Joseph Beete Jukes

“ In two of these directions, however, namely, westwards towards Kingswinford, and northwards, towards Bilston, the remarkable phenomenon known as the "Flying reed" seems to point out the commencement of a great alteration in the grouping of its beds. The two upper beds of the Thick coal are separated from the rest gradually, but rapidly, by interposed shales and sandstones, so that in the space of a mile or thereabouts they form a distinct seam, called the "Flying reed," which, towards the west, becomes as much as 100 feet above the Thick coal, and more than 200, towards the north. ”

“ Changes also occur in the quality and character of coals, so that sometimes, the very same bed or part of a bed, may within a comparatively short space become so altered in quality as to form quite a different variety of coal, and, of course, be no longer recognizable as the same, unless it be actually traceable by continuous working from one locality to the other, or can be referred to continuously traceable beds above or below it. ”

“ With this tendency to split up into separate coals as we proceed towards the north, clearly proved to exist in the lower beds which run continuously in the ground, we can the more readily allow the probability of a similar tendency in the upper beds, which now only occur in localities more widely separated from each other in consequence of the removal of large portions of the measures by the denudation that has acted over the intermediate space. ”

“ This change, from a thickness of thirty feet of coal only, to one in which thirty feet of coal are distributed among 300 feet of shales and sandstones, can be shown to have taken place within a horizontal distance not exceeding five miles. It is a kind of change quite familiar to those who are accustomed to trace any set of beds continuously along their strike, though it is not often that it can be so clearly proved and followed out in detail as in the present instance. Two of the coals below the Thick coal also undergo a similar separation towards the north. ”

“ In consequence of the denudation having removed so much of the upper measures it is difficult, perhaps impossible, to identify the beds of those upper parts of the two districts with the same precision that we can the beds in the lower measures. ”

“ Between Bentley and Goscott the Bottom coal is in one place even called the Thick coal, being the thickest bed known thereabouts. ↑ Where the Deep coal thickens to 12 or 15 feet it is in consequence of a considerable parting separating the bottom part of it from the rest. It is probable that further north this separation will become so considerable that the coals will be separately gotten and receive separate names. ”