2 
Distilled  Water. 
( Am.  Jour,  jebaruu 
I     January,  1896. 
organic  constituents,  still,  in  bottles  drawn  from  in  the  course  of 
business,  the  question  of  increasing  organic  contamination  is  per- 
tinent. 
March  4th,  two  5 -pint  glass-stoppered  bottles  were  filled  with 
water  fresh  from  the  still. 
A  was  closed  with  the  glass  stopper,  loosely  covered  with  a  cap 
of  parchment  paper,  and  was  successively  tested :  March  6th,  7th,. 
nth,  27th,  April  4th,  15th,  May  16th,  June  12th,  August  23d,  and 
December  3d. 
Each  time,  of  course,  the  usual  atmosphere  replaced  the  abstracted 
liquid,  but  the  water  stood  the  test  in  all  instances ;  in  the  last 
examination,  the  pinkish  tint  faded  considerably  upon  10  minutes' 
boiling,  but  was  still  apparent  the  following  day. 
B  was  provided  with  a  cork  stopper,  having  two  perforations, 
through  which  were  inserted  a  thistle  tube  containing  sulphuric 
acid,  and  a  siphon  tube  with  stopcock.  A  plug  of  absorbent  cotton 
was  placed  in  the  funnel  of  the  thistle  tube. 
This  precautionary  experiment  was  probably  unnecessary,  as 
shown  by  the  result  of  A ;  however,  the  water  was  tested  March 
7th,  nth,  April  4th,  15th,  May  16th,  June  12th,  and  December  4th, 
without  evidence  of  material  change. 
It  was  noticed  that  the  pinkish  tint  faded  less  than  in  the  case  of 
A,  hence,  it  is  manifest  that  distilled  water  kept  in  a  bottle  protected 
as  before  described,  deteriorates  less  than  under  ordinary  precau- 
tions. 
Another  series  of  tests  was  made  of  distilled  water  kept  in  smaller 
bottles,  as  follows  : 
March  15th,  fourteen  glass-stoppered  quart  bottles,  perfectly 
clean,  were  filled  successively  from  the  still,  with  water  that  stood 
the  permanganate  test  of  the  U.  S.  P.  A  paper  cone  was  inverted 
over  the  neck  of  each  bottle,  the  intention  being  to  examine  the 
bottles  successively  each  month.  They  were  placed  on  a  shelf  in 
the  laboratory. 
Bottle  I  was  further  tested  April  15th,  May  16th,  June  17th, 
August  23d  and  December  4th.  The  last  portion  stood  the  per- 
manganate test  perfectly,  and  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
flakes  had  collected  at  the  bottom  of  the  bottle. 
As  the  first  bottle  opened  gave  no  evidence  of  organic  change,  it 
might  have  been  deemed  unnecessary  to  disturb  all  of  the  fourteen 
