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ANALYSIS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  PETROLEUM.  451 
part  of  the  tongue  which  it  touches.  It  bears  some  resemblance 
to  atropine  in  its  chemical  relations,  and  forms  perfect  salts 
with  the  acids.  It  is,  however,  without  action  on  the  eye,  and 
its  compound  with  the  chloride  of  gold  is  remarkable  for  forming 
benzoic  acid  in  large  proportion  upon  being  heated.  Further 
experiments  will  throw  light  on  its  physiological  properties. — 
Druggists'  Circular,  August,  1860. 
RESULTS  OF  AN  ANALYSIS  OF  PENNSYLVANIA  PETROLEUM, 
Especially  respecting  its  value  as  a  source  of  hydrocarbon  oils,  adapted  to 
the  purposes  of  illumination. 
By  E.  S.  Wayne. 
The  recent  discovery  in  Western  Pennsylvania  and  Eastern 
Ohio  of  numerous  and  apparently  inexhaustible  sources  of 
petroleum,  and  the  bearing  it  was  anticipated  to  have  upon  what 
is  as  yet  a  new  branch  of  manufacture  (that  of  coal  oil),  has 
made  it  a  subject  of  much  interest  and  no  little  anxiety  to  those 
engaged  in  that  business. 
Through  Mr.  J.  W.  Donahue,  of  this  city,  I  obtained  a  quan- 
tity of  Pennsylvania  petroleum,  sufficient  for  a  practical  test  of 
its  value,  which  was  sent  to  him  from  Holland,  Venango  county, 
Pennsylvania.  This  specimen,  which  I  presume  is  a  fair  repre- 
sentation of  the  quality  of  it,  as  obtained  from  the  numerous 
wells  in  that  locality,  was  of  a  peculiar  opake,  olive  green  hue ; 
and  in  odor  similar  to  that  petroleum  commonly  known  as  Seneka 
oil,  which  it  very  much  resembles,  with  the  exception  only  of  its 
being  much  thinner  in  body.  Upon  testing  the  specific  gravity 
of  it,  I  found  it  to  be  only  815°  ;  much  lower  than  that  of 
Seneka  oil  and  other  specimens  I  had  of  petroleum,  exuding 
naturally  upon  Paint  Creek,  a  tributary  of  the  Big  Sandy  river, 
Kentucky.  Upon  exposing  a  portion  of  this  petroleum  to  the 
air,  for  twenty-four  hours,  I  found  that  it  lost  considerable  bulk 
by  evaporation,  and  that  it  had  gained  a  corresponding  increase 
in  gravity,  as  the  remainder  upon  testing  gave  825°  specific 
gravity,  ten  degrees  heavier  than  the  original  substance,  which 
was  815°.  Ten  gallons  of  this  petroleum  was  submitted  to  dis- 
tillation, and  the  following  are  the  fractional  results  and  specific 
gravities  of  the  same.  The  fractions  taken  of  the  run  of  the  still 
