Pebruaky 12, 1915] 



SCIENCE 



249 



The book, and in particular chapters I., II., 

 VIII., XII. and Xni., may be commended to 

 those who are interested in the development of 

 psychological theory. Almost every page is 

 marked by the touch of the clear thinker, the 

 first-hand observer, and the careful experi- 

 menter. 



Mary Whiton Calkins 



Welleslet College 



PETBOLEUM DEVELOPMENTS IN FOREIGN 

 C0VNTEIE8 



The -worldv^ide activity in the search for 

 petroleum deposits of commercial importance 

 which characterized the year 1913 continued 

 unabated during the early part of 1914. Dur- 

 ing the later part of the year development in 

 proved areas was greatly curtailed and explora- 

 tion work postponed on account of the Euro- 

 pean war and the enormous overproduction of 

 oil in the United States and Mexico. 



John D. Northrop, of the United States 

 Geological Survey, is authority for the follow- 

 ing statement discussing the petroleum devel- 

 opments in foreign countries in 1914, which 

 has just been made public by the survey. 



WORTH AMERICA 



Canada. — The productive fields of Ontario 

 and New Brunswick continued to furnish the 

 declining petroleum output of the Dominion. 

 Though considerable effort was made to extend 

 the boundaries of the productive areas, new 

 production sufficient to offset the decline in 

 older wells was obtained only in the Eelle 

 River field, Ontario. Good gas wells continue 

 to be found in the Tilbury district, Ontario, 

 but attempts to retard the declining oil output 

 were unsuccessful. 



Wildcat activity, with apparently undue in- 

 terest centered in the vicinity of Calgary, 

 Alberta, was the feature of the year in the 

 western provinces. The discovery of small 

 quantities of high-grade petroleum at depths 

 of 1,562 and 2,700 feet in the Dingman well, 

 southwest of Calgary, created a hysterical rush 

 for mining locations in the area. Drilling was 

 commenced at a number of points southwest 

 and northwest of Calgary and, though proving 



the presence of small quantities of heavy oil 

 in certain areas of favorable structure, failed 

 to demonstrate the true extent or value of the 

 field before the end of the year. In northern 

 Alberta the lack of transportation facilities 

 retarded the development of the promising oil 

 strikes of the Athabasca Oils, Ltd., near Fort 

 McKay. 



In British Columbia encouraging oil indi- 

 cations in the valley of Flathead River and in 

 the vicinity of Revelstoke, Kootenai County, 

 and at Pitt Meadows, New Westminster 

 County, near Vancouver, resulted in more or 

 less prospect drilling. 



In Saskatchewan interest was centered at 

 Moose Jaw, where good oil showings were 

 found, but included additional projects at 

 Regina, Battleford, and Saskatoon and in 

 Souris Valley, where oil seepages occur near 

 Roche Pereee. 



Mexico. — Early in 1914 field operations in 

 the oil districts of Mexico were very active — 

 more so in the northern fields at Panueo and 

 Topila than in the southern fields vshere the 

 work was interrupted by the belligerent polit- 

 ical factions. The bringing in of an enormous 

 gusher by the Corona Oil Co. (Dutch-Shell) 

 at Panueo on January 11 became the signal for 

 a pronounced increase of work in the northern 

 fields, where, as in the southern fields, the lack 

 of adequate storage facilities tended to hamper 

 developments greatly. Work in all districts 

 was abruptly curtailed and in many places 

 terminated by the exodus of operators and 

 workmen beginning in April. Although the 

 subsequent activities of the warring factions 

 resulted in no great damage to the petroleum 

 interests, the resulting conditions of unstable 

 government prevented the resumption of more 

 than nominal activity in the oil fields up to 

 the end of the year. Late in the year the re- 

 sumption of local oil consumption by the Mexi- 

 can railroads and mining industries served to 

 revive activity to some extent at Panueo and 

 Topila. 



Of more than passing interest was the fire 

 which raged about the famous Potrero del 

 Llano No. 4 well of the Mexican Eagle Oil Co., 

 during the later part of the year. Seepages of 



