8 



THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



as compared with less than 500,000 in 

 191 1 and with tractors, motorhnats, mo 

 torcycles, and other gasoline burning en 

 gines increasing equally rapidly, it is in 

 teresting to note that the supply of high- 

 grade gasoline is decreasing; in fact 

 there would have been a shortage in igi] 

 had it not been for the rapid develop- 

 ment of the natural gas condensing pro- 

 cess. This is the situation which has 

 brought about the rise in the retail price 

 of gasoline. Considering, too, that the 

 present season will boost the number of 

 motor cars in use from the number men 

 tioned to at least 850,000, while plans foi 

 IQ13 show a production which will pui 

 the total beyond the million mark. The 

 objections to the natural gas fuel are thai 

 in order to produce coal gas one must 

 have quite a large space, and of course 

 that would be impracticable for automo 

 bile use, since a motor car could hardh 

 carrv a gas producing outfit around with 

 it and still have room for passengers 

 For stationary use coal gas may be 

 favorably considered. But here again is 

 the obejction to attention required b> 

 such a plant and the inconvenience ol 

 handling coal and ashes. 



Alcohol at present cannot be seriousi} 

 considered as a possible fuel, since cer 

 tain laws governing its manufacture dc 

 not permit the sale of large quantities 

 by retail dealers. Consequently the price 

 is not low enough to compete with othei 

 fuels. The combustion products of al- 

 cohol are more or less injurious to 

 metals, and on evaporation of the poorer 

 qualities it develops a stickmess which 

 would hinder lubrication. So it is evi- 

 dent that alcohol is not to be considered 

 as a practical fuel. At some point fur- 

 ther on I will show w^hy kerosene has 

 not been a success as a fuel for internal 



combustion engines. Another reason 

 why the price of gasoline is still rising 

 is that the supply is controlled by the 

 Standard Oil Company and the Texas 

 Oil Refining Company. Several years 

 ago the Standard Oil got into trouble 

 over the gasoline question and was fined 

 an enormous sum and also forced to 

 dissolve. This they did by forming sub- 

 companies in several states all working 

 together as before. The result is that 

 they control the supply today just as 

 much as they ever did, but in the eyes 

 of the law it is legal now, whereas it 

 wasn't before. The Texas Oil Refining 

 Company ha.s been making money at a 

 rapid rate by selling very poor grade 

 gasoline at the usual market price. It ii- 

 so poor and inefficient that it cannot be 

 used with success in motor-cycles. So 

 between these two companies there is 

 verv little chance for the price of gaso 

 line falling unless some new fuel comes 

 on to the field. 



Although up to the present tune there 

 ha*^ been a deal of difficulty in securing 

 perfect carburetion. in recent years 

 great strides toward perfection have been, 

 made. The improvement in devices for 

 carburetion has kept pace with deteriora- 

 tion of the fuel, if it may be called that^ 

 and will probably continue to do so. The 

 change has been gradual so far, but we 

 have almost reached the limit of the 

 gasoline group of petroleum distillates,- 

 and a new proposition confronts us. Al- 

 most any motor of modern type and con- 

 struction will use gasoline, benzme, dif- 

 ferent grades of naphtha, distillate, etc., 

 because they are of the same general 

 nature, and behave in a similar manner 

 under similar motor conditions. In 

 Pennsylvania petroleum the gasoline 

 group comprises about 15% . of the 



