145 
prolific. There arises out of holes in the argillaceous and sand- stone 
soil, a watery vapour smelling of naphtha, which, collected in 
pitchers, is so richly impregnated with naphtha, but still more with 
maltha, that the inhabitants collect both, and use the latter as tar. 
The earth hereabouts is all impregnated and black with maltha ; on 
the shore of the Volga, near Tetyuschy, and near Samarskoy, thick 
naphtha oozes out of the stony stratum. On the mountain Irnek, 
in the Kirghisian and Khivinschian frontiers, on the road to Ornburg, 
black petroleum flows. A lake on the Sagris, which falls into the 
Emba, is covered for a finger thick with naphtha. On the Sok ; on 
the Caspian, principally near Baiku ; in Taurida ; in the district oi 
Perikop, and on the Isle of Taman, twenty versts south of the town 
of that name ; also at Yenikaly and in the Kuban ; and on the Baikal, 
in many places, bitumen is very abundant^. 
The petroleum springs of Mount Zibio, near to la Salsa de 
Sassucolo, in Modena, are, according to the account of the Abbe 
Spallanzanif , highly worthy of notice. The pits, of which there are 
two, are dug in a soft sand-stone, the petroleum flowing, with 
water, from a narrow opening in the stone, and falling into the 
water at the bottom, is thence collected, as it swims on the top. 
The quantity which has been for ages uniformly yielded in summer, 
is nearly a pound daily; but in winner little more than half the 
quantity. The petroleum of one of these pits is of a dark yellow 
colour, the pit is therefore called bagno nero ; but that of the other 
is of a clear yellow, hence the pit is named hagno bianco. This pro- 
duct of Mount Zibio had been noticed by Francis Ariosti, as early 
as the year 1460, in a manuscript, since published, and entitled, 
Francisci A.riosti de Oleo Montis Zibinii, seu Petroleo jlgri Muti- 
* View of the Russian Empire, by Mr. William Tooke, vol. i. p. 249. 
t Voyages dans les deux Siciles, &c. par I’Abbe Lazare Spallanzani, tom. v. cap. 43. The 
French translation is here referred to, not being in possession of the original, and this lattei 
part of the work not having yet appeared in the English language. 
VOL. I. 
V 
