STATE GEOLOGIST. 313 
an average thickness of about 22 feet, and the solid part consists of dia- 
toms, desmids and higher plants. On treating this with benzol and alcohol 
-a residue was secured which closely resembled paraffine. By treating a 
small quantity of the ooze with dilute hydrochloric acid, a wax was ob- 
tained which very closely resembled ozokerite. From further tests the 
authors concluded that the two substances—paraffine and ozokerite—have 
had a common origin. Previous to these results Pfitzer had discovered 
drops of oil in the plasma of some diatoms. ‘These observations are of 
great interest because of their bearing on the origin of petroleum. 
The following interesting theory has been furnished by Dr. Charles 
B. Morrey, Professor of Bacteriology in the Ohio State University. As 
will be seen it differs radically from the well known theories of Peckham, 
Newberry, Phillips and Orton: 
“In accounting for the origin of oil and gas from organic matter, 
geologists have been unable to furnish the agent which might have 
brought about the proper decomposition, since there is no evidence of the 
action of heat on the vegetable and animal remains in Ohio fields at 
least. 
“Now the only other agent with which we are acquainted which can 
produce the same compounds as we have in destructive distillation of or- | 
ganic matter are Bacteria. These organisms acting in the absence of air— 
i. e., under water—produce from vegetable matter marsh gas, olefiant gas 
and other hydrocarbons as well, a process frequently shown by experiment 
and occurring in very sluggish streams, marshes or bogs at the present 
time. The compounds produced here partly escape into the air and are in 
part retained in the mud, as a simple stirring of this shows, and there is 
abundant reason for believing that this same process has been going on for 
ages past. B. Renault has found bacteria in fossil remains of various 
epochs—Jurassic, Permian, Carboniferous and Devonian. 
‘Tn the formation of shales by stream deposits, wave action, and 
ocean currents, quantities of organic matter, largely vegetable, were de- 
posited in the mud giving rise to such shales, and along with this material, 
bacteria in enormous numbers. ‘These bacteria acting in the absence of 
air would form marsh gas and heavier hydrocarbons just as takes place 
today. This decomposition could go on not only in shallow water but 
also at great depths, as experiments have shown that the action of bacteria 
is not prevented by a water pressure of 600 atmospheres corresponding 
to a depth of more than 15,000 feet of water. Bacterial decomposition 
would continue until all the organic matter was broken up into compounds 
no longer capable of being attacked—the hydrocarbons ampng others—or 
until the bacteria were killed by an accumulation of their own products. 
In the latter case we should probably find a much higher percentage of 
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