Italy.

In Italy, near Piacenza, in the valley of the Rhiglio, there are at present three borings yielding an extremely clear and pure oil. There is also a very productive boring at Veleja.

Burmah.

The occurrence of petroleum in Burmah has been known for a long time, but it seems that only lately attention has been directed towards its utilization.

In a letter from Rev. J. N. Cushing, dated Toungoo, September 14, 1881, appears the following in relation to the Burmah oil wells:

"There are only two places in all Burmah where petroleum is produced to any extent, viz.: Arracan and Yenangyoung, in Upper Burmah. The production of the wells in Arracan is very small. Within a few years a company has been formed to work them as an experiment, but I have never seen any statement of the results, and think they must be inconsiderable. Yenangyoung (Earth-oil river) is a large town on the Irrawaddy about 400 miles north of Rangoon, and the oil-wells lie about 3 miles east of the town among some low and very barren hills, the chief vegetation of the unproductive soil being several varieties of cactus. There seemed to be a good deal of light, soft sandstone, through which here and there ran layers of dark rock resembling granite. The roads were in some places worn into the hills to a depth of 10 feet, the fierce torrents formed during the rain washing out all loose soil.

"When I visited the wells they were about 200 in number, although some were not yielding oil. These were upon ground as highly elevated as any, and occupied an area of about 100 acres. They were of various depths, the deepest being about 160 cubits (240 feet). I do not think that the number of wells has greatly increased since my visit, for before that petroleum had been found only in that locality, although search had been made for it in adjacent localities."

As regards the future of the Burmah oil fields, it depends, ac

cording to Fritz Noetling's report,' on the method of working and the geological nature of the country. The prevailing mode of digging shafts by hand is of little use, since the oilcarrying stratum lies too deep, and at present can only be superficially utilized.

To increase the yield it will be absolutely necessary to go deeper, which considering the quite considerable depth of the stratum, can only be accomplished by boring according to the American or European method.

Fapan.

The knowledge of petroleum in Japan is of great antiquity. In more recent times wells have been bored for obtaining it, but the yield appears to have been small, since, in a very elaborate report made by United States Consul-General Van Buren, in 1880, no mention is made of any domestic production of petroleum, although Consul Stahel of Hiogo shows that the imports of American refined petroleum into Japan have increased from about 1,000,000 gallons in 1872, to nearly 18,000,000 gallons in 1880.

The techno-chemical industries of Japan are still in their infancy. As regards the petroleum industry, Japan is still dependent on imported oil. American boring experiments have thus far not succeeded. In tertiary districts borings, sometimes yield water containing petroleum, but the content of the latter is so small as to be of no value. Prof. Fesca, for instance, found in 1888, in Mabara (province Kazusa), such water which had an odor of petroleum and even burned on the well, but it was impossible to distil the oil off in the laboratory. Petroleum is at present obtained in five provinces. The crude petroleum is subjected to a very primitive refining process, and is consumed in the district where it is obtained. The principal supply is imported from the United States, though since 1888, a considerable quantity of Russian petroleum refined in Baku is brought to Japan via Batoum.

Supplement to the Burmah Gazette.

CHAPTER II.

DIVISION AND NOMENCLATURE OF BITUMEN.

THE bituminous bodies occurring in nature may be gaseous, liquid, or solid. They consist mostly of carbon and hydrogen, oxygen in larger quantity entering only occasionally into the combination.

All bituminous bodies belong to the same process of formation; the heavier bodies-the last-named members of the series mentioned below-are mostly formed partly by partial evaporation and partly by chemical conversion from the lighter bodies. The fluid and solid bitumens are distinguished from mineral coal by their solubility in oil of turpentine, benzol, ether, etc. Petroleum (earth oil) also dissolves solid bitumens; when the first evaporates, the latter are again separated, a process which has also taken place in nature.

The bituminous bodies may be divided as follows:

I. Gases....

II. Fluids (earth oils).

III. Solid bodies.

1. Earth gas (natural burning gases).

2. Rock oil (Steinoel) and naphtha (very mobile, very volatile, water-clear).

3. Earth oil and petroleum (fluid, quite volatile, colored). 4. Earth-tar, mineral tar and maltha (viscous, brownblack).

5. Mineral wax (Erdwachs) (kneadable, yellow to

brown).

6. Mineral pitch (kneadable, black, in very thin layers, brown).

7. Asphalt (brittle, black).

The fluid bitumens, to which the general term "earth oils may be applied, will here be chiefly discussed, but they are so closely connected with the other forms that the latter will have to be taken into consideration, particularly when their connection with the occurrence of petroleum can be established.

Mixtures with mineral coal. a. With brown coal (lignite). Dysodile, jet. b. With black coal. Cannel coal, bog-head coal, foliated coal, torbanite.

Mixtures with inorganic masses (rocks). a. Oil rocks, for instance, oil schist, oil sandstone (with petroleum or maltha). b. Asphalt rocks, for instance, asphaltic limestone, asphaltic sandstone (with asphalt, partially also maltha). From these mixtures the bituminous portion can frequently be extracted by the previously-mentioned solvents, and determined by evaporating the latter.

Nomenclature. The term earth oil may be applied either to the entire group of fluid bitumens, or only to the colored varieties which occur most frequently and possess the ordinary degree of mobility, while the viscous varieties may be designated maltha or mineral tar, and the very mobile ones rock oil. To distinguish it from refined oils, the natural earth oil is also called crude oil.

The term petroleum, which means rock oil, is in many languages used as a synonym for earth oil; it is, however, also generally employed to designate a certain distillate (illuminating oil or kerosene) obtained from the crude oil, and, therefore, it would seem advisable to use the term only in the latter

sense.

Naphtha (of Persian or, more correctly, Median origin, derived from nafata = to exude) is locally used, for instance in Galicia and Russia, in the same sense as earth oil or petroleum, while the term was originally applied to water-clear and very volatile derivatives. In the United States, and partially also in Europe, very volatile distillates of petroleum are also called naphtha.

Naphtha was long since mentioned by Dioscorides and Strabo, and Pliny speaks of it as bitumen liquidum candidum, while Agricola, in the middle of the sixteenth century, mentions naphtha flos bituminis and liquidum bitumen, nunc vocatur petroleum.

Other designations for earth oil or petroleum are: Ropa,

ropianka (Slavonian, used in Galicia); pekureti (Roumanian); mineral oil, crude oil (English); bitume liquide, huile de naphte, pétrole (French); Erdoel (German-within a few years the Germans have also used the word "petroleum"); yenan (Burmah); sekinoyn (Japanese)—the rock oil is called sekischitza; shi-yu (Chinese).

In the literature of the Greeks and Romans, maltha or mineral tar is mentioned by Dioscorides as pittolium (Tra_pitch), by Pliny as pissaphaltus, and as maltha (from paλʊn=soft wax). In French it is called bitume visqueux, bitume glutineux, poix mineral, mineral graisse.

In Galicia, especially in Boryslaw, the transition of maltha to mineral wax is called kendebal.

Mineralogically the mineral wax is chiefly represented by ozocerite; the mineral wax is called naphtgil, neftgil, on the shores of the Caspian Sea, especially at Baku; gumbed in America; goudron mineral (French); brea (Spanish.)

The various synomyms for asphalt are, according to Zincken, as follows: Judenpech (German); bitume compacte (French); smola (Slavonian); hemâr and kofer of the ancient Hebrews; chumal (humar) of the ancient Arabs, and elhumar of the modern Arabs; kupru also amâru and ididu of the Assyrians; mur also aschir-burning water-of the oldest Babylonian people; abu thâbun-the asphalt of the Syrians, which was contaminated with sand, and dug on the shores of the Dead Sea; dore-kioei-teire-kisa of the Japanese. Some of these terms refer partially also to mineral pitch.

In the neighborhood of Baku occurs an earthy asphalt, called kirr, kar, katrau, kitrau, katirau, which contains some mineral wax.

The minerals called albertite and grahamite belong to the group of asphalts.