254 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



tected and it is fairly cheap. Alcohol, denatured by the addition of 

 10 per cent, of wood spirit and nothing else, has been on the market in 

 England for years under the name of 'methylated spirit.' On the 

 other hand, it does not impart to the alcohol such a repulsive odor 

 and taste but what some perverts drink it if nothing else alcoholic 

 is obtainable. According to the Lancet and other English papers, 

 this terribly injurious habit has already reached alarming proportions 

 and is on the increase. A penny will buy in 'methylated spirits' as 

 much alcohol as is contained in a glass of whiskey. 



One of the strong arguments brought forward in support of the 

 1 free alcohol ' measure was that methyl alcohol had been substituted 

 in numerous industries where ethyl alcohol would have been better, 

 and that the health of those obliged to work constantly in an atmos- 

 phere laden with the vapor of methyl alcohol was seriously impaired. 

 The continuous inhalation of the vapor causes the same symptoms, in a 

 milder degree, as those following the drinking of the alcohol, notably 

 affections of the eyes. Those whose business it is to denature alcohol 

 with wood spirits unavoidably labor under these disadvantages, but 

 denatured alcohol containing 10 per cent, of the wood spirit will cause 

 troubles of this character only under exceptional circumstances. 



To make denatured alcohol yet less potable, German law requires 

 the addition of a second substance, pyridine. The danger can not be 

 wholly eliminated, as there have always been found at least a few so 

 degenerate as to drink the most disgusting mixtures if only they con- 

 tain alcohol. The so-called pyridine bases are obtained from the dis- 

 tillation of bones and also from tar. They constitute a somewhat oily 

 liquid, soluble in both alcohol and in water, and they have such an 

 utterly repulsive odor and taste that the addition of small quantities 

 permits of the material reduction in the amount of ' wood spirit ' used 

 in denaturing. In Germany, alcohol is denatured by the addition 

 of 2 per cent, of wood spirit and % of 1 per cent, of these pyridine 

 bases. 



But these pyridine bases have serious disadvantages also. They are 

 volatile, and when denatured alcohol containing them is burnt in a 

 spirit lamp the penetrating and highly unpleasant odor is perceptible 

 in the room. They are combustible and should be wholly consumed, 

 but when the lamp is blown out the parts about the wick remain warm 

 and this heat volatilizes a portion of the liquid. If much of the vapor 

 of pyridine be breathed it produces a severe headache, the same sort of 

 seemingly unendurable pain which is produced by inhaling the vapor 

 of nitro-glycerine. The injurious effect of pyridine on the health of 

 those employed in denaturing alcohol has been the subject of discus- 

 sions in the German Eeichstag. The government of Germany permits 

 the addition of small quantities of lavender oil to partially disguise 



