Uhloric Ether. 105 
Art. VII.—On pure Chloric Ether; by Samus, Guturie ;—in « 
letter to the Editor, dated Sacket’s Harbor, Feb. 15, 1832. 
Dear Sir—In some one of my letters to you, I think I advanced 
the opinion that chloric ether, like some other ethers, decreases in 
specific gravity as it increases in strength ;—that opinion was errone- 
ous, and my object in my last was to correct it. 
I am now able to answer the query at the end of the last number 
of the American Journal of Science and Arts, and I do it in the af- 
firmative.* 
Chloric ether may be entirely, or very nearly so, separated from 
alcohol by repeated rectification, from muriate of lime; it may thus 
be brought to the specific gravity of 1.44, but I have found -no agent 
for that purpose comparable with strong sulphuric acid. Chloric 
ether, distilled off sulphuric acid, has a specific gravity of 1.486, or 
a little greater, and may then be regarded as free from alcohol ; and 
if a little sulphuric acid, which sometimes contaminates it, be remo- 
ved by washing it with a strong solution of carbonate of potassa, it 
may then be regarded as absolutely pure. In this state it boils at 
166°, has a specific gravity of 1.486, at 60° is extremely volatile, 
diffuses upon the tongue and fauces, a powerful ethereal odor, 
and excites, to an intense degree, its peculiar scent and aromatic 
taste. Admitting its composition to be 1 proportion of chlorine =36 
+1 proportion olefiant gas =14, it contains nearly 346 times its 
own bulk of chlorine. 
Sulphuric acid affords a fine test of the presence or absence of al- 
cohol ; if alcohol be present, so soon as the chloric ether is all over, 
the acid acts upon the alcohol which it has detained, and generates 
sulphuric ether, which is instantly indicated by its peculiar flavor :— 
if no alcohol be present, no sulphuric ether will be produced. Again, 
if there be alcohol present, the acid unites with it, is diffused through, 
and blackens the whole mass; but if otherwise, the ether lies clear 
and transparent upon the surface of the acid, until it is entirely dis- 
tilled off. 
* «¢Can-any method he devised by which the alcohol can be detached from the 
chloric ether, and the latter obtained concentrated and in quantity ?’—Am. Jour. 
Vol. XX, p. 408. 
Vou. XXII.—No. 1. 14 
