Prof. Schoenbein on some Properties of Ozone. SMi 



chlorine as M + O. Now C with M-f O might possibly pfioo J 

 (luce CO+M, but no such compound existing, according ^6 

 our supposition, chlorine does not act upon carbon. G with 

 2M.#^ dould form CO^+SM, but no sudH^'Cohl'^fetln'd'Ifk'^J." 

 wise existing, only CO2+ M could be produced ;''but we eas'ity ' 

 see that in such a case M would consequently be set at liberty^ , 

 that M, however, not being able to exist in an isolated stati^»j 

 chlorine must prove chemically inactive towards carbon. -y. 

 As to cyanogen, it certainly cannot be denied, that with r^nr 

 gard to some of its chemiciil bearings, that compound exhibit^; 

 a close analogy to chlorine; and we can easily conceive \\o\f 

 such a fact could induce Berzelius to adopt the new doctrine, 

 after having ^,.^bly, ^pd ,Jjjtbj§0,n?M9?ri.^en^iyr»'j<iefepds4,.thi?., 



Ill - "■ -• ' o V 



oici meory. uiijiaaajoq nova o'luir/iynr/i >j_nommo:> silt Jj^ l/uij 

 But in parallehng cyanogen to chlorine, chemists wer|^, 

 forced to admit, that in some cases a compound body is capaTf 

 ble of acting the part of an elementary substance ; and indeed 

 a very extensive use has lately been made of such an admis- 

 sion to account for a great number of facts belonging to or- 

 ganic chemistry, though not one single organic element has 

 been produced in an isolated state, for as far as I know, no- 

 body has as yet seen either ethyle^ formyle, benzyle, or any 

 other yle*. In order to establish an analogy between cyano- 

 gen and chlorine, according to the principles of Berthollet's 

 theory, we must admit that the former contains oxygen ; but 

 cyanogen yielding nothing but nitrogen and carbon, from 

 whence shall we take oxygen ? Starting from Berzeiius's hy- 

 pothesis, according to which nitrogen consists of one equivalent 

 of an elementar}' substance called Nitricum and one equivalent 

 of oxygen, we can conceive how cyanogen might be a com- 

 pound similar to oxy muriatic acid. €3 N (by N we note the 

 nitricum of Berzelius) is to be considered as a body analo- 

 gous to Mf, and as M-f O is = CI, so is CjN + O = Cy. In 

 combining cyanogen with potassium, the latter takes up the 

 oxygen of the cyanogen, and Cg N combines with the oxide 

 just in the same way as, agreeably to the old theory, the oxy- 

 gen of the oxymuriatic acid unites with the metal, and the 

 muriatic acid with the oxide. In decomposing cyanide of mer- 

 cury, the oxygen of the oxide of that metal unites with Cg N to 

 form C2N + = Cy. In exposing cyanogen to the action of 

 intense heat, it is resolved into carbon and N + Oor nitrogen. 

 I need not say, that on this hypothesis what is called anhy- 

 drous hydrocyanic acid must be considered as C2N + HO, as, 

 according to the old doctrine, anhydrous hydrochloric acid 

 tti; * Prof. Schoenbein forgets that kakodyle has been isQlated. — JEc. 



