1907-8.] An Improved Method of Esterification. 
703 
XLII. — An Improved Method of Esterification. 
By G. E. Gibson, B.Sc. 
(MS. received July 24, 1908. Read July 13, 1908.) 
When a mixture of ethyl alcohol, benzene, and water is fractionated, a 
ternary mixture of all three distils over first at a temperature of 68° C. 
Taylor * has made use of this fact in the preparation of the ethyl esters 
of high boiling-point acids. 
His method is a great improvement on the old methods, but it is not 
continuous, and is tedious when large quantities of ester have to be 
prepared. 
To remedy these defects the apparatus described in this paper was 
devised. 
<x is a wrought-iron tube 50 cm. long and of 5 cm. internal diameter. 
One end is closed and the other is fitted with a screw cap, to which is 
* Proc. Roy. Soc. Edin ., 1905, p. 831. 
