hat this oil was actually used for lighting in certain
parts of Sicily. It had never become an object of universal use, simply
because no one had discovered how to obtain it in sufficient quantities.
No one had suspected, indeed, that petroleum existed practically in the
form of great subterranean rivers, lakes, or even seas. For ages this
great natural treasure had been seeking to advertise its presence by
occasionally seeping through the rocks and appearing on the surface of
watercourses. It had been doing this all over the world--in China,
in Russia, in Germany, in England, in our own country. Yet our obtuse
ancestors had for centuries refused to take the hint. We can find much
cause for self-congratulation in that it was apparently the American
mind that first acted upon this obvious suggestion.

In Venango County, Pennsylvania, petroleum floated in such quantities
on the surface of a branch of the Allegheny River that this small
watercourse had for generations been known as Oil Creek. The neighboring
farmers used to collect the oil and use it to grease their wagon axles;
others, more enterprising, made a business of gathering the floating
substance, packing it in bottles, and selling it broadcast as a
medicine. The most famous of these concoctions, "Seneca Oil," was widely
advertised as a sure cure for rheumatism, and had an extensive sale in
this country. "Kier's Rock Oil" afterwards had an even more extended
use. Samuel M. Kier, who exploited this comprehensive cure-all, made no
lasting contributions to medical science, but his method of obtaining
his medicament led indirectly to the establishment of a great industry.
In this western Pennsylvania region salt manufacture had been a thriving
business for many years; the salt was obtained from salt water by
means of artesian wells. This salt water usually came to the surface
contaminated with that same evil-smelling oil which floated so
constantly on top of the rivers and brooks. The salt makers spent
much time and money "purifying" their water from this substance, never
apparently suspecting that the really valuable product of their wells
was not the salt water they so carefully preserved, but the
petroleum which they threw away. Samuel M. Kier was originally a salt
manufacturer; more canny than his competitors, he sold the oil which
came up with his water as a patent medicine. In order to give a
mysterious virtue to this remedy, Kier printed on his labels the
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