288 
Current  Literature. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jnne,  1913. 
(b)  Specific  gravity.  Determined  in  a  Sprengel  tube  at  25°. 
A.  0.8648.    B.  0.8625.    C.  0.8749. 
(c)  Optical  rotation.  A.  +  io°  49'.  B.  —  8°  36'.  C. — 
6°  3ir. 
(d)  Solubility.  A  and  B  formed  clear  solutions  with  2  to  10 
vols.  95  per  cent,  alcohol.  C  formed  a  clear  solution  with  1  to  10 
vols.  95  per  cent,  alcohol. 
(e)  Petroleum.  Hydrocarbons  of  the  paraffin  series  were 
proved  absent  by  the  fuming  nitric  acid  test 7  in  each  of  the  oils. 
(/)  Turpentine.  The  presence  of  turpentine  in  all  three  oils 
was  demonstrated  by  the  preparation  of  pinene  nitrosochloride. 
4.  Petroleum  in  the  original  oil.  Samples  A  and  C  were  tested 
for  petroleum  products  by  the  fuming  nitric  acid  test.8  Sample  A. 
The  burette  method  was  tried  twice,  but  the  reaction  could  not  be 
completed  owing  to  the  dense  froth  produced  which  persisted  in 
going  out  the  top  of  the  burette.  The  experiment  was  then  done 
in  a  shallow  porcelain  dish,  using  40  c.c.  of  fuming  nitric  acid  and 
10  c.c.  of  the  oil.  After  the  reaction  was  complete,  the  liquid  was 
poured  into  a  burette.  Result :  light  red-brown,  clear  liquid,  no 
oily  separation  at  surface.  Sample  C.  It  proved  to  be  practicable 
to  handle  this  sample  in  a  burette.  Result :  deep  red-brown  liquid, 
holding  in  suspension  resinous  particles,  but  no  oily  separation  at 
surface.  These  experiments  proved  the  absence  of  hydrocarbons 
of  the  paraffin  series  (petroleum,  kerosene,  etc.). 
5,  Presence  of  sulphur.  A  finely  powdered,  intimate  admix- 
ture of  anhydrous  sodium  carbonate,  40  gms.,  potassium  nitrate, 
80  gms.,  and  pure,  dry  sodium  chloride,9  240  gms.,  was  prepared  by 
prolonged  trituration  in  a  mortar.  Half  a  cubic  centimeter  of  the 
Haarlem  oil  was  put  into  a  15  c.c.  porcelain  crucible,  provided  with 
a  cover,  10  gms.  of  the  above  mixture  of  salts  were  added,  the 
crucible  was  covered  and  heated  at  1200  over  night.  Then  the  tem- 
perature was  raised  gradually  until  the  mass  was  in  a  state  of  quiet 
fusion.  After  cooling,  the  mass  was  extracted  with  boiling  water, 
the  solution  filtered,  the  filtrate  evaporated  to  dryness,  the  residue 
brought  to  complete  dryness  repeatedly  in  the  presence  of  HQ  in 
order  to  expel  HN03,  then  dissolved  in  boiling  water  and  again 
7  Annual  Report  of  Lehn  &  Fink's  Analytical  Department  for  1909.  p.  26. 
8  Ibid. 
9  Table  salt  is  never  pure  enough  for  analytical  use.  It  usually  contains 
a  considerable  percentage  of  S04. 
