NATURE 



357 



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1872 



THE COAL MINE COMMISSION 



MUCH misapprehension of facts, and much ignorance 

 of scientific principles are, it is to be feared, the 

 most prominent characteristics of the knowledge possessed 

 by most people regarding the natm-e and mode of occur- 

 rence of colliery explosions. Pompous platitudes about the 

 carelessness of the men, and windy panegyrics on the 

 virtues of the safety-lamp have been freely pronounced 

 times without number during the last two generations of 

 mankind. Committees on accidents in mines have met, 

 discussed the question, and separated ; inspectors of 

 mines have been appointed, stringent regulations have 

 been framed and enforced which bind both employer and 

 employed, the public have listened to the tale of woe, 

 have wept over the fate of the hapless miner, and have 

 subscribed hundreds of thousands of pounds in aid of his 

 widows and orphans, and yet with all this, and more 

 imtold, the history of the past eighteen months would 

 seem almost to indicate that we are as far as ever from a 

 true solution of this much-agitated question. 



Can science, then, do nothing ? is her hand unable to 

 save even a moiety of the lives that are being constantly 

 cast away before her very eyes ? To this question, which 

 is very often asked, the reply is simple. Science can un- 

 doubtedly solve the question, but she must do it in her 

 own way ; she must approach it with the sap and mine of 

 investigation and research j she must have her own time 

 to do it, and above all, she requires to be encouraged. 

 Scientific men have, no doubt, sometimes turned their 

 attention to the subject without much apparent result, 

 but their eflforts have, as a rule, been of short duration, 

 and they have too often met with discouragement, active 

 opposition, and increduhty. We have only to point to 

 Dr. Birbeck's letter to the South Shields Committee 

 (1843) at p. 48 of their report, and to the report addressed 

 to the committee of the coal trade by the special com- 

 mittee appointed to take into consideration the report of 

 LyeU and Faraday on the HasweU CoUiery explosion to 

 exemplify what we mean. We wish we could say that 

 there are no examples of the same kind at the present day, 

 but unfortunately we are imable to do so. 



Putting aside these gloomy thoughts, however, we are 

 rejoiced to see science so well represented on the Com- 

 mission just appointed to inquire into and report upon 

 this matter. We had always imagined it to be a purely 

 scientific question, having almost no relation to the art of 

 mining in its stricter sense. We confess that ours is not 

 the common view, but that, on the contrary, it is usually 

 supposed that if practical men, including inspectors of 

 mines, are unable to prevent explosions, nobody else 

 need try to do so. We cannot accede to such a proposi- 

 tion ; nay, more, we protest against it. If disasters of this 

 kind could be stopped by hedging round the collier and 

 his employei; with an impenetrable palisade of instructions 

 and restrictions, then we are bound to acknowledge that 

 the practical man with a legal turn of mind could do it 

 effectually. This method has been tried, however, or 

 rather, it is now in force, and we see its results. 

 The new Commissioners wUl, no doubt, seek to 

 Vol. xit.— No. 486 



acquaint themselves to some extent with the work of 

 their predecessors and contemporaries ; they will also 

 weigh carefully the opinions that will be expressed before 

 them, and take account more of the facts and reasoning 

 that can be adduced in support of such opinions than of 

 the age and position of those who express them. For 

 example, they will not come to any conclusion regarding 

 the influence of fluctuations of atmospheric pressure and 

 temperature upon the issue of fire-damp from coal until 

 they have obtained a sufficiently large and well-authenti- 

 cated mass of information to enable them to arrive at 

 sound conclusions. The data which have been collected 

 and tabulated by Messrs. Scott and Galloway and others 

 are amply sufficient to show that the matter is worthy of 

 further careful consideration, but they do not extend over 

 a lengthened period of time, and we vent;u-e to say that 

 their weight would be greatly augmented by a further 

 addition of similar facts. As to the use of fire-damp indi- 

 cators (and by this we suppose are meant instruments for 

 giving notice of the occurrence of outbursts of gas), we 

 fear that their importance has been absurdly exaggerated 

 and that they are brought forward by those who know 

 nothing about mining. It will be for the Commissioners 

 to inquire, however, whether there are any mines in exist- 

 ence in which they could really be of any service. The 

 systematic observation of the air in mines may be 

 taken, we suppose, to apply both as to its quality 

 and quantity. As regards its quality, it will have 

 to be determined whether observations of the height 

 of the cap on the lamp-flame reduced to small di- 

 mensions, such as those described by Mr. Galloway in 

 the Proceedings of the Royal Society, 1876, are suflSciently 

 accurate and reliable, or whether it will be necessary or 

 expedient to bring into use some kind of instrument like 

 the grisoumltre, by means of which a rapid analysis of 

 the air can be made. As regards its quantity, on the 

 other hand, it may be suggested that if the velocity and 

 drag of the currents could be continuously recorded in a 

 manner siniilnr to the prebsure and temperature of the 

 air at the meteorological stations, a check might be kept 

 upon the ventilation, and changes in its efficiency could 

 be ascertained by a mere inspection of the curves. Im- 

 proved methods of rentilation and illumination are im- 

 portant objects. Powerful machines are now being 

 erected at most new collieries, but these alone cannot 

 prevent explosions, if we may judge by the case of Aber- 

 came, which was thoroughly well equipped in that respect. 

 The Commissioners must beware of being drawn into the 

 belief that some advantage can be gained by forcing the 

 air into the mines instead of driving it out by way of 

 keeping the gas in the coal, as it were, and thereby 

 escaping the effect of atmospheric influences. They 

 themselves will be able to balance the slight gain of 

 pressure that could be obtained in this way with the 

 normal pressure of gas in the coal. It will be well worth 

 their while, however, to consider the means that have 

 been suggested of late years for producing an artificial 

 barometric depression in the workings with the view of 

 extracting the gas from the open fissures, old works, and 

 even to some extent from the face of the coal, when 

 the men are out of the mine, and then sweeping it 

 out by admitting air freely through the downcast 

 shaft, and at the same time continuing to work the 



