Majf 9, 1878] 



NATURE 



35 



The production of a cheap gaseous form of fuel is a 

 great gain ; so also is the invention of a means whereby 

 the large stores of anthracite coal in this and other 

 countries can be utilised. 



Of all the forms of carbon experimented with in the 

 production of the new gas, anthracite was found the 

 best. Anthracite is difficult to burn ; the ordinary forms 

 of furnace do not admit of such a complete oxidation as 

 •is required in order to maintain the combustion of 

 anthracite. But the blast of air carried into the gas 

 generator of the water-gas apparatus by the steam jet 

 insures the presence of a large quantity of oxygen, and 

 therefore the combustion of the anthracite. Whether a 

 simpler means could not be adopted for the combustion 

 of anthracite is a question worthy of consideration. 

 That a steam jet can be thrown into an ordinary furnace 

 charged with anthracite, and the combustion of the coal 

 be thereby insured, has been shown to be possible. 

 Nevertheless, the production of combustible gas from 

 the anthracite is to be preferred, for many reasons, to 

 the consumption of the solid fuel. 



The fact that we shall soon probably be in a position 

 to make use of our stores of anthracite, is one of very 

 -considerable importance from an economic point of view- 

 In possessing large quantities of anthracite we possess a 

 a valuable commodity, but if we cannot realise a use for 

 that commodity it ceases to be a source of wealth to us. 



Further, large quantities of anthracite are known to 

 ■exist in some of the British Colonies and in the United 

 States ; the utilisation of these would mean an increase 

 in the commercial enterprises owned by Englishmen 

 abroad, or supported by English capital ; it would also 

 probably imply an increase in the tonnage of shipping, and 

 would thus tend to increase our " international wealth." 



Whether it be regarded from the point of view of the 

 chemist, or of the economist, the introduction of a cheap 

 gaseous fuel manufactured from anthracite, marks a 

 ■point of no little importance in the advance of manu- 

 facturing industries. 



The experiments detailed in the paper by Mr. Davies 

 •show that the new gas is especially adapted for use in 

 cooking 'operations in large private establishments, in 

 clubs, hotels, barracks, &c. It is known that cooking 

 can be more cheaply and more rationally conducted with 

 the aid of gaseous than of solid fuel ; if the new fuel 

 does all that it promises to do, judging from the actual 

 trials already made, its introduction will be welcomed by 

 the artistic cook no less than by the scientific chemist, and 

 by the political economist. M. M. Pattison Muir 



FOSSIL FLORA OF GREAT BRITAI N 



The Fossil Flora of Great Britain; or. Figures and 

 Descriptions of the Vegetable Remains Found in this 

 Country. 



Illustrations of Fossil Plants, being an Autotype Repro- 

 duction of Selected Drawings prepared under the Super- 

 vision 0f the late Dr. Lindley and the late Mr. William 

 Hutton, between the Years 1835 and 1S40— and now 

 for the first time published by the North of England 

 Itistitute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers. Edited 

 by G. A. Lebour, F.G.S. (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1877.) 



THE publication, in 1831, of the first number of the 

 "Fossil Flora of Great Britain," by Dr. Lindley 

 and William Hutton, marked the beginning of a new 



era in the history of English Palseo-phytology. Much 

 had been previously done on the Continent. The 

 magnificent Flora der Vbrwelt of Sternberg had laid 

 a solid foundation for such studies, and the Vigltaux 

 Fossiles of Adolphe Brongniart, then] in progress of 

 publication, was not only widening those foundations, 

 but was systematising the study, as his "Prodrome'* 

 had developed the first principles of the philosophy 

 of the primaeval Flora. The ^late Professor Phillips had 

 further recorded additional discoveries amongst the Oolitic 

 plants of Yorkshire, in his " Geology of the Yorkshire 

 Coast"; but there yet remained a wide field for explora- 

 tion, especially amongst the plants of the Carboniferous 

 age, in which England was especially rich; and Phillips 

 and Brongniart were very far from having exhausted the 

 newly-discovered plants of the Yorkshire Oolites. Hence 

 when the two able authors above named commenced the 

 publication of their "Fossil Flora," they found a vast 

 mass of new materials awaiting their investigation. In 

 endeavouring to estimate the true value of their work, we 

 must not regard it from our present standpoint, but from 

 that of the time at which they began their labours. At 

 that period, . though collections of fossil plants were 

 numerous, they were scattered over the country in isolated 

 cabinets, and no one knew much about what those 

 cabinets contained. Hence the first work demanding 

 attention was to ascertain what the forms and general 

 relations of these fossil plants were, and the pages of the 

 " Fossil Hora" gradually gave the needful information so 

 far as it was then obtainable. The two authors named 

 figured and described such distinct fragments as fell into 

 their hands, and thus made available for the students of 

 a later period a vast mass of hitherto unknown material- 

 This important" publication went on for several years — 

 but at length the two authors became weary of their 

 costly venture. The number of persons actively interested 

 in the study of fossil plants was not sufficiently great to 

 cover the expense of the publication, which consequently 

 came to an abrupt end. In 1839 the late Dr. Lindley 

 told the writer of these lines that he saw no reason why 

 he should employ his purse for the benefit of the geolo- 

 gists who failed to give him the needful support, and he 

 acted upon the conviction thus expressed. 



In endeavouring to measure the true value of 

 the work of Lindley and Hutton to modern science, 

 we must not forget the date of their labours. At 

 the earlier part of the time when the publication of 

 the "Fossil Flora" was in progress, little or nothing was 

 known of the internal organisation of any fossil plants. 

 But at length two instructive fragments were obtained in 

 England — one of a Lepidodendron, and the other of a 

 Stigmaria — both of which examples revealed a measure 

 of minute internal organisation. Witham's " Observa- 

 tions on Fossil Vegetables," published in 1 831, contained 

 figures and descriptions of the first of these specimens, 

 the now well-known Lepidodendron Harcourtii, and the 

 Stigmaria was figured and described in the " Fossil Flora." 

 These two specimens were the beginnings of a rich har- 

 vest, which is even yet but very partially reaped, but 

 which has already prepared the way for a revolution in the 

 processes and results of Palaeo-phytological studies. But 

 though the authors of the "Fossil Flora" thus obtained 

 some glimpses into the possible future of their science, 



