41 



of valerian has been poured. Impressed with the conviction 

 that, as long as valerianic acid is derived from the root of the 

 valerian, the price of the valerianates could not be materially 

 reduced, and occupied, at the desire of the College of Phy- 

 sicians, with the task of bringing out a new edition of the 

 Dublin Pharmacopoeia, it became his duty to inquire whether 

 valerianic acid could not be obtained from some other source, 

 and at such reduced cost as Avould permit of the valerianates 

 being more generally used in the practice of medicine. 



The well-known method of Dumas and Stass was first tried, 

 which consists in passing the vapour of fusel oil over the hy- 

 drate of potash at a certain temperature, but the result was 

 such as to forbid its being recommended as a pharmaceutic 

 process. The conversion, however, of fusel oil, CioHnO, HO, 

 into valerianic acid, C10H9O3 , HO, being obviously a process of 

 oxidizement, it naturally occurred to him to try whether the 

 oxidation in question could not be effected by agents frequently 

 applied in other departments of organic chemistry to a similar 

 purpose, viz., bichromate of potash and oil of vitriol ; and upon 

 subjecting, in November, 1847, this idea to the test of experi- 

 ment, operating on small quantities, a tolerably satisfactory 

 result was obtained. The subject, however, was not then pro- 

 secuted further ; but as the Pharmacopoeia approached comple- 

 tion, he had again to return to it, and working with the same 

 materials, but by a somewhat different method, he had such 

 success as, he conceived, woidd justify him in communicating 

 Iris results to the public, through the medium of the Academy. 

 The following process succeeds well : 



Take of Bichromate of potash, nine ounces ; 



Oil of vitriol, six and a half fluid ounces ; 

 Fusel oil, four fluid ounces ; 

 Water, half a gallon : 



Dilute the oil of vitriol with a pint, and dissolve the bichro- 

 mate of potash, with the aid of heat, in the remainder of the 



