30 ON PETROLEUM AND PHOTOGEN. 



formation of woody fibre) according to the circumstances under which 

 it occurs various products result, under certain conditions it yields 

 carbonic acid and alcohol, under others butyric and carbonic acids, and 

 in certain modified fermentations the acetic, lactic and propionic acids. 

 The oils of Canada although long known to have existence in that 

 country, did not attract the attention of adventurers until 1853, and 

 were not until 1857 turned to profitable account. The very successful 

 introduction of the new coal oils for lubricating and illuminating 

 purposes by Mr. Young, led to the formation of a company which 

 secured the lands of Enniskillen, in which the superficial deposits of 

 asphalt occur, for the purpose of using it as a substitute for coals in 

 the manufacture of such oils. But on penetrating below the asphalt 

 large quantities of the materials were found in a fluid state, and there- 

 fore much nearer the conditions required for the manufacture. There 

 are now about nine wells (from 100 to 230 feet deep) in operation, yielding 

 three to four hundred barrels per day. The soil penetrated is a stiff clay, 

 arising from the decomposition of the underlying rocks which have the 

 characters and contain the fossils peculiar to the Hamilton group of the 

 Devonian system. No rock of a bituminous nature seems yet to have 

 been struck, although detached masses of bituminous shale are met 

 with. The oil is diffused through the clay, penetrating numerous cracks 

 or fissures, and rises up in such quantities that the wells have the 

 appearance of boiling cauldrons of pitch. Although the oil-bearing 

 rocks are nearer the surface in Canada than in the United States, the 

 oil of the latter loses less per cent, by purification, and has a less 

 unpleasant odour, the thick tarry consistence of the Canadian causes 

 difficulty in its rectification on account of the frothing. 



The American rock-oil is composed of a series of hydro-carbons, 

 with different degrees of inflammability, and different boiling-points. 

 Its specific gravity is from 0-830 to 0-890. MM. Pelaire and Cahoura 

 Lave separated from it twelve hydro-carbons of the marsh gas series. 

 They could discover in it no benzine, nor any of its homologues, which 

 they consider seems to indicate that the petroleum could not have been 

 derived from coal, unless it had undergone a decomposition different to 

 that of ordinary distillation. The products more nearly resemble those 

 which are formed when various fatty acids, their corresponding alcohols, 

 and a great number of organic bodies containing carbon and hydrogen in 

 the proportion of equivalent to equivalent, are submitted to high 

 temperatures. 



These oils are, as is well known at the present time extensively 

 used for the production of artificial light. The term petroleum or rock 

 oil being properly applied to those which are produced naturally, whilst 

 the product of the distillation of coal, shales, &c, are called Photogen, 

 Paraffin, or Coal Oil ; many manufacturers have given to their products 

 peculiar and unmeaning names, such as Caselline, Belmontine, &c. 

 They are burnt in properly constructed lamps, with flat or round wicks, 

 in the former case the greatest amount of light is procured by cutting 

 the wick flat, so that the top is made as even as possible. 



These hydro-carbon oils are the best means of light for domestic 

 purposes, inasmuch as they give the largest amount of light with the 



