216 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



rated spontaneously nearly to dryness ; the crystals, freed from mother- 

 liquor by pressure between filter-paper, were nearly pure baric acetate, 

 as shown by the following analysis : — 



1.1745 gr. of the air-dried salt lost 0.0G61 gr. when dried at 100°. 



Calculated for Ba(C2H302)2n30. Found. 



Water 6.59 5.63 



1.1038 gr. of the dried salt gave 0.9974 gr. of baric sulphate. 



Calculated for Ba(C2H302)2. Found. 



Barium 53.73 53.13 



As, however, a solution of the silver salt blackened much more 

 easily than argentic acetate should, and crystallized at first in balls 

 made up of radiating needles, although after one or two recrystalliza- 

 tions attended by blackening it gave the flattened needles character- 

 istic of argentic acetate, we suspected that there might be some other 

 acid present, the barium salt of which had been removed in the 

 mother-liquors, and resorted to fractional acidification with sulphuric 

 acid to settle this point. For this purpose a quantity of the acid 

 distillate, after treatment with ether, was converted into the calcium 

 salt and treated with one third of the amount of sulphuric acid neces- 

 sary to set free all the acid it contained ; it was then distilled with 

 steam as lonsf as the distillate showed an acid reaction. The residue 

 in the flask was treated twice successively with the same amounts of 

 sulphuric acid, and the first and third fractional distillates converted 

 into calcium salts. 



I. 0.3582 gr. of salt from the first fraction gave 0.2894 gr. of calcic 

 sulphate. 

 II. 0.2281 gr. of salt from the third fraction gave 0.1980 gr. of calcic 

 sulphate. 



Calcium 



From these numbers it appears that there is no large amount of any 

 acid except acetic present, and the blackening and different crystalline 

 forms of the silver salt were probably due to a trace of turmeric acid 

 which could not be removed by ether. 



As it was possible that a neutral lactone might have been formed, 

 a portion of the acid liquid was boiled with baric carbonate, distilled 

 with steam, and the neutral di.stillate boiled with baric hydrate for 

 some time ; as after removing the baric hydrate with carbonic dioxide 

 there was no residue on evaporation no lactone was formed. 



