^6 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
blowing extinguishit them — So that Vendrith Vawr coles be stone- 
coles — Llanethle coles Eing-Coles." 
Again, in 1595, Thomas Owen, the antiquary and historian of 
Pembrokeshire, writes concerning it : — 
" ft 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 ; 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, feme, 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 Burlcy, by gentlemen of experience, to show how 
far that excelled the same of Newcastell wherewith the citie of Loudon 
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 Mountain, 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 
