366 THE MINERAL OILS OP AMERICA. 



This petroleum also exists abundantly in Texas, although entirely 

 undeveloped in that State ; and on the Pacific coast, in Calif ornia, there are 

 immense deposits of oil and bitumen, which have as yet attracted but little 

 attention. A belt of this oil deposit, of great extent, also exists west of the 

 Mississippi, but how extensive is yet undefined. It is also found in 

 Illinois, and doubtless will yet be discovered in many other localities in 

 the United States. We are thus particular in giving some idea of the 

 extent of the deposits of this material, as we think it is ere long destined 

 to form a very important article of commerce, both for domestic use and 

 for export. 



This rock-oil is peculiar in its chemical combinations and bases, and 

 will doubtless yet be applied to a great variety of important uses ; but our 

 purpose is to give an idea of its present or immediate importance as art 

 article of trade and manufacture. As to the origin of this oil, opinions 

 differ : the popular idea is that it oozes from coal, or has been expelled 

 from it by heat or pressure ; but many facts bear against this theory, and 

 the probable truth is that it is an independent or original deposit, having 

 no connection with coal, but closely allied to it — although sometimes 

 found in geological formations which absolutely forbid the existence of 

 coal, as in Canada West. But our purpose is not to discuss this, but to 

 give its present dimension and probable expansion, with the prices it is 

 likely to command in the future. The production of petroleum, which 

 occurs at the present time mainly along Oil Creek and its tributaries in 

 Pennsylvania, in the vicinity of Mecca, Ohio, and Parkersburg, Virginia, 

 may be stated as follows : — 



January, 1860 ----- 30 barrels per day. 



July 500 



December ------ 1^600 „ „ 



This oil has commanded an average price in its crude state at the wells 

 of 18 cents per gallon. At the present time it is selling for about 23 cents, 

 although it has been sold during the past summer as low as 10 cents per 

 gallon. But as the yield for July, 1861, is estimated at 5,000 barrels, of 

 40 gallons each, per day, it is probable that the price will decline to a lower 

 point than it has yet reached. The manufacture and sale of oil refined 

 from coal and petroleum, which has already had a marked effect on the 

 whaling interest and the production of fluid, may be stated as follows : — 

 In 1858, 100 barrels per day, at an average price of 80 cents per gallon ; 

 in 1859, 300 barrels per day, at an average price of 100 cents per gallon ; 

 in 1860, 1,500 barrels per day, at an average price of 70 cents per gallon. 

 Its production before the close of 1861 will, doubtless, reach 5,000 barrels, 

 or 200,000 gallons per day, or upwards, at an average price below rather 

 than above 50 cents per gallon. As it is an oil perfectly free from danger 

 of explosion, gives a light fully equal to gas, and is more than three times 

 as lasting as fluid, it is very probable that when these low prices are 

 reached, whales may have some rest, and the camphine operators turn their 

 attention to the manufacture of rock-oil. Much capital has been invested in 

 the manufacture of coal-oil ; but as the rock-oil can be pumped so much more 



