186 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



ether, since benzol was used in addition to alcohol as a solvent, and 

 no pains were taken to cool the liquid, although the reaction produced 

 a tolerable amount of heat. The product, which was worked up by 

 spontaneous evaporation of the solvent, washing, and recrystallizatioa 

 from alcohol, showed the constant melting point 147°, instead of 

 101°. Upon trying to make more of this substance in the same way, 

 we obtained a product which was evidently a mixture of the substance 

 melting at 101° and that melting at 147°, but the end of the term has 

 prevented us from making out the exact conditions necessary for the 

 production of the substance melting at 147° as the principal product. 

 Fortunately the amount of this substance made in our first experiment 

 was sufficient for its characterization. It was dried at 100°, and ana- 

 lyzed with the following results : — 



I. 0.1607 gr. of the substance gave on combustion 0.1237 gr. of car- 

 bonic dioxide and 0.0263 gr. of water. 

 XL 0.2142 gr. of the substance gave by the method of Carius 0.2683 

 gr. of argentic bromide. 

 III. 0.1736 gr. of the substance gave 0.2192 gr. of argentic bromide. 



Calculated for Found. 



C6Br3(N02)..0C,H6. I U. Ul. 



Carbon 21.38 ' 20.99 



Hydrogen 1.11 1.82 



Bromine 53.46 53.31 53.74 



Properties. — The tribromdinitrophenetol occurs in white, well 

 formed, slender, nearly square prisms often a centimeter long, termi- 

 nated by a single plane at an acute angle to the sides. It melts at 

 147°, and is soluble in cold ethyl or methyl alcohol, more freely in 

 hot ; freely soluble in benzol, chloroform, glacial acetic acid, or acetone ; 

 soluble in ether or carbonic disulphide ; almost insoluble in ligroine. 

 The best solvent for it is hot alcohol. None of the strong acids seem 

 to have any action on it. 



Action of Sodic Methylate on Tribromtrinitrobenzol. 



Since sodic ethylate had acted so abnormally with tribromtrinitro- 

 benzol, it seemed of interest to study the action of sodic methylate on 

 this compound and accordingly we proceeded as follows. 



10 gr. of tribromtrinitrobenzol in a flask were covered with abso- 

 lute methyl alcohol, and the solution of sodic methylate made from 

 1.5 gr, of sodium was added, observing the precautions for keeping 

 the mixture cool described under the preparation of the corresponding 



