HISTORY. Petroleum has long been known in various parts of the world by its appearance in the form of bituminous springs or as a floating scum on the surface of pools. It was used at a very early period in the walls of Babylon and Nine veh, and Herodotus has described the occurrence of oil springs in the island of Zaehynthus, now Zaute. In Roman times petroleum was obtained front Sicily and burned in lamps. The first men tion of petroleum in America (about 10351 is in a letter written by the Franciscan missionary Jo seph de in Roche d'Allion, who refers therein to springs found in the region of what is now south western New York or northwestern Pennsylvania. The early settlers of Pennsylvania obtained smill quantities of oil by digging wells and scooping out the liquid which seeped in from the surround ing rocks. The drilling of brine wells on the western slopes of the Alleghanies in the early part of the nineteenth century led to the discovery of petroleum at greater depths. A well sunk near Burkesville, Ky., in 182.ti, yielded great quan tities of oil, which flowed to the surface and was drained into the Cumberland River, where at one time it was set on fire. The most important ap plication of petroleum in the early days was in medicine; it was utilized as an illuminant only to a small extent, owing to its offensive odor. In the year 1853 Dr. Brewer suggested the use of pe troleum for lubricating and illumination pur poses, and set to work devising means for purify ing the crude product. The Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company was organized in 1854 to drill for oil; although its first well yielded from 400 to 1000 gallons a day, the company was not success ful in its business ventures. Five years later. however. Col. E. L. Drake put down a productive well on land leased from this emnpany, and the successful outcome of this undertaking may be said to mark the beginning of the oil industry in the United States. The news of the discovery
was by a rush of adventurers from all parts of the country. so that by 1500 more than 100 square miles of territory in the vicinity of Oil Creek had been shown to be productive. 3Inch of the oil which reached the surface was allowed to escape. owing to the lack of storage and transportation facilities. As the explorations were extended new fields were opened along the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania. also in Ohio and West Virginia. The Lima field of Ohio and Indiana was first developed in 1855. while the California fields have become large producers only in the last few years. The discovery made in the Beaumont region of Texas early in 1001. which has been followed by extraordinary development. is the most important event in the recent history of petroleum.
Among foreign countries, Russia is the largest. producer of oil and the strongest competitor of the United States in supplying the world's mar kets. Operations have been conducted in this country since 1571 The largest fields are Ineated on the Apsheron Peninsula, Baku being the chief centre of the industry. The distillation of petro leum from shales was first undertaken in France in 1534. and was successfully introduced into Scotland in 1550. The of shale oil into America led to the use of emitted coal for dis tilling; this industry gained considerable impor tame in the United States previous to 1500. but quickly suceumbed when the first wells became product ive.