In point of importance, not only on account of its great abundance and utility here, but also on account of its comparative rarity in most other countries, coal must be mentioned : then perhaps tin, as another mineral, by which England is distinguished from most other nations: black lead, also, (though found here only in a very few places, and only in one place in abundance), claims our notice as an almost exclusive mineral possessed by Eng land. After these, may be mentioned iron, lead, and copper ; of what are called the inferior metals, (whie'h are rare every where), zinc and manganese may be men tioned as the most important in our manufactures. Of the productions of our quarries, as distinguished from the productions of our mines, marbles and freestone, or calcareous sandstone, of various colours and I..•xtures, are in many parts of the kingdom abundant. There arc also mines of rock salt, pits of fuller's earth, potter's clay, &e.
II. With respect to the counties in which the mine ral productions lust enumerated arc found: to begin with coal, it may io gel eral he remarked, (as has in deed already appeared from our account of the mineral geography of England), that it abounds in all parts of the kingdom, except the eastern, southern, south-east ern, south-western, and a few of the midland counties. In the following counties, it is found in greater or less abundance : Northumberland, Durham, Yorkshire Cum berland, and Lancashire, in the north of England : in this northern district, Westmoreland is the only county des titute of coal ; in all the rest it is very abundant. To the south of these counties, coal is found in Derbyshire, Staf fordshire, and Shropshire : it is wanting in Cheshire on the west side, and Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire on the cast side of this district. Of the midland counties, Leicestershire and Warwickshire are the only two which possess this valuable mineral, none being found in North amptonshire, Rutlandshire, Oxfordshire, or indeed to the south or east of these counties ; so that, besides the coun ties enumerated in these directions, Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Hampshire, Buck inghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Berkshire, are destitute of coal. As we incline to the west, it is also wanting in Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Devonshire, (with the exception of the bovey coal), and Cornwall; Gloucestershire, Somersetshire, and Mon mouthshire, being the only counties that possess coal mines in this portion of England. With respect to North Wales, coal is found in Flintshire and Denbeigh shire ; and in South Wales, in Pembrokeshire, Caermar thenshire, and Glamorganshire. Iron is found in Corn wall, Cumberland, Derbyshire, Devonshire, Durham, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, Mon mouthshire, Northumberland, Shropshire, Somerset shire, Staffordshire, Sussex, Warwickshire, and IVilt shire; hut it is most abundant in Shropshire, Glouces tershire, Derbyshire, the north of Lancashire, and Wales. Lead is found principally in Derbyshire, Cum berland, Northumberland, Somersetshire, Devonshire, Yorkshire, Durham, Westmoreland, Cardigan, Flint, and Montgomery. Tin is confined to Cornwall and the adjoining parts of Devonshire ; and the black lead to a small district in Cumberland. Mines of copper are wrought in Cornwall, Devonshire, Derbyshire, and An glesey, and partially in Yorkshire, Staffordshire, &c. zinc is met with in Derbyshire, Cornwall, &c.: man ganese on the Mendip hills in Somersetshire: rock salt in Cheshire and Worcestershire : alum slate in Yorkshire : gypsum or alabaster in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire : fuller's earth in Berkshire, Bedford shire, and Surrey : potter's clay principally in Dorset shire ;—and the stone quarries the most celebrated for the abundance and excellence of their stone, are those of Portland, Purbeck, Bath, Yorkshire, Northampton shire, &c. The most extensive quarries of slate, (as
has been already mentioned), are in Westmoreland, Yorkshire, Leicestershire, North Wales, Cornwall, and Ill. It is extremely difficult to form an estimate of the quantity produced, of the most important of these minerals, of the value of the produce, or of the num ber of people employed. The consumption of coals in the kingdom must be enormous : in private families, it of course depends on the nature of the climate, the con dition of the family, and the price of the coals. The fol lowing facts may perhaps supply data, by means of which we may arrive near the truth, respecting the consump tion of coals for domestic uses. In London, the con sumption is nearly about a ton annually for each indi vidual, or perhaps more correctly about three chal drons measure, or 28 cwt.) for each house. This appears from the amount of the quantity brought into Lomita from Newcastle, and by means of the Pad dington canal. In Manchester, where the climate is colder, and the coals cheaper, it is calculated that each individual uses two tons annually ; or, supposing each family to consist of 4.5 individuals, this will give 10 tons for each house, or about seven chaldron, Winton measure. In Newcastle, where the weather is still colder, and the coals cheaper, the mean consumption is one third of a Newcastle chaldron (nearly 18 cwt.) per month for every constant fire, equalizing the kitchen fire with the rest, which is as much for every fire as is consumed by each family in Manchester; and rec koning one and a half fire through the year, will give 10.5 chaldrons as the annual consumption. This per haps may be taken as the extreme consumption of coal? in families in the kingdom; and supposing the con sumption in London to be at the lowest rate, the me dium will be 6.75 chaldrons for each house in the king dom in the course of the year : let us suppose it to he six chaldrons, the number of houses in England is 1,797,504: the total consumption of coals, therefore, for domestic use, will be 1,797,504x6, or 10,785,024 chaldrons, or rather more than one chaldron for each individual. This, it must be confessed, is mere con jecture ; but it is probably not far from the truth. We shall not even offer a conjecture of the quantity of coals used in our manufactories, hut content ourselves with stating the following facts. If the medium of the steam engines consist of 30 inch cylinders, they will consume 18 bushels of coals per day, which is equal to three chaldrons per week, or 156 chaldrons per an num. The salt-works in Cheshire consume 150,000 tons of coals annually. The smelting of the copper ore of Cornwall consumes nearly 200,000 tons of coals per annum ; and it is calculated, that in the brass and cop per manufactories, there are used nearly as many. In the Coalbrooke-dale district of Shropshire, about 260,000 tons are raised annually—a great proportion is used in the iron works. The extensive iron works of Messrs Ferraday in Staffordshire, are said to consume 1000 tons per week. In two blast furnaces in Sheffield, from 600 to 800 tons of coals are used per week ; and in the large iron works 1200. Indeed, when we consider that there are nearly 200 furnaces in which coke alone is used, the consumption of coal in the iron works of England must be regarded as immense.