Aether Sulphuricus Cum Alcohole. Edin. Sidphuric Aether with Alcohol

"Take of sulphuric aether, one part-; alcohol two parts. Mix them."

Liquor .Aethereus Sulphuricus, Dub. Sulphuric Aethe-real Liquor.

"Take of rectified spirit of wine, sulphuric acid, of each (by weight) thirty-two ounces. Let the spirit heated to 120° be poured into a glass retort fit to bear a sudden heat, and add the acid in an uninterrupted stream; let them be gradually mixed, and by means of a quick and sufficiently powerful heat, distil twenty ounces of the liquor into a receiver kept cool.

"If sixteen ounces of rectified spirit of wine be poured on the residuary acid in the retort, more sulphuric aethereal liquor will be obtained by repeating the distillation."

In the old method of preparing this spirit by distilling the charge for sulphuric aether by a slow and gradually increased heat, an alcoholized aether was obtained, owing to part of the alcohol first passing over unaltered before the aether was

. formed, the specific gravity of which was .768; but the gravity of the above mixture is .816, showing that it contains considerably less aether in combination with the alcohol.

1 Dr. Paris says ( Pharmacologia), that this a?thcreal spirit, when added in a small proportion to malt spirits, communicates to them a flavour resembling that of French brandy.

Medical properties and uses. - It may be used for the same purposes as the aether; but it is necessarily much less active. The dose is from f 3ss. to f 3 ij. An useful gargle for slight inflammation of the fauces is prepared by adding f 3 j. of this spirit to f vj. of barley-water, sweetened with f 3 iv. of syrup of marsh-mallows.

Spiritus Aetheris Sulphurici Compositus. Lond. Compound Spirit of Aether

"Take of sulphuric aether, eight fluid ounces; rectified spirit, sixteen fluid ounces; aethereal oil, three fluid drachms. Mix them."

Syn. Alcohol ethreux par l'acide sulphurique(.F.), Atherischer Schwefelegeist Liquor (G,), Anodinominerale dell' Hoffman (I.).

This is intended as a substitute for the anodyne liquor of Hoffmann; and, besides being stimulant and antispasmodic, it is supposed to possess anodyne properties. It is an useful addition to tincture of opium, when given with the intention of procuring sleep; and often prevents the opium from exciting the nausea which it is apt to produce in some habits. The dose is from f 3 ss. to f 3 ij. in any appropriate vehicle.

Aether Nitrosus. Dub. Nitrous Aether

"Take of nitrate of kali," dried and coarsely powdered, a pound and a half; sulphuric acid, a pound; rectified spirit of wine, nineteen fluid ounces. Put the nitrate of kali into a tubulated retort, placed in a bath of cold water, and pour upon it in small quantities, and at intervals, the sulphuric acid and the spirit previously mixed together, and allow the mixture to become cold. Without any external heat, or at least a very gentle one (such as may be communicated by the addition of a little tepid water to the bath), an aethereal liquor will begin to distil. In a short time the heat of the retort will spontaneously increase, and a considerable ebullition take place, which must be moderated by adding some cold water to the bath. The receiver must also be kept cool with water or snow, and furnished with a proper apparatus for transmitting the very elastic vapour (arising from the mixture with great force, if the heat be too much increased) through a pound of rectified spirit of wine in a phial which is to be kept cold.

"The aethereal liquor, thus spontaneously distilled, is to be put into a glass phial, fitted with a ground glass stopper, and as much subcarbonate of kali, dried, and in powder, is to be added as is necessary to neutralize the acid, closing the phial after each addition of the kali, and determining the neutralization by the test of litmus: about a drachm of salt is generally sufficient for this purpose; and in a short time the nitrous aether will rise to the surface, and is to be separated by means of a funnel.

"If the aether is required to be very pure, distil it again from a water bath, at a temperature of 140°, to one half. Its specific gravity is to that of distilled water as 900 to 1000."

The action of nitric acid on alcohol is so violent, that the formation of aether which it affords has always been regarded as a process of great difficulty, to obviate which many ingenious plans have been suggested. The operation which has been just described, is admirably adapted for procuring it with facility and safety. It was contrived by Wolfe, and was found by Pelletier to succeed better than any other. The sulphuric acid and the spirit must be mixed with the same degree of caution as is necessary in preparing sulphuric aether; and the receiver must be larger, and kept perfectly cool, with the apparatus described in the formulae attached to it, which should be kept cool by a mixture of snow or ice and chloride of lime.

In the above process, the nitrate of potassa is first decomposed, and nitric acid formed, which acts upon the alcohol as it evolves. The theory of this action is very obscure; but from a number of well-contrived experiments, Thenard was led to draw the following conclusions. Both the acid and the alcohol are decomposed; the oxygen of the former combines with a large proportion of the hydrogen, and a small quantity of the carbon of the alcohol; and thence result, "1st, Much water and nitrous oxide, and small quantities of carbonic acid, nitrous acid, and nitric oxide. 2dly, The separation of a small quantity of nitrogen, and the formation of much nitric aether by the combination in large quantity of the two elements of the nitric acid with the alcohol from which the large proportions of hydrogen and small proportion of carbon have been abstracted. 3dly, The formation of acetic acid, and of a matter disposed to pass to the state of charcoal, by the combination, in certain proportions, of the hydrogen and carbon of the alcohol with the oxygen of the nitric acid."1

Qualities. - Nitrous or rather nitric aether has a powerful aethereal odour, but is less fragrant than sulphuric aether. Its taste is strong and peculiar; and its colour slightly yellow, probably arising from the presence of a small portion of nitric oxide. When highly rectified, its specific gravity is 0.866.-It is more volatile than sulphuric aether, boiling at a temperature of 70°, and consequently producing a greater degree of cold by its evaporation; and is very inflammable. It requires 48 parts of water for its solution, but combines with alcohol in every proportion; and readily absorbs nitrous and acetic acids, both of which acids are formed in it when it is kept for some time. According to the analysis of Thenard, the constituents of 100 parts of nitric aether are 48.52 of oxygen, 28.45 of carbon, 14.49 of azote, and 8.54 of hydrogen; but this analysis is liable to some exceptions. According to Dumas and Boullay, its elements are 1 eq. of aether 37.48 + 1 eq. of hyponitrous acid = 38*15 making the equiv. = 75.63.

1 Murray's Chymistry, 2d edit. iv. 447.

2 Duncan, New English Dispensatory, 5th edit. 567.

Medical properties and uses. - Nitric aether, although introduced into the Dublin Pharmacopoeia, has not yet been generally used in practice; but it is probable that its properties are the same as those of sulphuric aether, and consequently it is applicable to the same cases.