ADDITIONS TO THE PHARMACOPOEIA. 
ACETONUM. 
Acetone. 
CH3.CO.GH3 
“A liquid containing not less than 99 per cent by weight of absolute 
acetone.” (U. S. P.) 
Chemically, acetone is dimethyl-ketone (CH 3 COCH 3 ). It is present 
to a considerable extent in crude wood alcohol. 
Properties. — Clear, colorless, mobile, neutral liquid, inflammable, 
and haying an ethereal odor and taste. Specific gravit} T , 0.790 (25° C.); 
boiling point, 56.5° C. Miscible with water and alcohol in all pro- 
portions. An excellent solvent for fats, resins, rubber, etc. Iodo- 
form is formed when acetone is slightly warmed with an alkali and 
iodine (basis of method for determining acetone in diabetic urine, etc.); 
it also yields iodoform with an alcoholic solution of iodine and ammo- 
nia (Gunning's test; difference from alcohol) . v Acetone forms with 
nitroprussiate of soda and sodium hydroxide a reddish-brown color, 
which passes into purple or violet on acidifying with acetic acid (Legal’s 
test). 
TJse. — Acetone is used extensively in the manufacture of chloroform, 
iodoform, and sulphonmethane (q. v.). A number of oleoresins (aspid- 
ium, capsicum, ginger, lupulin, and pepper) formerly prepared (U. S. P. , 
1890) with ether are now prepared with acetone, as the latter is neither 
so inflammable nor so expensive as the former. 
Acetone seems to be slightly more poisonous than ethyl alcohol; the 
symptoms caused by the two are, generally speaking, similar. 
Caution. — It should be kept in well-stoppered bottles remote from 
lights or fire. 
Related Compounds. — When a phenyl radical (C 6 H 5 ) takes the place 
of one of the methyl groups in acetone, the resulting compound is 
phenyl-methyl-ketone (C 6 H 5 COCH 3 ), also known as acetophenone. 
This has been used as a hypnotic under the name of Hypnone. It 
is a liquid above 20.5° C. Malarine is a condensation product of 
acetophenone and paraphenetidin (see Acetphenetidin). It is usually 
employed in the form of the citrate. 
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