136 WALKS AND TALKS. 



vertised themselves as geologists, were pretenders and quacks. 

 Recognized by the undiscriminating as geologists, possessing 

 equal authority with scientific men who had earned reputa- 

 tions among their compeers, these geological quacks brought 

 discredit on science, and justified, to some extent, the contempt 

 of " practical men" who appreciated conclusions, but spurned 

 the reasoning which led to them. 



Now, some of the scientific principles which must hold 

 true without any regard to the particular causes and condi- 

 tions of oil-accumulation, are such as these : 1. Oil is not a 

 direct deposit from the sea ; it is the product of some changes 

 in substances which formed part of the ocean's sediments. 

 2. Being composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, it must 

 have originated from organic substances, either vegetable or 

 animal. 



3. Being lighter than water, it must tend to rise through 

 the water which saturates all rocks, instead of sinking. The 

 source of the oil, therefore, could never be in any formation 

 situated at a higher level than the place of the oil. This is a 

 principle which the crazy crowd could never be taught. The 

 oil, for them, was always a "drip" from the Coal Measures. 



4. A good " surface show" is not favorable, since it is only 

 caused by the escape and waste of the oil; while the thing 

 wanted is an accumulation or retention of the oil that is, an 

 absence of surface show. This the contemners of scientific 

 guidance could not understand. 



5. There must consequently be an overlying stratum 

 which is impervious to oil, to prevent the product from rising 

 to the surface, to be wasted in a " surface show." If a fissure, 

 even, passes through this, the oil will escape. A bed of clay 

 or compact shale might serve as such a cover. Compact lime- 

 stone might serve ; but most limestones are too much shut- 

 tered. Indeed, shattered limestones, in some cases, serve as 

 reservoirs for the accumulation. 



6. The accumulation of oil must be determined, among 

 other things, by the attitudes of the strata. The trends of ''oil 

 territory " must conform to the trends of formations. The situ- 



