January i, 1920] 



NATURE 



431 



Aubrey Strahan's special reports, and it need 

 scarcely be said that the further volumes dealing 

 with the other two classes of iron-ore occurrences 

 will be eagerly awaited by the large body of 

 workers interested in British iron ores. 



H. Louis. 



ALCOHOL. 



Alcohol: Its Production, Properties, Chemistry, 

 and Industrial Applications. With Chapters on 

 Methyl Alcohol, Fusel Oil, and Spirituous Bever- 

 ages. By Charles Simmonds. Pp. xx + 574. 

 (London : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1919.) 

 Price 2 IS. net. 



MR. SIMMONDS, one of the senior analysts 

 in the Government Laboratory, is well 

 qualified by his position to undertake the compila- 

 tion of this book, since his duties have rendered 

 him familiar with his subject in all its aspects — 

 its production and industrial applications, its 

 chemistry, and its special relations to the revenue. 

 The work treats of the early history of alcohol ; 

 its origin and composition ; its production by fer- 

 mentation and by synthetic processes ; the nature 

 of the materials employed; the biochemical agents 

 involved ; and the general operations of distilla- 

 tion and rectification. The author devotes a 

 chapter to the general chemistry of the homo- 

 logues with which ordinary or -ethyl alcohol is 

 associated, either as a product of fermentation, 

 or in industry as methylated spirit. He is, by 

 virtue of his office, naturally concerned with the 

 analytical chemistry of these alcohols, espe- 

 cially of ethyl and methyl alcohol, and with the 

 subject of alcoholometry, in this country and 

 abroad, and he writes with special knowledge and 

 authority. He gives a sufficiently full account of 

 the fiscal relations of ethyl and methyl alcohol 

 and of the different forms of " denatured " 

 alcohol, as used in industry ; treats of various 

 spirituous beverages, their origin, nature, and 

 chemical examination, and concludes with a con- 

 cise statement of what is definitely known con- 

 cerning the physiological properties of alcohol. 

 It will be seen from this short summary that the 

 book constitutes a comprehensive treatise in which 

 practically everything relating to alcohol finds a 

 place. It is, of course, essentially a compilation 

 from numerous sources, the range and extent of 

 which may be inferred from the excellent biblio- 

 graphy appended to the work. But the compila- 

 tion was well worth making, and has resulted in 

 a complete and well-arranged monograph ; it is 

 eminently readable, and the information is sound, 

 accurate, and up to date. 



NO. 2618, VOL. 104] 



Although the practical brewer and distiller will 

 find much in it that will be of use to them at 

 times, the book is not primarily intended for use 

 in the brewery or the distillery. Technical details, 

 such as are to be found in standard treatises on 

 brewing and distilling, and which are the subjects 

 of the trade journals, would be out of place in a 

 work of this kind, where alcohol, as such, is the 

 main consideration. 



For the commercial production of alcohol 

 from wood by Classen's process, or some 

 modification of it, there is apparently no future 

 in this country, and it would seem to be doubtful 

 whether any permanent success will be possible 

 even in countries where wood- waste is more plenti- 

 ful than with us. .\lcohol from sulphite-waste 

 liquor in the manufacture of wood-pulp is, how- 

 ever, being produced in considerable quantities 

 in Sweden and elsewhere, and bids fair to become 

 an important industry. Synthetic alcohol from 

 acetylene, derived from calcium carbide, has been 

 made in Germany by methods which were largely 

 developed during the war, mainly in consequence 

 of the shortage of potatoes. It remains to be 

 seen whether the manufacture will become per- 

 manently established. The synthetic production 

 of alcohol, if greatly extended, would be certain 

 to produce considerable economic disturbance in 

 Germany, and would also occasion much perturba- 

 tion in agrarian circles. The danger was foreseen 

 by the late Government, which, by the Spirit 

 Monopoly Act of 1918, placed the manufacture of 

 synthetic alcohol under the control of the State. 



In describing the properties of methyl alcohol, 

 the author rightly lays stress on its toxic char- 

 acter. It is far more dangerous than is generally 

 known. It is alleged that the shortage of whisky 

 during the past four years has led to a great 

 increase in the drinking of methylated spirit. 

 Ordinary mineralised methylated spirit, which is 

 the only form to which the public has ready 

 access, contains wood naphtha and a certain 

 amount of mineral naphtha, in addition to ketones 

 and other substances, and is a very noxious 

 l^everage ; its habitual consumption quickly results 

 in blindness, paralysis, and death. The detection 

 of the presence of methyl alcohol in mixtures con- 

 taining ethyl alcohol has naturally received much 

 attention in the book. The matter is of fiscal 

 importance, in view of possible illicit attempts 

 to use "denatured" alcohol instead of duty-paid 

 spirit. It has given rise to an abundant litera- 

 ture, a critical synopsis of which is given by the 

 author, to whom the problem has a special pro- 

 fessional interest. Many of the methods described 

 are highly sensitive and characteristic, and there 

 is no practical difficulty nowadays in recognising 



