AND DERIVATION OF ROSOLIC ACID. vo 
This corresponds to a composition of — 
Equiva- By ealcu- Mean of 
a 
lents. tion. experiments. 
Carbon, jns.co.se le 70.588 70.837 
Hydrogen ...... 6 5.882 5.814 
Oxyeon, oc.cs.ss 3 23.530 23,349 
100.000 100.000 
The true formula is perhaps C,, Hy, O; The formula 
of carbolic acid is C,, H, O,. Rosolic acid appears thus 
to be simply a result of the oxidation of carbolic acid. 
A compound of a very different nature has been got from 
catechu, called oxyphenic acid: it is Cy H, O, and is 
considered to be a higher oxide of the radical phenyle. 
Having frequently prepared rosolic acid, I was desirous 
of obtaining the salts, and formed many compounds of it 
with lead. These compounds are brown and amorphous ; 
they were obtained by precipitating an alcoholic solution 
of rosolate of potash with acetate of lead. I was not, 
however, satisfied with the results obtained by analysis. 
A very indefinite amount of lead is taken down, and al- 
though on three occasions I obtained a salt which was 
composed of nearly three of acid to two of lead, it was 
not exactly so. Another time it consisted of two of acid 
and one of lead. On one occasion the hydrogen was to 
the carbon in the proportion of 5:12, and on another it 
was 4:12, showing, I believe, one and two atoms of water 
removed. It may, however, be a long time before I can 
give any attention to the salts. None of them except 
perhaps the lime salt, as Runge states, showed any crys- 
talline structure. 
When treated with nitric acid it produces, like carbolic 
acid, picric or trinitro-carbolic acid (Cy, Ns; Hs Oy). 
By acting on it with chlorate of potash and muriatic acid, 
I did not obtain chloranil, but a greyish resinous sub- 
stance. If the ammoniacal solution containing an excess 
of ammonia be allowed to stand for some months, it is 
