Abstract
IN the vigorous outburst of technical literature that the last few years have witnessed, the subject of mining has not been forgotten, and the student of this subject has his choice of a fair number of works of a high degree of merit, amongst which those published by Messrs. Griffin and Co. take foremost rank. It was therefore to be expected that a new book on coal mining, issued by these same publishers, ought to surpass anything previously written on this subject, or at any rate to present features of especial importance. It is to be regretted that these, anticipations have been very far from being realised, and indeed, that it is difficult to discover anything in the work now under review that justifies its publication. It is very largely made up of extracts from the works already referred to, as well as from others, nor are these extracts by any means the worst part of the book. The author's style is far from clear, and many passages might be quoted that would be quite unintelligible to any one who was not acquainted beforehand with the subject-matter; this obscurity of languages often merges into inaccuracy and want of precision—the latter fault being one of the most dangerous that could well be found in a book intended to be placed in the hands of a student. A couple of examples of this fault may be cited: on p. 3 the author writes that “the line at right angles to the direction of ‘dip’ is called the ‘strike,’” a definition that is not true unless qualified by the statement that the line referred to is a line within the bed; it is obvious that there may be an infinite number of lines at right angles to the direction of, dip, but only one of these is the strike. Again, on p. 326, we find the following: “When two shafts are sunk and connected by a passage, and the density (weight) of air in the two shafts is equal, no current of air will circulate, no matter what their respective sizes may be.” This, again, is only true if it be postulated that both shafts are of precisely the same depth, otherwise an air current may circulate.
Practical Coal Mining.
By George L. Kerr. Pp. x + 462. (London: Charles Griffin and Company, Ltd., 1900.)
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LOUIS, H. Practical Coal Mining . Nature 63, 417 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/063417b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/063417b0