356 
LAW RELATING TO THE KEEPING OF PETROLEUM. 
We have received several communications in which inquiries are made re¬ 
specting the liabilities incurred by those who keep petroleum on their premises. 
Several years ago, in 1862, an Act of Parliament was passed u for the safe keep¬ 
ing of petroleum,” which will be found in extenso in Vol. IV. n. s. of this 
Journal, at page 162. The object of the law was to lessen the danger of acci¬ 
dents from fire and explosion caused by the use of those kinds of petroleum 
which give off large quantities of vapour at temperatures below 100° Fahr. 
Until recently the law has not been put very rigidly into force, but within the 
last few weeks, the local authorities throughout the country have been instructed 
by the Government to take immediate steps for enforcing the Act. Notices 
have therefore been issued in most towns, informing those who deal in petroleum 
that they are liable to a heavy penalty for keeping more than forty gallons of 
petroleum or other explosive substance within fifty yards of a dwelling-house, 
or of a building in which goods are stored, except in pursuance of a licence from 
some competent authority, the nature of which is defined in the Act. 
As petroleum is frequently sold by druggists, it is important that such should 
at once ascertain whether or not they are infringing the law. It is not the 
mere keeping of petroleum that renders them liable, even if the quantity ex¬ 
ceeds that specified in the Act, but keeping in excessive quantity the sort of 
petroleum defined in the Act, namely, petroleum or any product thereof that 
gives off an inflammable vapour at a temperature of less than 100° Fahr. This, 
at least, is the construction generally put upon the wording of the Act. The 
words of the Act are “Petroleum, for the purposes of this Act, shall include 
any product thereof that gives off an inflammable vapour at a temperature of 
less than 100° Fahr.” It is presumed, as the Act relates to products of petro¬ 
leum that give off inflammable vapour at the temperature stated, that it also 
relates only to petroleum itself when equally volatile. 
There is great difference in the volatility of different samples of petroleum, 
and large quantities of the lighter and more volatile products obtained in the 
rectification of crude petroleum, have been frequently, and we believe are at 
the present time, sold for burning in lamps. Every dealer ought to be assured 
of the property in regard to volatility of the petroleum products he sells for 
burning, whether they be sold under the name of petroleum or any other name. 
Instructions for ascertaining the temperature at which inflammable vapour is 
given off will be found in a paper by Dr. Attfield, at page 324, Yol. VIII. N.s. 
of this Journal. 
THE CHEMISTS’ BALL. 
A report will be found elsewhere of the very agreeable meeting which took 
place on Wednesday evening, the 22nd of January, at Willis’s Rooms. The 
attendance this year appears to have been even* more numerous than last year, 
and we have heard but one opinion expressed as to the satisfaction of those who 
were present with the proceedings. 
