198 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
THE ANALYTICAL DISTILLATION OF 
- SHALE-OIL. 
BY MARTIN J. GAVIN.2 
It may be well, before beginning the discussion of 
the subject of this paper, briefly to outline the nature of 
the investigations of the Bureau of Mines on the oil-shale 
resources of the United States. Investigations on oil-shale 
were begun by the Bureau in 1916 as it was realized that 
the shale resources of the country would ultimately be- 
come important sources of hydrocarbon oils, and possibly 
other products. Oil-shale studies were only getting well 
under way when the United States entered the Great War, 
and the full attention of the Bureau was directed to mat- 
ters relative to the conduct of the war. After the armistice 
was signed, the staff working on oil-shales was increased, 
and the work reorganized. At the present time, the 
Bureau is conducting work on oil-shales in three laborator- 
ies, i. e., The Pittsburg, Pa., Experiment Station, where 
microscopic studies of different oil-shales are being made; 
The Boulder, Colorado, Cooperative Oil-Shale Laboratory, 
where work is being done on Colorado oil-shales in cooper- 
ation with the State of Colorado, and the Intermountain 
Experiment Station of the Bureau of Mines, Salt Lake 
City, Utah, under cooperative agreement with the Depart- 
ment of Metallurgical Research of the University of Utah. 
The investigational work now being conducted may 
be grouped under three headings: First, the microscopic 
examination of different shales, which is expected to 
throw much light on the nature, origin and composition 
1Presented by permission of Director, United States Bureau of 
Mines. 
2Oil-Shale Technologist, United States Bureau of Mines. 
