AmMa°rch,S!m*}         Constituents  of  Amyl  Nitrite.  153 
The  liquid  constituents  present  in  many  products  of  the  petroleum 
or  ozokerit  industry  are  soluble  in  glacial  acetic  acid,  whereas  vaselin, 
cerisin,  ozokerit,  and  paraffin  are  almost  insoluble.  To  estimate  the 
quantity  of  solid  paraffin  in  petroleum,  lubricating  oils,  mineral  oils, 
vaselin,  etc.,  5 — 20  cc.  of  the  mixture  is  well  shaken  with  100 — 200 
cc.  of  glacial  acetic  acid,  the  residual  paraffin  thrown  on  to  a  weighed 
filter,  washed  two  or  three  times  with  glacial  acetic  acid,  and  then  two 
or  three  times  with  alcohol  of  75°.  Tr.,  dried  and  weighed,  or  the  re- 
sidual paraffin  is  washed,  dissolved  in  benzene  or  ether,  the  solution 
evaporated,  and  the  residue  weighed.  This  method  is  quick  and  ac- 
curate, and  can  be  carried  out  at  the  ordinary  temperature. 
THE  CHEMICAL  CONSTITUENTS  OF  AMYL  NITRITE 
USED  IN  MEDICINE. 
By  Professor  Dunstan  and  E.  J.  Woolley. 
The  "  amyl  nitrite  "  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  is  prepared  by 
the  action  of  "  nitric  or  nitrous  acid  "  on  amyl  alcohol  which  has  been 
distilled  between  128°-132°  C.  The  constituents  of  the  nitrite  thus 
obtained  must  be  subject  to  considerable  variation,  being  dependent 
not  only  on  the  use  of  "  nitric  or  nitrous  acid,"-  but  also  on  the  com- 
position of  the  crude  amyl  alcohol,  as  well  as  on  the  extent  to  which 
the  operation  of  fractionally  distilling  the  alcohol  has  been  carried. 
From  a  consideration  of  the  constituents  of  fusel  oil  or  crude  amyl  al- 
cohol it  seemed  likely  that  the  official  nitrite  might  contain  iso-butyl 
nitrite,  a-amyl  nitrite,  /3-amyl  nitrite,  and  perhaps  primary  propyl  ni- 
trite, although  neither  the  nitrite  of  propyl  nor  the  nitrite  of  iso-butyl 
appears  to  have  been  mentioned  by  previous  workers  on  the  subject 
as  a  possible  constituent  of  the  liquid.  It  is  known  that  the  sub- 
stance contains  unaltered  amyl  alcohol,  besides  oxidation  products, 
such  as  valeric  aldehyde  and  valeric  acid,  amyl  valerate,  etc.,  these 
compounds  being  noticed  to  occur  to  the  largest  extent  when  nitric 
acid  is  employed  in  the  preparation  of  the  nitrite.  The  employment 
of  nitric  acid  has  also  been  stated  to  give  rise  to  the  formation  of  some 
amyl  nitrate,  and  the  production  of  hydrocyanic  acid  has  been  ob- 
served. To  these  non -nitrite  constituents,  as  they  may  be  termed,  we 
have  not  paid  any  special  attention  in  the  course  of  the  present  in- 
quiry, since  there  is  no  evidence  that  the  therapeutic  value  of  the 
liquid  is  dependent  on  their  presence. 
