122 PETKOLEUM IX THE CAVITIES OF FOSSILS. [Feb. 5, 



districts local accumulations have apparently led to the formation 

 of petroleum and natural gas, and where evidence of so direct a 

 character is at hand it has been argued that chemical changes of 

 similar kind have been concerned in the production of hydrocar- 

 bons upon a larger scale in the rocks. But the fact most suggestive 

 of a genetic relationship between the hydrocarbons of the rocks 

 and the tissues of animal bodies is found in the frequent association 

 of petroleum and bitumen with fossil remains. 



A remarkable instance of this kind has been discovered at Wil- 

 liamsville, Niagara county, N. Y., by Mr. F. K. Mixer, of Buffalo. 

 Corals in large masses, constituting a reef of considerable propor- 

 tions, have been exposed in a limestone quarry at this place. The 

 structure of the coral is well preserved and its rounded forms are 

 standing erect as they grew in the original reef. In many parts the 

 cells contain petroleum in a somewhat thickened or dried condition 

 and the walls of the fossil seem to be saturated with oil. In other 

 parts of the reef the cells contain a black substance resembling 

 pitch or asphaltum, the color of which gives great distinctness to 

 the delicate white lace-like partitions separating the cells. The 

 distribution of petroleum and solid bitumen throughout the coral 

 is somewhat irregular. 



In viewing this reef, as it stands exposed in the quarry, various 

 questions suggest themselves as to the origin of the hydrocarbons. 

 If these have resulted from the carbon and hydrogen of the bodies 

 of the polyps, how has it occurred that the organic matters were con- 

 verted into paraffins instead of undergoing the usual process of oxi- 

 dation and decay ? The growth of the reef was undoubtedly slow, 

 as a portion only of the polyps could have been living at any given 

 time, the greater number of the cells being empty, the quantity of 

 animal matter available for petroleum production must always have 

 been small as compared with the total extent of the reef, and being 

 scattered among separate cells oxidation of the remains of the iso- 

 lated polyps would have been more likely to occur than their accu- 

 mulation in masses. There does not seem to be any reason in this 

 case for supposing that the corals in their living state were buried 

 under masses of sediment. On the contrary, the limestone extend- 

 ing around and above the corals indicates a period of quiet and 

 clear water. It is, therefore, difficult to understand how the soft 

 tissues of dead coral animals could have been protected against 

 destructive oxidation. 



