ON  THE  SOLVENT  POWERS  OF  SIMPLE  SYRUP, 
291 
few  days  after  took  f.gss.,  burnt,  and  treated  exactly  as  before, 
with  this  result: 
Crux  -f  contents        .       .      .       .  161.500 
do.  —      do.  .  153.005 
Contents   8.495 
This  gives  6.1  grains  (nearly)  of  hydrate  of  lime  in  f.^ss.  or 
13  in  f.gj. 
Fourth. — Four  parts  of  sugar  was  added  to  one  of  <  Syrupus,' 
and,  while  boiling,  unslaked  lime  added.  The  liquid  became  dark 
brown  at  once,  frothed,  gave  off  copious  fumes  of  metacetone, 
and  was  found  on  cooling  to  be  perfectly  neutral.  M.  Beral,  of 
Paris,  asserts  that,  by  having  a  sufficiently  strong  syrup,  caustic 
solutions  result.  This  fourth  experiment  of  the  writer  is  op- 
posed to  this  statement. 
The  foregoing  experiments  show  how  much  lime  was  present 
in  the  solutions,  but  they  say  nothing  about  the  alkalinity  pre- 
sent, how,  as  metacetonic  acid  is  produced  when  sugar  and  lime 
are  boiled  together,  part,  at  least,  of  the  lime  found  in  the  above 
solutions  may  have  existed  as  metacetonate,  and  consequently  in 
a  state  rendering  the  preparation  worthless.  To  determine  the 
question  which  syrup  is  the  most  alkaline,  volumetric  ex- 
periments were  made.  An  acid  solution  was  prepared  of  the 
strength  that 
f.aj.  Aqua  Calcis  neutralized  5  measures. 
f.3j.  of  dilute  lime  syrup,  1  day  old,  neutralized  8  do* 
f.lj.  of  the  syrup  of  experiment  first  36  do. 
f.3j.        do.  do.        second  40  do. 
f.3j.        do.  do.        third  30  do. 
From  the  above,  it  seems  that  the  most  alkaline  syrup  was 
that  made  from  <  Syrupus'  in  the  cold.  On  this  account,  then,  this 
syrup  should  be  preferred.  But  I  found  that  a  strong  lime  syrup 
acted  in  the  cold  exactly  as  weaker  syrup  did  when  heated,  i.  e.y 
was  decomposed  into  metacetonic  acid,  so  that  on  leaving  num- 
ber two  for  a  few  days  exposed  to  evaporation,  the  syrup  became 
very  dark,  thick  and  crystalline,  and  lost  its  alkalinity.  Hence 
in  practice  syrup  No.  1  is  the  best,  and  besides,  it  is  quite  as 
strong  as  can  be  swallowed.  I  append  a  formula.  Take  of 
Syrupus  ftj.,  water  Ibij.,  of  unslaked  lime  a  sufficient  quantity. 
