Chemistry. . 353 



iodide of silver at first formed, and then the white thick flocks of the chlo- 

 ride subsided. The mixed precipitate was then treated with pure ammo- 

 nia, which dissolved the chloride, and left the iodine as a pale yellow 

 powder. The matter dissolved by the ammonia had all the properties of 

 the chloride of silver, and appeared to exceed the iodide in quantity. 



The saline mass remaining in the retort after the formation of the chlo- 

 ride of iodine consists of the chloride of potassium, and the chlorate and 

 iodate of potassa, provided the distillation is arrested as soon as the chlo- 

 ride of iodine ceases to be formed. The iodine is present only in the form 

 of iodate, and does not strike a blue with starch except by the addition of 

 the protomuriate of tin, or some other deoxidizing agent. M. Wflhler is 

 of opinion, that the production of the chloride of iodine in Sementini's 

 process depends on the formation of iodic acid, a portion of chloric acid 

 being decomposed, and its elements uniting with separate portions of 

 iodine. — Poggendorff's Annalen. 



20. On Bromine, By M. Just. Liebig, Professor of Chemistry in the 

 University of Giessen. — On receiving the memoir of M. Balard on a new 

 simple substance contained in the mother water of salt-works, I hastened to 

 make some trials of similar solutions which I was able to obtain, and I 

 have been fortunate enough to find this remarkable body in considerable 

 quantity in the mother water of the salt-pit of Theodorshalle, near Kreutsz- 

 nach. From thirty pounds of the mother water I obtained nearly twenty 

 grammes of bromine. 



Having transmitted chlorine through this mother water, the liquid ac- 

 quired a yellow tint ; and on agitating it strongly, red vapours appeared 

 upon its surface. On following the process of M. Balard, which appears 

 the most simple, I separated the bromine by means of ether, and then by 

 caustic potash. The distillation of the bromuret of potassium with per- 

 oxide of manganese and sulphuric acid afforded a sufficient quantity of 

 bromine for enabling me to repeat a great number of the experiments of 

 M. Balard ; but I have not observed any phenomenon which leads to a con- 

 clusion contrary to that which he has deduced from his researches. 



M. Balard, in taking for his guide the essays of M. Gay-Lussac on iodine 

 and cyanogen, has left very little to be added to his own memoir. I may 

 add, however, a few experiments in support of the opinion, that bromine, 

 like chlorine and iodine, is to be regarded as a simple substance. 



I heated to redness in a glass tube some iron wire formed into a spiral, 

 and the vapour of bromine well dried by chloride of calcium was transmit- 

 ted through it. The iron, at the moment of contact, became red hot, and 

 fused, without disengaging any gaseous substance. The fused mass was of a 

 bright yellow like Naples yellow, presented a crystalline lamellar structure, 

 and was soluble in water without colouring it. The solution was precipi- 

 tated of a bright yellow by the nitrate of silver, and chlorine disengaged 

 from it the vapours of bromine. The compound was proto-bromuret of 

 iron. 



In another experiment I substituted platinum wire for the iron ; but 

 VOL. VI. NO. II. APRIL 1827- Z 



