It is a monobasic acid, forming one normal and two acid potassium salts, and basic salts with iron, aluminium, lead and copper.

Aliphatic monobasic acids are further divided according to the nature of the parent hydrocarbon.

On distillation with condensing acids a large proportion of volatile monobasic acids (chiefly formic) are obtained.

Each of the two salts first named behave, therefore, as monobasic acids, and the tetroxalate as a tribasic acid.]

The writer found that we can produce this membrane in the unfertilised egg by certain acids, especially the monobasic acids of the fatty series, e.g.