256 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



Provision for drawing in fresh fractions without loss of vacuum may be 

 made by sealing on a second tube to the neck of the flask a little lower 

 than the exit tube for the escaping vapors. Then, as in the ordinary 

 application of the Ilempel principle, the cooling space in the neck of the 

 flask may be increased by tilling it with broken glass. This requires a 

 long-necked flask, and the beads may be supported on a piece of glass 

 rod resting on the bottom of the flask, the upper end flattened so as 

 nearly to fill the neck of the flask as a support to the broken glass. The 

 chief hindrance to the use of beads is the condensation of liquids with high 

 boiling points in the neck of the flask, due to the cooling effect of the 

 outside air. The neck of the flask must, therefore, be packed an inch or 

 more thick with asbestos. AVitli this arrangement, and with a flat perfo- 

 rated ring burner for heating, the distillation may be conducted with a 

 foirly rapid fractional separation, without decomposition even of the 

 constituents that distil above 350°, 50 mm. 



This examination of California oil was undertaken with the intention 

 of ascertaining the series of hydrocarbons which constitute the main body 

 of the crude oil, as well as the principal members of the series, as shown 

 by percentage composition and molecular weights. 



The first specimen of crude oil was received through the kindness of 

 Mr. C. A. Black, chemist in an oil company in Ventura County. The 

 second specimen came from a well of the Coalinga Oil Company in Fresno, 

 through tlie secretary of the company, Mr. Henderson Hay ward. These 

 two specimens will be referred to respectively as Ventura oil and Fresno 

 oil. Another specimen was leceived from the Pnente Hills in Los An- 

 geles County, tln-ough the kindness of the Puente Oil Company at Chiuo. 

 This oil will be referred to as Puente oil. Four other specimens were 

 received from the Torrey wells and the " Los Angeles " wells in the 

 Sespe district (Scott's Hill) in Ventura County, through the kindness 

 of the Union Oil Company at Santa Paula. These samples will be 

 designated respectively as Adams' Canon, Bardsdale, Scott's Hill, and 

 Torrey oils. 



Another specimen is of especial interest, since it came from a well 

 sunk beneath the Pacific Ocean at high tide. It was sent by Mr. J. B. 

 Treadwell from a well at Summerland, Santa Barbara County, at a 

 point where the oil strata outcropped on a north and south line at the 

 top of an elevation, and again descending on the south side, disappeared 

 under the ocean. The well was driven to a depth of 245 feet, just 

 within the shore line at high tide, where it reached the bottom of the 

 oil sand. This oil will be referred to as Santa Barbara oil. 



