WOOD ALCOHOL, CH

3 OH. Otherwise known as methyl alcohol, wood spirit, wood naphtha, pyroligneous spirit, Columbian spirits, etc. Chemically, the simplest of the alcohols. It is a colorle liquid, having an odor similar to that of ethyl, or grain, alcohol, miscible with water in all proportions, and highly inflammable, burning with a blue flame. It boils at 66°8°C, melts at 97° 8°C and has a specific gravity of 0°7913. It is cla ed as poisonous, and as it occurs on the market it is a virulent poison, causing blindne and death. It is maintained by some authorities, however, that chemically pure wood alcohol is not poisonous, and that the deadly effect of the commercial product is due to acetone, aldehydes and other impurities which it always contains. Wood alcohol is manufactured by the dry distillation of wood. The distillate, representing about 50% of the weight of the wood, is known as crude pyroligneous acid, and contains about 81% water, 3 to 4% alcohol, and 6 to 8% acetic acid. On standing, tarry and oily matter separates and the clear liquor is neutralized with lime and distilled. The distillate contains wood alcohol and _ its concentration is increased by rectification. Methyl alcohol finds many applications in industry. It is used as a solvent and as a fuel, for the manufacture of formaldehyde, in the synthesis of dyes and other organic compounds, and as a denaturant for ethyl alcohol. Wood alcohol is detected in ethyl alcohol by first oxidizing to formaldehyde and then testing for the latter by means of a color reaction, one of the commonest being the formation of a pink color with a dilute solution of resorcinol.