Am'jJuT/;Srm-}     Volatility  of  Some  of  the  Newer  Remedies.  339 
ioo°  C.  or  even  higher  in  an  air-bath.  The  higher  this  temperature 
and  the  more  prolonged  the  heating,  the  smaller  will  be  the  quan- 
tity of  the  recovered  substance  and,  hence,  a  decreased  solubility  is 
the  result.  To  illustrate  :  the  solubility  of  phenacetin  is  stated  by 
different  authorities  to  be  one  part  phenacetin  in  1,400,  in 
1,500,  in  1,850  and  in  2,000  parts  of  water,  the  temperature  of  which 
ranges  from  cold  (?)  to  20°  C;  these  discordant  statements  are  in 
all  probability  due  to  the  volatility  of  the  phenacetin. 
In  the  quantitative  estimations,  drying,  after  treatment  with  suit- 
able solvents,  is  a  necessary  operation  and,  hence,  the  same  results 
are  to  be  looked  for.  While  my  experiments  did  not  include  higher 
temperatures  than  ioo°  C,  the  behavior  of  exalgin  and  acetanilid 
will  be  duplicated,  without  doubt,  at  somewhat  higher  temperatures 
by  the  less  volatile  methacetin,  phenacetin  and  lactophenin. 
The  difference  in  the  behavior  of  acetanilid  and  of  methacetin, 
phenacetin  and  lactophenin  at  temperatures  below  85 0  C.  suggested 
the  possibility  of  detecting  acetanilid  in  these  other  remedies.  For 
this  purpose  I  selected  phenacetin  as  the  substance  which  has  the 
reputation  of  being  adulterated  at  times  with  acetanilid ;  whereas 
methacetin  and  lactophenin,  according  to  a  criticism  of  my  paper  of 
two  years  ago,  have  not  been  known  to  be  so  adulterated,  and, 
inferentially,  my  time  wasted,  in  providing  for  such  a  contingency ; 
0  025  gramme  acetanilid  was  weighed  in  a  watch-crystal,  covered 
with  0-475  gramme  phenacetin  (making  a  5  per  cent,  adulteration) 
and  heated  in  a  water-oven  to  a  temperature  ranging  from  8o°  to 
85 0  C;  in  less  than  one  hour  a  distinct  sublimate  had  formed,  and 
after  three  hours'  heating  a  loss  of  0-0055  gramme  was  noted. 
In  a  second  experiment  0  005  gramme  acetanilid  and  0-495 
gramme  phenacetin  ivere  mixed  (making  a  1  per  cent,  adultera- 
tion) and  heated  to  72-820  C. ;  a  .distinct  sublimate  was  seen  after 
half  an  hour,  and  after  three  hours  a  loss  of  0-0045  gramme  was  noted ; 
the  heating  continued  at  70-800  C.  for  six  hours  gave  an  additional 
loss  of  0-0015  gramme.  The  sublimate  in  this  case  was  dissolved 
in  2-3  c.c.  warm  water,  and  with  this  solution  distinct  reactions  for 
acetanilid  by  the  bromine-water  and  the  iso-nitrile  test  were  obtained  ; 
the  solution  failed  to  respond  to  the  tests  for  phenacetin,  indicating 
its  absence  in  the  sublimate,  or,  if  present,  in  a  very  much  changed 
ratio  from  the  mixture  used  in  the  test. 
This  sublimate  test  will,  no  doubt,  be  applicable  to  methacetin 
