Methyl Alcohol

Methyl Alcohol, also known as Wood Spirits or Wood Naphtha, is the first and simplest of the series of compounds known as alcohols, and possesses the composition CH,OH. It is found among the products of the dry distillation of wood and from this source it is usually obtained. It is a colourless and mobile liquid, which has a specific gravity of -796, and boils at 66° C. It is very flammable, and is used as a source of heat, and largely as a solvent for caoutchouc, gums, and other organic products. If oxidised, it behaves like other primary alcohols, yielding an acid - in this case form ic acid (q.v.).