Scientific American Supplement, No. 443, June 28, 1884 | Page 9

Schorlemmer and Thorpe have found heptane
in Pinus, which heptane yielded primary heptyl-alcohol, and
methyl-pentyl-carbinol, exactly as the heptane obtained from petroleum
does (Annalen de Chemie, ccxvii., 139, and clxxxviii., 249; and
Berichte der Deutschen Chemischen Gesellschaft, viii., 1649); and,
further, petroleum contains a large number of hydrocarbons which are
found in coal. Again, Mendelejeff, Beilstein, 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 coniferæ 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._
* * * * *

THE SCHOOL OF PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF PARIS.
Recently we paid a visit to the New Municipal School of Physics and
Chemistry that the city of Paris founded in 1882, and that is now in
operation in the large building of the old Rollin College. This

establishment is one of those that supply a long-felt want of our time,
and we are happy to make it known to our readers. The object for
which it was designed was, in the intention of its founders, to give
young people who have just graduated from the higher primary schools
special instruction which shall be at once scientific and practical, and
which shall fit them to become engineers or superintendents in
laboratories connected with chemical and physical industries. To reach
such a result it has been necessary to give the teaching an essentially
practical character, by permitting the pupils to proceed of themselves in
manipulations in well fitted laboratories. It is upon this important point
that we shall now more particularly dwell; but, before making known
the general mode of teaching, we wish to quote a few passages from the
school's official programme:
"Many questions and problems, in physics as well as in chemistry, find
their solution only with the aid of mathematics and mechanics. It
therefore became necessary, through lectures bearing upon the useful
branches of mathematics, to supplement the too limited ideas that
pupils brought with them on entering the school. Mathematics and
mechanics are therefore taught here at the same time with physics and
chemistry, but they are merely regarded in the light of auxiliaries to the
latter.
"The studies extend over three years. Each of the three divisions (1st,
2d, and 3d years) includes thirty pupils.
"During the three first semesters, pupils of the same grade attend
lectures and go through manipulations in chemistry, physics,
mathematics, and draughting in common.
"At the end of the third semester they are divided into 10 physical and
20 chemical students.
"From this moment, although certain courses still remain wholly or
partially common to the two categories of pupils (physical and
chemical),