136 Royal Society : — 



gold-salt. All my attempts, however, to separate the base itself 

 have entirely failed. Under the inflvicnce of oxide of silver, the 

 bromide yields an alkaline solntion possessing all the characters of 

 the -onium-bases. The body in solution, however, no longer belongs 

 to the same series, the elements of hydrobromic acid having separated 

 from the original compound metal. 



g'g' lpBr+2AgO=2AgBr + ^'g^ lpO,HO. 



The compound thus obtained may be designated as the hydrated 

 oxide of triethyl-vinyl-phosphonium. 



I have ascertained by experiment that the brominettcd bromide is 

 by no means the only result of the action of bibromide of ethylene 

 on triethylphosphine, although under favourable ch-cumstauces it 

 appears to be the chief product. Invariably a portion of the bibro- 

 mide, faithful to its traditions, splits into hydrobromic acid and 

 bromide of vinyle ; and we find therefore in the white crystalline mass 

 always, together with hydrobromate of triethylphosphine, a certain 

 quantity of the very bromide of triethyl-vinyl-phosphonium, which, 

 as has been stated, results from the action of oxide of silver on the 

 brominetted bromide. 



if J C,H3j 



The action of bibromide of ethylene on triethylphosphine, complex 

 as it is, receives an additional element of complication by the influ- 

 ence of heat. Ebullition appears to facilitate the formation of a 

 fourth bromide, which, although less prominentl}^, is also produced 

 in the cold. The study of this compound is not yet completed. 



" Action of Bisulphide of Carbon on Triethylphosphine." Bv A. 

 AV. Hofmann, Ph.D., F.R.S. 



Among the many characteristic reactions of the phosphorus-bases, 

 their deportment with sulphur is so conspicuous that it has served 

 frequently as a test for the presence of these substances. In con- 

 tinuing the study of the phosphorus-bases, I have found that this 

 remarkable attraction for sulphur is by no means limited to this 

 element in the free state. Many sulphur-compounds, when coming 

 into contact with triethylphosphhie, are instantaneously decomposed, 

 their sulphur being appropriated in the formation of the beautiful 

 bisulphide 



E3PS,, 



which, as has been pointed out on a former occasion, is generated by 

 the action of free sulphur. As an illustration, the deportment of 

 bisulphide of nitrogen may be quoted. This substance, obtained by 

 the action of ammonia on chloride of sulphur, and as yet scarcely 

 touched upon as an agent of research, is instantaneously decomposed 



C4H, 



