82 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



it with difficulty with a reddish brown color ; strong hydrochloric acid 

 has no action on it hot or cold in open vessels, but decomposes it if 

 the two substances are heated toijether in a sealed tube ; nothiujj could 

 be obtained from the products, however, except a mass like a dry 

 varnish, which we did not succeed in bringing into a state fit for 

 analysis. An exactly similar result was obtained in an attempt to 

 saponify it with sulphuric acid of specific gravity 1.44. Strong nitric 

 acid has no action on it at first, whether cold or hot, but if heated with 

 it for some time seems to destroy it completely, and a similar result 

 was obtained upon boiling it with bromine and water, as in both 

 these cases we could not succeed in isolating any organic oxidation 

 product. 



Acid sodic carbonate in aqueous solution had no action on brom- 

 trinitrophenyltartronic ester, but on the addition of alcohol a pale red 

 color appeared, which became more marked on standing ; potassic 

 carbonate also did not affect it in aqueous solution, but gave a strong 

 dark red solution on addition of alcohol ; aqueous sodic hydrate 

 turned the crystals brown, and dissolved some of them with a brown- 

 ish color ; on the addition of alcohol all the substance went into 

 solution with a dark red color ; ammonic hydrate gave a red solution, 

 but the action was not complete until alcohol was added, when the 

 solution became very dark red. The bromtrinitrophenyltartronic 

 ester therefore showed the strong acid character which we should ex- 

 pect, but no attempt was made to analyze its salts, as it was found 

 that the bromine atom was removed by alkaline solutions with great 

 ease, sodic bromide being formed, when it was treated with sodic 

 ethylate even in the cold. 



A n ilidotrin itrophenyltnrtro n ic Ester, 

 C6H(CcH5NH)(NO,)3'cOH(COOaH5)2. 



This substance was made by adding an excess of aniline to solid 

 bromtrinitrophenyltartronic ester ; the reaction ran smoothly with a 

 slight evolution of heat, and was complete after the mixture had been 

 allowed to stand for a few minutes, when the aniline bromide and ex- 

 cess of aniline were removed by washing with very dilute hydrochloric 

 acid, and the bright yellow residue purified by crystallization from alco- 

 hol. At first rounded masses of radiating needles looking like little 

 balls of fat of a bright yellow color were obtained, but as the crystal- 

 lization continued, orange-red prisms began to appear, and increased 

 in quantity until after several recrystallizations the greater part of the 

 substance had been converted into this form. This behavior during 



