132 Scientific Intelligence. 



into water the acid produces a hissing noise and the mixture is strongly 

 heated. A drop of the acid allowed to fall on paper, wood, «fcc., produces 

 explosion : on charcoal the drop explodes almost as violently as chloridof 

 nitrogen. The acid mixes quietly with alcohol, with evolution of heat, 

 and formation of ether; once however a violent explosion was produced. 

 With ether the acid uniformly explodes violently and the author suggests 

 that possibly the hyperchloric ether of Hare and Boye is formed, fly- 

 perchloric acid produces upon the skin a painful wound which only heals 

 after some months. The acid is decomposed by distillation, hyperchloric 

 acid gas and an explosive liquid having the color of bromine being 

 formed. Hyperchloric acid is spontaneously decomposed on keeping, even 

 in the dark, gradually becoming darker cofored and finally exploding sud- 

 denly. The hydrate of Serullas ciystallizes in long needles which give off 

 dense white vapors in the air and deliquesce rapidly. Their fusing iwint 

 is 50' C. Their action on organic substances is less violent than that of 

 the pure acid but they ignite paper and wood. The concentrated 



ClOg U_ and boils at 203° C. TheTuthor deTribeT U)e hyperchlorates of 

 ammonium, copper-ammonium, protoxyd of iron, suboxyd of mercury and 

 lead. — Ann. der Chemie und Pkarmacie, cxxi, 346. w. 6. 



7. On hyponitric acid. — Muller has studied the action of chlorhydric 

 acid upon hyponitric acid obtained by the distillation of nitrate of lend, 

 Crystallized hyponitric acid, NO^, was found to melt at 11° 5-1 -" " 

 it absorbs chlorhydric acid readily at —22° C, and gives a yellov.: 

 liquid which toward the end of the operation gives off cblorir. = 

 repeated and careful distillations two liquids were obtained, the i 

 points of which were respectively - 5° C. and +5° C, and nearly ooi ~ 

 Of these the more volatile proved to be Gay Lussac's compound N*-*2' 

 the other had the formula NO^Cl. The density of this liquid was fJur-i 

 to be 1-32 at 14° C, ; its vapor density was 2'63 by observation, 2S by 

 calculation. The compound NO^Cl is instantlv decomposed by wa.ef 

 yielding chlorhydric and nitric acids according to' the equation 



S"*4+2HO=^04|o,+HCl 

 The author suggests that the molecule n\ * \ niay serve to in:; - 

 ("NO^) into organic compounds, Pentaehlorid of phosphorus acts no- 

 lently upon hyponitric acid, the reaction being expressed by the equation 



N0^-j-PCl^=N02Cl+P02Cl3-{-CI 

 The vapor-density of hyponitric acid was found to be 2-'70 at 28" C. and 

 1-84 at 79° C. ;the formula NO^ requires 1-59; the formula Nj^s 

 reqiiii-es 3-17. Maller considers it desirable to write the formula of tb< 



Berzelieus's view th 

 Pure fluid hyponiti 



with N 0^ to form nitrous acid : the reaction is ^^* I Og-f R= 



