Hydrogen is a non-metallic gaseous element with the symbol H. In its free gaseous state it is only found in nature in small quantities issuing from crevices in volcanic districts or near petroleumwells. It exists in combination everywhere; as a constituent of water, of all plants and animals, and in numerous minerals, abundantly in coal, petroleum, bitumen, etc., and to a lesser degree in rocks. The element may be separated from any of its compounds, but it is usually obtained from water or dilute acids. Research Hydrogen
Petroleum is an oily, thick, flammable, usually dark coloured liquid that is a form of bitumen or a mixture of various hydrocarbons, occurring naturally in various parts of the world and often separated by distillation into petrol, naphtha, benzene, kerosene and paraffin.
Petroleum was known to the Indians of Western New York, and it was collected in small quantities by them and by the early settlers of New York and Pennsylvania, amounting sometimes to as much as twenty barrels in a year. The first organized and successful effort to bore for petroleum was made in 1854 by a New York company along Oil Creek, New York. Oil was struck at seventy-one feet, and as much as a thousand barrels per day was obtained. Oil fields were quickly located elsewhere in New York and in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, those of Pennsylvania proving the richest. The latter yielded 3,000,000 barrels in 1862. Gasolene, naphtha, kerosene, paraffine and other products soon began to be manufactured in the USA from the petroleum. Research Petroleum
Alum schist or alum slate is a variety of shale or clayslate, containing iron pyrites, the decomposition of which leads to the formation of alum, which often effloresces on the rock. It is named on account of much alum being prepared from it. It is greyish, bluish, or iron-black in colour; often possessed of a glossy or shining lustre; chiefly composed of clay (silicate of alumina), with variable proportions of sulphide of iron (iron pyrites), lime, bitumen, and magnesia. Research Alum Schist
Ashphaltum is a dark brown or black form of bitumen, the purest varieties are used in the manufacture of black Japan, other varieties in the production of bituminous paints. Research Ashphaltum
Asphalt or Asphaltum is the most common variety of bitumen. It is also called mineral pitch. Asphalt is a compact, glossy, brittle, black or brown mineral, which breaks with a polished fracture, melts easily with a strong pitchy odour when heated, and when pure burns without leaving any ashes. It is found in the earth in many parts of Asia, Europe, and America, and in a soft or liquid state on the surface of the Dead Sea, which from this circumstance was called Asphaltites. It is of organic origin, the asphalt of the great Pitch Lake of Trinidad being derived from bituminous shales, containing vegetable remains in the process of transformation. Asphalt is produced artificially in making coal-gas. During the process much tarry matter is evolved and collected in retorts. If this be distilled, naphtha and other volatile matters escape, and asphalt is left behind. It is sometimes called Jew's Pitch. Research Asphalt
Asphalte Rock or asphalt rock, is a limestone impregnated with bitumen, found in large quantities in various localities in Europe, as in the Yal de Travers, Neufchatel, Switzerland; in the department of Ain in France; in Alsace, Hanover, Holstein, Sicily, etc. These rocks contain a variable quantity of bitumen (from 7 or 8 to 20 or 30 per cent) naturally diffused through them. The Yal de Traversasphalt was discovered in 1710. In 1837 an English patent was taken out for its application to roads, pavements, terraces, areas, roofs, etc. Since then other asphalte-rocks, as well as artificial preparations made by mixing bitumen, gas-tar, pitch, or other materials, with sand, chalk, etc, have been brought into competition with it. Research Asphalte Rock
Bitumen is a rock formed from the decomposed remains of living organisms and occurs in four types, the best known being asphalt - which is used for road surfaces and roofing, other types being albertite, elaterite and ozokerite. Bitumen burnss like pitch, with much smoke and flame. It consists of 84 to 88 of carbon and 12 to 16 of hydrogen, and is found in the earth, occurring principally in the secondary, tertiary, and alluvial formations. It is a very widely spread mineral, and is now largely employed in various ways. As the binding substance in mastics and cements it is used for making roofs, arches, walls, cellar-floors, etc, water-tight, for street and other pavements, and in some of its forms for fuel and for illuminating purposes. The bricks of which the walls of Babylon were built are said to have been cemented with bitumen, which gave them unusual solidity. Research Bitumen
Abbreviations
Research Bitumen
