6/2  Alcohol  in  Volumetric  Analysis. 
material  from  being  caried  over  mechanically.  The  residue  from 
these  4  litres  was  decidedly  acid  to  litmus  paper  and  possessed 
an  acetic  acid  odor  commingled  with  fusel  oil  and  pyridine.  This 
residue,  on  being  largely  diluted  with  water  and  titrated  with  fiftieth 
normal  alkaline  solution,  required  1 14  c.c.1  The  last  200  c.c.  of  the 
distillate  also  required  5-9  c.c.  of  the  same  alkaline  solution  to 
render  it  neutral.  The  3,600  c.c.  were  again  distilled  as  above,  and 
the  first  and  last  100  c.c.  discarded.  The  residue  again  lequired 
22  5  c.c.  of  fiftieth  normal  potassium  hydroxide  solution.  In  the 
second  distillate  five  grammes  of  potassium  hydroxide  were  dissolved 
and  allowed  to  stand  over  night.  In  the  morning  the  alcohol  was 
again  distilled  on  the  water  bath.  Fifty  c.c.  of  the  first  and  last 
portions  were  discarded.  The  alcohol  was  next  distilled  over 
tartaric  acid,  to  remove  any  alkaloid-like  bodies.  The  distillate  was 
next  treated  with  silver  nitrate  over  night,  and  distilled  in  the 
morning.  Now,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  any  acid  was  developed 
during  the  course  of  the  distillation,  the  last  distillate  was  again 
distilled,  and  the  residue  titrated  with  the  alkaline  solution.  One- 
lialf  c.c.  was  required.  This  demonstrated  that  an  extremely  small 
quantity  of  the  alcohol  was  oxidized  during  the  distillation,  if  any. 
This  purified  alcohol  possessed  the  normal  specific  gravity  of  94-5 
per  cent,  alcohol,  showing  that  no  water  had  been  absorbed  during 
the  purification. 
From  the  commercial  alcohol  an  absolute  alcohol  was  also  pre- 
pared.   It  contained  997  per  cent,  of  alcohol. 
With  these  purified  products  the  following  results  were  obtained  : 
1  This  supports  the  remark  made  by  the  writer  at  the  Montreal  meeting  of 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  viz. :  that  litmus  paper  was  not  deli- 
cate enough  to  detect  small  quantities  of  acids  in  alcohol. 
