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BITUMEN
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BITUMEN , the name applied by the See also:Romans to the various descriptions of natural See also:hydrocarbons, the word See also:petroleum not being used in classical Latin. In its widest sense it embraces the whole range of these substances, including natural See also:gas, the more or less liquid descriptions of petroleum, and the solid forms of See also:asphalt, See also:albertite, See also:gilsonite or teintahite, See also:elaterite, ozakerite and See also:hatchettite. To distinguish bitumen intermediate in consistency between asphalt and the more liquid kinds of crude petroleum, the See also:term maltha (Latin) is frequently employed. The bitumens of See also:chief commercial importance may be grouped under the three headings of (I) natural gas, (2) petroleum, and (3) asphalt, and will be found fully described under these titles. In the scriptures there are numerous references to bitumen, among which' the following may be quoted:—In See also:Genesis ix. 3, we are told that in the See also:building of the See also:tower of See also:Babel slime had they for See also:mortar," and in Genesis xiv. to, that the vale of Siddim " was full of slime-pits," the word slime in the latter See also:quotation from our version appearing as bitumen in the See also:Vulgate. See also:Herodotus alludes to the use of the bitumen brought down by the Is, a tributary of the See also:Euphrates, as mortar in building the walls of See also:Babylon: Diodorus, See also:Curtius, See also:Josephus, See also:Bochart and others make similar mention of this use of bitumen, and See also:Vitruvius tells us that it was employed in admixture with See also:clay. In its various forms, bitumen is one of the most widely dig= tributed of substances. It occurs, though sometimes only it small quantity, in almost every See also:part of the globe, and 'through: out the whole range of See also:geological strata, from the Laurentian rocks to the most See also:recent members of the See also:Quaternary See also:period. Although the gaseous and liquid forms of bitumen may be°re= garded as having been formed in the strata in which.they.are found or as having been received into such strata shortly after formation, the semi-solid and solid 'varieties may be cgnsidered to have been produced by the oxidation and evaporation of liquid petroleum escaping from underlying or better •preserved deposits into other strata, or into fissures where atmospheric See also:action and loss of the more volatile constituents can take See also:place. It should, however, be stated that there is some difference of See also:opinion as to the precise manner of See also:production of some of the solid forms of bitumen, and especially of See also:ozokerite. (B. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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