45° 
Chemical  Notes. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Phann. 
t      Sept.,  1879. 
Berzelius,  according  to  which  chlorine  was  an  oxygen  compound.  Prof. 
Meyer  is  now  vigorously  following  up  this  possibility,  and  the  produc- 
tion of  oxygen  from  chlorine  at  high  temperatures  he  puts  among  the 
results  that  may  be  obtained.  •  He  has  also  found  that  iodine  vapor 
behaves  in  a  measure  analogous  to  chlorine,  when  heated  to  similar  high 
temperatures.  His  further  results  will  be  eagerly  looked  for. — Ber.  der 
Chem.  Ges.,  xii,  p.  1426. 
Organic  Chemistry. — Dr.  W.  A.  Tilden  has  made  some  interest- 
ing observations  on  the  action  of  hydrochloric  acid  upon  different  terpenes. 
As  is  known,  by  passing  dry  hydrochloric  acid  gas  into  cooled  turpen- 
tine oil,  a  mono-hydrochloride,  C10H17C1,  is  formed,  while  by  diluting 
turpentine  oil  with  alcohol,  ether  or  glacial  acetic  acid,  and  then  satur- 
ating it  with  hydrochloric  acid,  a  di-hydrochloride,  C10H18C12,  is  formed. 
This  forms  crystals  melting  at  48°C.  Tilden  finds  that  the  same 
di-hydrochloride  exactly  is  formed  when  oil  of  orange  (boiling-point  1760) 
is  submitted  to  this  treatment.  The  terpenes  from  juniper  oil  (boiling- 
point  1560),  lemon  (boiling-point  1760),  bergamot  (boiling-point  1 760), 
and  caraway  (boiling  point  1760),  yield  this  di-hydrochloride,  as  does 
also  the  terpene  (boiling-point  1740  to  1760),  contained  in  the  ol.  pint 
sylvestris  of  pharmacy,  and  a  terpene  (boiling-point  about  1 760)  obtained 
from  rosin  spirit. 
The  single  exception  is  the  "  sylvestrene,"  discovered  by  Atterberg 
in  Swedish  turpentine,  and  which  Tilden  has  since  recognized  in  Rus- 
sian turpentine.  The  di-hydrochloride  yielded  by  this  terpene  melts 
at  720  to  730. 
Thus,  with  this  one  exception,  terpenes  of  the  two  classes,  boiling 
respectively  at  1560  and  1760,  and  very  diverse  in  their  optical  proper- 
ties, may  all,  by  this  process,  be  converted  into  one  and  the  same  inac- 
tive hydrocarbon. — Chem.  News,  xxxix,  p.  256. 
On  the  formulas  of  Quercitrin  and  Quercetin. — While  many  investiga- 
tions have  been  made  upon  quercitrin  the  formulas  of  it  and  its  decom- 
position product,  quercetin,  have  not  as  yet  been  considered  as  estab- 
lished definitely.  Liebermann  and  Hamburger  have  made  some  careful 
analyses,  and  have  prepared  a  number  of  derivatives  which  enable  them 
to  give  formulas  with  some  positiveness.  For  quercitrin  they  find  a 
composition  C36H3gO20,  and  for  quercetin  C^H^O^  The  decomposi- 
tion of  the  quercitrin  by  dilute  acids  would  then  be  according  to  the 
following  reaction : 
