ON  THE  SO  CALLED  AMORPHOUS  PHOSPHORUS. 
149 
hardly  any  emulsion  when  wetted  and  rubbed. — London  Pharm. 
Journal  Dec  1853. 
ON  THE  SO-CALLED  AMORPHOUS  PHOSPHORUS. 
By  A.  PUTTFARCKEN. 
The  author  has  examined  some  amorphous  phosphorus  obtained 
from  England.  He  received  it  in  the  form  of  a  brownish-red, 
shining,  coherent  powder,  the  peculiar  odor  of  which  powerfulk 
affected  the  eyes. 
By  long  washing  with  pure  water,  the  phosphorus  lost  13 
cent,  in  weight.    The  wash-water  contained  phosphorous  and  phos 
phoric  acids,  and  a  small  quantity  of  phosphate  of  lime.  The 
powder,  when  exhausted  by  water,  was  put,  when  dry  and  neutral, 
into  well-stopped  vessels;  it  had  however  again  become  acid  in  a 
very  short  time. 
15  grins,  of  the  so-called  amorphous  phosphorus  were  oxidized 
with  nitric  acid  ;  this  was  readily  effected  without  the  assistance 
of  heat,  merely  by  the  gradual  addition  of  the  phosphorus  to  the 
nitric  acid.  135  grms.  of  fluid  phosphoric  acid,  of  spec.  grav.  1.13, 
were  obtained.  Sulphuretted  hydrogen,  however,  threw  down  so 
much  sulphuret  of  arsenic  from  the  phosphoric  acid,  that  the  quan- 
tity of  that  metal  in  the  phosphorus  must  have  bean  equal  to  J  per 
cent. 
For  the  sake  of  comparison,  15  grms.  of  common  phosphorus 
were  converted  into  phosphoric  acid  of  the  same  specific  gravity. 
The  quantity  of  acid  was  160  grms. 
Exposure  to  a  temperature  of  392°-437°  F.  for  three  days  left 
the  amorphous  phosphorus  unchanged,  so  that  even  the  microscope 
could  detect  no  globules  of  ordinary  phosphorus.  When  heated 
in  a  glass  tube  drawn  out  to  a  capillary  point,  it  became  black,  with 
evolution  of  a  strong  odor  of  phosphurretted  hydrogen,  which  proba- 
bly arose  from  the  decomposition  of  the  moistj)hosphorous  acid.  It 
did  not  fuse  during  the  operation,  and  on  cooling  reacquired  its 
original  color.  After  the  tip  of  the  glass  tube  had  been  sealed  up, 
the  tube  was  inserted  into  another  a  little  wider,  and  then  strongly 
heated  for  a  considerable  time  with  the  blowpipe.  No  sublimate 
was  produced,  nor  had  the  substance  undergone  any  change  by  its 
