Chemistry and Physics. 473 



ordinary oxygen in attracting carbon monoxide at a high tempera- 

 ture." — J. Ghem. Soc, lxxi, 605-7, June, 1897. G. f. b. 



4. On the A bsorption of Nitrogen by Carbon compounds under 

 the influence of the Silent Electric Discharge. — Experiments have 

 been made by Berthelot in further elucidation of the phenom- 

 ena which result when nitrogen is absorbed by benzene and simi- 

 lar bodies under the influence of the silent electric discharge. He 

 finds that the rate of absorption is more rapid the more frequent 

 the vibrations of the interrupter, a Marcel-Deprez contact-breaker 

 giving better results than the Foucault interrupter even with or 

 without specially high frequency. In the case of benzene he 

 finds the maximum quantity of nitrogen absorbed is about 12 per 

 cent of the mass of* the benzene, the absorption being complete in 

 presence of an excess of liquid. If the nitrogen be atmospheric, 

 the absorption is not complete, though the residue is smaller than 

 the quantity of argon present in the air, since a portion of the 

 argon is absorbed. When the absorption is complete the ratio 

 of benzene to nitrogen is (C G H 6 ) 3 :N 2 . The product in its em- 

 pirical composition corresponds with diphenylphenylenediamine, 

 and shows many properties common to diamines of this class, 

 mixed with condensation products. When exposed to air or 

 oxygen it readily oxidizes, though without setting free nitro- 

 gen; and when treated with hydrochloric acid yields salts the bases 

 of which have odors recalling those of quinoline and the hydro- 

 pyridines. When heated this hydrochloric acid product yields 

 ammonium chloride. The original product when heated by itself 

 gives oft large quantities of ammonia, together with benzene, 

 water (resulting from oxidation in the air), a-trace of aniline and 

 a bituminous liquid containing nitrogen. Heated in absence of 

 air, it yields ammonia but no free nitrogen. W x hen carbon disul- 

 phide is employed, the absorption is more rapid and is complete 

 if the disulphide be in excess. The maximum quantity absorbed 

 is 11 "7 per cent of the mass of the bisulphide, the ratio being 

 (CS 2 ) 3 : N 2 the same as with benzene. The product oxidizes in 

 presence of oxygen, no nitrogen being set free. When heated 

 out of contact with the air, some nitrogen is evolved, the larger 

 part remaining in combination with the products of condensation, 

 Hence these products are more stable than those formed by 

 argon or helium. Thiophene under similar conditions absorbs 

 about 8*6 per cent of its weight of nitrogen, the ratio in this case 

 being (C 4 SH 4 ) 2 : N— C. R. y cxxiv, 528-532, March, 1897. 



G. F. B. 



5. Manual of Qualitative Analysis. By the late Dr. C. Re- 

 migius Fresenius. Authorized Translation by Horace L. Wells, 

 M.A. New Edition, thoroughly revised, from the Sixteenth Ger- 

 man Edition, 8vo, pp. xviii, 748. New York, 1897 (John Wiley & 

 Sons). — The Manuals of Fresenius have stood first in the world 

 among books treating of Analytical Chemistry for nearly fifty 

 years. From the notes on Qualitative Analysis, given to the 

 press in 1841 while he was yet a student at Bonn, down to the 



