490 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {% 
The  solvent  power  of  methyl  alcohol  for  non-alkaloidal  plant  constituents  is 
not  identical  with  the  so.  vent  power  of  ethyl  alcohol.  As  a  consequence,  the 
mass  of  extract  obtained  from  a  given  quantity  of  drug  is  not  the  same  as  that 
obtained  from  the  same  quantity  of  drug  by  means  of  an  ethyl  alcohol  men- 
struum. The  dose  of  the  extract  would,  therefore,  have  to  be  ascertained  and, 
perhaps,  changed  if  methyl  alcohol  be  adopted  as  the  solvent. 
The  weights  of  extract,  calculated  as  pilular  extract,  obtained  from  100  gm. 
of  drug  by  completely  exhausting  100  gm.  of  drug  with  the  ethyl  alcohol  men- 
struum and  with  the  methyl  alcohol  menstruum,  were  : 
Drug.  Ethyl  Alcohol  Extract.  Methyl  Alcohol  Extract. 
Aconite  7*57  gm.  14  gm. 
Belladonna  54      gm.  25708  gm. 
Nux  vomica  12*5.5  gm.  2°*4  gm- 
The  Committee  stated  they  had  made  arrangements  for  further  work  on  this 
subject. 
The  toxicity  of  methyl  alcohol  was  discussed  by  several  of  the  members. 
Mr.  Puckner  reported  having  taken  30  c.c.  of  a  purified  methyl  alcohol,  with  a 
slight  increase  in  pulse  and  temperature  as  the  only  results.  On  other  occa- 
sions he  took  15  c.c.  every  three  hours  with  the  same  effect.  He  believed 
methyl,  ethyl  and  propyl  alcohols  are  all  about  alike  in  their  physiological 
effects.  Prof.  Kremers  pointed  out  that  it  had  been  determined  that  the  toxi- 
city of  alcohols  of  the  paraffin  series  increases  with  the  number  of  carbon 
atoms  ;  and  he  said,  if  this  was  true,  methyl  alcohol  must  be  less  toxic  than 
ethyl  alcohol.  Contrary  to  all  this,  Prof.  Hallberg  reported  a  case  where  two 
persons  had  died  from  the  drinking  of  10  ounces  of  commercial  methyl  alcohol. 
It  was  the  opinion  of  some  present  that  the  same  amount  of  ethyl  alcohol 
might  have  caused  the  same  result.  The  members  differed  in  their  experience 
with  the  so-called  "  Columbian  Spirit. "  Some  had  found  it  to  contain  acetone, 
while  others  had  not.  Prof.  Hallberg  said  that  tincture  of  iodine  made  with 
purified  methyl  alcohol  became  colorless,  or  nearly  so,  on  standing,  while  Mr. 
Ebert  said  he  had  a  sample  of  that  tincture  made  in  January,  and  that  it  had 
not  lost  color.  The  report  was  received  and  referred  to  the  Publication  Com- 
mittee.   A  paper  on 
was  then  read. 
The  author  dealt  with  the  source  and  preparation  of  the  oil.  He  stated  the 
results  of  his  analysis  of  the  oil  of  Virginia  peanuts  in  tabular  form,  and  also 
placed  alongside  for  comparison  some  partial  analyses  of  peanut  oil  from  for- 
eign sources,  as  follows  : 
Cinchona 
54-62  gm. 
53-134  gm. 
PEANUT  OIL. 
By  S.  P.  Sadtler, 
