264 ^^ MILNE ON THE MID-LOTHIAN AND EAST-LOTHIAN COAL-FIELDS. 



thins off to the north and the south. At Preston the place of the parrot is oc- 

 cupied by a seam of shale ; at Bryants there is parrot in the seam, which is a 

 few inches thick ; at the Sinks quarry (about one mile to the west) this parrot 

 band is only 2 inches thick ; but the whole seam is also diminished in thickness 

 to 5 feet. Near Stobs (which is two or three miles west of Newbattle) the seam 

 of parrot is only about 1^ inch thick. 



The North G^'eens coal affords a parallel example. At many places on both 

 sides of the basin it has parrot in it. On the west side, at Gilmerton, the parrot 

 band is 10 inches thick; at Portohello, it is 4 inches; at Loanhead, the parrot 

 band is only a few inches thick ; at Glencorse, it is reduced to 4 inches, and the 

 quality is very inferior. On the east side of the basin there is parrot also in the 

 seam. Towards the north on this side of the basin (just as on the other side) 

 the parrot on the North Greens thins away and disappears. At Bryants the 

 seam is altogether 2\ feet, consisting on the top of splint, at the bottom of rough 

 coal, and in the middle from 10 to 14 inches of parrot. At KiiJinlam (about one 

 and a half miles to the east),, the whole seam is only 3 feet thick, and the parrot 

 band is reduced to 6 or 8 inches. At Edgehead (which is about two and a half 

 miles to SE.), the North Greens seam is 1 foot 8 inches thick, and contains in 

 the middle of it 5 or 6 inches of parrot. At Wetholm, which is about one-half 

 mile still farther east on the line of crop, the parrot band is only 2 inches thick. 

 A little farther east (viz. at Fuffet, where a colliery existed twenty or thirty years 

 ago) the North Greens contained no parrot whatever, consisting chiefl}" of splint. 

 I believe that the parrot band thins off also on the west stretch. At Arniston, 

 the whole seam is only 26 inches thick, of which 7 inches consists of parrot. At 

 Middleton and other points farther SW., there is hardly a vestige of parrot, pro- 

 perly so called, in the seam. 



I may add, that the Great Seam and North Greens are not the only coal- 

 seams which contain parrot bands. For instance, the seams caUed the " South 

 Parrot" affords parrot at Gilmerton and Loanhead. The coal called the Laverocks 

 or Mavis, affords parrot at Loanhead. The coal called the Splintj'^ or Stony coal, 

 affords parrot at Gilmerton, Wethohji, Blackdid), and Fuffet. Various other ex- 

 amples may be seen from the tabular chart of coal-seams. 



The same changeableness which characterizes the parrot, marks also the 

 splint, rough, and other kinds of coal. At some places they thicken, at others 

 they thin away and disappear. But let it be observed with regard to one and all 

 of these different kinds of coal, that though they generally form distinct and 

 separate bands, they, at the line of contact, run into each other; that is, they appear 

 united, as if by some process, which has taken place subsequent to their original 

 formation. 



Before quitting this particular subject, I may mention that the bands of 

 clay and shale which frequently occur in coal seams, though they in general pre- 



