THE DECOMPOSITION OF NITROTOLUYLIC ACID. 
49 
By heating with soda-lime toluidine distilled over and solidified in the receiver. The 
new body thus formed is a well-defined acid, producing a series of crystalline salts ; 
those of potash, soda, and ammonia, crystallized with difficulty; the lime and baryta 
salts, though exceedingly soluble, were obtained after long standing over sulphuric 
acid in fine acicular tufts. The lead salt was obtained by dropping the ammonia 
compound into solution of acetate of lead; it fell as a white powder, which when 
boiled with a large quantity of distilled water, and filtered, separated, as the solution 
cooled, in the form of long, brilliant, transparent, and nearly colourless needles with 
tufted ends. By decomposing this lead salt by dilute sulphuric acid, the new acid 
was again obtained in long needles having a fine crimson colour. On adding a solu- 
tion of the ammonia salt to a solution of nitrate of silver, a copious gray crystalline 
precipitate fell, which, when washed with cold distilled water, and then redissolved 
in a large quantity of boiling water, furnished the silver salt of the new acid in the 
form of thin plates, of a glistening and brilliant appearance. After a second crystal- 
lization the salt was dried in the dark in vacuo over sulphuric acid, and then sub- 
mitted to analysis. 
Analysis. — I. *495 grm. gave ’672 grm. carbonic acid and *148 grm. water. 
II. *318 grm. left by ignition in a porcelain capsule *132 grm. of metallic silver. 
III. '337 grm. left ’1409 grm. of silver, 
results which correspond in 100 parts to 
I. II. III. 
Carbon .... 37*02 
Hydrogen. . . . 3\32 
Silver 41*51 41*81. 
If we assume that this new acid is formed from toluyl-urea by the elimination of 
one equivalent of ammonia and by the assumption of the elements of two equivalents 
of water, the substance thus hypothetically obtained will be represented by the 
formula 
C ]6 H 9 N 0 4 ; 
thus 
C l6 X-I 10 N 2 O 2 
- H 3 N 
C l6 H r N 0 2 
+ H 2 o 2 
c 16 h 9 n o 4 
and on comparing the numbers obtained by the analysis of the acid and its silver salt 
with those calculated from the above formula, we find such an agreement as to place 
beyond doubt the accuracy of the assumption. 
Thus, the formula 
c 16 h 9 no 4 
MDCCCLIV. 
H 
