Until very recently the Theory of Mine
Ventilation has been a subject which most investigator.
have neglected very badly. Two men, however, cannot b
included among them, viz., Atkinson and Murgue, both
having contributed classical works... Rateau was another
who may be excluded. Nevertheless this does not imply
that Mine Ventilation had been neglected in practice.
On the contrary, during the period of these disastrous
explosions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
the necessity was felt for a plentiful supply of air
in mines at any cost. This need was fulfilled by the
use of.fans; but, effective ventilation was never
coupled with efficient ventilation. When effective
ventilation was realized, contentment seems to have.
reigned, and the papers of those authors mentioned wer
accepted complacently. Thus, although the chemistry
of ventilation was well investigated, the theoretical
side of the question was neglected.
This peaceful state, disturbed by Mr.Clive
in 1920, was shattered by Dr.Penman in 1921, when he
advocated the abandonment of Murgue's "equivalent orifice" and "orifice of passage ", pressing for a direct method of measuring mine resistance, following the
electrical engineers' Ohm's Law. His suggestion was
seconded by Dr.Parker later in 1921 and amplified. in
1923 by the Council of the Institution of Mining Engineers which set up a Committee to prepare a foundation for the very necessary research in Ventilation. In 1925
this Committee issued two Reports, in the first of which
after revising and summarising previous work, it supported Dr.Penman in his suggestion and fixed standards of measurement; in the second, it pointed out the effects
of natural ventilation in the ventilation of deep mines
Various other people, notably Professors Briggs and Hay
have also agreed with Dr.Penman.
In the discussions on the recent papers by the
modern writers just mentioned, many laws, modifications
of Dr.Penman's variation of Ohm's Law, have been
suggested, especially by Professor Briggs, to give some
criterion of mine resistance. However, no law or
equation seemed favourable to all; there seemed nothing
but doubt on every point.
In an endeavour to throw some light on this
clouded subject, tests were run on various collieries
in Scotland and England by Professor Henry Briggs,
D.Sc., Ph.D., etc., Williamson, B.Sc., Ph.D.,
J.S.Penman, B.Sc., Ph.D., and the.writer. The results
of this investigation will be described later. It is
now necessary to give a fuller account of previous
allied work, to which this fragment is added
