We present results of the wetting properties of methanol at the liquid-vapor interface of different n-alkanes ranging from hexane to undecane. Measurement of the contact angle shows that, as the bulk critical point is approached, wetting transitions occur for long alkanes, whereas drying is found for short alkanes. Measurement of the wetting layer thickness, as well as precise contact angle measurements close to the wetting temperature T-w, reveal a change in the order of the transition. First order (discontinuous) wetting occurs for T-w far from the bulk critical point T-c. Critical (continuous) wetting is observed for T-w close to T-c. The observed critical wetting transition has all the features of the long-sought short-range critical wetting transition. We argue that it is possible to observe short-range critical wetting in this system, because the long-range van der Waals interactions are negligible for wetting transitions close to the bulk critical point. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.