8 University Geological Survey of Kansas. 
and one 200 feet deep, at Makum, produced a hundred gallons 
an hour. The coasts of Arakan and the adjacent islands have 
long been famed for mud-volcanoes caused by the eruption of 
hydrocarbon gases. ; 
For centuries Japan is known to have had oil. Here, as 
elsewhere in the Orient, it existed long before any special use, 
in the modern sense of the term, was made of it. Representa- 
tives of the Standard Oil Company and other Americans have 
invaded the Japanese islands and made comparatively large 
investments with fairly good returns, although the total pro- 
duction of oil from Japan has never reached large enough fig- 
ures to have much influence on the markets of the world. 
Russia is the greatest of all foreign countries in the produc- 
tion of oil, and is so exceedingly productive that it rivals 
America. Oil and gas have been known in this part of the 
world as long as we have authentic history, and probably it 
was known to the natives in prehistoric times. The territory 
thus far developed is small and the most remarkable in all the 
world, if judged by prodigious production. Wells producing 
10,000 barrels per day are known—vwells which so far outstrip 
the greatest in other parts of the world that by comparison 
they are giants. The gas-pressure which throws the oil from 
the wells is as great, or greater, than that exhibited in the 
early days of Pennsylvania. 
It is probable that exudations of oil and gas have been going 
on in this part of the country for many thousands of years. 
When brought to the surface the lighter oils volatilize, leaving 
the heavier oils behind, which are gradually changed into 
asphaltum, later becoming solids of the ozokerite or gilsonite 
variety. Mounds of this material from 100 to 300 feet high 
are now to be found along the borders of the Caspian Sea. 
Escaping gas, likewise, is still prominent, although some relief 
has been given through the oil-wells ,and the gas-springs or 
mud-voleanoes are gradually losing their action. Here possi- 
bly were located the original fire-worshipers, or at least people 
worshiping fire have been located here for an unknown length 
of time, and people throughout practically all India have made 
pilgrimages to this place. On the little promontory projecting 
into the Caspian Sea on the west side near Baku stands the 
old fire-worshipers’ temple, known to be 2500 years old, and 
probably more. This seems to be the scene of the fire-wor- 
shipers mentioned by Thomas Moore in his Lalla Rookh and 
