Am*sJeptr,i893arm"}  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  451 
forms  fluid  and  easily  injectable  mixtures — Rev.  de  th'er.  mcd.-chir., 
August,  1893,  p.  404. 
Mercuric  biniodide — solution  in  olive  oil. — For  this  purpose  the  olive 
oil  is  first  purified  by  mixing  1,000  cc.  of  the  oil  and  300  cc.  alco- 
hol, leaving  them  in  contact  for  several  days  and  agitating  occasion- 
ally. The  alcohol  is  then  decanted  and  the  oil  submitted  to  sterili- 
zation. For  preparing  the  biniodide  solution,  the  oil  is  heated  for 
about  ten  minutes  at  a  temperature  not  exceeding  no-1150  C; 
when  the  temperature  has  been  reduced  to  about  650,  40cgm.  of  the 
mercuric  salt  for  each  100  cc.  of  oil  are  gradually  added,  stirring  with 
a  glass  rod.  When  solution  has  been  effected,  filter  through  steril- 
ized cotton,  into  sterilized,  yellow  glass  containers.  The  solution 
prepared  in  this  manner  is  very  permanent. — J.  Delacour,  Jour,  de 
pharm.  el  de  chim.y  June,  1893,  P-  603. 
The  action  of  cotton  on  sublimate  has  been  demonstrated  by  Leo 
Vignon  (Laboratoire  de  Chim.  appliq.;  Jour,  de  pharm.  et  de  chim., 
July,  1893.  p.  13),  whose  investigation  leads  him  to  the  following 
conclusions :  Bleached  cotton,  immersed  in  dilute  aqueous  or  alco- 
holic solution  of  sublimate,  absorbs  proportionately  more  mercuric 
oxide  than  hydrochloric  acid ;  the  mercury  absorbed  is  only  par- 
tially soluble  in  water  as  HgCl2,  a  portion  being  retained  as  HgO 
and  Hg2Cl2,  and  time  diminishing  the  soluble  quantity,  and  increas- 
ing that  which  is  insoluble  in  water.  These  observations  will  be  of 
service  in  the  preparation  of  sublimate  bandages. 
Acrylic  acid  is  prepared  by  C.  L.  Moureu  from  /9-chloropropionic 
acid,  for  which  the  author  gives  his  process,  as  follows:  ^-chloro- 
propionic  aldehyde,  CH2C1-CH2-CH0,  is  oxidized  by  nitric  acid,  of 
1-47  density,  gradually  added;  the  reaction  is  very  violent,  and 
cooling  is  necessary  ;  the  product  is  heated  over  a  water-bath,  the 
container  then  surrounded  with  ice  and  cooled  to  o°  C.  About  two- 
thirds  of  the  acid  are  recovered  and  placed  over  lime  in  a  vacuum. 
For  extracting  the  /9-chloropropionic  acid  remaining  in  the  drying 
oil,  the  latter  is  diluted  with  four  times  its  volume  of  water,  and 
exhausted  with  ether ;  the  ethereal  solution  leaves  upon  distillation 
a  syrupy  residue,  which  is  heated  on  the  water-bath  for  several 
hours  and  solidified  by  cooling. 
The  resulting  acid  is  heated  with  aqueous  solution  of  potassium 
or  sodium,  and  after  cooling  dilute  sulphuric  acid  is  added  in  a 
