The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1860-12-26
The Rock Oils Of Ohio.

The last Report of the Ohio State Board
Of Agriculture contains q valuable paper on
this subject, from Prof. J. s. Newberry, Of
Cleveland. We clip the following extrSct:
The mineral oils which have of late at
tracted go much attention 10 different parts
Of our country, and have assumed so impor
tant place 10 the resources OF Ohio, are
not new substances 10 science, the srts, or
even commerce. Under the nsmes OF
"Seneca oil, /" "Harbadoes tar" "Naptha."
&C., the different forms OF Petroleum havs
long been known, and extensively employ
ed, especially in medicine, and will be found
described In most treaties on chemistry and
mineralogy.
In larger or smaller quantities, Petroleum
has been found in nlost countries, but hith
erto in the greatest abundance in California,
Trinidad, Persis, Circassia. and India. A
district a few miles in extent in the latter
country contains over FIVE hundred wells
which yield more than 400 600 hogsheaGs Of
oil annually. 1t 10 there used for fuel, light
and painting.
In the Uni'ed States, oil springs were dis.
covered in many localities by the first set.
tiers; and the existence of those on Oil
Creek, Pennsylvania, and those of Northern
Ohio, which have recently become 90 ia
nous. has been we'll and widely known for
half a century. 1t is only lately, however,
that the value or abundance OF the material
which they supply has been suspected.
X X
Already the amount of petroleum daily
drawn from the wells bored to procure it in
Pennsylvania and Ohio, may be safely es,i
msted to be OF least five hundred barrels;
and the business Of raising it is only in its
infancy.
Covering so wide a range Of uses as this
oil does, and produced SO cheapy, it seems
destined to supersede large part of the oils
both animal and vegetable, now consumed
iu the country, Ond to become most npor
tant element in the resources of our State
and the revenues of our people. AS such it
claims something more than the histovical
notice have given it; end even demands as
full descript ion Of its character, uses,
modes Of occurrence, and process of manu-
facture, as may be givon in the present state
OF knowledg dge-such, indeed. as will best
enable cur people to discover and mako
svoifsbte all the depeeiteriesrof sthis@usefuf
article that exists within the .lmits of our
State. Nothing like q full exposition o!
this subject cSn be compressed, however,
ino the space which proprie:y assigns to
this article, ard the circumstances of its
publication. shall confire myself, there
tcre, to tha brie'est possible sketch of it
under the different hesds enumerated above.
NATURE AND ORIGIN CT PETROLEUM.
rral oil, whatever its color or conssttnce.-
Tbese vary greatly; sometimes it is dark
viscid, ard tar like; from other localities
almost transparent, very fluid and volatile.
More generally it has an oily consistence, a
brown or greenish color, and a strong char
acteristic odor. 1t may be regarded ss q
comp und Of several Of large group of bi
luminous substances, which differ much in
their phyecsl characters, while they presen,
a striking similarity Of chemical compost
ton. Or these, the two extremes-Asphnl
tum, hard, black, solid, snd Nsp,ha--an OK
ceediDgly light, volstile and transparent flu
i'd, exhibit a marked contrast OF form, ye
they, Us we'll as oil the intermediate mem
bers OF the seriee, are composed almost Ell
tireIy of carbon and hydrogen. These by
dro carbons are considered by all chemists Il
b. of organic origin-that il, to be derivet
from the decomposition Of vegetable or ami
NAL tiesues. Ordinary coal, which may b.
included in the same category, ia of purel!
vegetable origin, while some csnneIs AM
biluminous shaes contain portion of ami
NAL matter. Petroleum has usually bee
| produced from biuminizad d plants. but thos
varieties of it which are obtained from rock
filled with animal remains-ss highly fos
siiferous limestones-and which have pc
culipr strong and disagreeable odor, in vrtu
Of the sui phur and nitrogen which they con
tain. are probably for the most part Of ami
NAL origin.
The precise process by which petroleum
10 evolved from the carbonaceous matter
contained in the rocks which furnish it, i
not yet fully known, because we can not il
ordinary circumstances inspect it, we ms
fairly infer, however, that 1t is a distiltation
though generally performed at low TEN.
; perature. X X
These changes in the bydro-carbon solid
are but necessary preparatory steps in tn
process of their combustion. BY the appli
( cation of heat we produce them at will, an
rapidly. They also take place spontaneous
Iy but slowly. Carburetted hydrogen lie ra
pidIy produced from bituminous substance
by artificial dry distiIstion. So it s evolv
ed In nature, at low temperatures from sub
} merged (and doubtless emerged) vegetabl
matter. 1t is also thrown off in immens
I quantities by the spontaneous distillAtion o
bituminous coal in mines. Doubtless th
came is true Of the liquid hydro carbons.-
! Though less Observable than the gases
. think thew NAV nffan lie nnf nlmnus ha do