lOO 
Mines and Mineral Statistics. 
circiinislanres liad bofomo unsuifablo for flio cojitinuance of the groTrtli 
of luxuriant voEjetation wbicli previously eovcTod it. This unfavour- 
able change mar have been brouglit about Iiy a variety of causes- It 
u'as most probably due to a gradual dc])ression of the area beneath 
the surface of tlie water, which period of depression extended suili- 
ciently long to allow of the deposition and accumulation of tlie eight 
inches of iinely divided mud and silt which was the original form of 
the lirc-clay. It is generally regarded that coal has been derived 
from the decay of terrestrial plants whieh flourislied in marshy places, 
and that the majority of them consisted neither of true land nor of 
true aquatie plants, but of such as go to form the peat mosses, the 
mango and otlier swamps of the present day ; hence a considerable 
depression of the area would be inimical to sneh growths. After this 
process of depression had gone on for a certain lime, then the area was 
again slowly iipheaved and the remaining eight or nine feet of coal was 
accumulated. 
The quality of the coliI is very good : it is hard and compact, and 
would therefore he well adapted for certain metallurgical processes, 
especially for use in the blast furnace, uhere it would have to sustain 
a great weight, and under eircumstanees wlierc ordinary tender bitu- 
minous coal would have to he previously coked. 
It possesses a sp. gr, of 1*333. 
AiialyiiU of yj ft. t3 in. seam of coal. 
... 1-51 
... 33-2I 
®§S]=65'3ieoko. 
MoisUirc 
A’olatilc hydrocarbons 
( Fixed carbon 
( Ash, white 
Coke 
99-09 
It is very free from sulphur. 
This bed, in common with the others, is nearly’ horizontal ; it has, 
however, a dip of about 2^ to the N.E. 
Sea}7t No. 2. — An outcrop of this bed is seen in Coal Gully, and an 
exploratory level has been driven into it to a distance of about 00 feet. 
At the outcrop, where cut by the level, it is seen to he about 0 feet 
10 inches in thickness, with a 2-inch parting of fire-clay, which, how- 
ever is gradually pineliod out as the level proceeds inwards, and finally 
disappears altogether on the face. 
Tlie roof is a hard and compact sandstone. Tliroughout their entire 
thickness the coal measures consist of altemato beds of fire-clay or 
shale — the original soil on whieh the coal vegetation grew — coal and 
sandstone succeeded by shale, then coal again, and so on. Occa- 
sionally the order may be slightly altered, but in tlie main the series 
is continued throughout in that way. 
In quality the coal i.s almost identical with the former one, but as is 
shown by tin* analysis, it contains rather more combustible matter and 
less ash. Like tlie former, it is very free from sulxihur. 
Coal from Seam iXo. 2. G ifi.) 
IVToisture 
Volatile hydrocarbons 
C Fixed carbon 
^Ash, -white 
Coke 
1*95 
. 27-25 
. 61-86 
. 8-943 
100-00 
= 70*80 coke. 
osscsscs a sp. gr. of 1*398. 
