ITS HISTORY, ORIGIN, OCCURRENCE, PRODUCTION, PHYSICAL EXAMINATION AND USES; TOGETHER WITH THE OCCURRENCE AND USES OF NATURAL GAS. EDITED CHIEFLY FROM THE GERMAN OF PROF. HANS HOEFER AND DR. ALEXANDER VEITH, AUTHOR OF A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE FATS AND OILS." ILLUSTRATED BY THREE PLATES AND TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOUR PHILADELPHIA : HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO., LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & CO., LIMITED, COPYRIGHT BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD & CO. 1894. PRINTED AT THE WICKERSHAM PRINTING HOUSE, 53 and 55 North Queen Street, LANCASTER, Pa., U. S. A. CALIE STATE M BINDERY APR 8 $4 L113. Ілені B737 PREFACE. THE purport and scope of the following work are essentially what its title implies. In submitting it to the public it is hardly necessary to enlarge upon the vast importance of the Petroleum Industry of the present day, and it only remains to offer a few observations upon the materials of which the book is composed. "If we acquire eminence," says Tissot, in the preface to his Essay on Diseases incident to Literary and Sedentary Persons, "by publishing new truths, so, on the other hand, we make ourselves useful by collecting those which are known for the benefit of the persons to whom they are necessary; and surely one is as good as the other." To make himself useful-to bring together into one comprehensive volume the many valuable researches upon Petroleum scattered through so many publications—has been the aim of the editor in compiling this volume, and for that purpose he has gathered materials from all available sources. It has been a laborious task, and in writing the preface-the portion of a book which the reader as a rule first notices, but which is generally the last written the editor confesses to a feeling of satisfaction that his work is about accomplished. The present treatise is mainly based upon the admirable German works, "Das Erdoel (Petroleum) und seine Verwandten," von Prof. Hans Hoefer, and "Das Erdoel (Petroleum) und seine Verarbeitung," von Dr. Alexander Veith. These books have been used with the permission of the authors as well as of the publishers. Both authors are widely and favorably known in the United States, as well as in England, and the recorded researches and experiences of such men must, in the estimation of all educated persons, have value, and cannot fail to be espe(iii) 1141856 cially welcome to that class of readers who are professionally engaged in this great and growing industry. Regarding the additions made by the editor, his acknowledgments are due to the "Report on Petroleum," by S. F. Peckham; "A Practical Treatise on Petroleum," by Benjamin J. Crew; Report of the Bureau of Statistics of Pennsylvania, 1892; "A Text-Book of Gas, Oil and Air Engines," by Bryan Donkin; "Liquid Fuel," by E. A. Brayley Hodgetts, and to numerous American and foreign journals and Transactions of Societies, for which due credit has been given whenever possible. In conclusion, the editor desires to express his thanks to the publishers who, by supplying him with books and journals, and by the lively interest they have taken in the work, have greatly facilitated his labors. As is their general custom, they have caused the volume to be supplied with a copious table of contents, as well as a very full analytical index, which will render reference to any subject in the book prompt and easy. PHILADELPHIA, November 14, 1894. W. T. B. |