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were one of the originai ones given by Biake to Bailey. Some of tliese 

 were hard and called flint and weie of a dark color. Before I took 

 hold of the California work I wtis in the office of a friend of mine 

 in New York and he said in conversation that Prof. Silliman, whom I 

 knew, had been in that day and Avoukl start for California at once to 

 search out the petroleiuu there. For he was sure that paying petroleiim 

 was to be fouiid in California. I was soon after appointed on the Cali- 

 fornia State Geological Survey and talking with Prof Whitney, the head 

 of the Survey, he said that Prof. Silliman had avcrred that there was 

 paying petroleura in California but he , Prof. W. doubted it and used 

 very strong language in classi fying Prof. S.'s assumed discovery. Time 

 has shown hira, Prof. W. to be in the wroiig and Prof. S. in the right 

 for petroleum is found in very largo quantity in California. Asphaltum 

 is also found there plentiful and is now recognised as a constituent and 

 part of the flowng rock oil. 



When I bcgan to study the Bacillaria they wcre Diatoms there I 

 mapped out the various sfrata of the earth which contained theni. I 

 mean the so called marine Bacillaria containing Coscinodioeus and va- 

 rious other discoid forms, I found that at Richmond in Virginia there 

 were marine Bacillaria, or infusoria as they were called, in the United 

 States, there were Diatoms but no asphaltum, although petroleum was 

 found near by, in Pennsylvania in the island of Barbadoes in the West 

 ladies I found Diatoms in the rock that yields the asphaltum of the 

 celebrated lake. In California Diatoms and asphaltum one likewise. The 

 other strata of Diatoms in South America ncar Payta yield it is said 

 bituraen-asphaltum as it is called. Other strata in Denmark , Russia , 

 Austria and Ovan in Africa, and perhaps Greece, and certainly Japan 

 yield Diatoms but no asphaltum. In .lapan the Bàcillarian deposit was 

 not found at that time and I had not published the finding of fossil 

 marine Diatoms but at that place no doubt asphaltum was hlso. Ali of 

 this made me think that there must ba some connection of the occur- 

 rence of Bacillaria or Diatoms and asphaltum in these rooks, the mio- 

 cene tertiary of the geologist. This made me look farther into the matter 

 and gather facts whenever I could get them of fossil marine Bacillaria 

 and petroleum, asphaltum òr rock oil or occurring together. It wakened 

 up a large fìeld of enquiry and it must be true thus. Very soon I had 

 speciraens from California impregnated with asphaltum , and I learned 

 that a company had been formed to work it for the asphaltum which 

 was used in Street paving. Thus I was partially confirmed in my dis- 

 covery it may be called of the occurrence of Bacillaria and asphaltum. 



