a New Class of Salts. 365 



Iron 14'05 



Sodium 18*33 



Sulphur 6-59 



Carbon 14-98 



Hydrogen 1*51 



Nitrogenl^ .... 44-54. 

 Oxygen J 



100-00 



11-31 grs. were now boiled in water, and 0*94 gr. of the 

 brown precipitate was obtained by filtration, and 5*90 grs. of 

 prusside of sodium were precipitated by alcohol. Hence of 

 the total quantity of 1 -58 gr. of iron present r08 gr. was found 

 in the ferrocyanide, the remainder being in the brown precipi- 

 tate. As the ferrocyanide of sodium is of constant compo- 

 sition, which the brown mixture is not, the iron in the latter 

 is here estimated by loss and would amount to 0'50 gr. The 

 proportion in equivalents is nearly, though not exactly, as 7:3, 

 which would have made the iron in the brown precipitate 

 0-46 gr. instead of 0*50 gr. 



Taking these proportions as leading to a general view of 

 the transformation, it may be expressed by the following equa- 

 tion : — 



2(Fe-5Cy^2 3;f^O + 8Na.f 3S) + 2HO = 7(Na2, Fe Cy^) 



+ (Na, CyS2) + (NaO, N03) + Fe3 04 + S4 + 2HCy + 2N. 



The only point in which this transformation does not agree 

 with experiment, is in the supposed production of ferroso- 

 ferric oxide, v/hereas, when the brown precipitate is washed 

 with acid, only peroxide of iron unaccompanied by protoxide 

 of iron passes through. It is therefore probable that the oxi- 

 dation of this oxide may give rise to the small quantity of 

 ammonia observed, the oxygen from decomposed water uni- 

 ting with it, and the nascent hydrogen with nitrogen to form 

 ammonia. Allowing this to be the explanation of the dis- 

 agreement with experiment, the following scheme may render 

 the above equation more immediately intelligible. Two equi- 

 valents of the blue compound with 2 equivs. of water, by 

 boiling, are resolved into — 



7 equivs. ferrocyanide of sodium. 

 1 equiv. sulphocyanide of sodium. 

 1 equiv. nitrite of soda. 



1 equiv. oxide of iron (FeO + Fe^O^). 

 4 equivs. sulphur. 



2 equivs. hydrocyanic acid. 

 2 equivs. nitrogen. 



