NAPHTHA, in the commercial sense a prod uct of the fractionation of crude petroleum, ob tained by the redistillation of benzine, being the heavier constituent after the benzoline has dis tilled over. It is also called °mineral naphtha.* Another commercial article is *solvent naphtha,* a somewhat similar liquid obtained in the frac tionation of coal-tar, distilling over between the temperatures of 250° and 330° F. In the chemistry of the ancients the term included all inflammable liquids, especially the more fluid sorts of asphalt or bitumen; the word which is of Persian origin and signifies *moist* being first used of the Persian product and then ap plied more generally. In modern usage and among chemists the term is applied to any volatile inflammable liquid product of organic decomposition, as the distillation products from peat, wood, india-rubber, bones, etc. These vary in density from 0.67 to 0.72, and in gravity from 90° to 60° Beam& American petroleum naphtha constitutes from 6 to 20 Der cent of the crude petroleum. Russian petroleum is only
5 or 6 per cent naphtha. Scotland produces a naphtha called shale-spirit, being 4 or 5 per cent of the crude shale oil, and rather heavier than most other naphthas, but not so heavy as the coal-tar naphthas, which vary in specific gravity between .850 and .950. Caoutchine is another name for india-rubber naphtha. The uses of naphtha are various, the lighter grades being utilized as detergents in the cleansing processes preparatory to dyeing, and in the dry cleaning of clothes and gloves. The coal-tar naphthas are largely employed as solvents in making india-rubber goods. The Scotch shale spirit is the liquid component of a wood preser vative. Naphtha is also used very largely as a solvent in the extraction of oils from oil seeds, and of essential oils in the manufacture of per fumes and essences.