412 THE CARBONIFEROUS SYSTEM. 



Its steam-producing power is rather less than that of Pictou coal, 

 being, according to the same authority, 7"01 to 1 lb., or from the 

 temperature of 212°, 7"99 to 1 lb. It also yields less illuminating 

 gas ; and, from the presence of a little bisulphuret of iron, is more 

 destructive to furnace bars than Pictou coal, For domestic use, 

 however, its comparative freedom from dusty ashes more than com- 

 pensates for these defects. 



North-westward of Sydney, the Coal measures extend to the Little 

 Bras d'Or, and across the east end of Boulardarie Island ; but this part 

 of the district does not appear to be productive at present, though 

 without doubt rich in coal. To the south-east of Sydney the Coal 

 measures extend in a series of anticlinal and synclinal bends to Mire 

 Bay and Catalogue, and are extensively worked, though, from facts to 

 be noted in the sequel, it will appear that their maximum produc- 

 tiveness is still very far from being reached. The sketch map (Fig. 

 158) will show the general arrangement of the measures, as far as 

 ascertained, and the localities of the principal mines. 



When the first edition of this work was published, little was known 

 of the extension of the Coal measures along the coast of Cape Breton 

 from Sydney to Mire, except the mere fact of the extension of the 

 Coal formation rocks, and the occurrence in them of some workable 

 beds, to which, however, little attention had been given ; partly 

 in consequence of the monopoly of the General Mining Association, 

 and partly in consequence of the absence of facilities for the shipment 

 of coal. Within the last few years, however, the whole coast has 

 been explored by mining surveyors, and fourteen important mines 

 have been opened or are in progress. 



As in many other parts of the Carboniferous area of Acadia, the Coal 

 formation beds are undulated along a series of anticlinal and synclinal 

 lines, the synclinals running out at the surface as they approach the 

 older rocks, an arrangement which has been well worked out in detail 

 by Professor Lesley, in his reports on the district. In this way 

 the coal rocks of Eastern Cape Breton appear as the ends of three 

 troughs. The most eastern and narrowest is that of Cow Bay. It 

 is separated from the second, that of Glace Bay, by an east and west 

 anticlinal running out to the shore at North Head or Cape Granby. 

 The Glace Bay trough is wider and flatter, and is separated from the 

 still broader trough of Sydney by a second anticlinal running out at 

 Lingan. In consequence of this arrangement and the inequalities of 

 the coast line, the beds are repeated a number of times, and only a 

 limited portion of the whole thickness of the Carboniferous system is 



