A FEW WORDS ABOUT COAL. 291 



of commercial enterprise would be opened. The 

 Antarctic regions are not mere desert wastes. The 

 seamen under Ross found Possession Island covered by 

 penguins standing in ranks like soldiers, and too little 

 familiar with the ways of man to attempt escape. 

 More valuable animals live and thrive, however, in 

 Antarctic seas. Whales and seals exist there in 

 abundance ; and, as Captain Maury has well remarked, 

 'of all the industrial pursuits of the sea, the whale 

 fishery is the most valuable.' In Arctic fisheries, he 

 tells us, three thousand American vessels are engaged, 

 and, 'if to these we add the Dutch, French, and 

 English, we shall have a grand total of perhaps not 

 less than six or eight thousand, of all sizes and flags, 

 engaged in this one pursuit.' There are reasons for 

 believing that whale fisheries in Antarctic regions 

 would afford a richer, as they would certainly afford a 

 far wider, field for maritime enterprise. 



(From the Cornhitt Magazine for March 1873.) 



A FEW WORDS ABOUT COAL. 



THE recent rise in the price of coals has attracted a 

 degree of attention to this useful mineral which it had 

 not received so long as the scientific interest of the 

 subject was alone in question. Geologists might discuss 

 the rival theories which have been entertained respect- 

 ing the origin of coal; or they might endeavour to 



