no DE. EOBEET BELL ON 



wells starting ou the Corniferous : Test Well at Petrolia, 623 feet ; artesian well at London, 

 1,000 feet ; at Comber, 520 feet ; at St. Mary's, 500 feet ; at Tilsoubtirg, 854 feet ; at Clinton 

 975 feet. In boring salt wells at G-oderich, '715 feet, and at Kincardine, 508 feet of 

 limestone of the Onondaga formation alone, were passed through. 



(4). The petroleum of Enniskillen has the same pungent or sulphurous character as 

 that derived from the Ti-enton limestone of Ohio and Mauitoulin Island, and its chemical 

 constitution appears to be identical, as it requires the same peculiarities in the process of 

 relining to deodorise it ; whereas petroleums known to originate in Devonian rocks, are of 

 a diiferent character in various respects. Dr. Sterry Hunt, from whose valuable report for 

 1866, some of the above figures are taken, hinted (on p. 254) at the possible Trenton 

 origin of the petroleum of Oil Springs, although elsewhere he always maintained that its 

 probable source was in the Corniferous limestone. If all the formations are present rrnder 

 Enniskillen, with their probable volumes, and if the writer's estimate of their thickness 

 be correct, the top of the Trenton limestone will lie some 2,600 feet, or half-a-mile, below 

 that of the Corniferous formation. Notwithstanding this considerable depth of the inter- 

 vening strata, it may have been quite possible for petroleum to have come up from the 

 lower formation and stored itself in the cavities and fissures of the upper one ; and indeed 

 it may even now be steadily rising through natural channels from great accumulations 

 remaining in the deeper source, and this may, perhaps, account for the large, long-continued 

 and nearly uniform yield which this small territory has kept up and is still maintaining. 

 But if the Cincinnati anticlinal had been formed in the Trenton in this region before the 

 deposition of the overlying strata, as appears to have been the case under Findlay in Ohio, 

 this formation may lie considerably nearer the surface than has been supposed. A careful 

 comparison of the gas and the bitter saline water which accompany the Enniskillen petro- 

 leum with those from the Trenton limestone in Ohio and different parts of Canada, might 

 be of service in helping to determine the qixestiou of the original source of the petroleum. 



In recent years, no wells have been drilled in the Enniskillen oil field beyond the 



depth known to give the best return in petroleum, but, in 18*78, Mr. J. L. Englehart, with 



commendable enterprise, sunk a well to a depth of 1,505 feet, on the 12th lot of the 11th 



concession, about seven-eighths of a mile north of the centre of the town of Petrolia. 



The last 400 feet were said to consist of gypsum and rock-salt and the 500 feet just above 



these were stated to be light-colored hard limestone with sandy beds. The strata in this 



field are so nearly horizontal, and so constant in thickness, that, over considerable areas, 



the drillers count with certainty on striking the same beds at nearly the same depths. 



The following is the average descending section in the thousands of wells which have 



been drilled around Petrolia : — 



Feet. 



Stiff blue clay, with stones and some boulders 100 



Upper limestone, with a little black shale occasionally at the top • 50 



Bluish grey and drab shale { " soapstone " ), with a few hard layers 120 



Middle limestone 15 ; 



" Soapstone," with two or three hard beds 40 



Lower limestone ( Corniferous ) in which oil is found at 45 ft. ( " upper 



show " ) and also (" lower show ") at 135 



Total fkom tub Surface 460 



The Corniferous limestone has a thickness in this vicinity of about 300 feet, but it has 



