Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  19 19. 
Benzyl  Alcohol. 
297 
to  linseed."  Other  sellers  are  not  so  conscientious  and  sell  with  the 
intention  of  defrauding  the  public. 
A  practical  drying  test  on  glass,  and  a  comparison  of  the  result- 
ing time  of  drying,  nature  of  film  formed,  etc.,  will  often  give  a  good 
idea  of  the  relative  value  of  these  oils  compared  to  linseed  oil. 
Some  samples  of  this  type  of  material  would  not  dry,  but  re- 
mained tacky  for  over  144  hours.  Others  gave  hard,  brittle  films 
containing  rosin. 
The  net  result  of  the  foregoing  hasty  summary  is  that  unless  the 
painter  is  equipped  to  investigate  or  is  willing  to  trust  the  paint 
manufacturer  who  is  equipped  both  to  investigate  and  to  produce,  he 
had  better  make  the  best  of  what  he  knows — pure  linseed  oil — as 
long  as  he  can  obtain  it. 
We  all  remember  how  in  "  Through  the  Looking  Glass  "  a  person 
had  to  run  just  as  fast  as  he  could  to  stay  right  where  he  was.  If 
you  wanted  to  get  ahead,  it  was  necessary  to  put  on  a  wonderful 
burst  of  speed.  So  it  is  with  this,  and  all  other  modern  industries; 
much  of  our  time  is  occupied  keeping  up  to  the  times,  so  let  us  not 
be  too  confident  that  there  is  not  a  wider  art  or  a  deeper  science 
than  our  own.    Such  confidence  may  entail  a  rude  awakening. 
BENZYL  ALCOHOL.1 
By  Lecturer  on  Pharmacy, 
university  of  sydney. 
Benzyl  alcohol  is  the  latest  addition  to  our  list  of  local  anaes- 
thetics, and  one  likely  to  prove  of  great  value.  In  these  days  of 
cocaine  shortage  and  restriction  it  will  be  particularly  welcome. 
As  a  chemical  compound  we  have  known  benzyl  alcohol  for  about 
a  century,  and  its  constitution  has  been  thoroughly  established.  It 
belongs  to  the  aromatic  series  of  carbon  compounds,  and  is  isomeric 
with  the  three  cresols  having  the  molecular  formula  C7HsO.  It 
differs  from  the  cresols  in  constitution,  the  hydroxyl  group  occurring 
in  the  side  chain  (C6H5CH2OH)  ;  it  is  also  known  as  phenyl  carbinol, 
and  may  be  considered  as  methyl  alcohol,  in  which  one  hydrogen 
atom  of  the  methyl  group  is  replaced  by  phenyl.    Its  alcohol  char- 
1  Reprinted  from  The  Chemist  and  Druggist  of  Australasia,  January,  1919. 
