There was also a vehicle on the farm, powered, like the one he had seen on the road, by an engine in which a hydrocarbon liquid-fuel was exploded.
"Flight From Tomorrow"
Henry Beam Piper
These three bands reveal the existence of hydrocarbon in comets.
"The Story of the Heavens"
Robert Stawell Ball
The sodium line attained its greatest brilliance at the time when the comet was nearest to the sun, while the hydrocarbon bands were either invisible or very faint.
"The Story of the Heavens"
Robert Stawell Ball