282 The Philippine Journal of Science 1915 



along streams, in steep walls to 10 meters high, with a massive 

 or imperfectly bedded appearance. It is compact and fairly hard, 

 breaking with a distinct conchoidal fracture and rarely parting 

 along bedding planes. It occurs near the top of the coal-bearing 

 rocks (Miocene) above the coal beds and the sandy shales and 

 clastic rocks which constitute the greater part of the series, but 

 below the uppermost limestone. This shale, which is conspicuous 

 at Uling in central Cebu, and is found on Inayangan River in 

 east-central Cebu and on Argao River in southeastern Cebu, 

 may have been noted by Abella. From the results of distillation 

 tests on similar shales from Tayabas Province it may be inferred 

 that the petroleum content of this shale is too small to be of 

 economic importance. It is more probable that the petroleum 

 originated from organic matter in the shale itself than that it 

 migrated to this shale from elsewhere. 



PETROLEUM AT ASTURIAS 



During a visit to Asturias in 1912 I was unable to obtain 

 any information as to the existence of petroleum in that vicin- 

 ity. No concession for petroleum at Asturias has been recorded. 

 The only statement to be found in the literature is the reference 

 by Becker to the Guia Oficial, which simply affirms that petro- 

 leum is found at Asturias. 



PETROLEUM AT TOLEDO 



On Calamanpao River near Iligan, a barrio of Toledo, are 

 two oil wells, over one of which a steel derrick stands. Near 

 by are a number of lengths of steel casings, parts of a horizontal 

 engine, and a badly rusted boiler. The elevation at the wells 

 is about 40 meters. A concession of 30 hectares was recorded 

 for this locality in 1897 in the name of Cornelio Roberto Blair 

 Pickford. This claim later came into the possession of Smith, 

 Bell & Co., Limited, of Manila, who drilled the wells and control 

 the property at present. Near the wells are pools of water, 

 the surface of which is covered with oil. This film of oil 

 suggests the presence of oil springs, but may be no more than 

 seepage from the wells. 



According to Smith " the wells were drilled in the year 1896 

 and reached a depth of 244 and 344 meters, respectively, opera- 

 tions having been interrupted by an insurrection. The wells 

 have been partly filled with bamboo poles, and at present the 

 casings are open for a few meters only below the surface. The 



* Loc. cit. 



