The Jeffersonian Democrat. [volume] (Chardon, Ohio) 1854-1865, 1860-09-14
Origin of the Oil.

tho Oil question, there will be a general
interest Ia the following communication
kindly furnished by MIR. William Denton,
one Of the most learned Goologists of tho
country, in which no discusses tho interes-
ting query as to the origin of the Oil:
Where does the oil como from ? says
every one and, in answer to this natural
question, tho most Wild and oxtravagant theo
ries are propoundcd. Ono thinks il has
soaked from once existing coal beds down
to the rocks in which il is now found the
coal from which it was obtained, having bccn
swept off by donuding agencies. Another
believes that tho oil was driven by boat
from beds Of bitumiuous coal into tho con -.
tiguous rocks, the coal. after parting with its
oil, assuming tho form of anthracite. A
still wilder thcorizor has the oil driven out
of coal IN tho state of vapor condensed in
tho uppor cold region of the atmosphere,
and rained upon tho Garth in greasy showers;
then fiudng its way as best it could to the
deep caverns that now confue IL, where,
strange to cay, il seoms struggling cODtinu.
ally to got to tho surface. Still another, in
despair of ever fning q scientific solution OF
the question. believes that God made tho
oil by miracle aud placed it in tho rock, as
best pleased him, whore mans need would
sharpen his ingenuity, and load to its dis.
covcrv.
need hardly say that science has moth.
ing TO do with these various theories. and
they utterly fail to account for tho fact -
Ii the oil had soaked out of coal bods, the
coal beds and the rocks in thor vicinity
would contain the greatest amount OF the
article; but this is not the case, and the
very opposite is true. l believo thore is no
instance of the oh having been found In
contact with coal. and although it can te
obtained from camel coal b. heat, it is only
because the coal itself was made from the
coal. Had tho oil been driven out of tho
coal beds by heat, then the rocks above the
coal would have contained il, tho gas of
course rising; but IL is to 10 found almost
invariably below it. At Ttusvillo the oil is
found at least 700 or 800 foet below the
coal beds at Loana, in New York, more
than ftIv miles from q coal region, and
geographically moro than a thousand feet
below tho coal. Al Buffalo. il is found
more than hundred miles from tho coal
regions, and in a geographical formation
5000 feet below the coal. A other local..
ties where found it IN New York State, it
is miles lower down in the geologic series
than this.
tha, petroleum, asphaltum and camel coa',
is not a vegetable but an animal production;
aud most of It was stored up ages before
tho coal beds were formed, or single tree
grew on dry land. Tho coral iusect, that
wondrous builder, was the agent of nature.
employed for ages in secrotng from tie
impure waters OF the Siluvian and Devonian
oceans tho carbon and hydrogen necessary
! sh oil Gn1 10 in
in tbor myriad cels, unchanged by tho
lapse of ages. Crushed out Of the cells
originally containing it. by pressure. its vol
atile properties driven off by hoat, it as.
sumes pitchy consistency, aud Is called
asphal,um; and, hardened by immense
| pressure. is called cannol coul.
Nor is this a mere theory | have larg,
specimens of fossil coral, the coils of which
are filed with pure Seneca or Rock oil
some of them obtained more than hun
drod miles from coal region. have seen
hundreds of corals full of this oil, and thes,
coras in the contro Of limestoDs blocks
bearing no trace of oil anywhere except il
tho coils of the coral. | bavo seen a cora
reef through which o creek has run, thu
exposing it to the air. and from this roe
the oil was flowing-oil having that distinct
i've smell, which once smelled is never for
cotton.
Lot it be understood then that tho Of
comes from below the coral reefs, wing prob
ably in sOme cases two or threo Thousand
feet below the surface. The coral cell
having been crushed by the pressure of th'
superintendent rock the oil has been forcet
into cavorns and crevices, and probably ,h,
informal heat of the Garth converting tn,
moro volatile parts into gas, this gas forco
tho oil up through crevices inthe rocks
sometimes to tho surface.
Many thousand square miles in this coun
try arc undolayed with this useful article
as future generations will make manifest.