Damps
Gases (other than air) in coal mines in England were collectively known as "damps". This comes from the German word Dampf (meaning "vapour"), and was probably introduced when German miners and mine engineers were brought to England in the 17th century to help in the development of deep mining. This is not certain, however, as the technical term for gases (air and others) among German miners is Wetter (literally "weather").
Other damps included blackdamp (carbon dioxide and other gases), poisonous, explosive stinkdamp (hydrogen sulphide), with its characteristic "rotten egg" odour, and the insidiously lethal afterdamp (carbon monoxide and other gases) produced following explosions of firedamp or coal dust.
Read more about this topic: Firedamp