502 [March 26, 



adopted for this base in their previous notice. The mean results 

 of all their analyses (ten determinations of carbon and hydrogen 

 and four determinations of nitrogen) give for the composition of 

 narcotine, 



Carbon 6378 



Hydrogen 5*76 



Nitrogen 3'32 



Oxygen.. 27'14 



100-00 

 The formula 22 H 23 NO 7 corresponds to 



Carbon 63'92 



Hydrogen 5'57 



Nitrogen 3'39 



Oxygen 27'12 



100-00 



The authors had previously stated that meconin, opianic acid, and 

 hemipinic acid were all decomposed by boiling concentrated hydriodic 

 acid, with evolution of iodide of methyl. They now find that hydro- 

 chloric acid acts similarly on these bodies, evolving with each of them 

 chloride of methyl. They suggest the name hypogallic acid for the 

 acid 7 H 6 O 4 , formed by the action of hydriodic acid on hemipinic 

 acid*, in order to recall the fact of its containing one atom of oxygen 

 less than gallic acid, 7 H 6 O 5 . They obtained the same product by 

 the prolonged action of hydrochloric acid on hemipinic acid ; but by 

 a shorter action an intermediate product was obtained, which, ac- 

 cording to a single analysis, appears to contain 8 H 8 O 4 . 



Calculated. Found. 



A 



8 96 57'14 56-65 



H 8 8 4-76 5-17 



O 4 , 64 . 38-10 . 



8 H B O i 168 100-00 



This substance is an acid of much greater stability than hypogallic 



acid; it crystallizes in long, thin, transparent prisms, which are 



anhydrous, and are almost insoluble in cold water, slightly soluble 



in boiling water, but dissolve more readily in alcohol and ether. At 



* Proc. Roy. Soc. vol. xi. p. 58. 



