466 
Distillation  of  Linseed  Oil. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharra. 
1  September,  1896. 
petroleum  oil,  showing  that  the  linoleic  and  other  acids  of  the  oil 
were  undergoing  decomposition.  I  submit  a  sample  of  the  linseed 
oil  used.  It  was  a  clear  "  old  process  "  oil,  of  specific  gravity  0-929, 
and  showing  a  saponification  equivalent  of  183,  which  is  normal  for 
linseed  oil.  The  raw  distillate  collected  after  this  acrolein  odor  had 
nearly  disappeared  I  also  show.  It  had  a  specific  gravity  of  o  860 
and  a  saponification  equivalent  of  109,  showing  that  it  had  been 
nearly  all  converted  into  a  neutral  hydrocarbon  oil. 
This  was  then  redistilled  from  a  small  iron  retort  and  two  frac- 
tions collected,  leaving  a  residue  in  the  retort  which  had  the  appear- 
ance of  petroleum  residuum  or  reduced  oil,  such 'as  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  vaseline  and  similar  products.  The  two  fractions 
were  then  treated  with  sulphuric  acid,  as  is  done  in  purifying  petro- 
leum distillate,  and  the  results  are  shown  in  the  samples  submitted. 
They  resemble  quite  strongly  what  is  called  paraffin  oils,  showing 
the  characteristic  fluorescence  of  these  latter. 
From  a  portion  of  one  of  these  fractions  on  chilling  in  a  freezing 
mixture  scale  paraffin  was  also  separated,  a  sample  of  which  I 
submit. 
These  results,  while  they  can  only  be  considered  as  preliminary, 
are  sufficient  to  show  that  we  have  hydrocarbon  oils  analogous  to 
the  natural  petroleum  or  mineral  oils  formed  in  the  distillation  of 
linseed  oil  under  pressure.  I  have  not  yet  extended  this  line  of 
experiment  to  the  other  seed  oils,  such  as  cotton-seed  and  rape-seed 
oils,  but  believe  it  to  be  very  probable  that  similar  results  could  be 
obtained  from  them.  I  expect  to  do  this  as  well  as  study  more 
fully  the  products  already  obtained.  I  may  be  allowed  to  call 
attention  to  what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  importance  of  these  results 
in  their  bearing  on  some  well-known  work  of  Prof.  Carl  Engler,  of 
Carlsruhe,  Germany.  In  1888  and  1889  Prof.  Engler  published  in 
the  BericJite  der  dent.  chew.  Gesellschaft  (21,  p.  1816  and  22,  p. 
592),  the  results  of  experiment  on  the  distillation  of  menhaden  oil 
under  pressure.  He  began  at  a  pressure  of  10  atmospheres  and 
ended  at  4  atmospheres.  A  distillate  came  over  at  3250  to  4000  C, 
and  was  approximately  60  per  cent,  of  the  oil  taken. 
The  new  distillate  was  of  brownish  color,  transparent  in  thin 
layers,  and  of  a  strong  green  fluorescence.  Its  odor  was  not 
unpleasant,  and  contained  no  recognizable  amount  of.acrolein.  The 
specific  gravity  of  this  distillate  was  0-8105. 
