 tons. Supposing the amount to reach 
20 millions, the supply would last 560 years. The calculation of 
Mr. T. Y. Hall, in 1854, was 365 years. 
Coal-field of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Notts.—This is the largest 
coal-field in England, and extends from Bradford and Leeds on the 
north, nearly to Derby and Nottingham on the south, a length of sixty 
miles. Towards the northern outcrop, the strata, which had pre- 
viously maintained a meridional direction throughout a distance of 
about fifty miles, suddenly bend round at right-angles, and trending 
eastward, are ultimately lost beneath the Magnesian Limestone which 
passes over their edges, and rests on the Millstone Grit. The same 
beds again re-appear in the northern coal-field, and there is good reason 
for believing, with Professor Phillips, that these two districts are phy- 
sically connected beneath the more recent formations, as indicated on 
the map by the faint shading. 
The general dip of the coal-strata is eastward; but there are 
several rolls or troughs running north and south through the centre 
of the field. The coal, which is of very fine quality, is known as 
* splint,” from its splintery fractures. 
In estimating the resources, a considerable addition must be made 
to the area of the actual coal-field, for the available coal-ground con- 
cealed beneath the Magnesian Limestone and Trias on the east, amounts 
to probably one-half as much again. The exact distance to which the 
coal-measures extend in this direction is, of course, at present a matter 
of conjecture, and will probably never be known, as the overlying strata 
increase in thickness the further we proceed eastwards ; but the distance 
is certainly considerable. The Permian beds have already been 
pierced in several places by collieries, one of the most remarkable being 
that recently sunk on the property of the Duke of Neweastle at Shire- 
oaks, in which the Permian beds were found to be 66 yards in thickness. 
Taking the area of the coal-field at 760 square miles, and that of the 
available ground occupied by the Magnesian Limestone at 400, there will 
thus be 1,160 square miles with coal, an area larger than the coal-basin 
of South Wales, and only less than that of Scotland. The available 
quantity of coal will not fall short of 16,800 millions of tons. The 
quantity raised in 1861 was 14,490,919 tons, so that at this rate of 
consumption there is sufficient to last for upwards of a thousand years. 
There were in 1861 about 577 collieries, of which only five passed 
through the Magnesian Limestone in 1859.* 
Tur Western CoAL-GROUP. 
The Western Coal-Group is bounded on the north by the Lanca- 
shire coal-field, on the east by those of North Staffordshire, Leicester- 
shire, and Warwickshire ; on the south by those of South Staffordshire 
and Shropshire, and on the west by those of Denbigh and Flintshire. 
The strata of these respective coal-fields have a general dip towards 
the centre of this great basin, which is occupied by Triassic and Per- 
* As Tam informed by Mr. C. Morton, Her Majesty’s Inspector. There may 
have been a few more since that time. 
