MOLECULAR CONSTITUTION OF THE VOLATILE ORGANIC BASES. 
119 
Action of Bromide of Ethyl upon Ammonia. 
After the termination of the experiments which have been detailed in the preceding 
pages, there remained no doubt in my mind respecting the deportment which ammo- 
nia itself would exhibit when subjected in a similar manner to the influence of bromide 
of ethyl. I had a right to expect in this reaction the consecutive formation of three 
alkaloids, differing from ammonia by containing respectively one, two or the three 
equivalents of hydrogen replaced by ethyl. 
Experiment has realized this expectation in a very satisfactory manner. I intend 
to give here only an outline of the process employed, and a short description of the 
substances obtained, together with some characteristic numbers, fixing beyond a 
doubt the composition of the new bases formed under these circumstances. I hope 
that I shall soon be able to communicate a more detailed account of these com- 
pounds, as well as of the bases belonging to the methyl- and amyl-series. 
Formation of Ethylamine {Ethylammonia) . 
Bromide of ethyl acts very slowly on an aqueous solution of ammonia in the cold. 
Action however takes place ; after the lapse of a week or ten days the solution con- 
tains a considerable quantity of a hydrobromate in solution. This hydrobromate is 
a mixture of the salts of ammonia and ethylamine, the base discovered by M. Wurtz 
on decomposing cyanate of ethyl with potassa. The presence of this compound may 
be readily proved by evaporating the liquid, after the separation of the excess of 
bromide of ethyl, to dryness in the water-bath, in order to drive off alcohol which 
might have possibly been formed. On adding potassa-solution to the solid residue, 
an alkaline gas is at once evolved, which burns with the pale-blue flame of ethyl- 
amine. 
If an alcoholic solution of ammonia be substituted for the aqueous liquid, the de- 
composition proceeds more rapidly. After twenty-four hours a copious crystalline 
precipitate of bromide of ammonium has been deposited. The mother-liquor con- 
tains hydrobromate of ethylamine and the base in the free state. 
The action of bromide of ethyl upon ammonia may be considerably accelerated by 
raising the temperature to the boiling-point of water. I found it convenient to in- 
troduce a concentrated solution of ammonia, with an excess of bromide of ethyl, into 
pieces of combustion-tube 2 feet in length. These tubes, after having been care- 
fully sealed before the blowpipe, were immersed to the height of about half a foot 
into boiling water. The bromide of ethyl enters at once into lively ebullition, rises 
through the supernatant layer of ammonia, condenses in the upper part of the tube, 
which is cold, and falls down to commence again the same circulation. During 
this process the bromide of ethyl diminishes rapidly in volume. The reaction may 
be considered terminated as soon as a quarter of an hour’s ebullition ceases to effect 
a considerable change in the bulk of the bromide. On opening the tube, the solution 
