( ï)7 ) 



is very small, many limes smaller lliiiii lliat of sails wiili imixulciil 

 ions, and at least 20 times smaller than in water. It is for this reason 

 that we have thought proper to disregard the influence of' the ionie 

 dissociation on the results given in the preceding commiuiication. 

 Moreover, this influence would only strengthen the conclusion arrived 

 at in that paper. 



Am.sterdaiH, June 1903. Oiujan. Cheut. Lah. UuiversUt/. 



Chemistry. — ''Bo the Tons carry the solvent with them in eh'ctro- 

 li/sis?" By Prof. C. A. Lobry de Bruyn. 



It is generally known that the behaviour of electrolytes in solu- 

 tion has in many respects not yet been elucidated. We know, for 

 instance, that strongly dissociated electrolytes do not conform to 

 Ostwald's law of dilution. In view of this, H. Jahn ^) some time 

 ago developed a theory in wdiich he attributes this "deviation" to a 

 mutual interaction of the ions, whilst Nernst ^) also assumes intei-ac- 

 tion between the ions and the non-dissociated molecules. 



A priori it did not appear to be impossible that the ions might exert an 

 action on the molecules of the solvent which would cause them to 

 carry the solvent with them during the electrolysis. If this were found 

 to be the case, it would have to be taken into account in the study 

 of the phenomena of electrolysis. 



The question whether the ions carry with them during electro- 

 lysis one or more molecules of the solvent cannot as a matter of 

 fact be studied by using purely aqueous solutions, but it can be done 

 by means of solutioiis of an electrolyte, say, in mixtures of water 

 and methylalcohol. Then if one of the ions carried with it one of 

 the solvents, this would be found out by the difference in the pro- 

 portion of the two solvents at the cathode and the anode both by 

 comparing them with each other and with the original solution "). 



In the research an apparatus of the usual kind was employed 

 such as is used for the determination of the transport numbers of 



1) Z. ph. Gh. 36. 458, 37. 490, 38. 125. 2) ibid. 38. 487. 



2) When the experiments were already in progress Prof. Abegg told nie that 

 Prof. Nernst had already made similar experiments using water + mannitol as sol- 

 vent. These experiments, which only appeared in the Göttinger Nachrichlen [1900. G8] 

 had not led to a definite conclusion; Piof. Nernst confirmed this statement. J. 

 Traube (Chem. Zt. 190iJ, 90) also tliinks it probable that each ion is in unstable 

 combination with one molecule of the solvent. 



7* 



