ON  AMYLIC  ALCOHOL. 
155 
gratifying  sight,  exhibiting  not  merely  the  blessing  conferred  on 
suffering  humanity  by  the  use  of  chloroform,  and  the  gratitude 
due  to  Professor  Simpson  on  that  account,  but  in  this  particular 
case  satisfactorily  proving  that  chloroform  prepared  from  u  me- 
thylated spirit "  is  as  effectual,  as  safe  and  as  readily  applied  as 
that  prepared  from  spirit  of  wine  alone.  Indeed,  the  learned 
Professor  stated  that  he  would  give  it  the  preference,  inasmuch 
as  it  seemed  to  produce  its  effects  more  readily  even  than  the  other. 
Thus  we  have  another  pleasing  result  of  the  liberality  of  the 
Government  in  this  matter,  as  the  British  manufacturer  is  now 
placed  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  foreign,  the  necessity  for  pro- 
tecting duties  done  away,  and  the  price  greatly  reduced  to  the  public. 
Spiritus  Etheris  Nitrosi  should  now  occupy  attention,  but  the 
length  of  the  preceding  remarks  compel  a  postponement  to  a 
future  opportunity. 
Mr.  Macfarlan  then  presented  specimens  of  ether  and  chloro- 
form prepared  from  the  methylated  spirit. —  Trans,  North 
Brit.  Pharm.  Society,  in  London  Pharm.  Jour.,  January  1, 
1856. 
ON  AMYLIC  ALCOHOL. 
By  L.  Pasteur. 
Crude  amylic  alcohol  consists  for  the  most  part  of  two  chemi- 
cally similar  bodies,  which  however  are  distinct.  The  atoms  in 
the  one  have  a  different  arrangement  from  those  of  the  other. 
One  is  active  in  polarized  light,  the  other  passive. 
The  compounds  of  active  amylic  alcohol  are  all  active,  those 
of  the  inactive  are  also  inactive.  The  proportions  in  which  the 
two  kinds  occur  together  varies  according  to  the  mode  of  prepara- 
tion of  the  alcohol.  The  crude  oil  produced  by  the  fermentation 
of  the  juice  of  beet-root  contains  one-third  of  the  active  and  two- 
thirds  of  the  inactive  alcohol ;  the  crude  oil  from  the  fermenta- 
tive of  molasses  consists  of  the  two  alcohols  in  nearly  equal  pro- 
portions. The  two  alcohols  cannot  be  separated  by  distillation ; 
the  author  prepared  them  for  the  sulphamylate  of  baryta.  A  very 
large  quantity  of  this  salt  is  prepared  from  the  crude  oil.  The 
purified  crystals  exhibit  no  difference  in  appearance  or  chemical 
composition,  but  it  is  soon  seen  that  a  portion  of  them  dissolves 
