The 1869 translation of an illustrated work on mining, originally published in 1867 and regarded as having inspired Zola's Germinal.

Author's preface; Note by the translator; List of coloured illustrations; List of geological maps; Table of illustrations; Part I. Coal Mines: 1. Coal mines - past and present; 2. Origin of coal; 3. History and tradition; 4. The black country; 5. How coal is discovered; 6. Shafts and levels; 7. How the coal is worked; 8. The field of battle; 9. Falls of roof and inundations; 10. The perilous passage; 11. The soldier of the abyss; 12. Today and tomorrow; Part II. Metalliferous Mines: 1. The stages of the human race; 2. The laboratory of nature; 3. The princes of the mineral kingdom; 4. The metalliferous world: Europe and Asia; 5. The metalliferous world: America, Polynesia, Africa; 6. Eureka; 7. Hidden treasures; 8. The attack on the ground; 9. The sisters of the catacombs; 10. Crushing and washing; 11. The phalanx of miners; 12. The wealth of nations; Part III. Mines of Precious Stones: 1. The family of gems; 2. In the east and under the tropics; 3. The seekers; Index.