The origin of petfoleam in California. 



By ARTHUR M. EDWARDS, M. D. 



Where did the coal come from in the first place? And, also, 

 where the petroleum originate? For they are both things that can be 

 used for fuel and must have had some begining. And these question 

 are of those that present themselves to the mind at an early stage? 

 I remember that when I first began to reson about things, and l 

 was very young then, that the origin of coal was among the first 

 1 enquired to. The beginning of petroleum carne next, for that was 

 not known then. 



Petroleum was not known then. Oil lamps that were were fed 

 by whale oil were common things when I was a boy. And these 

 questions which meet the geologist when starting on the investi- 

 gation of things. And the investigation of things and the finding out 

 the why is the lot of the geologist at an early period of his ca- 

 reer. They are answered by the microgeologist in a the way he an- 

 swers them : by the microscope. The microscope only as an adjunet 

 to the eye. The eye merely as an extension of the brain. Now coal 

 can and does come from peat. And peat is the mass of matter left 

 by bogs, wet bogs. Let us then start with a bog, which is formed 

 or a mass of vegetable matter, water plants, mostly algae. These 

 plants are composed of loose celluose. 



They almost dry up, the water is evaporated, and the plants 

 die. Now instead of being green in color they pass into a brown, 

 and almost black tint. But besides the celluose there is present a 

 certain amount of earthy matter which has been resoned as silice- 

 eus, silica, but is clayev, aluminium silicate of the chemist, called 

 clay. This earthy matter is heavier than the cellulose and therefore 

 settles at the bottoni of the pasty mass. And as the peaty mat- 



