OF BODIES CONTAINING NITROGEN. 



time, and deposits a black, or brownish black matter, which is a 

 combination of ammonia with another body, produced by the 

 simple union of cyanogen with water. This substance is inso- 

 luble in water, and is thus enabled to resist further change. 



A second transformation is effected by the cyanogen being 

 shared between the elements of the water, in consequence of 

 which cyanic acid is formed by a certain quantity of the cyano- 

 gen combining with the oxygen of the water ; while hydrocya- 

 nic acid is also formed, by another portion of the cyanogen unit- 

 ing with the hydrogen thus liberated. 



Cyanogen experiences a third transformation, by which a com- 

 plete disunion of its elements takes place, these being divided 

 between the constituents of the water. Oxalic acid is the one 

 product of this disunion, and ammonia the other. 



Cyanic acid, the formation of which has been mentioned above, 

 cannot exist in contact with water, being decomposed immedi- 

 ately into carbonic acid and ammonia. The cyanic acid, how- 

 ever, newly formed in the decomposition of cyanogen, escapes 

 this decomposition by entering into combination with the free am- 

 monia, by which means urea is produced. 



The hydrocyanic acid is also decomposed into a brown matter 

 containing hydrogen and cyanogen, the latter in greater propor- 

 tion than in the gaseous hydrocyanic acid. Oxalic acid, urea, 

 and carbonic acid, are also formed by its decomposition, and 

 formic acid and ammonia are produced by the decomposition of 

 its radical. 



Thus, a substance consisting of only two elements (carbon and 

 nitrogen) yields, in contact with water, eight totally different pro- 

 ducts. Several of these products are formed by the transforma- 

 tion of the original body, its elements being shared between the 

 constituents of water ; others are produced in consequence of a 

 further change in those first formed. The urea and carbonate 

 of ammonia are generated by the combination of two of the 

 products, and in their formation the whole elements have as- 

 sisted. 



These examples show that the results of decomposition by fer- 

 mentation and putrefaction comprehend very different pheno- 

 mena. The first kind of transformation is the transposition of 



