RESEARCHES UPON SALICIN. 
149 
of this solution with a slight excess of sulphuric acid. The 
mixture was distilled to about four-fifths. The distilled liquid 
had a feeble odor of vinegar; to this, hydrate of baryta was add- 
ed in excess, and the excess of baryta precipitated by a current 
of carbonic acid, and the liquid boiled for a few minutes, and 
then evaporated. There remained a saline mass, with all the 
characters of acetate of baryta. On treating this mass with 
strong sulphuric acid, abundant vapours of acetic acid were 
disengaged. 
From the facts it results, that there is produced from salicide 
of potassium, by the action of the air, melanic acid and acetate 
of potassa, and since the quantity of acetic acid produced is 
just sufficient to neutralize the potassa, it follows that from 
each atom of salicide there is formed one atom of acetic acid. 
If to one atom of salicide of potassium we add three atoms of 
oxygen and the elements of two atoms of water, we will have 
an atom of melanic acid and an atom of acetate of potassa, as 
may be expressed by the following formula: 
(C 28 H 10 O 4 + K) + O 3 + H 4 2 = C 20 H 8 O 5 + (C 8 H 6 3 + KO ) 
Chloride of Salicyle. 
When chlorine is passed through hyduret of salicyle, in the 
cold, an active reaction takes place with the disengagement of 
hydrochloric acid. The liquid becomes hot and yellow, and 
on cooling, after the evolution of the acid gas has ceased, it 
assumes the form of a yellow crystalline mass. By dissolving 
this mass in alcohol, perfectly pure chloride of salicyle may 
be obtained in rectangular tables of pearly appearance. 
This chloride is insoluble in water and the acids, but is solu- 
ble in alcohol, ethers and the fixed alkalies. This last solution 
is of a deep yellow, and acids precipitate the chloride from it, 
unaltered. In this respect it differs essentially from the chlo- 
ride of benzule, which, under the same circumstances, is 
changed into benzoic acid. The chloride of salicyle is not alter- 
ed by long boiling in a concentrated solution of potassa. 
Heated on a platinum foil, it fuses into a colorless liquid, and 
then volatilises. Its vapor burns with a flame edged with 
