PITTINEA.

441

Obs. This species was first observed in Derbyshire , in the forsaken lead mine ofOdin , by Dr. Lister, in 1673, who called it a subterranean fungus, and was uncertainwhether it belonged to the vegetable or mineral kingdom. In 1816 it was accuratelydescribed by Hatchett, in the Linnatan Transactions, iv. 116. It has since been foundin a coal mine at Montrelais , at the depth of 230 feet; and, according to Hausmann,(Handbuch, iii. 273,) it occurs at Neufchatel, and in the island of Zante. It has alsobeen met with in bituminous limestone at Woodbury, Conn.

BITUMEN. Bitumen communis.

Black Mineral Resin, Jlf. and Mineral Oil . Naphtha, Petroleum, Mineral Pitch. Asphaltum .Bergpech, Bergtheer, Halts. Asphalt, L. Bitume, H.

544. Occurs both solid and fluid, and is possessed of no regularform.

H.=0—-2. G.=0-8—1'2. Lustre resinous. Streak commonlysimilar to the color. Color black, brown, and reddish ; fluid varie-ties nearly colorless and transparent. Fracture of solid varietiesperfectly conchoidal, and very brilliant. Sectile. Odor bitumi-nous.

Naphtha (the fluid variety) contains, according to Thomson,

Carbon 82-2

Hydrogen U8=97.

Inflames readily, and burns with much smoke.

Oes. The solid varieties of this species have been termed mineral pitch, or as-phaltiivi; the fluid, mineral oil. The earthy and slaggy mineral pitch are two varie-ties of solid bitumen ; the former is distinguished from the latter by its less conchoidalfracture. Petroleum is a fluid bitumen, which oozes from certain rocks of the coalformation, and becomes solid on exposure. Naphtha is a limpid or yellowish fluid ;but when exposed to the air it deepens in color, and increases in consistency, tillgradually it assumes the characters and appearance of petroleum. Naphtha mayagain be obtained from petroleum by heat.

Ozokerite, a variety of black bitumen lately discovered by Meyer, and named byGlocker, occurs in a sandstone in Moldavia , near Slanik, in the neighborhood of coaland rock salt; also under similar circumstances near Vienna. It is found in irregu-lar translucent masses of a large size, presenting a leek-green color by reflexion, butbrown, or brownish-yellow, in small pieces, by transmitted light. It contains Carbon85'204, and Hydrogen 13’787, or one atom of hydrogen to one of carbon, and thusresembles in composition the naphtha of Persia .

Asphaltum is met with abundantly on the shores of the Dead Sea ; at the pitch lakeof Trinidad, where it is much mixed with sand; in reniform stalactitic masses atMatlock, in Derbyshire ; in granite, with quartz and fluor, at Poldice, in Cornwall ;in cavities of Chalcedony and calc spar, in Russia , and other places. Naphtha issuesfrom the earth in large quantities in Persia and the Birman empire. At Ragoonthere are upwards of 500 naphtha wells, which afford annually 412,000 hhds.

Petroleum is met with in many parts of the United States . Kenhawa in Virginia ,Scotsville, Ken., Duck Creek in Munroe Co., Ohio, Liverpool, Ohio, are among itslocalities In New York it is found floating on the surface of Seneca lake, and ishence called Genesee or Seneca oil.

Naphtha afiords botli fuel and lights to the inhabitants of Badku, on the Caspian .It is also employed in Persia , and the Birman empire, as a lotion in cutaneous erup-tions, and as an embrocation in bruises and rheumatic affections. It is employed forvarious purposes in the arts ; particularly in the manufacture of varnish, and as asubstitute for oil in the formation of oil paint, it being preferred on account of itsrapid evaporation and drying.

Bitumen, in all its varieties, was well known to the ancients. It is reported tohave been employed in the construction of the walls of Babylon, and at Agrigentum it was burnt in lamps, and called Sicilian oil. The Egyptians also made use of it inembalming.

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