Skey. — On supposed Paraffin Deposit at Waiapu. 897 



whenever the temperature of the ah' was such as to render ventilation 

 useless it was probable freezing mixtures would be the best to try this time, 

 especially as from experiments I had made I could not recommend cooling 

 by evaporation. This I believe was done. Mr. J. Anderson made some 

 experiments in his boiler-room, and found a small quantity of freezing 

 mixture sufficient to keep an experimental chamber 15 degrees below the 

 temperature of the air of the room. I cannot say I am sanguine of the 

 success of the experiment. The varying ripeness of the cheese and the 

 difference of quality found in butter, even in Christchurch, would I fear 

 prevent a great success, even were the confessionally perfunctory arrange- 

 ments for cooling found to be sufficient. I believe, with Mr, Bowron, that 

 the factory system, or some other means of guaranteeing uniformity, is an 

 indispensable feature of any successful scheme of making Europe the market 

 for the butter and cheese of Canterbury. 



I may add that I personally know nothing of the time or the temperature 

 at which butter and cheese will keep sweet ; but if they will keep good at 

 63° Fahr., I do not believe it would be a difficult matter to keep the air in 

 a good nonconducting chamber from rising above that temperature during 

 an ordinary voyage. 



Akt. LXIV. — On the supposed Paraffin Deposit at Waiajm. 



By William Skey, Analyst to the Geological Survey Department. 



[Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 20th August, 1881] . 



You may be aware that a considerable quantity of a soft, greasy, combustible 

 mineral occurs about ten miles south of Waiapu associated with the petro- 

 leum rocks of that district, and forming a rather extensive deposit there, 

 and that the nature and value of this has been, and now is, a subject upon 

 which professional opinion is exceedingly varied. Opinions being in this 

 way, at the suggestion of Dr. Hector I have prepared this paper for the 

 purpose of bringing the whole question before you in a concise manner. 



So far back as the year 1872, a sample of this mineral was handed to 

 me by Dr. Heetor, who collected it, and the partial investigation of it which 

 I then made, showed that, except for clay and sand, which was, of course, 

 foreign to the mineral, it was in principal part oxygenated hydrocarbons ; 

 among which I considered dopplerite, or a mineral greatly resembling it, 

 was largely represented. I promised a fuller report upon it as soon as I had 

 time to continue my examination, but before I could well do this a sample 

 of an article averred to be " solid paraffin," also from Waiapu, was for- 

 warded to Dr. Hector by the Hon. G. Bandall Johnson for analysis. This 



