HISTORY OF PETROLEUM OR ROCK OIL. 323 



The valley of the Little Kanawha, in Virginia, which is to be 

 looked upon as an extension of the same oil-bearing region, contains 

 petroleum springs which, so long ago as 1836. according to Dr. Hil- 

 dreth, yielded from fifty to a hundred barrels yearly. It here rises 

 through the carboniferous strata, and, as elsewhere, is accompanied by 

 great quantities of inflammable gas. 



The black inflammable shales of the Devonian series in western 

 Canada, which were formerly referred to the Hamilton group, and 

 are now considered to belong to the base of the overlying Portage 

 and Chemung, appear at Kettle Point, on Lake Huron, and in por- 

 tions of {he region southward to Lake Erie; but the oil wells sunk in 

 Enniskillen show that the source of the oil is really below the horizon 

 of these shales, inasmuch as the underlying argillaceous shales and 

 limestones of the Hamilton group are there found near the surface, 

 and have been penetrated 120 feet, at which depth oil is still met 

 with, leaving but little doubt that it is derived from the limestones 

 beneath, which both in New York and in Canada are impregnated 

 with petroleum. A somewhat slaty brownish-black bituminous dolo- 

 mite belonging to the corniferous limestone from Pine creek, near 

 Alma, in Kincardine, gave me not less than 12.8 per cent, of bitu- 

 men, fusible and readily soluble in benzole, and another from the 

 Grand Manitoulin island, which was a brown crystalline dolomite, 

 yielded from 7.4 to 8.8 per cent, of similar bitumen. The solid form 

 of this bitumen at the outcrop of the rocks is probably due to the 

 action of the air. 



The existence of liquid bitumen in the corniferous limestone in 

 western Canada was pointed out as long ago as 1844 by Mr. Murray, 

 who tells us that this rock is generally bituminous, and that cavities 

 in it are often filled with petroleum; the quarries near Gravelly bay, 

 in Wainfleet, are cited as an example. — (Report of Geological Survey, 

 1846, p. 87.) In the report for 1850 we find a notice of what are 

 called oil springs, in which petroleum rises to the surface of the water 

 near the right bank of the Thames, in Mosa, and in two places on Bear 

 creek, in Enniskillen. Subsequently Mr. Murray described a con- 

 siderable deposit of solid bitumen or mineral tar, which occurs in the 

 same township, extending over about half an acre, and in some places 

 two feet in thickness, doubtless formed by the drying up of petroleum 

 springs. — (Report for 1851, p. 90.) I had already, in the report for 

 1849, p. 99, described this bitumen from specimens in the Museum of 

 the Geological Survey, and called attention to its economic applica- 

 tions, remarking that "the consumption of this material in England 

 and on the continent for the construction of pavements, for paying 

 the bottoms of ships, and for the manufacture of illuminating gas is 

 such that the existence of these deposits in the country is a matter 

 of considerable importance.'^ At this time solid bitumen was thus 

 employed, but in the liquid form of petroleum its use was chiefly con- 

 fined m Europe to medicinal purposes. Under the names of Seneca 

 oil and Barbadoes tar it had long been known and employed medi- 

 cinally by the native tribes of America. Its use for burning, as a 

 source of light or heat, in modern times has been chiefly confined to 



