OF ALIPHATIC COMPOUNDS. 7 



of glycerine. In the electrolysis of a dilute sulphuric 

 acid solution he obtained besides the gases, hydrogen, 

 oxygen, carbon monoxide and dioxide, trioxy- 

 methylene, formic acid, acetic acid, glyceric aldehyde, 

 and a body to whose barium compound he gave the 

 formula (C 3 H 3 O 4 ) 2 Ba (glyceric acid?). 



Further electrolysis of glyceric aldehyde gave the 

 ordinary oxidation products, and, as in the case of 

 glycol, a substance closely related to ordinary glucose. 

 Bartoli and Papasogli 1 repeated these experiments, 

 varying the material of the electrodes, and obtained 

 the following results: 



Carbon anode and platinum cathode gave trioxy- 

 methylene, formic acid, glyceric acid, a substance 

 similar to glucose, and a resin. 



Graphite and platinum electrodes yielded the same 

 products, but a larger per cent of formic acid was 

 formed on using the latter. The alkaline solution 

 of glycerine, electrolyzed by Stone and McCoy, 3 

 gave condensation products of glyceric aldehyde 

 similar to those which have been obtained in the 

 synthesis of glucose. Glyceric acid also was found 

 present. 



Tommasi 8 electrolyzed a sulphuric acid solution of 

 chloral hydrate and was able to prove the presence of 

 hydrochloric acid. On working with isolated elec- 



1 Gazz. chim., 13, 287. a Amer. Chem. Journ., 15, 656. 



8 Tommasi, TraitS d'Electrochimie, 1889, p. 741. 



