178 ON THE NEUTRAL SULPHATE OF THE OXIDE OF ETHYLE, 



a few drops of water. The oil is transferred from the retort to a capsule, well washed 

 with a small quantity of water, the last portions of which are carefully removed with 

 strips of paper, and placed in the vacuum over sulphuric acid to dry. 



It is an oily liquid of pungent taste, leaving a burning sensation in the throat; a smell 

 of peppermint oil ; leaves an oily stain on paper, which disappears entirely — sp. gr. 1.120; 

 colourless when pure, but as obtained above it is usually coloured yellow. It distils with 

 the greatest difficulty, on which account I could not obtain a sufficient quantity of the 

 distilled oil to analyze perfectly. In order to distil it the retort must be low in the neck, 

 and a stream of carbonic acid passed through the liquid. At 100° the vapours rise in the 

 form of exceedingly small globules, visible to the naked eye. At 110°, 120°, they pass 

 over, when the heat is raised to 130°, 140°, the liquid blackens, sulphurous acid and alco- 

 hol pass over, and if heated above this, sulphurous acid and olefiant gas. The distillate 

 is perfectly colourless, heavier than water, neutral to test paper, two combinations, one of 

 the raw oil, another of the distilled, agreed, but the substance had not yet been freed 

 from water over sulphuric acid in vacuo. Chlorine, in the cold, does not decompose 

 it, but is dissolved, communicating to it a green colour : on adding water, the oil is preci- 

 pitated. 



Sulphuretted hydrogen in the cold has no effect upon it. A solution of caustic potash, 

 saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen, changes it to mercaptan, and sulphate of potash, 

 unaccompanied by any other oil, as was proved by absorbing the mercaptan by oxide of 

 mercury ; the reaction appears to be C 4 II 5 O, S 3 + K S H S = C 4 H 5 S, H S + K O, S 3 . 

 The neutral sulphate is soluble in fuming nitric acid, from which it is precipitated by wa- 

 ter. If caustic potash be now added till the liquid is nearly neutral, and the whole heated, 

 hyponitrite of ethyle (C 4 H 5 ON0 3 ) is formed. This reaction was anticipated, as nitrate 

 of potash, sulphuric acid, and alcohol, give the hyponitrite. Treated in the same way 

 with II C 1 and KOHO, an oil distils over, heavier than water, having a smell of apples. 

 With potassium, in the cold, it is unchanged; when warmed, the potassium takes fire, and 

 among the other products, mercaptan is formed. With water, in the cold, after a lapse of 

 time, when heated quickly, the oil disappears entirely, leaving a very acid solution. In 

 vacuo it does not become green like the oil of wine described by Serullas. 



The neutral sulphate of the oxide of ethyle, or, in short, sulphuric ether, has never been 

 analyzed. Liebig made a single combustion of the oil, from sulphuric acid and alcohol, 

 (which is probably identical with this.) The combustion was made merely for the pur- 

 pose of trying his new method of organic analysis upon liquids slightly volatile. He did 

 not make a sulphur determination. His results are as follows: 1.730 substance gave 

 CO a = 2.078; C = 33.485g H = 0.940 H = 6.150„°; which results agree with Serullas' 

 formula for the heavy oil of wine. But at the same time he notices, without attempting 

 to account for it, an essential difference from Serullas' oil, namely, that warmed with wa- 

 ter, it did not give an oil free from sulphuric acid, but entirely disappeared. 



The oil analyzed had a slight trace of acid, was freed from water by standing for 

 several days over sulphuric acid in vacuo. The combustion was made in the ordinary 

 way, the liquid being placed in a small closed tube, which was dropped into the combus- 

 tion tube and the oil suffered to run out upon the sides. The results are as follows: 



