288 E. DIVEKS AND T. HAGA : 



snlpliite must also have been present. The two salts were, there- 

 fore, together in solution unchanged. Raschig, too, found that 

 sulphite and nitrite are inactive upon each other when in presence 

 of potassium hydroxide dissolved in only its own weight of water. 



II. — a. Even Pyrosulphite only active upon a Nitrite till 

 it has become Normal Sulphite. 



Pyrosulphite, neutral to lacmoid paper and containing there- 

 fore, neither sulphurous acid nor normal sulphite, freely sulpho- 

 nates nitrite, but is far from being all consumed in the process, 

 as it has been represented to be by Claus, Berglund, and Kaschig. 

 Quantitative experiments have shown us that, when pyrosulphite 

 is left in solution with excess of nitrite in a closed vessel for a 

 considerable time, about one-third of the sulphite remains inactive 

 by becoming converted into the normal salt, separable, as in 

 other cases, from the sulphazotised salts by precipitation with 

 barium chloride in presence of ammonium chloride. From this 

 it follows that 3 mois, pyrosulphite are needed to convert 2 

 mois, nitrite into hydroximidosulphate (this Journal, 7, 19) 

 and not 2 mois, only, as had been supposed. The third mol. 

 sulphite remains unavoidably in the solution but all the nitrite 

 sulphonated :~2NaNOo + SNa^SA + OHo = 2NaoHNS20, + 2Na2S03 

 using less pyrosulphite, some nitrite remains at the end along 

 with normal sulphite. That sodium pyrosulphite is not easily 

 all used up in sulphonating sodium nitrite was observed by 

 Raschig. 



Not only hydroximidosulphate but a little nitrilosulphate is 

 formed when a pyrosulphite acts upon a nitrite, but this need 



