1898.] DAY — AN ASPHALT RESEMBLING GILSONITE. 171 



THE PRODUCTION OF AN ASPHALT RESEMBLING 



GILSONITE BY THE DISTILLATION OF A MIX- 



TURE OF FISH AND WOOD. 



(Plate X.) 



BY WM. C. DAY. 



{Read May 20, 1S9S.) 



A few years since, I undertook a rather detailed experimental 

 study of the variety of asphalt known as gilsonite/ which is mined 

 for commercial use in Utah. Gilsonite is a black, glistening, brit- 

 tle material, yielding a dark-brown powder when finely pulverized. 

 It fuses readily, becoming a liquid which begins to boil at a temper- 

 ture above the limit of a mercury thermometer. 



It is entirely soluble in carbon bisulphide, not entirely soluble in 

 ordinary ether, partly soluble in absolute alcohol, petroleum ether, 

 glacial acetic acid and chloroform, imparting to these solvents a 

 yellowish to red color with green fluorescence. Besides carbon 

 and hydrogen, it contains sulphur, nitrogen, a trace of oxygen and 

 one-tenth of one per cent, of ash. 



Among the various products which I obtained by distilling gil- 

 sonite may be mentioned as of interest in this connection certain 

 nitrogenous bases extracted from the distillates by the action of 

 dilute acid and precipitated therefrom by alkalies. These bodies 

 have an odor like that of the pyridine and quinoline series. Such 

 substances were first obtained from bitumen by Prof. S. F- Peck- 

 ham, who noticed them in distillates from. California petroleum ; 

 later by myself from an asphalt occurring in Coos county, Oreg., 

 also in the product which forms the subject of this paper. 



As a result of considerable experimental work in the past few 

 years with asphalts from a variety of sources in the United States, 

 together with a study of the literature pertaining to the question of 

 the origin of the bitumens from both the geological and the chem- 

 ical standpoints, I became impressed with the belief that the solid 

 and also some of the higher boiling liquid bitumens have been 

 formed in the earth by the distillation of mixed animal and vege- 

 table material, together with steam at high temperatures, but at pres- 

 sures which may or may not have been high. Petroleum distillates 

 have been obtained by Warren and later by Engler from fish oil, 



^Jotimal Fratiklin Institute^ Vol. clx, p. 221. 



