INCLUDING MINERAL BITUMINOUS SUBSTANCES EMPLOYED IN ARTS AND MANUFACTURES; WITH THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL, GEOLOGICAL, AND COM- AND AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. WITH INCIDENTAL STATISTICS OF THE IRON MANUFACTURE. BY R. C. TAYLOR, FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON; MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN BY S. S. HALDEMAN, PROFESSOR OF NATURAL SCIENCE AND AGRICULTURE IN DELAWARE COLLEGE, PHILADELPHIA: PUBLISHED BY J. W. MOORE, Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, BY E. TAYLOR, Adm'rx to the Estate of RICHARD C. TAYLOR, Dec'd, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District KITE & WALTON, PRINTERS. BRITISH EDITOR'S PREFACE. THE extensive practical and scientific utility of the Statistics of Coal, caused the first edition to be speedily exhausted; and in the year 1851, at the period of the death of the distinguished author, he was collecting materials for a second edition, which have been used in their appropriate place. A large amount of additional matter has been inserted from accessible sources upon coal, iron, and commercial statistics, which, it is hoped, will render the volume useful as a work of reference at the present time. Although the first edition embraced the entire subject, in all parts of the world, the wants of the Western Continent seem to require one restricted to North and South America, and the West Indies-a scope which has accordingly been assigned to the present edition. But whilst the details appertaining to the Eastern Continent have been omitted, other portions have been retained which include valuable material belonging to the general subject. Among these the Introduction occupies a prominent place. The omitted portions can always be consulted in the original edition, which must remain a standard work of reference in general libraries; and even had they been retained, the difficulty of collecting foreign statistics, would render it impossible to give them a proper revision. It has been suggested to us, that the work would have been improved by having the productive coal measures distinguished in the shading from the extensive coal formations indicated in the maps; but this would require an amount of investigation and a knowledge of details which the best geological surveys do not give. It was intended to distinguish the additions in this volume by placing them between brackets, which has been done in a few cases, (as in the chapter on Alabama,) but as Mr. Taylor made free use of these marks in the first edition, and as the new matter frequently entered the tables, the use of them was soon given up. In general the date of the additions will indicate the new matter. The statistic tables have been extended from the year 1848 (the date of publication of the first edition,) to the present time, as far as the scattered nature of the materials would allow. For these we have been indebted to various state geological reports, and those of the different coal companies, as far as they have been printed; Hunt's Merchant's Magazine, De Bow's Review, American Almanac, New York Mining Magazine, London Mining Journal, Pottsville Miners' Journal, Philadelphia Commercial List; and the daily journals of Philadelphia and New York. For the maps on the coal formations of Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois, as also for the geological one of Alabama, we acknowledge our indebtedness to the publications of Dr. D. D. Owen and Professor Tuomey, who have permitted us to make such use of them as we might desire. Also, to Dr. Emmons, for his valuable contribution on the coal formations of North Carolina, to our "Pottsville Correspondent," and other scientific gentlemen; to the Philadelphia Franklin Institute, through Mr. Hamilton, the obliging Actuary, and to the editor of the Commercial List, who have generously given much useful statistical information for this work. In judging of the value of a coal from its analysis, allowance must be made for contingencies which will materially modify the result. Thus, the analysis may be made from specimens better or worse than the usual average, or from a trifling vein, which does not present the characters of the entire mass. As a general rule, the chemist should visit the mines, select his specimens, and designate the strata from which his analyses have been made; or in cases where the specimens have not been carefully labelled and packed when selected, he will have no sufficient guarantee that they have come from the locality indicated. Having been formerly engaged in the State Geological Survey of Pennsylvania, with Professor Rogers, and in other geological explorations, the editor has been frequently impressed with the necessity of caution in such cases. It will be found that the particulars of some mines exceed those of others, in many cases equally worthy of more detailed mention. This has arisen from the amount of information and material at hand being very unequal for the different localities. We have endeavoured to treat the subject as impartially as the limited time at our disposal would allow, and being entirely unconnected with any coal interest, we trust this explanation will account for any seeming neglect or injustice in our statements. The annexed biographical sketch, from the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for October, 1851, is used with the sanction of its author, Isaac Lea, Esq., L.L.D., &c. &c., who has kindly furnished us a revised copy for this work, and whose long intimacy with Mr. Taylor, has rendered him peculiarly competent for the task. Chickiswalungo Iron-works, Columbia, Pa., 20th September, 1854. S. S. H. |