182  Color  in  Liquor  Calcis  Saccharratiis.        {^'^Aw'ii  iSr""'' 
coloration  characteristic  of  the  salts  of  formic  acid.  I  am  inclined  to 
believe  that  the  first  step  in  the  development  of  color  is  the  formation 
of  grape  sugar,  but  beyond  that  point  these  speculations  are,  I  feel, 
very  problematical,  but  may  assist  in  the  further  elucidation  of 
the  subject.  It  was  found  that  the  lime  was  entirely  precipitated 
from  freshly  made  liquor  by  CO2,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  pro- 
portion due  to  the  presence  of  chloride  in  the  calcic  hydrate,  thus  sup- 
porting the  theory  that  the  lime  which  is  not  precipitated  from  old 
samples  is  held  in  solution  by  an  acid  produced  by  the  oxidation  of  the 
sugar.  A  very  small  proportion  of  grape  sugar  is  sufficient  to  produce 
all  the  color  found  in  samples  kept  as  long  as  eighteen  months,  and 
this  accounts  for  the  very  slight  difference  found  to  exist  between  the 
alkalinity  of  colorless  and  colored  samples.  From  a  practical  point  of 
view,  therefore,  the  coloration  is  not  of  any  great  consequence. 
With  regard  to  the  latter  part  of  the  query,  namely.  How  may  the 
development  of  color  be  prevented  ? 
This  may  be  the  most  effectually  done  by  storing  the  liquor  in  bottles 
quite  full  and  securely  corked.  This  investigation  goes  to  show  that 
to  prevent  coloration  the  liquor  should  not  be  filtered,  but  decanted  or 
sy})honed  off,  as  directed  in  the  British  Pharmacopoeia.  I  observed 
that  no  less  authorities  than  Roscoe  and  Schorlemmer  erroneously  state 
that  the  solution  should  be  filtered.  Tiie  liquor  can  be  very  readily 
prepared,  and  coloration  will  also  be  prevented  by  avoiding  the  error 
of  making  too  large  a  quantity  at  a  time.  So  far  as  I  know,  liquor 
which  has  become  colored  cannot  be  decolorized.  I  have  tried  diges- 
tion with  animal  charcoal,  but  without  effect. — Pharm.  Jour,  and 
Trans.,  January  24,  1885,  p.  595. 
EucHLORiNE  AS  A  DISINFECTANT.— T.  Hatfield  Walker,  L.  R.  C.  P.,  in 
the  "Lancet,"  saj'S  :  Each  molecule  of  euchlorine  sets  free  four  atoms  of 
oxygen  in  the  nascent  condition,  and  is  probably  the  most  powerful  of  its 
class.  The  free  chlorine  that  it  contains  doubtless,  also,  contributes  to  its 
efficacy.  Euchlorine  is  a  mixture  of  free  chlorine,  or  chlorine  very  loosely 
combined  with  chlorous  oxide,  and  is  prepared  by  pouring  strong  hydro- 
chloric acid  on  potassium  chlorate  and  apiDlying  a  gentle  heat.  He  placed  a 
small  basin  containing  the  chlorate  in  a  large  one  full  of  boiling  water,  and 
on  pouring  in  the  hydrochloric  acid  the  euchlorine  was  freely  given  off. 
The  practical  experience  of  several  years'  use  in  all  cases  of  fever  fully  bore 
out  the  theoretical  experiments,  that  in  euchlorine  we  have  a  cheap,  sim- 
ple and  effective  (W^iufeat^int.— Quarterly  Therap.  Review,  Jan.,  1885. 
