Chapter XXIII: On Mines in General

Perils of the Miner’s Life—Number of Casualties in British
and Foreign Coal Mines—Life in a Mine—Occurrence of
Ores—Extent and Depth of Metallic Veins—Mines frequently
discovered by Chance—The Divining Rod—Experimental
Borings—Stirring Emotions during their Progress—Sinking
of Shafts—Precautions against Influx of Water—Expense—
Shaft Accidents—Various Methods of working Mineral
Substances—Working in Direct and Reverse Steps—Working
by Transverse Attacks—Open Quarry Workings—Pillar and
Stall System—Long Wall System—Dangerous Extraction of
Pillars—Mining Implements—Blasting—Heroes in Humble
Life—Firing in the Mine of Rammelsberg—Transport of
Minerals Underground—Modern Improvements—Various Modes
of Descent—Corfs—Wonderful Preservation of a Girl at
Fahlun—The Loop—Safety Cage—Man Machines—Timbering and
Walling of Galleries—Drainage by Adit Levels—Remarkable
Adits—The Great Cornish Adit—The Georg Stollen in the
Hartz—The Ernst August Stollen—Steam Pumps—Drowning of
Mines—Irruption of the Sea into Workington Colliery—
Hubert Goffin—Irruption of the River Garnock into a
Mine—Ventilation of Mines—Upcast Shafts—Fire Damp—
Dreadful Explosions—The Safety Lamp—The Choke Damp—
Conflagrations of Mines—The Burning Hill in
Staffordshire 244

CHAPTER XXIV.
GOLD.

The Golden Fleece—Golden Statues in ancient Temples—A
Free-thinking Soldier—Treasures of ancient Monarchs—
First Gold Coins—Ophir—Spanish Gold Mines—Bohemian Gold
Mines—Discovery of America—Siberian Gold Mines—
California—Marshall—Rush to the Placers—Discovery of
Gold in Australia—The Chinaman’s Hole—New El Dorados—
Alluvial Gold Deposits in California and Australia—
Washing—Quartz-crushing 285

CHAPTER XXV.
SILVER.

Its ancient Discovery—Its Uses among the luxurious Romans—
The Mines of Laurium—Silver Mines of Bohemia, Saxony,
and Hungary—Colossal Nuggets—Silver Ores—Silver
Production of Europe—Mexican Silver Mines—The Veta Madre
of Guanaxuato—The Conde de la Valenciana—Zacatecas and
Catorce—Adventures of a Steam Engine—La Bolsa de Dios
Padre—The Conde de la Regia—Ill-fated English Companies—
Indian Carriers—The Dressing of Silver Ores—Amalgamating
Process—Enormous Production of Mexican Mines—Potosi—
Cerro de Pasco—Gualgayoc—The Mine of Salcedo—Hostility
of the Indians—The Monk’s Rosary—Chilian Mines—The
Comstock Lode 297

CHAPTER XXVI.
COPPER.

Its valuable Qualities—English Copper Mines—Their
comparatively recent Importance—Dreary Aspect of the
Cornwall Copper Country—Botallack—Submarine Copper
Mines—A Blind Miner—Swansea—Smelting Process—The Mines
of Fahlun—their Ancient Records—Alten Fjord—Drontheim—
The Mines of Röraas—The Mines of Mansfeldt—Lake
Superior—Mysterious Discoveries—Burra Burra—Remarkable
Instances of Good Fortune in Copper Mining 315

CHAPTER XXVII.
TIN.

Tin known from the most remote antiquity—Phœnician
Traders—The Cassiterides—Diodorus Siculus—His account of
the Cornish Tin Trade—The Age of Bronze—Valuable
Qualities of Tin—Tin Countries—Cornish Tin Lodes—Tin
Streams—Wheal Vor—A Subterranean Blacksmith—Huel Wherry,
a Tin Mine under the Sea—Carclaze Tin Mine—Dressing of
Tin Ores—Smelting—The Cornish Miner 332

CHAPTER XXVIII.
IRON.

Iron the most valuable of Metals—Its wide Diffusion over
the Earth—Meteoric Iron—Iron very anciently known—
Extension of its Uses in Modern Times—British Iron
Production—Causes of its Rise—Hot Blast—Puddling—Coal
Smelting—The Cleveland District—Rapid Rise of
Middlesborough—British Iron Ores—Production of Foreign
Countries—The Magnetic Mountain in Russia—The Eisenerz
Mountain in Styria—Dannemora—Elba—The United States—The
Pilot Knob—The Cerro del Mercado 345

CHAPTER XXIX.
LEAD.

Its Properties and extensive Uses—Alston Moor—Belgian Lead
Mines—Galena in America—Extraction of Silver from Lead
Ores—Pattinson’s Process—A great part of our wealth is
due to the laboratory 364

CHAPTER XXX.
MERCURY.

Not considered as a true Metal by the Ancients—Its
Properties and Uses—Almaden—Formerly worked by Convicts—
Diseases of the Miners—Idria—Its Discovery—Conflagration
of the Mine—Its Produce—Huancavelica—New Almaden 370

CHAPTER XXXI.
THE NEW METALS.

Zinc—The Ores, but not the Metal, known to the Ancients—
Rapid increase of its Production—Chief Zinc-producing
Countries—Platinum—Antimony—Bismuth—Cobalt and Nickel—
Wolfram—Arsenic—Chrome—Manganese—Cadmium—Titanium—
Molybdenum—Aluminium—Aluminium Bronze—Magnesium—Sodium—
Palladium—Rhodium—Thallium 380

CHAPTER XXXII.
COAL.

The Age of Coal—Plants of the Carboniferous Age—Hugh
Miller’s Description of a Coal Forest—Vast Time required
for the Formation of the Coal-fields—Derangements and
Dislocations—Faults—Their Disadvantages and Advantages—
Bituminous Coals—Anthracites—Our Black Diamonds—
Advantageous Position of our Coal-Mines—The South Welsh
Coal-field—Great Central and Manchester Coal-fields—The
Whitehaven Basin and the Dudley Area—Newcastle and
Durham Coal-fields—Costly Winnings—A Ball in a Coal-pit—
Submarine Coal Mines—Newcastle—View from Tynemouth
Priory—Hewers—Cutting Machines—Putters—Onsetters—
Shifters—Trapper-boys—George Stephenson—Rise of Coal
Production—Probable Duration of our Supply—Prussian Coal
Mines—Belgian Coal Mines—Coal Mines in various other
countries—Maunch Chunck 390

CHAPTER XXXIII.
BITUMINOUS SUBSTANCES.

Formation of Petroleum—Enormous Production of the
Pennsylvanian Wells—Asphalte used by the Ancients—
Asphalte Pavements—The Pitch Lake of Trinidad—Jet—Its
Manufacture in Whitby 426

CHAPTER XXXIV.
SALT.

Geological Position of Rock Salt—Mines of Northwich—Their
immense Excavations—Droitwich and Stoke—Wieliczka—
Berchtesgaden and Reichenhall—Admirable Machinery—
Stassfurt—Processes employed in the Manufacture of Salt—
Origin of Rock-salt Deposits 431

CHAPTER XXXV.
SULPHUR.

Sulphur Mines of Sicily—Conflagration of a Sulphur Mine—
The Solfataras of Krisuvick—Iwogasima in Japan—Solfatara
of Puzzuoli—Crater of Teneriffe—Alaghez—Büdöshegy in
Transylvania—Sulphur from the Throat of Popocatepetl—
Sulphurous Springs—Pyrites—Mines of San Domingo in
Portugal—The Baron of Pommorão 441

CHAPTER XXXVI.
AMBER.

Various Modes of its Collection on the Prussian Coast—What
is Amber?—The extinct Amber Tree—Insects of the Miocene
Period inclosed in Amber—Formidable Spiders—Ancient and
Modern Trade in Amber 449

CHAPTER XXXVII.
MISCELLANEOUS MINERAL SUBSTANCES USED IN THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS.

Alum—Alum Mines of Tolfa—Borax—The Suffioni in the
Florentine Lagoons—China-clay—How formed?—Its
Manufacture in Cornwall—Plumbago—Emery—Tripolite 458

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

CELEBRATED QUARRIES.

Carrara—The Pentelikon—The Parian Quarries—Rosso antico
and Verde antico—The Porphyry of Elfdal—The Gypsum of
Montmartre—The Alabaster of Volterra—The Slate Quarries
of Wales—‘Princesses’ and ‘Duchesses’—‘Ladies’ and ‘Fat
Ladies’—St. Peter’s Mount near Maestricht—Egyptian
Quarries—Haggar Silsilis—The Latomiæ of Syracuse—A
Triumph of Poetry 464