Abstract
IN general character this useful volume resembles the text-books already available for students of coalmining. The work is, however, carried to a rather more advanced stage than has hitherto been considered necessary for an elementary class-book, and chapters are given dealing with allied subjects, such as chemistry, mechanics, the steam-engine, and electricity. The order of treatment differs from that usually adopted, the subjects dealt with being:—(1) geology; (2) structure of stratified rocks; (3) coal and coalhelds; (4) search for coal; (5) sinking; (6) opening out; (7) miners' tools; (8) explosives; (9) methods of work; (10) working by long wall; (11) omethods of working by pillar and stall; (12) special methods of work; (13) timbering; (14) coal cutting by machinery; (15) mechanics; (16) steam; (17) gases; (18) ventilation; (19) instruments; (20) lighting; (21) winding; (22) haulage; (23) pumping; (24) surface arrangements; (25) coke making; (26) accidents; and (27) electricity. This arrangement is not so logical as that adopted by the late Sir C. Le Neve Foster in his elementary work. For example, sinking with rock-drills is described before mining tools, coal-cutting machinery before the elements of mechanics, and electric signals before electric terms are defined. The brief chapter on coke making is hardly necessary, as ithis subject is usually dealt with in metallurgical treatises. It is doubtful, too, whether the chapters on chemistry, mechanics, steam, and electricity are sufficiently full to give an insight into the allied subjects, for the study of which excellent text-books are available. The illustrations are clear and diagrammatic, and possess the advantage of having been specially drawn for the book.
An Elementary Class-book of Practical Coal-mining.
By T. H. Cockin. Pp. xii + 428. (London: Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1904.) Price 4s. 6d. net.
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An Elementary Class-book of Practical Coal-mining . Nature 71, 150 (1904). https://doi.org/10.1038/071150a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/071150a0