J 824.] Fulminate of Silver. 423 



perfectly similar ? or is it not, on the contrary, more probable 

 that the various fulniinic acids are real supersalts, the acid of 

 which does not contain any metal as one of its elements, and 

 which is formed only of oxygen and cyanogen ? It must be con- 

 fessed that our experiments render this opinion extremely pro- 

 bable ; but the following considerations give it additional 

 certainty. 



As fulminates may be obtained without silver or mercury, 

 with oxides which yield oxygen with difficulty, as, for example, 

 the oxide of zinc, it necessarily follows that the various fulmi- 

 nates contain a common principle of fulmination, which is inde- 

 pendent of their bases, and which can be only a compound of 

 oxygen and cyanogen, or, if it be preferred, a compound of oxy- 

 gen, carbon, and azote. 



In addition to this, if we compare the fulminates with the 

 neutral tartrates, and the various fulminic acids to the several 

 bitartrates, perfect analogies exist between them. Thus a neutral 

 tartrate of zinc, copper, silver, or mercury, &c. is only partially 

 decomposed by potash, in the same manner as the fulminates of 

 these bases ; all the fulminic acids form double salts with bases 

 like the bitartrates ; fulminic acid with silver as a base is preci- 

 pitated by acids on account of its insolubility in the same circum- 

 stances as cream of tartar ; and there are many fulminates, like 

 the neutral tartrates, in which acids produce no precipitate, 

 because the corresponding acidulous fulminates or tartrates are 

 soluble ; such are the fulminates and tartrates of zinc and cop- 

 per. Lastly, ths fulminates have great analogy with the hypo- 

 sulphites. 



According to these analogies, it appears to us extremely 

 probable, not to say certain, that the several fulminates form 

 a particular kind of salts, all containing the same acid, composed 

 only of an atom of cyanogen and an atom of oxygen, and which 

 is unquestionably cyanic acid. The neutral fulminates would 

 be cyanala, the various fulminic acids bicyanales, and the equi- 

 valent number of cyanic acid would be 42*792, that of oxygen 

 being equal to 10. Nevertheless in proposing the name of 

 cyanic acid, which appears to express the nature of the fulminat- 

 ing principle common to all the fulminates, we request, before 

 it is adopted, that our results should be verified by chemisls ; 

 and on this account, we shall continue to employ, with the new 

 acceptation determined by our experiments, the names of fulmi- 

 nic arid and fulminates, which not indicating the nature of the 

 compounds to which they arc applied, will have the provisional 

 advantage of not inducing any error. 



In recollecting the property of the amer described by Welter, 

 of forming detonating salts with bases, we could not avoid look- 

 ing for some analogy between this compound and the acid of the 

 fulminates, although, on other accounts, we were fully persuaded 

 that their nature is not similar. The analysis of the salts formed 



