COTTAGE LIGHTED WITH GAS. iSo 



being made into the floor of the mine, suddenly 

 up burst a jet of gas, which caught fire, and 

 streamed fourteen feet high, until it was put 

 out by the terrified miners. The hollow sound 

 of the floor of the mine had led them to suspect 

 some cavity beneath ; and on their boring into 

 it, the escape of gas was the unlooked-for re- 

 sult. 



In many of the coal districts of the north, this 

 gas is frequently found issuing in jets from the 

 ground ; and it is almost surprising that a pro- 

 duct of so much value should be allowed to dis- 

 charge itself and become lost in the atmosphere. 



At the late meeting of the British Associa- 

 tion at Birmingham, an interesting account of 

 a continued spontaneous evolution of gas from 

 the ground was communicated, which may be 

 transferred to these pages. " In a field by the 

 side of a lane near the village of Charlemont, 

 in Staffordshire, certain patches of ground had 

 been noticed, which, without any apparent cause, 

 were destitute of vegetation. The person who 

 first paid attention to the cause of these barren 

 spots was the tenant of a neighbouring cot- 

 tage, at which there is a cold bath, noted in 

 the vicinity for its sanative properties. From 

 certain circumstances he was led to believe 

 that something permeated the earth in these 

 spots, and having dug a hole he inserted a gas- 



