71 



MINING. 



MIKING. 



an 



for the precious metal* ; and the ourioui fragment of Agatharchidea 

 preserved in Diodimu (b. iii. ch. 12, IS) ahowi that tlio art of forming 

 abaft* and paMagv* for exploring mine* and procuring the metal* wa* 

 well known in Kgy pt The silver mine* or Lauriuiu in Attica were 

 worked by the Athenian*, to aome extent at least, a* early ai the 

 beginning of the 4th century B.C. Under the Romans the quicksilver 

 mine* of Almaden in Spain, and the lead and iron. mine* of Sardinia 

 [McacUBY, in NAT. HUT. Div.], were extensively worked. 



It is aingiiUr to observe that an art for which thi* country pen* pesos 

 such great natural facilities, and which wa* certainly cultivated here 

 both before the Roman conquest and during the Roman occupation of 

 thi* island, should afterwards have fallen into decay, and indeed for a 

 time have been chiefly practised by foreigner*. Prior to the Norman 

 conquest our mine* had been much neglected, probably in consequence 

 of incessant civil commotion ; and subsequently to this period they 

 were chiefly worked by Jews. In the reign of Elizabeth the art of 

 mining had fallen into so much decay that an importation of foreign 

 kill wa* found neceasary to revive it ; and the Germans, long and 

 justly celebrated as skilful miners, received every encouragement to 

 settle in this country and turn their attention to them. From this 

 measure some success appears to have resulted, and in the following 

 reign we find Sir Hugh Middleton, a citizen of London, deeply con- 

 cerned in the lead and silver mines of Cardiganshire, from which he 

 derived a large revenue, which was expended in that noble work from 

 which the metropolis still benefit* the formation of the New River. 

 About this time a new and important auxiliary was furnished to the 

 art of mining by the application of gunpowder for blasting, which 

 appear* to have been first practised in Hungary or Germany ; and on 

 invention which had revolutionised the art of war thus became the 

 means of effecting an equally extensive change in one of the most 

 prominent arts of peace. 



In the early part of the 18th century another important event took 

 place in the history of English mining. The rich deposits of copper 

 which have long constituted the principal mineral wealth of Cornwall, 

 had up to thi* time been neglected, partly perhaps from this ore being 

 confounded with "mundic," or worthless iron pyrites, common in 

 most mines, and partly from its lying deeper in the veins than the ores 

 of tin, which had always formed the chief object of search. When at 

 length the nature and value of the Cornish copper ore was fully recog- 

 nised, a powerful stimulus was given to this new branch of-miuing, 

 which has been carried on to the present time with great and increasing 

 activity, the copper-mines of that county being now the deepest, the 

 most extensive, and most productive in the world. 



The great invention of the steam-engine, the progress of which 

 during the last century exercised such vast influence upon our arts and 

 manufacture*, waa early rendered applicable to mining in this country, 

 and in a great degree contributed to the present perfect state of the 

 art. Savery, who, if we except the somewhat equivocal claims of the 

 Marquis of Worcester to that honour, was the first person who con- 

 structed a practically useful engine worked by steam, sought in the 

 first instance the patronage of persons interested in mines, as we see by 

 his publication entitled the ' Miner's Friend,' in which he describes 

 the nature of his invention and it* applicability to draining mines. At 

 thi* period our mines, although comparatively shallow, were much 

 inconvenienced by water, especially those which were not in situations 

 where hydraulic machine* could be employed, and hence the appli- 

 cation to them of this new power wa* at once obvious. The intro- 

 duction of Savery'* engine into our mining districts probably led to 

 the great improvement* effected by Ncwcomen, a resident in Devon- 

 shire, which vastly extended it* utility, and indeed completely altered 

 it* principle. Their conjoined patent was taken out in 1705, and from 

 that date the (team (or rather, atmospheric) engine became a most 

 useful auxiliary in the hands of the miner, and was very generally 

 employed for draining mines, not only in Cornwall, but in the coal- 

 mines of Staffordshire and the north of England. The great improve- 

 ments introduced by Watt in 1765 and succeeding years were quickly 

 appreciated by the mining interest, and his engines were speedily 

 introduced into the mining district* of Cornwall, where they effected a 

 great saving of fuel, and therefore of expense, the coal used in thai 

 county being brought from South Wale*. It is chiefly to the object ol 

 economy that the effort* of late engineers have been directed, and so 

 uooeHlully, that their improvement* have fully kept pace with the 

 increasing depth of our mine*, many of the most abundant of which 

 would have 'long since been abandoned had not this been the case. 

 These great improvement* have chiefly originated in Cornwall, where 

 ingenuity ha* been stimulated by the high price of coal ; and among 

 the numerous individual* who have contributed to them, the name* ol 

 Woolf, Trevithick, and Grow may be particularly mentioned. 



The improvement* in the manufacture of iron which took place in 

 the Utter part of the last century, while they vastly increased the 

 demand for it, and thus gave a great stimulus to the working of this 

 metal, and of coal also for it* reduction, contributed much to the 

 perfection of mining generally, by enabling the miner to employ i 

 pump* instead of wooden ones, which were before used. Thi* change 

 allowed a better construction and arrangement of the pit-work, one o 

 the most important apparata* employed in mining, ami hence greater 

 depth* bare been attainable than might otherwise have been the case 

 Among many minor improvement* which may be traced to the same 



source may also be mentioned the laying -down of iron tram-road* 

 underground in mines, a* well as their use upon the surface : the 

 carriage of the mineral to different parts of the works ha* thus been 

 ;reatly facilitated and economised. 



Simultaneously with the improved machinery and apparatus intro- 

 luced towards the close of the last century, great improvement* also 

 ook place in the internal economy of mine* and the arrangement* of 

 the underground works. The ancient mode of following down the 

 ore by irregular isolated excavations, and of sloping the bottoms of 

 he mine* in the German manner, gave place to the present system of 

 ay ing open the ground for discovery and extraction, by a well-arranged 

 series of shaft*, levels, and winzes. By this plan the ore or mineral is 

 divided into more convenient masses for extraction, and can be worked 

 much more economically than by the former mode of sloping or 

 cutting away the ground in the bottom of the levels, as still practised 

 on the Continent. 



The most recent improvement* which have been introduced into 

 mining are those which regard the mechanical treatment of the ore* 

 after they have been extracted from the mine, and previous to their 

 jeing fit for the furnace. The processes used for this purpose are 

 technically termed " washing " and " dressing," by means of which the 

 ore is freed from many of its earthy impurities, and thus rendered 

 much richer for metal, in an equal bulk. In effecting this object 

 several kinds of apparatus are employed, chiefly the stamping-mill, the 

 crushing-mill, and the jigging-machine, the use of which has been 

 mown from time immemorial ; but more attention has latterly been 

 paid to their application, and it ha* also become far more general, to 

 the great benefit of all mines, especially those in which a large pro- 

 portion of the poorer ores are obtained. The competition with foreign 

 nines, in which labour can be obtained more cheaply than in this 

 country, has done much to promote this class of improvements, wluVh, 

 though less striking than some others, have, within the last few years, 

 been productive of extremely beneficial effects, and may still be 

 considered as in progress. 



The history of coal-mining is in great measure distinct from that 

 branch of the art which we have been tracing, and which chiefly > 

 to the extraction of the metals. The introduction of gunpowder, the 

 invention of the steam-engine, and the improved manufacture of iron, 

 have formed however epochs of common importance to both, I 

 greatly contributed to the present extended scale upon which our coal- 

 mines are worked. The great objects to which improvement has within 

 the present century been directed are the ventilation of the works and 

 the invention of lamps which should not be liable to explosion cm 

 contact with the fire-damp. The system of ventilation in our collieries 

 ha* been greatly improved of late years by Mr. Buddie and others ; and 

 the beautiful and well-known invention of the safety-lamp, in 181.".. l.y 

 Sir Humphry Davy, has afforded the miner a valuable though i 

 all cases an effectual preservative against explosion. 



One of the most important events in the recent history of mining in t his 

 country is the establishment of suitable means of instruction fur t lie- 

 mining engineer. This desideratum was first supplied by the university 

 of Durham, which opened a class for instruction in civil and mining 

 engineering, in January, 183S. In the latter part of the same 

 similar department was opened in King's College, London; nnd a similar 

 institution was organised by Sir Charles Lemon at Truro, in Cornwall, 

 but, unfortunately, it did not meet with the support it so justly merited, 

 and has since been discontinued. The local positions of the Durham 

 University and of the Truro institution were highly favourable to the 

 joint acquisition of theoretical and practical instruction an advantage 

 in which neither King's College nor the Government School of Mine* 

 in Jermyn Street can participate, although both must afford valuable 

 preliminary instruction to the mining engineer. These v 

 tutions can hardly fail, in time, to produce an important effect on the 

 mining industry of this country. 



Mineral l>eposil. In proceeding to treat of the practice of minim,-, 

 some preliminary details will be useful; for as mining <>] 

 of course in great measure regulated by the nature of the mini nil . 

 metalliferous deposits to which they are directed, and by which are 

 determined the form and construction of the mine, and much of it* 

 internal economy, it will be necessary briefly to glance at this subject, 

 and to point out some of the most important modes in which mineral 

 mane* are presented by nature to our research. Of the various classes 

 into which mineral deposits may be divided, it will be sufficient I "in- 

 cur present purpose to notice four only, veini, beds, matter, and frag- 

 mentary dtpotitt, each of which is the repository of vast mineral 

 treasure*, but more especially the first two. 



Veint have originally been, in most cases, long, narrow, and irregular 

 fissure*, traversing the rocky crust of the globe, which they penetrate 

 to an unknown depth, and often at a high angle of inclination. They 

 are for the most part filled with sparry and stony substances, called the 

 " veinstone," or the "gangue " of the vein, but contain here and there 

 irregular masses or " bunches " of the metallic ores, often of immense 

 size and value, and which it is the principal business of the miner in 

 discover and extract. Most of the metals are of common occurrence in 

 veins, as, in this country, copper, tin, lead, and zinc, to whirh, in other 

 l>arts of the world, may be added gold and silver. 



Bcdt are layers of mineral substances interposed between the strata 

 of solid rock, which, except in their containing valuable matter, they 



