(3) That the carbon thus accumulated was supplied to the plants by the carbon dioxide existing in the atmosphere at that time.

(4) That the separation of the carbon from the oxygen was effected in the presence of chlorophyll, by means of the solar energy transmitted to the earth during the Carboniferous period.

We thus arrive at the interesting conclusion, that the heat which we get from coal is sunlight in another form. For every pound of coal that we now burn, and for every unit of heat or work that we get from it, an equivalent quantity of sunlight was converted into the latent energy of chemical separation during the time that the coal plant grew. This energy has remained stored up in the earth ever since, and reappears in the form of heat when we cause the coal to undergo combustion. It is related that George Stephenson when asked what force drove his locomotive, replied that it was “bottled-up sunshine,” and we now see that he was much nearer the truth in making this answer than he could have been aware of at the time.

Before passing on to the consideration of the different products which we get from coal, it will be desirable to discuss a little more fully the nature of the change which occurs during the transformation of wood into coal. Pure woody fibre consists of a substance known to chemists as cellulose, which contains fifty per cent. of carbon, the remainder of the compound being made up of hydrogen and oxygen. It is thus obvious that during the fossilization of the wood some of the other constituents are lost, and the percentage of carbon by this means raised. We can trace this change from wood, through peat, lignite, and the different varieties of coal up to graphite, which is nearly pure carbon. It is in fact possible to construct a series showing the conversion of wood into coal, this series comprising the varieties given in the table on p. [23], as well as younger and older vegetable deposits. The series will be—

I.Woody fibre (cellulose).
II.Peat from Dartmoor.
III.Lignite, or brown coal, an imperfectly carbonized vegetable deposit of more recent geological age than true coal.
IV.Average bituminous coal.
V.Cannel coal from Wigan.
VI.Anthracite from Wales.
VII.Graphite, the oldest carbonaceous mineral.

The percentage of the chief elements in the members of this series is—

Carbon. Hydrogen. Oxygen.
I. 50·0 6·0 44·0
II. 54·0 5·2 28·2
III. 66·3 5·6 22·8
IV. 77·0 5·0 11·2
V. 81·2 5·6 7·9
VI. 90·1 3·2 2·5
VII. 94-99·5, the remainder being ash.

In the above table the increase of carbon and the decrease of oxygen is well brought out; the hydrogen also on the whole decreases, although with some irregularity. The exact course of the chemical change which occurs during the passage of wood into coal is at present involved in obscurity. The oxygen may be eliminated in the form of water or of carbon dioxide or both; some of the carbon is got rid of in the form of marsh gas, a compound of carbon and hydrogen, which forms the chief constituent of the dangerous “fire-damp” of coal mines.

Marsh gas is an inflammable gas which becomes explosive when mixed with air and ignited; it often escapes with great violence during the working of coal seams, the jets blowing out from the coal or underclay with a rushing noise, indicative of the high pressure under which the hydrocarbon gas has accumulated. These jets of escaping gas are known amongst miners as “blowers.” If the air of a mine contains a sufficient quantity of the gas, and a flame accidentally fires the mixture, there results one of those disastrous explosions with which the history of coal mining has unfortunately only made us too familiar.

From the account of coal which has thus far been rendered, it will be seen that as a source of mechanical power, we are far from using it as economically as could be desired; and when we look at our open grates with clouds of unburnt carbon particles escaping up the chimney, and so constructed that only a small fraction of the total heat warms our rooms, it will be seen that the tale of waste is still more deplorable. But we are at present rather concerned with what we actually do get from coal than with what we ought to get from it, and here, when we come to deal with the various material products, we shall have a better account to present.