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WOOD  SPIRIT  AND  ITS  DETECTION. 
WOOD  SPIRIT  AND  ITS  DETECTION. 
By  Emerson  J.  Reynolds. 
(Read  before  the  Royal  Dublin  Society.) 
The  products  of  the  destructive  distillation  of  various  vege- 
table matters,  in  addition  to  those  of  primitive  organic  origin, 
have  received  more  than  ordinary  attention  and  careful  study  at 
the  hands  of  the  chemist  within  the  last  ten  or  twelve  years. 
Numerous  highly  complex  acids,  neutral  substances,  and  bases, 
have  rewarded  the  time  and  labor  expended  on  their  investiga- 
tion, by  the  acquirement  of  both  fame  and  riches  for  the  dis- 
coverer— fame,  owing  to  the  great  scientific  value  of  the  re- 
sults, and  riches  in  consequence  of  their  practical  application. 
The  number  and  complexity  of  the  compounds  formed  during 
the  destructive  process  cease  to  surprise  us,  when  we  consider 
the  ever-changing  circumstances  under  which  they  are  produced. 
To  take  an  instance  intimately  connected  with  the  subject  of 
the  present  paper ;  let  us  suppose  a  block  of  wood  placed  in  a 
close  cylinder,  and  submitted  to  a  gradually  increasing  temper- 
ature. The  essential  constituents  of  this  block  are  carbon,  hy- 
drogen, oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  all  in  different  states  of  combi- 
nation both  on  the  surface  and  in  the  interior  of  the  mass.  On 
the  first  application  of  heat,  the  strictly  organic  structures  are 
broken  up  superficially,  their  elements  entering  into  new  com- 
binations, in  which  state  they  are  volatilized.  On  the  still 
further  increase  of  temperature,  the  next  succeeding  layers 
undergo  a  similar  process  ;  but  now,  owing  to  the  alteration  of 
temperature,  and  probably  in  consequence  of  the  different  pro- 
portions and  arrangements  of  the  proximate  constituents,  an- 
other set  of  affinities  come  into  play  :  the  result  of  this  is,  as 
might  be  anticipated,  the  production  of  many  new  compounds, 
materially  different  from  those  preceding  them.  Thus  the  pro- 
cess continues,  the  products  altering  in  character  as  the  tem- 
perature fluctuates.  Such  being  the  case,  it  ceases  to  be  a 
matter  of  wonder  that  the  compounds  formed  should  be  both 
numerous  and  variable,  or  that  the  examination  of  these  should 
open  an  almost  inexhaustible  field  of  research  to  the  scientific 
explorer. 
My  object  in  laying  the  present  communication  before  the 
