The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MAY 7, 1866.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 54, 7 May 1866, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, MAY 7, 1866.

There is nothing more wonderful in the history of commerce, than the vast trade which has grown up in petroleum. It is but a few years since it was first prominently introduced into notice as suitable for domestic purposes', and now in every quarter of the civilised globe, it has become an important article of commerce. Wherever it lias been introduced, it has, to a great extent, superseded the use of all other oils which were formerly used for the purpose of giving light, while every, day new uses are discovered for it. At present, although it is found in considerable quantities in other countries, and it is produced from the oily shales of England and Australia— America is still the chief seat of its production. It 'is calculated that the average daily yield of the wells in the United States is in' excess of 50,000 gallons, which would give 18,000,000 of gallons for the year. The immense wealth accruing to the country by mean's of this vast production was of great assistance to the Federals during the civil war, and doubtless materially contributed to the success which eventually attended their armies. Although ifc has been discovered in considerable quantities in Canada, Tennessee, Arkansas', Texas, Mexico, and California, the principal oil bearing regions are in the barren parts' of Pennsylvania," Virginia, and Kentucky. The oil is believed by" some to be derived from silurian devonian and carboniferous rocks, and is conjectured to be a product of the chemical action by which ligneus matter is transmuted into coal. To obtain petroleum, borings are made through various strata to the depth of 150 to 500 feet. As a general rule these borings pass through clay, with boulders, sandstones, and conglomerates, shale, bituminous shale, and then the oil underlaid by the oil-bearing stratum of fine clay, containing fragments of stigmaria and other coal plants. As soon as the oil-bearing stratum is reached, there is an escape of carburetted hydrogen gas, often violent enough to blow the boring rods into the air. When the oil comes it is ejected with such force sometimes rising to the height of 100 feet. The use of this valuable substance, especially for domestic purposes, is still attended with very serious inconvenience — the danger of explosion, and "the more or'less disagreable odour which attends it. The former is reduced to a minimum by care in the prepara- . tion. the latter has in a great degree hitherto baffled all the efforts of ingenuity and science. But even this objection to the use of mineral oil is likely soon to be obviated, and by simple means. The disagreable odour is produced by a highly volatile vapour. The petroleum is raised to the temperature of 135 deg. Fah., and then the pressure of the atmosphere having been partially removed by au a : r pump, is kept agitated for some time, after which it is washed with cold water. The slight increase of temperature, and the partial vacuum cause the compound, to which the odour is due, to pass off as a gas, and the oil so heated is then in many instances so free from smell that it might be mistaken for the best vegetable oil. The" removal of the highly volatile vapour also increases the density of the product, and' renders its use in lamps completely free from danger. As the objections which have hitherto at-

tended the use for domestic purposes of this oil are likely to be removed, and also everyday new discoveries of its valuable properties for a variety of purposes takes place, there can Be ho doubt that a market will always exist *for whatever quantities may be produced; and if it is discovered in considerable quantities in" New Zealand, as at present it seems probable, it will doubtless advance the interests of the colony quite as much as gold is at present doing.