C*Tig®) 
Chemical Examination of the Petroleum of Rangoon. By Rosert 
Curistison, M.D. F.R.S. E. Professor of Materia Medica in 
the University of Edinburgh, &c. 
(Read February 7. 1831.) 
Ar the close of the preceding session, the Council of the So- 
ciety did me the honour of entrusting me with the chemical ex- 
amination of several articles sent not long ago to the Society by 
Mr Swintoy, Secretary to Government at Calcutta. The arti- 
eles in question are, 1. Specimens of the black varnish used in 
different parts of Hindostan and the Burmese territories, with 
specimens of the juices of which these varnishes are said to be 
compounded ; 2. Specimens of naphtha from Persia, and of petro- 
leum from Rangoon; 3. Specimens of wood-oil, a variety of fluid 
turpentine; 4. Specimens of crude caoutchouc, and of solutions of 
it in wood-oil. 
The only one of these articles which has hitherto yielded re- 
sults of such interest as to induce me to lay them before the So- 
ciety, is the petroleum of Rangoon, which appears to contain a 
compound inflammable principle hitherto unknown. 
The petroleum of Rangoon, termed by Mr Swinrow Earth- 
oil, and more generally in the East, Ground-oil, is probably the 
same with what may be procured in various parts of our eastern 
dominions, by merely digging a few feet into the soil. In the 
vicinity of Rangoon it may be obtained in immense quantity for 
the mere trouble of digging it. It is used in Hindostan as pitch 
for all manner of wood-work ; and is likewise a favourite external 
remedy for rheumatism, being employed for that purpose in the 
way of friction. 
