245 
proprietory, I think it possible that enterprising capitalists 
can be found to develop such vast resources. 
With regard to the lower or deeper portion of our Coal 
fields, the longer they are left untouched, and the better it 
will be for us, for increased depth in working Coal will 
involve increased outlay in winning the same, which will 
result in increased cost to the consumer. 
Interesting as the study is, of the exhaustion and probable 
duration of our Coal Fields, yet, as it is an ima voidable con- 
sequence of a great consumption, we cannot help its gradual 
exhaustion ; let us, then, look more rigidly after what is left, 
and so tide ofi", to the latest possible period, the exhaustion of 
a mineral so essential to our existence as a great and flourish- 
ing people ; for, should we ever be dependent upon importa- 
tion for our supply, I think the evil day predicted by Mr. 
Stanley Jevons, in his exceedingly clever argument, will have 
arrived, when England will have to give way in its manufac- 
tures and commerce, to some country whose mineral resources 
have been but little broken into. 
At the same time, it is not at all improbable when we 
think of what an age of discovery we now live in, and the 
increased light that a future generation may possess, that the 
use of Coal may be superseded altogether by some discovery 
in chemical science. 
In conclusion, I would venture to hope that the friends of 
this Society will lend a helping hand to extending, somewhat 
more than hitherto, the acquisition of improved knowledge 
in mining operations, by giving such papers a larger share in 
its labours and researches ; for, fascinating as geology is as a 
study, the commercial application of the science should never 
be lost sight of. 
Papers would be very valuable on some of the details of 
mining, such as the various mechanical arrangements in use, 
including engines, safety hoists, etc., the relative merits of 
