A TREATISE ON PETROLEUM. SECTION I. GENERAL HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY. THE natural product referred to under the names of petroleum, rock oil, earth balsam, earth oil, mineral oil, bitumen, maltha, asphaltum, pissasphaltum, pisselæum, mumia, carabe, brea, oleum Médea, St. Quirinus's oil, Seneca oil, Rangoon oil, Persian naphtha, Trinidad pitch, Barbados tar, &c., and equivalent terms in other languages, has been known from the earliest times. Earliest References.-Writing about the year 450 B.C., Herodotus thus describes its collection at the pits of Kir ab ur Susiana: "at Ardericca is a well which produces three different substances, for asphalt, salt, and oil are drawn up from it in the following manner:-It is pumped up by means of a swipe, and, instead of a bucket, half a wine skin is attached to it. Having dipped down with this, a man draws it up and then pours the contents into a reservoir, and, being poured from this into another, it assumes these different forms; the asphalt and the salt immediately become solid, but the oil they collect, and the Persians call it Rhadinance; it is black and emits a strong odour."1 He also describes the collection in the island of Zante,2 of bitumen having the smell of asphalt, but, in other respects, "better than the pitch of Pieria," and refers to the use of the bitumen brought down by the Is, a tributary of the Euphrates, as mortar in building the walls of Babylon. Diodorus, Curtius, Bochart, Josephus, and others also speak of this use of bitumen, and Vitruvius tells us that it was employed in admixture with clay. Dioscorides 5 describes a pissasphaltum obtained at Apollonia near Epidamnos. It was thrown up by the river, and it was found concreted into pitchy masses on the banks. He, as well as Pliny and others, mentions the use of "Sicilian oil" from Agrigentum for illuminating purposes. Plutarch 1 Hdt., vi. 119. 3 Ibid., i. 179. 2 Ibid., i. 119, and iv. 195. 4 Writing in the last century, Cartwright stated that, in a valley near Heet, on the Euphrates, much tar and pitch were found. 5 Lib. i., cap. 100. 6 North's Translation, 1631, 702. mentions the discovery of petroleum "having the gloss and fatness of natural oil," by an attendant of Alexander, while digging on the banks of the Oxus. Among numerous references to petroleum in the Scriptures, in which the word salt was used indiscriminately for common salt, nitre, and bitumen, the following are of especial interest :-"The Vale of Siddim was full of slime pits" (Gen. xiv. 10); the word which is translated slime in our version, appears as bitumen in the Vulgate. In Genesis ix. 3, in the description of the building of the Tower of Babel, we are told that "slime had they for mortar," while in Job xxxix. 6, we find, "and the rock poured me out rivers of oil." In Maccabees ii. 18-22, it is stated that the Priests of the Sun hid the fire which they took from the altar in a deep pit with water. After many years, Nehemiah sent some of the posterity of the priests who had hidden it and "they found no fire but thick water.” This was laid by Nehemiah upon the sacrifices and upon the wood and the altar, and the sun appeared from behind a cloud and kindled it. According to Lord Playfair, the text in the New Testament referring to salt losing its savour, relates to petroleum, which, on exposure, loses its volatile parts and leaves asphalt, good only to be "trodden under foot of men." The bitumen of the Dead Sea (still locally known as Lake Asphaltites), and of the East generally, received considerable notice from the early travellers. Diodorus, a celebrated historian of the time of Julius Cæsar, says that the inhabitants of the surrounding parts collect the asphalt and sell it in Egypt for embalming purposes. Pliny,2 Shaw, and Volney 4 also refer to this subject. The United States.-Although the petroleum industry of America is of recent origin, the crude oil has undoubtedly been long used by the Indians. Ancient oil pits, sometimes containing trees of the growth of centuries, have been found in the vicinity of Oil Creek. A letter dated 1629, and published in Sagard's Histoire du Canada, 1632, describes a visit of a Franciscan, Joseph de la Roche d'Allion, to the oil springs of what is now the State of New York, and states that the Indian name of the place signifies "there is plenty there."5 In 1748, North America was visited by Peter Kalm, a Finn, who on his return published his travels, together with a map on which the oil springs of Oil Creek were indicated. Writing in 1750, the Commander of Fort Duquesne thus describes the religious ceremonies of the Indians : "I would desire to assure you that this is a most delightful land. Some of the most astonishing natural wonders have been discovered by our people. While descending the Allegheny, 15 leagues below the mouth of the Connewango and 3 above the Venango, we were invited by the Chief of the Senecas to attend a religious ceremony of his tribe. We landed, and drew up our canoes on a point where a small stream entered the river. The tribe appeared unusually solemn. 1 The Historic Library, t. 1., 1. 2, cap. 29. 2 History of the World, 1. 5, c. 15 and 16. 4 Travels in Egypt and Syria, i. 310. 3 Travels, 1738, 374. 5 Peckham, The Production, Technology, and Uses of Petroleum and its Products. Washington, 1884. We marched up the stream about half a league, where the company, a large band it appeared, had arrived some days before us. Gigantic hills begirt us on every side. The scene was really sublime. The great Chief then recited the conquests and heroism of their ancestors. The surface of the stream was covered with a thick scum, which, upon applying a torch at given signal, burst into a complete conflagration. At the sight of the flames the Indians gave forth the triumphant shout that made the hills and valleys re-echo again. Here, then, is revived the ancient fire-worship of the East; here, then, are the children of the Sun." Petroleum was formerly used in America as a cure for rheumatism, burns, coughs, sprains, &c., under the name of "Seneca oil" (from Lake Seneca, whose vicinity provided the earlier supplies). It was usually found in the brine pits, and was regarded as so great a nuisance that many operators ceased working the salt on account of its presence. The existence of asphaltum and semi-solid bitumen in Santa Barbara is said to have been known since 1792.1 According to Mr. Ashburner, Geologist in charge of the Pennsylvania Survey (Trans. American Inst. of Mining Engineers, 1885, xiv. 428), natural gas was probably first obtained commercially in America at Fredonia, Chatauqua Co., N.Y., where in 1821 a well was sunk, which supplied gas for 30 burners; the inn was illuminated by it when Lafayette passed through the village about 1824. The following account of the oil spring of the Seneca Indians near Cuba, N.Y., was published in 3 1883 in the American Journal of Science (1), xxiii. 97, by Professor Silliman : "The oil spring, or fountain, rises in the midst of a marshy ground; it is a muddy and dirty pool of about 18 feet in diameter. The water is covered with a thin layer of petroleum, giving it a foul appearance as if coated with dirty molasses, having a yellowish-brown colour. They collect the petroleum by skimming it like cream from a milk pan. For this purpose they use a broad flat board, made thin at one edge like a knife. It is moved flat upon and just under the surface of the water, and is soon covered by a thin coating of the petroleum, which is so thick and adhesive that it does not fall off, but is removed by scraping the instrument on the lip of a cup. It has then a very foul appearance like very dirty tar or molasses; but it is purified by heating and straining it while hot through flannel or other woollen stuff. It is used by the people of the vicinity for sprains and rheumatism and for sores on their horses, it being in both cases rubbed upon the part. It is not monopolised by anyone, but it is carried away freely by all who care to collect it, and for this purpose the spring is frequently visited. I could not ascertain how much is annually obtained; but the quantity is considerable. It is said to rise more abundantly in hot weather than in cold. Gas is constantly escaping through the water, and appears in bubbles upon its surface." The Baku District.. Marco Polo, writing at the end of the thirteenth century, says of the Baku petroleum : "On the confines towards Georgine there is a fountain from which oil springs in great abundance, inasmuch as a hundred ship-loads might be taken from it at one time. This oil is not good to use with food, but is good to burn, and is also used to anoint camels that have the mange. People come from vast distances to fetch it, for in all countries round there is no other oil." Kæmpfer makes several references to the petroleum of Baku, and 1 Gesner, A Practical Treatise on Coal, Petroleum, &c., 1865, 17. 2 See Colonel Yule, The Book of Ser Marco Polo the Venetian. 1871, i. 4. London, 4 Dr. Hyde1 has described the ceremonial of the Fire-worshippers of the district. Kinnier informs us 2 that Baku was annually visited by thousands of pilgrims as the principal City of the Fire-worshippers, previous to the Saracenic Conquest of A.D. 636, while, according to American Consular Reports for 1880, the Temple of Surakhany on the western shore of the Caspian, at which the Sacred Fire was formerly maintained, was attended by priests from India as late as that year. The temple now standing, which resembles one in the Punjab, is considered to be of Hindu origin, and to have been erected within When the author visited it in 1884, the Fire the last two centuries. was no longer burning, but the gas was still issuing and could be readily ignited. Jonas Hanway 3 gives, in 1754, the following interesting account of the petroleum of Baku :— "What the Guebers, or Fire-worshippers, call the Everlasting Fire, is a phenomenon of a very extraordinary nature. This object of devotion lies about 10 English miles north-east by east from the city of Baku, on a dry rocky land. There are several ancient temples built with stone, supposed to have been all dedicated to fire. Amongst others is a little temple at which the Indians now worship. Here are generally forty or fifty of these poor devotees, who come on a pilgrimage from their own country. A little way from the temple is a low cleft of a rock, in which there is a horizontal gap, 2 feet from the ground, nearly 6 long, and about 3 broad, out of which issues a constant flame, in colour and gentleness not unlike a lamp that burns with spirits, only more pure. When the wind blows, it rises sometimes 8 feet high, but much lower in still weather. They do not perceive that the flame makes any impression on the rock. This also the Indians worship, and say it cannot be resisted, but if extinguished will rise in another place. The earth round the place, for above 2 miles, has this surprising property, that by taking up 2 or 3 inches of the surface and applying a live coal, the part which is so uncovered immediately takes fire, almost before the coal touches the earth; the flame makes the soil hot, but does not consume it, nor affect what is near it with any degree of heat. Any quantity of this earth carried to another place does not produce this effect. Not long since, eight horses were consumed by this fire, being under a roof where the surface of the ground was turned up, and by some accident took flame. If a cane or tube even of paper be set about 2 inches in the ground, confined and closed with earth below, and the top of it touched with a live coal, and blown upon, immediately a flame issues without hurting either the cane or paper, provided the edges be covered with clay; and this method they use for light in their houses, which have only the earth for the floor; three or four of these lighted canes will boil water in a pot, and thus they dress their victuals. The flame may be extinguished in the same manner as that of spirits of wine. The ground is dry and stony, and the more stony any particular part is, the stronger and clearer is the flame; it smells sulphurous, like naphtha, Lime is burnt to great perfection by means of this but not very offensive. phenomenon, the flame communicating itself to any distance where the earth is uncovered to receive it. The stones must be laid on one another, and in three days the lime is completed. Near this place brimstone is dug, and naphtha springs are found. Baku supplies Ghilan and Mazanderan and other countries contiguous with naphtha.” As regards the petroleum of the island of Wetoy (Sviatoi or Holy Island), lying at the extremity of the Apsheron Peninsula, he adds: 1 De Veteri Persorum, Medorum ac Parthorum religione historia. 1760, 148. 2 Geog. Memoir of the Persian Empire. London, 1813, 359. London, 3 Historical Account of the British Trade over the Caspian Sea. London, 1754, i. 263 and 381. "The Persians load it in bulk in their wretched vessels, so that sometimes the sea is covered with it for leagues together. When the weather is thick and hazy, the springs boil up the higher, and the naphtha often takes fire on the surface of the earth, and runs in a flame into the sea in great quantities, to a distance almost incredible. In clear weather the springs do not boil up above 2 or 3 feet; in boiling over, the oily substance makes so strong a consistency as by degrees to almost close the mouth of the spring; sometimes it is quite closed, and forms hillocks that look as black as pitch, but the spring which is resisted in one place breaks out in another. Some of the springs which have not been long open form a mouth of 8 or 10 feet diameter. The people carry the naphtha by troughs into pits or reservoirs, drawing it off from one to another, leaving in the first reservoir the water or the heavier part with which it is mixed when it issues from the spring. It is unpleasant to the smell, and used mostly among the poorer sort of the Persians, and other neighbouring people, as we use oil in lamps, or to boil their victuals; but it communicates a disagreeable taste. They find it burns best with a small admixture of ashes. As they obtain it in great abundance, every family is well supplied. They keep it at a small distance from their houses, in earthen vessels underground, to prevent any accident from fire, of which it is extremely susceptible. Hanway also describes a "white" variety of naphtha, collected on the peninsula of Apsheron, as "Of a much thinner consistency than black naphtha. The Russians drink it both as a cordial and medicine, but it does not intoxicate. If taken internally it is said to be good for the stone, as also for disorders of the breast, and in venereal cases, and sore heads; to both the last the Persians are very subject. Externally applied, it is of great use in scorbutic pains, gouts, cramps, &c., but it must be put to the part affected only; it penetrates instantaneously into the blood, and is apt for a short time to produce great pain. It has also the property of spirits of wine to take out greasy spots in silks or woollens, but the remedy is worse than the disease, for it leaves an abominable odour. They say it is carried into India as a great rarity, and, being prepared as a japan, is the most beautiful and lasting of any that has been yet found."1 Colonel Yule estimates the yield of the Baku wells in 1819 at about 4,000 tons, most of which went to Persia. According to Rees's Encyclopædia (1819), the revenue obtained by the Khan of Baku before the annexation of the country by Russia in 1881, amounted to 40,000 roubles. Stack estimates the production at 160,000 tons in 1880. Of the petroleum of the island of Tcheleken, on the eastern side of the Caspian, Captain Woodroffe (1743) says: "We weighed, and came in close under the east side of Naphtonia, as the Russians call it. The Persians call it Cherriken. The coast is difficult of access, being high. It contains about thirty-six families, who have twenty-eight large boats, with several wells of naphtha. The people exist entirely by piracy. To remedy this evil, Nadir Shah, some years ago, offered to forgive all that was past, and to receive them into his favour, if they would come and settle about Astrabad Bay, where they might have lands, and sell their naphtha to the inhabitants of that quarter. This they accepted, and carried on a brisk trade for about two years, selling their naphtha to the Persians, Turkomans, &c. ; but, getting tired of this way of living, returned to their trade of piracy." 1 Further notices of the Baku district will be found in John Cook's Voyages and Travels through the Russian Empire, &c., ii. 382; in Gmelin's Reisen durch Russland (1768); in the French Histoire des Decouvertes Russes, ii. 215; and in Kinneir's Geog. Memoirs of the Persian Empire (1813), 359. 2 The Book of Ser Marco Polo, i. 4. 3 Six Months in Persia. London, 1882, ii. 209. |