A%Ja0rUcha896rm'}      Acetone  and  Acetone-Chloroform.  1 53 
form  in  the  proportion  of  4  ounces  of  acetone  to  5  to  5^  ounces  of 
chloroform. 
Prof.  Bottger14  distilled  together  equal  quantities  of  commercial 
bleaching  powder  and  crystallized  acetate  of  sodium  and  obtained 
chloroform  and  acetone.  Then  he  distilled  the  excess  of  acetone 
with  a  fresh  portion  of  bleaching  powder,  and  had  "  great  joy  in 
seeing  from  this  second  operation  a  very  considerable  quantity  of 
the  purest  chloroform  distil  over,  together  with  some  acetone  still 
undecomposed."  The  excess  of  acetone  was  again  distilled  with 
fresh  bleaching  powder  and  the  process  repeated  until,  by  three  to 
four  distillations,  all  the  acetone  was  used  ;  the  yield  of  chloroform 
being  about  4  ounces  to  each  pound  of  bleaching  powder. 
Chloroform  made  directly  from  acetone,  which  he  says  is  at  pres- 
ent (1848)  to  be  had  in  the  market,  is  obtained  in  the  proportion  of 
I  ounce  and  2  drams  of  chloroform  from  1  ounce  of  acetone. 
Still  in  the  year  1848  (see  Archiv.  der  Pharmacie,  1848,  Vol. 
LIV,  p.  23),  Prof.  Heinrich  Wackenroder,  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
Archiv.,  says,  in  substance  :  "  The  great  practical  interest  in  chloro- 
form at  the  present  time  calls,  first  of  all,  for  a  closer  examination 
of  the  methods  for  making  it.  Therefore,  I  have  induced  Mr. 
Siemerling  to  undertake,  in  my  laboratory,  some  experiments  relat- 
ing to  the  preparation  of  chloroform,  which  are  in  the  most  recent 
publications  on  the  subject.  Although  these  experiments  have,  in 
no  respect,  given  the  results  which  were  hoped  for,  it  nevertheless 
seems  to  be  worth  while  to  call  attention  to  them  for  the  sake  of  the 
future  continuation  of  the  subject." 
Then  follows  the  paper  of  Mr.  V.  Siemerling,  and  at  page  26  : 
"  II.  Preparation  of  Chloroform  from  Acetone." 
"According  to  the  statement  of  Professor  Bottger,  1  ounce  of 
acetone,  which  has  been  mixed  with  hypochlorite  of  lime  to  a  pasty 
mass,  should  give  1  ounce  and  2  drams  of  chloroform.  As  this 
seemed  to  be  an  easy  and  advantageous  method  of  preparation,  some 
experiments  were  made  with  acetone  procured  from  the  factory  of 
Trommsdorff,  in  Erfurt,  but  they  did  not  accord  with  the  statement 
of  Bottger. 
"  In  the  first  experiment  (a)  30  grammes  of  acetone  was  mixed 
with  50  grammes  of  hypochlorite  of  lime  and  50  grammes  of  water, 
14  Polytectmisches  Notizblatt,  1848,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  1. 
