January 14,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
I might show you one case of the avidity with which 
this aldehyde absorbs oxygen. On putting into a glass 
a solution of nitrate of silver, and then adding a little 
ammonia, we should find, on pouring into it a little of 
this aldehyde dissolved in oxygen, there would he a 
deposit of metallic silver around the inside of the glass. 
This is a very common and easy way of ascertaining 
whether in a mixture any body of this class is present. 
The ammonia liberates the oxide of silver from the 
nitrate, and the aldehyde acts by taking away the oxygen 
and precipitating the silver, and in this way we get evi¬ 
dence of the greediness with which aldehyde takes up 
oxygen. There are several other interesting reactions 
of this aldehyde, and amongst them I ought specially to 
mention one which was discovered some few years ago 
by some very distinguished Itatian chemists, the action 
of which is most exact and clear for l’emoving aldehydes 
from any substance in which they are present; that is, 
their combination with alkaline bisulphites. This com¬ 
mon aldehyde, and every body of the same class, com¬ 
bines with bisulphite, and forms very definite crystalline 
compounds, by which they are very easily detected and 
removed. 
When we oxidize alcohol very slowly and gradually, 
we are.able to get aldehyde formed from it; and, in the 
ordinary process of keeping wine, when it undergoes 
that slow oxidization which Pasteur affirms to bo the 
proper process, aldehydes are proved to be present in it; 
but, together with them, there are a considerable number 
of other bodies, which w r e are in the habit of calling 
others. I have spoken to you already about some ethers ; 
for instance, the compound which sulphuric acid forms 
with alcohol, that is a kind of ether, although it is not 
one of the bodies we are commonly in the habit of so 
describing. Ethers represent a class of bodies which 
are certainly amongst the most pleasant of chemistry. 
I have a good many here ; one is the commonest of all; 
it is the ether which is, I believe, present, to judge by 
the flavour at any rate, in the celebrated Lachryma 
Christi. It is a body which I might describe as a salt. 
It is a salt formed whenever hydric acetate, the hy¬ 
drogen salt of acetic acid, is present for a sufficiently long 
time in alcohol. Whilst the alcohol of the wine is be¬ 
coming oxidized, and whilst aldehydes are being formed 
from it, there is also formed some acetic acid, and also 
probably some valerianic acid, butyric acid and others 
analogous, which are formed by the oxidation of the 
bodies present with the alcohol. All these acids, while 
undergoing the process by which they are formed, com¬ 
bine with the alcohol and bodies like it and form these 
■ethers; and it has been already shown that, at all events, 
in some cases the aroma of the wine is dependent upon 
the presence of bodies of this kind. One of the most 
remarkable processes of manufacture of bodies of the 
kind which has been successfully performed of late, is 
the process of preparing artificial ether, for the purpose 
of imparting to alcoholic liquids the same flavour, aroma, 
or bouquet which they are found to possess when made 
from the same natural substance; for instance, oil of 
brandy is got from the skins and seeds of the grape 
which are left when the grape-juice has been pressed 
out. They are fermented, and a quantity of alcohol and 
aromatic substances are formed by the fermentation, 
and this forms the so-called oil of brandy, which is used 
for making brandy artificially; that is, common corn 
spirit is flavoured with it, and sold as genuine cognac. 
In like manner, various kinds of these acids have been 
made, and there is now in Germany a manufactory for 
making butyric acid on a large scale from sugar; it is 
then made into this ether, which is a very fragrant sub¬ 
stance, and then in small quantities it is used for flavour¬ 
ing various alcoholic liquids, in imitation of natural pro¬ 
ducts which naturally would possess the same substance 
or a similar one in them. 
{To be continued.) 
MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
Monday . Medical Society, at 9 p.m. 
Wednesday. ..Society of Arts, at 8 p.m. — “How Meat 
is Preserved.” By R. Jones. 
Thursday ...Poyal Society, at 8.30 p.m. 
Linnean Society, at 8 p.m. 
Chemical Society, at 8 P.M. 
Jloyal Institution, at 8 p.m. — Lecture by 
Hr. Odling. 
parliamentary anir fate fnrmlriitjjs. 
Supposed Mistake. 
At an inquest upon the body of Bartholomew Hodg- 
kinson, a joiner, living at Preston, a certain amount of 
doubt arose as to the composition of a pill that had been 
administered to him. 
The wife stated that deceased had met with an accident 
while at his work by which his leg was broken. Mr. 
Lund, of Manchester, attended him but prescribed no 
medicine. The only medicine he took was prescribed by 
Dr. Haldan. On the night before his death he took a 
pill and went to sleep and never woke afterwards. 
Dr. Haldan said that he attended the deceased, who 
was suffering from a compound fracture of the leg. He 
considered it a case of very great danger. At the end of 
a fortnight the pulse had risen to 144. On the sugges¬ 
tion of Dr. Spence a pill was given to the deceased, con¬ 
taining sulphate of quinine. Twelve pills were ordered, 
one to be given every four hours. He died the next 
morning, but the pill could not have had any effect one 
way or the other. 
Thomas Sharpies, assistant to Dr. Haldan, said that 
the -pills were made, according to the prescription, of 
quinine and extract of gentian. There was about a 
grain and a third of quinine in each pill. 
A juryman said it would be advisable to have the pills 
analysed. 
The coroner said that he should not like to incur the 
expense of an analysis unless they thought one essentially 
necessary". 
A juryman said that although he had not the least 
doubt of the doctor’s fidelity", he thought that the pills 
might have been mixed improperly but at the same time 
not purposely". 
At first there were eight jurymen in favour of an 
analysis to four against, but after considerable discussion 
a verdict was returned to the effect that the death had 
beeffcaused by- the accident.— The Preston Herald. 
Poisonous Confectionery. 
Several traders have been brought up at the Southern 
Divisional Court, Dublin, on a charge of having used 
poisonous ingredients in the preparation of various 
sweetmeats. Sugarsticks of a yellow colour were found 
to contain chromate of lead; lozenges were coloured with 
vermilion (bisulphide of mercury), and other articles 
were adulterated with from 10 to 12 per cent, of terra 
alba, a form of fuller’s earth, most injurious to chil¬ 
dren. Dr. Cameron, the city analyst, who had experi¬ 
mented on the different articles mentioned, suggested 
the employ’ment of saffron and cochineal, both harmless 
substances, instead of the hurtful chrome and vermilion. 
The traders were fined, and had to pay" all costs.— Medi¬ 
cal Times and Gazette. 
Lead Poisoning.—The fact that metallic ice-pitchers 
corrode very rapidly, especially the solder of the joints, 
having been noticed by" Mr. S. Dana Hayes, of Massa¬ 
chusetts, he was induced to investigate the cause, when 
he found that such corrosion was due to the action ot 
alkalies upon the sides of the vessel,—generally" made ot 
Britannia metal, German silver and copper,—by which a 
galvanic action was set up and the lead in the solder de¬ 
composed.— American Chemist . 
