8  Thymol  and  Carvacrol  Problems.     { ^l^m™' 
the  most  commonly  used  booze  throughout  the  country,  as  by 
this  decision  it  is  classified  as  "unfit  for  use  for  beverage  pur- 
poses" and  may  be  sold  promiscuously  by  any  person. 
The  intent  of  the  Volstead  Act  is  to  restrict  the  distribution 
of  intoxicating  liquors  and  alcoholic  medicines  to  the  licensed  phar- 
macists and  if  this  intent  was  carried  out  the  distribution  could  be 
controlled  and  the  illegal  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  would  be  more 
promptly  eliminated. 
G.  M.  B. 
ORIGINAL  PAPERS 
THYMOL  AND  CARVACROL  PROBLEMS  * 
By  D.  C.  L.  SHERK.f 
EXTRACTION  OF  THE  PHENOLS  FROM  ALKALINE  SOLUTION. 
In  the  separation  of  the  phenols  from  the  volatile  oil  of  Satureja 
hortensis,  L.  Jahns  1  in  1882  first  extracted  the  oil  with  10  per  cent, 
sodium  hydroxide ;  recovered  the  phenols  by  acidification  with 
hydrochloric  acid,  and  again  dissolved  them  in  an  equal  volume  of 
15  per  cent,  sodium  hydroxide.  When  this  alkaline  solution  was 
extracted  by  shaking  with  ether  repeatedly  until  nothing  more  came 
out,  a  phenol  was  removed  which  was  proven  to  be  carvacrol.  This 
was  completely  removed  from  the  alkaline  solution  by  ether.  An- 
other phenol  remained  as  completely  in  solution. 
In  1899  Klages  2  made  the  observation,  very  interesting  to  him, 
that  carvacrol  as  well  as  the  isomer  thymol  can  be  removed  from 
alkaline  solution  by  steam  distillation;  and  he  also  confirms  Jahns' 
observation  that  the  alkaline  solution  of  the  phenol  could  not  be 
purified  by  extraction  with  ether;  since  the  phenol  is  removed  like- 
wise. According  to  him,  other  phenols  would  not  distill  from  alka- 
line solution. 
*  From  the  laboratory  of  Edward  Kremers. 
tFritzsche  Bros.  Fellow. 
1  Jahns,  Ber.  15  (1882),  p.  817. 
2  Klages,  Ber.  32  (1899),  P-  1517. 
