August G, 1870.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
113 
of the storage thereof, and to give him samples of such 
petroleum on payment of the value of such samples. 
When the officer has by either of the means aforesaid 
taken samples of petroleum, he may declare in writing 
to the dealer that he is about to test the same, or cause 
the same to be tested, in manner provided by this Act, 
and it shall be lawful for him to test the same or cause 
the same to be tested, at any convenient place at such 
reasonable time as he may appoint, and the dealer or any 
person appointed by him may be present at the testing; 
and if it appear to the officer or other person so testing 
that the petroleum from which such samples have been 
taken has been kept, offered, or exposed for sale contrary 
to the Petroleum Acts, 1862 to 1870, such officer or other 
person may certify such fact, and the certificate so given 
shall be receivable as evidence in any proceedings 
that may be taken against a dealer in petroleum in pur¬ 
suance of those Acts; but it shall be lawful for a dealer 
proceeded against to give evidence to show that such cer¬ 
tificate is incorrect, and thereupon the court before which 
any such proceedings may be taken may appoint some 
person skilled in testing petroleum to examine the sam¬ 
ples to which such certificate relates, and to declare whe¬ 
ther such certificate is correct or incorrect. 
Any expenses incurred in testing any petroleum of 
such dealer in pursuance of this section shall, if such 
dealer be convicted of keeping, selling, or exposing for 
sale petroleum in contravention of the Petroleum Acts, 
1862 to 1870, be deemod to be a portion of the costs of 
the proceedings against him, and shall be paid by him 
accordingly. In any other event such expenses shall be 
paid by the local authority out of any fimds for the time 
being in their hands. 
5. The temperature at which petroleum gives off an 
inflammable vapour shall for the purposes of the Petro¬ 
leum Acts, 1862 to 1870, be tested in manner set forth 
in the schedule to this Act. 
6. Any petroleum sold or exposed for sale in contra¬ 
vention of section 5 of the Petroleum Act, 1868, shall be 
liable to be seized, and upon conviction of the person 
selling or exposing for sale the same to be forfeited. 
7. Sections 6 and 8 of the Petroleum Act, 1868, and 
the schedule to that Act, are hereby repealed. 
Schedule. 
Directions for Applying the Flashing Test to Samples of 
Petroleum Oil. 
The cup which is to hold the oil shall be of thin sheet 
iron or of metal blackened on its inner surface; it shall 
be two inches deep and two inches wide at the opening, 
tapering slightly towards the bottom; it shall have a flat 
rim projecting from the edge of the cup, by which it 
shall be supported in a metallic vessel four inches and a 
half deep and four inches and a half in diameter; it 
shall also have a wire stretched across the opening, 
which wire shall be so fixed to the edge of the cup 
that the upper side of the wire shall be a quarter of an 
inch above the upper side of a circular wire, Which 
shall be fastened round the inside of the cup a quarter 
of an inch below its upper edge. The thermometer 
to be used shall have a round bulb about half an inch 
in diameter, and shall be graduated upon the scale of 
Fahrenheit, every ten degrees occupying not less than 
half an inch upon the scale. 
When the instrument is to be used, the petroleum to 
be tested shall be poured into the cup till the liquid rises 
just to the upper side of the circular wire. The outer 
vessel shall be filled to within an inch of its edge with 
water, and a small flame shall be applied to the bottom 
of the outer vessel. WTien the temperature of the water 
has risen to 80° the cup which contains the oil to be 
tested shall be placed in the outer vessel, and the ther¬ 
mometer shall be inserted into the oil, so that the bottom 
of the bulb shall be immersed about one inch and a half 
beneath the surface. A covered screen blackened on the 
•nside, and provided with a hole in the cover for the 
passage of the stem of the thermometer, shall be placed 
over the apparatus, and shall be of such dimensions as 
to surround it about two-thirds, and to reach about 
eight inches above the level of the vessels. The tempe¬ 
rature shall be raised gradually, so that it shall require 
about five minutes to raise the oil from 80° to 95°. 
When heat has been applied to the water until the 
thermometer has risen to about 90° Fahrenheit, a very 
small flame, such as that from a piece of burning twine, 
shall be quickly passed across the surface of the oil on a 
level with the wire. If no pale blue flicker or flash is 
produced, the application of the flame is to be repeated for 
every rise of two or three degrees in the thermometer. 
Wlien the flashing-point has been noted, the test shall be 
repeated with a fresh sample of the oil, using water at the 
temperature of 80° as before, withdrawing the source of 
heat from the outer vessel when the temperature ap¬ 
proaches that noted in the first experiment, and apply¬ 
ing the flame test at every rise of two degrees in the 
thermometer. 
N.B.—In performing the test, the operator must be 
careful not to produce any current of air which would 
remove the vapour from the surface of the oil, either by 
breathing upon the surface or by any sudden movement. 
SULPHUR IN COAL-GAS. 
In reference to the determination of a proper maxi¬ 
mum for the sulphur impurity in gas, the referees 
appointed under the Gas Acts of 1868 and 1869 have 
examined the various methods hitherto proposed for 
purifying gas from sulphur, as well as those at present 
in use. The practical adoption of many of these methods 
is hindered, either because they inordinately diminish the 
illuminating power of gas, or else because the beneficial 
effect which they show when tried experimentally is 
not realized when they are applied on the large scale 
required in the manufacture of gas. 
The present methods of sulphur-purification are so 
defective, that even doubling their extent in most cases 
produces no appreciable improvement in the purity of 
the gas. For example, the production of gas in summer 
is only one-half what it is in winter, while the purifying 
surface remains the same ; nevertheless the referees find 
that while thus virtually doubling the extent of purifying 
material there is no appreciable effect in reducing the 
amount of sulphur in the gas of any of the Companies. 
This fact, as regards the three Companies included 
under the Act of 1868, is clearly shown by the daily 
testings now in force, which give the following averages 
of the amount of sulphur at mid-winter and at mid¬ 
summer. 
CHARTERED. 
CITY. 
CENTRAL. 
Arundel 
Street. 
Leadenhall 
Street. 
Gray’s 
Inn. 
Cannon 
Street. 
Friendly 
Place. 
Cannel. 
Common. 
Common. 
Common. 
Cannel. 
Common. 
Common. 
Deoember, 
1869 . . 
21-8 
27-4 
22-8 
24-2 
9-4 
20-4 
147 
June, 1870 
22-3 
30-3 
20-4 
25-2 
13-4 
18-8 
13-3 
The referees have endeavoured to determine the rela¬ 
tive efficacy of each of the separate stages of purification, 
and of each of the various processes employed by the 
Companies, as regards the elimination of this impurity. 
The results already obtained are acknowledged on all 
hands to be of a most unexpected nature. First, as 
regards the “scrubbers.” It has been currently be¬ 
lieved of late that a most efficient means of purifying 
