Geography of Ohio 169 



mal, become buried by sediment, and very slowly putrefy or fer- 

 ment. That in this alteration gas is evolved, you have only 

 to recall observing bubbles of gas rising to the surface of streams 

 and of other water bodies. In 1878 Radziszewski-" suggested that 

 the action of bacteria on buried organic matter plays an important 

 role on the development of these hydrocarbons. It is known that 

 the decay of plant and animal tissue is due entirely to the work of 

 these micro-organisms. 



Petroleum possesses a certain optical activity which is wanting 

 in artificially produced hydrocarbons. This activity appears to 

 be due to certain components not found in the artificial products. 



The first main general theory, that of the inorganic origin of petro- 

 leum, has been found to be inadmissable on chemical as well as on geolog- 

 ical grounds, since petroleums so derived are optically inactive, differing 

 from natural oils, while the facts of the occurrence of petroleum are 

 opposed to the theory, and allow its application only to a few occurrences 

 of hydrocarl)ons in igneous rocks where these cannot have derived their 

 l^ituminum from surrounding sedimentary deposits. ^^ 



AMOUNT OF OIL AND GAS PRODUCED 



Natural gas. Between the years 1885 and 1890 Ohio ranked 

 second in the production of natural gas, only Pennsylvania sup- 

 plied more. From 1891 to 1898 the second place was taken by 

 Indiana, Ohio ranking third. Between the years 1899 and 1903 

 Ohio's position was fourth. West Virginia also producing more. 

 But from 1904 to 1908 Ohio assumed again the third rank, Indiana 

 falling into the fourth place. 



Petroleum. As an oil-producing state, Ohio has been steadily 

 decreasing since 1900, but its output of oil up to this time was 

 remarkable, and should be given a prominent position in any 

 discussion of its natural resources. The appended table from the 

 Mineral Resources of the U. S. Geological Survey for 1908- shows 

 the production for Ohio, as well as the entire output of the 

 country; before 1876, the oil of Ohio was included in the figure for 

 the whole country: 



20 Archiv. Pharm., 3, xiii, 45.'-59. 



-'■ Leonard V. Dalton: Economic Geology, iv, (1909), (530. 



22 Ibid., p. 350. 



