534 
HISTORY  OF  PETROLEUM  OR  ROCK  OIL. 
streets  of  Genoa  and  Amiano;  but  the  thickness,  coarseness, 
and  unpleasant  odor  of  the  petroleum  from  most  sources  were 
such  that  it  had  long  fallen  into  disuse  in  Europe,  when  in  1847 
the  attention  of  Mr.  Young,  a  manufacturing  chemist  of  Glas- 
gow, was  called  to  the  petroleum  which  had  been  thus  obtained  in 
considerable  quantities  from  a  coal  mine  at  Biddings,  in  Derby- 
shire, from  which,  by  certain  refining  processes,  he  succeeded  in 
preparing  a  good  lubricating  oil.     This  source,  however,  soon 
becoming  exhausted,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  somewhat 
similar  oils  which  Reichenbach  and  Selligue  had  long  before 
showed  might  be  economically  obtained  by  the  distillation  of 
coal,  lignite,  peat,  and  pyroschists.    To  this  new  industry  Mr. 
Young  gave  a  great  impetus,  and  in  connection  with  it  attention 
was  again  turned  to  the  refining  of  liquid  and  solid  bitumens,  it 
being  found  that  the  latter  by  distillation  gave  great  quantities 
of  oil  identical  with  those  from  petroleum.    About  the  year 
1853  the  attention  of  speculators  was  turned  to  the  deposits  of 
bitumen  in  Enniskillen  just  described,  but  it  was  not  till  1857 
that  Mr.  W.  M.  Williams,  of  Hamilton,  with  some  associates, 
undertook  the  distillation  of  this  tarry  bitumen,  when  they 
soon  found  that  by  sinking  wells  in  the  clay  beneath  it  was  pos- 
sible to  obtain  great  quantities  of  the  material  in  a  fluid  state. 
Large  numbers  of  wells  were  subsequently  sunk  by  Mr.  Williams 
and  others  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township  of  Enniskillen, 
along  the  borders  of  the  Black  Creek,  and  also  about  ten  miles 
farther  north  on  Bear  Creek.    Nearly  100  wells  had  been  sunk 
when  I  visited  the  place  in  December  last,  and  many  more  have 
since  been  bored.    Of  these  but  a  small  proportion  furnish 
available  quantities  of  oil,  but  the  whole  amount  already  ob- 
tained from  the  district  is  perhaps  not  less  than  300,000  or 
400,000  gallons.    Owing  to  the  difficulties  of  communication 
and  of  procuring  casks  sufficient  for  the  oil,  these  wells  have  not 
been  wrought  in  a  continuous  manner.    Large  quantities  of  oil 
are,  however,  taken  out  at  intervals  of  some  days,  and  it  is  proba- 
ble that,  if  continuously  worked,  the  supply  would  be  still 
greater.    Here,  as  in  Pennsylvania,  considerable  variations  are 
found  in  the  quality  of  the  oil.    That  from  the  wells  on  Black 
Creek  is  more  liquid  and  less  dense  than  the  oil  from  Kelly's 
wells  on  Bear  Creek,  and  it  is  said  that  wells  recently  sunk  to  a 
