152 



fifteen feet deep. This oil is sold throughout Persia as a 

 material for light. Bakoo was the holy city of the ancient 

 fire worshippers, and their rites were doubtless in some way 

 connected with the inflammable oil which was found in such 

 quantities in its vicinity. At Amiano in Italy, an oil of this 

 kind escapes from crevices in the earth, and in the last cen- 

 tury was used for purposes of illumination. But its intense 

 and disagreeable odor prevented its extended or continued 

 use. 



On our continent this material has been discovered in 

 many places widely separated, and will doubtless be found 

 in many more. The Canada geologists early called atten- 

 tion to a large bed of bitumen deposited on the surface of 

 the ground in the township of Enniskillen, near the south- 

 ern point of Lake Huron, and suggested that at some future 

 time it might be turned to some economic purpose. Indi- 

 cations of oil had long been observed in various localities 

 of the United States. Oil Creek, a small branch of the Al- 

 leghany river in Cattaraugus county, N. Y., recei\ed its 

 name from such indications. So also the same name was 

 given to another small tributary of this river in Yenango 

 county, Pa., a locality which has since become famous in 

 connection with this product. Olean in New York, received 

 its name because of the oil indications in its vicinity. Vir- 

 ginia and Ohio have also localities where the presence of 

 oil in the rocks has long been observed from unmistakable 

 signs. 



One thing then at least is evident from this geographical 

 survey, that like coal and iron and cereal grains, and almost 

 all the great necessaries of life, rock oil has received a very 

 wide and generous distribution. 



II. Geological Position. — Bituminous substances are 

 by no means confined to a single geologic formation, but 

 are in fact found in almost all ages. In this country they 

 exist in the older Palaeozoic rocks, while in Trinidad and 

 Venezuela they are found in the strata of the tertiary forma- 



