212 BITUMEN, ASPHALTU3I, PETR OLE UM, ETC. 



The area over which petroleum has been found in the Eastern United 

 States extends parallel with the Appallachians from New York to Tennessee, 

 with an area of 3,115 square miles, of which only 39-^- miles have produced oil 

 in Pennsylvania.* 



The best known and most prolific oil springs have been found on Oil 

 creek, Yenango county, Penn., and here, in 1859, were the first borings for 

 oil. At 71 feet the first crevice was reached, and at 200 feet the second 

 sandstone was passed through. In 1861, at 400 feet depth, the third sand- 

 stone was passed through, yielding oil. The Phillips well at that time 

 flowed 3 000 barrels of oil per day, and soon after the Empire had the same 



fl.ow.t 



Salt was the precursor of the discover}^ of most of the oil wells. JNu- 

 merous wells were sunk on Oil creek and vicinity, and the yield of oil be- 

 came very great. The consumption was not equal to the supply and it sold 

 at one time at ten cents a barrel. In 1861 it sold at twenty-five cents per 



barrel. 



In 1864 the production had declined to 4,000 barrels per day and the 

 highest price paid was fourteen dollars per barrel.;!; 



Prof. J. P. Lesley, in 1874, published an oil map, on which the following 

 named oil regions are marked : The extreme northern in Kent, Bothwell 

 and Lambion counties in Canada. Next commencing in Cataraugus county, 

 New York, extending through McKean, Warren, Yenango, Butler, Law- 

 rence Allegheny, Beaver, and terminating in Columbiana, JefPerson and 

 Hancock counties, Ohio. A little further south an area includes portions 

 of Noble and Washington counties, Ohio, with Wood, Pleasants andEitchie 

 counties West Yirginia. Another area includes portions of Perry, Athens 

 and Meigs counties, Ohio. Then, at a long interval southwest, we encounter 

 an oil district including portions of Allen, Wayne, Clinton, Barren, Adair, 

 Cumberland and Monroe counties, Kentucky, with Overton county, Ten- 

 nessee. 



GEOLOGY OF THE PETROLEUM OP THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. 



We learn from the Canada geological report for 1863 that in Canada hy- 

 dro-carbonaceous matter, probably derived from organic remains, is found 

 from the base of the palseozoic rocks up, and in many instances it assumes the 

 form of bitumen. Its presence is evident in the limestones and dolomites of 

 the Quebec group and Trenton group, and in most of the palaeozoic rocks. 

 At Pakenham the large orthoceratites of the Trenton limestone sometimes 

 hold several ounces of bitumen in their cavities, and at Montmorenci 

 petroleum exudes in drops from the corals of theBirdseye limestone, but it 

 is more abundant in the higher formations. The dolomites of the Niagara 

 group, in the western basin, are more or less bituminous, and in parts of 

 Western New York the limestones are so bituminous that when heated the 



bitumen is seen to exude from them. ^ 



' «2dGeol, Surv.Pa., J., p. 1 and Seq., 1874. t lb. t 2d Geol. Surv. Pa., J., 1874. 



