STATE GEOLOGIST. 311 
THE ORGANIC OR GEOLOGICAL THEORIES. 
These theories have only one point in common; all assign organic 
matter as the origin of petroleum and natural gas. Some contend that 
these products have been derived wholly from animal matter, others 
entirely from vegetable matter, and others still from both. There is 
likewise no general agreement as to the method by which the change 
has been produced. Another point of difference still is the position 
which the products now haye when compared to that which the or- 
ganic matter once occupied. Some regard them as identical; that is, 
the petroleum and natural gas now occupy the same rocks that the organic 
matter from which the fuels in question were formed once occupied, while 
others contend that the organic matter originally occupied a lower position 
than the resultant products now do. A third view adopts each in part; that 
is one theory is correct when applied to some fields but not when applied to 
others. 
If oil and gas have been produced from organic matter then these 
products or others closely related ought to be secured artificially. Much 
experimenting has been done along this line and with considerable suc- 
cess. Daubree has been a pioneer in this work, and by treating wood with 
superheated steam obtained a product having the odor of petroleum. War- 
ren and Storer by the distillation of a soap made from Menhaden oil ob- 
tained members of the methane, ethylene and benzene groups similar to 
those found in petroleum. In 1888 a more elaborate report was made by 
Engler who also started with Menhaden oil. By distilling this he obtained 
a series of oils such as are obtained by refining petroleum, and among these 
was an illuminating oil “indistinguishable from commercial kerosene.” 
He later tried to secure similar results from dried animal matter such as 
fish, but was unsuccessful. From this he concluded that petroleum has 
been formed from the fats only. The agency, he thinks, was heat and 
pressure or the latter alone. Sadtler in 1897 announced the results of his 
experiments on vegetable matter. By distilling linseed oil under pressure, 
he obtained an oil resembling petroleum and also a scale of paraffine. It 
is seen from these experiments that products very closely resembling 
petroleum have been secured artificially from both animal and vegetable 
matter. 
But how have these products been produced in nature from organic 
matter? This from the nature of the problem is not susceptible of proof. 
Flowever, there is perhaps greater uniformity of opinion than in the inor- 
ganic theories. : 
Peckham regards petroleum to have been produced by the distillation 
of animal and plant remains at low temperatures. The heat, he thinks, 
was a result of friction produced by the elevation of the Appalachian 
mountains and was sufficient to metamorphose the rocks; but this applies 
only to the oils of such states as Pennsylvania, New York, West Virginia 
