eilstein, and others (_Bulletin de
la Societe Chemique de Paris_, No. 1, July 5, 1883), have found
hydrocarbons of the--

C_{n}H_{2n2+}, C_{n}H_{2n-6},

also hydrocarbons of the C_{n}H_{2n} series in the petroleum of Baku,
American petroleum containing similar hydrocarbons.

I think all these facts give very great weight to the theory that
petroleum is of organic origin.

On the other hand, Berthelot, from his synthetic production of
hydrocarbons, believes that the interior of the globe contains
alkaline metals in the _free_ state, which yield acetylides in the
presence of carbonic anhydride, which are decomposed into acetylene by
aqueous vapor. But it has been already proved that acetylene may be
polymerized, so as to produce aromatic carbides, or the derivatives of
marsh gas, by the absorption of hydrogen. Berthelot's view, therefore,
is too imaginative; for the presence of _free_ alkaline metals in the
earth's interior is an unproved and very improbable hypothesis.
Byasson states that petroleum is formed by the action of water,
carbonic anhydride, and sulphureted hydrogen upon incandescent iron.
Mendelejeff thinks it is formed by the action of aqueous vapor upon
carbides of iron; and in his article, "Petroleum, the Light of the
Poor" (in this month's--February--number of _Good Words_), Sir Lyon
Playfair, K.C.B., F.R.S., etc., holds opinions similar to those of
Mendelejeff.

Taking in consideration the facts that solid paraffin is found in
petroleum and is also found in coal, and from my own work that phenol
exists in _Pinus sylvestris_, and has been found by others in coal
which is produced from the decomposition of a flora containing
numerous gigantic coniferae allied to Pinus, and that petroleum
contains phenol, and each (i.e., petroleum and coal) contains a number
of hydrocarbons common to both, I am inclined to think that the
balance of evidence is in favor of the hypothesis that petroleum has
been produced in nature from a vegetable source in the interior of the
globe. Of course, there can be no practical or direct evidence as to
the origin of petroleum; therefore "theories are the only lights with
which we can penetrate the obscurity of the unknown, and they are to
be valued just as far as they illuminate our path."

In conclusion, I think that there is a connecting link between the old
pine and fir forest of bygone ages and the origin of petroleum in
nature.--_Chemical News._

*