Dr. Strecker on Methionie Acid. 55 
iodide; for had it proceeded from the decomposition of the 
nitrous acid according to the equation 
2NO8=NO?+ NO”, 
there ought to have been red fumes in the apparatus, which was 
not the case. The decomposition must have taken place accord- 
ing to the equation 
NO, KO + KI +2804 H=2S80+ K+1+NO*+2HO, 
_ anid the volume of binoxide obtained was almost equal to that 
required by theory: 1300 cubic centimeters of gas were ob- 
tained from 10 grammes of iodide and 5 grammes of nitrite of 
potash. Binoxide of nitrogen is without action upon iodide of 
potassium if air be excluded. 
Strecker has investigated methionic acid, which was obtained 
by Liebig in small quantities as a product of the action of 
anhydrous sulphuric acid on ether. He formed it in somewhat 
larger quantities by the following process. A flask containing 
anhydrous sulphuric acid was placed over a cylinder containing 
some «ther, so that the vapours of the two substances came in 
contact with each other. When all the sulphuric acid disap- 
peared, the liquid in the cylinder was shaken with water, where- 
upon a layer of etherial solution of sulphate of ethyle formed 
upon the surface, which was removed by means of a tap funnel. 
The aqueous solution, which contains the methionic acid, was 
boiled for a long time, then saturated with carbonate of baryta, 
and filtered off; the filtrate, on cooling, deposited the methio- 
nate of baryta in thin rhombic laminz, which show the colours of 
thin plates ina high degree. The crystallized salt has the formula 
2Ba0, C? H? $40!°+4H0, 
which agrees essentially with the formula of Redtenbacher and 
Liebig. Methionate of lead is obtained from methionate of 
baryta by precipitating the baryta from that salt, boiling the 
filtered solution with carbonate of lead, filtering and evaporating 
to crystallization. It crystallizes from a concentrated solution 
in large transparent rhombic prisms, which are probably iso- 
morphous with the baryta salt. The lead salt has the formula 
2PbO, C? H? S4 0+ 4H. 
Methionate of copper crystallizes in blue rhombic columns, 
which effloresce in the air, and become whitish. 
Methionic acid obtained from the lead salt by treatment with 
sulphuretted hydrogen, crystallizes from a concentrated solu- 
tion over sulphuric acid in long crystalline needles. The acid 
is very stable, and can be boiled with dilute nitric acid without 
decomposition. The composition of the acid might be expressed 
by the formula, CO? H?, 84 Hf 01: 
ie : 
