Bituminous and Oil Rocks. — Broadhead. 33 
palachian region, especially in the oil regions. The most pro- 
lific oil springs were on Oil creek, Pennsylvania and here in 
1859 were the first borings for oil. The Phillips well produced 
3000 barrels per day, but by 1864 the production had declined. 
The greatest oil flows in America have been at Beaumont, 
Texas, where a six inch stream spouted up 120 feet in the air. 
The gas pressure here is very great. The Lucas well was es- 
timated to flow 70,000 barrels in twenty-four hours. The oils 
here probably flow from the Lower Tertiary. Northwardly, 
at Corsicana. oil flows from the Cretaceous. 
An asphaltic limestone from Ardmore, Indian Territory, 
has been quarried for paving purposes. It is rich in cephalo- 
pod fossils. A peculiar asphalt which has been termed gilson- 
ite is quarried in Utah. Albertite resembles asphalt. It is 
brittle, black and lustrous, with a broad conchoidal fracture, 
but it differs from it in fusibility and its relation to various 
solvents. It does not melt like asphalt, but can be melted in 
a closed tube. It is found in New Brunswick in calcareo-bi- 
tuminous shales which contain fossil fish, and occupy an in- 
clined vein. Grahamite, found in Richie county, West \"\v- 
ginia, resumbles albertite. 
A well in Knox county, Ohio, affords 10,000 barrels of wa- 
ter per day and through this water gas shoots up nearly sev- 
enty feet above. 
There is a bituminous lake near the Bay of Campeachv in 
Mexico, around which there is a solid black shining crust, 
while towards the centre it is soft and in some places the bi- 
tumen boils up as if in a constant state of ebullition, sometimes 
bubbling up in cones three or four feet high, which evolve 
vapors, burst and overflow. At rare intervals the lake be- 
comes ignited and the whole surface is covered with a sheet 
of flame. 
A wonderful lake is that of LaBraye. on the island of Trin- 
idad, one and a half miles in circuit. It is hot at the centre, 
but solid and cold toward the shore. Its borders are covered 
with hardened pitch on which soil has accumulated and trees 
flourish. There are said to be occasional pools of water in 
which fish live. It is also said that the odor from the lake can 
be detected eight miles off. 
