127 
“retort ”"—is 8 to 10 gallons, together with 45 to 52 bushels of 
charcoal, and 180 to 295 Ibs ube grey acetate of lime; and from 
“kilns.” 4 to 6 gallons of spirit, the same amount of charcoal and 
90 to 150 Ibs. of acetate of lim 
A cord of yellow-pine wood fe been found to yield only about 
3 gallons of wood-alcohol and 70 Ibs. brown acetate of lim The 
Pine woods are of greater value in the production of turpen nti ne. 
Hard wood distillation is an established industry in the United 
States, where in 1906 it is computed 7,871,494 gallons of crude 
alcohol were obtained from 1,144,896 cords of wood?; in Germany and 
in Sweden it is being obtained from the waste wood, or residual 
sulphite lyes in the preparation of cellulose ; on a growing scale in 
Canada and Australia, and on a comparatively smaller scale in this 
country. There is in the Forestry Museum at Kew a collection of 
the Apes of distillation of wood, presented by Messrs. Turnbull 
& lasgow, one of the few firms in the country engaged in the 
Tastee on a commercial scale. These are: 1. Wood or Methyl 
Alcohol ; 2. Crude Pyroligneous Acid, Wood Oil, Wood Tar, 
Acetone, Acetate of Lime, Acetate of Soda, Acetate of Lead 
chemical works of Mr. Sales Glen, Kilkerran, Maybole. The 
subject has received some consideration in connection with the 
Beechwood industry of the Chilterns. The low price, however, 
offered for the waste material and the uncertainty of a large and 
continuous supply has prevented the foundation of distilleries for 
the purpose.’ The Government has recently (1910) sanctioned the 
erection of a plant for wood distillation in the Forest of Dean,* 
where the large area, approximately 24,000 acres, of eiiber at the 
disposal of the Crown, will doubtless contribute largely to the 
success of the undertaking, as in view of the high initial cost, it is 
only under such conditions, that this industry ene succeed, whereas 
the production of ethyl alcohol can, if occasion demands, ‘be more 
or less secondary to general agricultural wo 
Wattle Wood (Acacia mollissima, Willd.) "ha been recommended 
as a source of methyl alcohol, in Natal, in conjunction with the 
Wattle bark industry. The limited market for the wood after the 
bark has been stripped for euTengs has suggested distillation to 
dispose of it, and some investigations have been 2Ol, 
Leuchars’ with ee end in view. Dr. Wirtz (London) states tad 
the wood compares very favourably with other woods generally. 
used in isceaiite distillation and that it comes quite up to the 
! 
1 Geer, U.S. Dept. Agric. Forest Service, Cire. No. 114, 1907, pp. 3, 4. 
2 
3 Circe. No. 121, 1907. hee “ye Agric. Forest Service, pp. 3, 5. 
6 Trans . Roy. Scottish eee Soc. xxvi. Jan. 1912, p. 99.. 
7 Natal ‘Agric. Journ, x. 1907, pp. 1535-1539. 
