ALCOHOL 



13 



the fermented and distilled liquors. When 

 "strong." or nearly free of water, it dis- 

 solves gums and resins very readily, and 

 burns with an intensely hot, pale-blue 

 flame. Because of these characteristics 

 it is used in large amounts in the prep- 

 aration of certain varnishes, and as a 

 fuel in cases where its cleanliness, in- 

 tense heat, and freedom from danger of 

 explosion offset its expensiveness. Alco- 

 hol boils at a much lower temperature 

 than water, and it is this fact that makes 

 it possible to separate it, by distillation, 

 from the aqueous solutions in which it 

 originally is formed. Bulk for bulk it 

 is considerably lighter than water, and 

 mixtures of alcohol and water show fairly 

 regular increases in weight, per unit of 

 volume, in proportion to the percentages 

 of water which they contain. Because of 

 this relation the alcoholic strength of 

 any such mixture can be determined by 

 means of an appropriately graduated al- 

 coholmeter. The strength of alcohol so- 

 lutions may be stated in percentages by 

 volume or by weight, or in United States 

 proof degree, one such degree correspond- 

 ing to one-half of 1 per cent of alcohol 

 in volume. 



Chemists employ the formula C^HjOH 

 to denote the composition of alcohol. This 

 signifies that one molecule, or unit, of 

 the compound substance alcohol is made 

 up of two atoms, or units, of the ele- 

 ment carbon (written C), six atoms of 

 the element hydrogen (written H), and 

 one atom of the element oxygen (written 

 O). The percentage composition of alco- 

 hol is — carbon (C) 52.12 .per cent, hydro- 

 gen (H) 13.13 per cent, and oxygen (O) 

 34.75 per cent. 



Denatured Alcohol 



On account of the intoxicating powers 

 of alcohol, its manufacture is prohibited 

 in many communities, and throughout 

 nearly all of the civilized world its pro- 

 duction is hedged about with restrictions 

 in the form of excise laws, which, in addi- 

 tion to producing revenue, raise its price 

 to the consumer and tend to diminish its 

 consumption in the form of beverages. 

 However, this increase in cost, due to tax 

 imposition, interferes seriously with the 



use of alcohol for fuel and for many 

 other legitimate industrial purposes; and 

 therefore many governments have enacted 

 laws which authorize its manufacture, 

 sale, and use for industrial ends, tax 

 free, upon the condition that it shall 

 first be made unfit for beverage use 

 by the addition of materials which 

 will give it a thoroughly foreign and nau- 

 seating odor and taste without making it 

 dangerously poisonous or interfering with 

 the particular industrial purpose for 

 which it is intended. Alcohol which thus 

 has been made unfit for drinking, is 

 called "denatured alcohol." The mate- 

 rials which are used to make it unpo- 

 table, whatever their particular nature, 

 are called "denaturants," and the process 

 by which they are dissolved in or min- 

 gled with the original potable alcohol is 

 called "denaturing." Some of these ma- 

 terials and the methods of their employ- 

 ment are discussed on page 15. 



The Denatured Alcohol Law 



On June 7, 1906, an act of Congress was 

 approved which provided for the with- 

 drawal from bond, tax free, of domestic 

 alcohol when rendered unfit for use as a 

 beverage or as an ingredient of medi- 

 cines by mixture with suitable denatur- 

 ing materials. The act reads in part as 

 follows: 



Be it enacted iy the Senate and House 

 of Representatives of the United States of 

 America in Congress assembled. That from 

 and after January first, nineteen hundred 

 and seven, domestic alcohol of such de- 

 gree of proof as may be prescribed by 

 the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 

 and approved by the Secretary of the 

 Treasury, may be withdrawn from bond 

 without the payment of internal-revenue 

 tax, for use in the arts and industries, 

 and for fuel, light, and power, provided 

 said alcohol shall have been mixed in the 

 presence and under the direction of an 

 authorized Government officer, after with- 

 drawal from the distillery warehouse, 

 with methyl alcohol or other denaturing 

 material or materials, or admixture of 

 the same, suitable to the use for which 

 the alcohol is withdrawn but which de- 

 stroys its character as a beverage and 

 renders it unfit for liquid medicinal pur- 

 poses; such denaturing to be done upon 

 the application of any registered distill- 

 ery in denaturing bonded warehouses 



