t_j4 -^ general View of the 



According to the general meafures which have been taken 

 bv the government, this department is one of thofe where an 

 engineer of mines will be employed ; and we have reafon lo 

 hope that refearches will be made, and followed with fuccefs. 



A very confiderable mafs of foflil bituminous wood has 

 been difcover^d at Grand-Denis, in the neighbourhood of 

 Omans, in the commune of Flanchebouche, This fubftance 

 ha* not entirely the fame qualities as coals; but in the rtate 

 in which it is found at Grand-Denis it may be advantage- 

 ouflv employed for feveral purpofes, and particularly under 

 boilers. The managers of the falt-w<jrks, who have caufed 

 trials to be made with it, are going to employ it for evapo- 

 rating the water of the falt-work of Montmorot. This will 

 produce a great faving in the wood employed in that manu- 

 factory. 



Department of La DrcJme. 



The difcover}' of coal mines in this department (17) has 

 often been announced ; but, according to the reports of the 

 cnoineers of mines who have vilited them, it appears that 

 tbefe indications were nothing elfe than bituminous foflil 

 wood, which is frequently found in ftrata of fand, and parti- 

 cularly in the environs of Crcft in the diftrift of that name, 

 and in the territory of feveral communes in the environs of 

 Nions. 



This foffil wood has been dug up, and particularly at Crcft; 

 and though it cannot be applied to the fame purpofes as 

 coals, it is ilill ufeful in thefe countries in the manufactories 

 for fpinning fijk. 



The dep:irtment of La Drome may receive abundance of 

 coals, at lead for fupplying the communes which lie near to 

 the banks of the Rhone, as thofe of the departments of Ar- 

 deche and La Loire can be conveyed to them on that river, • 



Department of the Scheldt, 



Tlie mines of the departments of the North and of Je-f 

 mappes furnilh abundance of coals to the inhabitants of this 

 tlepartment, in which no coal mines are worked. 



Department of JLure. 



In this <lepartment no coal mines are known. It cannot 

 procure this fuel but by going down the Seine to its mouth, 

 or nnUTs fome arrive by fea at Honflcur. This port may be 

 fupplied from the coal mines of Litrv, in Calvados, or frrim 

 thole of the departments of the North. 



Department 



