28 ON PETROLEUM AND PHOTOGEN. 



annually. The tar affords about 70 per cent, of oil and 11 of paraffin. 

 None of the cannel or bituminous coals or shales, or other substances 

 used for yielding burning fluid by distillation, give distillates of such 

 purity and freedom from odour as Rangoon tar. The more volatile 

 portion of the latter is known as Sherwoodole, and is used instead of 

 benzole for the removal of grease, &c. The paraffin obtained from Ran- 

 goon tar has a greater value for commercial purposes than that from 

 Boghead coal, inasmuch as it has a higher melting-point which renders 

 it better adapted for the manufacture of candles. 



There are several mines of bitumen in the Island of Cuba which 

 yield from 100 to 140 gallons of crude oil per ton. This, when purified, 

 is well adapted lor lamps ; but the objectionable odour is an obstacle to 

 its use. Large deposits also exist in Central and South America, and on 

 the shores of the Dead Sea. In the vicinity of the Caspian Sea there 

 are springs yielding large quantities of naphtha, which is used throughout 

 the region for lamps. In Europe there are a few similar deposits. On 

 one of the Ionian Isles an oil formation exists, and the oracular fires of 

 ancient Greece have been attributed to similar sources. Oil-springs also 

 occur in Bavaria and in the Grand Duchy of Modena, in France, and 

 one near Amiano, in Italy, which was formerly used for lighting- the 

 city of Genoa, 



IV. Peat has been employed for the manufacture of oils, but up to 

 the present time with no marked success. An able and elaborate paper 

 on this subject by Dr. Paul, will be found in the sixth volume of the 

 ' Chemical News.' Peat, on distillation yields all the products which 

 are obtained from coal, but the main question is whether the operations 

 can be carried on, to be remunerative. 



V. American Petroleum has led to a wonderful trade in that 

 country ; in 1862 there was exported, 10,625,568 gallons. The existence 

 of Petroleum in America has long been known, having been collected 

 by the Seneca Indians, and used by them chiefly for medicinal 

 purposes. The first discovery of a large supply was in 185.9, when a vein 

 was opened whilst boring in search of a salt spring. One well alone is 

 stated to have yielded 7,000 gallons per day and another 100 gallons 

 per minute. Large quantities ran to waste from the difficulty of getting 

 vessels to receive it, so that eventually the whole district became 

 odorous from oil and the very ground sticky with it. 



The petroleum region embraces a vast extent of the Continent. It 

 is known to extend from the Southern extremity of the Ohio Valley 

 North to Georgian Bay, and from the Alleghanies East, in Pennsyl- 

 vania, to the Western limits of the bituminous coal-fields. It has been 

 found in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Michigan, 

 Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, Illinois, Texas, and California, 



The petroleum is obtained by boring holes in the rock three or four 

 inches in diameter. When the oil is struck it flows for some time from 

 the pressure below, without the aid of a piunp. An iron pipe is then 

 inserted, and to the top of this a pump is attached and worked by hand 



