810 *^ ' ^^''^ Royal Sodety: — 



substances on the one hand and acroleine and acrylic acid on the 

 other, a result which was established by the more recent investiga- 

 tions of MM. Berthelot and De Luca. On studying the action of 

 iodide of phosphorus on glycerine, these chemists obtained an iodine- 

 compound named by them iodide of propylene, which is an analogue 

 of the chloride and bromide of propylene, previously produced by 

 MM. Cahours, Reynolds, and Hofmann, when submitting to the 

 action of chlorine and bromine the gases which are formed when 

 either amyUc alcohol or valeric acid and its homologues are exposed 

 to the influence of heat. 



MM. Berthelot and De Luca have further shown that the result 

 of the mutual decomposition of iodide of propylene and sulpho- 

 cyanide of potassium is an oil identical with that obtained on distil- 

 ling the seeds of black mustard with water in an alembic. By this 

 remarkable experiment it is most clearly demonstrated that the vola- 

 tile oil of mustard belongs to the propylene series, a relation which 

 had been previously pointed out by Capt. Reynolds, but which he 

 has omitted to establish by experiment. If, then, we admit the exist- 

 ence of a hydrocarbon, Cg H5, analogous to ethyle, C4 H5, we get 



CaHjCl Chloride of propylene. C4H5CI Chloride of ethyle. 



Cj Hg Br Bromide of propylene. C4 Hg Br Bromide of ethyle. 



Cg Hg I Iodide of propylene. C4 Hj I Iodide of ethyle. 



i- Cj Hg S Essential oil of garlic. C4 Hg S Sulphide of ethyle. 



Vv Cj Hg C2 NSj Essential oil of mustard. C4 Hg Cg NS3 Sulphocyanide of ethyle. 



C5H4O3 Acroleine. C4H4O2 Aldehyde. 



^ C, H4 O4 Acrylic acid. C4 H4 O4 Acetic acid. 



All that now remained was to discover the keystone of this edifice, 

 in other words, to establish the existence of an alcohol to which the 

 preceding compounds might be referred, and by the aid of which a 

 still more numerous series of ethers, both simple and compound, 



^ jind analogous in every respect to the derivatives of ordinary alcohol, 

 might be obtained. After many protracted and unsuccessful attempts, 

 we have succeeded in producing the alcohol and ether of this series, 

 for which we propose retaining the name of the acryle series. 



' In order to arrive at this result, we have submitted several silver- 



*^^salts to the action of iodide of acryle. There are but few acids whose 

 salts lend themselves conveniently to this reaction. Among the 



- Tarious salts which we have examined with this view, the oxalate of 

 silver has furnished the most satisfactory results. This salt is most 

 violently attacked by iodide of acryle ; the reaction is complete after 

 two or three hours' digestion. The oxalate of acryle formed in this 

 process, when separated from the iodide of silver, washed with water, 

 dried over chloride of calcium, and redistilled, presents itself as a 

 colourless transparent liquid, heavier than water, possessing a peculiar 

 aromatic odour. It boils at 207^, and by analysis has been proved 

 to contain ^ , fJHO— C/TIH'iO 



iij When treated with ammonia, oxalate of acryle furnishes oxamide 



and the alcohol, which was the object of our researches. This 



, alcohol — acrylic alcohol — is a colourless transparent liquid of a 



j< peculiar, somewhat pungent odour, resembling that of mustard, and 



