S. F. Peckham on California Petroleum. 345 
Art. XXXVIII.— On the supposed falsification of samples of Cali- 
fornia Petroleum; by S. F. PEeckHaAm, late Chemist to the 
California Petroleum Company. 
HaAvine been almost exclusively engaged during the last 
eighteen months in both technical and scientific analyses of Cal- 
ifornia bitumens, my attention has been repeatedly called to the 
small amount of light oils suitable for illumination yielded by 
these substances, when treated. by the ordinary process of frac- 
tional distillation. This low percentage of light oil, and conse- 
quent inferior commercial value of the crude materials, early 
led me to compare my own results with those of other experi- 
menters and analysts of California products. 
The first reports that I obtained, were published in the pro- 
spectus of the Philadelphia and California Petroleum Company. 
These embraced the details of an examination made by Mr. Peter . 
Collier, under the direction of Prof. Silliman; those of C. M. 
arren, Esq., of Brookline, Mass., and those of Prof. J. M. 
Maisch of Philadelphia. I afterwards received a pamphlet con- 
taining an article published in this Journal, vol. xxxix, May, 
i865. This article contained the results of the analysis made 
by Mr. Collier and the report of Mr. Warren, before mentioned. 
The report of Mr. Maisch was dated March 18th, 1865; that of 
Mr. Warren, March 81st, 1865; that of Prof. Silliman was with- 
out date. 
The material operated upon by Prof. S. was said to have 
come from a spring upon the Simi ranch in Santa Barbara 
county; and that treated by Messrs. Warren and Maisch was 
said to be a portion of the same sample. Without concurrent 
testimony, the similarity of the results obtained by those gentle- 
men, even by different methods of operation, sufficiently proves 
the identity of the crude material. : 
My own results, which I propose to compare with those above 
mentioned, were obtained by the treatment of petroleums gath- 
ered from the natural outcrops known as the Cafiada Laga and 
Pico springs, and two samples, of different density, from the 
estate of the Hayward Petroleum Co. The Stanford oil springs 
adjoining and resembling those of the H. P. Co., and a tunnel 
im the San Fernando mining district, the product of which isa 
little more dense but otherwise resembles that of the Pico spring, 
were the only other localities in Southern California, yielding 
petroleum in any other than the most insignificant quantities, 
at the time I left that region in June last. kareena 
I am perfectly familiar with each of these localities and their 
products. All the samples treated by me, with but one excep- 
tion—the lightest sample from the H. P. Co.—were gathered 
