593 



which has been controlled by quantitative experiments. The idea 

 suggests itself to assume one-fifth of the nitrogen in the form of nitric 

 acid, when the new body might be viewed as a salt-like compound of 

 the formula 



C 7 H 4 N 2 'OJ 

 C 7 H 4 N 2 'OJ 



the action of the water consisting simply in the replacement of the 

 monatomic nitrogen by the elements of water, which would produce 

 salicylic acid, nitric acid being liberated. 



I avail myself of this opportunity of mentioning the deportment of 

 several other isomeric bodies under the influence of nitrous acid. 

 There are two basic compounds, 



C 6 (H 6 N0 2 )N, 



known ; the one is the alphaphenylamine of Hofmann and Muspratt, 

 the other the betaphenylamine observed by Arppe. When submitted 

 to the action of nitrous acid, these two isomeric bodies yield two 

 perfectly different nitrogen-substituted derivatives. The substance 

 obtained from alphaphenylamine (the base formed by the reduction 

 of dinitrobenzol) has been already mentioned in one of my previous 

 notes, the body derived from betaphenylamine is still under exami- 

 nation. 



The action of nitrous acid proves that there are also two bromphe- 

 nylamines similar to the two nitrophenylamines. The original brom- 

 phenylamine discovered by Hofmann, and which is formed by the di- 

 stillation of bromisatin with hydrated potash, yields with nitrous 

 acid a compound, 



C 12 H 9 Br 2 N 3 = N'" N 2 , 



H 



crystallizing in beautiful golden-yellow needles, insoluble in water, 

 and difficultly soluble in alcohol and ether. The bromphenylamine, 

 on the other hand, which was lately prepared by Mills * from acetyl- 

 bromphenylamide, exhibits with nitrous acid a perfectly different 

 deportment, being transformed into a yellow scarcely crystalline com- 

 pound, easily soluble in alcohol and ether, but insoluble in water. I 

 have not as yet analysed this compound ; its formation, however, 



* See the previous abstract. 



2 s 2 



