OF ARTS AND SCIENCES. 333 



The aqueous solutiou filtered from the insoluble salts was freed 

 from the excess of baric hydrate by means of carbonic dioxide. It 

 gave then with argentic nitrate an abundant precipitate of argentic 

 chloride, and blackened when heated with an excess of argentic nitrate. 

 The barium was removed by dilute sulphuric acid, and the filtered 

 solution distilled. The acid distillate when neutralized with plumbic 

 carbonate yielded plumbic formiate in characteristic form. 



0.3244 grm. of the salt dried at 100° gave 0.3327 grm. PbSO^. 



Calculated for Pb(CH02)2. Found. 



Pb 6y.69 70.06 



As was the case with the corresponding decomposition of mucoxy- 

 bromic acid, quantitative determinations of the amounts of oxalic and 

 carbonic acid formed in the reaction showed no simple relation be- 

 tween the two, and at the same time products were formed in small 

 but significant amounts, whose nature we have as yet been unable to 

 determine. 



Action of Bromine in Aqueous Solution. 



Bromine acts readily upon an aqueous solution of mncoxychlo- 

 ric acid, and forms products strictly analogous to those formed from 

 mucoxybromic acid under the same conditions. Since the chlorobromal 

 hydrate proved to be even less manageable than the bromal hydrate, 

 we thought it best to determine its presence, as before, from its decom- 

 position products. Since the reaction seemed to be quite as neat with 

 the salts as with the free acid, we added to a diluted aqueous solution 

 of the barium salt two molecules of bromine, and allowed the mixture 

 to stand at ordinary temperatures until the color of the bromine had 

 completely disappeared. We then neutralized the strongly acid solu- 

 tion with calcic carbonate in the cold, and filtered. The insoluble 

 residue thus obtained contained oxalic acid in abundance, and we were 

 unable to detect in it any other organic constituent. The oxalic acid 

 was converted into its calcium salt and analyzed. 



0.3489 grm. of the salt dried at 100° gave 0.3212 grm. CaSO^. 



Calculated for CuCflt . UjO. Found. 



Ca 27.39' ' 27.08 



To the clear aqueous solution we added a slight excess of potassic 

 hydrate, neutralized after a short time with hydrochloric acid, and 

 distilled the neutral solution with steam. We obtained in this way a 

 colorless heavy oil, which when dried with calcic chloride boiled with- 



