COAL. 



ample of this kind : the characteristic 

 properties of the substance are complete- 

 ly changed. In their first state it is solu- 

 ble in water ; but coagulated, water, nei- 

 ther hot nor cold, has any power over it. 

 See ALBUMEN. 



COAL, in mineralogy, a most impor- 

 tant genus of mineral inflammables, in 

 which is included the carbonaceous and 

 curbono-bituminous fossils. In the excel- 

 lent dictionary by Messrs. A. and C. Ai- 

 kin, this genus is divided into the families 

 of brown coal, black coal, and mineral 

 carbon. The first, or brown coal, is im- 

 perfectly bituminous, of a brown colour 

 und vegetable texture : of this there are 

 four species. The second, or black coal, 

 is perfectly bituminous, of a black co- 

 lour, and contains three species, of which 

 one is the slate coal, which is soft and ea- 

 sily frangible: specific gravity 1.2 to 1.24 : 

 it contains from 57 to 64 of carbon, and 

 from 33 to 4.3 of bitumen, beiiiir a mix- 

 ture of maltha and asphalt, and from 3 to 

 6 of earth and oxide of iron. Most of our 

 common coals belong to this species, and 

 from the different phenomena which they 

 exhibit during combustion, a great num- 

 ber of varieties are known in the market. 

 The canal coal is of this family. See AM- 

 PEHTES. The third sort, or mineral car- 

 bon, is destitute of bitumen, and consists 

 of charcoal, with various proportions of 

 earth and iron. There are three species, 

 of which one is plumbago, or black lead. 

 See BLACK-LEAD. 



Coal, of all the substances which natu- 

 ralists have arranged -in the class of in- 

 flammables, is by far the most service- 

 able to mankind. Nature has dealt it to 

 us with an unsparing hand, and has pro- 

 vided mines of this mineral which seem 

 to defy the power of man to exhaust. 

 England and France, where the different 

 branches of manufacture are carried to a 

 greater extent and perfection than in the 

 other countries of Europe, are, at the 

 same time, the most abundantly provid- 

 ed with mines of coal, as if nature was de- 

 termined to second the exertions of an 

 industrious people by giving them the 

 best possible assistance. Coal is always 

 found in masses, sometimes in a heap, 

 most frequently in beds ; but rarely in 

 veins. The beds :\re disposed within the 

 eart . with different degrees of inclina- 

 tion, and in almost every possible direc- 

 tion. These beds of coal are supposed 

 by iiiost naturalists to be a deposit form- 

 ed by the waters of the ocean, which 

 once covered our continent. They are 

 never found single, but generally dispos- 

 ed in strata one above another, The 



VOL. III. 



beds of coal are separated by layers of 

 stone, which arc nearly of the same na- 

 ture in all coal mines. Those which 

 form the side and the top of a stratum of 

 coal are a sort of friable slate, containing 

 more or less of bitumen, while the bot- 

 tom is generally more compacted, and 

 mixed with micaceous sand. It is remark- 

 able that this slaty kind of stone, which 

 so generally accompanies the coal, should 

 frequently contain the impressions of 

 plants, and particularly ferns, some of 

 which are met with in the finest state of 

 preservation. 



In Scotland, the mines of Carron, of 

 Edinburgh, and of Glasgow, are chiefly 

 distinguished for their produce. There 

 are three beds of coal at Carron, the first 

 of which is about 40 fathoms below the 

 surface, the second 50, and the third 55. 

 Only two beds are worked at Edinburgh, 

 and one of them is remarkable for its situ- 

 ation, the opening of the mine being 

 hardly forty fathoms from the sea, and 

 only three fathoms above high water 

 mark. The mines of Glasgow stretch 

 from the north-east to the south-west, 

 and occupy a considerable space of 

 ground. Here are several beds of coal, 

 placed on each other, and continued 

 nearly from the surface of the ground 

 to the depth of three hundred feet ; 

 but of these beds there are only two or 

 three that are worth the trouble of work- 

 ing. 



The principal mines of this useful mi- 

 neral in England are those of Newcastle 

 and Whitehaven. The town of Newcas 

 tie absolutely stands on beds of coals, 

 which extend to a considerable distance 

 round the place. There are seven or 

 eight beds of this mineral, . one above the 

 other, and all inclined in a south-east di- 

 rection ; the lowest is a hundred fathoms 

 from the surface of the earth. But the 

 mines near Whitehaven will afford the 

 best idea of these wonderful places. We 

 learn that these coal mines are perhaps 

 * K ~ most extraordinary of any in the 



the 



known world. The principal entrance 

 for men and horses is by an opening at 

 the bottom of a hill, through a long pas- 

 sage hewn in the rock, which, by a steep 

 descent, leads down to the lowest vein of 

 coal. The greatest part of this descent 

 is through spacious galleries, which con- 

 tinually intersect each other ; all the 

 coal being cut away, except large pillars, 

 which, in deep parts of the mine, are 

 three yards high, and uvelve squure at 

 the base. The mines are sunk to the 

 depth of a hundred and tin rty fathoms, 

 and are extended under the sea to places, 

 F f 



