114 



CHEMISTRY. (NEW SUBSTANCES.) 



tallizes in small white needles, fusing at 208 

 C., and corresponding to the empirical formula 

 C 24 H 26 Ois. Heated under pressure with sulphu- 

 ric acid diluted with weak alcohol, it decomposes 

 into glucose and a crystalline body now termed 

 iriganine. This forms alcoholic ethers and gives 

 rise to two series of acid ethers. Under the ac- 

 tion of alkaline hydrates it absorbs three mole- 

 cules of water and then splits into three bodies, 

 naiix'ly, formic acid, an acid phenol termed iridic 

 . CieHjaOft, and a phenol termed iretol, 

 r 7 !L0 4 . The last body is rapidly decomposed 

 by the oxygen of the air when in an alkaline so- 

 lution. \Vhen iridic acid is heated above its 

 point of fusion it splits into one molecule of car- 

 bonic acid and a colorless oil distilling at 239 

 C. It solidifies in large crystals, fusing at 57 C., 

 constituting a well-defined new phenol termed 

 iredol. 



The dinitro derivative of marsh gas, CH 2 - 

 (N0 a )a, has been isolated pure by Dr. Paul Du- 

 den, of Jena. It is a substance of little stability, 

 of acid properties, and many of its metallic de- 

 rivatives or salts are dangerously explosive. It 

 can not be preserved many hours, even in sealed 

 tubes, but is converted into gaseous products of 

 decomposition. Its potassium salt, however, is 

 more stable, and can be kept unchanged for 

 months. The silver salt is the most remarkable 

 of its salts. It crystallizes in bright-green tabu- 

 lar crystals, which are extremely sensitive to 

 light. ' Mere boiling of their aqueous solution is 

 sufficient to produce deposition of metallic silver. 

 Either upon warming or by contact with a drop 

 of hydrochloric acid the crystals explode with 

 great violence. Upon reduction of the iced so- 

 lution of the potassium salt by sodium amalgam 

 a curious substance of the composition GH 3 N 2 

 is produced, which explodes below the tempera- 

 ture of boiling water. 



By exposing calcium or its compounds to the 

 heat of the electric furnace in contact with carbon, 

 M. Moissan has obtained a carbide or acetylide 

 of calcium having the formula C 2 Ca. He re- 

 gards the reaction as of interest from the geo- 

 logical point of view, in the light of the hypoth- 

 esis that the carbon now of the vegetable and 

 animal kingdoms existed in the form of carbides. 

 The large quantity of calcium distributed over 

 the surface of the earth, its diffusion through all 

 the formations, both ancient and modern, justify 

 the supposition that it played an important 

 part in the fixation of carbon in metallic combi- 

 nat ions. Moreover, M. Berthelot has suggested 

 that the action of aqueous vapor on alkaline or 

 alkaline-earthy acetylides would furnish a simple 

 explanation of the generation of carbons and the 

 various carbonaceous substances. M. Moissan 

 jioMs that the action of the air on this carbide of 

 calcium, producing at a red heat carbonic acid, 

 permits an explanation of the passage of the car- 

 bon of a solid carbide to the gaseous form in 

 carbonic acid, which is then assimilable by the 

 vcgi-tablf! kingdom. 



Chloraurate of silver, AgAuCl 4 , is a compound 

 of the very soluble and deliquescent chloride of 

 gold with the very insoluble chloride of silver, 

 prepared and described by Dr. Hermann, of As- 

 chaffenburg. It forms long prismatic crystals 

 terminate*: 1 by prisms and dome faces, which ap- 

 pear bright orange red when singly examined 



by reflected light, but pure yellow by trans- 

 mitted light, and the finely powdered substance 

 reflects bright-yellow light. When inclosed in 

 a sealed tube containing perfectly dry air, the 

 compound is stable and unaffected by bright 

 sunlight, but when exposed to sunshine in ordi- 

 nary moist air it instantly begins to bronze, and 

 eventually becomes superficially coated with a 

 dark bronze metallic surface. Dilute hydro- 

 chloric acid instantly decomposes it, with" for- 

 mation of silver chloride and a solution of chlor- 

 auric acid. Ammonia decomposes it, with pro- 

 duction of the usual ammoriiacal solution of sil- 

 ver chloride and deposition of fulminating gold. 



Several new crystallized compounds of hy- 

 droxylamine with the chlorides and sulphides 

 of cobalt and manganese have been isolated by 

 Dr. Feldt, of the University of Berlin. The 

 chlorides are analogous to the salts containing 

 zinc, cadmium, and barium described several 

 years ago by Crismer, they being constituted 

 upon the type RC1 2 2NH 2 OH. The sulphates, 

 however, contain only one molecular equivalent 

 of hydroxylamine, but contain two molecules of 

 water of crystallization. 



Schuler's yellow modification of arsenic is de- 

 scribed by Prof. McLeod as produced as a subli- 

 mate when pure arsenic is heated in vacua. It 

 rapidly changes to the black modification. 



Experiments by Prof. Lunge and Herr Por- 

 schew with nitrogen trioxide, nitrous anhydride, 

 N 2 3 , the separate existence of which had not 

 been demonstrated, have brought them to the 

 conclusion that it is a well-characterized indi- 

 vidual substance which is readily formed under 

 ordinary atmospheric pressure below the tem- 

 perature of 21 C. by the union of nitric oxide, 

 NO, and of nitrogen peroxide, N 2 4 , and that it 

 constitutes an indigo-blue liquid. It is stable 

 at and below this temperature ; but at a tem- 

 perature slightly higher than this, even under 

 pressure, it begins to decompose, and the disso- 

 ciation is almost complete upon the conversion 

 of the liquid into a gas. Hence the difficulty in 

 determining its existence. 



Nitramide, N0 2 NH 2 , is a new nitrogen com- 

 pound prepared by Drs. Thiele and Lachman. 

 It is obtained by successive manipulation with 

 caustic potash and sulphuric acid from nitro-ure- 

 thane, a substance resulting from the action of 

 sulphuric and nitric acids on urethane. The 

 crystals melt at 72 C., but the melting point is 

 lowered considerably by the least trace of mois- 

 ture. It is readily soluble in water (when it ac- 

 quires an acid reaction), ether, and alcohol, but 

 with difficulty in benzene ; is volatile, unstable, 

 easily decomposing with rise of temperature into 

 nitrous oxide and water, and readily explosive. 



Diazomethane, isolated by Prof, von Pechmann, 

 of Munich, is a yellow gas at the ordinary tem- 

 perature, which condenses when cooled to a yel- 

 low liquid. It appears to be odorless, but is ex- 

 tremely poisonous, so much so that it is difficult 

 to work with on account of its effect on the or- 

 gans of breathing. It is obtained by the action 

 of alkalies under special conditions on certain of 

 the nitrosamines. Prof, von Pechmann has like- 

 wise isolated diazoethane by a process similar to 

 that employed with diazomethane, except that 

 an ethyl instead of a methyl nitrosamine is used 

 as the base of the operation. 



