PROCEEDINGS OF GEOLOGICAL SOCIETIES. 
147 
In a paper published in the October number of the Chemical Society's 
Journal, the author showed that the products of the distillation of cannel 
coal at a low temperature contain a series of homolo£;ous hydrocarbons of 
the formula Cn Hn+2 ; and further that these are the hydrides of the 
alcohol radicles, as, upon treatment with chlorine, they yielded, by substi- 
tution of one atom of hydrogen by one of chlorine, the corresponding 
chlorides, from which other derivatives may be obtained. 
In the portion of the oil boiling below 120° C, the author found the 
following four hydrides : — 
C,o Hp hydride of amy], boiling-point 39" C. 
C,.-, H,4 hydride of hexvl, „ 68° C. 
H,6 hydride of hcptyl, „ OS"* C. 
C,6 lljs hydride of octyl, „ 119° C. 
Of these, the hydride of heptyl or cenanthyl is the most interesting, as it 
was previously unknown, and be therefore undertook the investigation of 
its derivatives, concerning which likewise our knowledge is very limited 
and contradictory. Thus, for instance, many chemists state that the alco- 
hol obtained ])y the distillation of castor oil with potash is heptylic alcohol, 
whilst others regard it as octylic alcohol, and it is only by the most recent 
experiments of Bonis* that we learn with certainty that this substance is 
octylic alcohol, inasmuch as he obtained the true heptylic alcohol by the 
action of nascent hydrogen on oenanthol. For the purpose of this inves- 
tigation the author endeavoured to obtain the hydride of heptyl from the 
American petroleum, as the yield of this substance from the cannel oils is 
but small, and the labour of purification tedious and disagreeable. 
The existence of this hydride in the petroleum was rendered probable 
by the fact of the discovery of hydride of hexyl by Pelouze and Ca- 
hours.f 
The oils which he examined are those known by the name of tur- 
pentine substitute, and obtained as the first products in the rectifica- 
tion of the crude oil. Different samples of the commercial articles possess 
very different properties ; the specific gravity lies between 0 70 and 0 75. 
One sample began to boil at 30° C, and the greatest portion distilled over 
below L00° C, whilst others between 80° and 150° C, and others between 
100° and 200° C. 
When the oils are subjected to fractional distillation, no product of con- 
stant boiling-point is obtained, the oils requiring for this purpose a pre- 
liminary purification Avitli concentrated nitric acid. 
The greatest portion of the oils remains unattacked, and the acid solu- 
tion contains nitrobenzol (from which aniline was prepared), nitrotoluol 
and binitrotoluol, and small quantities of fatty acids produced from traces 
of olefines which are probably contained in the crude oils. 
The author tried to separate these olefines by adding bromine to the 
crude oil until the colour of the latter no longer disappeared ; a few drops, 
however, are sufficient for a large quantity of the oil, and when the whole 
is subjected to distillation, a very few drops of bromine compounds of a 
high boiling-point remained behind, the quantity of which was too small 
for further examination. 
The oil after this treatment was well washed, dried over potash, and rec- 
tified repeatedly over sodium. By fractional distillation, the following 
four hydrides were obtained, and found to be identical with the hydrides 
from the cannel tar : — 
Corapt. Hend., 55, 140. 
t lb. 54, 1241. 
