METHYLATED MEDICINES. 
103 
any derivative thereof shall have been used, under a penalty of £100, and 
the forfeiture of the article and vessel containing it.” * 
The word (such), which we have inserted within brackets, has been omitted 
(obviously by mistake) in the printed papers circulated, and hence the im¬ 
pression with some of our correspondents that the use of methylated spirit 
was entirely prohibited. The prohibition applies only to the preparation of 
medicines intended for internal use, and only to such of these as retain the 
methylated spirit as a component part of them, as in the case of tinctures. 
There is an exception in favour of ether and chloroform, which are still 
allowed to be made with methylated spirit, and the preparations so made may 
be used for any purposes in medicine or otherwise. 
Those persons who have methylated medicines, the production of which is 
prohibited by the Act, if they were made before the passing of the Act, will 
not be interfered with by the Board, provided the stock of such articles be 
disposed of before the 1st of January next. This was but a reasonable con¬ 
cession to make, and we hope all those who have been drawn, by the tempta¬ 
tion of cheapness, into the substitution of methylated for pure spirit, in the 
preparation of medicines such as are referred to, will assist m putting an end 
to a practice which, if it had been extended or continued, would have reflected 
great discredit upon the state of pharmacy in this country. 
In the order already referred to, it is stated that, “should any chemist 
desire to use methylated spirit in any process necessary for the production of 
substances used in medicine, and in which no spirit or derivative thereof shall 
remain after the completion of such process, special application must be made 
to the Commissioners for leave to use the methylated spirit for such purpose,” 
We believe the authorities at Somerset House have no wish to limit the use 
of spirit, free from duty, for any legitimate manufacturing purpose, provided 
the product shall be inapplicable for use as a beverage. The recent Act is ex¬ 
pected to facilitate the carrying out of the object originally contemplated in 
this respect, which was to relieve the manufacturing interests of the country 
from the heavy duty imposed on spirit used for drinking, and thus to place 
English manufacturers upon a more equal footing with those abroad. We 
trust that now the difficulty has been overcome with regard to pharmacy, the 
Commissioners will be able to devise means by which the production of pure 
wood spirit and its sale, duty free, may be authorized for those purposes for 
which it appears to be well suited. 
It will be recollected that last year an Act was passed specially for the 
purpose of imposing the spirit of wine duty upon purified wood spirit or 
wood naphtha. This course was adopted in consequence of the discovery of 
a process which was then being practically applied for the purification of 
wood naphtha, by which this spirit was rendered as free from empyreumatic 
or other disagreeable taste or odour as the best spirit of wine. It was feared 
that, in the then state of the methylated spirit question, the use of the puri¬ 
fied wood spirit might open a door to new frauds upon the Bevenue, and the 
purified product was therefore subjected to the heavy duty imposed upon, 
spirit of wine, by which means the manufacture was at once entirely stopped. 
During the short period of its existence, however, it was ascertained that 
pure wood spirit, which could be produced at a cost of about ten shillings a 
gallon, presents some advantages even over spirit of wine. Thus, it forms 
excellent collodion without the addition of ether, and it forms a very good 
basis for perfumes; but these and other available applications have been 
entirely stopped through the operation of the Act referred to. It is now a 
question, which we hope those in authority will consider, whether the manu¬ 
facturing interests might not be advanced without detriment to the Bevenue 
or to the interests of pharmacy by permitting the production and use of 
