VIII. Hypoiodous Acid and Hypoiodites. 



By R. L. Taylor, F.C.S. 



Received and read February 9th, 1897. 



HYPOIODITES. 



It appears to have been always considered very 

 doubtful whether hypoiodous acid has ever been pre- 

 pared at all, and many chemists are hardly willing to 

 recognise hypoiodites as very definite compounds. The 

 information one can obtain about these bodies is very 

 vague and indefinite, and in some respects contradictory. 



My investigation was originally undertaken with the 

 -object of isolating hypoiodous acid, but the following 

 experiment led me to include hypoiodites as well. I had 

 found that a solution of iodine in water acted in many 

 respects very much better than any other solution, or 

 than the solid substance, and trying the effect of adding 

 a little alkali to some of this aqueous solution, I was 

 astonished at the particularly definite character of the 

 solution obtained, and especially at its bleaching action, 

 and felt sure that this remarkable solution could not 

 be generally known, or else hypoiodites would certainly 

 have met with better recognition than they have hitherto 

 received. 



So far as I am aware, the most important papers on 

 hypoiodites have been those by Schonbein (Journal filr 

 praktischc Chemie, 1861, p. 387), and by G. Lunge and 

 R. Schoch (Berichte, 15, p. 1883) on Calcium Hypoiodite. 



May 20th, 1897. 



