THE OIL-SUPPLY OF THE WORLD. 



ii5 



the result that cannel-coal was found to be essentially oleiferous. The 

 discovery near Bathgate, in Linlithgowshire, of a very rich gas-coal, 

 like the celebrated Boghead coal, led to the establishment of a distil- 

 lery in its neighborhood, the coal being broken up into fragments like 

 road-metal, and heated to a red-heat in cast-iron retorts. A ton of 

 this coal was found to yield about one hundred and twenty gallons of 

 crude oil. This, being subjected to a second distillation, resolved 

 itself into certain proportions of light oil for burning, thick oil for 

 machinery, a small quantity of naphtha, and a large residuum of par- 

 affine, which, when purified with animal charcoal, is transformed into a 

 substance like beautifully white wax. 



Great was the interest excited by this discovery ; but difiiculties 

 were thrown in the way of Dr. Young's obtaining a patent for his 

 invention, as it was proved that many years previously Reichenbach 

 had tried a similar experiment, and, by distilling one hundred pounds 

 of coal, had obtained two ounces of an oil resembling naphtha. Young, 

 however, carried the day, and his now celebrated patent was granted 

 in 1850. 



It was not till six years later that any fresh attempt was made 

 thus to utilize the great beds of bituminous shale which are so exten- 

 sively found in carboniferous districts, but which had hitherto been 

 totally neglected. These have been found to yield from thirty to 

 fifty gallons of crude oil per ton ; and great works for the manufacture 

 of mineral oil have been established at many j)laces in England, Wales, 

 and Scotland. 



" Greater Britain " was not slow to adopt the new industry started 

 in the mothei'-country. In 1865 New South Wales discovered among 

 its hid treasures a shale similar to the Boghead coal of Scotland, but 

 considerably richer in oil, and less sulphurous. A sample was brought 

 to Sydney for distillation, and one ton yielded one hundred and sixty 

 gallons of oil. Thereupon the New South Wales Shale and Oil Com- 

 pany was established, and seems to have developed into a very im- 

 portant industry. 



America had taken up the subject earlier. In 1854 the Kerosene- 

 Oil Company and several other companies were started to distill oil 

 from coal, and by 1860 upward of fifty factories for this work had 

 been established in various parts of the States. 



Then came the discovery of real mineral-oil wells, which so quickly 

 revolutionized the oil-traffic of the world. Here, as in most other 

 cases, we have evidence of the " nothing-new " theory ; for, since 

 King Petroleum has asserted his power, men marvel to find traces of 

 ancient workings, proving that by-gone generations had discovered the 

 native oil — so long ago, that very old trees of several centuries' growth 

 have been found growing in the excavated ground. From some strange 

 cause unknown, these oil-seekers had abandoned their work, and (al- 

 though mineral oils were known to exist in Asia) their presence in 



