U4 
Internal  Revenue  Tax  on  Alcohol. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharrru 
I      March,  1905. 
consumes  for  industrial  purposes  an  almost  equally  large  amount  of 
tax-paid  alcohol.  Owing  to  the  low  tax-rate  in  force  in  that  coun- 
try (about  40  cents  per  proof  gallon)  the  industries  requiring  pure 
ethyl  alcohol  have  been  so  extensively  developed  that  the  estimated 
annual  consumption  of  tax-paid  alcohol  is  about  55,000,000  proof 
gallons  annually.  While  no  statistics  giving  the  actual  consumption 
of  the  tax-paid  product  for  these  purposes  are  obtainable,  this  esti- 
mate is  reached  by  deducting  from  the  total  average  amount  on 
which  taxes  are  paid  an  average  annual  consumption  for  beverage 
purposes  equal  to  the  proportionate  consumption  for  this  purpose 
in  the  United  States.  As  it  is  well  known  the  Germans  are  a  beer- 
and  wine  drinking  people,  it  is  highly  improbable  that  they  also 
drink  as  much  distilled  spirits  as  the  people  of  this  country,  so  that 
the  estimate  of  the  consumption  in  Germany  for  beverage  purposes 
is  probably  too  large.  In  any  event  there  is  shown  to  be  a  con- 
sumption of  tax-paid  alcohol  in  the  arts  of  over  50,000,000  gallons 
per  year,  making,  with  the  consumption  of  untaxed  denaturized 
alcohol,  an  annual  total  of  more  than  100,000,000  gallons  of  alcohol. 
In  sharp  contrast  with  this  immense  quantity  is  the  consumption 
of  alcohol  in  the  United  States.  There  is,  of  course,  no  consumption 
of  untaxed  denaturized  alcohol,  owing  to  the  failure  of  our  laws  to 
make  provision  for  such  use.  Of  tax-paid  alcohol  it  is  estimated 
that  less  than  5,000,000  gallons  are  annually  used  in  the  arts,  the 
excessive  tax  of  $2.07  making  its  use  prohibitive,  except  where  it  is 
absolutely  necessary  in  the  manufacture  of  articles  such  as  flavoring 
extracts,  perfumery,  pharmaceuticals,  medicines,  etc.  Even  in  these 
industries  the  consumption  is  very  much  smaller  than  in  Germany, 
as  the  high  cost  of  the  alcohol  greatly  increases  the  selling  price  of 
the  goods  into  which  it  enters,  and  therefore  decreases  their  sale. 
Another  reason  for  the  small  consumption  of  tax-paid  alcohol  is 
found  in  the  general  use  of  inferior  untaxed  substitutes,  chiefly  re- 
fined wood  alcohol,  which,  notwithstanding  its  injurious  qualities 
that  render  it  dangerous  to  health,  is  being  largely  substituted  for 
pure  grain  alcohol.  The  extent  to  which  this  substitution  is  carried 
on  is  notorious,  and  the  health  officials  throughout  the  country  are 
taking  active  measures  to  punish  the  manufacturers  of  preparations 
in  which  wood  alcohol  is  unlawfully  used. 
In  a  paper  on  "Poisoning  by  Wood  Alcohol,"  by  Drs.  Frank 
Buller  and  Casey  A.  Wood,  recently  published  in  the  Jownal  of  the 
