a considerable degree of culture. Peckham,' however, states that the curbed pits on Oil creek, Pithole creek and other tributaries of the Allegheny have been proved to be of French origin, and that it is not unlikely that the old shaft at Mecca, Ohio, was also made by the French. In 1629, the Franciscan missionary Joseph de la Roche d'Allion wrote a letter in which he mentions the oil springs in what is now the state of New York, and on a map of 1670 a “Fontaine de Bitume" is located in the neighborhood of the present village of Cuba, New York.

The early use in this country of the word "petroleum" is shown by "A General Map of the Middle Colonies of America," etc., by Lewis Evans, Philadelphia, 1755, on which by this term the existence of petroleum in the present States of Pennsylvania and Ohio is indicated. The frontispiece exhibits a portion of this map copied from the one in possession of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. About the middle of the last century, Peter Kalm published in Swedish a book of travels, in which was a map, on which the springs on Oil creek were properly located. This book has been translated into English, and an edition was published in London in 1772.

In 1750, the French commander at Fort Duquesne wrote to General Malcolm that by invitation of the Chief, he had attended the annual religious ceremony of the Senecas, at which the oil covering the surface of a small stream entering the Allegheny was ignited, at a given signal, by the application of a torch, the Indians, at the sight of the flames, giving forth a triumphant shout that made the hills and valleys re-echo again.

George Henry Loskiel, in his "History of the United Brethren among the Indians in North America," 1788, translated by Christian Ignatius La Trobe, London, 1794, speaks of petroleum as follows:

"One of the most favorite medicines used by the Indians is the fossil oil (petroleum) exuding from the earth commonly with water. It is said that an Indian in the small-pox lay down in a morass to cool himself, and soon recovered. This led to

Report on Petroleum.

the discovery of an oil-spring in a morass, and since that time many others have been found in the country of the Delawares and Iroquois. They are observed both in running and standing water. In the latter the oil swims on the surface, and is easily skimmed off. But in rivers it is carried away by the stream. Two have been discovered by the missionaries in the river Ohio. They are easily found by the strong smell they emit, and even those in rivers and brooks may be smelt at a distance of four or five hundred paces. The soil in the neighborhood of these springs is poor, cold, loamy, or covered with sand. Neither grass nor wood thrives on it, except some small crippled oaks. It does not seem to proceed from a vein of coals, for no coals have as yet been discovered in the neighborhood of the springs, but strata of sandstone only. And in the neighborhood of the coal pits on the banks of the Muskingum not the least sign of an oil spring has hitherto been discovered, though the Indians have made a most diligent search.

"The oil is of a brown color, and smells something like tar. When the Indians collect it from a standing water they first throw away that which floats on the top, as it smells stronger than that below it. They then agitate the water violently with a stick; the quantity of oil increases with the motion of the water, and after it has settled down the oil is skimmed off into kettles and completely separated from the water by boiling. They use it chiefly in external complaints, especially in a headache, toothache, swellings, rheumatism, dislocations, etc., rubbing the part afflicted with it. Some take it inwardly, and it has not been found to do harm. It will burn in a lamp. The Indians sometimes sell it to the white people at five guineas a quart."

Towards the end of the 18th century, some salt-diggers endeavored to procure, if possible, a larger supply and better quality of salt, and for this purpose drilled holes in the ground, some of which reached a considerable depth. But instead of finding, according to their expectations, an abundant supply of good brine, the latter was in many cases rendered useless by

the presence of bitumen. They then endeavored to utilize the bitumen, but without success, except the use of small quantities for lubricating and medicinal purposes. Among the parties actively engaged in the manufacture of salt was a Mr. Kier, who bored a well for brine at Tarentum, on the Allegheny river, and obtained oil that looked like brandy with the water, and this was allowed to flow into the canal leading to Pittsburgh. Mr. Kier's son, Samuel M. Kier, was a druggist in Pittsburgh, and his wife being sick, as was supposed with consumption, her physician prescribed "American oil." It helped her, and her husband was led to compare it with that obtained from his father's well. Concluding, as they possessed the same odor, that they were the same thing, he submitted them to a chemist, who pronounced them identical. Mr. S. M. Kier soon after commenced to bottle American oil for sale, and after a few years, supposed to be about 1855, in company with Mr. McKuen, he first refined petroleum from his father's wells at Tarentum. The oils were treated like the crude oils obtained from coal, and were made into burning oils and heavier oils, that were sold to the woolen factory at Cooperstown for cleansing wool, for which they were found very valuable.' It may not be uninteresting to introduce here some notices from the "Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter," regarding the first five gallons of petroleum brought into commerce, such details being of historical interest, because they mark the commencement of the vast petroleum industry, and illustrate its marvelous progress during a period of scarcely thirty years. These five gallons of petroleum were, so to say, the opening wedge, the basis of the great commerce which was to follow.

Although attempts had been made at different times and in various countries to utilize petroleum for illuminating purposes, all efforts in that direction had proved a failure, the oil being everywhere rejected on account of its extremely disagreeable, nauseous odor and the sooty, smoking flame. These almost insurmountable objections had invariably excluded its use, and

1S. F. Peckham, Report on Petroleum.

only after the appearance of the first five gallons of petroleum in the New York market the troublesome petroleum, decried up to that time, underwent such alterations that it could be used without danger and became of commercial importance. From 1859, the national wealth of the United States was thereby increased more than fifteen hundred millions of dollars. These five gallons of petroleum were distilled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Nervin, Mackeown & Co., Samuel M. Kier and Dr. Keyser had for some time sold petroleum under the name of mustang salve and Seneca oil, which were used for medicinal purposes. When it was found that petroleum would burn in lamps, it was later on sent to New York. It was used with some success in storage cellars and foundries, where its odor and smoke could, to some extent, be tolerated. A sample in a tin can was furnished the Hudson Mills; on opening the box it was found, according to report, that the can had leaked and the straw in which it was packed was thoroughly saturated with petroleum. It diffused such a penetrating, nauseous odor that the box had to be thrown into the street. This happened in November, 1857. Notwithstanding this failure experiments were continued, and the first shipment of oil, consisting of two barrels containing 844 gallons, arrived in New York, December 12, 1857. On account of the smell and to prevent the oil from transuding through the wood, the barrels inside were coated with shellac solution, or glue. These precautions, however, proved inadequate, and a special store-house had to be rented in Water street. The second shipment of five barrels, containing 2101⁄2 gallons, arrived December 18, 1857, and the third shipment of five barrels, containing 2101⁄2 gallons, December 23, of the same year. These three shipments constituted the total sale of petroleum in 1857, and appear as the first entries in reports and official statistics of the petroleum commerce.

Of this oil, which was purified in a distilling apparatus of scarcely one barrel capacity, Gessner says: "In 1857 A. C. Ferris introduced in the New York market a lamp oil, called 'carbon oil,' which had previously been distilled, but incor

rectly treated. The oil was recommended as non-explosivea quality upon which special stress was laid-and as being cheaper than all other illuminating materials. Nevertheless it was difficult for this new product to gain favor. Its unbearable odor and the danger from fire discouraged its use to such an extent that the oil obtained from the distillation of bituminous coal, such as the boghead and bituminous shales, proved a successful rival of it on account of its security from fire."

These events were rapidly succeeded by the discovery of crude oil on Oil creek, and after the construction of suitable. burners by E. Miller, of Meriden, Connecticut, and Col. Jones, the use of petroleum also increased. The practical sense of these gentlemen caused them to send out an army of agents, who visited the city and country stores and by a sample lamp explained its advantages, how to lower and raise the flame, and also gave information regarding the occurrence of the oil. While in a few places the introduction of the oil was to some extent successful, many bitter complaints were received from other localities, so that a premature and disastrous end seemed to threaten the enterprise. The complaints were of three kinds: 1. The lamp burnt with success for a short time only; the flame then commenced to get weaker, the wick becoming coated with a carbonaceous crust and the lamp evolving an offensive smell until it went out on its own account, even when still half full of oil. 2. The color of the oil, which, when first distilled, was orange to lemon-yellow, changed in a short time to dirty dark brown, so that the oil was no longer suitable for keeping in glass. 3. The complaints referred to the intense smell which filled the house when burning the oil. But notwithstanding these complaints, curiosity prompted people to buy this new oil of such strange origin. It was discussed by the daily journals, and scientists were invited to visit the newly-opened depot, 184 Water street, New York, to inspect the oil and take samples of it for chemical analysis.

In December 1857, the first barrel of oil was delivered to Messrs. Stout and Hand of Brooklyn at 70 cents per gallon and,