146 OIL FIELDS OF TEXAS-LOUISIANA COASTAL PLAIN. [Bui^.m 
PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF THE TEXAS-LOUISIANA 
OIL. 
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. 
COLOR AND ODOR. 
When flowing from the well or first received into the tank the 
Beaumont petroleum is a dark reddish-brown fluid, carrying a large 
quantity of hydrogen sulphide in solution. It has a very strong, dis- 
agreeably pungent, sulphurous odor, attacking the mucous membranes 
of the nose and causing the eyes to smart. The Sour Lake oil and 
the Saratoga and Jennings oils arc somewhat darker and heavier, 
and, owing to the smaller quantity of gas which they contain, have 
a less disagreeable odor. The small quantity of oil flowing from the 
Equitable Mining Company's well a1 Columbia is also of a very dark 
color. 
Upon exposure to the air these oils gradually lose a large propor- 
tion of their contained gases and become somewhat thicker and 
darker. They do not, however, lose their peculiar odor. Kast and 
Lagai attribute the odor of petroleum to the presence of unsaturated 
hydrocarbons, while Mabery and Smith appear to think it is due to a 
mixture of bad-smelling compounds, but do not say what may be 
the cause, although they found unsaturated hydrocarbons in their 
experiments with the Ohio oils." Richardson h also found considerable 
quantities of unsaturated hydrocarbons in the Beaumont oils. 
SPECIFIC GRAVITY. 
The specific gravity of the Beaumont petroleum ranges from 0.004 
to 0.925, or 25.4° 1>. to 21.5° B. Three determinations of the Sour Lake 
oil gave it specific gravit ies of 0.945, 0.958, and 0.963, or 18° B. to 15° B. 
The Saratoga oil has a specific gravity of 0.945, or 18° B. 
A comparison of the specific gravities of the petroleum from various 
districts of the Coastal Plain field with those of other well-known 
fields shows the former to be much heavier than any of the petroleums 
which contain a notable proportion of illuminants. They are, how- 
ever, in this respect similar to the California oils. Some of the Mexi- 
can oils are also heavier. 
Specific gravif// of petroleum from various fields. 
Pennsylvania < 0. 801-0. 817 
Ohio (Lima field) e . 816- . 860 
Kansas^ 1 .835-1.000 
West Virginia < . 841- . 873 
Canada (Petrolia field) '- .858 
Russia (Baku field) c .859- .871 
« Am. Chem. Jour., Vol. XVI, p. 88. 
& Jour. Soc. Chem. Industry, Vol. XX, p. 693. 
o Redwood, Petroleum and its Products, 188(5, Vol. I, p. 178. 
rfHaworth, Mineral Resources of Kansas, 1897, p. 51. 
