326 Dr. G. Bird's Observations on some of the Products 



was poured into some very dilute sulphuric acid ; a yellow 

 powdery deposit fell ; this on the application of heat collected 

 into a resinoid mass, soluble with tolerable readiness in al- 

 cohol and aether, resembling in its properties the resin of 

 aldehyd described by Liebig in the second number of his 

 excellent Handwm-terbuch der Chemie. This circumstance, 

 together with reduction of metallic salts, and the peculiar ir- 

 ritating soap-like odour, left scarcely a doubt of the presence 

 of aldehyd. It now became an interesting question to deter- 

 mine the conditions of the formation of this substance, parti- 

 cularly as the fluid from which this aldehydiferous fluid had 

 been separated by distillation copiously precipitated salts of 

 lime after neutralization by ammonia, indicating the presence 

 of oxalic acid, which as 1 have already mentioned was absent 

 in the residual fluid previous to this second distillation, and 

 consequently must be considered as a secondary product, re- 

 sulting from the reaction of nitric acid on some substance 

 formed in the earlier stage of the operation. 



F. Some hyponitrous sether was then prepared without 

 lieat, by Dr. Black's process, by allowing nitric acid and al- 

 cohol to react on each other through a stratum of water in a 

 cylindrical vessel : after the action had continued for two days, 

 some of the lighter part of the fluid was decanted into a retort; 

 it was strongly acid, but smelt agreeably of nitrous aether. On 

 submitting it to distillation a colourless fluid was collected 

 in the receiver; that resulting from the earlier part of the dis- 

 tillation was not at all acrid, nor was it altered by a solution of 

 potass ; whilst that which came over last was intensely acrid in 

 flavour, reduced salts of silver after the addition of ammonia, 

 and underwent those changes with weak solutions of potass 

 which characterize aldehydiferous fluids. This experiment 

 was by no means satisfactory as showing the formation of 

 aldehyd by the action of nitric acid on alcohol in the cold, in 

 consequence of the acidity of the fluid previous to distillation; 

 enough nitric acid being probably present in the retort to 

 produce this peculiar substance by the reaction on alcohol 

 or aether on the application of heat. To determine this fact 

 with greater accuracy, some of the acid aether prepared by 

 Dr. Black's process was digested with protoxide of lead and 

 then distilled over some of this oxide: the fluid in the receiver 

 was very mild in flavour, of spec, gr. 0*926, and underwent 

 no change in colour by the addition of alkaline solutions : it 

 was also destitute of action on salts of silver; hence the abs- 

 ence of aldehyd may be safely inferred. From this circum- 

 stance we may conclude that this curious substance is by no 

 means a necessary result ol" the action of nitric acid on alcohol 



