CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PAPERS. 75 



water, and it far surpasses this solvent in its power to dissolve the com- 

 pounds of carbon. Finally, it exhibits very marked power as an 

 ionizing solvent. The more dilute ammonia solutions are much bet- 

 ter conductors than aqueous solutions of equal concentration. 



Metallic Derivatives of the Acid Amides, Compotmds Related to 

 Ammonia as the Ordinary Metallic Salts are to Water. ( "Am- 

 raonaalts," "Amidesalts," ''Acidamidesalts." Suggest a good name.) 

 In view of the close general resemblance between ammonia and wa- 

 ter, the writer, collaborating with Mr. O. F. Stafford, was led to study 

 the reactions between acid and basic amides in ammonia solution. 

 The result of this work was to show that these substances behave in 

 ammonia in a manner entirely analogous to the action of acids and 

 bases in water. Franklin and Stafford have shown that the acid 

 amides, which discharge the red color of a solution of plieuolphtha- 

 leine in ammonia, react with the soluble basic amides, which give the 

 characteristic red color with the same indicator, to form metallic de- 

 rivatives of the acid amides, in accordance with the following general 

 equations : 



MNIIi + AcNIl2= AcXHM -I- NHs 

 and 2MNH2-|-AcNH2 = AcNM2 + 2NH3. 



Acetamide and potassium amide, for example, react with each other 

 as follows : 



CH3CONH2 + KNHj = CH3CONHK + NHs 

 CH3CONHK + KNH2 = CHnCONKo -H NH3 



Carbamide and potassium amide, as follows : 



NH2 NH2 



/ / 



CO + KNHo = CO + NH3 



\ \ 



NH2 NHK 



NH2 NHK 



/ / 



CO -f KNH2=:CO + NHs 



\ \ 



NHK NHK 



Metallic Amides, Tmides, and Nitrides. (Basic Amides, Basic 

 Imides. "Ammon Bases.") Continuing in the direction suggested 

 by the above-outlined analogy between water and ammonia, the writer 

 now finds that the soluble basic amides react with the salts of the 

 heavy metals in solution in ammonia to form amides, imides or ni- 

 trides of the heavy metals. For example, potassium amide reacts 

 with silver nitrate to form silver amide, with lead nitrate to form lead 

 imide, and with mercuric iodide and bismuth iodide to form mercury 



