52 



L. F. Nilson, 



Atterberg from his researches on the salts of glucinum, has arri- 

 ved at the conclusion, respecting the basic salts of this metal, that they 

 may be regarded as molecular unions between neutral salt and glucinum- 

 hydrate and in proof of this view he states that basic sulphates and selenites 

 dried at 100° seem to contain the constituents of neutral salt and glucinum 

 hydrate such as they are obtained, each of them, at this temperature; yet 

 it is to be observed that the neutral selenitc, that he could not obtain, has 

 been supposed by him, when heated to 100°, to have the composition 

 Be.0 2 .SeO + H 2 0. This view he has also extended to basic salts in 

 general. 



Such a mode of viewing the matter, however, neither contains any 

 proper explanation of the constitution of the basic salts, because the molecular 

 unions of modern chemistry, under which name it includes a great number 

 of quite unexplained facts, are no way to be derived from the theory of the 

 qvantivalence of the elementary atoms and consequently themselves in great 

 want of au explanation, nor does it agree with the data obtained for the 

 above basic salt of glucinum. The quantity of water, that can, under drying 

 at 100°, be expelled from the neutral salt, does not in fact amount fully to 

 1 mol, so that it does not appear to be of the assumed composition 



Be.0 2 .SeO + H 2 



and the 2 / 6 -selenite 



2Be.0 2 .SeO + 3Be.0 2 .H 2 + 7H 2 



loses, in this case, 4 mol. of water, so that the residue is 



2Be.0 2 .SeO -f 3Be.0 2 .H 2 + 3H 2 



but in order to agree with the theory, it ought to have parted with one 

 more mol. of its water. 



On examining the material which Atterberg has had at his disposal, 

 there will be found several exceptions from the regularity in question. Not 

 to dwell upon basic salts of those metals of which he did not know any 

 neutral salt, and which consequently cannot lay claim to any vote in the 

 question, such as basic chromate, molybdate and even selenite, we find one 

 basic chloride of glucinum and two basic oxalates adduced, which do not 

 agree with the result obtained from the examination. The first-mentioned 

 compound is supposed, when dried at 100°, to have the composition 

 (BeCl 2 +4H 2 0) + l2Be.0 2 .H 2 , a ) whilst BeCl 2 +4H 2 0, 2 ) really existing at 



') Loc. cit. p. 7—8. 



2 ) Loc. cit. p. 14. 



3 ) Loc. cit. p. 12. 



