228 



Action of Oxidizing Agents on the Hydrocarbons. 



By the action of boiling diluted nitric acid, continued for many 

 months, on the hydrocarbons not acted upon by concentrated 

 sulphuric and nitric acids, oxidation gradually takes place, and a 

 great variety of acids are produced, among which we have isolated 

 succinic acid, and several others belonging to the series C n H n _ 2 O 8 . 



Oxalic acid, the lowest term of this series, could not be traced ; 

 there occurs, however, in these products several of the volatile acids 

 of the acetic acid series, but in very small quantities. The rough 

 distillates obtained from the Burmese naphtha, when treated in the 

 same manner, yield, in addition to the foregoing, several aromatic 

 acids, derivatives of the benzol series and its isomers, differing however 

 from any acids at present known. Other oxidizing agents have been 

 employed by us, but not with such marked results. 



