258 MINES 



water-pressure machines, or overshot water-wheels, for pumping up the lower water. 

 This method is employed with success in several mines of Hungary, Bohemia, Ger- 

 many, Derbyshire, Cornwall, in those of Poullaouen in Brittany, &c. It has been 

 remarked, however, that the copious springs are found rather towards the surface of 

 the soil than in the greater depths. 



TRANSPORT OF ORES TO THE SURFACE. 



The ore being extracted from its bed, and having undergone, when requisite, a nrst 

 sorting, it becomes necessary to bring it to the day : an operation performed in diffe- 

 rent ways, according to circumstances and localities, but too often according to a 

 blind routine. There are some few mines at the present day where the interior tran- 

 sport of ore is executed on the backs of men : a practice the most disadvantageous 

 possible, but which is gradually wearing out. The carriage along galleries is usually 

 effected by means of sledges, barrows, or, still better, by little waggons. In many 

 continental countries these consist of frames resting ,on fqur wheels ; two larger, 

 which are placed a little behind the centre of' gravity, and two smaller, placed before 

 it. When this carriage is at rest, it bears on its four wheels, and inclines forwards. 

 But when the miner, in pushing it before him, leans on its posterior border, he makes 

 it horizontal ; in which case it rolls only upon the two larger wheels. Thus the 

 friction due to four wheels is avoided, and the roller or trammer bears no part of 

 the burden, as he would do with ordinary wheel-barrows. To ease the draught still 

 more, two parallel rails of wood or iron are laid along the floor of the gallery, to 

 which the wheels of the carriage are adjusted. It, is especially in metallic mines, 

 where the ore is heavy and the galleries often crooked, that these peculiar waggons 

 are employed. In coal-mines larger waggons, or frames carrying large baskets, are 

 preferred. The above wain, called on the Continent a dog (chien, Hund), is now often 

 replaced by a larger tram or waggon with flanged wheels, running on edge-rails of 

 wrought iron. 



In the great mines, such as many of the coal and salt mines of Great Britain, the 

 saltmines of Gallicia, the copper mines of Fahlun, and the lead mines of Alston Moor, 

 horses have long been introduced into the workings to drag heavier waggons, or a 

 train of waggons attached to one another. These animals often live many years 

 under ground without ever revisiting the light of clay, whilst in other cases they are 

 brought to the surface at stated intervals, sometimes daily. In a few of the largest 

 collieries it has been found preferable to establish stationary engines under ground, 

 which bring the train of waggons, by means of an endless rope, along the galleries to 

 the bottom of the shaft. In other mines, such as those of Worsley in Lancashire, 

 subterranean canals are cut, upon which the mineral is transported in boats. 



When the operations of a mine are commencing, and the works are of little depth, 

 and employ few men, it is sufficient to place over the shaft a simple windlass, by 

 means of which a few hands may raise the water-barrels and tubs or kibbles filled 

 with stone or ore ; but this method soon becomes inadequate, and must be replaced 

 by horse-whims or more powerful machines. 



ACCESSORY DETAILS. 



Few mines can be travelled entirely by means of galleries : more usually there are 

 shafts for mounting and descending. In the pits of many mines, especially of col- 

 lieries, the men go down and come up by means of the machines which raise the 

 mineral. In some mines of Mexico, Northern England, and the North of Europe, 

 pieces of wood, fixed into each side of the pit, form the rude steps of a ladder by 

 which the workmen pass up and down. In oth&r mines, steps are cut in the rock or 

 the mineral, as in the quicksih'or mines of Idria and the Palatinate, in the salt mines 

 of Wieliczka, and some of the silver mines of Mexico. In the last, as in the East, 

 they serve for the transport of the ore, which is carried up on men's backs. Lastly, 

 some mines, as in the Austrian Alps, are descended by means of sloping timbers, 

 some of which have an inclination of more than 30. The workmen in sliding down, 

 in a sitting position, regulate the velocity of the descent by holding a cord, which is 

 fixed along the upper side or roof of the inclined shaft. For description of machines 

 used to facilitate the ascent and descent of miners in shafts, see MAN-ENGINE. 



Miners derive light from candles or lamps. They carry the former in a lump of 

 moist clay, or in a kind of socket, terminated by an iron point, which serves to fix it 

 to the side of the excavation, or to the timbering. The lamps are made of iron, tin- 

 plate, or brass, hermetically closed, and so suspended that they may not readily droop 

 or invert, and spill the oil. They are generally hung on the thumb by a hook, so as 

 to leave the rest of the hand at liberty for climbing. Miners also employ small lan- 

 terns suspended from a button-hole or from the girdle. Many precautions and much 



