CHEMISTRY. 445 



raal origin is now furnislied by the researches of C. Engler, who studied 

 the distillation of fish oil under favorable conditions. In a large appa- 

 ratus made for manufacturing purposes he distilled 492 kilogrammes of 

 menhaden oil, at a temperature of 350° to 400°, and under a pressure 

 of two atmospheres. Combustible gases were given ofl", and a liquid 

 distillate was obtained in two layers ; the upper watery, the lower oily, 

 in character. The latter amounted to 21)9 kilogrammes, was brownish, 

 and had a strong green fluorescence. In brief, it resembled crude 

 petroleum ; and on fractionid distillation it yielded pentane, hexane, 

 heptane, octane, and nonane, all of the normal series, together with 

 some secondary hydrocarbons. It was essentially an artificial petro- 

 leum. 



As fish oil is mainly a mixture of triolein, tristearin, etc., Engler n)ade 

 further experiments upon a similar distillation of these compouixls, 

 although on a very much smaller scale, and obtained confirnnitory re- 

 sults. The fact that petroleum contains no free carbon, which is cited 

 as evidence against its organic origin, he disposes of by showing that 

 if all the oxygen in the glycerides of fatty oils should combine with 

 part of their hydrogen to form water, the residue would still contain 87 

 per cent, carbon and I'.l per cent, hydrogen, which is almost exactly the 

 average com[)osition of natural petroleum. (Berichte, xxi, 1816.) 



MetaUocyanUks of ethyl. — The ferrocyanide, (C2H5)4 FeCye, is de- 

 scribed by Fieund, who prepared it by acting upon silver ferrocyanide 

 with ethyl iodide. Kecrystallized from chloroform it forms large rhom- 

 bic crystals. Freund also makes some observations on von Thau's 

 alleged platinocyanide of ethyl. (Berichte, xxi, 931 and 937.) 



Oxymvtiiylcnc and/onnaJdehyde. — Tollens and Mayer, attempting to de- 

 termine the molecular weight of oxymethylene by Raoult's method, find 

 that upon solution in water it is converted into formaldehyde. The 

 latter, m dilute solution, did not undergo polymeiization, even after six 

 mouths' standing, nor was it exi)elled upon heating; this fact being ex- 

 l)lained by its transformation, in concentrated solution, into a i)()lym(T 

 {iJU.,Oy,. Upon standing, this di- or paraformaldehyde quickly disso- 

 ciates at ordinary t(Mni)eratnre into formaldehyde. The oxymethylene, 

 which is with difficulty soluble, is i)robably metaformaldehyde (011,0)3. 

 (Berichte, xxi, 15G(> and 3503.) 



lHacctyl. — By acting upon nitrosomethyiacetoue with a solution of 

 sodium bisulphite, H. v. Pechmann has prepared a compound which 

 ai)pears to be diacetyl, CI1.>C().C J.CII:j. It is a volatile \'u\n'n\ l>oil- 

 ing at 87° to 88°, having a yellowish-green color, and an odor like crude 

 acetone. Its vapor resendjles chlorine in tint. Ilomologues of nitro- 

 somethylacetone, similarly treated, yield homologues of diacetyl. (Be- 

 richte, XX, 3102.) 



In a later paper I'echmaun and Otte describe acetyl-butyryl, acetyl- 

 isobutyryl, acetyl-isovaleryl, acetyl-isocaproyl, and acetyl-crotonyl, 

 (Berichte, xxi, 2140.) 



