Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Hi. (1908), No. \%. 



XII. Action of Selenium and Tellurium on Arsine and 



Stibine. 



By Francis Jones, M.Sc, F.R.S.E. 



Received and Read March loth, igo8. 



In a paper on Stibine, read before the Chemical 

 Society of London and published in the Journal for 

 1876, page 641, I pointed out that sulphur decomposes 

 the gas in presence of light, with formation of hydrogen 

 sulphide and antimony trisulphide which deposits on the 

 sulphur. Further that the liberated hydrogen sulphide 

 also reacts with stibine producing antimony trisulphide 

 and free hydrogen. 



(a) 2SbtL + 6S=Sb,,S3+3H„S. 

 \b) 2SbH, + 3H,S = Sb,,^3 + 1 2H. 



It was shown that the reaction serves as an extremely 

 delicate test for stibine, and it was also used to determine 

 its composition, by estimating the amount of antimony 

 deposited as sulphide on the sulphur, as compared with 

 the amount of hydrogen in the hydrogen sulphide 

 evolved. The value of this method for determining the 

 composition of certain hydrides, has since been shown 

 by its application to the case of germanium hydride 

 which is also decomposed by sulphur. \^Z eitschrift fiir 

 Anorganische Chemic, vol. 30, page 3.15, Uber Germanium- 

 wasserstoff von E. Voegelen.] 



I also showed that sulphur acts similarly on plios- 

 phine and arsine, but not so readily as in the case of 

 stibine. 



April 22nd, igo8. 



