Editing Bitumen (section)

=== Continental Europe ===
In 1553, [[Pierre Belon]] described in his work ''[[Observations (Pierre Belon)|Observations]]'' that ''pissasphalto'', a mixture of [[Pitch (resin)|pitch]] and bitumen, was used in the [[Republic of Ragusa]] (now [[Dubrovnik]], [[Croatia]]) for tarring of ships.<ref>{{cite book |title=Africa and the Discovery of America |volume=1 |page=183 |authorlink=Leo Wiener |first=Leo |last=Wiener |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |orig-date=1920 |date=2012 |isbn=978-3-86403-432-9}}</ref>

An 1838 edition of ''Mechanics Magazine'' cites an early use of asphalt in France. A pamphlet dated 1621, by "a certain Monsieur d'Eyrinys, states that he had discovered the existence (of asphaltum) in large quantities in the vicinity of Neufchatel", and that he proposed to use it in a variety of ways – "principally in the construction of air-proof granaries, and in protecting, by means of the arches, the water-courses in the city of Paris from the intrusion of dirt and filth", which at that time made the water unusable. "He expatiates also on the excellence of this material for forming level and durable terraces" in palaces, "the notion of forming such terraces in the streets not one likely to cross the brain of a Parisian of that generation".<ref>{{cite book|date=7 April – 29 September 1838 | title=The Mechanics' Magazine, museum, register, journal and gazette| volume=29|chapter=Nothing New under the Sun (on French asphaltum use in 1621)| publisher=W.A. Robertson| location=London |page=176 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygoAAAAAMAAJ&q=1838+september+%22mechanic's+magazine%22&pg=PA479}}</ref>

But the substance was generally neglected in France until the [[July Revolution|revolution of 1830]]. In the 1830s there was a surge of interest, and asphalt became widely used "for pavements, flat roofs, and the lining of cisterns, and in England, some use of it had been made of it for similar purposes". Its rise in Europe was "a sudden phenomenon", after natural deposits were found "in France at Osbann ([[Bas-Rhin]]), the Parc ([[Ain]]) and the Puy-de-la-Poix ([[Puy-de-Dôme]])", although it could also be made artificially.<ref name="LewisMiles">{{cite book|author=Miles, Lewis|title=in Australian Building: A Cultural Investigation|chapter=Section 10.6: Damp Proofing|year=2000|page=10.06.1|chapter-url=http://www.mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/climatic-design/climatic-design-damp-proofing.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215052541/http://mileslewis.net/australian-building/pdf/climatic-design/climatic-design-damp-proofing.pdf|archive-date=15 December 2010}}. Note: different sections of Miles' online work were written in different years, as evidenced at the top of each page (not including the heading page of each section). This particular section appears to have been written in 2000</ref> One of the earliest uses in France was the laying of about 24,000 square yards of Seyssel asphalt at the [[Place de la Concorde]] in 1835.<ref>{{citation |year=1958 |author=R.J. Forbes|title=Studies in Early Petroleum History |page=24 |location=[[Leiden]], Netherlands |publisher=E.J. Brill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eckUAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA24}}</ref>