Progress of Foreign Science. 141 
Facts subservient to the History of the Succinic and Benzoic Acids. 
By MM. Lecanu and Serbat. 
Subjected to the action of heat these acids comport themselves 
in nearly the same way. They melt, then are volatilized, leaving 
always a slight carbonaceous residuum. The difference of solu- 
bility of these acids in water, as well as in the essential oil of 
turpentine, establishes a remarkable difference between them. 
While, in fact, at the temperature of 16° cent., water dissolves 
scarcely an appreciable quantity of benzoic acid, and, at 100°, 
only one-twelfth part of its own weight; 100 parts of water, at 
16°, dissolve 20 parts. and at 100°, about 46 parts of succinic 
acid. On the other hand, at the temperature of 16° cent. a 
gramme of benzoic acid requires for solution only 249 parts of 
essential oil of turpentine, and at 100° much less than its weight. 
Hence the liquor, on cooling, concretes into a mass. Succinic 
acid, even above 100°, dissolves in it very sparingly, although the 
essence thereby acquires the property of reddening litmus pretty 
strongly. Hitherto the property of separating iron from manga- 
nese, forming with the first an insoluble salt, and with the second 
a soluble one, seemed to belong only to the benzoic and succinic 
acids. It is, however, met with in the camphoric and pyrolar- 
taric acids. The last even, would appear even to be capable of 
separating these metals more completely than succinic acid does. 
Perhaps it would be advantageous, in regard to economy, to sub- 
stitute it for this acid. 
Succinic acid is not altered by being distilled into nitric acid, 
diluted with its own weight of water. It is, therefore, not con- 
vertible, like some of the other vegetable acids, into the oxalic. 
Nitric acid becomes thus the most convenient agent for purifying 
the succinic. The action of nitric acid on the benzoic has not 
been. well investigated, even by these gentlemen; but it is not 
transformed into the oxalic acid. Succinic acid affords with pot- 
ash a very deliquescent salt; with soda, a salt unchangeable in the 
air, or rather somewhat efllorescent, and crystallizing in plates like 
nitrate of silver; with ammonia, a slightly deliquescent salt, very 
soluble in water, and crystallizing in long prisms with four faces, 
transparent and colourless. It occurs frequently in plates; with 
barytes, a salt hardly soluble, which is obtained in the form of a 
white powder, by evaporating its solution. They were prevented 
by an accident from examining the salt that they had obtained with 
benzoic acid. 
These two acids precipitate copper, tin, silver; these precipi- 
tates, insoluble in water, are re-dissolved with facility by acetate 
of potash, and nitrate of soda, without the nitrate of potash, the 
sulphate and muriate of soda appearing to possess the same pro- 
perty.—Journal de Pharmacie, for February, 1823, 
