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THE COLLIERY GUARDIAN.

May 25, 1917.

that the Imperial Institute was to be put into a
strong position to take a leading part in the industrial
and commercial reorganisation which would follow
after the war, and a new executive council was
appointed with that object in view. But it is clear
that, so far as the Dominions are concerned, the
Imperial Institute will not easily win either adequate
sympathy or recognition, and there is more than a
hint that they will not be inclined to continue their
contributions towards its support. The real . root
cause of the failure of the Imperial Institute may
perhaps be found in the niggardly financial treat-
ment it has hitherto received from the State. This
is part and parcel of the utter indifference to scientific
research which prevailed in Government departments
before the awakening due to the war. The Dominions
Commission frankly recommend that the Imperial
Institute, disguised under another name, should still
further restrict its research work, and that its stately
premises should be used solely for a permanent
exhibition of the natural resources of the Empire.

Coming next to the Commercial Intelligence Branch
of the Board of Trade, it is clear that a Mineral
Resources Bureau would overlap many of the
functions to which that department has aspired.
The Board of Trade, however, has never been
conspicuously scientific in its organisation, and it
is impossible to conceive that an t efficient Mineral
Resources Bureau could be constructed upon such a
model. One of the chief duties of such a bureau
would be to act as an advisory body for the purpose
of promoting mineral development throughout the
Empire. Although the actual technical work would
still be carried out mainly by the Geological Surveys
of the Empire, the Bureau would necessarily be
composed largely of scientific experts, capable of
understanding and appraising the value of technical
reports. It would deal with the collection and
co-ordination of the information which the Geological
Surveys would presumably place at its disposal. This
would be an undoubted advantage; for, at the
present time, there is an immense amount of valuable
work being done throughout the Empire, but this is
practically inaccessible in quarters where the infor-
mation is most needed. There is much evidence of
this just now, when Government Departments are
often at a loss for just this kind of knowledge, and
important problems are referred first to one depart-
ment and then to another, with much unnecessary
confusion and delay.

It is not our purpose here to outline any scheme
for such an organisation, or to define the scope of the
proposed Bureau. This will be a task of some
magnitude, and of no little difficulty. The need for
it is all the more pressing owing to the wide
geographical distribution of the Empire, and the
distance separating its component parts. Its estab-
lishment would supply one more link, and not the
least in importance, in the scheme of unification and
co-operation upon which the Empire is now engaged.

In the discussion at Manchester upon
Micro- Er. Hickling’s paper on the “ Micro-
structure Petrology of Coal” some reference
Of Coal. was made to the practical value of
the study of thin slices of coal
beneath the microscope. By practical value we
mean its use as an index of the commercial qualities
of coal seams. Opinion upon this question is not
at all unanimous, and in the present state of our
knowledge this is not surprising. There appear to
be at least two schools of thought. One view is that
all variations in the quality of coals are due to
original differences in the nature of the vegetation
from which it was formed. While another view is
that, so far as the microscopic study of thin coal
sections has been carried out, no difference can be
detected between high and low-grade coals so far as
the nature of the original plant life is concerned.

Before proceeding to examine this question more
closely, however, the consideration arises whether
this discussion of the commercial utility of micro-
scopic studies of coal is not premature. There is no
need to press such a claim, for the obvious reason
that whatever practical application this method may
have, its value is at present limited by the inherent
difficulties of the subject. There are very few people
at the present time who are qualified to pose as
exponents of this branch of investigation, and not
many are competent to criticise the results obtained
by it. To the uninitiated, especially when he is a

practical man, the very fact that admitted experts
are not always in agreement cannot but add a certain
element of scepticism as regards the accuracy of
deductions which he is unable to assess at their
proper valuation. The microscopic study of coal
stands in a somewhat curious position. It is not
easy to say what specialised knowledge students
should possess before attempting to interpret the
meaning of what is revealed by a translucent slice
of coal. Certainly they should be skilled botanists,
and, further, palaeobotanists of wide experience in
the appearance of fossilised plant remains. Then
organic chemistry seems to be demanded; more
particularly the chemistry of vegetable life. A
knowledge of mineral chemistry is needed for the
profitable study of such material as coal, which
usually contains more or less mineral matter. Given
these qualifications, a wide experience of the micro-
scopic character of thin sections, both of organic and
inorganic substances, and an adequate number of
coal-sections, in themselves most difficult to prepare,
the student is then in a position to form his
own conclusions as to the practical utility of his
investigations.

May we here venture, also, to criticise the title of
Dr. Hickling’s paper. There is, strictly speaking,
no such thing as micro-petrology. It would be more
in accordance with current practice to use the term
petrography for this subject. This is, of course,
quite a small matter; but as the study of coal
sections is somewhat new, it will be better not to
appear to indicate that there is any essential
difference between this and the ordinary methods of
petrographic research.

So far as this study has yet gone, the chief interest
seems to centre around the possibility of identifying
under the microscope the so-called resinous matter.
Dr. Heckling very frankly confessed that he is
unable to distinguish in a coal section what object
was originally of a resinous character and what was
not. In certain coals there are oval or flocculent pale-
coloured bodies, varying in size from mm. to
1 mm. or more in diameter, which the American
writers claim to represent resin globules, or possibly
sections of elongated resinous strands. But Dr.
Hickling does not take this diagnosis as necessarily
correct, and his hesitation appears to be fully j ustified
until a more positive proof is forthcoming. Still
more mystery surrounds the interpretation of the
predominant constituent of the cannel coals, which
MM. Bertrand and Renault referred to gelatinous
algee, going even to the length of identifying several
genera of these organisms. Prof. E. C. Jeffrey, on
the other hand, maintains that these bodies are only
'spores in a more or less decomposed condition. Dr.
Hickling, however, gives reasons for differentiating
these so-called algae from ordinary spores. It is
perhaps somewhat unfortunate that the true nature
of these bodies is still in doubt. Their presence is
always associated with a high paraffin yield on
distillation of the coal, and it is clear that they
possess considerable significance in regard to the
quality of the coals containing them, whatever their
original nature may have been.

Of all the features recognisable in a thin slice
of ordinary coal, the only clear evidence of the
original plant tissue would appear to be so-called
“ mother-of-coal,” which is generally accepted to be
due to the direct alteration of vegetable tissue
without .the addition of extraneous material. It is
evident that the petrographic study of coals has not
yet advanced to the stage necessary to enable a true
chemical classification to be based upon it. This,
however, is not to disparage the method, but rather
to encourage the prosecution of this study. The
results so far achieved are of the highest interest,
and the difficulties encountered should act only as an
incentive to further research. It would be doing a
disservice to the progress of this branch of research
to make a premature attempt to justify it on the
ground of its practical utility, while so much still
remains to be done in establishing the meaning
of the structural features disclosed. The thought
naturally arises whether an amplification of the
ordinary method would be profitable. The study of
coal by transmitted light presents, as we have shown,
certain difficulties. Might not some assistance be
obtained by combining with this method the pro-
cedure adopted in metallography ? We are not aware
of any experiments in the examination of etched coal
surfaces by reflected light. The friable nature of

coal, and the roughness of even a highly finished
preparation, might appear to offer insuperable
difficulties, and the suggestion is possibly scarcely
worth serious consideration. But some method of
chemical attack seems to be indicated if we are to
arrive at a solution of the ambiguities of the results
of microscopic study alone. In the meantime
Dr. Hickling’s paper is a valuable contribution to
the subject, and appears to place the petrographic
study of coal sections upon its proper basis, claiming
neither too much nor too little for the light which it
may yet throw upon the little known subject of the
constitution of coal.

TOE LOHDOH COAL TRADE.

Thursday, May 24.

The consumption of house coal is considerably diminish-
ing owing to the warmer weather, but the pressure for coal
on order at the collieries is as keen as ever, and the bulk
of merchants report an increasing number of orders from
the general public. This season of the year is usually the
time for securing a good winter supply, and although
the arrears from last winter’s orders are not cleared
off the books, there are indications of an unusual
increase in the orders for refilling the cellars in all
parts of London. The question of the renewal of
contracts has been a prominent feature of the current
week, but the collieries are able to renew only
with diminished monthly quantities except in a few
cases. Some merchants complain that they have had
notice of a reduction of 25 to 40 per cent., and they begin
to look forward to a very troublesome season when the
winter’s demand sets in. In a few instances, however, the
full quantity taken last year has been renewed by some of
the largest colliery companies, particularly where the
tonnage shows a slight increase in the turnover as com-
pared with the previous year. In each case the collieries
are safeguarding themselves. All the merchants are
straining every point to get a fairly good stock in during
the summer months, but with the limited stacking
ground, and the urgent necessity for every bit of avail-
able ground for shunting, etc., by the railway companies,
there is very little prospect of securing an accumulation
sufficient for the winter’s supply, unless, indeed, every
householder is prepared to take in all the fuel possible.
Hard steam coals are scarce, and both kitchener cobbles
and bakers’ nuts are eagerly bought up whenever any are
available. Factors with a monthly contract quantity are
practically the only ones offering. The freight market con-
tinues very quiet. Very few vessels are offering, and
chartering is reported nearly at a standstill. The freight
to London continues at 20s., both from the Humber and
the Tyne, but in one case a fixture has been recorded at
19s. from the Tyne. On Monday’s market 15 vessels were
reported as entering the Ki ver Thames, and 23 for Wednes-
day’s market, but all were contract cargoes, and principally
loaded with gas coal. The number of vessels arriving in
the Port of London during the previous week was the
largest ever known. Shipments have been particularly
pressing prior to the Whitsuntide holidays, but very little
free coal is offering. Prices remain stationary. South
Yorkshire hards are quoted at 29s. 6d. f.o.b., gas coal at
26s. f.o.b., and Derbyshire hards 28s. 6d. The reports
from the Tyne show a slight improvement in the number of
boats available, and consequently a better tone as to the
volume of the trade doing. Prices are somewhat irregular.
Best steams are quoted at 30s. f.o.b., Hartleys at 24s. 6d.,
Durham gas coal 25s. 6d., and bunker coals 16s. 6d. to 18s.
None of the best Admiralties are on offer from South
Wales, but seconds realise 26s. 6d., and patent fuel is 30s.
per ton f.o.b. Anthracites are quoted at 24s.

From Messrs. Dinham, Fawcus and Company’s Report.

Friday, May 18.—Seaborne house coal was again in
good demand, owing to the changeable weather, but no
sales were reported, in consequence of the scarcity of
supplies coming forward. Cargoes 38.

Monday, May 21.—The seaborne house coal market
Remained unaltered, no sales being reported. • Cargoes 15.

Wednesday, May 23.—The demand for seaborne house
coal was good, but no supplies were forthcoming. Cargoes 23.

TOE Tffl-PLATE TRADE.

Liverpool.

The tone of the market is firm. Most makers are well
booked up with Class A work, and many of them decline
to commit themselves further, with the result that “ B ”
orders cannot be placed anywhere nowadays. There is a
fair enquiry, but few sellers, and it is doubtful if makers’
allotments of steel are sufficient for ‘A’ requirements alone.
31s. 6d. to 32s. 6d. -has been paid for coke finish, f.o.b.
Wales, and it is possible sellers might still be found at
about these figures, but makers are becoming more
reserved every day, and prices look like going still higher.
In regard to released sizes, these are quickly picked up as
they come in the market, at round 37s. to 38s. for both
perfects and wasters. Charcoals are very firm, at 36s. and
upwards, according to finish, f.o.b. Wales. . All less 4 per
cent.

Mr. Lloyd George yesterday received a deputation of
the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain. Air. Smillie,
the president of the Federation, set out the views of the
deputation, raising in particular the questions of profiteer-
ing and compulsory rationing.

The particulars of a dispute which threatens a sympa-
thetic strike at the Llanhilleth Colliery of Messrs. Part-
ridge, Jones and Company, were put before the Coal
Controller (Mr. Guy Calthrop) on Thursday by the execu-
tive of the Miners’ Federation of Great Britain. Air.
Geo. Barker said the management of the colliery had
given notice to 200 miners working on one side of the
colliery, on the ground that the workings on that side
were approaching the boundary of the property, and
would have to be closed. The men allege that the coal
is at present being won at least 100 yds. distance from the
boundary, and as the management refuse to find other
employment for the men under notice, the 1,300 workmen
employed at the pit threaten a sympathetic strike. The
Controller promised that the matter should have careful
consideration.