ILLUMINATION. 



513 



zole and toluole ; then, after washing, dry- 

 ing over caustic potash, and distilling with 

 sodium, the four hydrides above given were 

 obtained, as from coal tar. 



MM. Pelouze and Cahours have also examin- 

 ed the American petroleum; and they, too, 

 find that it consists essentially of compounds 

 which are homologous Avith marsh gas, the 

 lowest term of the series obtained by them 

 being the hydride of butyl, 8 Hi , which pass- 

 es into the state of vapor at a little above 0C., 

 while the highest term yet studied is Cso H 3a . 

 From these hydrides the authors have obtain- 

 ed the corresponding chlorides, and, in many 

 cases, the alcohols. They consider it probable 

 that paraffin is a mixture of still higher terms 

 in the series. But their results contradict 

 those of M. Schorlemmer, in relation to ben- 

 zole and toluole, the presence of which in pe- 

 troleum they explicitly deny. 



In the " Scientific American " (New Series), 

 vol. viii, p. 171, an abstract is given of a pro- 

 cess recently patented by Mr. W. TV. Tindall, 

 of Liverpool, for the deodorizing of petroleum, 

 and other mineral oils ; and in the same jour- 

 nal, vol. ix, p. 133, an account of Prof. E. Y. 

 Gardner's new method of refining the same 

 oils. The number of readers, however, to 

 whom the details of these processes would 

 prove of interest, is extremely small. 



Supposed Sources of Petroleum in certain 

 Oil-tearing Strata, Mr. T. S.Eidgeway, geolo- 

 gist and mining engineer, having surveyed the 

 oil district of Oil Creek, Penn., states, as a 

 result of this examination, his conviction that 

 the petroleum of this district is not produced 

 from the coal fields, since in that case it would 

 have had to flow up hill into the oil basin. He 

 says : " Petroleum found in bituminous coal- 

 basins no doubt originates from beds of coal ; 

 * * but it is my opinion that the petroleum of 

 the Oil Creek valley is the result of the de- 

 composition of marine plants." 



Prof. Hunt, in the communication above 

 mentioned, states that it is in the Lower De- 

 vonian (Corniferous) limestone that, in this 

 country, the greatest amount of petroleum oc- 

 curs; and he considers that, although the 

 Higher Devonian sandstones in New York and 

 Pennsylvania are often impregnated with the 

 oil, so that these, along with higher strata, 

 supply the oil-springs of those States, yet the 

 real source of the oil in these strata may be in 

 the Lower Devonian, this, as he thinks, being 

 undoubtedly the case in regard to the petro- 

 leum of Western Canada. 



In certain townships on the northern shore of 

 Lake Erie, coralline beds and those in which 

 certain shells appear, ai-e found filled or impreg- 

 nated with petroleum. ' Speaking especially in 

 reference to the township of Bertie, oppo'site 

 Buifalo, Prof. Hunt says: " The facts observed 

 at this locality appear to show that the petro- 

 leum, or the substance which has given rise to 

 it, was deposited in the beds in which it is now 

 found, at the formation of the rock. "We may 

 VOL. in. 33 A 



suppose in these oil-bearing beds an accumula- 

 tion of organic matters, whose decomposition, 

 in the midst of a marine calcareous deposit, 

 has resulted in their complete transformation 

 into petroleum, which has found a lodgment in 

 the cavities of the shells and corals immediate- 

 ly near. Its absence from the unfilled cells of 

 corals, in the adjacent and interstratified beds, 

 forbids the idea of the introduction of the oil 

 either by distillation or by infiltration. The same 

 observations apply to the petroleum of the 

 Trenton limestone ; and if it shall hereafter 

 be shown that the source of petroleum (as 

 distinguished from asphalt) in other regions 

 is to be found in marine fossiliferous lime- 

 stones, a step will have been made toward a 

 knowledge of the chemical conditions neces- 

 sary to its formation." 



Transportation of Petroleum, or other Li- 

 quids. Mr. S. J. Seely of Brooklyn, N. Y., has 

 patented a railway car for the purposes just in- 

 dicated. The body of the car is of corrugated 

 or other sheet iron, and, in order to secure the 

 greatest strength of the materials, is made in 

 the form of a cylinder. Thus, the car-body is 

 in effect a large cylindrical tank, on wheels, 

 and into which the liquids to be transported 

 are directly introduced. Opening from the 

 bottom of the^ cylinder, are a series of pipes, 

 furnished with cocks and flexible branch pipes, 

 so as to allow of drawing off the contained 

 liquid into several barrels or other vessels at 

 once ; while the arrangement of pipes is ordi- 

 narily protected by their being enclosed with- 

 in boxes, through doors in which access can be 

 had to the former when occasion requires. 



Comparison of Uluminants in reference to 

 Lighting Power, Cost, and Products. In a lec- 

 ture before the Eoyal Institution, February, 

 1863, Prof. E. Frankland presented the results 

 of certain comparisons of various illuminating 

 materials largely in use in England. He stated 

 that, for economy, brilliancy, and intensity of 

 light, the kerosene (in England called " paraf- 

 fin ") and rock oils take the first place. The 

 following are, in brief, the results of the com- 

 parisons referred to : 



I. ILLUMINATING EQUIVALENTS. Kerosene 

 oil, 1 gallon, equivalent to 1.26 galls. American 

 petroleum; to 18.6 Ibs. paraffin (solid) candles; 

 to 22.9 Ibs. sperm candles; to 27.6 Ibs. Wax 

 candles ; to 29.5 Ibs. composite candles ; and 

 to 39 Ibs. tallow candles. 



II. COMPAEATIVE COST. To produce an 

 amount of light equal to that of 20 sperm can- 

 dles, burning each at the rate of 120 grs. per 

 hour, for 10 hours, the cost of various materi- 

 als consumed was as follows : wax, 7s. 2|d. ; 

 spermaceti, 6s. 8d. ; paraffin candles, 3s. lOd. ; 

 tallow, 2s. 8d. ; sperm oil, Is. lOd. ; rock oil, 

 7{d.'; kerosene oil, 6d. ; ordinary coal gas, 

 4^d. ; cannel gas, 3d. 



III. CARBONIC ACID and HEAT generated 

 per. hour by various, illuminating agents, each 

 burned in such quantity as to give the light of 

 20 sperm candles : 



