CHEMISTRY. 



137 



easiest formed one, 'the one most nearly allied 

 to protyle in simplicity, came into being first. 

 This would be hydrogen, or helium, or the ele- 

 ment having the simplest structure and the 

 lowest atomic weight. Between this and the 

 formation of the next element in order of sim- 

 plicity would be a considerable gap in time, 

 during which its atomic weight, affinities, and 

 chemical position would be in course of deter- 

 mination. The longer the period occupied by 

 the condensing of the protyle into new atoms, 

 the more sharply defined would be the result- 

 ing elements; and, with more irregularity in 

 the cooling, we should have a nearer approach 

 to the state of the elemental family as we now 

 know it. 



Prof. Thomas Carnelly, in a paper on the 

 physical properties of the normal halogen and 

 alkyl compounds of the hydrocarbon radicals, 

 points out numerous relationships, which, with 

 one exception, are similar to those which he 

 has shown to exist between the normal halogen 

 or the alkyl compounds of the elements. It 

 appears that the physical properties of the 

 following four classes of compounds obey the 

 same rules: 1. The halogen compounds of the 

 elements that is, of elements with elements; 

 2. The alkyl compounds of the elements ; 3. 

 The halogen compounds of the hydrocarbon 

 radicals; 4. The alky] compounds of the hydro- 

 carbon radicals that is, of hydrocarbon radi- 

 cals with hydrocarbon radicals. A careful 

 consideration of these points leads almost irre- 

 sistibly to the conclusion that the elements are 

 analogous to the hydrocarbon radicals in form 

 and function ; and this, if true, will lead us to 

 infer that the elements are not elements in the 

 itrict sense of the term, but are built up of 

 (at least) two primary elements, A ( = carbon 

 at. wt. 12), and B (= ether at. wt. 2), which 

 by their combination produce a series of com- 

 pounds (viz., our present elements), which are 

 analogous to the hydrocarbon radicals. If this 

 theory of the constitution of the elements 

 be true, the periodic law would follow as a 

 matter of course, and we should therefore be 

 able to represent the elements by some such 

 general formula as A n B 3n + (2 x ), analo- 

 gous to that for the hydrocarbon radicals, C n 

 H 3n + (2 a), in which n = the series and x 

 the group to which the element or hydrocar- 

 bon radical belongs. 



Prof. Ramsey, in a recent paper on the sub- 

 ject, has affirmed the non-existence of nitrogen 

 trioxide. After pointing out the inconclusive 

 character of Lunge's argument in support ot 

 the existence of this substance in gaseous form, 

 inasmuch as the use of any reagent may either 

 decompose the gas or react with the products 

 of its dissociation viz., N and N 2 N 4 (N a ) as 

 though they consisted of NsO 3 itself the au- 

 thor showed the only criterion of the existence 

 of the gas to be its vapor-density. The results 

 of experiments made to determine this point 

 were regarded by him as deciding the question 

 against the existence of gaseous nitrous trioxide. 



Chemical Physics. The tabulated results of 

 Raoult's experiments on the action of dissolved 

 substances in lowering the freezing-point of 

 solutions show that different salts of the same 

 group i. e., containing the same number of 

 metal atoms in the molecule show nearly the 

 same molecular depression of the freezing- 

 point. The value of the molecular depression 

 produced by any salt is obtained by multiply- 

 ing the lowering of the freezing-point of a solu- 

 tion containing one gramme in lOOcc. of water 

 by the molecular weight. The salts experi- 

 mented upon are classified into two series: 

 ], according to the value of the metallic con- 

 stituents, and 2, according to the value of 

 the negative or metalloid substance. The first 

 group of the first series, consisting of salts 

 containing only one atom of the monad metal, 

 gives values for the molecular depression vary- 

 ing from 27 to 36. The second group, the 

 salts of which contain two atoms of monad 

 metal, gives the value 40. In the third group, 

 in which three monad-metal atoms are com- 

 bined in the molecule, the value is 48 ; in the 

 fourth it is 47, and in the fifth 48. The second 

 series contains the salts of the dyad metals, 

 and the molecular depression does not exceed 

 53, the values being from 41 to 48 for the salts 

 of monobasic and 18 to 22 for those of diaba- 

 sic acids. Comparing the two series, it ap- 

 pears that, whenever in a molecule of a salt 

 dissolved in lOOcc. of water one atom of al- 

 kali-earth or earth-dyad metal is replaced by 

 an equivalent quantity of a monad metal, the 

 lowering of the freezing-point increases by a 

 nearly constant quantity, viz., about 21. Re- 

 ferring the matter to equivalents, the author 

 states his results : If, in the solution of an al- 

 kali-salt containing an equivalent of the salt in 

 lOOcc. of water, the monad metal be replaced 

 by an equivalent quantity of a dyad or poly ad 

 metal, the depression of the freezing-point is 

 diminished by a quantity sensibly constant 

 and equal to 10*5. With regard to acids, the 

 law is that if in the solution of a salt of a 

 strong monobasic acid containing one equiva- 

 lent of the acid in lOOcc. of water the mono- 

 basic acid be replaced by an equivalent quan- 

 tity of a strong dibasic acid, a diminution of 

 the depression of the freezing-point is ob- 

 served, which is nearly constant, and ap- 

 proaches 14. From these data the author cal- 

 culates the depression due to the separate radi- 

 cals. 



Experiments by Prof. W. A. Tilden on the 

 phenomena of solution of sodium sulphate at 

 different temperatures establish the fact that 

 the thermal change in dissolving the anhydrous 

 salt in water at temperatures above 33 0. is 

 still positive, although a diminishing quantity, 

 and hence that the act of solution is still at- 

 tended, at these temperatures, by chemical 

 combination between the salt and the water. 



W. Spring, in the course of experiments in 

 applying pressure, rising in some cases to 10,000 

 atmospheres, obtained from filings of those 



