236 Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 
question, if hydrogen instead of coal-gas were passed through 
hydrocyanic acid and then into heated zine dust; because,if in 
that case I obtained a number for the platinum in the salt nearer 
to methylamine, it would show that the formation of trimethy- 
lamine from coal-gas did not arise from a peculiarity in the action 
of the zinc, but from the substance in the gas which gave the 
alkaloid not being ordinary hydrocyanic acid. 
Experiment 8.—Hydrogen prepared from zine and dilute sul- 
phuric acid was passed through a warm acidulated solution of 
cyanide of potassium for one day, after a previous passage during 
the night to render the zine active. The resulting alkaloid was 
converted into platinum salt, and weighed 3:20 grains. It gave on 
ignition 42°59 per cent. of platinum. The platinum salt of methy- 
lamine requires 41°68. Error +0-91. The chloride of ammonium 
amounted to 24:1 grains. It is by no means easy to completely 
separate so small a quantity of methylamine from so much 
ammonia ; and the excess of platinum is probably due to this cause. 
The 24-1 grains of chloride of ammonium contained 7-6 grains of 
ammonia ; whereas the 3°20 grains of platinum salt of methylamine 
only contained 0:41 grain of the alkaloid, or less than half a grain. 
The equation CHN+2H,=CH,N does not involve the forma- 
tion of any ammonia. If we suppose the base to be formed from 
cyanogen, we have of course C,N,+5 H,=2CH,N, which also 
dispenses with the formation of ammonia. 
The smallness of the quantity of alkaloid formed in the reaction 
(only amounting to 7:2 grains in the six experiments in which it 
was estimated) would have prevented me from carrying out this 
preliminary investigation, if I had not, fortunately, had much 
previous experience in working on minute portions of these 
substances. ‘The substance or substances which yield ammonia 
and pyrrol are not entirely removed by treating the gas with lime ; 
as I found in one experiment that, on passing well-purified gas over 
heated zinc dust rendered active, turmeric paper was reddened and 
pyrrol evolved. 
The source of the pyrrol I hope to clear up by future experi- 
ments; but I may mention that I found, in 1855, that it is formed 
in numerous cases where nitrogenous animal and vegetable matters 
are subjected to destructive distillation *. 
I must not omit to state that, having on one occasion treated 
zinc dust with very dilute sulphuric acid, with a view to its puri- 
fication, the washed and dried product refused to act upon the gas 
in the manner described in the foregoing experiments. I propose 
to return to this question—Journal of Gas Lighting, Jan. 6, 1885. 
The Gaslight and Coke Company, Nine Elms, 
December 1884. 
* Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin. xxi. part 2. 
