174 TRANSACTIONS OF THE Pai 
COMPARISON OF THE ACTION OF POTAS- 
SIUM CYANIDE AND SODIUM CYANIDE 
ON ALKYL HALIDES. 
BY W. D. KLINE AND W. D. BONNER. 
(Abstract). 
Because of the scarcity of potassium cyanide in the 
laboratory sodium cyanide was.substituted when attemp- 
ting to prepare ethyl cyanide from ethyl bromide. 
Instead of obtaining propanonitrile, as expected, the 
mixture yielded ammonia, di-ethyl ether, and a small 
amount of ethyl propanate. 
A general investigation was therefore undertaken 
in order carefully to compare the actions of potassium 
cyanide and sodium cyanide under identical conditions. 
