Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER THREE HISTORY. 81. What is history f History is a continuous narrative of events; a chronicle or register of happenings in the order of time; a record. 82. When does the history of coal begin f The history of coal begins properly with the first mention which we can find of it in written or printed narrative. 83. What is the earliest mention made of coal f The first mention made of coal is contained in the Bible, Prov. xxvi. 21,—"As coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife." 84. When and by whom was this written f It was written by King Solomon about the year 1016 B.o., and is supposed by many authorities to refer to charcoal. 85. Was not Solomon familiar with coal f King Solomon's empire contained Syria, which abounds in coal, fossils, and bituminous pits, andit is reasonable to suppose that the coal which is now found in the rocks about Hermon and Lebanon was not unknown to the Jewish king. 86. What is bitumen f Generally speaking, bitumen is a mineral oil combined with other various substances. 87. What are some of the properties of bitumen f Among the properties of bitumen we have naphtha, petroleum, mineral tar, and asphalt. Coal is also supposed to contain some bitumen. 88. Where is the next mention of coal in the Bible f The next is contained in Isaiah xlvii. 14,— "There shall not be coal to warm at." 89. When was this written f This was written about 750 B.c. and probably 100 years before the next biblical mention of coal, which occurs in Lamentations iv. 8,—" Their visage is blacker than a cooZ." 90. Have we any mention of coal in ancient times besides those made in the Bible f A description of coal occurs in the writings of Theophrastus. 91. Who was Theophra...