known. The salts formed bj it are all soluble in water, most of 

 them readily so; they can be recognised with certainty by the 

 blood-red colour they acquire with salts of oxyd of iron, by 

 the smell of acetic acid they emit when heated with sulj)huric acid 

 and alcohol, and by the odour of alkarsin (oxyd of kakodyl), 

 when heated dry with arsenious acid. Its production and quanti- 

 tative estimation can, as it belongs to the volatile acids, only be 

 effected by distilling the liquid in question with suljihuric acid 

 until the distillate no longer shows any acid reaction. Should the 

 liquid contain much organic matter, phosphoric instead of sul- 

 phuric acid has to be used, since towards the end of the operation, 

 the latter acid is decomposed by the organic matter into sulphur- 

 ous acid, which, in passing over, would contaminate the acetic acid. 

 The distillate has to be saturated with soda, dried, heated imtil it is 

 fused and weighed. One hundred parts by weight of this anhydrous 

 salt contain 62-00 parts acetic acid. The result will be more 

 exact by digesting the acid distillate with an excess of carbonate 

 of baryta, finely ground in water, and filtering after the acid 

 reaction has disappeared. The filtrate has to be precipitated with 

 sulphuric acid, and the resulting sulphate of baryta has to be 

 weighed. One hundred parts of the latter salt represent 43-78 

 parts acetic acid. 



Acllilleic Acid. Peculiar acid of Achillea Millefolium, In 

 order to obtain it, precijiitate the decoction of the herb by acetate 

 of lead, decompose the deposit by sulphuret of hydrogen, over- 

 saturate the acid liquid (containing green colouring matter and 

 lime) with carbonate of potash, filter off from the lime, digest 

 with animal charcoal, decompose the potassium salt with acetate 

 of lead and the lead compound with sulphuret of hydrogen. A 

 colourless liquid, without smell and of very acid taste ; its density 

 is 1-0148 in the utmost concentration, not volatile at 80°, is 

 assuming a darker colour by protracted heating; crystallises in 

 colourless prisms, soluble in two parts water, when exposed to the 

 atmosphere; the solution is not precipitated by the acetate, but 

 becomes turbid by the subacetate of lead; yields crystallisable 

 salts with alkalies. 



Acllilleill. The preparation designated by this name is 

 nothing bu.t an alcoholic extract of Achulea Millefolium, which has 

 been treated with animal charcoal and evaporated to dryness. It 

 has a yellow-brown colour, a peculiar smell and a bitter, not dis- 

 agreeable taste similar to milfoil, the plant yielding it. It 

 becomes moist by exposure to the atmosjihere, and dissolves easily 

 in water and in alcohol; in ether only when mixed with a few 

 drops of acetic acid. 



[Acllilleill (see Ivain), The evaporated, aqueous extract, on 

 treating with alcohol, yields up Achillein, Moschatin and organic 



B 2 



