OXIMIÜOSULPHOXATES OU SULPHAZoTATES. 39 



Raschio- for separatiiio; the alkaline siilphazotates from the neutral 

 salts. According to liim, there is a salt isomeric with Fremy's basic 

 siilphazotate which, unlike tliis, cannot be recrystallised from water, its 

 alkaline solution de])ositinü- neutral (^ximidosuljihonat«. It, tlierefore, 

 rather than Fremv's basic snlphazot;ite, must be held to be li:df-basic 

 oximidosulplionate. The Fremy-Claiis [)rooess for preparing neutral 

 oximidosulphonate had yielded him the new salt but this was only 

 once, and many repetitions of the process failed to reproduce it. 



The difficulties in the way of accepting the existence of this salt 

 as proved are very great. As just stated it could not be got agaiu by 

 the process which had apparently yielded it. Moreover it cannot begot 

 by treating the neutral salt with potassium hydroxide, and it is hard 

 to see why, if it is a basic derivative of that salt decomposable by 

 water. Xeutral oximidosulphonate recrystallised from water holding 

 potassium hydroxide is strongly alkaline, so that Claus found the 

 percentage of ])()tassium to ])ecome some units higher than in the pure 

 salt, and such a prepai-ation behaves with water like Raschig's salt. 

 But. according to Fremy and us, there is here only the production of 

 some basic sulphazotate, and recrystallisation from water separates the 

 two salts. Now, the process which gave Raschig his salt may, accord- 

 ing to Claus, give not only the neutral salt but also some basic 

 salt, and therefore a combined product behaving with water like 

 Raschig's preparation. 



But if we accept the re'sults of the analysis of the salt, it could 

 not have been other than a new salt, for Fremy's basic sulphazotate does 

 not decompose with water into the neutral salt. We are strongly of 

 opinion, and venture here to suggest that some mistake such as may 

 happen to any one at times, crept into Raschig's work or the record 

 of his work. He made but one analysis, and in that determined only 

 the p(^tassium and the sulphur. Of these two the sulphur content 



