contained in Coal-gas Naphtha. 201 



milted through anhydrous cyanol, it becomes immediately 

 black, with evolution of heat and formation of hydrochloric 

 acid. After some moments it is converted into a tenacious 

 resin, which obstructs the mouth of the gas tube. To prevent 

 this taking place, the oil must be dissolved in either water, al- 

 cohol, or hydrochloric acid, and the chlorine then passed into 

 the solution. When the gas had permeated the liquid for some 

 hours, I removed the apparatus and allowed it to cool. The 

 black mass collected at the bottom of the vessel in the form of 

 a friable resin ; and the clear supernatant liquor exhibited 

 glittering crystals floating through it. 



I levigated the resinous matter with water, and then poured 

 it into a retort and distilled ; there passed over with the watery 

 vapour, a body which concreted into white laminae and floated 

 on the surface of the distillate in the receiver. 



These crystals possess a peculiar odour, and are soluble in 

 cold alcohol and boiling water. The solution has not an acid 

 reaction. When moderately heated with potash in a retort 

 they again distilled over unchanged. 



I did not obtain this body in a sufficient quantity to make a 

 burning, but it is probably the same product which Erdmann* 

 obtained when distilling chlorindopten with alkalies, and which 

 he named chlorindatmite. The same substance appears to be 

 formed when cyanol is distilled with peroxide of manganese 

 and hydrochloric acid, for it possesses all the above-mentioned 

 properties. 



When, in the distillation of the tarry mass obtained by the 

 action of chlorine on cyanol, the water and volatile solid pro- 

 ducts have passed over, the residue liquefies, and, as the tem- 

 perature rises, gives off hydrochloric acid, and a yellow nau- 

 seous oil distils over in small globules, which solidify into a 

 crystalline mass in the neck of the retort, and there remains 

 behind a porous charcoal. 



The odour perceived in this operation strongly reminded 

 me of chlorophenissic acid, which I had prepared a short time 

 before from the hydrate of phenyle. I therefore treated the 

 crystals with potash, and found that the odour disappeared, 

 but a small portion of the resinous matter, which had mecha- 

 nically distilled over, remained undissolved. I added hydro- 

 chloric acid to the solution, when a white flocculent precipi- 

 tate appeared, which is nothing less than Erdmann's chlorin- 

 doptic acid (chlorophenissic acid of Laurent). I washed it, 

 to separate all the hydrochloric acid, suspended it in water, and 

 added ammonia cautiously until the whole was dissolved. 



Nitrate of silver produced in this solution a voluminous 

 * Erdmann's Journ. B. xix. p. 321. 



