HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE. [139 



sixth, the lambs make the seventh, the jays make the eighth, the 

 top slipper the ninth, and the roof is seldom cut, but only as much 

 of it got as drops of itself and can be safely collected. It is the 

 facility of separation, by means of the partings, that principally 

 determines these different falls. A large proportion of the coal 

 is left ungot in these collieries. It is generally reckoned that one- 

 third part is left in pillars, and about another third is small coal, 

 part of which is made into coaks, and part consumed by the fire- 

 engines ; the rest is left in the pit. So there remains only about 

 one-third of the mine to be sold as marketable coal, which, at one 

 ton per cubic yard upon a ten-yard mine, is upwards of 16,000 tons 

 per acre. 



In the Marquis of Anglesea's park, (Beaudesert), there is a mine 

 of cannel coal, which is reserved for the exclusive use of the Mar- 

 quis's family. This coal has a brownish-black colour, and much 

 less lustre than common coal. The fracture is flat conchoidal, and 

 quite smooth ; but the cross fracture is more rough, and on that ac- 

 count has a blacker appearance. This coal is hard, and does not 

 soil the fingers. Interspersed through it are numerous specks of 

 a brown matter, very similar in appearance to Bovey-coal. 



Many faults occur in this coal-field. They are rents in the beds, 

 which are usually filled with clay. Very frequently the height of 

 the beds varies on the two sides of a fault. By a great fault which 

 occurs near Bilston, the dip of the coal is reversed ; that is to say, 

 the coal beds on the south side of the fault dip south, and those 

 on the north side dip north : but this is an unusual occurrence.* 



The quantity of coals raised weekly on the banks of the Bir- 

 mingham canal, and its several branches, has been computed 

 at 15,000 tons, of which about 8,000 tons are sent to Birmingham 

 and beyond, 2,000 tons to Wolverhampton and the Severn, and 

 5,000 tons consumed in manufactories, towns and villages, near the 

 canal, and the neighbouring country. There are also about 1,200 

 tons carried weekly upon the Stourbridge and Dudley canals, 

 which makes 16,200 tons of coal, or the produce of an acre raised 

 weekly from these mines. Dr. Plot reckoned in his time (about 

 1680) twelve to fourteen collieries, each yielding from 2,000 to 

 5,000 tons annually, which is about 45,500 tons annually, not equal 

 to three weeks' present consumption. 



The consumption of coals in this part of England is prodigious. 



* Thomson's Annals, Vol. VIII. p. 169. 



