1863.] 393 



the numbers which the methylated compounds furnish are of neces- 

 sity less characteristic than those of the ethylated derivatives. 



The new base, for which I propose the name Martylamine, is 

 remarkable for the disinclination with which it goes through the 

 series of performances which are generally expected from well- 

 defined monamines. Chlorine, bromine, and oxidizing agents in 

 general, give rise to the formation of dark-coloured compounds, 

 which appear to possess but little tendency to crystallize. An excep- 

 tion is formed by its behaviour with nitrous acid. On passing this 

 gas through an alcoholic solution, the liquid becomes warm, and soon 

 solidifies into a mass of red crystals, which are insoluble in water, 

 difficultly soluble in alcohol, easily soluble in ether, which contain 



C 24 H 19 N 3 =(C ia H 9 ) 2 N'"H,N a , 



showing that this substance is formed by simple nitrogen substitu- 

 tion, which in this case links two molecules of martylamine together, 



2C 12 H U N + HN0 2 =C 24 H 19 N 3 + 2H 2 0. 



Treated with acids, this substance is easily reconverted into martyl- 

 amine with simultaneous formation of an aromatic compound, which 

 I intend to examine more minutely by-and-by. 



I cannot at present offer any observation on the reaction which in 

 the manufacture of aniline gives rise to the formation of the new 

 base, although MM. Collin and Coblenz have most kindly fur- 

 nished me with a detailed account of the several phases of their 

 operations. It might, in fact, at the first glance appear to be waste 

 of time to examine a compound which, however well defined, may 

 owe its formation to a combination of conditions which are not easily 

 realized again. My friends Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Perkin, of well- 

 known experience in matters connected with the manufacture of ani- 

 line, have never observed this compound in their operations. Mar- 

 tylamine, nevertheless, is endowed with an interest of its own. 

 Though of obscure origin, this body, from the place it occupies on 

 the ladder of carbon, and from its very composition, establishes at 

 once ties of parentage with some of the most distinguished families 

 in the domain of organic chemistry. A glance at the formula of 

 martylamine suffices to point out the close connexion of this com- 

 pound with benzidine, the remarkable base obtained by Zinin from 

 azobenzol, and the true constitution of which was lately made out in 



