FUSEL  OIL  FROM  INDIAN  CORN  AND  RYE. 
417 
EXAMINATION  OF  FUSEL  OIL  FROM  INDIAN  CORN  AND  RYE. 
By  Charles  M.  Wetherill,  Ph.D.,  M.  D. 
The  researches  of  Guckelberger,  Bopp,  Keller,  and  others,  who 
obtained,  by  the  fermentation  and  oxidation  of  nitrogenized  sub- 
stances, such  as  gluten,  casein,  &c,  the  successive  members  of 
the  series  of  acids,  CnHn04,  rendered  it  probable  that  such  a  suc- 
cession might  be  detected  in  fusel  oil,  by  employing  Liebig's 
method  of  isolating  these  acids,  a  method  which  enables  small 
quantities  of  one  of  the  group  to  be  separated  from  larger  quantities 
of  the  other  members.  It  was  also  interesting  to  make  an  exa- 
mination of  fusel  oil  obtained  from  the  fermentation  of  Indian  corn. 
With  respect  to  the  history  of  fusel  oil  :  as  is  well  known, 
Dumas  obtained  it  first  from  the  fermentation  of  potatoes;  Balard 
showed  that  with  this,  the  oil  obtained  from  the  fermentation  of 
grapes  was  in  its  principal  constituent  (amylic  alcohol)  identical  ; 
and  Medlock  and  Rowney  showed  the  same  to  be  the  case  with 
the  fusel  oil  of  the  English  and  Scotch  grain  distilleries. 
With  regard  to  the  acids  present  in  fusel  oil,  Mulder  detected 
cenanthic,  Kolbe,  margaric,  and  Rowney,  capric  acid.  Medlock, 
who  examined  a  grain  fusel  oil  for  an  alcohol  of  one  of  the  fatty 
acids,  obtained  nothing  but  alcohol,  water  and  amylic  alcohol. 
Kent  {Am.  Journ.  Pharm.,  1851,  p.  354,)  examined  a  specimen 
of  fusel  oil  which  contained  acetic  acid  and  valerianic  acids,  be- 
sides an  ether,  the  acid  of  which  was  not  isolated. 
Wurtz  (Comptes  Rendus.xxxv.  310,)  has  recently  isolated  from 
potatoe  fusel  oil  butylic  alcohol  boiling  at  112°  Cent. 
In  the  subject  of  the  present  memoir,  besides  water  and  alcohol, 
formic  (?),*  acetic,  caproic  (?),  cenanthic  (?),  and  caprylic  acids  were 
detected,  together  with  a  small  quantity  of  oil  of  turpentine,  which 
probably  proceeded  from  the  barrel  in  which  the  substance  was 
put,  in  the  distillery,  the  proprietors  of  which  were  manufacturers 
of  burning  fluid. 
The  oil  was  obtained  from  the  rectification  of  spirits  made 
partly  from  rye,  and  partly  from  maize.  It  was  neutral  to  test 
paper,  of  limpid,  colorless  appearance,  like  alcohol,  and  of  strong 
*  The  acids  marked  thus  (?)  were  not  obtained  in  sufficient  quantity  to 
obtain  more  than  probably  true  analytical  results. 
29 
