82d 
[May 2, 1892. 
sand and pebbles that are brought up jvist before 
the oil is struck, and what do they indicate '! Solid 
rock. Yes, rocks such as are exposed in railway 
cuts and quarries, and which in such places are 
found to be devoid of oil as any other thing, unless 
it be a few fossil plants or shells. 
These surface rocks are not to be compared to 
those oil-producing sand rocks, for we are positive 
that the latter are as full of oil as a sponge thrown into 
a river is of water. They are, indeed, so full of pe- 
troleum that it acts as a barrier against a tremendous 
pressm'e of natural gas, and it is this pressure that 
lifts a solid column of oil 6 in. in diameter and 
1,700 ft. or more in height, together with thousands 
of pounds of steel tools, out of the casing with 
apparently no effort. 
To be plain, and to avoid bewildering technicali- 
ties, we will state that, so far as chemistry has 
been able to ascei-tain, the oil appears to be of animal 
and vegetable origin. There are exceptions to this 
finding of chemistry, of course, and theories 
that deal with the spontaneous generation of petro- 
leum from other sources are common and some of 
them are very plausible, but we believe that we 
are justified in asserting that the majority of scien- 
tists are of the opinion that this petroleum had 
its origin in the abundant fauna and flora of pre- 
historic geological ages. 
In connection with this statement, allow me to 
say that this word prehistoric is not a fit term to 
use in referring to the fauna and flora of the De- 
vonian age. In speaking of some old ruins that 
may be seen on the earth's surface, such as the 
walls of Casa Grande on the Gila desert, or the 
ruins of Yucatan, we may with propriety use the 
word, but in speaking of the remote geological ages 
it has no bearing whatever, and is out of place. 
Are we, then, to understand that this oil was pro- 
duced from the remains of ancient animal and vege- 
table life. Is it possible to conceive of the neces- 
sary materials in such enormous quantities as would 
justify such a belief '! 
In the vast deposits of the upper and lower Silurian 
formations there are more than 10,000 ft. of lime- 
stone made entirely of moluscs. These immense 
beds of limestone are of vast extent, and everywhere 
they are amazingly fossiliferous. Take 400,000 square 
miles of limestone 10,000 ft. in thickness, and en- 
tirely made iip of the remains of animal life ; add 
to this a similar extent of Devonian formations 
crowded with the remains of fishes, moluscs, and 
crustaceans, and then add to that 8,000 ft. or more 
of carboniferous matter, packed with the abundant 
remains of a tropical vegetation, and what have 
you got ? 
It is easy to conceive of an ocean of oil 
coming from all these things, providing they were 
well squeezed like apples in some immense cider 
press and the juices preserved. And what better 
evidence of a pressure sufficient to accomplish this 
is wanted than that which is obtained by studying 
the gigantic upheavals and inward lateral crusliing 
convulsions that are suggested by the Appalachian 
and Rocky Mountain ranges. 
Here, then, were the materials and there were the 
forces sufficient to account for this immense deposit 
of oil that has been released by artificial perfora- 
tion of the rocks at McDonald and other places. 
To come a little nearer home in an effort to show 
the enormous quantity of vegetable matter that must 
have been buried by inundation and subsequent 
elevations of the surface of the earth, let us go to 
Mansfield, nine miles from Pittsburg, on the Pan 
Handle, where, in cutting down an immense hill, the 
workjnen have discovered a vast and wonderful de- 
posit of fossil plants. 
There, packed in the solid blue and black shales, 
are the abundant remains of the vegetation of the 
cai'bonifcrous age. I'erfoct casts of lioautiful ar- 
borescent fcruH and calamities, nislies of gigantic 
lengtl), and curiously carved trnnlcs of tlie lepido- 
dendron and sigiloria are all licaped and pent in one 
inseparable mass. Even the unlearned Italian lal)our- 
ers are amazed at the sight. On every block of 
Hhalc are a thousand perfect casts of plants and a 
hundred different varieties. There are enough 
specimens here to stock a million cabinets. A road, 
bed for the third track of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati 
Chicago and St. Louis railroad is being graded with 
remains of one of the forests of the ancient world. 
Look where you will, go where you will in the vici- 
nity of this cut, and everywhere you tread upon 
the perfect casts of plants that grew in some old 
carboniferous lagoon, perhaps 10,000,000 years ago. 
Here then, probably, was the origin of our great 
deposits of coal, and it may, in conjunction with 
the other fossils above mentioned, have helped to 
produce the vast supplies of "golden ile" in the 
form of petroleum.— C7ien«caZ Trade Journal. 
♦ 
Two of the largest sugar-houses at Greenock are 
about to suspend melting operations temporarily, 
in consequence, it is said, of the high prices of 
raw suger, which, it is stated, does not allow of 
refining at a profit. The firms in question have 
recently been paying off workers. — A. I^'. Press. 
Wattle Baek — An influential company, consisting 
of well known Hand Bnd Pretoria men, is in course 
of formation for the purpose of prosecuting the 
wattle bark industry in the Transvaal. Land has been 
seleoted in one of the best districts in the sister re- 
public, and an old NBt&lian will pilot the venture. 
It is stated byexpeits thai owing to the chemicals in 
the soil the bark grown in the republic will yield 
about three per cent more of tannic acid than the 
tree in Natal. 'J he Bcheme is to be started on a 
gigantic scale. — Witness. 
Quinine as a Pecphylactic— Mr. Ehodee, the 
Prime Minister of Ceje Colony, reports that during 
his journey to Mashonaland bo took plenty of 
quinine in order to resist the malarial fever. 
Thanks to this, he and his patty got through 
ihe wilds without any of his party being laid up 
with fever, for, although they felt feverish occasionally 
they excceeded in warding off the affection. Mr. 
hhodes's experience confirms the published ex- 
periences of Dr. Binz, Dr. Graeeer, Dr. Buwalda, 
Dr. 0. Schelling, Dr. Tschirch and other authorities 
who have travtlied in the tropics that quinine 
guards against and ciiectually prevents malarial 
fever.- — Chemist and Druggist. 
Sweet Pomelos. — Mr. G. I. B., in a late nmnber, 
asks information about grape fruits and how to protect; 
pineapples. I lately had an opportunity of sampling 
the fruit of the sweet pomelo, to which you refer, and 
think so highly of it that I would urge G. I. B. not to 
plant any other. This pomelo originated in this vici- 
nity and seems a cross between the common pomelo 
and the orange. It is somewhat smaller than the com- 
mon variety, the peel thinner and there seems an 
entire absence of the bitter taste which is found in the 
inner peel of the ordinary pomelo. The flavor is very 
fine, being a combination of both orange and pomelo. 
It is liked at once and can be eaten out of hand like 
an orange, as it requires no sugar. I do not know 
where trees of this variety can be obtained at present, 
but understand they are being budded by nurserymen 
and trees will doubtless soon be offered on the market. 
— Farmer and Fruit-Groicer. 
It is by no means a new idea that the prairies of 
the Far West are practically treeless owing to the 
extensi\e fires that devastate them after the grass 
withers ; but Mr. Miller Christy, f.l.s., has brought 
forward a large amount of evidence in favour of it. 
The most promising of other theories is to the effect 
that the prairies are the beds of large lakes, the 
black mould being the sediment or mud. Mr. Christy 
regards the black mould as the ash of the repeated 
fires. Formerly the Indians used to burn the prairies 
in the fall, leaving patches for the buffalo to feed on. 
Now they arc burned by the settlers in the spring 
or by accidental ignition from neglect, or out of wan- 
tonness. Whatever be the correct theory, it is cer- 
tain that trees will grow on the prairie lands where 
tliey are protected, as around homesteads, or by the 
banks of rivers. There seems to be nothing in the 
soil itself which forbids the growth of timber — Ghhe, 
