HISTORY  OF  PETROLEUM  OR  ROCK  OIL. 
533 
The  existence  of  liquid  bitumen  in  the  Corniferous  limestone 
in  Western  Canada,  was  pointed  out  as  long  ago  as  18-14  by 
Mr.  Murray,  who  tells  us  that  this  rock  is  generally  bitumi- 
nous, and  that  cavities  in  it  are  often  filled  with  petroleum  ; 
the  quarries  near  Gravelly  Bay,  in  Wainfleet,  are  cited  as  an 
example  (Report  of  Geol.  Survey,  1846,  p.  87.)  In  the  re- 
port  of  1850  we  find  a  notice  of  what  are  called  oil  springs,  in 
which  petroleum  rises  to  the  surface  of  the  water  near  the  right 
bank  of  the  Thames,  in  Mosa,  and  in  two  places  in  Bear  Creek, 
in  Enniskillen.  Subsequently  Mr.  Murray  described  a  consid- 
erable deposit  of  solid  bitumen  or  mineral  tar,  which  occurs  in 
the  same  township,  extending  over  about  half  an  acre,  and  in 
some  places  two  feet  in  thickness,  doubtlesss  formed  by  the  dry- 
ing up  of  petroleum  springs  (Report  for  1851,  p.  90.)  I  had 
already,  in  the  Report  for  1849,  p.  99,  described  this  bitumen 
from  specimens  in  the  Museum  of  the  Geological  Survey,  and 
called  attention  to  its  economic  applications,  remarking  that 
"  the  consumption  of  this  material  in  England  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent for  the  construction  of  pavements,  for  paying  the  bot- 
tom of  ships,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  illuminating  gas,  is 
such  that  the  existence  of  these  deposits  in  the  country  is  a 
matter  of  considerable  importance."  At  this  time  solid  bitumen 
was  thus  employed,  but  in  the  liquid  form  of  petroleum  its  use 
was  chiefly  confined  in  Europe  to  medicinal  purposes.  Under 
the  names  of  Seneca  oil  and  Barbadoes  tar  it  had  long  been 
known  and  employed  medicinally  by  the  native  tribes  of  America. 
Its  use  for  burning,  as  a  source  of  light  or  heat,  in  modern 
times  has  been  chiefly  confined  to  Persia  and  other  parts  of 
Asia,  although  in  former  ages  the  wells  of  the  island  of  Zante, 
described  by  Herodotus,  furnished  large  quantities  of  it  to  the 
Grecian  Archipelago,  and  Pliny  and  Dioscorides  describe  the 
petroleum  of  Agrigentum,  in  Sicily,  which  was  used  in  lamps 
under  the  name  of  Sicilian  oil.  The  value  of  the  naphtha  an- 
nually obtained  from  the  springs  at  Bakoum,  in  Persia,  on  the 
Caspian  sea,  was  some  years  ago  estimated  by  Abich  at  about 
600,000  dollars,  and  the  petroleum  wells  of  Rangoon,  in  Bur- 
mah,  are  said  to  furnish  not  less  than  400,000  hogsheads  yearly. 
In  the  last  century  the  petroleum  or  naphtha  obtained  from 
springs,  in  the  Duchy  of  Parma  was  employed  for  lighting  the 
