Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Nov.,  1881.  j 
Practical  Notes. 
575 
the  process.  The  hot  thickish  liquid  is  now  poured  into  a  porcelain 
dish,  the  flask  is  rinsed  out  with  a  little  hot  alcohol,  any  undissolved 
sodium  is  carefully  removed,  and  the  liquid  is  heated  until,  after  cool- 
ing, it  will  completely  solidify,  when  the  mass  is  rubbed  into  a  fine 
powder  and  carefully  preserved.  Thus  prepared  it  contains  some 
alcohol  in  combination,  which  may  be  expelled  by  heating  it  to  200°C\ 
In  contact  with  water  it  is  decomposed  into  alcohol  and  sodium 
hydrate.  Its  action  is  milder  than  that  of  caustic  soda,  and  it  is  more 
conveniently  applied  than  the  latter.  Richardson^s  sodium  ethylate 
is  a  clear  solution  of  1  part  of  the  above  compound  in  3  parts  of  abso- 
lute alcohol.  Freshly  prepared  it  is  colorless ;  but  brown  yellow  if 
made  from  old  ethylate. — Ibid.,  p.  359. 
Deodorization  of  Alcohol. — According  to  L.  Naudin  and  J.  Schnei- 
der, the  disagreeable  odor  and  taste  of  alcohol,  due  to  foreign  admix- 
tures, may  be  removed  by  generating  hydrogen  in  the  liquid  either 
from  iron  or  zinc  by  hydrochloric  or  sulphuric  acid ;  or  from  potas- 
sium or  sodium  or  their  amalgams ;  or  from  contact  with  the  metallic 
couples  zinc  and  copper,  iron  and  copper,  zinc  and  lead,  iron  and  lead^ 
or  zinc  and  mercury. — -Chem.  Zeitunt/. 
Preparation  of  Pure  Phenol. — W.  Alexejeff  recommends  adding  to 
the  commercial  carbolic  acid  5  per  cent,  of  water,  melting  the  mixture 
and  setting  aside  to  crystallize.  The  crystals  are  well  drained  and  the 
operation  is  repeated  two  or  three  times,  when  the  final  product  is 
distilled. 
The  author  has  been  unable  to  prepare  the  hydrate,  2PhITO-f  HgO, 
which  Calvert  stated  to  be  obtained  from  a  mixture  of  4  parts  of  phe- 
nol and  one  part  of  water  at  a  temperature  less  than  4°C.  and  to  melt 
at  16°C.  Left  in  contact  with  an  excess  of  water  for  several  months, 
the  author  obtained  crystals  melting  at  37 °C. — Bidl.  Soc,  Chem.^  2, 
xxxv,  379. 
Modified  Test  for  Sugar. — Boettger's  test  (bismuth  subnitrate*  and 
sodium  carbonate)  is  modified  by  L.  Dudley  as  follows :  the  bismuth 
salt  is  dissolved  in  as  little  pure  nitric  acid  as  possible,  the  solution 
mixed  with  an  equal  volume  of  acetic  acid  and  diluted  with  8  or  10 
volumes  of  water.  The  solution  keeps  well,  may  be  still  further 
diluted  without  becoming  turbid,  and  is  used  by  adding  1  or  2  drops 
of  it  to  the  urine  rendered  strongly  alkaline  by  soda,  and  by  boiling 
the  mixture  for  20  or  30  seconds ;  in  the  presence  of  sugar  the  white 
precipitate  will  acquire  a  gray  or  black  color.— Zeitschr.  Anal.  Chem.^ 
XX,  117. 
