NAPHTHA. 



the case. This form of crystal has been 

 found at Hue! Abraham, Cook's Kitchen, 

 St. Ives Consols, and at several of the Eed- 

 ruth and Camborne mines. 



Fig. 



Naphtha, Phillips, Beudant. N«i?5ot, 

 Dioscorides. Naphte, Beudant. A fluid 

 variety of Bitumen. Liquid and colourless 

 when pure, but b}' exposure to the air be- 

 comes thick and solid. Smell bituminous and 

 aromatic. Burns with a bituminous smell, 

 and a white flame and much smoke, leav- 

 ing no residue. Soluble in alcohol. Boils 

 at a heat below 173° F. S.G. 07 to OS-l. 



Comp. C^, H5 = carbon 86-58, hydrogen 

 13-42 = 100. 



Localities. — British. A mineral oil is 

 found in the lower part of the Upper Lias 

 of Whitby, in Yorkshire, in a stratum full 

 of nodules of Lias limestone, which gene- 

 rally contain Ammonites. When first found 

 it is a green liquid, which hardens into a 

 kind of pitch on exposure to the air. — 

 Foreign. Baku and Scamachia, on the 

 western shore of the Caspian, especially in 

 the peninsula of Abcheron, where it is col- 

 lected by sinking pits several yards in 

 depth. Near Amiano, in the Duchy of 

 Parma. Tegern Lake, in Bavaria. Salies, 

 in the Pyrenees. Rangoon. China. Persia. 

 Little Kanawha, Virginia ; Sewickly, West- 

 moreland CO., Pennsylvania; Mahoning 

 Valley, Ohio ; Bourbon county, Kentucky ; 

 Parkersburg, Wood co. &c. ; U.S. South 

 America. 



The Naphtha and Petroleum springs of 

 Persia, India, Italy, and South America are 

 considered by Reichenbach to have their 

 origin in the slow distillation of large beds 

 of coal bv the ordinary heat of the earth. 



Brit. Mus., Case 60. 



Springs of naphtha rise from nummulitic 

 limestone, in the citadel on the summit of 

 the rock of Van, in Armenia. 



In Mesopotamia, and in the Persian Za- 

 gros, they rise from the gypsum deposits. 



The most copious are in the Bakhtigare 

 Mountains, between the ancient temple 

 called Mesjid i Suleiman and the mountains 

 A.smari. They are situated in a wild and 

 barren region of much contorted .and highly 

 elevated ridges of sandstones, marls, and 

 jypsum. A small stream of cold water 

 •ises high up a narrow ravine, and is in- 

 :reased as it descends by streamlets from a 



NATIVE AMALGAM. 249 



multitude of sources, most of which furnish 

 a supply of liquid black Bitumen and white 

 Naphtha mixed together, some of them very 

 abundantly. One spring yields yellow 

 Naphtha only. The oily substances float on 

 the surface of the stream, and are conveyed 

 to an artificial dam. When the dam is 

 nearly full, the water is draAvn off at the 

 bottom, and the bituminous mixture is left 

 exposed to the heat of the sun, until re- 

 duced to the consistency of soft mud. It 

 is then placed in a largj cauldron, covered 

 over, and submitted to a slight heat by 

 keeping fire on the lid. After a gentle sim- 

 mering for a short time, the fire is removed, 

 and the substance when cold is Bitumen 

 prepared for use. 



About 12,000 lbs. of liquid Naphtha and 

 prepared Bitumen are collected annually 

 from these wells by the Seijids (or descen- 

 dants of Mahomet), at Shuster, who enjoy 

 the sole right and privilege of making 

 Bitumen here. ( iF. K. Lnftus.') 



Naphtha is also obtained from the Pitch 

 lake of Trinidad. It occurs associated and 

 diluted with water, but, when concentrated, 

 appears as a dense black fluid, with a power- 

 ful bituminous odour. If collected in an open 

 vessel, the more volatile part evaporates 

 after a few months, leaving a solid black 

 substance, of similar appearance and analo- 

 gous properties to Asphaltum Glance (which 



The Trinidad Naphtha differs from the 

 asphaltic oil of Ava and Pegu by not yield- 

 ing paraffine. It furnishes, however, lamp 

 and lubricating oils, the former of which is 

 extensively used in the colony, and gives a 

 rather intense light, combined with great 

 economy of the fluid. 



The lubricating oil is exported to the 

 United States. 



The Trinidad Naphtha, after it has been 

 concentrated by evaporating the water which 

 is always contained in it (by which process 

 8212 per cent, of water is removed, and the 

 specific gravity is raised from 1-298 to 

 1-439), is sent to France, under the name of 

 " boiled pitch," and is used there chiefly in 

 the formation of asphaltic pavements and 

 as a mastic. In Trinidad it is used princi- 

 pally for flooring and paving, but onlv to a 

 small extent. ( G. P. Wall.) 



Nasturan, v. Kobell. See Pitchblende. 



Native Alloy. A name sometimes given 

 to Iridosmine. 



Native Alujl See Potash Alum. 



Nativ^e Amalgam, Phillips. Cubical : pri- 

 mary form a rhombic dodecahedron. Also 



