Colliery Warnings

Abstract

I HAVE read the letters which have appeared on this subject with considerable interest. We have two theories before us. Both theories connect the presence of fire- damp with changes of atmospheric pressure, but the one considers a time of o high; pressure as being most likely to cause an outrush of gas, whilst the other regards a falling barometer as the period of greatest danger. It does not Seem at all reasonable to suppose that the atmospheric pressure would compress the rock and force out the gas as the Author of the Warnings suggests. Rather would air enter the rock cavities in such circumstances. The tendency for firedamp to escape during a falling barometer would be greater than during a rising barometer, but the evidence only shows a very slight connection to exist between the rise or fall of the barometer and colliery disasters.