584 TRANSACTIONS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE, 



a residuum which had formerly been thrown into the river, an4 

 turned it to agricultural purposes. It became perfectly sweet, 

 and was a valuable manure. 



Mr. Seely said that these 'facts were not inconsistent with his 

 theory ; for meat would decompose just as rapidly under char- 

 coal as under brickdust, although its decomposition in the former 

 case would not be evident to the sense of smell. 



The President remarked that fuel was almost invariably the 

 product of organization. We do not warm our feet or cook our 

 dinner from the heat given out by the crater of a volcano ; and 

 even where gases are emitted from the surface of the earth, 

 although they have been used for light, they have not been used 

 for heat. It may be a question, too, whether they are not the 

 product of organization. It is a matter of profound interest to 

 observe how wonderful a provision was made for the occupation 

 of the earth by human beings, before the existence of man, by 

 the storing of the vast coal cellars which we find immediately 

 under the surface of the earth. Coal is not only a source of heat 

 but of power, of wealth, and even of life, to a very large propor- 

 tion of the population of this country, It is the reason why 

 this city sustains such an immense population. It is the reason 

 why the growth of our population for the last ten j-^ears has been 

 almost entirely upon the seaboard. The agricultural portions of 

 the community have not much progressed, because the improve- 

 ments in agriculture enable men to take care of larger farms. 

 Thus, a large proportion of the population are left free to 

 mechanical, scientific and artistic pursuits. Within ten miles of 

 the City Hall, the stationary steam engines and machinery driven 

 by them do the work of at least ten millions of men. This is 

 the work done by coal ; and such is its cheapness at the mines, 

 that it will not pay for an additional shoveling over. The cost 

 of this immense amount of labor may then be estimated merely 

 at the cost of oiling and taking care of the machinery, the cost 

 of the fuel being regarded as nominal. In England, the question 

 has been agitated how long the coal will last. With us, the 

 question may be, for a century to come, when shall we have to 

 dip out the first pail of water to get at the coal? New disclo- 

 sures for the -last dozen years have increased the amount of coal 

 above the water level known to be apcessible for fuel. It is now 

 becoming a matter of great importance to appropriate each kind 

 of coal to that work for which it is best adapted. Zinc paint 



