> = 
First, or Southern Coal Field of Pennsylvania. 371 
 With.a view of testing this opinion, and for other purposes, a 
laborious set of analyses was undertaken, from specimens known 
to be authentic, in the laboratory of Prof. Booth. The method 
of analysis pursued was the following. One gramme of the coal, 
reduced to a fine powder in an agate mortar, was carefully and 
gradually heated, in a platina crucible having but one small aper- 
ture, in order to drive off the volatile matter. When this was 
eflected, the residuum was weighed, and the volatile matter thus 
ascertained. ‘The crucible was then exposed to the highest heat 
of an alcohol blowpipe for some hours, until the carbon was thor- 
oughly burnt out, and the ash was then weighed. The ash and 
volatile matter subtracted from 1.000 gave, of course, the carbon. 
It must be borne in mind that the analyses of the various coals 
from the Dauphin and Susquehanna Coal Company’s lands, were 
made from specimens taken from explorations of veins, near the 
surface, and should therefore be considered in a great measure as 
crop coals, 
Analyses.* 
No. 1. Lehigh.—The farthest eastern point at which coal ‘is 
worked, is that owned by the Lehigh or Mauch Chunk’ Coal 
Company. The specimen of this coal examined was very pure, 
and of very conchoidal fracture; it was broken with difficulty 
and flew very much under the strokes of the pestle. Its color 
was a deep, brilliant black, with very narrow parallel lines of a 
still deeper color. It was a long time in burning and left a light 
fleecy ash of a very white color. : a 
No. 2, Tamaqua. Little Schuylkill Coal Co.’s Mines.—This 
is the next important mining station, west of the Lehigh. The 
Specimen was very brilliant with a somewhat conchoidal fracture, 
and so hard that white paper rubbed on a fresh fracture was 
scarcely marked by it. Its ash was greyish white and flocculent. 
No. 3. Pottsville. Black Mine Vein.—Next in order is the 
Pottsville coal. The specimen examined was of a fine brilliant 
appearance and very refractory. It came from the Black Mine 
vein, two hundred feet below water level, and contained layers 
of a darker and softer substance without any splendor, and by 
these it usually fractured. Ash deep red. 
. i i tabular form for greater 
—Sepeepaatd oy error 
economy 
e.—Eds. 
