290 
ON  GLYCERIN. 
tute  ether  for  the  oxide  of  glyceryl  without  any  change  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  compound. 
Distilled  with  acetate  of  potash  and  sulphuric  acid,  glycerin 
yielded  a  solution  of  formic  acid  of  sp.  gr.  1.075,  contaminated 
with  a  substance  giving  it  an  extremely  pungent  odor.  To  deter- 
mine the  nature  of  this  latter  substance,  the  distillate  was  saturated 
with  carbonate  of  soda  and  re-distilled.  The  product  thus  obtained, 
which  had  still  an  acid  re-action,  was  again  saturated  with  car- 
bonate of  soda  and  finally  rectified  from  chloride  of  calcium.  This 
yielded  a  liquid  heavier  than  water,  nearly  colorless,  neutral  to  test 
paper,  miscible  in  all  proportions  with  alcohol  and  ether,  not  in- 
flammable, and  having  an  extremely  penetrating  and  powerful 
odor,  and  an  acrid,  burning  taste  remaining  on  the  tongue  for  a 
long  time.  The  quantity  obtained  was  too  small,  and  not  of  suffi- 
cient purity  for  analysis.* 
All  attempts  to  obtain  an  acid  peculiar  to  the  glyceryl  series 
were  unsuccessful,  resulting  uniformly  in  the  production,  either  of 
formic  acid  alone,  or  a  mixture  of  formic  and  acetic  acids.  As  the 
experiments  were  unsuccessful,  it  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  detail 
them. 
The  recent  discoveries  of  the  artificial  formation  of  the  flavors 
of  vufl  us  fruits  as  being  due  to  the  existence  in  them  of  different 
ethereal  compounds,  render  the  subject  of  the  etherification  of  gly- 
cerin one  of  peculiar  interest.  It  being  a  compound  so  widely  dif- 
fused throughoutthe  vegetable  and  animal  kingdoms,  all  the  fixed  oils 
and  the  fats,  with  the  single  exception  of  cod-liver  oil, having  glyce- 
rin as  a  constituent,  it  is  not  impossible  that  various  natural  pro- 
ducts, which  agree  in  their  composition  with  different  compounds 
of  oxide  of  glyceryl,  may  in  reality  be  produced  by  the  decomposi- 
tion of  glycerin  under  the  influence  of  the  vital  force,  and  there- 
fore may  be  produced  by  artificial  means.  Mannite,  for  example, 
has  the  same  composition  as  oxide  of  glyceryl,  and  other  natural 
products  might  be  cited,  which  have  a  similarity  of  constitution. 
The  artificial  imitation  of  the  results  of  natural  processes,  offers  a 
field  full  of  promise  to  the  experimental  inquirer,  and  among  the 
[_*  This  substance  is  acrolein,  and  is  best  obtained  by  the  dry  distillation 
of  sulpho-glyceric  and  phospho-glyceric  acids.  (See  Eegnault's  Chemistry, 
p.  670.)  The  reader  is  referred  to  a  paper  at  page  357  for  some  interesting 
results  on  the  subject  of  glycerin. — Editor/] 
