1818.] and of some Mineral Substances. 343 



access of air, the occupiers are enabled to raise different 

 crops. 



A neglect of these precautions sometimes destroys half the 

 produce, whilst the remainder continues flourishing. 



On the west, the fire appears to be extending itself by 

 Bradely lower furnace. About two years ago, it began to 

 penetrate through the floors of some houses. It produced great 

 alarm among their tenants by appearing in the night, and four 

 of the houses were taken down. It exhibits a red heat in this 

 situation, and the smoke has forced its way through a bed of 

 cinders 40 feet in height. On the south it is arrested by beds 

 of sand, which cover the coal formation in that part, and on the 

 north and east it is impeded by cultivation. 



The above tract of ground presents very interesting appear- 

 ances in a geological point of view, as exhibiting the action of 

 subterranean fire on the various strata of coal, ironstone, shale, 

 and pyrites, of which the coal formation of Staffordshire is 

 composed. At first view, a stranger might suppose himself in a 

 volcanic region. The exterior view of the strata, exposed to 

 view by the falling in of the ground, presents a surface, blackened 

 by the action of fire, and presenting most of the porphyritic and 

 trappean colours in high perfection. The cindery dust on which 

 you tread, the sulphurous vapours and smoke which arise from 

 various parts of the surface, and the feeling of insecurity which 

 attends most of your footsteps, all combine to give a high degree 

 of interest to the scene. 



The space to which I more immediately refer, and from 

 which I procured my specimens, consists of about 14 acres, 

 adjoining a farm house, which is inhabited by a respectable 

 family of the name of Godman. This ground is not yet culti- 

 vated, but probably will be in a year or two, when the present 

 appearance will be effaced. 



The best views of the ground are obtained at the spot just 

 described, on the bank of cinders at Bradely, and at an excava- 

 tion to the North West, where a large quantity of the calcined 

 gtone has been taken away to repair the roads, and at which 

 place a shaft is now sinking to work the lower beds of coal and 

 ironstone, which are supposed to remain uninjured. 



The mineral substances which occur are as follow. Some of 

 them are rare. The description of them may, at least, afford a 

 new locality. 



Non-metallic combustible Minerals. ■ 



1. Sulphur. — This occurs in small brilliant crystals, so minute 

 that the form cannot be determined : also, massy and amorphous, 

 lining in small quantities the cavities of the sandstone and shale, 

 which have been calcined and contain small apertures, or 

 chambers, where the sulphur is sublimed on its approach to the 

 atmosphere. 



