TEST FOR DISTINGUISHING ACETONE. 
355 
healthy life; and know not what it is to spend a lonely- 
feeling hour, though without a soul to converse with. — 
Arranging and labelling plants, and writing up my jour- 
nal, are no trifling occupation, and I am incessantly at 
work. — Sillimarts Journal March, 1850, from Athen. 
1146. 
LXXIX. — ON A TEST FOR DISTINGUISHING ACETONE 
FROM PYROXILIC SPIRIT, AND ON THE QUESTION, 
1 WHAT IS THE WOOD-NAPHTHA OF DR. HASTINGS ? 
[Several years ago, soon after the employment of acetone 
in phthisis was suggested by Dr. Hastings, we published 
an article from the Pharmaceutical Journal, which indi- 
cated acetone or pyroacetic spirit as the agent designed by 
him. We now publish a notice by Mr. Scanlan, from the 
same Journal for April, of a test for distinguishing acetone 
from pyroxilic ?pirif,together with adiscussion bearing upon 
the subject, in which Dr. Hastings took part, by which it 
appears that pyroxilic spirit and not pyroacetic spirit is the 
true wood naptha. On applying the test to a specimen of 
commercial wood naptha, we find it indicates pyroxilic 
spirit. — Editor.] 
It is now some years since Dr. Hastings introduced to 
the medical world naphtha as a new therapeutic agent in 
phthisis. 
As there are several fluids to be met with under the name 
of naphtha, considerable doubt existed as to which of them 
should be used as " medical naphtha" by the compounder. 
The only tests relied upon, 1 believe, for a long time, were 
miscibility of the naphtha with water without becoming 
milky, and its not being blackened by the addition of a drop 
or two of concentrated sulphuric or of nitric acid. Any 
