30 ORGANIC AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY 



and by fermentation yields ethyl alcohol, as will be presently 

 discussed. After fermentation, and the distillation of the 

 ethyl alcohol, the dry residue remaining is destructively dis- 

 tilled and methyl alcohol is obtained. Another product ob- 

 tained, as was referred to recently, is methyl amine, CH3NH2. 



Methyl alcohol is a water-like liquid boiling at 64.5° C. and 

 has a specific gravity of 0.812 at 0° C. It burns with a non- 

 luminous flame, and is soluble in water in all proportions. It 

 has a characteristic, rather disagreeable odor, and is poisonous 

 if taken internally. When so taken it generally affects the eyes, 

 and people have been known to be made blind by drinking 

 methyl alcohol. Its odor and poisonous properties make it 

 useful as a denaturant of ordinary alcohol, i.e. to make ordinary 

 alcohol unfit for use as a beverage. 



The chief use of methyl alcohol industrially is as a solvent, 

 It is a good solvent of many organic substances which are in- 

 soluble in water such as shellac, varnish, celluloid, etc. It is 

 also used in the preparation of certain dyes. As its cost of 

 manufacture is not great and as it is not subject to taxation, 

 being unfit for beverage uses, it is much cheaper than ordinary 

 alcohol on which a tax has been paid. Until the passage of the 

 denatured alcohol law, it was therefore the chief alcohol used 

 for industrial purposes. When slowly oxidized, as when its 

 vapor mixed with air is passed over heated copper, it yields a 

 compound soon to be considered, known as formaldehyde or 

 formalin, a common disinfectant. 



EXPERIMENT STUDY VI 

 Methyl Alcohol 



(i) Determine {a) color, {h) odor, (c) inflammability (i cc. on a 

 watch glass), and {d) miscibility with water. (2) Test the solvent 

 power of methyl alcohol on the following substances and compare it 

 with water as a solvent : ^ {a) sodium chloride, {b) sugar, {c) camphor, 



^ The best way to perform the solubility tests is as follows : With each substance 

 take three very small pieces (just a crystal or two or an amount about the size of 

 half a pea) and place in three clean, dry test tubes. Then add to one test tube 



