ae JOURNAL OF THE 
of so long a time as this it was found that the loss of hy- 
drochloric acid continued, although it was slight. On 
analysis this gave ZrO, 42.28 per cent., and Cl 24.35 per 
cent. Although the results in this and the experiment 
immediately preceding correspond fairly well, they are 
unsatisfactory as they point either to a mixture of chlo- 
rides or an oxychloride of very complicated formula and 
hence unsuited for the ultimate aim of the research. 
Lastly a portion was placed over concentrated sulphuric 
acid and the atmosphere above it exhausted occasionally. 
This was kept up during two months of summer weather: 
The loss in the last fifteen days was about 0.02 per cent. 
of the whole. The mass was powdery with a slightly 
discolored crust. It was all soluble in water, however, 
and yielded a clear colorless solution. It contained 53.30 
per cent. of ZrO,. This corresponds very nearly to the 
formula ZrOCl,.3H,O. 
This last experiment showed the possibility of securing 
pure zirconium chloride, provided the excess of lhydro- 
chloric acid could be removed. It was thought that this 
might be done by heating in an atmosphere of hydro- 
chloric acid. A weighed flask was so arranged that it 
could be kept at a definite temperature while a stream of 
dry hydrogen chloride was passing through it. The 
temperature ranged from 100° to 110° C., and the chloride 
placed in the flask melted, solidifying again after the loss 
of the water and excess of hydrochloric acid. If the dry- 
ine was done slowly enough, apparently crystalline oxy- 
chloride was gotten whick lost no further weight on 
being kept at 100°C. A more rapid drying left a hard 
white mass quite hygroscopic. Heating this mass for 
several days did not cause any diminution in weight, pro- 
vided the flask was kept full of hydrogen chloride. If 
the mass was heated even a short time in the absence of 
hvdrogven chloride then further heating caused a continu- 
ous loss of weight even in the presence of a rapid stream 
of hydrogen chloride. After this it was impossible to 
Secure a constant weight. 
