ETHER, (CjHs^O, the Aether of pharmacy, a colourless, volatile, highly inflammable liquid, of specific gravity o- 736 at o°, boiling-point 35° C., and freezing-point n7°'4 C. (K. Olszewski). It has a strong and characteristic odour, and a hot sweetish taste, is soluble in ten parts of water, and in all proportions in alcohol, and dissolves bromine, iodine, and, in small quantities, sulphur and phosphorus, also the volatile oils, most fatty and resinous substances, guncotton, caoutchouc and certain of the vegetable alkaloids. The vapour mixed with oxygen or air is violently explosive. The making of ether by the action of sulphuric acid on alcohol was known in about the i3th century; and later Basil Valentine and Valerius Cordus described its preparation and properties. The name ether appears to have been applied to the drug only since the times of Frobenius, who in 1730 termed it spiritus aethereus or vini vitriolatus. It was considered to be a sulphur compound, hence its name sulphur ether; this idea was proved to be erroneous by Valentine Rose in about 1800.
\nEther is manufactured by the distillation of 5 parts of 90% alcohol with 9 parts of concentrated sulphuric acid at a temperature of i4o°-i4S° C., a constant stream of alcohol being caused to flow into the mixture during the operation The distillate is purified by treatment with lime and calcium chloride, and subsequent distillation. The mechanism of this reaction was explained by A. Williamson in 1850. For other methods of preparation see ETHERS.' i See also J. v. Liebig, Ann. Chem. Pharm., 1837, 23, p. 39! l839i •to p 129; E. Mitscherlich, Fogg. Ann., 1836, 31, p. 273:1841, 53, P. '95; A. W. Williamson, Phil. Mag., 1850 (3), 37, P- 35<>. ETHEREDGE— ETHERIDGE The presence of so small a quantity as i % of alcohol may be detected in ether by the colour imparted to it by aniline violet ; if water or acetic acid be present, the ether must be shaken with anhydrous potassium carbonate before the application of the test. When heated with zinc dust, it yields ethylene and water. Chromic acid oxidizes it to acetic acid and ozone oxidizes it to ethyl peroxide. In contact with hydriodic acid gas at o°C., it forms ethyl iodide (R. D. Silva, Ber., 1875, 8, p. 903), and with water and a little sulphuric acid at 180° C., it yields alcohol (K.
\nErlenmeyer, /«'/./. ckemie, iKoS.'p. 343). It forms crystalline compounds with bromine and with many metallic salts. Mtdieiiu. — For the anaesthetic properties of ether see ANAES-
","volume_id":"britannica-11-v9","page_range_label":"Vol. 9, pp. 806-806","source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/page/n853/mode/1up","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich","quality_status":"ocr-imported-page-aligned","parser_version":"ia-djvu-xml-v1","page_refs":[{"page_number":"806","label":"p. 806","image_url":"/source-assets/scans/britannica-11/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_0854.jpg","source_image_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_jp2.zip/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_jp2%2Fencyclopaediabrit09chisrich_0854.jp2&ext=jpg","source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/page/n853/mode/1up"}],"work":{"id":"britannica-11","slug":"britannica-11","title":"Encyclopaedia Britannica","short_title":"Britannica 11th","edition":"11th edition","publisher":"Cambridge University Press","publication_start_year":1910,"publication_end_year":1911,"language":"English","country":"United Kingdom / United States","copyright_status_note":"First published before 1931; treated as public domain in the United States. Verify jurisdiction before redistribution outside the U.S.","source_quality":"mixed-clean-and-ocr","text_source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri","volumes":[{"id":"britannica-11-v1","volume_number":"1","title":"A to Androphagi","year":1910,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri01chisrich","text_source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri01chisrich","page_count":1084},{"id":"britannica-11-v2","volume_number":"2","title":"Andros to Austria","year":1910,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri02chisrich","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabri02chisrich/encyclopaediabri02chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri02chisrich","page_count":null},{"id":"britannica-11-v9","volume_number":"9","title":"Edwardes to Evangelical Association","year":1910,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabrit09chisrich","page_count":null},{"id":"britannica-11-v26","volume_number":"26","title":"Submarine Mines to Tom-Tom","year":1911,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri26chisrich","text_source_url":"https://archive.org/download/encyclopaediabri26chisrich/encyclopaediabri26chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri26chisrich","page_count":null},{"id":"britannica-11-v27","volume_number":"27","title":"Tonality to Vesuvius","year":1911,"source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri27chisrich","text_source_url":"https://ia903207.us.archive.org/15/items/encyclopaediabri27chisrich/encyclopaediabri27chisrich_djvu.txt","scan_source_url":"https://archive.org/details/encyclopaediabri27chisrich","page_count":null}]}}]}