by employing Anhydrous Liquids as Solvents. 417 



barium slowly caused a yellow deposit. The iodides of calcium 

 and magnesium produced a copious yellow deposit slowly. Mo- 

 lybdic acid became of a dark-blue colour, almost black, being 

 evidently reduced to a lower oxide by the phosphorus. Mo- 

 lybdate of ammonia became partly green. Chromic acid was 

 also reduced, and became dark green. The iodides of arsenic 

 and antimony formed rich-yellow solutions, and, like the bro- 

 mides of those metals, gave reddish-yellow deposits. Teroxide 

 of bismuth slowly became brown. 



Iodide of zinc, the hyponitrite, and yellow chromate of lead 

 produced yellow deposits. Carbonate of cobalt quickly became 

 of a brown-black colour. Hydrated oxide of nickel and car- 

 bonate of nickel slowly blackened. Copper reduced by hydrogen, 

 and suboxide of copper, soon became black. Dry carbonate of 

 copper immediately blackened and evolved gas. Phosphate, 

 anhydrous sulphate, ammoniuret, and arsenite of copper soon 

 became black. 



The iodides of mercury and of silver, and both the chlorides 

 of mercury, produced yellow deposits. Dry crystals of nitrate 

 of silver became black, and gave a lemon-yellow deposit. Green 

 cyanide of copper and white cyanide of silver became black, 

 and the liquid smelt strongly of hydrocyanic acid. Cyanide 

 of mercury became red-brown. Nitrocyanide of sodium pro- 

 duced a lemon-yellow deposit. 



Salts of copper appear to be particularly liable to be decom- 

 posed by this liquid. The results obtained with iodides were 

 probably due in part to the presence of free iodine, which most 

 iodides are liable to contain, as may easily be proved by digest- 

 ing them with bisulphide of carbon. The percentage of nega- 

 tive results obtained with this liquid was about eighty. 



The purer variety of precipitated sulphur was dissolved in 

 bisulphide of carbon, and the yellow solution filtered. This 

 liquid was singularly inactive ; upwards of one hundred in- 

 organic substances were submitted to its action ; it only slowly 

 blackened the salts of lead, copper, mercury, and silver ; the 

 carbonate and fluoride of lead, however, were rapidly blackened 

 by bisulphide of carbon containing free sulphide of hydrogen in 

 solution ; agitation, therefore, of bisulphide of carbon with car- 

 bonate of lead will not remove free sulphur, but will probably 

 remove any sulphuretted hydrogen it may contain. The solu- 

 tion of sulphur in bisulphide of carbon blackened metallic 

 mercury and copper reduced by hydrogen when agitated with 

 them. Sulphur, when dissolving in bisulphide of carbon, absorbs 

 heat to a small extent. Carbonate of lead in a solution of 

 sulphur in bisulphide of carbon did not become blackened by 

 passing hydrogen gas through the liquid. 



