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 

 effected, 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. 



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 Yein. — 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. 



* The analyses have been condensed into a tabular form for greater economy 

 of room and perspicuity; the Nos. will be found to correspond with the table.— Eds. 



