^^jJour.Pharm.|      Purification  of  Methylic  Alcohol.  129 
jars  if  desired ;  about  one-tenth  of  tlie  entire  amount  is  shipped  in  the 
comb.  During  1887  there  were  shipped  to  the  East  from  Los  Angeles 
1,256,210  pounds,  and  from  San  Francisco  1,090,000  pounds,  together 
with  250,000  pounds  of  comb  honey.  Canned  honey  usually  sells  at  the 
apiaries  at  from  four  to  six  cents  per  pound.  I  have  frequently 
bought  honey  of  superb  quality  for  five  cents  per  pound.  In  car  load 
lots  it  can  be  laid  down  in  any  eastern  city  at  from  two  to  three  cents 
a  pound  for  freight.  It  could  be  sold  with  profit  by  retail  dealers  at 
ten  to  twelve  cents.  Last  season  was  unfavorable  for  honey  produc- 
tion, and  in  consequence  the  quality  is  not  up  to  the  standard  although 
the  price  is  higher  than  usual.  In  view  of  the  figures  given  above  as 
to  quantity  and  price  it  would  seem  that  there  is  no  sufficient  reason 
why  all  persons  who  use  honey  for  domestic  and  other  purposes  can- 
not be  fully  supplied.  The  honey  of  California  is  unsurpassed  by  any 
in  the  world,  and  nowhere  else  can  honey  of  equal  quality  be  pro- 
cured in  such  large  amount.  There  are  reliable  merchants  in  each  of 
the  counties  named  who  can  supply  honey  of  the  best  flavor  and  pur- 
est quality  in  any  desired  quantity  from  a  single  can  to  a  car  load,  at 
prices  entirely  within  the  reach  of  all  who  are  accustomed  to  the  use 
of  pure  articles  of  food. 
PURIFICATIOJS-  OF  METHYLIC  ALCOHOL. 
By  Joseph  Emil  Huber,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
Methylic  alcohol,  also  known  as  wood  spirit,  wood  naphtha,  or 
wood  alcohol,  was  discovered  in  1812  by  P.  Taylor,  by  subjecting 
wood  to  destructive  distillation.  It  is  obtained  mixed  with  different 
compounds,  and  after  being  separated  from  the  tarry  products,  is  care- 
fully redistilled,  treated  with  quick-lime,  and  again  distilled,  and  then 
treated  with  sulphuric  acid,  allowed  to  stand  some  time,  decanted, 
and,  as  before,  redistilled.  In  this  condition  it  still  has  an  empyreu- 
matic  odor.  To  obtain  a  pure  product  a  moderately  pure  alcohol  is 
treated  with  pure  oxalic  acid  till  saturated ;  after  heating  it  awhile, 
and,  on  cooling,  crystals  of  oxalate  of  methyl  form,  having  the  formu- 
la (CH3)2  C2  O4.  This,  after  being  warmed  and  liquefied,  is  filtered 
and  put  in  a  flask  of  suitable  capacity,  is  decomposed  by  either  caustic 
soda  or  potash,  using  an  inverted  condenser,  and  heating  till  the  re- 
action is  supposed  to  have  finished,  the  products  being  sodium  or 
