ON  BSCHWEGIS'S  PATENT  WOOD  NAPHTHA,  ETC. 
cases  even  more  so  than  in  spirit  of  wine.  In  my  former  paper 
I  gave  a  list  of  more  than  twenty  essential  oils  I  had  dissolved 
in  it ;  since  then  I  have  tried  its  solvent  action  on  many  other 
essential  oils  and  substances  used  in  perfumery,  and  the  general 
conclusion  I  have  come  to  concerning  it  is,  that  it  is  a  most  valu- 
able menstruum,  and  one  well  worthy  the  attention  of  perfumers 
and  others  requiring  a  spirit  for  its  solvent  action.  I  have  made 
several  compound  perfumes,  using  only  the  patent  wood  naphtha 
as  a  solvent, — amongst  them  have  been  lavender  water,  verbena, 
eau  de  Cologne,  the  "favorite,"  etc.;  and  I  have  pleasure  in 
placing  samples  of  the  perfumes  so  prepared  before  the  Confer- 
ence, and  some  specimens  illustrating  the  purification  of  the  crude 
naphtha, — No.  1,  being  the  mixture  of  oily  hydrocarbons  ob- 
tained by  diluting  the  naphtha  with  water,  and  found  floating  on 
the  surface  of  the  diluted  spirit ;  No.  2,  obtained  by  distilling 
the  charcoal  used  in  the  purification  of  the  diluted  spirit ;  No. 
3,  the  finished  patent  wood  naphtha,  as  sent  into  commerce. 
For  making  transparent  soaps,  as  far  as  my  experiments  per- 
mit me  to  give  an  opinion,  it  will  be  found  to  answer  in  every 
respect  as  well  as  fermented  spirit — curd,  Castile,  and  other 
soaps  being  just  as  soluble  in  it.  It  will  be  in  the  recollection 
of  some  here  present,  that  a  few  years  ago  ordinary  wood- 
naphtha  was  given  and  recommended  extensively  in  the  treat- 
ment of  phthisis,  and  now  that  it  can  be  obtained  free  from  odor 
and  disagreeable  taste,  its  medicinal  action  upon  the  system 
would  form  a  very  interesting  inquiry.  In  cases  of  painful 
inflammation,  headache,  etc.,  etc.,  the  "Patent  Wood-spirit" 
makes  a  far  better  evaporating  lotion  than  spirit  of  wine  in  the 
same  proportions,  on  account  of  its  greater  volatility,  its  boiling- 
point  being  much  lower.  To  the  naturalist  it  affords  a  new  and 
valuable  agent  for  the  preservation  of  his  animal  and  vegetable 
specimens,  being  free  from  the  faults  that  attend  the  ordinary 
naphtha.  It  also  promises  to  be  of  the  highest  importance  in 
photography  ;  from  some  experiments  detailed  lately  in  one  of 
the  photographic  journals,  gun-cotton  is  more  soluble  in  it  than 
in  sulphuric  ether,  and  I  have  seen  a  good  picture  taken  upon 
collodion  so  prepared.  The  patent  wood-naphtha  collodion  will 
prove  a  great  boon  to  photographers  in   India   and  warm 
