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LXXXIII. On certain Processes in which Aniline is formed. 

 By Drs. J. S. Muspratt and A. W. Hofmann*. 



lyOTWITHSTANDING the laborious endeavours that 

 -^ have been made of late years to enable us to foretell the 

 metamorphoses which a given organic compound should sus- 

 tain under the influence of different chemical agents, still it 

 must be admitted that we have by no means succeeded in esta- 

 blishing antecedently, with absolute certainty, the modus ope- 

 randi of a decomposition ; we have only arrived at some main 

 features, giving us an insight as to the probable result of an 

 experiment we are about to perform. 



It is known, for example, that by the action of chlorine or 

 bromine a number of equivalents of hydrogen is replaced ; 

 that phosphoric acid eliminates the elements of water ; and 

 that by treating a compound with caustic barytes, carbon and 

 oxygen are abstracted in the form of carbonic acid. There 

 are many instances, however, where no change occurs, or if 

 so, it is at least quite dissimilar. 



The fundamental cause of this uncertainty lies in the defi- 

 ciency of our present knowledge respecting the true constitu- 

 tion of organic bodies. 



Hitherto the simplest decompositions known are those ef- 

 fected by powerful agents and with the cooperation of very 

 high temperatures. In such cases the chemical constitution 

 of the substance decomposed influences the nature of the pro- 

 ducts far less than the composition and affinities of the ele- 

 ments of the decomposing body. 



In regard to this some observations deserving of attention 

 have been recently made which particularly gave origin to the 

 researches described in the present treatise. 



It has been ascertained, namely, that bodies possessing the 

 same composition but very different constitutions, when sub- 

 mitted to the influence of strong agents, suffer frequently the 

 same decomposition. 



One of the most remarkable examples of this kind was lately 

 remarked by Cahours. 



Some years since Laurent t obtained by the action of ordi- 

 nary nitric acid upon the oil of Artemisia dracunculus, a body 

 containing no nitrogen, the draconic acid, which is expressed 

 by the annexed formula : 



Cl6 Hg Og. 



* Communicated by the Chemical Society; having been read December 

 16, 1844. 

 t Revue Scient., i. x. p. 6. 



