t
their use is altogether of modern invention. That they were not
altogether unknown in the fifth century before Christ is a matter of
certainty, and at the time when the Persian Empire was at the zenith of
its glory, the fires in the temples of the fire-worshippers were
undoubtedly kept fed by the natural petroleum which the districts around
afforded. It is thought by some that the legend which speaks of the fire
which came down from heaven, and which lit the altars of the
Zoroastrians, may have had its origin in the discovery of a hitherto
unknown petroleum spring. More recently, the remarks of Marco Polo in his
account of his travels in A.D. 1260 and following years, are particularly
interesting as showing that, even then, the use of mineral oil for
various purposes was not altogether unknown. He says that on the north of
Armenia the Greater is "Zorzania, in the confines of which a fountain is
found, from which a liquor like oil flows, and though unprofitable for
the seasoning of meat, yet is very fit for the supplying of lamps, and to
anoint other things; and this natural oil flows constantly, and that in
plenty enough to lade camels."

From this we can infer that the nature of the oil was entirely unknown,
for it was a "liquor like oil," and was also, strange to say,
"unprofitable for the seasoning of meat"! In another place in Armenia,
Marco Polo states that there was a fountain "whence rises oil in such
abundance that a hundred ships might be at once loaded with it. It is not
good for eating, but very fit for fuel, for anointing the camels in
maladies of the skin, and for other purposes; for which reason people
come from a great distance for it, and nothing else is burned in all this
country."

The remedial effects of the oil, when used as an ointment, were thus
early recognised, and the far-famed vaseline of the present day may be
regarded as the lineal descendent, so to speak, of the crude medicinal
agent to which Marco Polo refers.

The term asphalt has been applied to so many and various mixtures, that
one scarcely associates it with natural mineral pitch which is found in
some parts of the world. From time immemorial this compact, bituminous,
resinous mineral has been discovered in masses on the shores of the Dead
Sea, which has in consequence received the well-known title of Lake
Asphaltites. Like the naphthas and petroleums which have been noticed,
this has had its origin in the decomposition of vegetab