CONSTITUTION OF SALTS. Hj[ 



manner transferred to the acid, or the formula of the salt is 

 changed from NaO + SO 3 to Na + SO 4 . To SO 4 , which is 

 generally spoken of as the " sulphate radical," the namesulpha- 

 toxygen may be applied, and its compounds be called sulpha- 

 toxides; and then the acid and salt will be thus named and 

 denoted on the two views of their constitution : 



Old view : 

 ' Hydrated sulphuric acid or sulphate of 



oxide of hydrogen. . . . HO -f SO 3 

 Sulphate of soda or sulphate of oxide of 



sodium NaO + SO 3 



New view : 



Sulphatoxide of hydrogen. . . H + SO 4 

 Sulphatoxide of sodium. . . Na + SO 4 ; 

 which last formulae are strictly comparable with those of an 

 admitted hydrogen acid and its salt, such as : 

 Hydrochloric acid or chloride of hydro- 

 gen H+C1 



Chloride of sodium. . . . Na + Cl; 

 or as: 



Hydrocyanic acid or cyanide of hydro- 

 gen H+NC 2 . 



Cyanide of sodium. . . . Na + NC 2 ; 



which thus appear compounds of three different radicals, 

 chlorine (Cl), cyanogen (NC 2 ), and sulphatoxygen (SO 4 ), with 

 the same elementary bodies, hydrogen and sodium. Sulpha- 

 toxygen is known only in combination, and has not been ob- 

 tained in a separate state like chlorine and cyanogen. The 

 body, sulphuric acid, SO 3 , which may be separated from some 

 sulphates and can exist by itself, is supposed to be a product of 

 their decomposition and not to pre-exist in these salts, so that 

 it has a secondary character assigned to it. 



Hydrated nitric acid, or aqua fortis, becomes a hydrogen acid, 

 by the creation of a nitrate radical, nitratoxygen. It is the ni- 

 tratoxide of hydrogen instead of the nitrate of water, 



H + NO 6 , instead of HO +NO 5 . 



The nitrate of potash becomes the nitratoxide of potassium, 

 and so of all other nitrates. The existence of nitratoxygen is 

 hypothetical, as it has not been insulated, but in this respect it 

 is not otherwise situated th*an nitric acid itself, which cannot be 



if 



