Mixter — Products of the Explosion of Acetylene. 309 



observed that a mixture of acetylene and nitrogen diluted 

 with hydrogen did not deposit carbon when sparked, and that 

 all of the acetylene or nitrogen, an excess of one or the other 

 being present, was removed by prolonged sparking of the 

 mixed gases over a solution of caustic potash to remove the 

 hydrocyanic acid. He considered that nitrogen united directly 

 with acetylene and represented the reaction by the equation 



CH 2 + N 2 = 2HCN. 



As acetylene was not decomposed by the sparks, it must 

 have combined directly with nitrogen. The reaction is of 

 great interest, as it shows that the nitrogen molecules are ren- 

 dered chemically active by conditions which do not dissociate 

 endothermic acetylene. 



