of a Wax from China, 383 



est facility in water to which the smallest quantity of alcohol 

 has been added. When the solution in water has been eva- 

 porated to dryness at a low temperature, it remains in the form 

 of a soft wax. 



I. 0*333 grm. of this substance gave 0*912 CO a , and 0*3915 

 HO. 



II. 0*3317 grm. of this substance gave 0*9025 C0 2 and 

 0*3865 HO, corresponding in 100 parts to — 



I. II. 



Carbon 74*67 74*20 



Hydrogen ..... 13*06 12*95 



Oxygen and sulphur . . 12*27 12*85 



100*00 100*00 



Owing to the loss of a portion of the substance I was not 

 able to make a separate determination of the sulphur. These 

 numbers, however, so correspond to the formula SO a , C M H^ 

 O + HO, and so exclude all other probable formulae, as to 

 determine the constitution of the compound. 



Atomic weight. In 100 parts. 



C S4 . . . 324 74*31 



H, 5 . . . 56 12*84 



O; . . . 40"! 

 S . . . _16J ••.•■•• 7 



436 100*00 



Adopting therefore the usual chemical language as to such 

 compounds, this substance is to be regarded as the sulphate 

 of the oxide of cerotyle, containing one equivalent of water, 

 cerotyle being C^ H^, the hypothetical radical of the alcohol. 



Chlor-cerotic Aldehyde — Chlor-cerotal. 



The action of chlorine on cerotine gives us a proof of the 

 strong analogy of chemical constitution between alcohol and 

 that substance, notwithstanding the wide interval by which 

 they are separated in the alcoholic series. A body is formed 

 analogous to chloral ; two equivalents of hydrogen are removed 

 without substitution, the substance passing, apparently, through 

 the condition of an aldehyde, before chlorine is substituted. 

 The chlorine produces a similar change in the appearance of 

 the substance to that which is produced by the action of chlo- 

 rine on cerotic acid. The character of wax is entirely lost, 

 and the substance converted into a perfectly transparent 

 slightly yellow body, possessing the appearance and consist- 

 ency of a gum-resin, and which becomes highly electric by 

 friction. The experiment was made by passing the chlorine 



