ALKALI METAL ; EDWARD DIVERS. 31 



ammonia to be inactive. In one case I used the amalgam in 

 large excess, which soon gave me much ammonium amalgam, 

 and what was quite unexpected neither hyponitrite nor hydroxyl- 

 amine. In another experiment in which I kept the nitrite in 

 excess of the amalgam, the previous addition of the ammonium 

 carbonate in excess was without effect ; the nitrite solution had 

 to be used slightly dilute because of the carbonate and gave 

 therefore a little less hyponitrite (about 12.7 per cent, of the 

 nitrite consumed) and a little more hydroxylamine (about 3 per 

 cent.) than in the best way of working for hyponitrite. The 

 presence of the ammonium carbonate was therefore without effect, 

 the reaction between the nitrite and the sodium being already 

 complete when the sodium oxide presents itself to the water 

 and ammonium carbonate. 



I satisfied myself that a fairly concentrated solution of 

 nitrite is uniformly reduced from beginning to finish, the tem- 

 perature being preserved tolerably constant, by the simple 

 examination of the gases in the way described and by the fol- 

 lowing device as regards the hyponitrite and hydroxylamine. 

 A given solution of nitrite received with cooling only half the 

 quantity of sodium amalgam sufficient to reduce it, and was 

 then found to contain hyponitrite and hydroxylamine in the 

 same proportions to each other as if the nitrite had been fully 

 reduced (with cooling) and in tolerably nearly half the quanti- 

 ties the whole nitrite would have yielded. 



Sodium amalgam was proved to have little or no action 

 upon nitrous oxide by exposing the gas for a long time to its 

 action. The amalgam was liquid and when shaken up with the 

 moist nitrous oxide in a stoppered bottle coated the sides of the 

 bottle. With occasional vigorous shaking, the bottle was kept 



