the New England basin, with an area 

 of 500 square miles; the Appalachian 

 district, with an area of 65,000 square 

 miles; the northern area, in Michigan, 

 covering 7,000 square miles; the cen- 

 tral area, comprising parts of Illinois, 

 Indiana and Kentucky, and including 

 48,000 square miles ; the scattered west- 

 ern area, with a total of 98,000 square 

 miles; the indefinite Rocky Mountain 

 area, and the Pacific coast region, in- 

 cluding parts of California, Oregon, 

 and Washington. Coal mining is yet 

 an undeveloped industry in our terri- 

 torial possessions. Alaska has an 

 abundant supply of coal, and lesser 

 quantities are found in Cuba and Porto 

 Rico. 



Mention has already been made of the 

 two common kinds of coal, bituminous 

 and anthracite. These two kinds mark 

 different stages in the transformation 

 from plant organism to mineral prod- 

 uct. As the biologist traces the suc- 

 cessive steps in the evolution of an in- 

 dividual of a species from germ to 

 adult, so the geologist unfolds before 

 us the wonderful history of a piece of 

 coal from its first appearance on the 

 earth to the time when it is thrown 

 into our fire grate as fuel. Coal is the 

 metamorphosed product of vegetable 

 growths, changed by atmospheric agen- 

 cies and the internal forces of the earth 

 acting through a total period of per- 

 haps millions of years. In the remote 

 past, ages before man had appeared on 

 the earth, the atmosphere of our globe 

 was highly charged with carbon gases. 

 Vegetation flourished in luxuriance. 

 Great swamps were common. The 

 ocean alternately covered and receded 

 from verdure-clothed landareas. Ponds 

 were transformed to morasses and 

 swamps. In the swamps thus formed, 

 the accumulated sediment of centuries 

 upon centuries covered alternate lay- 

 ers of decayed plant organisms, until 

 finally beds of peat were formed. 

 Great masses above pressed on those 

 underneath; the internal heat of the 

 earth reached up and transformed the 

 densely packed masses of peat until 

 the beds became hard and brown, the 

 product of the partial metamorphism 

 being what we know as lignite, or 

 brown coal. With the continued action 



of the forces of metamorphism, the 

 lignite turned still darker, and as more 

 gases were driven off, became heavier, 

 until the bituminons stage was reached, 

 which, in turn, was succeeded by the 

 anthracite stage. 



Graphite, or black lead, is a mineral 

 containing not more than five per cent 

 of impurities, and is generally supposed 

 to have originated as did mineral coal, 

 and to represent a still more advanced 

 stage of development. It occurs in 

 various localities both in the vicinity 

 of coal measures and far removed from 

 them. The chief part of the world's sup- 

 ply comes from Ceylon, though Ger- 

 many and the United States pro- 

 duce quantities of graphite of excellent 

 quality. In the Laurentian rocks of 

 Canada, and of course with as ancient 

 origin, extensive deposits are found. 

 This presence of graphite in strata in 

 which as yet no certain traces of or- 

 ganic life have been found has led 

 some to believe that this form of car- 

 bon mineral may have another than 

 organic origin. 



Various uses are served by graphite. 

 The chemist finds it of great value in 

 making his crucibles; the engineer 

 uses it, finely powdered, as a lubricant; 

 the housekeeper polishes stoves with 

 it; the electrician uses it in his arc 

 lights; all civilized nations use it in the 

 lead of lead pencils. The s\.em,grap/io 

 (to write), on which so many of our 

 words, as geography, telegraph, graph- 

 ophone, etc., are formed, suggests also 

 the origin of the name, graphite. The 

 finest quality lead pencils are those 

 made from graphite occurring in a state 

 sufficiently pure to allow the cutting 

 and grinding of pieces to the size 

 needed. In the case of the medium 

 and poorer grade pencils, the graphite 

 has first been finely powdered and then 

 pressed into the requisite shape and 

 size. 



The purest form of carbon found in 

 nature is the diamond. The rare oc- 

 currence of diamonds indicates that 

 the essential conditions in nature for 

 causing the transformation of some less 

 pure form of carbon into diamond are 

 seldom present. While diamondshave 

 actually been produced in the labora- 

 tory by far-seeing and indefatigable 



