104 W. Gihhs and F. A. Geiith 



ment in the dark brown -yellow oxalate which is thrown down 

 by oxalate of ammonia from the solution. 



The constitution of Gros's base becomes perfectly intelligible 

 upon this view, as does that of the analogous base containing 

 but one equivalent of ammonia. It can scarcely fail to escape 

 notice that the theory of conjugates brings all the platinum 

 bases under one point of view, and exhibits the analogy in their 

 constitution in a very striking manner, by arranging them at 

 once in three groups, of which the first two are exactly parallel. 

 Thus we have for the radicals of the first six bases mentioned 

 the formulse 



NH3?Pt 2NH3?Pt 



NnrTptO 2NH3?PtO 



NHCptCl 2NHCPtCl, 



each uniting with a single equivalent of oxygen to form a uni- 

 acid base. The occurrence of a deutoxyd of chlorine a^ a coup- 

 let is not more remarkable or more improbable than that of 

 dcntoxyd of nitrogen ; but experimental evidence is still -wanting 

 to support the view which we have taken of the constitution of 

 Raewsky's bases which have as yet been very imperfectly ex- 

 amined. Claus"^ has also applied the theory of conjugates to 

 several of the ammonia-platinum bases, but has not considered 

 the subject from precisely the point of view which we have 

 taken, though his ideas, in the main, are the same. It is in the 

 explanation of the difference in the saturating capacity of the 

 various bases that Claus' view appears to us less satisfiictory than 

 that which we have proposed. It is scarcely necessary to re- 

 mark that our theory applies to all bases containing ammonia 

 and a metallic oxyd. We may, however, observe that it also 

 harmonizes perfectly with the ammonium theory if we consider 

 ammonium as a conjugate hydrogen, or as represented by the 



formula NH 3 . H. 



We will here remark that our view of the theoretical consti- 

 tution of the ammonia-cobalt bases was distinctly enunciated in 

 the paper already referred to, as published by one of ourselves 

 in 1851. 



A glance at the formulae of the ammonia-cobalt bases, sug- 

 gests the possibility of generalizing the results which we have 

 obtained, by two distinct methods. In the first place, it is evi- 

 dently possible, theoretically at least, to replace one or more 

 equivalents of ammonia in these compounds by an equal num- 

 ber of equivalents of a compound ammonia, as for example, by 

 methylamin, ethylamin, &c. Thus there may be, for example, 

 a species of Roseocobalt, having the formula 



5N(C2H3)3?C02, 



* Chemisch-Pharmaceutisches Central BlattXo. 25, p. 189, Oct 1854. 



? 



