BEXI. 



BENZOIC ACID. 



ditian of Johnson's ^njfoh Diction.\ry, by lUra ComuUSn (Soram- 

 pore. 1S94, 2 vol, 4to.), U work which doe* high honour to the seal 

 ad perseverance, and, M for M we ma; prwume to give an opinion, to 

 the uient and skill of the translator. \Vo aru indebted to the author's 

 preface for the greater part of the preceding remark* concerning the 

 literature of the Bengill language. 



From the alteration* which have been made in the selection of 

 cadets for the Ea*t India Company'* aervioe, a knowledge of tUU lan- 

 guage ha* become highly important. To thono who wiah to commcuoe 

 the study of the Bengali language, the following elementary work* will 

 be found uieful : ' A Grammar of the BengAll Language/ by the Raja 

 Rammohun Roy ; and ' A Grammar of the Bengalee Language, adapted 

 for Native* and European*,' by a Native, Calcutta, 1850 ; there are 

 aleo the Dictionary above-mentioned, that of Dr. Carey, and other*, 

 including abridgement*. 



BEXI ia a form of the plural of the Arabic word Ebn or flu, " a 

 on." It occur* in eastern geography a* a component part of many 

 name* of families or tribe*, a* B ni Tt-mtm, " the sons of Temlni," that 

 it, the tribe of Temim, or the Temlmide* ; Bent OmayyoA, " the sons 

 of Omayyah," that U, the family known in history under the current 

 name of 'the Ommiade* : Tia/i Bt*i Itratt, " the deaert of the son* of 

 Israel," the name of a dreary wilderness toward* the north of Mount 

 Sinai. 



BEXIC ACID (C..H,,O,HO). An acid obtained by the aapbui- 

 fieaUon ol oil of be*. It fuses at 1(9, and form* salts and an ether. 



BEXZAMIDE. [BE.NZOIC GROUP; AMIDES.] 



BEXZIDAM. [AxiusE.] 



BEXZIDINE. [PBEJJYUC GROUP.] 



BEXZILE. [BE.VZOIO GROCP.] 



BEXZIL1C ACID. [Bsszoic GROUP.] 



BEXZIMIDE, CJtrA.QL> Hydride of Cyoidwnwyi This is one of 

 the numerou* compounds described by Laurent a* the result of the 

 study of hydride of benzoyl, the oil of bitter almonds. It U found in 

 the oil in a crude state. It is cryatallisable, and ia decomposed by 

 acids into benzoio acid, formic acid, and ammonia, 



BENZIXE. [BENZOLE] 



BEXZOATE3. [Btxioic Acm] 



BENZOEXE, a name synonymous with Toluole. [ToLUOLE.] 



BKXZOGLYCOLLIC ACID, C,,H,0, + HO. This acid is formed 

 when hippuric acid is exposed to the action of hyponitrous acid. It is 

 crystalline, soluble in alcohol and ether, leas soluble in cold water. 

 When heated with acids it is decomposed, yielding benzoic acid and 

 glycollic acid. 



BEXZO'IC ACID (C,.H,0 ,.HO). This acid, as its name imports, is 

 usually obtained from the resinous substance called gum benzoin or 

 benjamin ; it occurs also in some other vegetable bodies, as the balsam 

 of Peru and of Tolu, storax, in the flower* of the Trifulium melilotut 

 tjtnnalit, and in the yellow Australian gum obtained from the 

 JEoKfAorrAoa luutilit. It is found also in the urine of the cow, hone, 

 and other herbivorous animals, and also in that of children. 



It may be prepared from benzoin either by sublimation or by pre- 

 cipitation ; the former method is employed in the London, and the 

 latter in the Berlik Pharmacopoeia. The process of sublimation is 

 perfectly simple ; the benzoin being subjected to a moderate heat in a 

 proper veesel, the benzoic acid rise* in vapour and is condensed in the 

 upper and cool part of it. A* thus obtained, it it mixed with a con- 

 siderable quantity of empyreumatic oil, which gives it both colour and 

 emell; the greater part of this oil is separated by absorption and 

 pressure, and the acid being then resublimed, retains but little, and 

 derives from it an agreeable odour ; it i* frequently called Jtuuert of 

 Inuiri* or of kfujanun. 



In the Berlin Pharmacopoeia four parts of benzoin, reduced to 

 powder, are first digested and then boiled in water, with nine parta of 

 carbonate of coda ; the solution of benzoate of soda thus formed is 

 decomposed by sulphuric acid, which, combining with the soda, 

 separate* the benzoic acid, the greater part of which is precipitated, 

 owing to its slight solubility. 



Benzoio acid may also be obtained by boiling hippuric acid (obtained 

 from cow'* urine) with concentrated hydrochloric acid. [HlPPunrc 

 ACID.] 



Brnzoic scid posses*** the following proportion : when pure it crys- 

 tallise* in colourless, pearly, elastic needles, which are perfectly 

 inodorous ; its taste is rather aromatic and penetrating, than sour ; l.y 

 exposure to the air it undergoes no change ; it require* two hundred 

 time* its weight of cold, or twelve of boiling water for solution ; on 

 cooling, a cryaUlUied maw is obtained, which resembles fat in appear- 

 ance ; alcohol take* it up readily and in large quantity ; pi 

 omtale are procured by the spontaneous evaporation of the spirit. 

 The 'queoui eolation act* but feebly upon litmus paper ; it combines 

 readily with alkalis, earthy and metallic oxide*, forming salt* which 

 are called kennoUt. 



Bmzoicacidfusest248'Fehr.,andublimesat293'. It boils at 462*. 

 Suddenly heated in the open air it takes fire, and burns with a bright 

 yellow flame. When it* aqueous solution i* boiled, much benzoic acid 

 paseet off with the aqueous vapour. Administered to animals it is 

 transformed into hippuric acid, and is found as such in tbeir urine. 



Adtylrwu ftnuoic add 



^o,' j 0> ) 



b 7 



the benzoate of soda with pentachloride or oxychloride of phosphorus. It 

 i* formed also when Deasoate of soda is heated to 296* Fahr with > 1 

 of benzoyl, or when chloride of benzoyl U heated over a lamp with 

 neutral oxalate of potash. (Gerhardt, ' Chemio Organique,' -vol. iii. p. 

 207). The most advantageous method for its preparation is with the 

 oxyohloride of phosphorus. Oxychloride of phosphorus being placed 

 in a flask, a little more than five time* its weight of finely powdered 

 anhydroua benzoate of soda U added in small quantities at a time with 

 repeated agitation. The flask is then heated to 316* Fahr. on a sand 

 bath. The product i* then washed with cold water containing a little 

 carbonate of soda which remove* the chloride of benzoyl which may 

 have been formed in small quantities. The ultima to react > 



6NOC,.H.O, + PO.Cl, = SXtO, TO, + SNsCl 



Benzoatc of Oivcbloride Phosphate 

 Soda. of IMm-phoruc. of Soda. 



Anhydrous Benzole 

 acid. 



The anhydrous benzoic acid may be purified by distillation, it melt* 

 at 108* Fahr., and boils at about Situ". It dissolve* in alcohol and 

 ether, separating from such solutions in oblique prisms. It is quite 

 insoluble in cold water ; on boiling with water, it become* gradually 

 hydrated, being converted into ordinary benzoic acid. It readily 

 unites with the alkalis, on being boiled with their aqueous solution*, 

 giving rise to the corresponding benzoatea. With hot aquoou* ammo- 

 nia it form* benzamide [Bemamide] and benzoate of ammonia. 



Compound* exist of anhydrous benzoic acid with other anhydrous 

 acids. Such are anhydroua acetobenzoic and valerobenzoic acid*. They 

 are formed by the action of anhydrous benzoate of soda upon th 

 chlorides of acetyl, valcryl, Ac. 



C.H.O.Cl + NaOC 14 H s O,, = NaCl + 0^,0,0,^.0,, 

 0,.H,0,C1 + NaOC lt H s O, = NsCl + CnH.O.Cj.H.O,, ** 



These bodies ore heavier than, insoluble in, but gradually decomposed 

 by water, as also by distillation per te into the constituent anhydrous 

 acids. In a similar manner are formed compounds of anhydrous 

 benzoic acid, with anhydrous cenanthylic, pelargonic, salycilic, cumic, 

 myristic, and cinnamic acids. [AxutDBlDES ] 



AiAydrma nilrobauoie acid (cJ'H'JNo'lo) } ) whicb COI > ta "> l > 

 two molecules of NO, in place of two atoms of hydrogen, is obtained 

 by acting upon 8 parta by weight of dry nitrobeazoate of soda with 

 1 part of oxychloride of phosphorus. The two are heated for some 

 time in a flask at 300 Fahr., until the smell of chloride of nitre- 

 benzoyl disappears. Anhydrous nitrobenzoic acid is thus obtained as 

 a white mass which may be washed with cold water. Anhydrous 

 nitrobenzoic acid is almost insoluble in boiling alchohol and ether ; it is 

 soon hydruted on contact with water, being converted into ordinary 

 uitrobenzoic acid. (Gerhardt, ' Ann. de Chem. et de Phys.'xxxvii 



Benzoic acid combine* readily with the alkalis directly, it al*o 

 decomposes their carbonates, driving out their carbonic acid, and 

 forming in both cases benzoate*. From the benzoates of the alkalis 

 the benzoates of the heavy metals may generally be prepared by double 

 decomposition. The latter benzoates (those of the heavy metals), a* 

 well as the benzoatfl* of the alkaline earths, may also be obtained by 

 digesting benzoic acid with the corresponding oxides. 



Benzoic acid forms two salts with poUsh. Xeutral bnooatt of 

 potath (K.O C,,H,0, + HO) i* best obtained by neutralising a boiling 

 aqueous solution of benzoic acid with carbonate of potash, evaporating 

 on a water bath, to dryness, boiling with alcohol, filtering, evaporating 

 on a water bath, and allowing to stand : the neutral bunzoate ui potash 

 separates out as the solution cools. The water is given off on exposure 

 to the air. The acid salt of potash (KOC,.H,O, + UUC^H.O.) or 

 brnzoate of potaik and water is often formed in the preparation of 

 anhydrous acetic acid by the action of chloride of benzoyl upon acetate 

 of potash, and remain* in the residue from which the anhydrou* acetic 

 acid has been distilled. It U loss soluble than the preceding neutral 

 salt. 



Beraoatt of tada (NaO C,,H 5 0., + ? HO) is obtained by neutralising 

 benzoic acid with carbonate of soda. A* the bensoato of soda is only 

 slightly soluble in alcohol it cannot be purified at the corresponding 

 potash salt. Benzoate of soda is efflorescent, which shows that it con- 

 tain* water of crytallisation. 



i I bmioatt of ammvttto can only be prepared by neutralising 

 aqueous solution of benzoic acid with ammonia, and addiug ammonia 

 frequently during the evaporation of the solution : in thin manners salt 

 is obtained (NH OC 14 H ,O, + f HO) which crystallise* in rhombic table*, 

 and is easily soluble in water and alcohol. If no ammonia be added 

 during the evaporation of the neutralised solution, or if such a solution 

 containing the neutral salt be exposed to the air, ammonia U discharged 

 and on acid salt crystallites out which is lees soluble in alcohol and 

 water than the neutral salt : it* composition in XH,OC,,U i O.,HOC 14 

 



Dry benzoate of ammonia when heated give* off water (a little 

 ammonia) and cyanide of pheuyl, 



Ml. or, ,11,0, = 4HO + C.,11,, C,N. 



Btnzouta of Ammonia. Cyaoid* of I'lienyU 



The latter body is also called btmonitrilr. 



