The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-01-31

The term Industrial Alcohol" is us
ed for brevity, and also because it diff
ferentiates sharply between alcohol
used for beverages or for medicine
and alcohol used for technical purpos-
es in the arts. Inasmuch as alcohol
is the chief active ingredient in a
great many beverages which are very
extensively used turnout the United
States, n as the alcohol in these
beverages, with the exception of that
in wines and elders, is subject to il
ternal revenue taxi it is of he great
est Importance to the revenues of the
Government that taxfree alcohol for
Industrial purposes be rendered unfit
for drinking, either directly or by ad-
mixture with other bodies.
The process of rendering alcohol
unsuitable for drinking is called de
Maturing" and consists, essentially, in
adding to the alcohol a substance solu
able therein of a bad taste or odor,
or both, of an intensity which would
render it impossible or impracticable
to use the mixture as a drink.
The substance should be of a char
acter which renders it difficult of be-
ing entirely removed from the alco-
hol by any usual process of distilla-
ton. 1t is well known that il many
cases of depraved taste, and where
the alcohol habit has obtained com
plete mastery, no kind of denaturing
will prevent an unfortunate victim of
such a habit from utilizing alcohol
for drinking purposes. Any liquid
| containing alcohol, no matter how bit
ter or repugnant it's taste may be Or
how bad it's odor, and no matter from
what source derived, will be drunk,
even with the knowledge that the ma
terial added to it is of a poisonous
character. The number of such unfOr
Inmates, however, in the country is ex
tremely limited, and no material inter
ference with the of the Gov
eminent can be reasonably anticipated
from the fact that such persons will
drink even the most completely dena
tured alcoho1s.
Industrial alcohol, therefore, is A
product which is the joint York of the
farmer and the manufacturer. The
function of the farmer consists in the
production of the raw materials from
which the alcohol is to be made. The
manufacturer takes these raw mater
ials and converts them into alcohol.
This is lone under the supervision
and control of the Bureau of Internal
Revenue of the Treasury Department:
Thus, in point of fact, three different
agents of activity are interested in
the production of industrial alcohol
the farmer, the distiller, and the in
ternal revenue official.
Substances used for Denaturing
Alcohol
The number of substances which
have been MKT with alcohol to dena-
ture it is extremely large, and hat
particular denaturing agent should be
selected which is best adapted to tie
| special use to which the denatured
alcohol is to be put. Among the sub
stances which have been proposed are
the following:
Gum shellac with or without the
addition of camphor, ~turpentine, wood
spirit, etc., colophonium, copal resin,
Manila gum, compton, turpentine, ace
tic acid acetic ether, etnylic ether,
methyl alcohol wood alcohol, pyri-
din, acetone, methyl acetate, methyl
violet, methylene blue, anilin blue, CO.
| Gin A,,orocoain onhtho1on o1Cfnr
oil, benzin, carbolic acid, caustic soda.
musk, animal oils, etc.
The materials and the quantities
which are employed depend upon the
purposes for which the denatured al
| conoI is to be used. There are many
technical uses of alcohol, however, in
which the pure alcohol only a De
employed, and it is a question to be
decided by the Bureau of Internal Rev
enue whether such use of pure alco-
hol can be permitted under rhe exist
ing law. Fhe materials which are to
be used for d~enaturiag. the quantities
| thereof to be employed, and the ARE
house in which denaturing can take
place are fully described in the rules
and regulations established by the
Commissioners of Internal Revenue for
carrying into effect the provisions of
the law.
81 Sources of Portable Alcohol. +
The raw materials from which aico,
hol is made consists of those crops
grown upon the farm which contain
sugar, starch, gum, and eeIlulose
kfwoody fber) capable of being easily.
converted into a fermentable sugar
Alcohol as such is not used as a bey-
erage. The alcohol occurring IN dis