Naphtha
a word derived from the Persian word nafata, "to exude," and originally applied to liquid hydrocarbons which exude from the ground in the neighborhood of the Caspian Sea. It was applied also to the natural oils found more or less plentifully in nearly all countries of the world, and to the oil distilled from Boghead mineral in Scotland. But the inconvenience and danger of classing all these oils indiscriminately as naphthas became apparent after the Scotch paraffin and the American petroleum refined oils began to be used for domestic illumination. The word naphtha is properly applied to the lighter oils which pass off first in the distillation of petroleum, with gravity ranging from 90 to 62° Beaumé.