of Iodine and Oxygen. 351 



oxyiodes, I venture to propose a name in conformity, that of 

 oxy iodine for the new soHd compound, and oxy iodic acid, for 

 the acid compound it forms with water. M. Gay Lussac, as I 

 am informed, has proposed in a paper which I have not yet been 

 so fortunate as to procure, but which is said to contain many 

 new and important facts, the name of iodic acid for the com- 

 pound of oxvgen and iodine, the existence of wliich he con- 

 ceived he had proved by his experiment on the action of sul- 

 phuric acid on the oxyiode of barium, and the terms iodats for 

 the substances consisting of oxygen, iodine, and bases. I am 

 willing to pay every compliment to the sagacity of this ingenious 

 chemist, in anticipating the knowledge of the nature of a body 

 the separate existence of which he had not demonstrated by 

 experiment ; but the term iodic acid does not appear to me 

 sufficiently definite. For the hydroionic acid, and the chlorionic 

 acid, as -well as the oxyiodic acid, may be all called as a class iodic 

 acids, or acids from iodine, and the termination in at would 

 place the oxyiodes in the common class of neutral salts, from 

 which they differ in many respects. When they become binary 

 compounds in consequence of their decomposition by heat, though 

 they lose all their oxygen, their neutral and saline character re- 

 mains unaltered, which is not the case with any otlier known 

 class of bodies, except the hyper-oxymuriates ; and the terms 

 iodes and oxyiodes which I proposed in the first paper, in which 

 the distinction between these bodies v/as pointed out, sufficiently 

 express the nature of the double and triple compound, and the 

 difference between them. 



I am desirous of marking the acid character of oxyiodine com- 

 bined with water, without applying the name acid to the anhy- 

 drous solid. It is not at all improbable that the action of the 

 hydrogen in the combined water is connected with the acid pro- 

 perties of the compound ; for this acid may be regarded as a 

 triple combination of iodine, hydrogen, and oxygen, an oxyiode 

 of hydrogen, and it is possible that the hydrogen may act the 

 same part in giving character, that 'potassium, sodium, or the 

 metallic bases perform in the oxyiodes ; and as hydrogen com- 

 bined with iodine forms a very strong acid, and as this acid 

 would remain, supposing all the oxygen to be taken away from 

 the oxyiodic acid, it is a fair supposition that its elements roust 

 have an influence in producing the acidity of the substance. 



Rome, February 10, 1815. 



LXIV. Ob- 



