100 
Hypophosphorous  Acid. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\      Mar.,  1882. 
dent  of  the  present  class,  will  not  have  the  opportunity  of  pursuing 
the  investigation,  to  request  that  the  further  chemical  investigation 
of  the  subject  be  reserved  for  the  writer. 
The  researches  herewith  connected,  embodying  the  isolation  of  the 
alkaloid,  its  description,  composition  and  properties  will  be  completed 
and  reported  upon  at  the  earliest  possible  date. 
HYPOPHOSPHOROUS  ACID,  HPHA=-66. 
By  Geo.  M.  Beringer,  Ph.G. 
Head  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  February  21,  1882. 
The  demand  for  syrups  of  the  hypophosphites  containing  iron,  alkal- 
oids, etc.,  has  been  so  great  the  last  few  years  that  hypophosphorous 
acid  has  become  an  article  of  considerable  importance.  It  is  easily 
prepared  by  decomposing  the  calcium  salt  with  oxalic  acid,  filterings 
washing  the  precipitated  oxalate  of  calcium  and  evaporating  the  solu- 
tion to  the  proper  consistence.  The  acid  seems  to  hold  in  solution  a 
small  amount  of  the  calcium  oxalate  and  deposits  some  of  it  on  stand- 
ing. The  commercial  article  is  always  sold  as  a  fifty  per  cent,  solu- 
tion. Having  occasion  to  prepare  some  four  or  five  pounds  of  the 
acid  a  short  time  ago,  I  was  rather  surprised  at  the  difference  in  spe- 
cific gravity  between  it  and  some  we  had  purchased.  I  have  since 
examined  and  determined  the  percentage  of  several  commercial  sam- 
ples.   The  results  are  shown  in  the  following  table : 
Sp.  Gr. 
No.  1— Own  make— 1-228— 132  grs.  neutralized  53  grs.  Na2CO3=50-  perct. 
"   2— Purchased— 1-155—     "  "  38  "        "      =35-849  " 
u   3_        u       _i.i34_  w  3Q  u        u      ^33-962  " 
"   4—        "        —1-160—     "  "  43  "       "     =40-566  " 
5—        "       —1-124—     "  35  =33-018  " 
DETECTION  OF  MINERAL  ACIDS  IN  VINEGAR. 
By  J.  C.  Wharton. 
In  testing  vinegar  for  free  mineral  acids,  there  seems  to  be  wanting 
a  ready  and  simple  method  of  detecting  them,  as  the  salts  of  these 
acids  are  regarded  as  accidental  and  generally  harmless  impurities.  I 
would  suggest  the  following,  which,  though  involving  well-known 
reactions,  seems  to  have  been  overlooked ;  at  least  I  do  not  remember 
to  have  seen  it  alluded  to  by  any  writer. 
