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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



question, from what source and by what process did petroleum 

 originate, we find many and discordant answers. A distin- 

 guished German geologist, Prof. C. F. Zincken, of Leipzig, says 

 that for this subject we can well adopt the inscription placed 

 over a meteorite that fell, centuries ago in Germany. Multi 

 multa; omnes aliquid; nemo satis. These words can be thus trans- 

 lated: '' Many men say many things; everyone says something; 

 nobody gives a satisfactory account." When we come to analyze 

 the various answers as to the origin of petroleum the case is not 

 as discouraging as this statement would lead us to conclude. 

 There is one point of vital importance in the discussion, and in 

 regard to this it may now be said that there is substantially an 

 agreement among all geologists who have earned the right to 

 speak on the question; and, what is equally to be desired, 

 there is a rapidly growing accord among chemists who are pre- 

 pared to apply first-hand knowledge to the discussion of the sub- 

 ject. The vital point above referred to is the question whether 

 petroleum is the product of chemical affinity, exerted on inor- 

 ganic matter, or whether it is a result of the transformation of 

 substances that have been built up under the agency of life. It 

 is the latter line of answers that has come to be universally ac- 

 cepted by geologists and it now looks as if there would soon be 

 equal unanimity among chemists in regard to the same point. 



Section 3 

 Theories of origin 



a Theory of inorganic origin 



It has been claimed by a number of chemists, some of whom 

 hold high rank in the scientific world, that the several members 

 of the bituminous series can be referred to a purely mineral 

 origin. There are several phases of this doctrine. One of them 

 seems to imply that the elements, carbon and hydrogen, are 

 combined in the interior of the earth through the agency of the 

 high temperatures prevailing there. This phase of the doctrine 

 matches to but few facts in nature and does not appear to be 

 making progress. 



The most widely accepted theories as to the inorganic origin 

 of petroleum are those that refer it to certain definite chemical 



