268 PETROLEUM 



there is sufficient bitumen in it so that it will burn, it is called 

 bituminous shale. 



In addition to petroleum, obtained from wells, mineral oil 

 identical with or at any rate very closely resembling well 

 petroleum is obtained from bituminous shale, one ton of 

 shale yielding on an average forty gallons of crude oil. 



The shale is heated in a retort and bituminous vapour 

 passes off. This is condensed, and an oily green liquid is 

 obtained similar to crude petroleum. 



In Scotland, chiefly in the counties of Lanark, Linlithgow, 

 Edinburgh, and Fife, large quantities of oil are obtained from 

 shale. 



Considerable areas of bituminous shale are known to exist 

 in South Africa, and in Newfoundland, and the eastern 

 provinces of Canada, and also in Tasmania. 



In view of the extreme importance to us of having within 

 our own empire a sufficient supply of petroleum for all our 

 varied and ever-increasing needs, it behoves us to make every 

 effort to ascertain where oil-bearing lands exist and to develop 

 them with all the energy and resources at our command. 



SUMMARY. Our imports of ordinary petroleum (i.e. refined 

 for burning in lamps and oil stoves), and also of fuel oil and 

 lubricating oil, and of motor spirit, come mainly from the 

 United States, Roumania, Russia, and Mexico ; though the 

 Dutch East Indies also send us large quantities of motor 

 spirit, and crude petroleum comes chiefly from Mexico. 



From our own possessions, too, we import crude petroleum 

 and lubricating oils, while, in addition to these, Canada and 

 the West Indies send us fuel oil, and India, the Straits Settle- 

 ments, and the West Indies, motor spirit, but the quantities 

 imported are at present small compared with those from other 

 countries. 



