
FOR OBTAINING CAPRIC ACID. 223 
I endeavoured to obtain some other salts of capric acid, but as only the salts 
of the alkaline earths are readily crystallizable, I did not succeed in doing so. The 
salts I tried were the soda, copper, and lead salts. The copper salt is insoluble in 
water and alcohol, but soluble in ammonia. The analyses of these salts always 
gave an excess of base; this was caused by my not being able to obtain a neutral 
ammoniacal salt of capric acid. The lead salt is insoluble in water, and very 
sparingly soluble in boiling alcohol; the solution, on cooling, deposits the lead 
salt in rounded grains. 
The soda salt is exceedingly soluble both in cold water and alcohol, and does 
not crystallize from these solutions. When evaporated to dryness, it dries up to 
a horny mass, partially crystalline on the surface. It is soluble in absolute al- 
cohol when warmed, and the solution when allowed to cool becomes an opalescent 
mass. I could not obtain it free from NaO,CO,, even by means of absolute 
alcohol, consequently the analysis gave an excess of base. 
From the analyses made of the soda and copper salts, they appear to be 
neutral salts; the formula of the soda salt being NaO,C,, H,,0,, that of the 
copper salt being CuO, C,, H,, O,. 
Capric Ether. 
This ether I obtained by dissolving capric acid in absolute alcohol, and passing 
dry hydrochloric acid gas into the solution to saturation. The addition of water 
to the solution caused the capric ether to rise to the surface as an oily liquid. It 
was separated from the acid liquid and washed with cold water, and then dried 
by digesting it with fused Ca, Cl: its specific gravity is ‘862. It is insoluble in 
cold water, but readily soluble in alcohol and ether. As the quantity of the ether 
was too small to allow of an analysis of it being made, I converted it into the 
following compound :— 
Capramide. 
The capric ether was dissolved in alcohol, and a strong solution of ammonia 
was added to it in astoppered bottle; after a few days the solution became turbid ; 
this turbidity increased after allowing it to stand for a longer period, and crystals 
began to make their appearance. The digestion was continued until the whole of 
the ether had disappeared. The crystals were then filtered off, and the filtrate 
evaporated to dryness on a water-bath; the residue was dissolved in alcohol, and 
the addition of water caused the capramide to crystallize from the solution; the 
whole was dissolved in warm dilute alcohol, and allowed to crystallize. As ob- 
tained in this manner it is quite colourless, and crystallizes in brilliant scales, which, 
when dry, have a bright silvery lustre. It fuses below 212° Fahr., and is insoluble 
in water and ammonia. It is very soluble in cold alcohol, and in dilute alcohol 
when warmed in it. Its other properties I could not examine, as I had only suf- 
VOL. XX. PART I. 30 
