76 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



blowing extinguishit them — So that Vendrith Vawr coles be stone- 

 coles — Llanethle coles Ring-Coles." 



Again, in 1595, Thomas Owen, the antiquary and historian of 

 Pembrokeshire, writes concerning it : — 



" It is called stone-cole for the hardness thereof, and is burned in 

 chimnies and grates of iron; and, being once kindled, giveth a greater 

 heate than lighte, and delighteth to burn in dark places. It servith 

 alsoe for smithes to work with, though not soe well as the other kindes 

 of cole, called the running cole, for that, when it first kindleth, it 

 melteth and runneth as wax, and groweth into one clodde ; whereas 

 this stone-cole burneth aparte and never clyngeth together. This 

 kind of cole is not noysome for the smoke, nor nothing so loathsome 

 for the smell, as the ring-cole is, whose smoke annoyeth all thinges 

 near it, as fyne linen, men's handes that warm themselves by it j but 

 this stone-cole yieldeth in a manner noe smoke after it is kindled, and 

 is soe pure that fine camerick and lawne is usually dried by it without 

 any stayn or blemish, and is a most proved good dryer of malt, therein 

 passing woode, ferne, or strawe. This cole, for the rare properties 

 thereof, was carried out of this countrie to the citie of London, to the 

 late Lord Treasurer Burley, by gentlemen of experience, to show how 

 far that excelled the same of Newcastell wherewith the citie of London 

 is served ; and I think, if the passage were not soe tedious, there 

 would be great use of it." Thus spake Mr. Owen, who was evidently 

 an observant man, and far ahead of his time. 



The distribution of the anthracite in the South Wales basin is 

 unequal, there being no actual line of demarcation between it and 

 the bituminous coal ; but, on the contrary, a change so gradual that 

 it is difficult to fix the precise spot where the anthracite tendency 

 first shows itself This peculiarity is not limited to this district, but 

 is observed also in the coal-field of Donetz in South Russia, as also 

 in the Pennsylvanian field. The north crop of the South Wales 

 basin (which, by the way, is more of the shape of an elongated trough 

 than of a basin) extends from the Blorenge IMountain, near Blanafou, 

 to the Caermarthenshire coast at Kidwelly ; a distance of between 

 sixty and seventy miles, the latter half of which gradually curves 

 southward to meet the south crop at the narrow end of the trough. 

 At Blanafou, where the measures turn the corner from Pontypool, the 



