GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION OF PETROLEUM 
63 
Now, while in the foregoing paragraphs certain considerations 
have been presented which point to the maximum petroleum 
accumulations in a zone between the twentieth and fiftieth paral- 
lels in the northern hemisphere, it would be a grave error to 
assume that nothing is to be gained by prospecting outside of 
this belt. Even if later investigations should show the specu- 
lations here presented to be well founded, it would seem in keep- 
ing with the theories advanced that there should occasionally 
be found within the very heart of the equatorial belt, accumu- 
lations of importance. As a working hypothesis only, it is sug- 
gested that the prospector^ s efforts will much more likely be 
rewarded in the northern than in the southern belt and that he 
is least likely to achieve the desired results in the equatorial zone. 
