60 Original Articles. [Jan., 



Four years ago, Petroleum may be said to have been generally un- 

 known in America ; now it is one of the most important articles, both 

 of home consumption and foreign exportation. Its value is not less 

 than one-fourth of that of the cotton-crop, the best estimates setting it 

 down at 15,000,000/. sterling per annum. A statement of the facts 

 known about it should be of especial interest, not only in England but 

 also on the Continent, because if bored for in those localities in which 

 it is now known to exist, or in which signs may be detected, the same 

 result may be attained as in Pennsylvania. It is no exaggeration to 

 say that its presence is more desirable than that of gold. What Cali- 

 fornian or Australian can rival John Steele, of Oil Creek Valley, who 

 is said to derive 150,000Z. a year from mines on his property ? 



The existence of Petroleum, and its use as an illuminator, have 

 been known for centuries, not only in the East, but also in Europe. 

 The Greeks and Romans were acquainted with it, a spring in Zante 

 being referred to by Herodotus, and according to Dioscorides, the oil 

 was collected and burned in lamps by the inhabitants of Agrigentum, 

 in Sicily. Some of the places at which it has been found are Bakoo 

 in Georgia, on the borders of the Caspian, " at the foot of the Caucasus 

 fountains of naphtha put fire into the hand of man," Rangoon in Bur- 

 mah, Amiano in the Duchy of Parma, Saint Zibio in the Grand Duchy 

 of Modena, Neufchatel in Switzerland, Clermont in France, some 

 points on the banks of the Iser, Gabian, a village near Bezieres, 

 Tegernsee in Bavaria, Val di Noto in Sicily, in Zante, Gallicia, Wal- 

 lachia, Barbadoes, England, the United States. 



At Amiano in Italy, Petroleum has been extracted for two hundred 

 years by merely digging pits in the ground and collecting tbe fluid 

 that oozed from the soil in vessels at the bottom of the pits. No at- 

 tempt has been made at purification, the various kinds being merely 

 mixed together to secure a uniform product. The supplies procured 

 from this source have furnished the means of lightiug the cities of 

 Parma and Genoa. At Bakoo large quantities of inflammable gases 

 and liquids rise to the surface of the ground. They are found over a 

 narrow tract of twelve square miles in extent, the strata being of 

 porous argillaceous sandstone, belonging to the tertiary period, and 

 fall of fossil shells. The oil is collected in the same way as in Italy. 

 That obtained from the central parts of the district is of a faint yellow 

 tint, while toward the sides of the tract, it gradually passes through 

 shades of green and brown into asphaltum. The quantities annually 

 collected are, according to M. Abich, valued at 120,000Z. Over large 

 districts in Persia, no other illuminating material is used. The phe- 

 nomena it presents cause the region to be called the Field of Fire, and 

 made Bakoo the sacred city of the Guebras or Fire-worshippers. The 

 Rangoon district on the Irawaddy has also produced enormous quan- 

 tities of Petroleum. For an unknown length of time the Empire of 

 Burmah and a large part of India has been supplied from it with oil. 

 According to Syme (Embassy to Ava), the number of wells exceeds 

 520, and the annual yield is 400,000 hogsheads. Another authority 

 states that each well yields annually 173 casks, of 950 pounds. The 

 oil is used for burning, preserving timber against insects, and for 



