412 WALLACE LARKIN CHANDLER 
ment of Physiology and Biochemistry; Dr. William A. Riley, of the 
Department of Entomology; Dr. E. M. Chamot, of the Department of 
Sanitary Chemistry and Toxicology; Dr. H. M. Kingery, of the Depart- 
ment of Histology; and Professor $8. H. Gage, of the Department of 
Histology. 
INTRODUCTION 
Nitrobenzene (mononitrobenzene, nitrobenzol, oil of mirbane, artificial 
oil of bitter almonds, and so forth), CsH;NOs, is a clear, straw-colored, 
oily liquid boiling at 210.9° C. and crystallizing in needles at 5.7° C4 It 
has the odor of oil of bitter almonds, and when undiluted has a pungent, 
unpleasant taste. It is soluble in all parts of alcohol, in ether, chloro- 
form, benzene, oils, and liquid fats, and to some extent in lipoids. It 
is but slightly soluble in water. It has a vapor pressure of but 1 milli- 
meter of mercury at 53° C. It is combustible, burning in the open air 
with a sooty, yellowish flame, and is explosive when heated to high tem- 
peratures such as would be obtained by throwing it on red-hot iron. It 
was first made by Mitscherlich (1834). At present it is manufactured 
on a large scale by “‘adding one part of benzene to three parts of a mixture 
of nitric acid (sp. gr. 1.40) and sulphuric acid (sp. gr. 1.84), this mixture 
being made up of 40 parts of the former to 60 parts of the latter ” 
(Weaver, 1917). It is used in the manufacture of explosives (indurite) ; 
in the manufacture of anilin, which is used extensively in the making 
of dyes; in perfuming soaps, lotions, pomades, and other toilet articles; 
as a solvent in the manufacture of shoe polish, floor wax, and the like; 
in the manufacture of flavoring extracts and certain liqueurs; and for 
flavoring confections. It was recommended and used with friction as a 
parasiticide as early as 1863,° and has recently been recommended as a 
fumigant for the extermination of the external parasites of domesticated 
animals (Moore, 1916). 
The poisoning effects of nitrobenzene were noted as early as 1856. 
Since that time, numerous cases of fatal poisoning in man have been 
reported, and several experiments on animals have been conducted for 
the purpose of studying the poisonous action of the chemical. 
4 Determined experimentally. (See also Landolt. Bérnstein, and Roth, 1912.) 
> This recommendation stimulated investigations by Ollivier and Bergeron (1863) and by Guttmann 
(1866). 
