208 ANNUAL KECORD OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 



ence of olive-oil, to solid asphaltum, heavier than water. Of 

 this there are millions of tons, some of it pure, but mostly- 

 mixed with earthy or organic matter. He, however, is de- 

 cided in his conviction that there is not a particle of asphalt, 

 nor any other natural bituminous product in that region 

 that is, a residuum from the evaporation of petroleum but 

 that it is essentially a product of oxidation. 



If the former view were the correct one, then there would 

 be every warrant for incurring even very great expense in 

 boring so as to reach the unaltered soil ; but that the contrary 

 is the case is shown by the fact that maltha or tar of varying 

 density has been obtained at from ten to four hundred and 

 sixty feet from the surface a depth too; great to admit the 

 slio'htest action of the sun's rays. Nor is he satisfied that 

 the evaporation is due to the action of subterranean heat, 

 since, where such action was most apparent, in the vicinity of 

 a certain spring, the petroleum was least dense and most 

 slightly altered. ' 



The only natural springs of j^etroleum that Mr. Peckham 

 has seen in California are the Canada Laga and the Pico 

 springs. But, wherever examined, he was satisfied that the 

 change from petroleum to maltha was due to the action of 

 atmospheric oxygen, either direct or transmitted by rain- 

 water. 



Contrary to the experience with the Pennsylvania petro- 

 leums, he has never been able to find in those of California a 

 particle of either the crude materials nor any substance dis- 

 tilled from them that contained a trace of paraftine or any 

 other solid matter. For this and other reasons he is decided- 

 ly of tlie opinion that the California hydrocarbons are of 

 very little value as regards their products of distillation, and 

 that the difiiculty of mining them, even for such purposes as 

 they might be adapted to, is such as to render them of com- 

 paratively little commercial value, except in a few cases. 



INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYMENT OF NATURAL GASES. 



It is interesting to note the fact that an extended indus- 

 trial employment is made, in many regions of the country, 

 of the inflammable gases which here and there, especially 

 throughout the oil-producing regions, issue from the earth in 

 immense volumes. Professor J. S. Newberry, who has had 



