EUCALYPTUS . 309 



hydrogens is there replaced by ethyl, and the other by the oxidised radical of butyric 

 acid. 



Ether is largely used in medicine and chemistry. In small doses it acts as a power- 

 ful stimulant. Inhaled in quantity it is an anaesthetic. It is a most invaluable solvent 

 in organic chemistry for resinous, fatty, and numerous other bodies. C. Gr. W. See 

 Watts's ' Dictionary of Chemistry.' 



ETHER, ACETIC, is used to flavour silent corn spirits in making imitation 

 brandy ; it requires therefore some additional notice beyond the other ethers. It may 

 be prepared by mixing 20 parts of acetate of lead, 10 parts of alcohol, and 11 of 

 concentrated sulphuric acid ; or 16 of the anhydrous acetate, 5 of the acid, and 4 of 

 absolute alcohol ; distilling the mixture in a glass retort into a very cold receiver, 

 agitating with weak potash-lye the liquor which comes over, decanting the supernatant 

 ether, and rectifying it by re-distillation over magnesia and ground charcoal. 



Acetic ether is a colourless liquid of a fragrant smell and pungent taste, of specific 

 gravity 0'S66 at 45 F., boiling at 166 F., burning with a yellowish flame, and dis- 

 engaging fumes of acetic acid. It is soluble in 8 parts of water. 



Acetic ether may be economically made with 3 parts of acetate of potash, 3 of very 

 strong alcohol, and 2 of the strongest sulphuric acid, distilled together. The first pro- 

 duct must be re-distilled along with one-fifth of its weight of sulphuric acid ; as much 

 ether will be obtained as there was alcohol employed. 



ETHER, SULPHURIC, NITRIC, CHIiORZC, &.c. The stronger mineral 

 acids etherify the alcohols directly, and the names of the resulting ethers are 

 derived from the acid employed. (See Watts's ' Dictionary of Chemistry.') A duty 

 of ll. 5s. per gallon was fixed on sulphuric ether on the 25th September 1862. We 

 imported in 1871, 4,001 gals., of the value of 1,874J. ; and in 1872, 2,246 gals., of the 

 value of 1.791J. 



ETHIOPIAN* PEPPER. The fruit of the Xylopia ( Uvaria) aromatica, which 

 is much used as pepper in Africa. This is one of the Anonaceee or Custard Apple 

 family. The wood of one species, Anona palustris, is so soft that it is used instead 

 of corks to stopper bottles with. The lancewood is obtained from another species, 

 Duguetia quitarensis. 



ETHIOPS was the name given by the alchemists to certain black metallic prepara- 

 tions. Martial etkiops was the black oxide of iron ; mineral ethiops, the black sulphuret 

 of mercury ; and ethiops per se, the black oxide of mercury. 



ETHYL. The radical of ordinary alcohol and ether. See Watts's ' Dictionary of 

 Chemistry.' 



ETHYL AMINE, C 4 H 7 N (C 2 H 7 Jr). An exceedingly volatile base, discovered by 

 Wurtz. It is produced in a great number of reactions. Several alkaloids existing in 

 the animal and vegetable kingdoms afford ethylamine on distillation with potash. Its 

 density at 476 is 0-964. It boils at 66 Fahr. It is regarded as ammonia in which an 

 equivalent of hydrogen is replaced by ethyl. C.G-.W. 



ETHYLENE. Olefiant gas ; bicarburetted hydrogen gas. See OLEFIANT G-AS. 



ETIOLATION". Deprived of colour by being kept in the dark. Celery, sea-kale, 

 and other plants are purposely blanched or etiolated by excluding the light, this 

 exclusion preventing the formation of chlorophyll, the green colouring matter of leaves. 



EUCALYN. An unfermentable sugar separated during the fermentation of 

 melitose, which is a sugar obtained from certain species of Tasmanian Eucalyptus. 



EUCALYPTUS. The gum-tree of the New Hollanders. Mr. Backhouse says : 

 ' We often find large cavities between the annual concentric circles of the trunk filled 

 with a most beautiful red or rich vermilion-coloured liquid gum, which flows out as 

 soon as the saw has afforded it an opening.' Several varieties of the Eucalyptus yield 

 essential oils by distillation, which may be used for scenting soap, &c. There was a 

 large collection shown at the Exhibition in 1862, in the Australian section. The gum 

 yielded by the Eucalyptus resinifera is considered by druggists as not in the least 

 inferior to the_kind which the Pterocarpus or red saunders wood of India produces. 

 This species yields, on incision, an astringent substance known as ' Botany-Bay Kino,' 

 which contains a principle called Eucalyptine. A saccharine substance, known as 

 'Australian manna,' is derived from another species, E. mannifera. Many of the 

 Australian Eucalypti are called Stringy-bark trees,' in consequence of the fibrous 

 layers in their bark. The bark of several species has been used in tanning and in 

 paper-making. Some of the Eucalypti are so rich in oil that it is said one of the 

 towns on the Australian gold-fields was for a time lighted by gas extracted from 

 eucalyptus leaves. The ashes of the wood are peculiarly rich in potash. Much 

 attention has been lately called to the extraordinary influence of E. globulus in im- 

 proving the climatic condition of marshy districts, whence it has been called the 

 * fever-destroying tree.' This species, known as the Blue-gum tree, is a native of 

 Tasmania, but has been successfully cultivated in Southern Europe, Algeria, Natal, 



