396 Scientific Intelligence. 



SCIENTIFIC INTELLIGENCE. 



I. Chemistry and Physics. 



1. Carbon Suboxide. — From certain results that they had 

 obtained by the action of phosphorus pentoxide upon nitroge- 

 nous organic compounds, Dibls and Wolf were led to investi- 

 gate the action of this oxide on ethyl malonic ester, an organic 

 substance containing no nitrogen. As a result a remarkable 

 compound free from hydrogen was obtained, which is actually a 

 new oxide of carbon C 3 2 , or, structurally, OC : C : CO. The 

 reaction taking place is represented by the equation 



CH 2 (C0 2 C 2 H 5 ) 2 := 2H 2 + 2C„H 4 + OC : C : CO. 



This action is brought about by distilling the malonic ester at a 

 diminished pressure of 12 mm and passing the vapor through a 

 large bulb containing phosphorus pentoxide distributed upon 

 glass wool and heated to about 300°. Any unchanged ester is 

 condensed in a well cooled receiver, while the more volatile 

 ethylene and carbon suboxide are condensed in a second receiver 

 by means of liquid air. The ethylene is finally allowed to 

 evaporate and the carbon suboxide is purified by distillation at a 

 low temperature. The formula was established by elementary 

 analysis, vapor density determination, and by the explosion of a 

 measured volume of the vapor with an excess of oxygen in a 

 eudiometer. Practically no contraction took place after this 

 explosion, and three volumes of carbon dioxide were formed, as 

 shown by the equation 



C 3 2 + 20 2 =:3C0 2 . 



The new compound is a colorless, highly refracting liquid having 

 a powerful, unendurable odor. It boils at +7° and solidifies at 

 a low temperature. The vapor violently attacks the eyes and 

 respiratory organs, and is evidently very poisonous. It burns 

 with a very smoky flame which shows a blue border. In its 

 reactions it behaves as an anhydride of malonic acid, readily 

 forming this acid when brought into contact with water. Upon 

 being kept in a sealed tube it undergoes spontaneous decomposi- 

 tion, with the formation of red products which are evidently 

 complex in their nature. The decomposition takes place almost 

 instantly at 100°. — Berichte, xxxix, 686. h. l. w. 



2. New Method for the Quantitative Determination of Halo- 

 gens in Organic Compounds. — Vaubel and Scheuer have 

 devised a method for this purpose, which is applicable to many 

 substances, and which appears to be simpler and more con- 

 venient than the methods now in vogue. About 0*2 to 0'5 S of 

 the substance is weighed out into a dry fractioning bulb, the 

 side tube of which is attached rather low down on the neck and 

 slants upward at first to serve to some extent as a reflux con- 



