EXTRACTS  FROM  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
103 
alcohol,  the  hot  solution  thrown  upon  a  filter  and  the  filter  washed 
with  hot  alcohol ;  the  undissolved  portion  after  washing  and  dry- 
ing weighed  47-5  grains,  was  of  a  brownish  grey  color  and  free 
from  organic  compounds.  The  alcoholic  filtrate,  measuring 
five  fluidounces,  solidified  on  cooling  to  a  transparent  mass  like 
opodeldoc. 
These  experiments  prove  that  this  so-called  Castile  soap  ha8 
been  made  of  animal  fat  and  was  probably  adulterated  with 
some  silicate  of  soda,  which  must  have  been  decomposed  again 
by  the  lime  ;  but  for  what  reason  and  in  which  form  the  lime  had 
been  added,  I  cannot  conceive  ;  it  did,  however,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  foregoing  experiments,  not  interfere  with  the 
detergent  properties  of  the  soap,  acting  merely  as  a  diluent, 
Philadelphia,  January,  1861. 
EXTRACTS  FROM  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
By  Geo.  J.  Scattergood. 
On  the  detection  of  alcohol  in  volatile  oils. — The  employment 
of  sodium  as  a  means  of  detecting  alcohol  in  chloroform  has 
suggested  to  DragendorfF,  the  use  of  this  reagent  in  ascertaining 
the  presence  of  alcohol  in  volatile  oils.  Upon  placing  a  small 
piece  of  sodium  in  perfectly  pure  non-oxygenated  volatile  oil,  no 
other  change  takes  place  at  first  than  the  disengagement  (in 
some  cases  only)  of  a  few  bubbles  of  gas,  due  probably  to  a  small 
amount  of  water,  which  some  of  these  oils  may  contain.  After 
the  lapse  of  some  hours  or  of  some  days,  exposed  in  an  uncovered 
test  tube,  the  sodium  becomes  covered  with  a  brownish,  resinous 
coating,  while  the  oil  retains  its  original  color.  When,  however, 
the  sodium  is  brought  into  contact  with  an  oil  containing  but  a 
few  per  cent,  of  absolute  alcohol,  a  lively  disengagement  of  gas 
is  at  once  perceived  ;  in  the  course  of  which  the  pieces  of  sodium 
are  brought  to  the  surface  of  the  liquid.  Upon  the  addition  of 
the  sodium  a  milkiness  is  almost  immediately  produced  in  the 
oil,  which  always  disappears,  and  the  oil  sooner  or  later  acquires 
a  yellow  color.  After  some  hours,  aiid  often  after  some  minutes, 
only  the  oil  containing  alcohol  becomes  brown,  and  much  less 
fluid,  and  in  some  cases  so  thick  as  not  to  flow  out  of  the  tube 
when  inverted.    By  these  reactions,  DragendorfF  was  able  to 
