Chemistry and Physics. 425 



The author remarks that the Dutch liquid is entirely different in proper- 

 ties from the isomeric body, C4H4CI.CI, which is obtained by the action 

 of chlorine upon chlorid of ethyl, — Comptes Rendus^ xlv, 228. 



6, ]}^ew derivatives of salicyl and netv iodids of organic radicals, 

 Cahours has studied the action of chlorid of acetyl (acetoxyl of Kolbe), 

 as well as of other similar chlorids upon salicylic acid, setting out from 

 the observation of Bertagnini that chlorid of acetyl by acting upon oil 

 of bitter almonds produces cinnamic acid, according to the equation 



Cl4H602-|.C4H302Clrr:HCl-l-Cl6H804. 



Hydruret of salicyl is strongly attacked by the chlorid of acetyl, but the 

 product is not an acid but a neutral substance which has the formula 

 CisHsOe, and which is not decomposed by boiling with alkaline solutions, 

 so that it is not identical with cinnamic acid. Benzoic acid under the 

 same circumstances yields another isomeric body, namely, aceto-benzoic 

 acid, w^hich under the influence of water yields benzoic and acetic acids. 

 The chlorids of cumyl, anisyl and succinyl behave in a similar manner to- 

 ward the hydruret of salicyl, and yield new bodies which the author terms 

 curaosalicyl, anisosalicyl and succinosalicyl. The author remarks, that in 

 these compounds the elements are not merely in juxtaposition, as in the 

 double anhydrous acids, but are fused together so that the distinctive char- 

 acters of each are lost. A theory which satisfactorily accounts for these 

 facts is still wanting. In conclusion the author describes the iodids of 

 several of the acet^d radicals, which he obtained by tlie action of iodid of 

 phosphorus upon butyrate, acetate and valerate of potash carefully dried. 

 The iodid of acet}d (acetoxyl) is a heavy brown liquid boiling between 

 104^ and 105° C. The iodid of butyryl boils at 146° ; that of valeryl at 

 1G8°. They are perfectly analogous, in their chemical relations, to the 

 corresponding bromids and chlorids. — Comptes Rendus^ xliv, 1252. 



[The iodid of acetyl has also been described in the Quarterly Journal 

 of the Chemical Society by Guthrie, who obtained it by the action of 

 iodid of phosphorus upon anhydrous acetic acid. It is very much to be 

 regretted that the nomenclature of Kolbe is not generally adopted, so 

 that the term acetyl may retain the signification originally given it by 

 Berzelius and denote the radical 04113, while acetoxyl is applied to the 

 secondary radical C4H3O2. — w^ g.] 



Y. Oil the true formula of oxalic acid, — Witrtz has endeavored to 

 show that oxalic acid is not only to be considered as bibasic, but that it 

 bears the same relation to gly col-alcohol which acetic acid does to ordi- 

 nary alcohol. When glycol is completely oxydized, as for example, by 

 means of platinum black, carbonic acid is disengaged and the glycol dis- 

 appears. When however the glycol is previously diluted with several times 

 its volume of water, glycolic acid is forr^ied. Nitric acid also, when acting 

 slowly, oxydize?! glycol, producing glycolic acid, the formula of which, Jt 

 will be remembered, is C4II4O6. By the more rapid action of nitric acid, 

 oxalic acid is produced. The following formulas exhibit the relation be- 

 tween glycol and the two derived acids. 



C4H4 ) ^ C4H2O2 



4 ) r\ 



Glycol, Glycolic acid, Oxalic acid. 



SECOND SERIES, VOL. XXIV, NO. 72. — NOV., 1887. 



54 



