contained in Coal-gas Naphtha. 123 



tity of cyanol with the bodies described under the names of 

 crystalline, aniline and benzidam, highly probable. The de- 

 scription of the properties of cyanol, as they have been ob- 

 served by Runge and myself, their comparison with the che- 

 mical relations of crystalline, aniline and benzidam, together 

 with the uniformity in the analyses, will, I am sure, establish 

 this point. 



Properties of cyanol. — Cyanol, when obtained simply by 

 distillation, is not absolutely pure; it still contains traces of a 

 volatile body, which gives it a most disagreeable and penetra- 

 ting smell, yet the quantity of this contamination is so minute 

 that it has no influence on the analysis ; I therefore only know 

 of its presence from the smell. If the base be combined with 

 oxalic acid and then separated from the oxalate, after being 

 purified by several recrystallizations in absolute alcohol, the 

 smell entirely disappears. The following statements refer to 

 cyanol obtained in this manner unless otherwise mentioned. 



The base obtained from the oxalate is a clear and limpid 

 liquid, possessing an oily consistency, a slight agreeable vinous 

 odour, an aromatic and burning taste. It is not solidified at 

 a temperature of — 4° Fahr., nor does it lose anything of its 

 limpidity. It is in a high degree volatile, evaporating at 

 nearly all temperatures. The stain which it imparts to paper 

 vanishes in a few moments. Its boiling point is 359*6 Fahr.; 

 according to Fritzsche aniline boils at 44-2*6 Fahr. I have 

 several times most carefully repeated the experiment, having 

 kept the cyanol boiling for a quarter of an hour at each repe- 

 tition without obtaining a different result. When touched 

 with a lighted body the oil inflames and burns brightly, de- 

 positing large quantities of carbon. Colourless cyanol when 

 exposed to the air quickly assumes a yellow tinge, and after 

 some time is converted into a dark resinous substance. This 

 alteration is more rapid at high temperatures; it is therefore 

 convenient to distil this base in a stream of hydrogen or car- 

 bonic acid gas, but it may also be obtained clear without this 

 precaution if distilled very rapidly over an open fire. 



Cyanol is heavier than water; its sp. gr. is 1*020 at 68° Fahr. 

 Fritzsche gives 1*028 as the sp. gr. of aniline; that of benzi- 

 dam has not been determined by Zinin. It is a remarkable 

 fact that cyanol, purified only by distillation, is rather lighter 

 than water. 



This base is copiously dissolved in every proportion by 

 aether, alcohol, pyroxylic spirit, acetone, aldehyde, sulphuret 

 of carbon, fatty and essential oils. Water takes it up in very 

 small quantities, and on the other hand cyanol imbibes water. 

 iEther withdraws the oil from the aqueous solution, whereas 



