and reckless companies, which, availing, themselves of the oleaginous fever and a credulous public, involved themselves and others in operations well-nigh ruinous. One of these companies selected a site in the woods, which had been "prospected" by one of their number and highly recommended (located about six miles from a railroad station laid down on the map, but not yet built), and having organized, agreed to have the first of a series of proposed wells dug, not by contract, as was usual, but by day's work. Having procured the necessary tools, including a compass for guidance in the woods, the work was duly proceeded with, and progress from time to time reported. Calls for the "sinews" were also made, and promptly met, until the well was said to be down over one hundred feet, with a good show for oil. This was about the time for the "Annual Meeting," and more money being called for, it was deemed advisable to have the well re-measured and reported on. Judge of the surprise of the stockholders when, to use the language of one of the patriarchs in oil, the force of the oil from below had shoved the hole up to eighty-six feet! Here was a stunner; and, as the well had already cost a good round sum, and the resources of the company were limited, matters continued to remain in statu quo. The most plausible plan for getting out of the difficulty was that which proposed to have the balance of the hole taken up and cut into lengths for pump logs!—a fair hit at many of the chimerical oil projects of that day.

Various opinions are entertained as to the origin and source of this remarkable substance. According to Professor Silliman, it is of vegetable origin, and was produced by the agency of subterranean heat. Professor Dana says that it is a bituminous liquid resulting from the decomposition of marine or land plants, mainly the latter, and perhaps, also, of some non-nitrogenous animal tissues. By many, it is supposed to be a product of coal; some supposing that the coal, being subjected to the enormous pressure of the overlying

beds, has yielded oil, as a linseed cake under an hydraulic press. The theory has even been advanced, that the coal, heated (as it evidently has been in the coal regions of eastern Pennsylvania), gave off oily vapors which, rising to the cold region of the upper air, condensed, and subsequently fell in oily showers, making its way as best it could to the hollows of the earth's interior, where now it is found by the oilborer.

An extensive survey and examination of the coal region by Mr. Ridgeway, an eminent geologist, convinced him that the petroleum was not produced from the coal fields, as in that case it would have had to flow up-hill into the oil basin; it is, rather, the result of the decomposition of marine plants, in the Oil Creek valley, though that found in bituminous coal basins, originates, no doubt, from beds of coal. According to this theory, the plants which produced the oil in the rock existed and flourished at a long period of time before the vegetation which now forms coal beds; they are unlike the vegetable impressions found in the accompanying shales and clays associated with beds of coal, and they grew where the flag-stones and shales of Oil Creek were laid down by salt water currents. The climate was so hot, during this age of marine vegetation, and the growth of plants so rapid and rank, caused by the supposed large amount of carbonic acid and hydrogen then composing the atmosphere, that these conditions on the face of the earth produced plants containing more hydrogen and less carbon than the plants which produced coal beds, and hence their fermentation resulted in petroleum.

But the theory that the oil was produced at the time of the original bituminization of the animal or vegetable matter, has many difficulties in its way, especially the fact that such large quantities of inflammable gas always accompany the oil. That the oil is a product, not of coal, but of coral, is the opinion of some; and thus, stored away in cells, forming, in the aggregate, immense reefs, as it was collected

from the impure waters of the early oceans by minute coral insects, it has been driven by heat and pressure into reservoirs and crevices, where man's ingenuity at last discovered it.

Of the uses of petroleum, much might be said. Unrivaled and universal for illumination, it is also valuable as a lubricator, and, in some of its chemically prepared states, is employed as a dryer in paints

and varnishes. For fuel and gas its utility has been amply proved. Medically, it has been found efficacious in suppurating wounds, also in headache, toothache, swellings, rheumatism, dislocations, and as a disinfectant. And even as a base in the production of colors, some of the most gratifying results have followed the chemist's experiments with this wonderful article.

world, and now, for the first time, not only admitting the visits of other nations, but themselves undertaking a long and fatiguing voyage to visit strangers in the uttermost end of the earth, was certainly natural.

The embassy consisted of two principal ambassadors, princes of the highest rank among the nobility of the empire, and two associates, nobles of nearly equal rank. These four were of the emperor's council, and were accompanied by a suite of sixteen officers, together with fifty-three servants. Arriving at Honolulu, in the United States ship Powhatan, Commodore Tatnall, from Japan, they proceeded thence to San Francisco, where they arrived March 27, 1860, in good health and spirits. A grand public reception was given them by the city, the chief dignitaries of the embassy being magnificently dressed in embroidered silk robes, and each wore a sword of beautiful workmanship.

In due time, the embassy reached Washington, the capital of the nation, and the special place of their official destination. Here they were amply and elegantly accommodated at Willard's Hotel, many of the apartments being newly furnished for the occasion. A fine military and naval detachment performed escort duty, as, in regular procession, the high officials and their numerous retinue moved from the wharf to the hotel. The Nourimon, a black lacquered frame, square in shape, and in size and roof very much resembling a dog-kennel, in which was fixed the treaty box, hidden from the public eye by a loose cover of red oil-cloth, preceded the first ambassador, in the line of procession, and was borne by two of the men belonging to the navy yard.

General Cass, secretary of state, received the embassy on Wednesday, May 17th, and made a short speech of welcome. The next day was appointed for the grand ceremonial of their presentation to the president of the United States, at the executive mansion.

The accounts given in the Washington. newspapers, of this memorable proceeding, state that long before the time indicated

for the passage of the procession from the quarters of the embassy to the president's house, the neighborhood was filled with a dense multitude, intent on witnessing a spectacle so unprecedented. The United States marines, ordnance guards, and marine band, were in attendance to do the honors of escort. True to the time they had appointed, the Japanese officials commenced leaving their hotel at half-past eleven o'clock, and as soon as they were seated in the carriages drawn up to convey them, the procession moved forward to the presidential mansion. Each carriage bore an officer of the embassy in full ceremonial costume, and, between every two carriages, from two to four Japanese guards, armed with swords, not drawn, marched on foot, one of them carrying aloft a small ensign in Japanese fashion, on a pole about twelve feet high.

and

Occupying the first carriage, was an officer arrayed in a loose slate-colored gown of state, of a general form like the pulpit gown worn by the Episcopal clergy, with huge sleeves stiffly extending right and left, the texture having a brocade-like appearance. The lower dress consisted of a pair of trousers, very wide and full, of the same material. On the crown of the head, immediately over the tonsure, extending from the forehead to the crown, was worn an ornament, shaped like a band of three or four inches wide and eighteen inches long, bent in the middle, and the ends tied, but not close together. Nearly all the ambassadors wore this distinction, but in some the bend stood forward, in others backward.

After the official in the slate-colored dress, came one in a rich green brocade; next one in light green; then one in yellow; next a dark slate, and another in yellow or orange, a third in green, and two riding with Mr. Portman, the interpreter, both arrayed in blue. One little official, in a skirt richly embroidered with pink. and gold, attracted considerable attention.

On arriving at the doorway of the executive mansion, the Japanese guards took the advance and distributed themselves in