1863.] 503 



about 200 C. this acid sublimes unchanged, and it may he heated 

 to 245 without melting or becoming coloured; it dissolves in strong 

 sulphuric acid, and is precipitated unaltered on addition of water. It 

 gives no coloration with sesquichloride of iron ; with nitrate of silver 

 it gives a white precipitate which slowly blackens on boiling. Its 

 formation from hemipinic acid may be expressed by the equation 



Hemipinic acid. 



This substance has the composition of methyl-hypogallic acid ; but 

 its great stability, as compared with hypogallic acid, makes it appear 

 improbable that such is its true constitution. 



Nascent hydrogen evolved from sodium-amalgam and water, or 

 from zinc and dilute sulphuric acid, converts opianic acid into 

 meconin, 



10 JJ10 05 + JJ2 = 10 JJ10 04 + H 2 0. 



Opianic acid. Meconin. 



Hemipinic acid is unaltered by nascent hydrogen. 



Aqueous hydrochloric acid decomposes cotarnine at 140 C. 

 into chloride of methyl, and a substance which the authors call 

 hydrochlorate of cotarnamic acid and represent by the formula 

 u jji3 ]sj0^ HC1, supposing it to be formed according to the fol- 

 lowing equation : 



12 H i3 N0 3 + H 2 0-r-2HCl= u H 13 N0 4 HC1+H 3 Cl. 

 Cotarnine. Hydrochlorate of 



cotarnamic acid. 



The formula proposed does not agree perfectly with the results of 

 several analyses, which are accordant among themselves, and is given 



as provisional only. 



Calculated. Found 



f -- ^ - \ (mean). 



C 11 .......... 132 .... 50-87 .... 49-98 



H u ........ 14 .... 5-40 .... 5-70 



N .......... 14 .... 5-40 .... 5-71 



O 4 .......... 64 ____ 24-65 ____ 24-61 



Cl . 35-5 . 13-68 . 14-00 



C u H i3 N 4j HC1 . . . . 259-5 .... 100-00 .... 100-00 



This body crystallizes in small silky needles of a pale yellow colour ; 

 it is partially decomposed, losing hydrochloric acid, when dissolved in 

 pure water, but dissolves unchanged in water containing a trace 



