Intelligence and. Miscellaneous Articles. 67 



upon stearic acid or other fatty bodies ; much nitrous vapour is dis- 

 engaged ; but the action is not so vivid, as when olive oil, for ex- 

 ample, is treated by the acid. 



About 4300 grains of wax were boiled with rather less than two 

 pints of common nitric acid for about two hours, and the mixture, 

 allowed to cool, became a solid mass ; this was perfectly dissolved 

 by carbonate of soda, with the production of slight effervescence. 

 On cooling the whole became one mass ; the wax was unctuous and 

 of an apricot colour. After twenty-four hours' ebullition, the greater 

 part of the wax was dissolved in the nitric acid ; an oily substance, 

 having the smell of rancid butter, floated on the solution ; this was 

 entirely dissolved by potash : this oil was acid, and could not be 

 distilled without decomposing, and possessed all the properties attri- 

 buted by M. Laurent to azoleic or cenanthylic acid. The formation 

 of this acid has been observed to occur, as is well known, during 

 the oxidizement of stearic and oleic acids, and other fatty bodies. 



Wax was afterwards boiled with twice its weight of nitric acid, 

 during several days, until all the oily matter disappeared ; the first 

 crystalline grains which deposited by the cooling of the solution, 

 were pimelic acid, as shown by analysis, which gave carbon 52, 

 hydrogen 7*8, indicating as its composite, carbon 52*5, hydrogen 

 7-5, oxygen 40 in 100 parts, or C? H 6 O 4 . 



The mother- water yielded a considerable quantity of adipic acid, 

 but which appeared to be mixed with lipic acid. The last portions 

 of the mother- water yielded no crystals, but were rendered turbid 

 by the addition of water, and deposited fresh portions of oily azoleic 

 acid. Lastly, when the wax was treated with nitric acid, till red 

 vapours ceased to be produced, fine crystals of succinic acid were 

 obtained. The formation of this body has been already shown by 

 Mr. Ronalds.— Ann. de Ch. et de Phys., Oct. 1845. 



DRY DISTILLATION OF WAX. 



M. C. Gerhardt states, that when wax is submitted to dry distilla- 

 tion, there condenses in the receiver a solid, white granular matter, 

 floating in an oily liquid, and during the whole time of the operation 

 a mixture of carbonic acid and bicarburetted hydrogen gases is 

 evolved. The condensed portions consist of a fatty acid, a solid car- 

 buretted hydrogen, and several liquid carburetted hydrogens ; the 

 products become more and more impure as the operation approaches 

 its termination, and sometimes, when the last remains of the wax are 

 carbonized, a small quantity of a reddish solid matter is obtained. 

 If the products be separately received at different times, it is found 

 that the fatty acid passes first, and afterwards the solid carburetted 

 hydrogen ; the liquid carburetted hydrogens are among the last pro- 

 ducts. When the distillation is rapidly performed, there remains 

 little else than a coaly residue. 



The first portions of the distillation saponify almost entirely, ex- 

 cept a few particles of solid carburetted hydrogen. The soap yields, 

 by the action of hydrochloric acid, a perfectly white fatty acid ; when 



F2 



