THE BLEACHING COMPOUNDS OF. CHLORINE. 301: 
the chlorous acid which I have been describing, these two bodies would: 
afford a fresh example of isomerism. But the recent labours of M. Sou- 
beiran have rendered it extremely probable that this supposed protoxide 
is merely a mixture of chlorine and deutoxide of chlorine, which had 
long been suspected by chemists on account of the peculiar condensation. . 
of its elements. 
This composition of chlorous acid differs, it will be observed, very much 
from that which had previously been assigned to it by chemists. On. 
account of the impossibility of directly analysing chlorous acid, chemists 
have endeavoured to determine its composition either according to the 
re-actions which are produced during its formation or when the decolo- 
rizing chlorides are in contact with certain compounds, or from theore- 
tical considerations ; but it is easy to prove that these observations, the 
accuracy of which on account of the ability of the chemists who made 
them is unquestionable, agree perfectly with the results which I have 
obtained, and that my views are most consistent with theory. 
M. Liebig, by causing the decolorizing compound of chlorine to act 
upon the sulphurets of barium, lead, &c., observed that they were im- 
mediately converted into sulphates, without evolving chlorine or pre- 
cipitating sulphur. Now in order to convert 1 atom of these sulphur- 
ets into sulphate, 4 atoms of oxygen are requisite, 3 to form the acid 
and | to form the base. M. Liebig has supposed that this effect was 
produced by | atom of chlorite ; and, as the base of this chlorite could 
only yield 1 atom, he has admitted that the other 3 atoms were fur- 
nished by the chlorous acid. On the other hand, the atom of metal of 
the base is found in the liquor in the state of chloride; there were re- 
quired therefore 2 atoms of chlorine to form this compound. 
Chlorous acid, according to this, seems to be composed of 2 of chlorine 
and 3 of oxygen. But if it be supposed that 2 atoms of this acid are 
necessary to convert 1 atom of sulphuret into sulphate, the observa- 
tions of M. Liebig will then entirely agree with mine. Of the 4 atoms 
of oxygen réquisite, 2 will be furnished by the 2 atoms of acid, and the 
2 others by the 2 atoms of base; and the 4 atoms of chlorine combining 
with 2 atoms of metal will form 2 atoms of chloride. 
M. Soubeiran arrived at the same conclusions as M. Liebig from the 
following considerations: if chlorous acid, he says, is formed as chemists 
suppose, it is necessary for its production that 3 atoms of metallic 
oxide should be decomposed to furnish the 3 atoms of oxygen which 
enter into its composition, and there should be produced 3 atoms of 
metallic chloride ; so that the decolorizing compounds of chlorine must 
contain 3 atoms of chlorine in every atom of chlorite. 
In order to verify this supposition, M. Soubeiran converts a solution 
containing 4 atoms of soda into decolorizing chloride. He evaporated 
this in vacuo, and treated the residue of the evaporation with a satu- 
