540 
SPIMTUS  jETHEBJS  NITROSI. 
As  an  offset  to  this  growing  tendency,  the  present  paper  is  con- 
tributed ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  some,  particularly  the  younger, 
members  of  the  profession,  may  be  influenced  by  it  to  attempt  the 
preparation  of  something  higher  than  syrup  squills  or  paregoric 
elixir. 
Hyponitrous  ether— an  alcoholic  solution  of  which,  of  definite 
strength,  constitutes  the  officinal  sweet  spirit  of  nitre — is  a  pro- 
duct of  the  oxidation  of  alcohol  by  nitric  acid,  and  is  obtained 
by  distilling  a  mixture,  in  certain  proportions,  of  these  two  sub- 
stances. Modern  processes  for  the  preparation  of  sweet  spirit 
of  nitre  do  not  contemplate  the  preliminary  and  separate  pro- 
duction of  the  ether,  but  obtain  it  more  or  less  diluted  from  the 
beginning.  In  the  experience  of  the  writer,  however,  the  sepa- 
rate production  of  the  ether,  and  its  subsequent  dilution  to  the 
proper  degree  with  alcohol,  is  the  most  correct  process,  and  in 
fact  the  only  one  adapted  for  use  on  the  small  scale.  This 
method  is  the  one  recommended  by  the  Edinburgh  Pharma- 
copoeia of  1841,  and  also  some  years  previously  by  Dr.  Hare.  The 
formulas,  however,  as  given  by  these  two  authorities,  are  not 
practicable  working  formulas  ;  Dr.  Hare's,  on  account  of  the  in- 
definiteness  of  its  directions,  and  that  of  the  Edinburg  Pharma- 
copoeia, on  account  of  its  requiring  the  use  of  a  nitric  acid  having 
the  specific  gravity  1*5 — a  strength,  practically  unattainable, 
and  moreover  too  great  for  the  purpose,  causing  the  reactions  to 
take  place  with  such  violence  as  to  be  unmanageable.  It  is  for  this 
reason  mainly,  I  presume,  that  the  formula  has  been  discarded  ; 
it  is,  nevertheless,  the  best  that  has  yet  been  devised  for  the 
production  of  spirit  nitrous  ether  on  the  small  scale,  and  with 
certain  modifications  is  perfectly  manageable,  and  can  be  exe- 
cuted by  any  one  who  has  been  properly  educated  to  his  business. 
The  apparatus  consists  of  a  generating  bottle — an  ordinary 
pint  salt-mouth  shop  bottle,  capable  of  holding  eighteen  fluid- 
ounces  (a  smaller  will  not  answer — a  larger  is  not  necessary) ; 
a  water  bath — an  ordinary  tin  can,  about  the  same  height  as  the 
generating  bottle,  and  an  inch  or  inch  and  a  quarter  larger 
diameter,  and  having  in  the  bottom  two  bits  of  wood  on  which 
the  generating  bottle  rests,  to  prevent  breakage  by  heat  ;  a 
safety  tube  (a  thermometer  is  instructive,  but  is  not  necessary); 
