876 PRINCIPLES OF CHEMISTRY 



and its refuse may be used as fuel. 55 Whether naphtha was formed 

 from organic matter is very doubtful, as it is found in the most ancient 

 Silurian strata which correspond with epochs of the earth's existence 

 when there was little organic matter ; it could not penetrate from the 

 higher to the lower (more ancient) strata as it floats on water (and 

 water penetrates through all strata). It therefore tends to rise to the 

 surface of the earth, and it is always found in highlands parallel to the 

 direction of the mountains/' 6 Much more probably its formation may 

 be attributed to the action of water penetrating through the crevasses 

 formed on the mountain slopes and reaching to the heart of the 

 earth, to that kernel of heated metallic matter which must be accepted 

 as existing in the interior of the earth. And as meteoric iron often 

 contains carbon (like cast iron), so, accepting the existence of such 

 carburetted iron at unattainable depths in the interior of the earth, it 

 may be supposed that naphtha was produced by the action of water 

 penetrating through the crevices of the strata during the upheaval of 



55 Naphtha has been applied for heating purposes on a large scale in Russia, not only 

 on account of the low cost of naphtha itself and of the residue from the preparation of 

 kerosene, but also because the products of all the Baku naphtha do not find an outlet 

 for general consumption. Naphtha itself and its various residues form excellent fuel, 

 burning without smoke and giving a high temperature (steel and iron may be easily 

 melted hi the flame). A hundred poods of good coal (for instance, Don coal) used as 

 fuel for heating boilers are equivalent to 86 cubic feet (about 250 poods) of dry wood, 

 while only 70 poods of naphtha will be required; and moreover there is no need for 

 Btokfng, as the liquid can be readily and evenly supplied in the required quantity. The 

 economic and other questions relating to American and Baku petroleums have been 

 discussed moi'e in detail in some separate' Works of mine (D. MendeleeH) : (1) ' The 

 Naphtha Industry of Pennsylvania and the Caucasus,' 1870; (2) 'Where to Build 

 Naphtha Works,' 1880; (3) 'On the Naphtha Question,' 1883 ; (4) 'The Baku Naphtha 

 Question.' 1886 ; (5) the article on the naphtha industry in the account of the Russian 

 industries printed for the Chicago Exhibition. 



66 As during the process of the dry distillation of wood, seaweed, and similar vege- 

 table dtbris, and also when: fats are decomposed by the action of heat (in closed vessels), 

 hydrocarbons similar to those of naphtha are formed, it was natural that this fact should 

 have been turned to account to explain the formation of the latter. But the hypothesis 

 of the formation of naphtha from vegetable delris inevitably assumes coal to be the 

 chief element of decomposition, and naphtha is met with in Pennsylvania and Canada, in 

 the Silurian and Devonian strata, which do not contain coal, and correspond to an epoch 

 not abounding in organic matter. Coal was formed from the vegetable debris of the 

 Carboniferous, Jurassic, and other recent strata, but judging more from its composition 

 and structure, it has been subjected to the same kind of decomposition as peat ; nor 

 could liquid hydrocarbons have been thus formed to such an extent as we see in naphtha. 

 If we ascribe the derivation of naphtha to the decomposition of fat (adipose, animal fat) 

 we encounter three almost insuperable difficulties: (1) Animal remains would furnish 

 a great deal of nitrogenous matter, whilst there is but very little in naphtha ; (2) the 

 enormous quantity of naphtha already discovered as compared with the insignificant 

 amount of fat in the animal carcase ; (3) the sources of naphtha always running parallel 

 to mountain chains is completely inexplicable. Being struck with this last-mentioned 

 circumstance in Pennsylvania, and finding that the sources in the Caucasus surround the 

 .whole Caucasian range (Baku, Tiflis, Gouria, Kouban, Taman, Groznoe, Dagestan), I 

 Developed in 1876 the hypothesis of the, mineral origin of naphtha expounded further on.. 



