The origin and nature of coals and chars

Prof. Bone and his co-workers have now reached a stage in theirsystematic study of the coal substance—their results are so remarkable and significant—that it may be to the advantage of further inquiry to consider very briefly the evidence we have of theprocess involved in the formation of coals. The inquiry has too long been left in the unassisted hands of the geologist and palæo-botanist, and only benefit can accrue to it if the outlook be not only widened but made precise. The problem of the nature of coal has been in my thoughts since early in the ’70’s, when I grasped the meaning of Pasteur’s most remarkable demonstration that moist sterilised sawdust is not oxidised by exposure to oxygen: that ordinary vegetable decay is the outcome of bacterial action.