AmMKSffm"}  The  Use  of  Methyl  Alcohol.  121 
alkaloids,  but  in  this  case  there  can  be  no  danger,  since  the  result- 
ing product  is  crystalline  and  is  always  purified  by  recrystallization 
sufficiently  to  make  it  impossible  for  any  to  be  carried  over  to  the 
final  product.  Besides  this  the  alkaloids  are  so  much  more  toxic 
than  the  wood  alcohol,  even  if  any  were  carried  over,  that  in  the 
doses  in  which  the  alkaloids  are  administered,  no  undesirable  effects 
could  possibly  be  produced. 
UR.  HENRY  W.  CATTELL 
said: 
From  my  own  experience  I  would  state  definitely  that  it  is  now 
a  rare  thing  for  the  chemist  to  find  methyl  alcohol  in  medicines, 
flavoring  extracts,  tincture  of  iodin,  and  the  better-known  makes 
of  witch  hazel.  The  reason  for  this  is  twofold:  (1)  the  honest 
manufacturer,  ignorant,  as  we  all  were  until  a  few  years  ago,  of  the 
dangerous  qualities  lurking  in  methyl  alcohol,  immediately  discon- 
tinued its  use  in  his  preparations  upon  learning  of  the  toxic  effects 
of  wood  alcohol;  (2)  dishonest  manufacturers — and  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  these  form  but  a  small  minority— -have  found  to  their  cost 
that  methyl  alcohol  can  be  so  easily  detected  by  the  present  deli- 
cate tests  at  our  command  that  they  cannot  hide  the  fact  that  they  are 
using  this  preparation.  As  an  example,  I  would  cite  the  statement 
of  the  Dairy  and  Food  Commissioner  of  Michigan  in  Report  112 , 
issued  a  few  weeks  ago,  that  no  flavoring  extracts  in  Michigan  are 
now  found  after  an  extended  search  to  contain  methyl  alcohol, 
owing  to  the  conviction  of  a  certain  party  who  had  used  95  per 
cent,  wood  alcohol  in  his  preparations,  and  to  the  subsequent  de- 
struction of  some  $8,000  worth  of  his  stock. 
In  discussing  this  question  one  must  remember  that  a  person  who 
has  once  experienced  the  effects  of  methyl  alcohol  may  enjoy  this 
form  of  intoxication  more  than  that  from  ethyl  alcohol.  There 
seems  to  be  the  greatest  variation  in  the  disposition  of  the  indi- 
vidual towards  methyl  alcohol,  some  being  able  to  take  large  quan- 
tities of  it  over  a  long  period  of  time  without  any  serious  effects 
even  upon  the  eyes.  In  several  cases  which  have  come  under  my 
notice  among  sailors  and  others,  the  methyl  alcohol  was  specifi- 
cally asked  for  in  order  to  make  the  punch  stronger.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  if  the  person  desires  to  secure  methyl  alcohol  for  this 
purpose,  he  will  undoubtedly  do  so — just  as  boys  steal  gasolene 
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