46 Economical Geology. 



from the comparative difficulty with which it is ignited ; and it hap- 

 pens in regard to this substance, as with most things new and untried, 

 that the community generally feel, as if their business was to find as 

 many objections to it as possible ; and the man who would bring any 

 new substance into general use, needs no small share of patience, and 

 perseverence. Dr. Meade states, that an experiment made several 

 years ago at Smithfield, upon the burning of limestone, with the 

 Rhode Island coal, and another upon the burning of brick, in the vi- 

 cinity of Boston, were thought to be complete failures, because the 

 heat was so intense, that the surface of the lime and of the bricks was 

 vitrified ; whereas the fact ought to have taught the experimenters, that 

 a more careful regulation of the heat would ensure success. Indeed, 

 I predict, that ere long, in nearly every case where a strong and steady 

 heat is required, anthracite will be found superior to all other kinds of 

 fuel ; and that the anthracite of Rhode Island, and even that of 

 Worcester, will be considered by posterity, if not by the present 

 generation, as a treasure of great value. The Pennsylvania coal may 

 indeed, for a great many years, command the market ; but I appre- 

 hend, that the time w r ill come, w r hen the expense of its transporta- 

 tion to the Eastern States, and the increasing demand for it, will lead 

 to the re-opening of the pits, that are now abandoned in New England. 

 In coming to the conclusion, that the anthracite of Worcester and 

 even that of Rhode Island, are inferior to the Pennsylvania anthra- 

 cite, geological considerations confirm the results of experiments. 

 Baron Humboldt, who has probably seen more of the rocks of 

 the globe, than any man living, remarks, that " anthracite is a 

 more ancient formation than coal, and a more recent formation than 

 graphite, or carburetted iron. Carbon becomes more hydrogenated, 

 in proportion as it approaches the secondary rocks." This last sen- 

 tence, divested of its technical obscurity, means, if I understand it, 

 that the newer the rock in which the carbon is found, the greater will 

 be the quantity of hydrogen combined with it : and we know that an 

 increase of hydrogen, will render coal -more combustible. Now if 

 I am correct in the opinion, that the Worcester anthracite is contain- 

 ed in older rocks than that in Rhode Island, and the anthracite of 

 Pennsylvania, in rocks still newer than those of Rhode Island, 

 we might expect, that the newer would prove the best' for fuel, 

 and the older the poorest, because containing the least hydro- 

 gen. The quantity of carbon, however, in the Worcester coal, 

 is believed to be nearly as great, as in that from Rhode Island and 



