70        on  eschwege's  patent  wood  naphtha,  etc. 
.two  vinous  fermentations.  When  three  years  old  it  is  fit  for 
market.  Its  alcoholic  strength  varies  from  seven  (7)  to  ten  (10) 
per  cent.,  according  to  its  age. 
Its  flavor  is  pleasantly  vinous,  sweet,  and  similar  to  foreign 
sherry.  Its  peculiar  medical  value  lies  in  an  aperient  pro- 
perty, aside  from  its  alcoholic  tonic  power,  a  gentle  movement 
of  the  bowels  usually  following  its  free  use. 
It  is  marketed  by  Mr.  Mudge  in  glass,  and  in  10,  20,  and 
40  gallon  casks.    Value,  $3  per  gallon. 
Detroit,  Sept.  1,  1865. 
— Amer.  JPharm.  Assoc.,  1865. 
ON  ESCHWEGE'S  PATENT  WOOD  NAPHTHA,  AND  ITS 
USES  IN  THE  ARTS  AND  MANUFACTURES. 
By  Mr.  John  Tuck. 
In  a  paper  published  in  the  "  Pharmaceutical  Journal  "  for 
January,  1863,  I  drew  the  attention  of  pharmaceutists  to  what 
was  at  that  time  a  new  and  remarkable  spirit  patented  in  this 
country,  and  known  as  "Patent  Pure  Wood  Spirit,"  or  "Patent 
Pure  Wood  Naphtha,"  samples  of  which  were  shown  at  the  late 
International  Exhibition. 
This  spirit  was  as  odorless  as  ordinary  spirit  of  wine,  and  as 
free  from  any  disagreeable  taste.  It  was,  in  fact,  so  totally 
unlike  the  ordinary  wood-spirit  or  naphtha  of  commerce,  that  I 
felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  ascertain  positively  that  it  was  one  of 
the  many  products  of  the  destructive  distillation  of  wood,  before 
making  any  extended  trials  of  its  solvent  powers  on  various 
bodies.  I  should,  perhaps,  here  state  that  naphtha  or  wood 
spirit  can,  when  not  mixed  with  fermented  spirit,  be  readily 
detected  by  means  of  oxalic  acid,  the  naphtha  being  converted 
into  crystals  of  the  oxalate  of  oxide  of  methyl,  solid  at  all 
ordinary  temperatures,  whilst  fermented  spirit  is  by  the  same 
treatment  only  converted  into  a  liquid,  heavier  than  and  a  little 
soluble  in  water.  On  submitting  this  new  spirit  to  the  action  of 
oxalic  acid,  the  formation  of  these  crystals  of  methyl-oxalic  ether 
thoroughly  proved  it  to  be  wood  spirit  with  which  I  had  to  deal. 
This  patent  wood  naphtha  is  obtained  from  the  commercial 
