140 PKOCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



0.6731 gram, mixed with cupric oxide, gave 0.1487 gram COg and 



0.0236 gram H2O. 

 0.2776 gram gave 16 c.cm. Ng at 15° and 749 mm. 



This salt behaves in every respect — towards dilute nitric, hydro- 

 chloric, and sulphuric acid, towards concentrated hydrochloric acid, 

 sodium amalgam, and cyanide of potash — in exactly the same man- 

 ner as the mercury salt just described. It probably consists therefore 

 of a mixture of much mercuric carbondioxidoxime, : C : NOhg and 

 of the basic salt, 



Hg ^ ^ C : NOhg. 

 ^O^ 



It is natural that in this case much less basic salt should be formed 

 than in the former case, where the corrosive sublimate solution was 

 added to the sodic nitromethane solution. 



The above experiments have made it clear that the heavy metal 

 salts of nitromethane, e. g. a mercury salt, 



H^C = N-Ohg, 

 II 

 O 



are not capable of existence, but are immediately decomposed by intra- 

 molecular oxidation. An investigation of the precipitates formed by 

 adding copper sulphate or lead acetate to an aqueous solution of sodic 

 nitromethane showed that these consist in great part either of copper 

 carbonate or of lead carbonate (the lead salt obtained is yellow and 

 explodes, and probably contains some 



Pb C : NOpb). 



For these reasons it is obvious that sodic nitromethane itself, 



H2C = NONa, 

 II 

 O 



