420 OBSERVATIONS IN CHEMISTRY AND MINERALOGY. 



pyramid is rare. The thin crystals show yellow color. The faces are rough 

 from the granular super-imposed pale-blue salt. The symmetry of the latter 

 could not be made out. 



While most interesting, the formation of red crystals was yet a side issue 

 since the object of the experiment had been to see whether S0 2 would be entirely 

 changed into H 2 S0 4 if it were deficient in regard to the cuprisulfate. On opening 

 the tube the odor of sulfurdioxyd was strong. After filtering off the crystals, 

 1 c.c. of the mother liquor was titrated with potassium permanganate, and it 

 was ascertained that only one-fourth of the sulfur dioxyd had entered into action. 



V. Mother liquor from IV was saturated with sulfur dioxyd and sealed up 

 in tube. The liquid, of course, is not saturated as to cuprisulfate because so much 

 of the latter has been removed as cuprosulfite. Temperature was raised to 

 147° C. After 4 hours a coherent film of crystals of metallic copper and a few 

 crystals of cuprosulfite had formed. The tube was then left in the oven for 20 

 hours longer, temperature ranging from 140° to 160°. The color of the liquid is 

 still blue and the smell of the dioxyd very strong. 1 c.c. requires 7.2 c.c. of per- 

 manganate against 16.8 c.c. before the action — 57.2 per cent, only had been 



active. 



VI. A sealed tube containing liquid saturated with both copper-vitriol and 



sulfur dioxyd was placed in upright position in a glass cylinder filled with water 

 in order to enable observations to be made more conveniently. The temperature 

 was raised slowly, the water being agitated and mixed with a long thermometer. 

 With rising temperature the color of liquid changes more and more toward 

 emerald-green. At 75° C. a darkening sets in, owing probably to some optical 

 interference phenomenon. At same time dark spots form on the surface. These 



and after a while detach themselves and slide to bottom of tube 



increase in 



Each wart is a radiating group of cuprosulfite crystals. At 90° C. crystals of 

 metallic copper begin to form. At 93° C. the cylinder was broken and expenment 

 came to halt. The crystals of the warty groups were much smaller than those 



obtained in previous operation. . 



Conclusions.— First: Of the four possibilities two were realized certainly, 



namely, a and d and perhaps c. , 



Second : The action of sulfurdioxyd upon copper sulfate solution belongs 



the "mass" phenomena; it is incomplete both ways. 



4. On Sulfurdioxyd as an Oxidizing Agent by Preying upon its Own 



Oxygen 



/ 



The following observations were made in January, 1911, and as far 

 reading goes they are new. The impetus of the experiments came tn ^ 

 objection of U. S. Patent Office to one claim in my application for * P a because 

 improvements in the leaching of certain vanadium ores from Colorado, ^ 

 a patent issued to A. Fleck et al. contains the claim that sulf urous acid wn ^^ 

 the sandrock from certain localities. There are two localities at presen 



