ISO On the Composition of the Petroleum of Rangoon. 



3. That the fact of oil of turpentine having been obtained by 

 Dr Reichenbach, by distilling brown coal at 212°, proves that 

 that species of coal had not previously been exposed to a heat 

 sufficient to expel its oil of turpentine ; and, a fortiori, that it 

 had never been subjected to destructive distillation. 



It remains for the geologist to ascertain the sources of those 

 kinds of naphtha which are evidently the products of destructive 

 distillation. The petroleum of coal districts is probably not of 

 this kind, for coal, in its ready decomposition by heat, offers a 

 very strong argument against its having been at any time sub- 

 jected to a high temperature. 



If an easy and economical process could be discovered for ex- 

 tracting the paraffine and eupion out of the oriental petroleum 

 in a state of purity, it seems obvious that the property of burn- 

 ing without smoke possessed by these bodies, would render them 

 capable of an important practical application in the countries 

 where they are found. Paraffine equals wax in the whiteness 

 and purity of its light, while it is much more permanent and in- 

 destructible ; and there is no liquid used for lamps, at all ap- 

 proaching to eupione in these properties. Moreover, both these 

 substances are entirely free from any disagreeable smell when 

 burnt. I have no doubt that a method of extracting them may 

 be contrived, so cheap as to be applicable in the east ; but in or- 

 der to do this, it is necessary to operate, in the first instance, on 

 much larger quantities than I have hitherto had at my disposal. 



I propose, at a future time, to return to this interesting sub- 

 ject. 3 



