3S6 
Spirit  of  Nitrous  Ether. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I       July,  1877. 
In  the  course  of  my  experiments  numerous  questions  presented 
themselves  for  solution,  the  most  important  of  which  I  shall  endeavor 
to  answer  in  the  present  paper,  in  the  order  below  given  : 
1.  "  Is  it  possibles,  or  necessary,  to  obtain  the  quantity  of  distillate 
required  by  the  'Pharmacopoeia?'" 
2.  ct  Is  the  specific  gravity  of  spirit  of  nitrous  ether,  U.  S.  P.,  cor- 
rectly stated  ?" 
3.  ct  Is  the  percentage  of  nitrous  ether  in  the  spirit  of  nitrous  ether 
of  the  U.  S.  P.  correctly  stated  ?" 
4.  "  Is  the  method  of  Br.  Ph.  for  determining  the  percentage  of 
nitrous  ether  in  the  spirit  of  that  standard  reliable  within  pharmaceu- 
tical limits,  and  can  it  be  made  available  for  the  product  of  the 
U.  S.  P.?" 
I.      Is  IT   POSSIBLE,   OR    NECESSARY,   TO  OBTAIN    THE   QUANTITY  OF 
DISTILLATE  REQUIRED  BY  THE  "  Ph ARMACOPCEIA  ?" 
This  question  presented  itself  very  forcibly  when  I  prepared  spirit 
of  nitrous  ether  for  the  first  time  by  the  present  process.     I  had  con- 
ducted the  process  with  extreme  precaution,  and  assured  myself  that 
the  condensing  facilities  were  within  the  pharmacopceial  requirements  \ 
the  reaction  proceeded  with  the  regularity  so  characteristic  of  this  pro- 
cess, and  proper  compensation  had  been  made  for  the  somewhat  weaker 
than  officinal  acids  used.     Nevertheless  I  failed  to  obtain  the  quantity 
of  first  distillate  required,  notwithstanding  that  the  heating  was  con- 
tinued for  some  time  after  the  reaction  had  ceased.     On  adding  the 
second  portion  of  nitric  acid  and  heating  as  directed,  the  additional  two 
fluidounces  of  distillate  were  readily  obtained,  making,  with  the  first 
portion,  a  total  distillate  of  a  little  over  9  fluidounces.     But  on  mixing 
this  with  the  reserved  quantity  of  stronger  alcohol,  presented  by  the 
"  Pharmacopoeia,"  a  spirit  of  nitrous  ether  was  obtained,  which  corre- 
sponded in  all  its  characters  to  the  officinal  spirit,  with  the  single 
exception:  that  its  specific  gravity  was  0*822  instead  of  0*837.  Not 
having  at  the  outset  any  reason  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  the  phar- 
macopceial requirements,  this  first  operation  was  not  conducted  as  an 
experiment,  and,  consequently,  no  record  of  temperature,  progress  of 
distillation,  etc.,  was  kept ;  but  with  these  results  before  me,  I  resolved 
at  the  next  opportunity  to  conduct  the  process  experimentally.  ,£ 
First  Experimental  Distillation. — A  slight  odor  of  nitrous  ether  having 
