Destructive Distillation of Animal Substances. 183 



but the quantity which I possessed was too small to admit of 

 an accurate determination either of this point, or of its specific 

 gravity, although the latter is certainly less than that of water. 

 Petinine is a very powerful base, and immediately restores the 

 blue colour of reddened litmus, and gives abundant fumes 

 when a rod dipped in hydrochloric acid is held over it. It 

 unites with the concentrated acids, with the evolution of much 

 heat. It dissolves in all proportions in water, alcohol, aether, 

 and the oils; and is also soluble in dilute solution of potash, 

 but not in concentrated. Petinine gives double salts with 

 bichloride of platinum and corrosive sublimate, both of which 

 are soluble in water. With chloride of gold it gives a pale 

 yellow precipitate, which does not dissolve on boiling the so- 

 lution, and is not deposited in crystals. Petinine throws down 

 peroxide of iron from its compounds. It also precipitates 

 salts of copper, and the oxide thrown down dissolves in excess 

 of the base with a fine blue colour. 



These properties agree with those of none of the bases de- 

 scribed by Unverdorben ; and, in fact, it is certain that peti- 

 nine could not have been present in the mixture to which he 

 applies the name of odorine, for he expressly states that it 

 commenced boiling at 212°. And it is easy to see why he 

 did not obtain it ; because in separating the bases from the 

 acid by which they were extracted from the crude oil, he took 

 care to add a quantity of potash just so great that the oily bases 

 were liberated, and not the ammonia ; and as his object in 

 doing so was to get rid of the latter substance, and there being 

 no means of doing this exactly, it is probable that he did not 

 fully separate the bases, but the most volatile, which is also 

 the most powerful, remained in combination with the acid 

 along with the ammonia. 



Compounds of Petinine. 



The minute quantity of petinine which I obtained has ne- 

 cessitated a very cursory examination of its salts, which are 

 interesting, both from the facility with which they crystallize, 

 and their great stability. None of them undergo change in 

 the air, but may be left exposed for any length of time without 

 acquiring colour. They are all soluble in water, and those 

 with the volatile acids sublime without decomposing, and are 

 deposited in crystals upon cold surfaces. 



Sulphate of Petinine is obtained by adding petinine to dilute 

 sulphuric acid until the fluid is neutral. On evaporating, 

 petinine is given off; and the solution, when concentrated to 

 a syrup, concretes on cooling into a foliated mass of crystals 

 of an acid sulphate. These crystals are strongly acid to test- 



