Reports on the successful application of methylated spirit, under the provisions of the Act 18 & 19 Victoria, cap. 38., to various purposes in the arts, manufactures, and scientific research, in 1856 : addressed to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue.

Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports on the successful application of methylated spirit, under the provisions of the Act 18 & 19 Victoria, cap. 38., to various purposes in the arts, manufactures, and scientific research, in 1856 : addressed to the Commissioners of Inland Revenue. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    ON THE SUPPLY OF SPIPJT OF WINE FREE FPtOM DUTY FOR USE IN THE ARTS. Sir,—We have tlie honour to report on the practicability of supplying for commercial purposes, a mixed spirit free from duty, without injury to the revenue,—a subject proposed to us for investi- gation in your letter of March 25, in the following terms :— The attention of Government, has for some time been directed to the importance of allowing spirit of wine, free of duty, for use in the arts and manufactures. In order that such a privilege may be granted with safety to the revenue, it is absolutely necessary that means should be devised by which the spirit may first be rendered unfit for human consumption. It is also indispensable —1st. That spirit, after being thus treated, should still be so pure as to be generally available for the purposes to which it is to be applied in the arts or manufactures. 2nd. That it should not be capable of purification by any simple process of rectification or otherwise, so as to be made palatable by the addition of sweetening or flavouring ingredients. It is also highly desirable, that while the mixed spirit should be rendered as ofiensive as possible to the taste or smell, no decidedly poisonous properties should be communicated. Some preliminary inquiries have been made into this subject. Mr. Phillips, one of our surveying-general examiners, has sug- gested a substance to be mixed in certain proportions with spirit which would interfere very little with its use in the arts, while it would render it highly unpalatable although not unwholesome. Dr. Hofmann, as you are aware, has made a number of experi- ments on spirits mixed in the manner suggested, and obtained