1894J CRONISE — PITCH LAKE OF TRINIDAD. 281 



the truth. If half a million tons has been taken out from a small 

 area without appreciably lowering the surface it fs impossible to 

 make an estimate of any value as to the extent of the supply. 



The origin of this never failing supply of pitch is not certainly 

 known. The theories of vegetable, animal, mineral and volcanic 

 origin have been much discussed. The nearest that can be said is 

 that it is from the decomposition of organic matter. 



The term " pitch," probably from the Greek -czu::, the pine tree, 

 was first applied to the residuum of boiled tar, or vegetable pitch. It 

 is now applied also to some of those mineral substances of an oily or 

 resinous nature known as bitumens, composed chiefly of carbon and 

 hydrogen, and varying from naphtha, the most volatile, to pit-coal the 

 most solid. The relation of the pitch of Trinidad, or asphaltum, to 

 the most important of the series is as follows : 



Naphtha, 



Petroleum, 



_,. , Mineral Tar, or Maltha, 



Bitumens. < ^, . ^.. „, 



Elastic Bitumen, or Klaterite, 



Asphaltum, 



^ Pit Coal. 



The bitumens of this series merge into one another so that it is impos- 

 sible to make clear distinctions. 



Exploitation. 

 The Pitch Lake is the property of the government of Trinidad. 

 Until a few years ago licenses to take asphalt from the lake were 

 given to various parties. These different parties being in competition 

 with one another decided to combine and secure if possible the 

 exclusive right to the lake. As the licenses were not exclusive they 

 were not valuable enough to bring much revenue to the government, 

 and the export duty of twenty cents per ton brought little more. The 

 licensees proposed to the government that if they could have the 

 exclusive right to take asphalt from the lake for a term of years they 

 would guarantee $36,000 a year and pay forty cents a ton for the 

 asphalt taken, and would submit to an export duty of $1.20 a ton. 

 The object in proposing an increased duty was to deter the competi- 

 tion of those who were mining "land asphalt" in the island. The 

 proposition was accepted, The licensees, many of whom were 

 English, organized as "The Trinidad Asphalt Company," a corpora- 

 tion under the laws of New Jersey, with their principal office in Port 



19, Proc. Roch. Acad. Sci., Vol. 2, July, 1894. 



