Anthracite

Anthracite (Gr. anthrax, 'a coal'), or STONE COAL, is black, has a kind of iridescent or metallic lustre, is not readily ignited, and burns nearly without smell, smoke, or flame (hence, sometimes called blind-coal), giving out an intense heat. It consists almost entirely of carbon, and contains only a small proportion of the constituents of bitumen. It occurs in beds like common coal, and has doubtless had a similar vegetable origin. Common coal which has been subjected to the action of heat underground, loses its bituminous constituents and passes into anthracite. Thus many coals have been rendered anthracitic in the neighbourhood of intrusive igneous rocks. Anthracite is used for fuel like coke; it is in fact a kind of natural coke. It is employed in the burning of lime and bricks, the reduction of iron, &c. It is found largely in South Wales, and here and there in Scotland. The largest field of anthracite is in the coal-region of Pennsylvania. See COAL.