MODE III. COAL. 



such circumstances, as, like the other works of 

 nature, seem calculated to confound the faint 

 light and puny pride of human reason. 



Patrin, with his usual ingenuity, enumerates Patrin's re- 

 some of the most striking features, which accom- 

 pany this important formation. 



(f Many similar circumstances every where 

 accompany beds of coal. 



" 1. It is known that this deposit must have 

 been made in still water, and that it has been found 

 on the sides of the soil which has served it for 

 base. In general, beds of coal have their extre* 

 mities even with the ground, they descend ob- 

 liquely ; they assume in their depth nearly a 

 horizontal position, afterwards to ascend on the 

 opposite side ; so that by taking away, in idea, 

 all the soil which covers them, they will be found 

 to have nearly the form of a boat : it has been 

 remarked also, that they are thicker at their 

 depth than at their ends. 



" This disposition is manifest in a great num- 

 ber of mines, and especially in the vast coal 

 mines in the neighbourhood of Liege. 



" 2. A bed of coal is never single : at White- 

 haven in England there are 20, one above an- 

 other; at Liege there are reckoned 60 *$ three 



* At Gilmerton, near Edinburgh, there is the same number. 

 Williams, i. 41. 



