AMYLIC ALCOHOL. 
§§ 171-173-] 
151 
is impregnated, is got rid of by rubbing the latter between two pieces 
of porous tile. The powder is placed in a dry test tube, and four drops 
of alcohol are allowed to fall on it (with propyl or butyl alcohols six drops 
are added instead of four, because the alcohol must be in excess), the tube 
is at once stoppered, and the lower part immersed in water at 75°-85°. 
The tube is shaken gently and warmed in this way for ten minutes. 
When the mixture is cold, any hard lumps of ester which may have 
formed are crushed with a stirring rod, and in the case of ethyl dinitro- 
benzoate boiled gently with 15 c.c. of methyl alcohol until all is 
dissolved. 
(With most other esters, instead of methyl alcohol as a solvent, ethyl 
alcohol is used.) 
If the solution is not clear it must be filtered hot. The final crystals 
are recrystallised from boiling methyl alcohol, washed with the same 
solvent, spread out on a porous tube to dry, and the melting-point 
determined. 
Methyl 3 : 5 dinitro-benzoate melts at . . 107-5° 
Ethyl „ „ ... 92°, 93° 
Iso-butyl „ ,, ... 83°-83-5° 
Propyl „ „ ... 73° 
Butyl „ „ ... 64° 
2. AMYLIC ALCOHOL. 
§ 171. Amylic Alcohol — Formula, C 5 H xl HO.—There is more than one amylic 
alcohol, according to theory ; eight isomers are possible, and seven are known. The 
amylic alcohols differ in certain physical properties, primary amylic alcohol boiling 
at 137°, and iso-amyl alcohol at 131-6°. The latter has a specific gravity of 0-8148, 
and is the variety produced by fermentation and present in fusel oil. 
§ 172. The experiments of Eulenberg 1 on rabbits, Cross 2 on pigeons, Rabuteau 3 
on frogs, and Furst on rabbits, with those of Sir B. W. Richardson 4 on various animals, 
have shown it to be a powerful poison, more especially if breathed in a state of 
vapour. 
Richardson, as the result of his investigations, considers that amyl alcohol when 
breathed sets up quite a peculiar class of symptoms which last for many hours, and are 
of such a character that it might be thought impossible for the animal to recover, 
although they have not been known to prove fatal. There is muscular paralysis with 
paroxysms of tremulous convulsions ; the spasms are excited by touching the animal, 
breathing upon it, or otherwise subjecting it to trifling excitation. 
§ 173. Hitherto, neither the impure fusel oil, nor the purer chemical preparation, 
has had any toxicological importance. Should it be necessary at any time to recover 
small quantities from organic liquids, the easiest way is to shake the liquid up with 
chloroform, which readily dissolves amylic alcohol, and on evaporation leaves it in a 
state pure enough to be identified. Amyl alcohol is identified by the following tests :— 
( 1 ) its physical properties ; ( 2 ) if warmed with twice its volume of strong sulphuric 
1 Gewerbe Hygiene, 1876, p. 440. 
2 De VAlcohol amylique et Methyl sur VOrganisms {These), Strasburg, 1863. 
3 “ Ueber die Wirkung des Aethyl, Butyl u. Amyl Alcohols,” U Union, Nos. 90, 
91, 1870. Schmidt’s Jahrb., Bd. cxlix. p. 263. 
4 Trans. Brit. Association, 1864, 1865, and 1866. Also, Brit, and Foreign Med,- 
Chir. Rev., Jan. 7, 1867, p. 247. 
