22$ 



E. DIVERS AND T. HAGA 



calculated from our equation. On the other theory, twice as much 

 should have been got. 



We then applied the stannous- chloride process, avoiding all ex- 

 posure to air by treating the salt in the pressure-bottle to be after- 

 wards used in the analysis, with the alkali and copper salt in a cur- 

 rent of hydrogen. To the resulting mixture, and without removal of 

 the cuprous oxide, we added, still in an atmosphere of hydrogen, the 

 necessary stannous -chloride and acid. Only then and for a moment 

 was the bottle opened in order to replace the cork and gas tubes by 

 the stopper of the bottle. Heated, as before, 0.4298 gram öf freshly 

 crystallised salt gave 44 % (43.93) of the sulphur as sulphite, a re- 

 sult confirmatory of our theory, and better than that (40 %) got by 

 iodine- titration. 



It thus appears clear that the sulphite formed when the oxy- 

 amidosulphonate is oxidised by eu prie oxide is half what is produced 

 when the salt is decomposed by alkali alone. That only nine-tenths 

 of the reckoned sulphite is obtained in both cases is partly if not 

 entirely due to two causes. One of these is that, as already pointed 

 out, in each mode of decomposition, a little oxyamidosulphonate (or 

 a body like it) is always left at the end of the reaction. The other 

 and main one is that the tin reaction is incomplete, for working upon 

 sulphite of a known degree of purity we have got only 91 and again 

 93 l"/o of the sulphite indicated. 



In alkaline solutions, silver and mercuric hydroxides act quite 

 similarly to cupric hydroxide, qualitatively at least, and yield much 

 sulphite. 



Constitution of hyponitrites, as revealed by the decomposition of 

 oxyamidosulphonates. 



The decomposition of oxyamidosulphonates into sulphite and 

 hyponitrite sets at rest any doubt as to the constitution of hyponitrites. 



