322 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



Beside baric formiate and baric bromide the aqueous solution con- 

 tained, in small but not insignificant quantity, an amorphous gummy 

 barium salt, whose nature we have been unable to determine, since all 

 our attempts to convert it into a compound fit for analysis have proved 

 unsuccessful. The formation of this gummy barium salt, together 

 with the fact that quantitative determinations of the amounts of car- 

 bonic and oxalic acid formed in the reaction showed no simple ratio 

 between the two, leaves little doubt that the reaction is essentially 

 complex in its nature. When an aqueous solution of baric mucoxy- 

 bromate is boiled with the addition of baric carbonate, the products of 

 the decomposition appear to be the same. The action of water upon 

 the free acid, which is doubtless similar, we have not yet studied in 

 detail. 



Action of Bromine in Aqueous Solution. 



By the action of most of the ordinary oxidizing agents upon mucoxy- 

 bromic acid or its salts, we were unable to obtain any definite oxida- 

 tion products except oxalic acid. Bromine water, however, gave us 

 more satisfactory results. On adding bromine slowly to an aqueous 

 solution of the acid, the color of the bromine rapidly disappeared, ox- 

 alic acid was formed, and at the same time a well-defined product con- 

 taining bromine could be isolated. AVe found that the same reaction 

 ensued, and apparently rather more neatly, when the barium salt was 

 taken instead of the free acid. Two molecules of bromine were there- 

 fore added to a dilute solution of the barium salt. After standing for 

 several hours, the color of the bromine had completely disappeared, 

 and crystals of acid baric oxalate had separated in abundance. The 

 strongly acid solution was then neutralized with calcic carbonate, fil- 

 tered, and extracted with ether. The ether left, on evaporation, a 

 syrupy residue, which gradually deposited well-formed oblique prisms, 

 which melted at 51-52°. The melting point of the substance, its 

 characteristic crystalline form, and its reactions with alkalies and 

 argentic nitrate, left little doubt that it was bromal hydrate, although 

 the percentage of bromine which it gave on analysis was somewhat 

 too low. 



0.1351 grm. substance gave 0.2534 grm. AgBr. 



Calculated for CoBraUjOa. Found. 



Br 80.26' ' 79.84 



We found that the purification of this substance by recrystallization 

 was attended with so great loss, that we could hardly draw any defi- 



