Am.  Tour.  Pharm.  \ 
April,  1 918.  J 
Wood  Alcohol  Poisoning. 
283 
In  case  6  there  was,  in  addition,  a  chronic  pulmonary  tubercu- 
losis. In  Case  5  there  was  marked  parenchymatous  degeneration  of 
the  kidneys  and  liver.  Microscopic  section  of  heart,  kidney  and  liver 
did  not  show  an  increased  amount  of  fat.  Pohl  reported  that  he 
found  an  increase  in  the  amount  of  fat  in  the  liver.  Sections  of  the 
optic,  vagus  and  phrenic  nerves  show  marked  degeneration  of  these 
structures.  Parts  of  the  brain  in  all  of  the  six  cases  were  examined 
chemically  according  to  the  method  given  below.  We  selected  the 
brain  tissue  for  the  performance  of  our  tests,  because  of  the  assump- 
tion that  the  poison  has  a  selective  action  on  nerve  tissue,  as  is  indi- 
rectly proved  'by  the  blindness  and  deep  coma. 
Chemical  Analysis  of  Brain. — The  sample  was  finely  ground, 
and  water  was  added  to  make  a  thin  suspension ;  it  was  placed  in  a 
distillation  flask ;  3  drops  of  liquid  petrolatum  were  added  to  prevent 
frothing;  it  was  acidified  with  tartaric  acid  and  distilled  with  steam. 
Thirty  Cc.  of  the  distillate  were  collected.  Of  this,  5  Cc.  were  placed 
in  a  test  tube  and  oxidized  by  the  plunging  of  a  red  hot  copper  spiral 
into  it  six  or  eight  times.  This  oxidation  is  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
verting the  methyl  alcohol  to  formaldehyde. 
The  oxidized  material  as  well  as  a  little  of  the  original  distillate 
was  tested  by  the  following  three  methods  : 
Reduced  Fuchsin  Test. — To  2  Cc.  of  each  of  the  distillates 
(both  oxidized  and  nonoxidized),  3  drops  of  (colorless)  reduced 
fuchsin  were  added.  A  red  color  develops  if  an  aldehyd  is  present. 
This  test  is  not  specific  for  formaldehyde,  but'  is  given  by  the  aldehyd 
group  in  general. 
Casein  Test. — To  2  Cc.  of  each  of  the  distillates  (both  oxidized 
and  nonozidized),  an  equal  amount  of  milk,  then  an  equal  volume 
of  hydrochloric  acid,  and  2  drops  of  ferric  chloride  are  added.  This 
is  brought  to  a  boil.  If  formaldehyde  is  present,  a  violet  to  red  color 
develops.  This  test  is  specific  for  formaldehyde  and  is  very  delicate, 
detecting  formaldehyde  in  dilutions  of  1 : 250,000. 
Resorcin  Test. — To  2  Cc.  of  each  of  the  distillates  (both  oxidized 
and  nonoxidized),  a  few  drops  of  0.5  per  cent,  resorcin  are  added, 
and  stratified  on  sulphuric  acid.  In  the  presence  of  formaldehyde  a 
red  ring  develops.    This  test  is  specific  for  formaldehyde. 
The  brain  in  every  one  of  the  six  cases  was  found  to  have  methyl 
alcohol  present.  The  tests  before  oxidation  were  negative,  show- 
ing that  no  oxidation  to  aldehyd  occurred  in  the  brain. 
In  Case  5,  blood  and  urine  also  were  available.    These  were  ex- 
