1897.] PETROLEUM IN THE CAVITIES OF FOSSILS. 123 



Pieces of this fossil taken from the quarry are on examination 

 readily seen to contain an amount of petroleum at least equal in 

 bulk to the cells of the coral. The solid bitumen occurring in 

 other parts suffices to nearly fill the cells. These facts would render 

 it difficult to account for the hydrocarbons on the supposition that 

 they are due to chemical changes occurring in the tissues of the 

 original organisms. 



Le Bel (^Notice sur les Gisements de petrole a Fccheldronn, Col- 

 mar, 1885, p. 4) has observed that fossils frequently contain in 

 their cavities a quantity of petroleum greater than could be pro- 

 duced from the organic matter of the original animal, even suppos- 

 ing that this organic matter had been converted wholly into petro- 

 leum. 



Fraas (Jaccard, Le Petrole, 18^^, p. 60), in describing the occur- 

 rence of petroleum in a coral reef in the Red Sea, refers to the fact 

 that oil collects in parts of the reef growing in shallow clear water 

 and states that this oil is so abundant that it has been carried by 

 Bedouins to Suez, where in 1868 it had become an article of com- 

 merce. Fraas believes that the oil is being produced by the decom- 

 position of the organisms of the coral. 



If the source of this petroleum is correctly interpreted, its occur- 

 rence under such conditions can hardly be considered to represent 

 an isolated case. The reactions which take place during the con- 

 version of animal remains into petroleum must be typical of 

 changes occurring elsewhere, and must result normally under given 

 conditions as to temperature, pressure and oxidizing influences. 

 Wherever the same conditions exist in other reefs they should give 

 rise to a similar constant production of petroleum and we should 

 be justified in speaking of a " petroleum fermentation " coordinate 

 with other naturally occurring organic changes. 



It seems doubtful whether this petroleum can have originated in 

 the coral where it is found and it is improbable that such an occur- 

 rence can serve to explain the origin of hydrocarbons in the Silu- 

 rian fossils. I have been unable to learn that petroleum is found 

 in the reefs at Bermuda. Dr. W. H. Dall, of the Smithsonian In- 

 stitution, informs me that no occurrence of petroleum has been 

 reported in the reefs of the Florida coast. If in the case of the 

 Silurian coral at Williamsville the process of conversion into hydro- 

 carbons was rapidly completed after the destruction of the animals, 

 the oil would have floated to the surface of the water and little 



