ACE

ACE

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ingredient in this rough analyfis, appearing in avariety of forms, both feparate and combined.

The chemical compofition of acetous acid isbeautifully illullrated by the agency of the.ftronger mineral acids, both upon the hydro-carbonated bafes of fome of the other vegetableacids, and upon thefe acids themfelves. Weft-rumb firft difcovered, that the acids of tartarand fugar, when boiled with nitrous acid, areconverted into vinegar. The experiments ofHermbdaedt on this fubjedt are fiighly inter-eding and inftrudtive.

It had been difcovered by Scheele , and con-firmed by others, that fpirit of wine, whentreated with nitrous acid, was partially con-vertible into the tartareous and oxalic, or fac-charine acids. Mr. Hermbftaedt examinedthis point with more attention. ‘

He began by paffmg oxymuriatic acid gas froma pound of manganefe, and a pound and a halfof common muriatic acid, through a pound ofhighly redtificd alcohol, which abforbed all thegas, and thereby became enlarged two-thirds ofits bulk, and acquired a ftrong odour of nitrousether. This was diddled till the product beganto be acid; the refidue was faturated with pot-afh, and gave by evaporation muriat of pot-afh and acetite of potafh. Thus the produc-tion of the acetous acid from fpirit of wine wasproved, but to fliew whether or not the alcoholprevioufly contained any vinegar, further expe-riments were made. He took the gummy re-fidue, left after the didillation of nitrous ether,or nitrous acid and alcohol, boiled it with fomenitric acid, and obtained from the mixture muchtartareous acid. Seven drams of this concreteacid were then diddled with one and a halfounce of nitrous acid •, the diddled liquor wasreferved, and the refidue contained four dramsof a concrete acid, which was now no longertartareous, but chiefly faccharine acid. Ontwice repeating this procefs with the fame quan-tity of nitrous acid, only half a dram of fac-charine acid remained in the retort. All theliquors of the feveral precedes were then re-diddled together, and the produdd gave nowonly flight figns of faccharine acid, but whenfaturated with potafh produced acetite of pot-afh. Again, on dropping carefully one part ofalcohol on three parts of nitric acid, much heatwas excited, and hubbies of gas arofe, whichwere chiefly carbonic acid, duelling drongly ofvinegar. The fame chemid varied thefe experi-ments in the following manner: two parts ofdry acid of tartar were mixed with four parts• Crells. Ciiern. Asinal. 1786.—J. Phy, 1

of manganefe, and three of fulphunc acid, anddiddled. The product was acetous acid mixedwith the tartareous : on re-didilling it on thefame materials, no other than acetous acid wasnow obtained. A fimilar refult was given byoxalic acid, manganefe, and fulphuric acid.Without the manganefe the product is fulphu-reous acid, owing to the partial decompositionof the fulphuric, mixed however with the acetous.

The experiments of Dr. Crell are fo fimilarto thefe above related, that we need not defcrifcathem particularly. In all, the acetous acid wasproduced in the way above mentioned, fromthe fame materials.

The inference from thefe curious experi-ments is, that the radical of the tartareous, andoxalic, and we may add of many of the othervegetable acids, is the fame, and that it exidsin alcohol as wed as in the native juices fromwhich thefe acids are obtained. It is doubtlefsa compound of carbon and hydrogen, in certainunknown proportions. They are convertibleinto vinegar by the agency of the nitrous or thefulphuric, or the oxymuriatic acid, the operationof which the antiphlogidic theory will aferibeto the addition of oxygen, and perhaps at thefame time the abdraddion of a certain portionof the carbonaceous principle, which efcapes inthe form of carbonic acid.

We proceed to mention that variety of ace-tous acid, formerly known under the name ofradical vinegar , and in the modern nomencla-ture termed (by fome at lead) acetic acid, incontradidinddion to the acetous. It is procuredby didillation of the metallic acetous falts,more efpecially the acetite of copper, or di/lilledverdigris ; though there is much reafon to fuf-pedd that the highly concentrated vinegar ob-tained by Wedendorf’s and Lowitz’s method,from the alkaline acetites as above deferibed,refembles the radical vinegar in every eflentialparticular.

This may be procured in various methods:the following is the mod ancient—Put anyquantity of crydallized verdigris (commonly-called diflilled verdigris) reduced to powder, ina glafs retort, with a large glafs receiver ; applyheat, gradually increafmg, till every thing vola-tile has come over. The fird produdd is amixture of carbonic acid and hydrogen, aboutone-ninth part of the weight of the cupreousfait then appears a watery liquor a little flrarpto the fmell, but prefently it becomes more andmore acid, and at lad exceffively pungent andcaudic, and of a greenifh hue and fomewhatjm. 31. J Dairacq. An Ch. T. 41.