Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. ) 
April,  1885.  ; 
Reactions  with  Carbon. 
175 
dising  carbonic  anhydride  are  also  described  along  with  many  experi- 
ments wherein  many  substances  alone  and  in  contact  were  immerse  1  in 
various  solutions  of  metallic  salts  containing  carbon  in  combination, 
and  in  these  solutions  when  exposed  to  carboniferous  vapors,  but  in 
all  cases  without  any  deposition  of  carbon.  The  chlorides  of  carbon 
proved  equally  useless  as  sources  of  carbon,  even  resisting  the  influence 
of  potassium,  which,  however,  formed  an  alkaline  salt  with  carbon  tetra- 
chloride; potassium  or  sodium,  dissolved  in  anhydrous  liquid  ammonia  at 
60°  F.,  behaved  in  a  similar  manner  with  carbon  bromide  and  sulphide 
and  with  anhydrous  sodium  carbonate  or  formate,  or  ammonium  oxalate. 
On  passing  dry  ammonia  gas  into  liquid  carbon  dichloride  containing 
potassium,  gas  was  evolved,  and  a  red  powder  formed ;  with  naphtha 
instead  of  the  chloride,  the  potassium  only  became  red.  Carbon  is 
insoluble  in  anhydrous  liquid  cyanogen,  sulphuric  chloride,  phos})horus 
trichloride,  antimony  pentachloride,  anhydrous  liquid  hydrofluoric  and 
hydrochloric  acids;  chlorides  of  carbon  and  bisulphide  of  carbon  were 
also  found  to  be  insoluble  in  the  last  two  acids,  but  they  are  soluble  in 
liquid  cyanogen.  Many  experiments  with  carbon  bisulphide  are 
described ;  for  example,  when  silver  and  platinum  in  contact  are 
immersed  in  it,  after  some  time  the  silver  blackens;  in  the  same  way 
lead  and  mercury  yield  a  black  powder  soluble  in  nitric  acid.  Thallium 
also  blackens,  but  no  action  could  be  observed  with  tin,  or  magnesium 
and  platinum,  or  with  boron  fluoride;  tin  tetrachloride,  thallium 
chloride  and  cyanogen  are  dissolved  by  it,  and  it  precipitates  mercuric 
chloride  from  its  solution  in  ether.  The  solutions  of  sulphur  and 
phosphrous  in  carbon  bisulphide  give  no  reaction  when  exposed  in  an 
atmosphere  of  carbonic  anhydride  ;  zinc  remains  bright  in  the  sulphur 
solution  and  potassium  and  platinum  in  contact  cause  no  free  carbon 
to  separate  from  it;  aluminium  and  magnesium  become  dull,  but  are 
not  corroded  by  prolonged  exposure  in  the  phosphorus  solution.  When 
a  solution  of  silver  nitrate  with  a  piece  of  platinum  partly  immersed 
in  it  was  exposed  to  carbon  bisulphide  vapor  continuously  for  seven 
weeks,  all  the  silver  was  precipitated  ;  magnesium,  aluminium  or  silver 
partly  immersed  in  water  exposed  to  the  same  vapor,  were  unaltered  ; 
when,  however,  the  silver  was  in  contact  with  platinum,  the  liquid 
became  dark  and  the  silver  above  it  blackened.  A  liquid  which  dis- 
solved selenium  was  obtained  by  passing  the  vapor  of  selenium  over 
charcoal  powder  kept  at  a  full  red  heat. —  Chcm.  News,  vol.  50,  pp. 
124-126  ;  Jour.  Chem.  Soc.  1885,  p.  119. 
