July 11, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



43 



vantage thus gained. From what has been 

 said regarding synthesis from inactive ma- 

 terial it follows that all theories accounting 

 for the formation of petroleum from in- 

 organic material, and excluding the action 

 of optically active organic substances, must 

 be rejected. 



But still another factor which must be 

 considered by the geologist with reference 

 to the origin of petroleum and other op- 

 tically active bitumens is that of tempera- 

 ture. All theories involving violently en- 

 ergetic chemical reactions and the produc- 

 tion of high temperatiares must likewise be 

 rejected. 



Having thus limited the possibilities of 

 petroleum formation, it is well to inquire 

 what sources remain which are capable, 

 under the conditions imposed, of supplying 

 a sufficient amount of material for the ac- 

 cumulation of the vast stores which are 

 being unearthed, and also whether the 

 study of the polarimetric data gives prom- 

 ise of furnishing positive specific evidence 

 as to the kind of material from which 

 petroleum has been derived. 



In answer to the first of these questions 

 I quote from the report of Professor 

 Haworth.^^ 



Few people realize the vast amount of organic 

 matter annually carried down to the ocean by sur- 

 face drainage. Vegetation covers practically the 

 entire dry land area of the earth and has done so 

 throughout all geologic time. Varying climatic 

 conditions and other influences doubtless have 

 made a corresponding variation in the richness of 

 organic materials in different rock masses. But 

 when all allowances are made for such variations, 

 it remains that the amount of organic matter thus 

 entombed is and has been enormously great. And 

 such matter need not be confined to vegetation, 

 for our ocean-water is teeming with animal life. 

 Speaking broadly, it is well known that animals 

 subsist on vegetation, and that the constant addi- 

 tion of food matter to the ocean-water for the 

 ocean fauna comes from vegetation, as plants are 



" The University Geological Survey of Kansas, 

 Vol. IX., 194-195. 



the great agents for changing inorganic matter 

 into organic matter. ... If one will put himself 

 into a position which makes it necessary to give 

 a reasonable account for the whereabouts of all 

 this vast quantity of organic matter, animal and 

 vegetable, which has been engulfed in the masses 

 of stratified rock, one will find that the quantity 

 of oil and gas now available is all too small, rather 

 than too large, for such accounting. 



Even though the study of the chemical 

 constituents of petroleum is in its infancy, 

 attempts have already been made to detect 

 among them specific optically active sub- 

 stances which may definitely and with cer- 

 tainty reveal their origin. The substance 

 which has received the greatest considera- 

 tion from this standpoint is cholesterin, 

 the optically active constituent of many 

 animal fats, or phytosterin, its vegetable 

 equivalent. Cholesterin when distilled 

 yields products which closely resemble the 

 distillation products of petroleum. Fur- 

 thermore, the optically active petroleum 

 distillates usually give the same color reac- 

 tions as are given by cholesterin products. 

 Chemists are inclined, however, to view 

 color reactions with suspicion, and demand 

 more positive methods of proof of identity 

 than the supporters of the cholesterin hy- 

 pothesis have been able to furnish. On 

 the other hand, the amino-acids and numer- 

 ous other decomposition products of al- 

 buminous material as well as the remains 

 of balsams, resins, terpones, tannins, etc., 

 must all be looked upon as contributing to 

 the optical activity of the organic remains 

 which may retain them. The time is ripe 

 for the study and solution of problems of 

 this nature. 



The knowledge of the nature of the sub- 

 stances contained in petroleum which is to 

 be revealed through the instrumentality of 

 their optical properties may be put to prac- 

 tical use in the development of methods for 

 extracting them and utilizing them for in- 

 dustrial purposes. The output of petro- 



