DANGERS

V. EARLY HISTORY--ITS USE AND ITS ABUSE

VI. HOW GAS IS MADE--ILLUMINATING OILS AND BYE-PRODUCTS

VII. THE COAL SUPPLIES OF THE WORLD

VIII. THE COAL-TAR COLOURS

CHART SHEWING THE PRODUCTS OF COAL

GENERAL INDEX

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. 1. _Stigmaria_
" 2. _Annularia radiata_
" 3. _Rhacopteris inaequilatera_
" 4. Frond of _Pecopteris_
" 5. _Pecopteris Serlii_
" 6. _Sphenopteris affinis_
" 7. _Catamites Suckowii_
" 8. _Calamocladus grandis_
" 9. _Asterophyllites foliosa_
" 10. _Spenophyllum cuneifolium_
" 11. Cast of _Lepidodendron_
" 12. _Lepidodendron longifolium_
" 13. _Lepidodendron aculeatum_
" 14. _Lepidostrobus_
" 15. _Lycopodites_
" 16. _Stigmaria ficoides_
" 17. Section of _Stigmaria_
" 18. Sigillarian trunks in sandstone
" 19. _Productus_
" 20. _Encrinite_
" 21. Encrinital limestone
" 22. Various _encrinites_
" 23. _Cyathophyllum_
" 24. _Archegosaurus minor_
" 25. _Psammodus porosus_
" 26. _Orthoceras_
" 27. _Fenestella retepora_
" 28. _Goniatites_
" 29. _Aviculopecten papyraceus_
" 30. Fragment of _Lepidodendron_
" 31. Engine-house at head of a Coal-Pit
" 32. Gas Jet and Davy Lamp
" 33. Part of a Sigillarian trunk
" 34. Inside a Gas-holder
" 35. Filling Retorts by Machinery
" 36. "Condensers"
" 37. "Washers"
" 38. "Purifiers"

CHAPTER I.

THE ORIGIN OF COAL AND THE PLANTS OF
WHICH IT IS COMPOSED.

From the homely scuttle of coal at the side of the hearth to the
gorgeously verdant vegetation of a forest of mammoth trees, might have
appeared a somewhat far cry in the eyes of those who lived some fifty
years ago. But there are few now who do not know what was the origin of
the coal which they use so freely, and which in obedience to their demand
has been brought up more than a thousand feet from the bowels of the
earth; and, although familiarity has in a sense bred contempt for that
which a few shillings will always purchase, in all probability a stray
thought does occasionally cross one's mind, giving birth to feelings of a
more or less thankful nature that such a store of heat and light was long
ago laid up in this earth of ours for our use, when as yet man was not
destined to put in an appearance for many, many ages to come. We can
scarcely imagine the industrial condition of our country in the absence
of so fortunate a supp