Notice of the Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania. 205 
7. Notice of the, Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania, in a late 
fetter to the Editor from William Maclure, Esq.—We made 
an interesting tour through the anthracite region of this state, 
and found an immense mass of combustible matter, more fa- 
vourably situated for being extracted from the earth, and 
with less labour than any coal! have yet seen. The coal 
beds are situated in hills from three hundred to six hundred 
feet above the level of the rivers and canals. The beds or 
strata of coal, being inclined at a pretty high angle from the 
horizon, may all be wrought by subterranean canals, going 
from the rivers made navigable by dams. ‘The hills which at 
present, by the carriage on the surface, are the cause of much 
expense, may, by canals following the beds, be worked every 
where above the water level, at little or no expense, and at 
the same time the whole field will be effectually drained ; an 
advantage that few or no coal fields in Europe enjoy, and 
from which the Duke of Bridgewater has derived great profits. 
This immense formation of anthracite will render this state 
the most productive in the union; for as soon as they can 
contrive a good mode of smelting iron ore with the an- 
thracite, this will become one of the greatest iron countries on 
the globe, because having so much fine magnetic iron ore, 
and the natural state of the combustible rendering it capable 
of producing a very strong beat, without any preparation of 
coaking or adulterated with any mixture injurious to the 
making of iron; these circumstances constituteso many advan- 
tages as are scarcely to be met with in any one locality as yet 
known. ‘The benefit that will arise to the nation from a pro- 
per method of smelting iron with anthracite, is such an object 
as to interest the ingenuity of all classes. For the purpose 
of experiment, it is necessary to procure a furnace on a small 
scale, as the high furnace is too expensive. The fault com- 
plained of being that the mass freezes, or does not retain 
its fluidity sufficiently, perhaps from the blast being too weak 
or too cold, or not sufficiently disseminated through the mass, 
owing perhaps to the want of the proper proportions of ore, 
coal, and flux; the form of the furnace used for charcoal 
may not be fit for a much greater heat, &c. &c. In short, it 
may be necessary to try all proportions of blast, fuel, ore, 
and flux, with all forms and dimensions of furnace. 
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