275 



chemical nature of the four bodies be compared, for while urea 

 exhibits the deportment of a base, and the saline character of 

 sulphocyanide of ammonium is so well denned, carbanilide and sul- 

 phocarbanilide are apparently perfectly indifferent substances. 



Nevertheless, on considering the difference of the chemical pro- 

 perties of urea and sulphocyanide of ammonium, and on recollecting 

 that the saline constitution of urea is much more hidden than that 

 of sulphocyanide of ammonium, it appeared worth while to try 

 whether the action of powerful agents would not reveal a similar, 

 if I may use the term, saline construction in carbanilide and sulpho- 

 carbanilide. Experiment has realized this anticipation. 



In the conception of the above view, I have endeavoured to split 

 the two bodies in question according to the equations 



C 26 H 12 N 2 2 = C 12 H 7 N + C U H 5 N0 2 , 



Carbanilide, Phenylamine. Cyanate of 



Diphenyl-carbamide. phenyl. 



and 



C 26 H 12 N 2 S 2 = C 12 H 7 N + C 14 H 5 NS 2 



Sulphocarbanilide, Phenylamine Sulphocyanide 

 Diphenyl-sulphocarbamide. of phenyl. 



suggested by analogous changes of urea and sulphocyanide of 

 ammonium : 



C 2 H 4 N 2 2 =H 3 N + C 2 HN0 2 , 



Urea. Cyanic acid. 



C 2 H 4 N 2 S 2 =H 3 N + C 2 HNS 2 



Sulphocyanide Hydrosulphocyanic 



of ammonium. acid. 



These reactions succeed without much difficulty. On submitting 

 carbanilide and Sulphocarbanilide to the action of agents capable of 

 fixing aniline (anhydrous phosphoric acid, chloride of zinc, and even 

 'hydrochloric acid gas), the former yields cyanate of phenyl > a sub- 

 stance which I discovered many years ago among the products of 

 decomposition of oxamelanile*, while the latter furnishes a remark- 

 able body, sulphocyanide of phenyl, which had not been previously 

 obtained. 



The general features of cyanate of phenyl having been delineated 



* Journal of the Chemical Society, vol. ii. 313. 



