M. Berthelot on New Alcohols. 209 
Vapour-density. | Approximate temperature. 
28 714° 
2°7 727 
26 731 
2°8 743 
In five experiments, where the temperature exceeded 800°, the 
results were— 
Vapour-density. | Approximate temperature. 
2°4 834° 
2°6 851 
2°4: 963 
21 1082 
2°3 1162 
At 450° to 500°, Dumas obtained the number 6°56, and 
Mitscherlich 69. Bineau assigns to sulphur vapour at 600° the 
density 5; at 700°, 2°8; and at 800°-1000° the density 2-2, 
which is the number obtained by Deville and Troost. 
Berthelot has published* a detailed account of a series of 
experiments, preliminary notices of which have already appeared, 
in which he shows that cholesterine, meconine, and Borneo 
camphor belong to the class of alcohols. He considers an al- 
cohol to be a neutral substance, consisting of carbon, hydrogen, 
and oxygen, which unites directly with acids, under elimination 
of water, to form a neutral compound, which by assimilation of 
the elements of water is again resolved into the substances of 
which it was composed. 
The neutral ethers of the above substances are obtained by 
heating them with acids, in sealed tubes, for several hours, to a 
temperature of 200°, and then purifying the resultant substance 
by appropriate methods. 
Cholesterine is considered by Berthelot to have the formula 
C®? H“ 02, and to belong to the series of alcohols whose general 
formula is C* H”~*O2, and to which cinnamic alcohol, C'8 H!° 02, 
belongs. Cholesterine forms compounds with stearic, butyric, 
and acetic acids, as also with hydrochloric and benzoic acids. 
The stearic acid compound, C* H* O, C* H®° 0%, is a white body 
crystallizing in small brilliant needles. It melts at 65° to a 
colourless liquid which solidifies to a dull, uncrystalline waxy 
mass. 
With spermaceti, which has long been recognized as an alcohol, 
Berthelot has prepared the stearic, butyric, acetic, and benzoic 
compounds. With the exception of the benzoate, they are 
difficult to obtain pure. 
* Annales de Chimie et de Physique, vol. lvi. p. 51, 
