222 FOSSIL HYDRO-CARBONS — 



in their rich, and varying results, are the nearest possible approach to 

 the philosopher's stone yet discovered ; and, ever and anon, some fresh 

 novelty — still hydro-carbon, a chip of the old block — is set before an 

 approving public. 



Jet and cannel coal are largely turned into useful and ornamental 

 articles of vertu, the former especially having been prized for personal 

 adornment for many ages. On the shores and in the neighbourhood of the 

 Dead Sea, a species of bituminous limestone, termed fetid limestone, is 

 found. It is externally white, being coated with sand, or mud ; but, on 

 being broken, exhibits a jet black interior, with rather a glossy fracture, 

 and connected with this material is quite a little industry — charms and 

 amulets being carved from it, in various parts of Palestine, by the natives, 

 especially at Bethlehem and Jerusalem. These charms are supposed to be 

 specifics against plague, and have been so regarded by the Asiatics for many 

 ages. The smell arises from the combination of sulphur and hydrogen, and 

 friction intensifies it. Compressed peat is another variety of hydro-carbon 

 that is sometimes formed into a variety of useful and ornamental objects. 



Many of the fossil hydro-carbons aud their products are valuable anti- 

 septics, and a much greater development will probably be given to their 

 practical employment in the arts. The ancient Egyptians, I believe, used 

 petroleum, or asphaltum, in the embalming of their dead. Barbados tar 

 has long been reckoned a valuable remedy for putrid sores. Peat is pos- 

 sessed of such virtue in arresting putrefaction, that it is recorded of the 

 body of a female found buried in a bog, having - been there for several 

 centuries, that it was tolerably perfect, with the skin, nails, and hair in a 

 good state of preservation. Peat charcoal is an excellent deodoriser, and 

 has been employed in hospitals to absorb the fetid smell connected with 

 putrid wounds, and in other similar ways. Rangoon tar is employed by the 

 Burmese as a preservative for timber ; and carbolic acid, analogous to 

 creosote, is invaluable for similar purposes at home. This latter substance, 

 either in its raw state, or somewhat manufactured, is, I believe, sold as 

 artificial smoke for flavouring and preserving hams, &c. A new sheep-wash, 

 patented by a firm at Manchester, is also based upon this valuable acid, 

 which, possessing properties analogous to creosote, may likewise be employed 

 in the treatment of toothache. In the English and continental pharma. 

 copceias will be found several of the hydro-carbons and their products, as 

 petroleum, tar, naphtha, &c, mostly valued for their antiseptic properties, 

 and administered both externally and internally. Naphtha has even been 

 given in cases of phthisis, but I cannot hear that the plan has proved 

 successful. 



The fossil hydro-carbons promise also to yield us an unlimited supply of 

 delicious odours, similar to those now extracted from various plants with 

 great patience, and at considerable expense. Already one important per- 

 fume, derived from this source, is established as an article of commerce, and 

 sold extensively for scenting soaps — also, very probably, in the flavouring 

 of pastry and sweetmeats. This perfume, or essence, is nitro-benzole, which 



