Chapter XVIII: Front Matter (18)

_Methyl ether_, (CH3)2O, was first prepared by J. B. Dumas and E. Peligot (_Ann. chim. phys._, 1835, [2] 58, p. 19) by heating methyl alcohol with sulphuric acid. It is best prepared by heating methyl alcohol and sulphuric acid to 140 deg. C. and leading the evolved gas into sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid solution is then allowed to drop slowly into an equal volume of water, when the methyl ether is liberated (E. Erlenmeyer and A. Kriechbaumer, _Ber._, 1874, 7, p. 699). It is a pleasant-smelling gas, which burns when ignited, and may be condensed to a liquid which boils at 23.6 deg. C. It is somewhat soluble in water and readily soluble in alcohol, and concentrated sulphuric acid. It combines with hydrochloric acid gas to form a compound (CH3)2O.HCl (C. Friedel, _Comptes rendus_, 1875, 81, p. 152). _Methyl ethyl ether_, CH3.O.C2H5, is prepared from methyl iodide and sodium ethylate, or from ethyl iodide and sodium methylate (A. W. Williamson, _Ann._, 1852, 81, p. 77). It is a liquid which boils at 10.8 deg. C.

For diethyl ether see ETHER, and for methyl phenyl ether (anisole) and
ethyl phenyl ether (phenetole) see CARBOLIC ACID.

ETHICS, the name generally given to the science of moral philosophy. The word "ethics" is derived from the Gr. [Greek: ethikos], that which pertains to [Greek: ethos], character.

For convenience in reference, the arrangement followed in this article may be explained at the outset:--

PAGE
I. DEFINITION AND SCOPE 809

II. HISTORICAL SKETCH 810

A. Greek and Graeco-Roman Ethics 810
The Age of the Sophists 811
Socrates and his Disciples 811
Plato 812
Plato and Aristotle 814
Aristotle 815
Stoicism 816
Hedonism (Epicurus) 818
Later Greek and Roman Ethics 818
Neoplatonism 819

B. Christianity and Medieval Ethics 820
Christian and Jewish "Law of God" 820
Christian and Pagan Inwardness 820
(Knowledge, Faith, Love, Purity)
Distinctive Particulars of Christian Morality 821
Development of Opinion in Early Christianity,
Augustine, Ambrose 823
Medieval Morality and Moral Philosophy 824
Thomas Aquinas 824
Casuistry and Jesuitry 826
The Reformation; and birth of Modern Thought 826

C. Modern Ethics 827
Grotius 827
Hobbes 827
The Cambridge Moralists 828
(Cudworth, More)
Cumberland 829
Locke 829
Clarke 829
Shaftesbury 830
Mandeville 830
Butler 831
Wollaston 831
Hutcheson 831
Hume 832
Adam Smith 833
The Intuitional School 833
(Price, Reid, Stewart, Whewell)
The Utilitarian School 835
(Paley, Bentham, Mill)
Association and Evolution 837
Free-will 837
French Influence on English Ethics 838
(Helvetius, Comte)
German Influence on English Ethics 839
(Kant, Hegel)

D. Ethics since 1879 840

III. BIBLIOGRAPHY 845