Miscellanies. WB 



saalely its height above the earth. If any such observations were 



fiEiade, it is to be hoped that they will be given to the public. 



E. C. Herrick» 

 New Haven, Conn. 



23. Petroleum Oil Well. — About ten years since, whilst boring for 

 salt water, near Burksvilie, Kentucky, after penetrating through solid 

 rock upwards of two hundred feet, a fountain of pure oil was struck, 

 which was thrown up more than twelve feet above the surface of the 

 earth. Although in quantity somewhat abated after the discharge of 

 the first few minutes, during which it was supposed to emit seventy 

 live gallons a minute, it still continued to flow for several days suc- 

 cessively. The well being on the margin and near the mouth of a 

 small creek emptying into Cumberland river, the oil soon found its 

 way thither, and for a long time covered its surface. Some gentle- 

 men below applied a torch, when the surface of the river blazed, and 

 the flames soon climbed the most elevated cliffs, and scorched the 

 summit of the loftiest trees. It ignites freely, and produces a flame 

 as brilliant as gas. Its qualities were then unknown, but a quantity 

 was barrelled, most of which soon leaked out. It is so penetrating 

 as to be difficult to confine in a wooden vessel, and has so much gas 

 as frequently to burst bottles when filled and tightly corked. Upon 

 exposure to the air it assumes a greenish hue. It is extremely vola- 

 tile, has a strong, pungent, and indescribable smell, and tastes much 

 like the heart of pitch pine. 



For a short time after the discovery, a small quantity of the oil 

 would flow whilst pumping the salt water, which led to the impression 

 that it could always be drawn by pumping. But all subsequent at- 

 tempts to obtain it, except by a spontaneous flow, have entirely failed. 

 There have been two such flows within the two last years. The 

 last commenced on the 4th of July last, and continued about six 

 •weeks, during which time tvy^enty barrels of oilwere obtained. The 

 oil and the salt water, with which it is invai-iably combined during 

 these flows, are forced up by the gas, above two hundred feet, into 

 the pump, and thence through the spout into a covered trough, 

 where the water soon becomes disengaged and settles at the bottom, 

 whilst the oil is readily skimmed from the surface. A rumbling noise 

 resembling distant thimder, uniformly attends the flowing of the oil, 

 whilst the gas which is then visible every day at the top of the pump, 

 leads the passing stranger to inquire whether the well is on fire. — lY, 

 O. Bulletin. 



24. Fresh-water and Land Shells from the neighborhood of Chilli- 

 cothe, Ohio. Presented to Yale College by A. Bourne, Esq., Civil 



