XIV 



The inquiries being pursued, at the period of which we write, with 

 regard to compounds of the alcoholic class, led Kane to re-examine 

 pyroxylic, or wood, spirit, which had already been investigated by 

 Dumas and by Liebig, though these chemists had obtained somewhat 

 discordant results. Liebig's products were shown by Kane to be im- 

 pure, as the alcohol used seemed to contain some methylal, ethylene 

 dimethylate, and other bodies. Kane then succeeded in arranging 

 the process for separating nearly pure methyl alcohol from wood 

 spirit with which his name is now generally connected. The success 

 of his method depends on a fact which he had observed, namely, that 

 methyl alcohol forms a definite and crystallisable compound with 

 calcium chloride which is not decomposed at 100° C. in absence of 

 water ; hence dehydrated wood spirit, when saturated with anhydrous 

 calcium chloride, can have nearly all its volatile impurities distilled 

 off, leaving the calcium chloride compound with methyl alcohol ; the 

 latter, if then mixed with water, is decomposed, so that a second dis- 

 tillation affords nearly pure methyl alcohol which only needs dehydra- 

 tion. From the alcohol so obtained Kane prepared and described 

 several salts of methyl- sulphuric acid. 



Among the volatile compounds mentioned above as bye- products 

 from the purification of methyl alcohol was the liquid now termed 

 acetone, but then, generally, " pyroacetic spirit." At the time (1836-7) 

 acetone was known to consist of C 3 H 6 0,* but the nature of the com- 

 pound was undetermined ; and this problem Kane sought to solve. 

 The results of his investigation led him to conclude that acetone is 

 a hydrate analogous to ethyl alcohol, but containing a radical which 

 he named " mesityl " = C 3 H 5 . A number of derivatives were prepared 

 by Kane from the impure " pyroacetic spirit " he worked with, which 

 seemed to support his view of the nature of acetone. Thus he 

 obtained an oxide which he named "mesityl oxide, "f because it was 

 apparently related in composition to acetone as ethyl oxide is to ethyl 

 alcohol ; again, by dehydrating acetone a hydrocarbide resulted whose 

 empirical formula proved to be C 3 H 4 ;J this he named " mesitylene," 

 as in composition and mode of generation it seemed to arise from 

 mesityl alcohol (acetone) as ethylene, C 2 H 4 , does from ethyl alcohol. 

 Later on, as new facts were discovered about acetone, it became 

 evident that the alcoholic hypothesis was not consistent with them, 

 for the compound was found to possess aldehydic rather than alco- 

 holic characters. According to the newer view acetone was acetyl 



* C 6 H s 2 according to the atomic weights for carbon and oxygen then used. 



f Later on Kane discovered a liquid product of the action of heat on acetone, 

 which he named " Dumasine." This has since been proved by Fittig to be isomeric 

 with mesityl oxide. 



X Hofmann has snown that this important body, which Kane discovered, has the 

 molecular formula C 9 H 12 ( = 3C 3 H 4 ), and is symmetrical trimethylbenzene. 



