The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-03-15 00:00:00

from formic acid in this manner, by the action of heat, into
a water containing barytes, which is a delicate test for car-
bonic acid, we shall find that the water will not be rendered
turbid, as would be the case if we acted upon oxalic acid. I
shall now add to the formic acid a portion of oxide of man-
ganese, and, by heating it with sulphuric acid, I shall supply
oxygen to the carbonic oxide, and convert it into carbonic
acid, and then we shall find that the barytes water will
become turbid. Independent of this characteristic distinc-
tion between oxalic acid and formic acid, there are others
which strongly mark the nature of the latter acid. I have in
this tube some formic acid mixed with a salt of mercury, a
combination of chlorine and mercury' called corrosive subli-
mate, there being two proportions of chlorine to one of
mercury. The action of heat occasions the decomposition of
this bichloride of mercury. The hydrogen of the water will
unite with one portion of the chlorine to form muriatic acid,
whilst calomel, a white powder, will be thrown down—the
oxygen uniting with the formic acid to form carbonic acid.
When formic acid is heated with the nitrate of silver, a dark
brownish deposit is found in the tube. This is very charac-
teristic of formic acid.
I shall now direct your attention to an acid of very con-
siderable importance, namely, the acetic, which is met with
in the animal and vegetable kingdoms. Acetic acid, how-
ever, is made in very large quantities for a variety of pur-
poses, and its preparation is one of extreme interest both in
a theoretical as well as in a practical point of view. In order
that acetic acid, or vinegar, may be obtained by what is
termed the acetous fermentation, it is necessary that a fluid
containing spirit or alcohol should be present, that this fluid
should be submitted to a certain temperature, say 70 degrees
Fahrenheit, and that there should be superadded a substance
which acts as a ferment, or, in other words, be capable of
setting in action what is termed the process of fermentation.
The vinegar which is obtained in this country, as well as
abroad, is produced for the most part from very weak wines,
by exposing them simply to the action of the atmosphere, or
from weak infusions of malt. These are the methods by
which the weak vinegars are obtained. In the cases where
weak wines are exposed to the action of the atmosphere, the
spirit which they contain by its absorption of oxygen becomes
converted into vinegar, but in the case in which the infusion
of malt is employed, the principal ingredient contained in
this malt is sugar, and it for the most part is converted into
spirit, or alcohol, before it becomes changed into vinegar or
acetic acid. At the same time it must be observed that it is
not essential that the sugar should pass into the state of
alcohol or spirit before the acetic acid is formed, but in the
majority of cases there is no doubt that the sugar becomes
converted into spirit or alcohol before it assumes the cha-
racter of vinegar. There are other modes by which we ob-
tain acetic acid—by what is termed the destructive distillation
of wood, large quantities of acetic acid are obtained. The
elements of wood, or ligneous fibre, being simply carbon,
oxygen, and hydrogen, are found, by the application of
heat, to be resolved into acetic acid, as well as certain other
products. The wood, which for the most part is of a hard
character, is placed in iron cylinders, and, in this country,
put into horizontal furnaces, in France they use vertical
furnaces for the purpose. This wood is submitted in the
cylinders to a considerable heat, by which the ligneous sub-
stance undergoes decomposition, and a number of gaseous
products are disengaged, while there passes over a consider-
able quantity of acid fluid mingled with a dark brown tarry
substance. This fluid is impure acetic acid, which is purified
by distillation to a certain extent. To obtain it perfectly
fine it is necessary to combine it after the third distillation
with some base, such as lime, by which means an impure
combination of acetic acid with lime is obtained. This sub-
stance is then evaporated to a dry state, or, as in some cases,
is mixed with the salt called sulphate of soda, which, com-
bining with the lime, forms sulphate of lime, and takes up
the acetic acid to form acetate of soda. The acetate of soda
is then crystallized by evapoption, and submitted to a cer-
tain heat to destroy the impure substance with which it is
combined. It is then dissolved in water, and obtained in a
pure state. Having thus obtained acetate of soda in a pure
state it is readily decomposed by a strong acid, such as the
sulphuric acid, and the acetic acid is carried over by distillation
and condensed. The acid, when obtained as free as possible
from water, receives the name of glacial acetic acid, or radical
vinegar. Acetic acid, in its pure state, when uncombined
with water, is composed of 4 carbon, 3 oxygen, and 3 hydro-
gen, in 51 parts.. As I have stated, alcohol is capable of
being converted into vinegar, by exposure to the atmosphere
and fermentation. Thus, 2 proportions of alcohol contains
carbon 4, oxygen 2, and hydrogen 6, so that the remaining
4 of oxygen must be derived from the atmosphere, as acetic
acid, combined with water, contains 4 carbon, 6 oxygen, and
6 hydrogen, or 78 parts-3 oxygen, and 6 hydrogen, or 27
' parts being due to the presence of water. If we place al-
cohol in a vessel, near to black platinum, in a fine state of
division, so that the vapour of the alcohol may come into
contact with the platinum, the latter enables the alcohol to
abstract oxygen from the atmospheric air, by which it is con-
verted in a short time into acetic acid. Other products are
formed during the process of acetification, which I shall al-
lude to in another lecture. A substance called aldehyd is
formed when the alcohol has only received one half the quan-
tity of oxygen, and vinegar when it has received double -the
quantity. The term aldehyde is compounded from alcohol
dehydrogenatus, as that substance contains less hydrogen
than alcohol.' It is inflammable, like spirits of wine, and is
capable of being made artificially, by removing the hydrogen
from alcohol. If we take a portion of this aldheyde, and heat
it with caustic potash, it is subject to decomposition, and is
converted into a brown substance called aldehyd resin. Acetic
acid, obtained as pure and as strong as we are able to obtain
it, always contains a certain quantity of water. When hegted
in a very concentrated state it yields a vapour, which is in-
flammable, not unlike spirits of wine. A very characteristic
distinction between acetic acid, which is strong glacial as it
is called, and ordinary vinegar or weak acetic acid, is this,
that the glacial acetic acid, becomes solid or crystalline when
submitted to a low temperature, which is not the case with
weak acetic acid. We have here placed in a cooling mixture
a quantity of strong glacial acetic acid, every portion of which
was put into this bottle in a fluid state, but which has been
converted into a solid by the reduction of temperature. The
temperature which is requisite to produce this change is not
more than 45 degrees Fahrenheit, a degree considerably
above the freezing point of water.
Leaving, then, the subject of acetic acid, I pass on to the
consideration of the remaining acids : and here I will observe,
that I shall do little more than name them, inasmuch as
there are very few properties connected with them of any
interest. The benzoic acid is one which occurs very abun-
dantly in certain vegetable substances. It is capable of being
formed artificially. Benzoic acid is light in its character,
crystallizes in very fine delicate needles, is soluble in water

to a certain extent, and also in spirits. It is used in medi-
cine, and occasionally in chemistry, in the detection of iron.
The succinic acid, which is also of vegetable origin, is derived
from amber, a substance with which we are all "familiar. It
forms a combination with lime and other substances, and is
used as a chemical test. The tartaric and citric acids ap-
proximate in their properties. They both crystallize in hard
crystals, and are used extensively in medicine. They differ
from each other in the citric forming a soluble salt, and the
tartaric an insoluble salt, with potash. The citric acid is
formed in the orange and the lemon. The tartaric is met
with as an incrustation on the sides of wine-casks, in the
state of tartrate of potass. The malic acid proceeds from
the apple tribe of plants. The gallic is an acid met with for
the most part in the gall-nut. It is obtained by simply ex-
posing an infusion of nut-galls to the atmosphere, when a
quantity of oxygen is absorbed, and it is obtained by evapo-
ration in a crystalline form. It is white when pure, and
soluble in water • and will produce a dark colour in salts of
iron, precisely like common ink. Upon the addition of a
small quantity of oxalic acid to this, the colour is entirely
destroyed ; and it is on this principle that we remove what
are called " iron spots," by means of oxalic acid, or a sub-
stance containing oxalic acid, namely, the oxalate of potash.
Vegetable bases are found associated with acids, from which
. .

it is necessary to separate them before we can get them in a
pure condition. The general mode of obtaining them in a
free state is, to saturate the acid with which they are com-
bined with strong bases, such as lime, magnesia, potash, or
ammonia, by which' the vegetable alkali is set free. These
vegetable bases vary very considerably in their properties :
some of them are the most highly poisonous substances with
which we are acquainted ; others are employed extensively
in medicine, and form some of the most efficient substances
in the medical art. Some of them are capable of uniting
with acids, and forming salts. These substances are consti-

tuted for the most part of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen,
and occasionally nitrogen. Therefore, you will perceive how
differently they are constituted from the inorganic alkalies
and earths ; but, notwithstanding, they possess properties
very similar—namely, the power of changing vegetable reds
to green, and of neutralising acids.

The next lecture will take place to-morrow evening, upon
neutral bodies of vegetable origin.

The hop plant is found to be a good substitute for bark in
the process of tanning.
JONATHAN OUTDONE.—A short time ago, " a fine old
English gentleman," in the good town of Burnley, though
perhaps not one of the " olden time," always anxious to
have the earliest news, went, in the course of his daily
rounds, to a Mr. Boniface, who is distinguished for his wit
and intelligence, and inquired of him the news of the morn-
ing. Mr. Boniface hesitated, and stammered out, " None ;"
but shortly, as if recollecting himself, told him that the
latest authentic news was, that a superb and elegantly fitted
up steam-vessel was about to cross the Atlantic, from Liver-
pool, which had on board two acres of grass land, as many
cows and sheep, and poultry, &c., as would fit them with
milk and butcher's meat during the voyage out and home,
and that the spirited proprietors intended to bore for coal,
which they hoped to find, and thus be prepared for any length
of voyage, without the fear of being short of fuel. The old
gentleman, astonished, scratched his head, and walked away,
muttering as he went, " These are strange times; what shall
we see yet !"—Blackburn Gazette.
STATE OP TRADE.—There was but a moderate demand
for yarn yesterday, and the buyers showed very little inclina-
tion to follow up the recent advance in cotton. The business
done was consequently limited. The goods' market was also
quiet, and prices rather in favour of the buyers, though it
could hardly be said that a decline was established, as com-
pared with the current rates of last week. As we announced
on Saturday, several of 'the principal spinners and manu-
facturers at Stalybridge began to work six hours a day on
Monday last ; and we understand their example will be fol-

lowed by the whole of the trade there,—some beginning to-
morrow, and others at the commencement of next week.
From the extent to which the working of short time has pro-
ceeded, and the general substitution of light for heavier
fabrics, in almost every discription of manufacture, there,
must be very considerable diminution in the consumption of
cotton. We heard yesterday of one very large spinner and
manufacturer, who, without stopping or retarding a single
loom or spindle, had diminished his weekly consumption of
cotton th the extent of 161 per cent ; and the same kind of
diminution, to a greater or smaller extent, is very general
throughout the trade, in consequence of the high price of
cotton rendering heavy fabrics comparatively dear and un-
profitable.—Manchester Guardian.

THE POOR IN PARIS.—The lowest forms of Parisian eat-

ing may be found in certain streets of the Fauxbourgs, and in
the market places. Visit the Marche des Innocens at any
hour of the day, you will see around its fountain some score
of old women crouched in the open air, by the side of their
little tin cooking apparatus. Around each are a dozen men,
women, and children ; some standing, some sitting, and all
devouring the bowls of steaming parti-coloured soup, which
have just for eight liards, or two sous each, been ladled forth.
The dishes smell of garlic, and, judging from signs in faces,
cannot be very relishable, The multifarious ingredients that
surrounded the compounders of this broth.

" The eyes ofnewt, and toes of frog,
The lizard's legs, and owlet's wings,"
remind you of that " gruel thick and slab," manufactured by
the witches in Macbeth. This is but the type of many other
scenes ; and thus banquet thousands of the Parisians. Walk
into the large meat market. At one corner.are half a dozen
stalls ; in each sits a mutton-complexioned woman ; around
her are twenty white platters, heaped up with second-hand,
and third, and even fourth-hand remnants ;—they are rem-
nants from the great restaurants. And now here comes a
ragged man, bearing upon his shoulder a dirty bag. Bargain-
ing for its contents with a woman of a stall, he pours out a
bushel of half-stripped bones and half-munched crusts of
bread. The heap looks repulsive enough, and you pronounce
it without nourishment and unpalatable. Your dog merely
smells at it, as he passes by. Yet, on such forbidding food,
thousands of Parisians are nourished. Here are some sad
facts, about which your gourmand at the Rocher, prating
of luxury in Parisian banquets, never dreams. There are
wide contrasts in Paris, and none more wide than those in
eating. The scenes thus visited have some degree of mourn-
ful interest. Amidst them commenced that cry for bread in
the former revolution—that cry which was not silenced till
the royal family were dragged by a starving multitude from
the palace at Versailles to their prison at the Tuilleries.—
Bentley's Miscellany.