TEST FOR DISTINGUISHING ACETONE. 357 
equally desirable object to be attained, and that was to 
ascertain which kind of naphtha ought to be used in medi- 
cine when prescribed for pulmonary affections. He was 
glad to see that Dr. Hastings, who had originally introduced 
the use of naphtha as a medicinal agent, was present, and 
he hoped that he would favor the meeting with the result 
of his experience on the subject. There were several spe- 
cimens of naphtha on fi the table, some of which had been 
used under Dr. Hastings's observation, and he would sug- 
gest that the test should be applied to these, so as to deter- 
mine whether they were acetone or pyroxilic spirit. 
On applying Mr. Scanlan's test, it was found that those 
specimens which had been most approved of as medicina' 
agents, were pyroxilic spirit. 
Dr. Hastings observed that the subject then before the 
meeting was one in which he was deeply interested. He 
had found from long experience, that some of the liquids, 
sold under the name of naphtha, afforded relief, by allay- 
ing irritation, in certain cases of pulmonary affection ; but 
while this was the case with some of the naphthas of com- 
merce, there were other specimens which produced an op- 
posite effect, and promoted instead of allaying irritation- 
He had never been able to ascertain what the real cause of 
this difference in effect was, and the uncertainty as to 
whether a patient got the right kind of naphtha or not, had 
been to him a constant source of annoyance and difficulty. 
Some time ago it was suggested to him by several chemists 
who had directed their attention to the subject, that the 
true medicinal naphtha — that which, from experience, he 
found to be beneficial — was acetone, or pyroacetic spirit, 
and not pyroxilic spirit; and accordingly several manufac- 
turers, and among them the house in which Mr. Scanlan is 
engaged, had carefully prepared pyroacetic spirit in a state 
of considerable purity for medicinal use. He could not say 
that his experience in the use of this, or of any of the spe- 
cimens which by the use of Mr. Scanlan's test were proved 
