Certain, from these contradictory results, that the salts are 

 iiot constituted on the hydrated type. 



Graham has thrown out the ingenious idea*, that the salts 

 now referred to may actually contain an ammonium in which 

 the fourth equivalent of hydrogen is replaced by an equivalent 

 ma. magnesian metal. Thus CuO, SOg + NHg is constituted, 

 according to Graham, NHgCu, O, SOg, on the type of sulphate 

 of ammonia, NH3H, O, SO3. There is nothing whatever op- 

 tioscd to this view in Kane's researches, as he himself admits, 

 the only difference being that he considers the said salts to 

 TphtEiin oxide of copper and water united to amide of hydro- 

 gen, instead of to cupr ammonium and oxide of ammonium, 

 according to the views of Berzelius and Graham. While, 

 therefore, Kane admits that amide of hydrogen is very closely 

 allied to chloride of hydrogen, he claims for the former body 

 an equally close alliance to water, by asserting that it is equi- 

 valent to a magnesian oxide, although it is difficult to conceive 

 why chloride of hydrogen has not a right to a similar claim. 

 Amide and chloride of mercury have undoubtedly the same 

 volume, viz. 22*0, and chloride of hydrogen also enjoys the 

 same number ; but water does not in any case do so. On 

 this point alone, then, are we at issue with Kane, for there 

 are many proofs that there is extreme probability in the view 

 propounded by him of the presence of NHgH and HO in 

 ammoniacal salts. On the former view alone do we contest 

 the accuracy of the opinion, leaving for future consideration 

 and research, to which we are now devoting ourselves, a more 

 defined notion of the reason why NHgH and HO are equiva- 

 lent in many instances, not in all, to potash. We have already 

 stated the incongruous results w'hich would flow from the 

 conception that ammonia was simply attached to the salts 

 examined. It is true that Kane gives to some of them a con- 

 stitution more intimate, and when he does so his theory ac- 

 cords with our results. But his conception of the equivalency 

 of NH^H to HO has led him in other instances to attach the 

 ammonia to the salt in place of water, and it is from these 

 cases that we dissent. If he merely means that NH2H can 

 replace HO in a compound, as KO, SO3 does in a magnesian 

 sulphate, then we cease to differ, because the resulting com- 

 pounds do not remain in strict parallelism ; the only point 

 ■we argue against being that HO and NHgH are equivalent. 

 Thus we have, supposing all of them to affect the primitive 

 volume 9*8, — 

 u.^jJ0iU^i^iiom*»iGraHa„.5 Element* of Chemistry, p. 410.«OO ^^^ ai^ 



