OBSERVATIONS ON AMYGDALINE. 
191 
Whence they deduce the following theoretic composition, 
viz. : 
1 " amygdaline, 5771.465 = 100.000. 
If crystallized amygdaline is placed over sulphuric acid 
for eighteen hours, it loses 3.521 per cent, whilst its trans- 
parency is diminished; this loss corresponds with two atoms 
of water. Crystallized in absolute alcohol, it retains that fluid 
in chemical combination, from which it is readily separated by 
heat. But when it is crystallized in alcohol of eighty to 
eighty-one per cent., like that dried over sulphuric acid, it 
contains four atoms of water. 
When amygdaline is heated with a fixed alkali it disen- 
gages ammonia, and the alkali is found in saline combination 
with a peculiar product, which has received the title of 
amygdalic acid. 
Amygdaline dissolves in cold baryta water without decom- 
position. If heated, it developes, by ebullition in a close vessel, 
pure ammonia and no other product. If it be boiled in con- 
tact with the atmosphere, a precipitate of carbonate of baryta 
is formed by the action of its carbonic acid. By continuing 
the ebullition fifteen minutes, the decomposition is ended, and 
all signs of the disengagement of ammonia disappear. Then, 
by passing a current of carbonic acid through the solution, the 
excess of baryta is precipitated, and after filtration a perfectly 
neutral solution of amygdalate of baryta remains. 
This salt cannot be obtained in a regular form, for, by eva- 
poration, its solution yields a gummy mass, which, when 
exposed to a temperature of 352° Fahr., becomes whitish and 
2 atoms nitrogen, 
40 " carbon, 
54 " hydrogen, 
22 " oxygen, 
177.036= 3.069. 
3057.480= 52.974. 
336.C49= 5.83S. 
2200.000= 38.119. 
Amygdalic Acid. 
