The New York herald., 1920-01-04
By DR.. HARRIS A. HoUGHTCN.

There is one oonsoling feature abou
using wood. or menthyl, alcohol as a drink
There is no such thing as n habit con
nected with it. Either tho unfortunat,
victims die with more or less suffering ane
promptitude or II they live they live
with complete loss of eyesight. There are
very few people who live with no harm
done. AS for second or third dose. there
is no such thing; at least none on record
{, IL is unthnkable that one who has ac-
} 1cidentally taken a dose OF wood alcohol
as synthetic whiskey. should ever have .
desire to even take chance with ordinary
grain, or ethyl alcohol In this respect
wood alcohol is like bichloride Of mercury
:, There may be the first drink but never the
second
So many people having died during the
last week from the innocent use of methyl
alcohol, made up into synthetic whiskey
of the moonshine variety. that it brings
the whole question of the proper use OF
this stuff. and its dangers. again to the
fore Fifteen years ago. tho matter was
threshed out by the medical journals, and
the dangersr were fully pointed out and re-
allied by the profession at large. The his
tory is interesting because It presents an
orderly development in the discovery and
use OF a new substance in industrial
chemistry, cheapenng end products and
; doing the work required much better than
many of the older methods in use.
Daners Misunderstood.
At that time there was great deal OF
misunderstanding and misconception as
to its dangers in Industrial chemistry,
which were fortunately cleared away. The
danger in it's use lay in the fact that
people did not realize that substitute for
grain alcohol in making various prepara-
tions was being used.
AS distinct chemical substance, methyl
alcohol was discovered by the Englishman
Robert Boyle, in 1861 and its composition
and proprieties were finally fully described
by Dumas and Peligot, two Frenchmen. in
1895. From that time on 1t was regarded as
more or less OF q chemical curiosity, ethyl,
or grain. alcohol being cheap and able to
do all the things required of that kind Of
an agent. But grain. increasing in price,
and the internal revenue taxing grain al
cohol brought out commercial methods Tor
making wood alcohol and by 1900 wood
alcohol was being manufactured in large
quantities and used as a substitute. For
instance, in dssolving gums of various
kinds, in the manufacture of celluloid. arti-
enamels, formaldehyde, anilne dyes ana
as a solvent for the explosive nitro
cellulose wood alcohol Is as good as or
better than the grain and much less ex-
persive.
Furthermore for external applications
in bay rum, cologne water and witch
hazel wood alcohol furnished passahle
substitute. In the years following 1890
quite number of deaths happened on
Indian reservations from wood alcohol.
Indians, drunk with ordinary whislSey,
which they We're forbidden by law to
have, would seize anything which might
have the smell of alcohol such as bay
rum, and the result was sorry one for
the victims. 1t was at this time the
whole subject OF the toxicity Of wood
alcohol was re-exa mined and medical men
warned of it's dangers.
100 Plants Making Product.
At present there are more than hun
dred plants for making this form of alcohol
In the United States. most OF them direct
~ connected with lumber plants and char
coal ron furnaces. The raw material
is waste hard wood. and the process is
one of destructive distillation. The pri-
mary products are crude wood alcohol.
acetate of lime and charcoal. This crude
primary distillate contains methyl alcohol
acetone n,ethyl acetots.. dimethyl acetate,
aldehyde and various ketones. All of these
substances are highly poisonous. Even