February 0, 1894, 
termined upon. The successful wells in the Torrey and 
Sespé canons have since been located upon the same prin- 
ciple. See the figure. 
It is also a fact worth noting that the tunnels driven 
into the Sulphur Mountain by Wheeler in 1865, the loca- 
tion of which I have elsewhere described, have yielded oil 
continuously from that time to this and are still yielding 
oil in moderate quantity.’ 
The oil having been obtained, a refinery was constructed 
at Santa Paula anda pail of the product manufactured in- 
to various articles for which a market could be secured. 
Unlike the natural oils obtained from springs, the oils 
from wells contained a considerable proportion of naphtha, 
_ even light enough to be suitable for use as gasoline. No 
illuminating oils are produced. ‘The heavier naphthas and 
oils of a density suitable for illuminating oil are separated 
and sold without treatment as gas oil. A considerable 
proportion is then run off as crude lubricating oil, and the 
SCIENCE. 5 
for structures, superior both in durability and appearance 
to any ordinary form of shingle. 
This pure asphaltum is also used as a basis for paints 
and for coating paper, its purity as bitumen and its 
freedom from coke and other injurious substances render- 
ing it greatly superior to coke, pitch and many cheaper 
and undesirable forms of natural bitumen. 
Printer’s ink of very superior quality is also made one 
of the products of this remarkable technology. 
Besides the refinery at Santa Paula there is another es- 
tablishment at Alameda Point, in San Francisco harbor, 
where oils from this region are given similar treatment. 
This industry is in its infancy. The purposes to which 
these remarkable products can be applied are only partially 
known and very imperfectly appreciated. It is not only 
my intention to call attention to the fulfilment of pre- 
dictions made in 1866, that the oil interests of Southern 
California would ultimately yield a profitable return upon 
Q 
ff __ 
a, stream at foot of hill; 24, mass of maltha, asphaltum and rubbish; c, derrick of 1880; d, well of 1880: eee, 
barren sand stone strata; /, derrick of 1865; g, spring of water and maltha from oil-bearing strata pierced 
by well ¢, of 1880; /, well of 1865 in barren sand stone strata. 
residue remaining in the still is run out and allowed to 
cool. This residue is a hard, brilliant, black solid. It is 
made for different purposes of different grades and de- 
grees of hardness, the hardness depending upon the 
amount of the crude lubricating oil that is allowed to re- 
main in the residuum. This material is a very pure 
(almost chemically pure) asphaltum and possesses some 
peculiar and very valuable properties. Straw board or 
wood pulp may be saturated with it and rendered nearly 
inert to acids and alkalies unless in concentrated solution. 
Straw board cut in suitable sizes may be saturated with it 
and made into a solid water-proof shingle that when 
painted forms an elegant and durable external covering 
TReports of the Tenth Census of the United States, Vol. X., Petroleum, p. 68, 
plate XT. 
Geological Survey of California, Geology, Vol. II., appendix p. 
capital invested; but to also call attention to the great 
scientific interest attaching not only to the geology but 
technology of the unique and hitherto unfamiliar products 
of this remote region. 
—lIt is understood that the ‘‘ History of the United 
States Navy,” upon which Mr. Edgar Stanton Maclay has 
been engaged for the last nine years, is now nearing com- 
pletion. It is a curious fact that no complete history of 
the navy has been published since Fenimore Cooper's time. 
and Mr. Maclay’s elaborate work will meet a demand which 
has grown stronger since the public became interested in 
the building up of our new navy. Mr. Maclay’s history 
comes down in 1894. D. Appleton and Co. are the pub- 
lishers. 
