58 ALCOHOLOMETRY 



removal of tho substance added to the spirit of wino being not only difficult, but, to 

 all appearance, impossible ; and further, that no danger is to bo apprehended of tho 

 methylated spirit being ever compounded so as to make it palatable ..... It 

 may bo found safe to reduce eventually the proportion of tho mixing ingredient to 

 6 per cent, or even a smaller proportion, although it has been recommended to begin 

 \rith tho larger proportion of 10 per cent.' 



And further, the authors justly remark : ' The command of alcohol at a low 

 price is sure to suggest a multitude of improved processes, and of novel applications, 

 which can scarcely be anticipated at tho present moment. It will be felt far beyond 

 the limited range of the trades now more immediately concerned in the consumption 

 of spirits ; like the repeal of the duty on salt, it will at once most vitally affect the 

 chemical arts, and cannot fail, ultimately, to exert a beneficial influence upon many 

 branches of industry.' 



And in additional observations, added subsequently to their original Eeport, tho 

 chemists above named recommend the following restriction upon the sale of the 

 methylated spirit: 'That the methylated spirit should be issued, by agents duly 

 authorised by the Board of Inland Kevenue, to none but manufacturers, who should 

 themselves consume it : and that application should always be made for it according 

 to a recognised form, in which, besides the quantity wanted, the applicant should state 

 the use to which it is to be applied, and undertake that it should be applied for that 

 piirpose only. The manufacturer might be permitted to retail varnishes and other 

 products containing the methylated spirit, but not the methylated spirit itself in an 

 unaltered state.' They recommend that the methylated spirit should not be made 

 with tho ordinary crude, very impure wood-naphtha, since this could not be advan- 

 tageously used as a solvent for resins by hatters and varnish-makers, as the less volatile 

 parts of the naphtha would be retained by the resins after tho spirit had evaporated, 

 and the quality of the resin would be thus impaired. If, however, the methylated 

 spirit bo originally prepared with the crude wood-naphtha, it may be purified by a 

 simple distillation from 10 per cent, of potash. 



It appears that the boon thus afforded to the manufacturing community of obtain- 

 ing spirit duty free has been acknowledged and appreciated; and now for most pur- 

 poses, where the small quantity of wood-spirit does not interfere, tho methylated 

 spirit is generally used. 



It appears that even ether and chloroform, which one would expect to derive an 

 unpleasant flavour from the wood-spirit, are now made of a quality quite unobjection- 

 able from the methylated spirit ; but care should be taken, especially in the prepara- 

 tion of medicinal compounds, not to extend the employment of the methylated spirit 

 beyond its justifiable limits, lest so useful an article should get into disrepute. 1 

 Methylated spirit can be procured also in email quantities from the wholesale dealers, 

 containing in solution loz. to the gallon of shellac, under the name of ' finish.' 



AliCOHOLATES. or AXiCOATES. Graham has shown that alcohol forms crys- 

 tallisable compounds with several salts. These bodies, which he called ' Alcoholates,' 

 are in general rather unstable combinations, and almost always decomposed by water. 

 Among the best known are the following : 



Alcoholate of chloride of calcium . 2 C 4 H"0 2 , Ca Cl, 4C 2 H 8 O. Ca CI Z 



of zinc . C 4 H 6 2 , Zn Cl, 2C ! HO. Zn Cl 2 



bichloride of tin . . C 4 H'0 2 , Sn Cl 2 , 2C 7 H 6 O. Sn Cl 4 



nitrate of magnesia . 3 C 4 H 6 2 , MgO.N O 5 , 6C-H fi o. 



ALCOHOLOMETRY, or AX.COOIVIETRY. Determination of the Strength of 

 Mixtures of AlcoJiol and Water, Since the commercial value of the alcoholic liquors, 

 commonly called ' spirits,' is determined by the amount of pure or absolute alcohol 

 present in them, it is evident that a ready and accurate means of determining this 

 point is of the highest importance to all persons engaged in trade in such articles. 



If tho mixture contain nothing but alcohol and water, it is only necessary to deter- 

 mine the density or specific gravity of such a mixture ; if, however, it contain saccha- 

 rine matters, colouring principles, &c., as is the case with wine, beer, &c., other 

 processes become necessary, which will be fully discussed hereafter. 



The determination of the specific gravity of spirit, as of most other liquids, may be 

 effected, with perhaps greater accuracy than by any other process, by means of a 

 stoppered specific-gravity bottle. If the bottle be of such a size as exactly to hold 1,000 

 grains of distilled water at 60 F., it is only necessary to weigh it full of the spirit at 

 the same temperatune, when (tho weight of the bottle being known) the specific 

 gravity is obtained by a very simple calculation. See SPECIFIC GBAVITY. 



1 Some difference of opinion appears to exist whether Chloroform can be obtained pure from methy- 

 lated spirit. Sec METHYL. 



