July 17, 1885.] 



SCIENCE, 



4a 



an opportunity to investigate in the field all the geo- 

 logical conditions under which petroleum and natural 

 gas are found, that I fear Professor White's neces- 

 sarily brief article, based upon his field studies, will 

 mislead many. 



Although it is to be regretted that no general work 

 "has been published on the subject which would 

 prove of any value to those engaged in prospecting 

 for natural gas," yet Mr. John F. Carll, geologist in 

 charge of the survey of the oil regions, and myself, 

 among others, have collected a vast amount of infor- 

 mation on the subject to elucidate many of the intri- 

 cate questions connected with the exploration of 

 natural gas. 



Professor White's theory, that ' all great gas-wells 

 are found on the anticlinal axes,' cannot be accepted 

 until he shall limit, by definition, all great gas-wells 

 to exclude all gas-wells, both large and small, com- 

 paratively, which produce gas from strata not found 

 either on anticlinal axes or in close proximity to such 

 structural lines. The Kane gas-wells, the Ridgeway 

 well, the ' Old Mullin snorter,' and several Bolivar 

 wells, are notable instances among many which might 

 be mentioned where large gas- wells have been drilled 

 in or near the centre of synclines. 



Although it is a fact that many of our largest 

 Pennsylvania gas-wells are located near anticlinal 

 axes, yet the position in which gas may be found, 

 and the amount to be obtained, depend upon [a] 

 the porosity and homogeneousness of the sandstone 

 which serves as a reservoir to hold the gas; (6) the 

 extent to which the strata above or below the gas- 

 sand are cracked; (c) the dip of the gas-sand, and 

 the position of the anticlines and synclines; [d) the 

 relative proportions of water, oil, and gas contained 

 in the sand; and (e) the pressure under which the 

 gas exists before being tapped by wells. 



All oil-bearing sandstones contain a greater or less 

 quantity of gas; and most gas-producing sandstones 

 contain some oil, although a number of wells said to 

 produce 'dry gas,' or that in which no oil or water 

 can be detected, contain gas to the exclusion of fresh 

 water, salt water, or oil. 



Many facts could be cited which would disprove 

 or render insufficient Professor White's 'three or 

 four general rules' connected with the occurrence 

 of natural gas in Pennsylvania formulated on the 

 basis of his theory. This theory, in many cases, ap- 

 parently explains the occurrence of gas; and what 

 have proved large gas-wells have been located on 

 anticlinals; but the theory, as a practical basis of 

 successful operations generally, has no more claims 

 as a final statement than ' Angell's belt theory,' 

 which accounted for the occurrence of petroleum, as 

 understood by him in 1867, when his theory was first 

 announced. Many successful oil operations have been 

 based on the 'belt theory,' and fortunes made; but 

 it has long since been found to be insufficient to 

 account for the existence of petroleum in all the 

 Pennsylvania districts. 



Chas. a. Ashburnee, 



Assistant geologist Penn. surv. 



907 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, 

 July 1. 



In reply to Mr. Ashburner's criticism of the views 

 advanced in my article on natural gas, I would say 

 that the necessary brevity of the paper in question 

 prevented the mention of many facts that might have 

 rendered the conclusions clearer, and less open to 

 challenge. One of these is, that my communication 

 had especial reference to the natural-gas regions 



proper; i.e., where the gas is unconnected with oil- 

 fields. Most geologists know that natural gas in 

 large quantity exists with, and contiguous to, every 

 oil-pool, apparently as a by-product in the genera- 

 tion of the oil; and of course the rocks are filled with 

 it wherever it can find a reservoir. To gas-wells 

 from such sources Mr. Ashburner's criticism may 

 sometimes be found applicable; but, even with these, 

 by far the larger ones will be found on the arches of 

 the rocks. 



The cases that Mr. Ashburner mentions, where 

 large gas-wells have been found at the centre of syn- 

 clines, do not necessarily contradict my conclusions; 

 for no one knows better than he that a subordinate 

 crumple or anticlinal roll often runs along the central 

 line of a syncline. Messrs. Ashburner and Carll have 

 indeed collected and published many well records, 

 and other data concerning oil and gas, that are inval- 

 uable with reference to the contiguous oil and gas 

 regions already developed ; but, if they have written 

 any thing that would prove a guide to one in search 

 of new gas-fields, the writer has failed to get access 

 to the same. 



My excuse for writing the article on natural gas 

 was that I might be of some service in preventing 

 the waste of capital that has been going on within a 

 radius of fifty miles from Pittsburgh by an indis- 

 criminate search for natural gas ; and it is a sufficient 

 answer to Mr. Ashburner's criticism to point him to 

 the brilliant lights along the crests of the Waynes- 

 burg, Pin-Hook, Washington, Bull- Creek, Brady's- 

 Bend, Hickory, Wellsburg, Raccoon, and other 

 anticlinals, and also to the darkness that envelops 

 the intervening synclines, in which hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars have been invested without develop- 

 ing a single profitable gas-well. The same result has 

 been proven in other portions of the country. The 

 Great Kanawha valley above Charleston has been 

 honeycombed with borings for salt, and the only gas- 

 wells developed were found within a belt a few rods 

 wide, which coincides with the crest of the Browns- 

 town anticlinal, where immense flows were struck. 

 In this connection, I should state that Col. Allen of 

 Charleston says he can trace the Brown stown anti- 

 clinal by the escaping gas across streams, and even 

 mountains, from the Kanawha River to the Big 

 Sandy, where, on its crest, near Warfield, two of 

 the largest gas-wells ever known have recently been 

 struck. At Burning Springs, on the Little Kanawha, 

 the only large gas-wells were found on the very crest 

 of the great uplift in that region. The gas-belt of 

 western Ohio, through Findlay and other towns, fol- 

 lows closely the line of the Cincinnati arch; and the 

 same story is repeated in other localities too numer- 

 ous to mention. 



Mr. Ashburner can, if he chooses, interpret these 

 facts as mere coincidences, and explain them to him- 

 self as having no more bearing on the question of 

 finding gas than 'Angell's belt theory' of oil; but 

 the practical gas-operator can no longer be deluded 

 by such logic into risking his money in water-holes 

 (synclines) where so many thousands have been 

 hopelessly squandered. 



With regard to the anticlinal theory not being ' a 

 practical basis for successful operations,' I deem it a 

 sufficient reply to state that all the successful gas 

 companies of western Pennsylvania and West Vir- 

 ginia are getting their gas from the crests of anticlinal 

 axes, while those that have confined their operations 

 to synclines have met with uniform financial disaster. 



The statement was distinctly made in my original 

 communication, that gas would not be found on all 

 anticlinals, nor at all localities along one that actually 



