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PREPARATION  OF  CRUDE  PELARGONATE  OF  ETHYL-OXIDE. 
that  a  spoon  which  had  been  immersed  in  it  for  but  four  hours, 
stood  the  melting  in  it  of  litharge  over  a  charcoal  fire;  and  when 
the  reduced  metal  was  run  out,  not  the  slightest  spot  was  percep- 
tible, although  the  spoon  was  made  of  inferior  brass. 
Tungsten,  molybdenum  and  silicum,  alloyed  with  one  another, 
or  separately  alloyed  with  silver,  in  the  proportion  of  5  to  100  of 
silver,  give  excellent  results,  communicating  to  that  metal  many 
of  their  own  peculiar  properties. — Annals  of  Pharmacy ,  June, 
1853. 
ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  CRUDE  PELARGONATE  OF  ETHYL- 
OXIDE  (ESSENCE  OF  QUINCE.) 
By  Dr.  R.  Wagner. 
It  has  been  believed,  until  the  most  recent  period,  that  the  peel 
of  quinces  contains  oenanthylate  of  ethyl-oxide.    New  researches, 
however,  have  led  to  the  supposition  that  the  odorous  principle  of 
quinces  is  derived  from  the  ether  of  pelargonic  acid.    In  my  last 
research  on  the  action  of  nitric  acid  on  oil  of  rue,  I  found  that 
besides  the  fatty  acids,  which  Gerhardt  had  already  discovered, 
pelargonic  acid  is  formed.    This  process  may  be  advantageously 
employed  for  the  preparation  of  crude  pelargonate  of  ethyl-oxide, 
which,  on  account  of  its  extremely  agreeable  odor,  may  be  ap- 
plied as  a  fruit  essence  equally  with  those  prepared  by  Dobereiner, 
Hofmann  and  Fehling.    For  the  preparation  of  the  liquid,  which 
can  be  named  the  essence  of  quince,  oil  of  rue  is  treated  with 
double  its  quantity  of  very  diluted  nitric  acid,  and  the  mixture 
heated  until  it  begins  to  boil.    After  some  time  two  layers  are  to 
be  observed  in  the  liquid  ;  the  upper  one  is  brownish,  and  the  lower 
one  consists  of  the  products  of  the  oxidation  of  oil  of  rue  and  the 
excess  of  nitric  acid.    The  lower  layer  is  freed  from  the  greater 
part  of  its  nitric  acid  by  evaporation  in  a  chloride  of  zinc  bath. 
The  white  flocks  frequently  found  in  the  acid  liquid,  which  are 
probably  fatty  acids,  are  separated  by  filtration.    The  filtrate  is 
mixed  with  spirit,  and  long  digested  in  a  gentle  heat,  by  which  a 
fluid  is  formed,  which  has  the  agreeable  odor  of  quince  in  the 
highest  degree,  and  may  be  purified  by  distillation.    The  spirituous 
solution  of  pelargonic  ether  may  also  be  profitably  prepared  from 
oleic  acid,  according  to  Gottlieb's  method. — Journal  fur  Prak- 
tische  Chemie,  and  Annals  of  Pharmacy,  April,  1853. 
