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32X

ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN.

Geology of King's County." Trans. 1877-8. In my paper "On
the Superficial Geology of Halifax and Colchester Counties,"
read last session, I recorded other investigations. In the present
paper is a record of the last steps which I consider necessav\^ for
the solution of the problem. By going beyoiid Nova Scctia, I
have done more than I expected to accomplish.

Art. v. — An Analysis of a Pictou Coal Seam. By Enwix
Gilpin, Jr., A.M., F.G.S., M.R.S.C. Inspector of Mines.

(Read April 9, 1883.)

Through the courtesy of Mr, H. A. Budden, Vice-President
of the Intercolonial Coal Mining Company, I am permitti'd to
lay before you the following anal3'sis of a seam of coal, recently
opened by them a( Westville, Pictou County. Through the
kindness of Mr. Robert Simpsov, General Manager of the C(Mii-
pany, who furnished me with a complete column of the seam, I
was enabled to make a very careful and exact measurement of
the various layers comprising the seam.

The following is the section of the seam in inches and tenths
of an inch, beginning at the top : —

INCHES. INCH IS.

Coal, coarse and shaley 5 4

" good, with two thin layers of shale,

each l-20th of an inch thick. ... 4*4

" good, but coarse G • 7

Shale -2

" 1-7

Coal, good 6 ' 3

" shaley, with nodules of iron pyrites. '5

" good, with four bands of shale, up

to one-half inch thick 1.4

Shale (1

AN.

Coal, with

good.

coars

good

((

Shah

J, with

Coal,

good.

((

with

coars(

good,

with

Shale

;

Coal,

gocJ.

shale}

coarse

shale\

good.

coarst

good

good.

few

Shale

Coal,

good

pyl

This sucJ
which I won I

In no pc
and size of
Pictou Count
section in wll

hes and tenths

ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN.

Coal, with bands of shale

" good

" coarse and shaley

" coarse

" good

" " with several fine layers of shale

INCHES

INCUES.

•9

4-7

•8

2.8

1-2

5-6

Shale, with films of calcspar 2

Coal, good 4*8

" with layers of shale 9

" coarse with nodules of iron pyrites 2'S

" good, with films of calcspar 4*0

" with layers of shale 1 • 8

Shale -1

Coal, gocJ G-0

" shaley, with films of calcspar 3'0

" coarse, with spirorbis, etc 1 ■

" shaley '2

" good 9 8

" coarse, a few layeis of shale 2 "

orood

" good, with films of calcspar, and a

few nodules of iron pyrites 7*1

Shale

Coal, good 13-2

" " with layers of shale 2

" " with a few nodules of iron

pyrites 13

Total Coal 97-3 Shale 19-0

This succession of layers presents some points of interest on
which I would say a few words.

In no point do coal seams differ more than in the number
and size of the included layers of sjiale. The Vale seam, in
Pictou County, presents, at numerous points through the mine, a
section in which no bands of shale can be dotecied. Other stjams

'v. M

t i. i'

"1 li

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iii I

ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN.

contain them in varying proportions, sometimes to such an
extent that the coal is rendered vahieless for economic purposes-
Almost the only value these bands of shale possess, is their
record of the progress of growth of the associated coal. Applying
the record of the numerous small bands of shale and shaloy coal
found in the seam under consideration, we learn that the growth
of this deposit was not an uninteirupted one. Scarcely had the
vegetation for a few inches of coal been accumulated, when a
change took place, and it was covered by a layer of mud.

It is useless, perhaps, now to speculate how tliis covering
was formed, perchance the shelter of some bar was l.troken, and
for a season the tides could deposit their buidon, or some name-
less river of bygone days became obstructed and flooded the
swamps, in which grew the weird vegetation of the carboni-
ferous era.

Then, again, the vegetation accumulated to bo once more
interrupted. The presence of layer.s of coarse and shaloy coal
.shows that the transition from a flourishing vegetation to a
mud-laden flat was, in some cases, a gradual one, due, perhaps, to
periodic inundations. Similarly the return to the conditions
favourable to the growth of the coal plants was sometimes a
slow one, as the struggle between land and water was year after
year more and more in favour of the vegetation.

Thus grew our coal deposits, subject to the fluctuations of
the district, and when the miners pick thus reveals page after
page of this wondrous history, it is not unreasonable to hope that
some time they will be deciphered oven more readily and with
greater certainty than the changes now progressing aionnd us.

So far as I am aware, it is noticeable that in all seams
the.se layers are composed of very fine material, that never
have the conditions of growth been so abruptly altered as
to allow gravel or conglomerate to intervene. Such inter-
calations might, however, be observed in seams formed on
the edges of .productive districts where changed physical
conditions held sway. So strongly marked were the general
conditions of V'ide spread levels of vegetation during the pro-
ductive period, that we find, even when oscillations permitted

ANALYSIS OF A PiCTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN.

streams to cat through coal l)ed3, they carried only the finest
sediments. An illustration of this recently came under my
notice in the Cumberland district, where a brook of the cavboni'
ferous period had eroded the coal down to and partly through
the underclay, the " want" being filled with a fine laminated
gray shale. Tiiis is also interesting, for from the abru])t passage
from coal to shale it is apparent that even at that early date in
the history of thefutui-e coal bed it must have acquired a certain
amount of coherence, enough to form the banks of even a slug-
gish stream.

There is another interesting point in connection with coal
seams which I have not yet seen referred to in any books on
this subject. That is the influence of the water and land sur-
rounding the coal producing district upon the puiit}'' and homo-
geneity of the resulting coal bed. It is frequently found by the
miner that, as he follows the seam, it changes its character. At
first he was proud of the absence of " bands and balls" and of
the facility with which he could supply pure coal. Gradually he
finds that the bands of shale gi'ow larger with ominous persist-
ence. At last he awakens to the fact that his coal is getting
"boney ;" finallv it proves unmarketable, and ho turns his levels
in another direction.

Sometimes trial-pits and bore-holes in advance prove that
the coal has become a mere mass of carbonaceous shale, or that
the seam has ceased. These changes may frequently be explained
by the proximity of the vegetation to an arm of the sea or to a
river, so that the deposition of mud from floods, etc., at first
slight, becomes greater, both in the form of bands, and of a general
^addition of clayey and silicious matter. Finally a point is
reached where the conditions of coal deposition ceased. In some
cases the proximity of land covered by sand, which was carried
by prevailing winds upon the accumulating vegetation, may
explain the presence of an excessive amount of ash in seams not
holding bands of shale. It may also have been possible that
both these causes united to the deterioration of seam"^, of coal.

This would show that some of the beds were formed in what
iiiight be termed broad shallow basins, in the centre of which is

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4G ANALYSIS OF A PICTOU COAL SEAM — GILPIN.

found the purest coal, and that it gradually deteriorates each
way. The presence of "barren" intervals is of importance,
for much money has been spent in examining and proving these
marginal districts, when a step further might have resulted in
the discovery of workable beds.

The coal from this seam presents a finely-laminated appear.
ance, with a faiily bright lustre, and breaks readily along the
deposition planes, which are of a dull black colour, and hold a
good deal of mineral charcoal. It is strong and forms little dust
or slack. The coal is divided by two cleavage planes, obliquely
inclined toward each other, causing it to break into vhomboidal
pieces. It is comj. -.ratively free from iron pyrites, which is
present in small nodules in several divisior? of he seam.

The following proximate analyses were ma le by me on the
fresh mined coal carefully sampled as it came from the face.
The seam was divided into two portions, — the top comprising
344 inches, the lower 899 inches.

Top Coal. Lovfr Cial
Moisture 1'24 Oo

Volatile combustible matter. — Fast coking.. .3100 2331

Slow " ...27-5G 20-52

Fixed Carbon Fast " ... 4623 6029

" Slow " ...49-67 03-08

Ash 21-53 15-45

Sulphur (from pyrites) -63 .939

Specific gravity 1-50 1390

Theoretical evaporative power — Fast coking.. 635 8*28

Slow " .. 6-83 8-6fi

The' ash from both divisions is the average of two determi-
nations, and is silicious, and of a light gray colour. The specific
gravity is from the average determined for each larger layer of
coal. The coal in each division did not coke by slow heating,
that from the lower division was fairly coherent by fast heating.
It may be remarked that an opinion as to the economical coking
values of coals formed on their action in the crucible cannot be
relied upon for a guide as to their yield in practical coking.

It will be noted that the percentage of ash in the top coal

-PIN.

TKANSITION RESISTANCE — MACGREGOR.

ieriomtcs each

of importance,

proving these

ve resulted in

inated appear,
idily along the
»ur, and hold a
irms little <liist
anes, obliquely
tito vhomboidal
rites, which is
3 seam.

e by me on the

from the face.

top comprising

Coal.
•24

[G7

Loro'r Cial
•95

2331

20-52

60-29

03-08

15-45

.939

1-390

8-28

8-66

' two deterini-
The specific
arger layer of
slow heating,
y fast heating.
lomical coking
ible cannot be
,1 coking.
1 the top coal

injures its u.se for general purposes; it can, however, be uti^l'^'id
for colliery work, to the economy of the better coal. The coal
from the lower portion is equal to the average of that mined in
Pictou County. The theoretical evaporative power compares
favorably with that of the coals from the various counties of the
Province, as will appear from the following table :

Pictou Co'y, average of 5 coals. Theoretical evaporative power 866
Cumberland Co., " 3 " " " " 8-32

Cape Breton " " 12 " " " " 8-56

Inverness " " 2 " '•• " " 7-60

The average evaporative power of the lower part of the
.seam under consideration is 8-47. All the evaporative powers
are calculated by Kegnault's formula, for comparison with the
admiralty coal trials, although later researches have somewhat
altered the values determined by him. The table is taken from
the analysis given in uiy paper on " Canadian Coals," published
in the transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining
Engineers, for the year 1878.

Art. VI.- -On the Resistance to the Passage of the Electric
Current between Amalgamated Zinc Electrodes and
Solutions of Zinc Sulphate. By Prof. J. G.MacGregor,
M.A., D.Sc, F.R.S.E.

(Read April 9th, 1883.)
After attention had been directed to the measurement of
resistance by the establishment of Ohm's Law, the question was
raised whether or not there was at the surface of separation of con-
ductors of different substances a special resistance to the passage
of the current, such that the current was weakened by the mere
transition from the one conductor to the other. Poggendorff*
settled this question for metals by so arranging two circuits

*Pogg. Ann. LII (i84i).

t,\'-