292 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



various aspects of the question at issue. It began by pointing out 

 that in both England and Germany the law had for a number 

 of years permitted the use of methylated spirits in the arts, and 

 gave a resume of the reports of the committees on which the 

 legislation was based. It then defined the several liquids known 

 as ethyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, crude wood-naphtha, and refined 

 wood-naphtha or wood spirits, and described a number of experi- 

 ments made by the committee with mixtures of ethyl alcohol 

 and refined wood-naphtha. The committee summed up its report 

 as follows: 



" The final conclusion to which we are led is this: That by treating the mi.xt- 

 ures of ethyl alcohol and wood spirits (in the proportion proposed in the bill now 

 before Congress) with bone-black, filtering, adding a caustic alkali — as, for 

 example, caustic potash — and then distilling with the aid of the Hempel tube, the 

 principal product obtained is nearly free from methyl alcohol, and that the odor 

 and taste of this product are not very marked. At the same time, even in the best 

 product thus obtained, the odor and taste characteristic of wood-naphtha can be 

 detected, though only with difficulty, by those who are unskilled in such matters. 

 We believe that the method employed by us which gave the best product could be 

 applied economically on the large scale, and a product fully as good as our best, 

 if not better than it, might thus be obtained. 



" As regards the question whether the product obtained could be used for 

 drinking purposes, that is difficult for the committee to answer satisfactorily. We 

 have submitted our best specimens to some well-known dealers in alcohol and alco- 

 holic beverages, and we learn that the purified product might easily be used in the 

 manufacture of low-grade whiskies and rum, though all the gentlemen whom we 

 have consulted on this point have unhesitatingly recognized the presence of the 

 wood-naphtha in the best specimens. 



" It would appear from this that, while after the addition of the wood-naphtha 

 to alcohol, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to separate the two perfectly 

 and thus regenerate the pure alcohol, it is quite possible to get from the mixture 

 a product which might be used in the manufacture of alcoholic beverages of 

 lower order. 



" It is plain from the foregoing that, considering our experiments as final, it is 

 impossible to purify the mixture containing wood-naphtha to a sufficient extent to 

 make it palatable without the aid of distillation. Hence, apparently, it would 

 be as difficult to carry on the process of purification on the large scale as to carry 

 on the illegitimate manufacture of alcohol. This fact, in itself, might be a suffi- 

 cient protection against fraud, though the committee does not feel competent to 

 express a decided opinion on this point." '"' 



'"Rep. Nat. Acad. Sci. for 1883, pp. 62, 63. 



