The Romance of Modern Chemistry

NATURE’S STORES OF FUEL Sometimes the oil has to be pumped up like water from a well, but in other cases the oil in the internal reservoirs is under pressure, and so soon as an opening is provided it spouts out with great force. It might be thought an easy matter to collect the oil which comes up these wells, but it is frequently very difficult, especially when the boring has just been made, and the oil is forced out under pressure. A certain well in Baku—the Russian oil-bearing district—tapped in 1886, began to spout with such vehemence that the whole surrounding country was deluged. For a time nothing could be done to stop the outflow, and many thousand tons of oil were lost. The great pressure which sometimes exists in the subterranean reservoirs was well shown by another fountain which burst out a few months later and rose to a height of 350 feet; the escape in this case was so great that it formed an extensive petroleum lake, and overflowed into the Caspian Sea. The crude petroleum obtained from the American or Russian oil-wells must be subjected to chemical treatment before it is ready for the market. It is distilled, and the volatile portions of the oil are thus separated from the heavier portions. The reader would be quite surprised to find what a number of distinct products can thus be separated from natural petroleum by the simple process of distillation. The most volatile portions of the petroleum yield naphtha and petrol, the latter substance now largely in demand in those days of motor cars. The petroleum which distils over at a somewhat higher temperature is used for illuminating purposes, and it is in this form of lamp oil that the bulk of the American petroleum ultimately comes into the market. After the petroleum 135