REPORT ON CHEMISTRY. 
463 
—does the chlorine combine with the whole metallic oxide, or 
does it decompose one portion forming a chloride with the metal 
and a chlorous acid with the oxygen, which acid unites with an¬ 
other portion of the oxide forming a chlorite ? 
Berzelius found that a solution of carbonate of potash or 
soda, saturated with chloride of potassium or sodium, and sub¬ 
jected to a current of chlorine, deposited a portion of chloride, 
while a bleaching liquid was formed. From this he infers that 
a new portion of chloride had been formed and an acid of 
chlorine. 
Soubeiran found that the chloride of soda formed by decom¬ 
posing that of lime with carbonate of soda, evaporated to dry¬ 
ness in vacuo , and the dry mass washed with a saturated solu¬ 
tion of common salt, lost its odour of chlorine, common salt alone 
remaining. The solution and the salt dried in vacuo must 
therefore, undoubtedly , says Soubeiran, have contained a 
chloride and a chlorite. He found also that a chloride of lime 
decomposed by carbonate or oxalate of ammonia, gave a bleach¬ 
ing liquid, though chlorine, as is well known, does not combine 
with ammonia. 
Liebig found that chlorine decomposed acetate of potash and 
formed a bleaching liquid, which he considers to argue the 
existence of such an acid. But his strongest arguments are 
drawn from the analogy of chlorine with sulphur in certain cir¬ 
cumstances, which the reader will find stated in Gerger’s Ann . 
der Pharmacie, 1832, vol. i. p. 317. 
Soubeiran thinks it probable that the composition of this acid 
is 2 Cl + 3 O, analogous to the nitrous acid; but this opinion 
is altogether conjectural. 
Sulphuret of phosphorus and chlorine.— When phosphu- 
retted hydrogen is passed through chloride of sulphur, a yellow 
sirupy liquid is formed, which is decomposed by water, and 
consists of five atoms sulphur, two atoms chlorine, and one 
atom phosphorus*. It may be represented by the formula 
2 (Cl-f S) + (P + 3 S), in which a sulphur acid is united to a sul¬ 
phur base. It is doubtful, however, which of the sulphurets is 
the base in this compound. Chloride of sulphur acts the part of 
a base in the compounds it forms with the chlorides of tin and 
titanium ; it may therefore in the present compound be a base 
999 
to a sulphur acid of phosphorus P analogous to the oxygen 
acid P. 
Bisulphur et of carbon. —Marxj- has investigated the tension of 
* Rose in Poggenclorf’s Annalen, xxiv. 
f N. Jahrbuch der Chimie, iii. p. 4(50. 
