190 
The  Origin  of  Petroleum. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
\      April,  1888. 
acid  and  water  to  react  under  very  simple  conditions,  obtained  a  small 
quantity  of  an  inflammable  liquid  with  an  odor  analogous  to  that  of 
the  hydrocarbons  of  petroleum/'  The  ^'  simple  conditions  ^'  were, 
€ausing  steam,  carbonic  acid  and  iron  at  a  white  heat  to  react  upon 
€ach  other,  and  he  provides  the  requisite  conditions  in  nature,  by  as- 
suming that  sea  water  penetrates  the  earth's  crust,  and  comes  into  con- 
tact with  metallic  iron  at  a  white  heat,  and  at  great  depths  beneath  the 
surface. 
The  most  recent,  as  well  as,  at  the  same  time,  the  most  powerful 
supporter  of  the  inorganic  theory  is  the  celebrated  Russian  chemist, 
Mendelejeff,  known  to  all  scientists  more  particularly  in  connection 
with  his  researches  on  the  periodicity  of  the  elements.  He  has  per- 
sonally visited  the  petroleum  regions,  both  of  his  own  country  in  the 
Caucasus,  and  those  of  North  America,  and  as  he  has  devoted  consid- 
erable attention  to  the  subject,  his  views  must  be  received  with  that 
amount  of  weight  and  respect  to  which  they  are  unquestionably  en- 
titled. His  views  on  the  question  of  the  origin  of  petroleum  are  em- 
bodied in  an  elaborate  paper  read  by  him  before  the  Chemical  Society 
of  St.  Petersburg,  which  appeared  in  French  in  the  Revue  Scientijique 
of  Paris,  but  has  not,  that  I  am  aware  of,  been  translated  into  Eng- 
lish. The  first  part  is  devoted  to  combating  the  various  statements 
that  have  been  from  time  to  time  set  forth  by  the  advocates  of  the  or- 
ganic theory,  and  after  demonstrating  in  detail  the  fallacies,  as  he  con- 
siders them,  of  their  premises,  he  devotes  the  remaining  portion  of  his 
paper  to  building  up  a  theory  of  his  own,  on  the  basis  of  purely  chemi- 
cal origin. 
So  far  the  advocates  of  the  inorganic  theory  have  occupied  all  our 
attention.  Now  let  us  for  a  few  moments  consider  the  views  of  its 
opponents,  and  we  shall  then  be  able  to  more  readily  understand 
Mendelejeff 's  views,  to  which  we  shall  again  return,  and  which  may 
be  considered  as  a  reply. 
In  the  first  place,  in  order  to  somewhat  clear  the  ground,  I  may 
state  that  the  view  that  has  been  prevalent  among  many,  namely,  that 
petroleum  owes  its  origin  to  the  natural  distillation  of  coal,  is,  I  think, 
no  longer  tenable.  Where  petroleum  is  found  in  the  neighborhood  of 
coal,  it  is  in  strata  far  beneath  those  of  the  carboniferous  era,  and  the 
coal  above  it  is  in  perfect  condition,  and  shows  no  trace  of  having  lost 
any  of  its  full  and  normal  quantity  of  bitumens  of  hydrocarbons.  I 
allude  to  this,  as  I  notice  in  Fownes'  '  Manual  of  Chemistry'  it  states 
