9& JYottce 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 stales 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, in 

 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- 

 ficient to cover it partially, while there is nothing to soil the stream ; 

 in the present instance, the stagnation of the water, the comparative 

 abundance of the petroleum, and the mixture of leaves and sticks, 

 and other productions of a dense forest, preclude any beautiful fea- 

 tures. There are, 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 covered, en- 

 tirely, with this purer production, it would be beautiful. 



We were informed, that when the fountain is frozen, there are al- 

 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 fountain, 

 are now rendered, more or less, adhesive, by the petroleum ; and 

 the rods and paddles which are used in the water, cannot be touch- 

 ed, without covering the hands with a tar-like coating. 



They collect the petroleum by skimming it, like cream from a 

 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 of the pe- 



