48 MABERY—THE COMPOSITION OF PETROLEUM.  [April3, 
CALIFORNIA PETROLEUM. 
In a paper published two years ago the composition of California 
petroleum oil from different sections of those fields was explained, 
and the principal series in the range of distillates examined, which 
included those below 214° in all specimens of crude oils, showed 
the series C,H,,. 
Allusion was made in the former publication to a specimen of 
exceptionally heavy oil from Summerland, Santa Barbara county, 
of especial interest, since it came from wells sunk below the level 
of the Pacific Ocean at high tide. No distillates were collected 
from this oil below 200° atmospheric pressure. Under a tension — 
of 60 mm. continued fractional distillation separated very heavy 
oils that were colorless or slightly yellow. They were purified by 
dissolving in gasoline and agitating with sulphuric acid, com- 
mon and fuming, and the gasoline distilled off with the aid of a 
current of carbonic dioxide. The composition of these products 
proved to be very different from that of the other California oils, 
or from any others we have examined. For instance, the fraction 
210°-215°, 60 mm., gave as its specific gravity at 20°, 0.9085, and 
the proportions of carbon and hydrogen corresponded to the 
hydrocarbon C,,H,,, or the series C,H,,_,. The higher members 
were the most viscous distillates that we have separated in what 
appears to be a pure form from any petroleum. 
So far as we have carried the examination of California petro- 
leum, no solid paraffine hydrocarbons have been found. From 
several fields oil has been obtained whose higher distillates on 
standing deposited large well-defined crystals, but unlike paraffine. 
From the fractions between 275° and 295°, 60 mm., separated 
from Torrey cafion oil, a considerable quantity of crystals separated 
on standing several months that melted at 57° to 62°. These 
crystals were readily soluble in benzol and alcohol, and crystallized 
from hot alcohol on cooling apparently in a pure form, unlike the . 
solid paraffine hydrocarbons that are very sparingly soluble in 
alcohol; sufficient of this product for complete identification has not 
yet been obtained. The higher portions of heavy California petro- 
leum offer an attractive field for study of the series poorer in 
hydrogen. 
Texas PETROLEUM. 
Much attention has been attracted to the recent discoveries of 
oil in Texas, and in some respects these deposits of oil possess a 
