1864] 



Action of Chlorine upon Methyl. 



235 



there have been — between 1805 and 1864, 



Horizontal intensity==T=l'79\83-0'000048ll9 {^-59-930}" ; 

 between 1806 and 1863, 



Inclination=:i=66° 26'-09 + 0'-01893l {^—110-543}^ 

 and between 1731 and 1864, 



West declination=d=^lS° 8'-68-0'-070652 {j^- 1-899}'; 



all results being meant to be just for the date 1800 + ^ in years of the 

 Gregorian epoch. 



N.B. It seems not unworthy of remark, that no evidence of the existence 

 of a third term in the expression for any one of the three phenomena 

 results from the above-mentioned observations ; and this, though partly 

 due to the inevitable imperfections of the observations, makes it highly pro- 

 bable that a man's lifetime, and even a century is but a very small part of 

 the secular period of terrestrial magnetism. 



II. On the Action of Chlorine upon Methyl.'' By C. Schor- 

 LEMMER, Assistant in the Laboratory of Owens College, Man- 

 chester. Communicated by Professor Roscoe, F.R.S. Received 

 April 5, 1864. 



In a paper published in the Journal of the Chemical Society, New Ser. 

 vol. i. p. 425, I pointed out the great interest which attached to the study 

 of the lower terms of hydrocarbons, known by the name of the " alcohol 

 radicals," inasmuch as the question of the chemical constitution of these 

 bodies requires to be more definitely settled. 



Having been aided in these researches by a grant from the Council, I 

 beg to lay before the Royal Society the results of an investigation on the 

 action of chlorine upon methyl, which are as unexpected as they are de- 

 cisive. 



Equal volumes of chlorine and of methyl were exposed in strong well- 

 corked bottles, holding from two to three litres, to diffused daylight in the 

 open air at a temperature of about 5° C. The methyl was prepared 

 according to Kolbe's method, by electrolysis of a concentrated solution of 

 acetate of potassium, and carefully purified by washing with a solution of 

 caustic potash and concentrated sulphuric acid. The colour of the chlo- 

 rine disappeared rather quickly ; colourless oily drops condensed on the 

 the sides of the bottles, and collected after some time on the bottom as a 

 mobile liquid, the greater part of which volatilized again when the bottles 

 were brought into a warm room. Hence it appears that by the action of 

 one volume of chlorine upon one of methyl, substitution-products are 

 formed, consisting chiefly of a volatile liquid, the boiling-point of which 

 ies between 5° and 15° C. In order to collect these products, the bottles 

 were heated till all the liquid had volatilized, and then opened, with the 

 mouth downwards, under a hot concentrated solution of common salt, to 

 which some caustic soda was added in order to quicken the absorption of 



VOL. XIII. s 



