CHEMISTRY. (NEW SUBSTANCES.) 



a substance having an exceedingly powerful 

 and penetrating odor, which collects as an oil 

 upon the surface of the water, and when puri- 

 fied takes the form of a solid viscous substance 

 that, soon solidifies to a mass of crystals, color- 

 less at first, but subsequently faintly yellow. A 

 small quantity of this compound introduced 

 into a nonluminous flame imparts to it a bril- 

 liant given color. It appears to act as an acid 

 substance, dissolving readily in alkalies, but 

 tin- salts produced have little stability. 



The ammonium salt of diazoirnide, N. 2 II. is a 

 remarkable explosive, on account both of the 

 force developed during explosion and of its lo\v 

 temperature of deflagration. The nature of its 

 explosive decomposition, and of that of the mer- 

 cury salt also, has been investigated by MM. 

 Berthelot and Vieille. The ammonium salt, 

 X 3 N r H 4 , was obtained in large, brilliant, trans- 

 parent crystals as the result of the action of am- 

 monia upon diazopuramide suspended in alcohol 

 and recrystallization from water. The crystals 

 may be handled without much danger of explo- 

 sion if due care is taken. They sublime in a 

 vacuum at the ordinary temperature. The pres- 

 sure produced by their explosion was found to 

 be equal to that of one of the gunpowders re- 

 cently tested by M. Berthelot, but the combus- 

 tion appears to be a relatively slow one. The 

 temperature of deflagration is between 1,350 

 and 1,400 C. The products of the decomposi- 

 tion are ammonia, hydrogen, -and nitrogen. 



The raercurous salt of diazoimide, N 6 Hg 2 , was 

 obtained by precipitating a dilute solution of 

 the ammonium salt with rnercurous nitrate. Its 

 explosive decomposition is extremely rapid, anal- 

 ogous to that of fulminate of mercury, and the 

 temperature of deflagration is about 2,700 C. 

 The mercuric salt, N" 6 Hg, may be convenient- 

 ly obtained from the mercurous salt by de- 

 composing it with sulphuric acid, and treating 

 the solution of diazoimide thus prepared with 

 freshly precipitated yellow mercuric oxide. The 

 greater portion of the salt separates as a white 

 precipitate, but it is somewhat soluble in cold 

 water and very considerably soluble in hot 

 water, from which long acicular crystals are 

 deposited on cooling. It is the most dangerously 

 explosive of the salts investigated, and the ex- 

 periments with it had to be abandoned on ac- 

 count of an accident to one of the assistants. It 

 is much more sensitive, and therefore more dan- 

 gerous, than fulminate of mercury. 



A new important nitrogen compound, sym- 

 metrical hydrazo-ethane. C 2 H B NII.NHC 2 n. 'has 

 been isolated, and is described by Dr. Harries, of 

 Berlin. It is obtained by a rather circuitous se- 

 ries of reactions from a derivative of hydrazine 

 Inrnied by 1 he reaction of sodium upon di- 

 formyl hydra/ine. and decomposition with sugar 

 of lead. It is a liquid of pleasant odor, remind- 

 ing one at the same time of ether and weak am- 

 monia : reduces Fehling's solution upon gently 

 warming, and silver nitrate in the cold; and vig- 

 orously attacks caoutchouc. The symmetrical 

 and nnsymmetrical di-ethyl hydrazines are clear- 

 ly distinguished by their reactions with nitrous 

 oxide, the latter yielding diethylamine and ni- 

 trous oxide, and the former ethyl nitrite, to- 

 gether with a smaller quantity of a nitroso com- 

 pound. 



A new liquid sulphide of carbon, C 3 S 2 , has 

 been isolated by Prof, von Lengyel, of Buda- 

 Pesth, while performing an experiment illus- 

 trating the synthesis and decomposition of car- 

 bon disulphide. Its presence was first mani- 

 fested by an extraordinarily strong odor. When 

 isolated it appeared as a deeply red liquid pos- 

 sessing the odor referred to, a trace of the vapor 

 producing a copious flow of tears, accompanied 

 by violent and persistent catarrh of the eyes and 

 mucous membrane. A drop of the liquid at 

 once blackened the skin. The liquid sinks un- 

 der water without mixing with it. It polymer- 

 izes when heated into a hard black substance, 

 quietly if the rise of temperature is gradual, but 

 with explosive force when heated rapidly. Anal- 

 yses both of the liquid and of the black solid 

 indicate the same empirical formula. The liquid, 

 moreover, spontaneously changes in a few weeks 

 into the more stable black solid. The solutions 

 of the liquid in organic solvents likewise slowly 

 deposit the black form. The liquid readily ig- 

 nites, burning with a luminous flame, and form- 

 ing dioxides of carbon and sulphur. Caustic 

 alkalies dissolve it, forming dark-colored solu- 

 tions, from which dilute acids precipitate the 

 polymerized black compound. This black poly- 

 meric modification is readily soluble in caustic 

 alkalies, but acids reprecipitate it unchanged. 

 When heated, sulphur sublimes, and a gas, in- 

 flammable and containing sulphur, but not car- 

 bon disulphide, is liberated, the nature of which 

 awaits examination. The liquid sulphide com- 

 bines readily with six atoms of bromine, with 

 evolution of heat. The substance is readily iso- 

 lated when bromine is dropped into a solution 

 of C 3 S 2 in chloroform, as it is insoluble in that 

 substance. This compound, C 3 S 2 Br 6 , is endowed 

 with a pleasant aromatic odor, two substances of 

 frightful odors thus uniting to form an agree- 

 ably smelling compound. 



Three iodosulphides of phosphorus have been 

 prepared and described by M. Ouvrard. The 

 iodide of phosphorus, P 2 T 4 , is not attacked by 

 sulphureted hydrogen at the ordinary tempera- 

 ture, but at a temperature slightly higher than 

 the melting point of the iodide, about 115 C., 

 hydriodic acid is slowly produced, and after two 

 days' heating at this temperature the reaction is 

 usually complete. The product is readily solu- 

 ble in carbon bisulphide, and the solution de- 

 posits crystals of an iodosulphide of the com- 

 position P 4 S g I 2 . The new substance forms very 

 well developed yellow crystals of high refractive 

 power. They are permanent in dry air, but 

 slowly attacked by moisture with elimination of 

 sulphureted hydrogen. They melt about 106 

 C. to a viscous liquid, and about 300 C. they in- 

 flame with evolution of iodine vapor and white 

 fumes of phosphoric anhydride. Cold water 

 only slowly attacks them, but they are rapidly 

 decomposed by hot water. Fuming nitric acid 

 at once induces an explosion, accompanied by 

 incandescence. The second iodosulphide of 

 phosphorus has the composition PSI or P 2 S 2 I 2 , 

 and was obtained by the action of sulphureted 

 hydrogen upon the tri-iodide of phosphorus. 

 Pis. The solution of the product in carbon 

 bisulphide deposits red crystals of the new 

 compound PSI. These crystals are much more 

 rapidly attacked by moist air than those of the 



