hayes.1 OIL FIELDS OF TEXAS-LOUISIANA COASTAL PLAIN. 351 
column of water and oil in the casing. Wells which had been shut 
off did not generally flow when the valves Avere opened, but to induce 
a flow it was necessary to agitate the oil in the casing, either with a 
bailer or by conducting compressed air to the bottom of the well. 
This general decrease in pressure continued until in the latter half of 
the second year few wells had a natural flow, and in some the oil was 
cut off by the invasion of salt water. This fate awaits every well in 
the pool, and it is only a matter of time when even pumping will no 
longer be profitable. 
The development of this pool has been accompanied by enormous 
waste in the drilling of a large number of unnecessary wells and the 
loss of great quantities of oil, which has been allowed to flow over 
the surrounding country and invite further loss by fire. The even 
greater loss which has been inflicted upon the commercial world by 
the overcapitalization of oil companies and the sale of worthless stock 
is a matter which might be dwelt upon at length, but is not germane 
to the present discussion. 
CHARACTER AND UTILIZATION OF THE GULF COAST 
PETROLEUM. 
The character of the oil found in various parts of the Texas-Louisi- 
ana Gulf Coastal Plain is practically the same, but it is very different 
from that found in other fields of the United States. It is dark 
reddish-brown, almost black, and has a disagreeably pungent sul- 
phurous odor. It has a high specific gravity, varying from 0.904 to 
0.963, Pennsylvania petroleum having a specific gravity from 0.800 to 
0.817. In this, as in other respects, it is more nearly related to the 
California oils. 
The flash point or the lowest temperature at which the oil gives off 
an inflammable vapor varies, according to different observers, from 
110° to 180°. The wide variation is probably due to the different 
lengths of time the several samples on which the tests were made had 
been -exposed to the air Since the flash point depends on the pro- 
portion of the lighter hydrocarbons in the oil, it is gradually raised 
by exposure to the air, which permits these lighter constituents to 
escape. 
The oil contains a large amount of sulphur, both as hydrogen 
sulphide, which largely escapes on standing and is more thoroughly 
expelled b} T blowing air or steam through the oil, and also as other 
sulphur compounds. After freeing it from the hydrogen sulphide it 
has been found by various chemists to contain from -1.75 to 2.4 per 
cent of sulphur. At least a part of this appears to be sulphur as 
such simply dissolved in the oil and not in chemical combination. It 
is probable that this high sulphur would not form a serious obstacle 
to the utilization of the oil for the preparation of illuminants. The 
chemical constitution of the distillates, however, apjDears to be such 
