107 



have originated in the locality at Keswick. These promise well 

 since the importation of Bavarian and Austrian pencils is at pre- 

 sent nil. Ceylon and the Straits Settlement, too, export large 

 quantities. The blacklead of Siberia is almost wholly the 

 monopoly of Faber, the pencil maker of Nuremberg. 



Perhaps truly speaking another aspect of carbon would 

 rightly fall to consideration from a geographical standpoint. 

 Trees are largely carbon, and timber is an exceedingly important 

 article of commerce. Conifers are largely used for building pur- 

 poses. Firs and pines are mostly found in the colder regions of 

 the world. Fancy and ornamental woods for furniture making 

 are the products of the Tropics. Closely associated with timber 

 is the manufacture of paper from wood pulp. Japan specialises 

 in papier mache, another allied industry. Having barely men- 

 tioned the field now opened up, I must leave further consideration 

 of such topics as cereals, sugars and starches, however important 

 they may be commercially and domestically. 



Pitch is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons. It exists in 

 some few places in a natural condition, notably in Trinidad, from 

 which place large quantities are derived. Other natural deposits 

 are met with in Barbados, Venezuela, and Algeria. 



Probably next to coal in importance is petroleum. It is to 

 this that scientists have recently looked with longing eyes as a 

 means of fuel when the coal shall become exhausted. Many 

 engines have been devised to burn petroleum, and oil boats and 

 oil engines are already transporting our commodities. The motor 

 system of transport also depends upon petroleum, whilst the air- 

 ship and aeroplane are both driven by its power. The general 

 formation is much the same as coal. Organic remains by reason 

 of internal heat become distilled with the production of oil, which 

 becomes imprisoned in porous rock. Here it remains until 

 " tapped " by a hole or boring. The most important 

 oil fields in the world are in Transcaucasia, Pennsylvania, 

 California, Mexico, Burmah, and even our own islands. 

 Baku owes its existence to the presence of petroleum. 

 Forests of derricks for boring and pumping are in the vicinity. A 

 great "baler" raises 100 tons of oil per day. A " spouter " 

 gusher often blows the derrick to matchwood and throws up any- 

 thing from 7,000 to 10,000 tons of marketable oil, worth from 

 ^"350,000 to ^500,000, within 24 hours. The soil about ' is so 

 logged with petroleum that inflammable gas escapes from -the 

 surface. Baku oil finds its way all over the world and gives 

 Russia a cheap fuel for her steamers on the Caspian and Black 

 Seas. With petroleum occurs oftentimes a natural fuel gas. In 

 Pennsylvania the gas has been tapped, and is in such quantitv that 

 it has been successfully utilised for illuminating purposes in the 

 city of Pittsburg and elsewhere. A petroleum boring at Heath- 

 field, in Sussex, gave a steady supply and threw up a flame 16 feet 

 in height. It has now been utilised for lighting the railwav 

 station. 



