Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1879. 
On  Abietene, 
293 
Twelve  parts  of  coarsely  powdered  potassium  bromide  and  eleven 
parts  of  sulphuric  acid,  diluted  with  its  volume  of  water,  are  heated  in 
a  retort  or  flask  fitted  to  a  condenser;  as  soon  as  hvdrobromic  acid 
begins  to  be  disengaged,  twelve  parts  of  alcohol  are  allowed  to  flow 
in  slowly,  as  in  the  preparation  of  ether.  Ethyl  bromide  distills  over 
with  a  small  quantity  of  water  and  some  alcohol.  The  distillate  is 
agitated  with  water  to  remove  alcohol,  the  ethyl  bromide  separated  and 
dried  by  potassium  carbonate,  which  at  the  same  time  neutralizes  any 
free  acid.  It  needs  no  further  purification.  About  eight  parts  of  ethyl 
bromide  should  be  obtained.  It  should  be  kept  in  the  dark  like  all 
other  etherial  compounds  containing  chlorine,  iodine  or  bromine. 
ON  ABIETENE. 
By  Samuel  P.  Sadtler,  Ph.D. 
In  the  April  number  of  this  journal  I  gave  a  short  preliminary  notice 
of  a  hydrocarbon  that  had  been  given  me  as  coming  from  Pinus  ponde- 
rosa.  It  seemed  to  be  the  same  as  WenzelPs  abietene,  from  Pinus  sabiana, 
described  in  this  journal  (March,  1872,  p.  97),  agreeing  with  it  in  all 
the  tests  applied.  I  therefore  took  steps  to  procure  a  larger  portion  of 
the  abietene,  meaning  to  investigate  it  fully.  In  the  meantime  Prof. 
Thorpe  has  given  the  results  of  a  study  made  by  him  upon  the  same 
material.  These  results  are  summarized  below.  I  will  therefore  aban- 
don my  proposed  examination  of  the  abietene,  as  the  subject  has  been 
sufficiently  and  thoroughly  settled  by  Prof.  Thorpe's  investigation. 
Extract  from  "  Chemical  News,"  April  25TH,  1879. 
"  On  Heptane  from  Pinus  Sabiana"  by  T.  E.  Thorpe.  In  the 
111  Pharmaceutical  Journal,"  March  30,  1872,  W.  Wenzell  described, 
under  the  name  of  Abietene,  a  new  hydrocarbon  obtained  by  distilling 
the  exudation  of  the  Pinus  sabiana^  a  tree  indigenous  to  California, 
known  locally  as  the  nut  pine,  or  digger's  pine.  To  procure  the  exu- 
dation, the  tree  during  winter  is  notched  and  guttered  at  a  convenient 
height  from  the  ground.  The  resin  on  distillation  yields  the  liquid 
hydrocarbon.  The  crude  oil  is  met  with  in  San  Francisco  as  an  arti- 
cle of  commerce  under  the  names  of  abietene,  erasine,  etc.,  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  benzolin,  for  removing  grease  spots,  etc.  It  is  a  nearly  col- 
orless mobile  liquid,  of  a  powerful  aromatic  smell,  resembling  that  of 
