98 Notice of a Fountain of Petroleum. 
We were told that the odor of petroleum is perceived, at a dis- 
tance, in approaching the spring; this may, not improbably, be 
true, in particular states of the wind, but we did not distinguish 
any peculiar smell until we arrived on the edge of the fountain. 
Here, its peculiar character becomes very obvious. ‘The water is 
covered with a thin layer of the petroleum or mineral oil, giving it 
a foul appearance, as if coated with dirty molasses, having a yellow- 
ish brown color. Every part of the water was covered by this film, 
but it had no where the iridescence which I recollect to have observ- 
ed at St. Catharine’s well, a petroleum fountain near Edinburgh, iv 
Scotland ; there the water was pellucid, and the hues, produced by — 
the oil, were brilliant, giving the whole a beautiful appearance: the 
difference is, however, easily accounted for; St. Catharine’s well is 
a lively, flowing fountain, and the quantity of petroleum is only suf- 
fi _ to cover it partially, while there is nothing to soil the stream; 
in the present i instance, the stagnation of the water, the comparative 
abundance of the petroleum, and the mixture of leaves and sti¢ks, 
and other productions of a dense forest, preclude any beautiful fea- 
tures. There aré, however, upon this water, here and there, spots 
of what seems to be a purer petroleum, probably recently risen, — 
which is free from mixture, and which has a bright brownish yellow 
appearance,—lively and sparkling: were the fountain a en- 
tirely, with this purer production, it would be beautiful. dae 
We were informed, that when the fountain is frozen, shore” are he 
ways some air-holes left open, and that in these the petroleum col- 
lects in unusual abundance and purity, having, distinctly, the beau- 
tiful appearance which has just been mentioned as now occurring; 
here and there, upon the water. The cause of this is easily under- 
stood ; the petroleum being then protected, by the ice, from the im- — 
purities which, at other times, fall into it, thus escapes contamination, 
and: being directed to the air-holes, both by its levity and by the gas 
which mixes with it, it there collects in greater quantity and purity: 
All the sticks and leaves, and the ground itself around the fountait, _ 
are now rendered, more or less, adhesive, by the petroleum; and 
‘the rods and paddles which are used in the water, cannot be t 
ed, —e = the hands with a tar-like coating. 
/ the petroleum by skimming it, like~eream fiome 
milk pan ; for this purpose, they use a broad flat board, made thin 
at one edge, like a knife} it is moved flat upon, and just under the 
surface of the water, and is soon covered by a coating “i the pe 
