SMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

sr J%f> C^.

<*^

1.0

I.I

1.25

■ 5 '""^^

^ m

2.2

12.0

1.8

U ill 1.6

■4

b*.

A»

4V^

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

^?-."Q

''<?."

23 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(^16) 8/'i-4503

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHM/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Irstilut Canadian de microreproductions historiques

Technical and Bibliographic Not«s/Notes techniques et bibliographiques

The Institute has attempted to obtain the best
original copy available for filming. Features of this
copy which tnay be bibliographically unique,
which may alter any of the images in the
reproduction, or which may significantly change
the usual method of filming, are checked below.

□ Coloured covers/
Couverture de couleur

f~~[ Covers damaged/

Couverture endommagde

Covers restored and/or laminated/
Couverture restaur^e et/ou pellicul^e

□ Cover title missing/
Le titr

e de couverture manque

Coloured maps/

Cartes giographiques en couleur

Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noi

Coloured plates and/or illustrations/
Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other material/
Relii avec d'autres documents

Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/

Lareliure ser^ee peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distorsion le long da la marge intdrieure

Blank leaves added during restoration nay
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been ornitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutAes
lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte,
mais, lorsque cela Atait possible, ces pnges n'ont
oas iti film^es.

Additional comments:/
Commentaires suppldmentaires;

L'tnstitut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a iti possible de se procurer. Les details
de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du
point de vue bibiiographique, qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la m^thode no^^male de filmage
sont indiqu^s ci-dessous.

□ Coloured pages/
Pa9es de couleur

["~n Pages damaged/

Pages endommag^es

Pages restored and/or laminated/
Pages restaur^es et/ou pellicul^es

r~~| Pages discoloured. st7*ned or foxed/

Pages ddcolor^es, tachetdes ou piquees

Pages detached/
Pages d^tachees

Showthrough/
Transparence

Quality of prir

Quality inigale de {'impression

Includes supplementary materii
Comprend du materiel supplementaire

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

Pages detached/
Pages

r~~] Showthrough/

I I Quality of print varies/

n~| Includes supplementary material/

|~~] Only edition available/

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc.. have been refilmed to
ensure the best pos.iible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure,
etc., cnt 6te film^es A nouveau de facon a
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est filmd au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous.

14X 18X 22X

10X

26X

30X

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

32X

lils

difier

ina

age

The copy filmed here has beom reproduced thanks
tc the generosity of:

The Nova Scotia
Legisiutive Library

The imsges appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.

L'exemp'aire filmA fut reproduU grAce A la
ginirowM do:

The Nova Scotia

Legislative Library

Les images suivantes ont 6x6 reproauites avec le
plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de la nettetd de I'exemplaire filmi, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contrat de
filmage.

Original copies in printed papar covers are filmed
beginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or ilfustraled impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies ar^ filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the last page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprim^e sont film6s en commenpant
par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la
dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'iilustration, soit par le second
plat, seion le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires
originaux sont filmds en commenpant par la
premidre paje qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'iilustration et en terminant par
la dernidre page qui comporte une telle
empreinte.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shnil contain the symbol —h^ (meaning "CON-
TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.

Un des symboies suivants apparaTtra sur la
dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le
cas: le synibole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le
symbole y signifie "FIN".

Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hind corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
filmAs d des taux de reduction diffArents.
Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre
reproduit en un seul clichA, il est filmA d partir
da Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre
d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
illiistrent la mAthode.

ata

Hure,

^OVA SCOTj-^

PROVINCE HOUSE

■: vi

■ .■ -4 I

■I

NOTES ON NOVA SCOTT A PIT WATERS.

By EDWIN GILPIN, A.M., F.G.S., rNaPECTOu of Mines.

The composition, sources, and effects of the hidden springs of the earth
are as yet so h'ttle known, and the field for investigation is so wide and
varied, that the time has not yet arrived for reliable deductions ; but
it may be expected that at some future day the composition of mineral
springs and the waters cut by boreholes, &c., may be brought into the
service of man, and furnish valuable information about the proximity of
mineral deposits and strata.

So far as the writer is aware, but four analyses have as yet been made
of Nova Scotia pit waters. Two of these are of waters from the Pictou
coal district, and two from the Cape Breton district j they, however,
represent fairly the oharacteristics of the waters of the two districts.

At the Blockhouse Colliery, Cape Breton, the pit water has a corrosive
effect on the ironwork exposed to its action. The following analysis was
made in the laboratory of the Canadian Geological Survey, 1872-73 : —

Sulphate of iron . .

Iron (aspersalt) ..
Iron (asprotosalt)
Manganese
Aluminium
Calcium ...
Magnesium

Potassi ir.

Sodium

Silica

Sulphuric acid
Chloric

Phosphoric acid , .
Organic mat^r . .

SrspENDKD Matter.

In SotrTioN.

Total constituents in 1,000 parts

•1510

•2426
•1168
•0078
•0420
•1498
•0618
•0134
•1884
•0116

1-1808
•4100

tracer
•2844

3-0094

Water, yellowish -brown colour, acid reaction, and styptic taste.

,a |-||-ii'ii limrjtn

NOVA SCOTIA PIT WATERS.

The Blockhouse Scam immediafoly overlies the Gowrie Seam, worked
by Messrfe. Archibald. In Vol. XXVI., p. 56, of the Transactions, there
is an iniercsting account of the difficulties that gentleman met with in
overcoming the destructive effects of the water found in their pit. There
is no analysis of the water from the Gowrie Mine, but, from its appear-
ance and action, there is no doubt but that the analysis given above wiU
also indicate its composition.

At several other collieries in the Cape Breton district similar corrosive
powers appear in the pit waters, and have caused much annoyance to
those engaged in conductir.g mining operations.

Direct-acting force pumps are very generally employed, and frequently
require replacement of the iron working parts by t impositions similar to
that used at the Go^tIc, such as brass, babbit metal, and lignum vitie. No
doubt the heat induced by the steam \s-ould tend to increase this corrosive
tendency, but the portability of these pumps, and the general adoption of
slope winnings, cause their retention. When, through ignorance or a false
economy, these waters are introduced into the colliery boilers, an imme-
diate and energetic corrosion takes place. The boilers used in Cape
Breton, with a few exceptions, are cylindrical egg-ended, externally fired.
The action of the water is shown by cutting the ri et heads— severe pit-
ting, a planing away of some of the plates over a space of several square
inches, and generally a deposit of hard scale on the lower back end plates.

A scum-collector, invented by Mr. W. M. Rumble, Mechanical Super-
intendent. Cape Breton Coal Co., has been found to materially prevent
the destructive effect of these w^aters at the Emery Colliery. The descrip-
tion of it is from the Report of the Inspector of Mines for 1877 : — "It
m%j be described generally to a. ist of a two-inch pipe leading from nt.ar
the back end of the boiler up to an 18-gallon receiver, placed above the
boiler and nearly over the fire bridge ; from the receiver pass two pipes,
one to the open and the other directly downwards through the shell to
low-water line, where it branches into two transversely-placed bell mouths,
each having a diameter equal to the difference between high and low-water
in the boiler. The circuit being made by the necessary valves, a current
of water flows through the system in a contrary direction to the order of
the above description. Then as the strongest ebullition occurs where the
bell mouths are placed, the scum in the water is thrown to the surface
and passes up into the receiver where it settles, and from which it is
periodically blown out through the second pipe.''

The pit water from the Gardener Colliery has developed all the above
injurious qualities in a marked manner. The following analysis of thig

Wj?'/ i.

NOVA StOTIA PIT WATKUS.

water, made by the wi-itcr some time ago, shows a composition similar to
that of the Blockhoiwe wal( r : —

Iron sulphate

Potassium sulphate
Calcium carbonate

Magnesium carbonate

Sodium chloride

Alumina ...

Silica

Total in 1,000 p rts

?-750
•186
•736
■025
•960

trace
•225

4-831

Water, clear with bluish shatlej after standing, deposited reddish sediment; acid
reaction, and highly styptic taste.

This water also exerted a corrosive action on the force pumps and the
wrought-iron rising columns. The action on the latter was mitigated by
a coating of oxide of iron deposited by the water. As this coating was
nearly one-half inch thick in a 5-inch pipe, the partial protection thus
afforded was attended with a lessened area through the pipe.

Passing to the Pictou coal-field there is a class of waters of a totally
different character and of a comparatively innocuous nature. The follow-
ing analysis of the pit water of the Vale Colliery, made by the writer a
short while ago, is as follows : —

Iron and alumina . . .
Magnesium carbonate
CalciuEi carbonate
Sodiinn chloride . . .
*Sodium carbonate
Magnesium sulphate
Calcium sulphate...
Potassium ...
Silicious matter . . .
Organic matter ...

Total in 1,000 parts

traces

1-452

7-309

•100

•514

traces

•190

trace

9-765

Water, clear and colourless ; at first it gave no reaction, but after boiling became

alkaline.

* The percentage of sodium carbonate appeared so large ihat the determination was repeated, and
the former result confirmed ; the percentage given is an average of boih determinatio .

This water has been used a little as a boiler feed, and has not shown
any injurious eifects.

The second analysis of Pictou pit water now given is one of the water
from the Nova Scotia Colliery, situated at the western extremity of the

MMP^^^-'-' 'rs '^-.i^^^iliiipjiiiiil

1^,'

NOVA SCOTIA PIT WATERS.

district, made by Dr. H. How, King's College, Windsor, N.S., giving the

following results : —

Silica

Calcium carbonate
Magnesium carbonate
Iron carbonate , . .
Sodium chloride ...
I'otassium sulphate
Sodium sulphate . . .
Sodium cai'bonate
Phosphoric acid . . ,
Organic matter . . .

•460
10590
3-570
traces
1170
1-580
2-500
3-350

ncmu
traces

23-.^20

Water, bright and clear; no odour, slightly acidj after boiling gave alkaline
reactions. Calculated in grains to the imperial gallon.

These waters have been used to some extent mixed with surface water,
with no markedly injurious efifccts.

On comparing the Pictou and Cape Breton pit waters it will be at
once seen that the latter contain very large quantities of iron sulphates,
and the former lai'ge percentages of alkaline carbonates. These waters
all differ from any of the Canadian pre-carboniferous waters, which are
fully described by Dr. Sterry Hunt in Sir William Logan's " Geology of
Canada," 1803. The Canadian waters, arising from comparatively undis-
turbed measures, present constituents derived from limestones, dolomites,
argillaceous sediments, and feldspathic rocks, which admit of their division
into six classes. The number of Nova Scotia pit waters analysed is too
small to admit of any deductions which can be considered reliable. But
there are a few points, which may to some extent account for these widely-
divergent results. In considering the composition of these pit waters
found in workings of moderate depths, it may be assumed that they are
accumulated partly from surface water filtering downwards, and partly
from water rising from lower measures by hydrostatic pressure through
the strata, or by means of faults.

The strata containing the Cape Breton coals are largely composed of
sandstones, many of which hold numerous disseminated crystals of iron
Bulphurets, while the shales which predominate in Pictou County are
comparatively free ft'om this ingredient. This and the larger percentage
of iron pyrites and organic compounds of sulphur in the Cape Breton
coals may account for the large amounts of iron sulphates the former
contain. The preponderance of sodium chloride in the Pictou pit water
may be explained by the fact that on the southern edge of the district,

• 1 '

■HMNmi

'I II Tti|ii'igj|ggj|rfaWjji|ijj|b.^

NOVA 8C0TU PIT WATERS.

whence the waters analysed were taken, the Lower Carboniferous lime-
stones and gypsums come against the coal-measures with very little
intervening millstone grit, and the heavy faults bounding the district
would allow the admission of their waters to the workings. In Cape
Breton, on the other hand, the coal-measures are comparatively undis-
(;urbed, and a great thickness of millstone grit must intervene betTveen
them and the marine (Lower Carboniferous) limestones. In both districts
limestone is almost entirely wanting in the coal-measures.

The folluwing analysis of a Capo Breton Lower Carboniferous water,
from the Little Narrows of the Bras d'Or Lake, made by the analyst to
the Geological Survey, 1873, is given for comparison :—

Sodium chloride...

Potttssiuin rhlorido ... ...

Magnesium chloride

O'tlcium sulphate

Alumina..,

Silict: '

Ferric >xi '" suspended, originully present, probably as
ferroub airbonate

Totalin 1,000 parts

60-6881

■1942

•1592

B6810

traces

•0054
56^7279

Tais fairly represents the composition of the Lower Carboniferous
waters, although in cases whore tliey rise from highly gypseous portions
of these measures, the calcium sulphate sometimes predominates.

This derivation oi" the sodium chloride irom the marine limestones in
Ihe case of the Pictou waters may be supported l.y the fact that at the
Vale Colliery, where the Lower Carboniferous measures are a compara-
tively short distance away, the cleats of the coal are i'requently coated
with films of selcnite up to one-quarter of an inch in thickness ; and it
will also be observed that the water from this mine contains a consider-
able amount of calcium sulphate. The unusually large percentage of
sodium carbonate present in the waters from the Vale Colliery does not
at first seem easily accounted for, unless it owes its origin to the argilla-
ceous shales which were formed from the granites and silurian slates of
the hills lying to the south of the district.

The comparatively small amounts of magnesium salts present in all
the Nova Scotia pit waters may perhaps be owing to the fact that this
mineral is not abundant in the province— an average of twenty analyses
of Lower Carboniferous limestones giving but 75 per cent, of magnesium
carbonate.

MMMwIpM