Am.  Jotfi.  Pharnj. ) 
January,  18£6.  / 
Distilled  Water. 
3 
sample  specimens.  Still,  a  few  more  were  opened,  as  all  of  them 
contained  a  flaky  sediment. 
The  following  results  were  obtained  : 
II  stood  the  test  March  14th,  August  23d  and  December  4th. 
III  and  IV  March  14th  and  December  4th. 
V  was  examined  with  a  view  of  determining  how  distilled  water 
would  keep  in  a  bottle  loosely  covered  with  tissue  paper  only. 
Water,  distilled  March  4th  and  contained  in  a  glass-stoppered 
bottle,  stood  the  test  March  14th  and  June  17th.  The  stopper  being; 
removed,  the  mouth  of  the  bottle  was  now  loosely  covered  with 
tissue  paper  and  the  bottle  placed  on  a  shelf  in  the  laboratory  and 
tested  again  August  23d.  It  stood  the  test  very  well,  but  a  sort  of 
scum,  resembling  a  fungus  growth,  had  collected  on  top  of  the  water. 
At  the  date  of  writing  this  (December  4th)  the  quantity  of  scum 
has  increased,  and  a  sediment  has  also  formed.  The  clear  inter- 
mediate liquid,  withdrawn  by  means  of  a  clean  pipette,  stands  the 
permanganate  test  very  well;  but  another  portion  into  which  some 
of  the  large  flakes  were  introduced  purposely,  was  gradually  decolor- 
ized by  ten  minutes'  boiling.  These  flakes,  however,  which  appear 
identical  in  their  nature  with  those  to  be  found  in  each  of  the  four- 
teen closed  quart  bottles,  consist  of  inorganic  material  for  the  most 
part,  but  also  contain  organic  matter,  as  incineration  or  treatment 
with  sulphuric  acid  will  demonstrate.  Whether  the  inorganic  por- 
tion of  these  flakes  is  only  the  inorganic  matter  which  is  held  in 
solution  by  the  distilled  water,  or  whether  they  are  due  partly  to 
some  corroding  influence  exerted  by  the  water  upon  the  substance 
of  the  glass,  is  a  point  that  was  not  determined  in  these  experi- 
ments. 
In  now  comparing  the  keeping  qualities  of  distilled  water,  it  is 
manifest,  as  shown  by  these  experiments,  that  water  remains  almost 
unimpaired  with  regard  to  the  permanganate  test  of  the  U.  S.  P. 
during  a  period  of  several  months,  and  probably  will  stand  much 
longer,  if  the  water  is  contained  in  quart  bottles,  even  though  it  be 
withdrawn  in  parts  at  intervals.  In  larger  bottles,  say  of  5  pints, 
the  water  gradually  deteriorates  during  a  period  of  several  months 
if  no  special  precautions  are  taken  to  purify  the  air  entering  in  the 
place  of  the  water  withdrawn  from  the  bottle. 
During  the  examinations  it  was  found  that,  in  the  presence 
of  tobacco  smoke,  and  also  the  vapor  of  nicotine  in  the  air  of  the 
