CADY AND MCFARLAND.| Composition of Natural Gas. 289 
1875; chiefly because the large reservoirs of gas in America 
and Europe were still untouched. 
Since 1875 there have been several more or less extended 
series of analyses made by European and American chemists. 
Some of these analyses are given in later portions of this re- 
port. 
Review of American Natural Gas Analyses. 
Taking up in detail the work that has been done on Ameri- 
can gases, we may point out some of the principal results that 
have been obtained. These include all of the published anal- 
yses found in a rather extended search through the literature. 
Karly Analyses. | 
The earliest analyses were made in 1866 by M. Fouqué.!® 
The analyses were not very complete, but indicated that the 
gases were composed chiefly of members of the marsh-gas 
series. His results are as follows: 
TABLE No. 2. 
Essentially composed of propane, C3Hg, 
. with small amounts of carbon dioxid and 
ees Bora ank, nitrogen. (N. B.—This turned out later 
: ° to be a mixture of methane, CH4, and 
butane, C4Hy 9.) 129 
| Mixture of methane and ethane, a small 
Fredonia, New York. amount of carbon dioxid, and 1.55 per 
| cent. of nitrogen. 
Roger’s Gulch, Wirt Methane, 15.86 per cent. carbon dioxid, and 
county, West Virginia. small amount of nitrogen. 
Burni i | : 
ever sues, Niagara | Almost pure methane, with a little carbon 
ract. dioxid. 
Petrolia, Enniskillen dis- | Mixture of methane and ethane, with a little 
trict, Canada, West. carbon dioxid. 
This was the only work done prior to 1870 on American 
natural gases. Taking up now the analyses by American an- 
alysts, we shall consider them by states. 
NEW YORK. 
The early analyses of Fouqué, quoted above, included a 
sample of gas from Fredonia, N. Y. Prof. Henry Wurtz, in 
119. Compt. Rendus, LXVII, p. 1045. 
120. Report by Sam’l P. Sadtler, second Geol. Surv. of Pa., vol. L, p. 146. 
