14 SCIENCE REMAKING THE WORLD 



out instead of salt water a stream of black oil that 

 literally set the river on fire. The Kentuckians as- 

 cribed it to a different supernatural source from the 

 Zoroastrians and called it "The Devil's Tar." Now- 

 adays values are reversed and the driller who strikes 

 brine instead of oil is disappointed. 



In 1859 Drake of Titusville, Pennsylvania, put down 

 a well and thereafter sold Rock Oil at the rate of thirty 

 barrels a day. The value of the new fuel was now be- 

 ginning to be perceived, and after the war the great oil 

 boom set in and millions were gained and lost on paper 

 while petroleum and its products found their varied 

 uses. The great fortunes that are peculiar to our time 

 had their origin in petroleum and it would be impossible 

 to overestimate their influence in all fields of modern 

 life. 



Why petroleum is an unprecedented wealth producer 

 and how it can be so readily monopolized by individuals 

 or governments can be easily seen by reference to its 

 geology and chemistry. In the first place petroleum 

 comes in pockets and is therefore readily pocketable. 

 It forms pools under pressure, pushed up from below by 

 water and held down from above by a dome of impervious 

 rock. The first man who drills through the rock gets the 

 oil, not only the oil under his own claim but much of 

 what seeps in from his neighbours' claims. Hence the 

 race to get down the first well in a new field. But great 

 haste means great waste. It is estimated that half the 

 oil is lost through lack of system in drilling. Much of 

 it runs off or is burned up before the well is brought 

 under control. More of it is left in the ground through 



