BLEACHING COMPOUNDS OF CHLORINE. 
293 
my memoir already alluded to;* in it I showed that the pro- 
perties of the chlorides of oxides could be even more satisfac- 
torily explained by the old, than by the new hypothesis. The 
latter has since acquired much weight from the experiments 
of Balard, which rendered it more probable, and seemed to 
have overthrown all the arguments I had brought forward, in 
support of the old theory of the composition of these chlorides. 
At that time it appeared, that Berzelius' theory would be pro- 
nounced the true one and be adopted by all chemists. But by 
a repetition of Balard's experiments and an extension of my 
first work on the compound which chlorous acidt forms with 
alkaline oxides, I convinced myself that the consequences 
which Balard has deduced from his experiments, as to the 
composition of the bleaching chlorides, are not exact, and that 
they should still be considered simple compounds of chloride 
with metallic oxides. In order to elucidate the question, I 
will divide my memoir into three parts. In the first, I will 
give a brief sketch of the oxygenized compounds of chlorine; 
in the second, I will point out the principal properties of the 
chlorites, and the manner of preparing them; in the third, I 
shall treat of the hypochlorites in their relations with the 
chlorides of oxides, and will show that these salts, as well as 
the chlorites, are entirely distinct from the bleaching chlorides. 
I. Sketch of the Oxacids of Chlorine. 
We are indebted to the last works of Balard for a know- 
ledge of four definite compounds of chlorine and oxygen, all 
of which are acid, and may be compared in composition to the 
oxacids of sulphur; for we have 
Hypochlorous acid Ch 2 Hyposulphurous acid S 2 O 3 
Chlorous acid Ch 2 Sulphurous acid S O 2 
Chloric acid Ch 2 O 5 Hyposulphuric acid S 2 O 5 
Perchloric acid Ch 2 O 7 Sulphuric acid S O 3 
Hypochlorous acid, although offering the same composition 
* Published in volume 10 of the Prize Memoirs of the Royal Academy 
of Brussels. 
{ The hioxide of chloride of some chemists. 
