CHEMICAL COMPOSITION. 143 



Chapter VII.— CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND PHYSICAL 



PROPERTIES. 



In order to arrive at a fair opinion on the chemical composition 

 and physical properties of the Burmese petroleum it will be the 

 best plan to review shortly all the papers that have dealt with that 

 subject, and by summarising their chief results, we shall see how far 

 the different analyses agree as to the composition of the Burmese 

 petroleum. 



The earliest reference I can find, is Professor Christison's Analysis 



of Petroleum from Rangoon ; * the chief results of his analysis are 



as follows : — 



•' The petroleum of Rangoon, at ordinary temperatures in this country, is a 

 soft solid, of the consistence of lard. Its specific gravity, at the temperature of 

 6o° Fahr. is 880, water being 1,000. At the temperature of 86°, it is of the con- 

 sistence of thin paste, and at 90 it melts completely, and forms a sluggish liquid 

 which acquires more fluidity as the temperature rises. Hence in the East, during 

 the hot season, when it is dug for, it must be in the fluid state, and consequently 

 entitled to its vulgar name ground oil. It has a powerful naphthous odour, differ- 

 ent from that of most other petroleums.. 



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" When six ounces of petroleum were distilled, there was first procured, at a low 

 heat, an ounce of nearly colourless naphtha ; then another ounce of straw yellow 

 naphtha, then at a higher heat, about another ounce, much more yellow, yet still 

 fluid at 6o° Fahr ; next a considerable quantity of a yellowish liquid, which con- 

 creted at 6o° into a loose mass, composed of numerous crystalline needles and 

 plates, in a yellow naphthous fluid; and as the distillation went on, this matter be- 

 came more and more solid, but even towards the end was not firmer in consistence 

 than lard. The residual matter in the retort, when the heat had been raised to 

 full redness, was a spongy charcoal. 



" The naphtha, when rectified by a second distillation over a lamp and then by 

 a third distillation from the vapour-bath, is limpid and colourless, like sulphuric 

 ether, and its density is 779." 



Professor Christison called the crystalline mass " Petroline," the 



qualities of which he describes in detail, and then adds in an appen- 

 dix, dated December 1834 2 (the original paper is dated February 

 1 831), that having observed, from an account of Richenbach's dis- 

 covery of paraffine in Buchner's Repertorium, that the properties of 



1 Chemical examination of the petroleum of Rangoon. Transactions of the Royal 

 Society of Edinburgh, 1836, vol. XIII., page 118 ff. 



2 Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1836, vol. XIII, page 123. 



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