The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1867-02-16

What Ia coal isA question moro satisfactorily
answered by little roundabout explanation thai.
py direct reply. To aay that coal Il ALTERED
and ntnefalzed matter is true but the dcini.
ton is too curt 10 be readily ineligible Every
one knows something Of peat and peat mossca
well, this peat is simply coal In its hrai stage of
| development. Were the pcatmosses subns rgcd
and covered over by deposits Of mud ard Ga,
and sand, II would In course Of time uud,rru
certain important chemical changes, by Wli,h
part Of It's gaseous contents loxygcn, hydrogen
Be. would be dischargcd, and the mas reduced
10 compact coaly substance known as Ignite
or brown coal. Such brown Goals are abundant
in many counirics( Germany Ausirn, New Icl.
land &c, } aud worked for economical purposes
aud were they subjected ., still further change,
they would, IN course Of ages, become eonyerirt
into shining stony Goals, Ike those which aIt
now raised In the coal fields Of Great Britain
The truth is, coal occurs in the eafih'7 crust iu
every stage of development, iron. the pcat-musapf
aud swamp growth Etili in proccgs of accufnu.
ation on the surface, down 10 the tertiary brown
coals io the bituminogg stone Goals cf i.c
secondary and primary periods, and from thcsl
again down 10 the still older non-ltuminous
Anihficaics and graphiies Al, IN fact hayt
had similar origin. They are merely vegetable
mOsses that have undergone diiietu, degrees 81
mineralzaiiOn-ihe recent vegetable full of yoia-
tile matters, the liguiies lc1i so, iao Lituiuiuuu
barely smoking, aud the graphite mos oi
pure debitumcnizcd carbon. They air aii cuni.
aud belong 10 the SAME iAm!lj -iho.c 81. o..
yogagci formations siiil retaining much ol q. ,
yego,all, structure AMI full @. yola''- ....".
while those "a the older foraar1us Dos. a.t-
ing!y lost oil uaces Of t,Tuctuge anl a.. ant
all bn, deprived o. thci, voAt... Cog ......f.
Bgi even where 40 siructaio B ohtie4 g.. ur
naked eye IL can generally be rrttrnl a4I ..gni
by submitting thin transparent Slide '4 il.
microscope. Iiy this means tbs ycge,ai.. origin
OF the most compact and gisituinc coal s often
revealed as clearly us the liasu,a ln living plant
and thus the observer Is enabled 10 determine unt
only the organic nature of 'hc mos, hri 90
botanical poculatiiics OF the order CONCERNED o.
its formation. Like all miAel roc. however
coal presents itself IN many vafiviie
We cannot conceive Of vegetable matter -Atl-
er drilled or grown ~ si'n. being associated wifi
scdimenlary strata wiihou. rs being miul,r.
more or less with the earthly iGpsf.,c. %. ts,.c
scdimet g.
These Impurities, according o. ,hc.t r,nouti
must necessarily confer on different roa,i I-or
acruc,gtrs, different aspecis, hnd Gcs,u' .in....
ties. Bcsidcs, varieties vii. also ura, .llla 3d.,
conditions o. ,hr ycgc table mos i'sc.f. -.las,la
as i may have been imlcicd willie f-is' ,- f....
long exposed 70 uiaceraiiou and '.,lu..ua .t, F.
water and aoiht'y also acccrlin, % t.,l n.a.
of The plants competing the moss Thts. vau
according 10 their structure icxiurt and quAi.'.,-
arc generally known a cakng cog.. tii.r ID.
soft and tender in the mass ike thai of Newr.sil,
and swells and eahes together ia b4iGius .Ia.n'
OF slate coal, which is hard and slais ia ,,4,4i.
like mos; Scotch Goals, and burns nee uud open
camel Iarro, coal which is compact .ui jr,.
like in texture, spnris and cracklcs whcn ;h-uv..
suddenly on the FIRE, but when guici turn.
with clear, candle-likc flame, and iro,a ii
is chiefly used In pas manufacture.
and coarse, folioied, OF cubic coal. whirh j.
more or less soft breaks up into large squau
blocks and contains in general large perez niar,
of earthly impurities Between these variciia
there is, OF course, every rraalaiiJn--roals 10
pure as 20 leave only one or ;wo pr. Ctu; o. asi
others go mixed az 10 yield from ten TO tiir,s
per cent, and many 80 impure ss 20 he uufi -,
fuel, ani 50 10 pass into shades more of Ices
bituminOus