GIFT OF GTRT 24 THE ROMANCE OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS THEIR HISTORY AND ETYMOLOGY BY IXGO \V. D. HACKH, A.B. College of Physicians and Surgeons, San Francisco, Cal. Reprinted from THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY, July-August, 1918 PRESS OF THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY LANCASTER, PA. [Reprinted from THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY, July-August, 1918.] THE ROMANCE OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS. THEIR HISTORY AND ETYMOLOGY. BY INGO W. D. HACKH, A.B., COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Revolution is everywhere. Our views and opinions are slowly and steadily undergoing a change, not .only in political and social ideas, but also in our conception of the material world surrounding us. In many fields of human activities we are progressing rapidly ; though some pessimists may predict a dark future for mankind, there is enough evidence of our progress. Philosophers ask often if we are progressing in the right direction, and if we become better people by travelling faster and living more comfortable than ever before? It seems to me that we are, for our social conditions be- come better, though there is still much reforming to do. For a stu- dent of history there is no doubt that our road lies toward a really democratic state of cooperation. At present the world war is para- mount in our interests, and we all feel, or should feel, that our brothers in Europe are fighting and dying for the progress of man- kind. There will result a better world when the power of autoc- racy is diminished. But aside from the mighty changes impending in world politics, there is in the peaceful fields of science a great revolution df ideas. 382572 Romance of Chemical Elements. { Am jJf y ur ' I J > I h 8 arm - TABLE I. The Atomic "Numbers" and the Periodic System of the Chemical Elements. 58 59 6o Ce Pr Nd 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 Sa Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm' Tm" Yb Lu 50 5l 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 Sn Sb Te I Xe Cs Ba La Ce 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 Ge As Se Br Kr Rb Sr Y Zr 14 Si 15 P 16 S 17 Cl Ar 19 K 20 Ca 21 Sc 22 Ti 6 7 8 9 10 ii 12 13 14 C N F Ne Na Mg Al Si i 2 3 4 5 6 H He Li . Be B C 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 -. cd M r \ r \ G oo Q 43 o o 1 -M - CJ c/} ip^ ^ -M o S Ti C 3 N ijlil .u. L_, ^r^, ^ flj -*- L 1 ^^^ C^ <~* O I r"! H ^ i rt ^ S ^H Cy O ^7 O c C/5 ., 60 From the star Deneb (in the swan) (Didymium) .... Dubhium. Db 70 Gr. didymos = twins (see Nd and Pr) From the star Dubha (Great Bear) Dysprosium Erbium Dy Er 66 68 Gr. dysporos = difficult Swedish town Ytterby Difficult separa- tion Europium Ferrum Eu Fe 63 ofi Europe Europe Fluorine Fl o Fluorspar Gadolinium . Gd 61 Gadolinite Gallium Ga -21 Lat Gallia France Germanium .... Glucinium . . . Ge Be 32 4 Lat. Germania = Germany Gr. glyccs sweet Germany Gold Au 70 Doubtful Helium HP 2 Lat. helics = sun Holmium Ho 67 Swedish geologist G Holm chromosphere Hydrargyrum . . . Hydrogen .... Hg H 80 i Gr. hydrargyros= water and silver Gr. hydrcs water gennao produce "Molten silver" Indium . . In 4O ing substance" Iodine .... I e-j Gr iodes =I violet color line Iridium .... Ir 77 Gr Ir's rainbow Iron Fe ff> Old high German isarn iron lutions Kalium K 19 Arab, kali = ash (potash) Krypton Kr 36 Gr. krypton = hidden, secret Obscurity Am. jour. Pharm. j Romance of Chemical Elements. July, 1918. TABLE 3. Continued. Name. ij C/2-^ JM Etymology. In Allusion, in Honor of Lanthanum .... Lead La Pb 57 8? Gr. lanthanon= concealed Doubtful Obscurity Lithium Li 3 Gr. lithos = stone Occurrence Lutecium .... T-ii 7? Lat. Lutetia = Paris City of Paris Magnesium Ms 12 Magnesite from city of Magnesia Occurrence Man CT anese Mn 2< Gr. manganidso = purify Use in glass Mercury Hff 80 Lat. Mercurius = messenger god manufacturing Molybdenum . . . Natrium Mo Na 42 TT Gr. molybdaina = lead oxide Hebr. nether = carbonate of soda Neodymium .... Neon Nickel . . . Nd Ne Ni 60 10 ?8 Ger. neon = new, didymos = twins Gr. neon = new Old German nickel = devil New-didymium The new gas (See text) Niobium" rh IT From Gr. Niobe, daughter of Tantalus Associated with Nitrogen N 7 Lat. niter, Gr. gennao = produce Tantalum Niter producing Osmium Os 76 Gr. osme = odor substance Smell of its tet- Oxygen o 8 Gr. oxys = sour, gennao = produce roxide Acid-producing Palladium Phosphorus Pd T> 46 15 From planet Pallas Gr. phos = light, phero = bring, carry element Light-carrying Platinum Plumbum .... Pt Pb 78 8? Span, platina = diminutive for silver Latin plumbum nigrum = lead element "Little silver" Polonium Potassium Praseodymium. . Radium Po K Pr Ra 84 19 59 88 From Poland From potash Gr. Prason = leek green and didymium Lat. radio = to shoot rays Poland Occurrence " Green didym" Radioactivity Rhodium Rh 4C Gr. rodeos = rose red Color of com- Rubidium Rb ?7 Lat. rubeus = ruby red pounds Color of spectral Ruthenium. . . . Ru 44 Lat. Ruthenia = Russia line Samarium Scandium Sa Sc 62 21 From samarskite From Scandinavia Occurrence Scandinavia Selenium Se 31 Gr. selene = moon Associated with Silicon . . Si T-4 Lat. silex = flint, silicia telluriu m (earth) Occurrence Silver Ae 47 Doubtful Sodium Na ii From soda Occurrence Stibium Sb 51 Gr. stibi = antimony sulfide Occurrence Stannum Sn 5 Lat. stagnum, stannum = tin alloy Strontium Sr 38 From strontianite Occurrence Sulphur s T6 Lat. sal = salt, Gr pyr fire Tantalum Ta 7^? From Tantalus (tantalize) Difficult isola- Tellurium Te C2 Lat. tellus = earth tion Terbium . ... Tb 65 From Swedish town Ytterby Occurrence Thallium Tl 81 Gr. thallos = green twig Green line in Thorium Th QO North mythology: Thor spectrum Thulium Tm 69 Lat. Thule = Norway or Iceland Norway Romance of Chemical Elements. { Am jiy ir ' 1 ^ I h 8 arm ' TABLE 3. Continued. Name. li P Etymology. In Allusion, In Honor of Tin Sn 5 Lat. stannum = tin Titanium Tungsten Ti W 22 7^1 Gr. Titanes = half gods Swedish tung-sten = heavy stone Occurrence Uranium u 92 Planet Uranus Vanadium Wolfram V W 23 74 Northern mythology Vanades = Frigg Old Germ, wolfram Occurrence Xenon Xe 51 Gr. xenon = strange, foreign " The strange Ytterbium Yb 7 T Swedish town Ytterby element " Occurrence Yttrium Y 39 Swedish town Ytterby Occurrence Zinc Zirconium Zn Zr 30 40 Germ, zinke = prong, tine Arab, zargun = a gem stone, zircon Crystalline structure Occurrence contraction of the respective end products with the Greek gennao I produce, thus water-producing, niter-producing and acid-producing element. Again many of the rare earth metals have been named after asteroids or other stars, thus cerium, aldebaranium (or ytter- bium), cassiopeium (or lutecium), dubhium (or thulium i), dene- bium (or thulium 2). Uniform is also the ending for the halogens chlorine, bromine, iodine ; while the metals end generally in -ium, and the metaloxides of the basic metals in -ia. RARE EARTH METALS. The rare earth metals have a very complex and confusing his- tory, which is illustrated in their " family tree " in Tables IV and V. The first column gives the year, the last column the name of the discoverer or rather separator, for their properties are so alike that their separation is extremely difficult. Nevertheless there is a limit of their " separability," though some chemists proposed theories that there were no limit. The reason for their great similarity must be found in their atomic structure and the periodic system, for they form a very slow and gradual transition from electro-negative to electro-positive elements, and thus their difference in electropotential is very small. This is just as bridging two rivers of equal width in one case with seven, in the other case with thirty-six pillars. It is clear how the distance of the pillars in these two cases would com- pare to each other. So we have in the periodic system in one in- stance between two inert gases seven elements, which differ natu- Am. Jour. Pharm. " July, 1918. Romance of Chemical Elements. rally much more than when there is a period of thirty-six elements, as in the case of the period in which the rare earth metals occur. In the periodic system they form a group from cerium to lutecium, and as pointed out above, their difficult separation was the main cause for such a family tree as Tables IV and V represent. TABLE IV. The Family Tree of the Cerit Earths. Year. Discoverer. 1803 1839 1841 1879 I88 5 IQOO 1918 Ceria Berzelius Mosander Mosander Lecoq de Boisbaudran Auer von Welsbach Demarcay C > erium Lanthanum L ' > ,anthanum Didymium Didymium Samarium , Praseody J> i mium reodymium f Samarium Europium <*- v' Number 58 57 Symbol Ce La At. weight 140 139 59 60 61 Pr Xd ? 141 144 147 62 Sa 150 63 Eu 152 The platinum metals and the noble gases have a similar history of gradual isolation, as Tables VI and VII show. In the latter the amounts are given and it is easy to understand how such small per- centages may be overlooked. HISTORY OF ELEMENTS. In history the chronological method of tabulating facts has many advantages, and I have followed it here to point out some interesting things connected with the chemical elements. Beginning with ele- ments known to prehistoric man (but naturally not as elements), we will select a few interesting ones. Carbon. The discovery of fire was the greatest step toward civilization and anthropologists tell us of the mighty, changes which the cooking of food caused in the human features. With fire primitive man be- came acquainted with carbon, the black residue of incomplete com- 10 Romance of Chemical Elements. f Am. Jour. Pharm. * July, 1918. bustion. It is interesting to note that in all Teutonic languages the word for coal is derived from the same root " kol," e. g., in German kohle, Dutch kool, Danish kul, Swedish kol, which indicates TABLE V. The Family Tree of the Yttria Earths. Year. Discoverer. 1794 New base in Gadolin gadolinite of Ytterby 1 1799 Yttria Ekeberg 1843 Erbia Yttrium Terbia . Mosander No. 39 Y At. W. 88.7 1860 Erbia Berlin 1878 T ~i 1878 i er Dia JJelai ontame Mariqnac Erbia I Ytterbium 1879 Holmia Erbia Thulia Cleve 1879 Scandium Ytterbia Nils on No. 21 Sc At. W. 44.1 1886 Qarlnlininm Mariqnac Terbium 1886 Dysprosium Lecoq de Holmium , Boisbaudran 1907 Ytterbium Urbain (aldebaranium) (Auer von Lutecium Welsbach) -* ''cassiopeium 1916 1918 , > , > f \ Denebium | Dubhium r >^ 4r 4< V Eder Number 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 Symbol Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tl' Tl" Yb Lu At. W. 157 159 162 164 167 169 170 173 i' that coal was known to the Indogermanic tribes before their pre- historic separation. In Slavic languages we find in Russian ugoli. In Hebrew we have gehl. The term carbon is derived from the Latin " carbon " coal, which probably comes from the Greek dp^w, arpho = to char, to roast. Am 'juty r 'igi8 rm '} Romance of Chemical Elements. TABLE VI. The Family Tree of the Platinum Metals. II Year. Discoverer. 1741 1750 Native Platina 1 Platinum 1 Wood Watson 1 1803 1804 Csm (tra ium Irid ce) (i-s mm 5%) Smithscn Ten- nant Wollaston Rhodium (.2-4%) Palladium (.1-21%) 1845 Ruthenium (-2-4%) v- > , > I V , , Claus Number Symbol At. W. 44 45 Ru Rh 101.7 102.9 46 76 77 78 Pd Os Ir Pt 106.7 190-9 I93-I 195-2 Sulphur. The next non-metallic element which primitive man knew was sulphur, which occurs as a mineral. Its present name was given to it, however, much later, and indicates its combustible nature. It is a contraction of the Latin sal salt and Greek trvp, pyr = fire. Brim- stone means " burnstone." In chemical terminology the prefix " thio- " is derived from the Greek Otiov, Thion = sulphur. Gold. Among the metals gold has been known in very remote times. At the dawn of history it was the precious metal for the possession of which wars were fought and great hardships endured. We find it in the oldest Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions and in every an- cient civilization it was known ; e. g., the Egyptians distinguished two kinds of gold: nub-en-mu = river-gold, and nub-en-set = mountain- gold. The first kind was washed from river sand with cloth bags, which, when inverted, formed the picture for the hieroglyph for gold. The first figure gives the older form of the hieroglyph, the second the later form. To the philologist the name " gold " offers an interesting study I2 Romance of Chemical Elements. {^jJ irt comparing the different languages. The Teutonic languages de- rive it probably from the Arabic egala = shining, for we have in Swedish and Dutch guld, German gold, and even in Finn kulta. The Romanic languages from the Latin aurum = gold, from aurora o r - H V J FIG. i. FIG. 2. FIG. 3. and the Hebrew awr = light, fire, e. g., in French or Italian and Spanish oro. Silver. Another prehistoric metal is silver, which occurs more frequent in Assyrian and Egyptian inscriptions, indicating that it was more common than gold. The Latin word argentum is derived from the Greek dpyvpos, argyros = silver, which in turn comes from a/oyos, argos = gleaming, and is connected with the Sanscrit arj-una = light and raj-ata= white. In the Teutonic languages we have in Ger- man silber, Swedish silfver, Danish solv, Dutch zilver, the origin of which is doubtful. Copper. While gold and silver have always been precious metals and their use by primitive man restricted to ornaments, the first metal to be used in implements was undoubtedly copper. In tracing the records of the past by the help of archaeological remains we always find a certain order: first the copper age, then the bronze age and last the iron age (the stone age with its several epochs is naturally older). The oldest known civilization is regarded to be the Su- merian, in which we find copper as "urud," which then became "eru" in the following Babylonian civilization. But the earliest record of copper and copper mines dates back to about 4000 B. C, and tells of the copper mines located on Mount Sinai and worked for the Egyptian king Dyezer of the III dynasty, for there were no copper deposits in Egypt. The hieroglyph for copper was the pic- ture of a melting crucible (Fig. 3), which became later the sign for a metal. Am ']uiy T 'ig l i8 Tm '} Romance of Chemical Elements. ^ Chronologically follows the great Mycenaean civilization on the Island of Cyprus, 3000-1000 B. C, where beautiful copper imple- ments were made. Cyprus became the distributing center of copper for the Greeks and Romans. The Greeks designated it as x a ^ KO/ s> KvirpLos, chalcos cyprios = Cyprian ore, and the Romans as Aes cyprium or simply cuprum. The beginning of the copper age in northern Europe is placed at about 2500 B. C., while in China it came relatively later, in 2200 B. C. It is interesting to note that we have various evidences for the theory that copper came before iron. So, e. g., the Iliad mentions copper 279 times, iron 23 times. The Odyssee, written much later, has 80 times copper and 29 times iron. Iron was at that time more valuable than copper. Another evidence is the fact that the Greek word for smith = x a ^ Ke ^s, chalceus, is derived from copper = x^ '?, chalcos, and not from iron = o-iS^os, sideros. 'Iron. Primitive man used always those things which he found^and the fact that the oldest implements of iron contain a certain amount of nickel is evidence that the iron supply came at first from meteorites, for no iron ore contains nickel, while all the meteorites consist of an alloy of iron and nickel. Iron tools had a very high value, for the metallurgy of iron developed much later. The earliest known iron tool is the one found in the Pyramid of Kephron and dates back to about 3500 B. C., while some iron pieces in the Black Pyramid of Abusir date from about 3000 B. C. Under the Egyptian king Thethmosis III, at about 1500 B. C., the iron metallurgy in Egypt developed among the priests. The earliest evidence of iron in China dates back to 1900 B. C., in Greece about 1000 B. C., Central Europe 800 B. C., Denmark, Ireland 100 A. D., northern Russia and Siberia 800 A. D., which shows a gradual and slow geographical spread. The making and the tempering of steel is described by Pliny (23-79 A. D.), while the knowledge of cast iron began to develop in the fourteenth century. The origin of the name iron is not definitely known, but comes probably from the Latin aes = ore, with the ending -arn, thus Indo- germanic * isarn, from which the Teutonic languages develop the names. Thus in Gothic eisam, Anglo-Saxon isern, old high Ger- man isarn, and in modern German eisen. Dutch yser, Swedish 14 Romance of Chemical Elements. { Am *jJi ttr *, p JS rm ' iarn, Danish iern. The Latin fer rum = iron may be connected with the Hebrew barzel, as the Romans became acquainted with the metal through the Phoenicians. Lead. The first indications of lead are in Egyptian and Assyrian in- scriptions. The Greeks knew it as /u,oAv/3os, molybos, and the Ro- mans as plumbum. In the Old Testament, the Veda, Avesta, and Iliad we find occasional mention of lead. Dioscorides describes lead oxide (litharge) as /xoAv/^Wa, molybdaina. The Romanic lan- guages derive their term from the Latin plumbum, e. g., in French plomb, in Spanish plomo. Tin. The Egyptian did not recognize tin, although a copper-tin alloy was known as early as 1600 B. C, and as a constituent of bronze it is of a very ancient use. The Greeks know it as Kao-o-tVepos, kas- siteros, and the Romans regarded it as a variety of lead and called it plumbum album. The Latin stannum meant originally a mixture of lead and silver, but in the fourth century tin was designated by it and the modern terms derived, e. g., Spanish estafio, Portuguese estanho, Italian stagno, French etain, Dutch tin, Swedish tenn, German zinn. Antimony. The next metal to become known to the ancients is antimony, for it is claimed that already the Chaldseans at about 1000 B. C. understood the preparing of metallic antimony. Its sulphide was well known in the Orient and used as a cosmetic, especially for darkening the eyebrows, the Greeks calling it , o-n/x/u stimmi, and the Romans stimmi, stibi, or stibium, from which stibium = anti- mony is derived. There is some doubt as to the origin of the term antimony, which occurs first in the writings of the Alchemist Geber. Some derive it from the Greek avrt, anti, and /xovaxos, monachos, meaning "against the monk," the story being that either monks were poisoned with antimony compounds, or that it was used as a remedy against leprosy, a disease occurring frequently among the monks and hermits. Others derive it from the Greek anti and /xovo?, monos, alone, as the metal which is opposed to being " alone." Still less plausible is the explanation that it is a contraction of Greek anti Am jJ?y r ', h 8 arm '} Romance of Chemical Elements. 15 and Latin minium = red lead, because it was used as a substitute for red lead. The first extensive study of antimony and its com- pounds was made by an alchemist, Basil Valentin, who wrote the famous treatise, "the Triumphal Chariot of Antimony," which re- veals a thorough knowledge of the chemistry of antimony. Mercury. Cinnabar, found as a mineral, was well known as a pigment to the ancients, but its constituent mercury was unknown to the an- cient Jews and early Greek writers. Aristotle and Theophrastus ( 400-3 oo B. C.) mention in their writings vSpa/oyupos, hydrargyros, from vSwp, hydor, water, and apyvpos, argyros, silver, being prepared by treating cinnabar with vinegar. The Romans know it as hy- drargyrum and argentum vivum ==" living silver." The alchemists called it mercurius in allusion to the messenger god Mercurius, who with his winged hat and winged sandals was the conception of speed, and mercury as a liquid metal was very speedy in its escape. Paracelsus (1493-1541) used some of its compounds as a remedy and introduced it thus into medicine, though some of his treatments were fatal to the patients. Solid mercury was for the first time prepared by Braune of Petrograd in 1759. Arsenic. Like cinnabar so the sulphide of arsenic was well known as orpiment (Latin auripigment = gold color). Aristotle mentions it as eravSapoKr;, sandarake, and Theophrastus as dporevwcoi/, arsenikon, which means "the masculine one." It is derived from appryvocov, = the color for man, and comes from apo-rjv, arsen, male (Zend arshan), because the old Greek painters used the sulphide as the color for the sunburnt faces of man, women's faces being painted white. Among the alchemists Albertus Magnus (1193-1280) was the first one to prepare metallic arsenic. The term is represented in many old and modern languages, e. g., Arabic zirnakun, Syriac zarnika, Spanish, Italian arsenico, German arsen, French ar- senic, Hungarian arzen. ALCHEMISTIC PERIOD. In the alchemistic period there were seven known metals, which were ascribed to celestial bodies. They were always enumerated 1 6 Romance of Chemical Elements. { Am jJy r -J I h 8 arm - in a fixed order and designated by the astrological symbols. Thus we have : O-3 5 (i) Sun, (2) Moon, (3) Mercurius, gold. silver. mercury. 9 * V >2 (4) Venus, (5) Mars, (6) Jupiter, (7) Saturn, copper. iron. tin. lead. To those came at a later date antimony with the symbol of the earth, 6, The era of alchemistry is a very interesting chapter in the his- tory of human knowledge. It was a time when man tried to im- press upon nature his petty theories and naturally failed. One can follow step by step the growth of chemical knowledge which finally led to the establishment of physical and chemical laws and taught mankind that the physical world was governed by unchangeable laws, which man cannot alter. Man's position to the physical world was thus altered, and he became an experimenter and investigator, who could only try to find out those physical laws, and apply them to his welfare. While man failed in the achievement of his theory, that of transformation of the base metals into gold, he acquired a great deal of chemical knowledge, which paved the way to the rapid advancement of science in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The discoveries during the alchemistic period were always acci- dental, but some of them of great importance for science. Bismuth. Among the elements, discovered by some unknown alchemist, is bismuth, which is for the first time mentioned by Basil Valentin in 1459 as wismut, and described as a bastard of tin. Paracelsus also speaks of wissmat and in the writings of Georgius Agricola we find it as wissmuth and in the Latinized form bisemutum. Accord- ing to Koch the name is very probably derived from the Arabic wiss majat, which means a metal that easily melts, for the alchemists studied eagerly the Arabic writings and were familiar with Arabic terms. This explanation is more plausible than the following ones. Kluge, e. g., derives it from the name of the oldest bismuth mine, "St. Georgen in der Wiesen " (near Schneeberg), and connects it Am. jour. Pharm.j Romance of Chemical Elements. 17 August, 1918. f v i A / with an old miner's term, " muten " to go prospecting, thus indi- cating the metal found by prospecting " in der Wiesen." Mathesius tries to connect it with the German " wiesenmatte," and its older form, " wesemot " = a cut meadow, which shall in the late autumn present the different colors sometimes observed on the metal. Sanders finally attempts to explain it as "bi-smut" bei-schmutz, or dirt, as it should be an impurity of other metals. The last expla- nations are, however, not plausible. Bismuth or wismuth has been often confused with other metals, so, e. g., in 1595 Libavius holds it as antimony, in 1675 Lemery thinks it to be zinc, until in 1739 J. H. Pott studied its properties and establishes it as an element. Zinc. In the form of alloys zinc has been used by the ancients, e. g., Aristotle speaks- of a metal of the tribe of the Mosynoegy obtained by fusing a natural copper-zinc ore aurichalcite, and Pliny mentions that the mineral kadmia (calamine) is used for making brass. The German word for brass = messing is derived from the ancient tribe name, but the origin of zinc is somewhat obscure. Paracelsus mentions it for the first time in 1520, and as he was deeply inter- ested in medicine may have probably derived it from the old high German "zinco," which m.eans "a white spot in the eye," in allu- sion to the white color of the metal. It may, however, come from the German zinke prongu, tine, on account of the pronged, crys- talline structure. Phosphorus. An important discovery was made in 1669 by Brandt, of Ham- burg, who, in his alchemistical experiments, distilled evaporated urine with sand, and found a substance which was glowing. This mysterious substance he called phosphorus, in allusion to the morn- ing star Venus, which was often termed Lucifer or Phosphorus, the first name from the Latin lux = light and ferre = carry, the latter from the Greek p, hydros, = water, and yewaw, gennao,= to produce. There is evidence that the al- chemists knew of hydrogen, without examining it closer, for Para- celsus (1493-1541) mentions that a combustible gas is produced by treating certain metals with acids, and in 1700 Lemary recog- nized knallgas, the explosive mixture of hydrogen and air. Liquid and solid hydrogen was for the first time prepared by Dewar in 1898. Nitrogen. In 1772 Rutherford showed that only a part of the air could be used for breathing, and that the remainder could not be used for combustion. This he termed " mephisticated air." Priestley termed it " phlogisticated air," and Cavendish in 1785 produced nitric acid by passing electric sparks through moist air, thus proving that nitric acid can be produced from air. He gave the gas the name nitrogen, from niter and gennao, produce, meaning the niter-producing gas ( niter = saltpeter or potassium nitrate). Oxygen. But the most important of all these discoveries was that of oxy- gen, isolated on the first of August, 1774, by J. Priestley (1733- 1804) by heating mercuric oxide. K, W. Scheele (1742-1786), working independently, also isolated in 1775 the gas, which he called 2o Romance of Chemical Elements. { "empyreal air," but it was A. L. Lavoisier (1743-1786) who devel- oped the new theory of combustion and termed the gas oxygen, be- cause he found that many of its combustion products were acids, from the Greek ovs, oxy, = sour, and yevraw, gennao, = produce. Chlorine. Chlorine was discovered by Scheele in 1774 and called " de- phlogisticated muriatic acid." Berthollet in 1784 regarded it as "oxygenized muriatic acid" and in 1809 Sir Henry Davy finally gave it the name chlorine from the Greek x^ w p's chloros, = yellow- ish green, on account of its color. Manganese. The manufacture of glass has been known for a long time; the Egyptians already understood the making of it. Later Byzan- tium (Constantinople) became the center, and in 1289 the famous glass works of Murano in Venecia were founded. But the raw materials of glass (flint, potash and lime) contained always some traces of iron, which imparted the familiar green color (in bottles) to glass. This green color was destroyed by adding some pyrolu- site, a mineral which had already been examined by J. H. Pott, in 1740, who showed that it contained no iron, as was supposed. Scheele in 1775 recognized it as the oxide of a distinct metal which was isolated by J. G. Gahn in 1780 and called manganese, from the Greek /xavyavi^w, manganidso, I purify, in allusion to the use of its dioxide in the manufacturing of glass. Tellurium. Another mineral which puzzled the alchemists was called "aurum paradoxum," or " metallum problematum," for it looked like a metal, and did not behave like one. In 1782 Miiller von Reichenstein and in 1798 M. H. Klaproth studied this supposed metal, and the latter recognized it as a non-metal and gave it the name tellurium, from the Lat. tellus = earth, as it occurs as a mineral. Tungsten. Wolfram has been an old German miner's term for a mineral that was "wolfrig" wolfish, gluttonous in its behavior, for .when- Am. jour. Pharm.j Romance of Chemical Elements. 21 August, 1918. * ever it was melted with tin ores, it looked as if the tin percentage was decreasing. The alchemists gave it the name, for we find in Agricola's writings " spuma lupi" = wolf's stone. In Sweden the mineral was known as tungsten, from the Swedish tung = heavy and sten stone, from w r hich Scheele in 1781 prepared tungstic acid, and in 1783 the brothers d'Elhuyar isolated the metal. Uranium. Sir W. Herschel in 1781 discovered a new planet, which was later called uranus from the Greek ovpavos, uranos, = heaven. This discovery naturally attracted great attention and as M. H. Klaproth in 1789 recognized a new metallic oxide, in pitchblende, he gave it in honor of Herschel the name uranium. In 1841 Peligot showed that the supposed metal was in reality the oxide of an element. Titanium. Menachin was the name given by William Gregor in 1789 to a new element discovered by him in menachinite (ilmenite). But in 1793 M. H. Klaproth found independently from Gregor in Cornwall a new metal in the mineral rutil, which he termed titanum, deriving the name from the Greek halfgods nravc?, titanes, the children of Uranus and Gae (heaven and earth), in allusion to the element dis- covered after uranium. The pure metal was very difficult to isolate, but in 1821 Rose prepared a pure titanum oxide and showed that menachin and titanium were identical, while a somewhat impure metal was prepared in 1857 by Wohler and Sainte-Claire Deville. Zirconium. "Jargon de Ceylan" has been known to the French jewellers for a long time as a gem of the hyacinth or jacinth kind. It derived its name from the Hind, cercars, Arab, zargun = stone, meaning the stone from Ceylon. In a variety of it, zircon, M. H. Klaproth rec- ognized a new element, calling it zirconium; the metal itself was in 1805 isolated by Berzelius. Yttria. In 1788 Arrhenius found near the Swedish to\vn Ytterby a new mineral, which was later called gadolinite, in honor of the Swedish 22 Romance of Chemical Elements. { Al \' u Jg t r- chemist, Gadolin, who discovered in 1794 a new base in this min- eral. This base was in 1799 by A. G. Ekeberg called yttria, from its occurrence in the mineral of Ytterby. Later on many new ele- ments, the so-called rare earth metals, have been isolated from this and similar minerals, yttria itself proving to consist of several con- stituents, which will be seen from Table V. Beryllium. From beryl L. N. Vauquelin obtained in 1797 a new oxide and in 1828 A. H. Bussy and Wohler isolated a new metal which was called beryllium, from the Greek name beryllos for the gemstone, which was known to the ancients. Sometimes the term glucinum is also used for this element, because some of its compounds have a sweet taste (Greek glykos = sweet). Columbium and Tantalum. Governor Winthrop of Connecticut found near his house a new mineral which he called columbite, in honor of America. In 1801 C. Hatchett recognized in this mineral a new substance, which he termed columbium, and which proved later to be a mixture of co- lumbium and tantalum oxides. In 1802 A. G. Ekeberg isolated from the mineral yttrotantalit from Sweden also a new substance, which proved later to be tantalic acid. But the character of these new substances was not recognized until in 1844 Rose isolated from a columbite of Bavaria two new elements, which he termed "nio- bium" and "pelopium," from the Greek Niobe, the daughter, and Pelops, the son of Tantalus, as it was supposed that these elements were always associated with tantalum. R. Hermann also isolated two elements, which he called " ilmenium " and " neptunium," from the mineral ilmenite and the newly discovered planet Neptune. But his elements proved later to be a mixture of columbium and tantalum. The separation of these elements was very difficult, and to-day we recognize columbium (or niobium) and tantalum (or pelopium). The name tantalum was given to it in allusion to the Tantalus in the Greek legend, the son of Zeus, king of Lydia, who was punished by standing in water, with beautiful fruit trees above him. His thirst he could not still, for the water retreated before his mouth, and the fruits were always just out of reach. Accord- ing to the early ideas about tantalum, it was unable to " satisfy " its An \u J us[' i Ph i8 rm '} Romance of Chemical Elements. 23 thirst for acids, for it could not be neutralized with acids, even by an excess of it. But its isolation and separation was also tantaliz- ing, and its evasive nature justifies the name from more than one standpoint. Platinum Metals. The platinum ore, respectively native platinum, was examined by Smithson Tennant and independently by Wollaston in 1804, and each of them discovered two new metals : osmium and iridium by the former and palladium and rhodium by the latter. The names are derived from the Greek terms of some of their prop- erties, while palladium is named in honor of the newly discovered asteroid Pallas (see Table VI). Ceria. Another new planet was discovered in 1801 by Piazzi of Pa- lermo, which was the first one of the asteroids, and called Ceres; from it the name cerite for a new mineral and ceria for a new base found by Klaproth and independently by Berzelius and Hisinger in 1803 has been derived. Like yttria, so ceria proved to consist of several other elements of the rare earth group, whose separation and isolation is seen in Table IV. Sodium and Potassium. The salts of sodium and potassium have been known in very remote times and used in various trades. The Egyptians already distinguished between " ordinary alkali " and " red alkali," the latter being potassium carbonate, which colored the flame purple. In the Orient sodium carbonate (and potassium carbonate) was known as neter or bor, and it was mainly gotten from the alkali lakes of Egypt, about fifty miles from Cairo. In the Old Testament we find (perhaps the first reaction) that nether and vinegar mixed together are effervescing. The Romans imported large amounts of nitrum (sodium carbonate) from Egypt and used it for the manufacturing of soap. From nitrum the modern terms natrium (sodium) and niter (saltpeter) are derived. The term alkali came in use among the alchemists, and is derived from the Arabic article al and kali = ash, for alkali or potash was prepared by burning of seaweeds and other plants. From it kalium (potassium) is derived. The 24 Romance of Chemical Elements. { An ^ u Js t r - Arabic kali = ash is connected with kalaja to burn, and is also found in Hebrew kalah = burning. Marggraf in 1758 showed the analytical distinction of sodium and potassium and in 1807 Sir H. Davy succeeded in isolating the metals by electrolysis, thus introducing electric methods into chemistry and laying the founda- tion for electrochemistry. Calcium and Magnesium. Like sodium and potassium, so calcium and magnesium were first isolated by electrolytical means. Calcium by Davy in 1808, and magnesium in 1830 by Liebig and Bussy, although Davy had tried in vain to prepare it. The compounds of calcium were known in prehistoric time; we have in Latin calx, Greek chalix for lime- stone and chalk (compare calcareous and the German kalk, Swedish kalck, even the French chaux). Magnesium sulphate was known as epsom salt to N. Grew in 1695, who prepared it, and magnesium alba was made in 1707 by M. N. Valentin, while in 1755 J. Black showed that magnesium alba and lime were different substances. The name was derived from magnesite, a mineral found near the ancient town of Magnesia (modern Manisa) in Asia Minor. Between 1800 and 1850 not less than twenty-three elements were discovered or isolated, mainly by the experimental work of Davy, Gay-Lussac, Berzelius, Wohler and others. It. was during this time that the methods of chemistry were worked out and the foundation of the science established. From Table VIII the results of their work can be seen. The Spectroscope. The new science was aided in 1860 by the application of spectro- scopic methods to analysis, and as a result several new elements were discovered by this method. The first one was casiuni, whose presence was detected by the " fathers " of spectroscopy, Robert Bunsen and Kirchhoff, rubidium followed right after, then thallium by Crookes, indium by Richter, gallium by Lecoq de Boisbaudran. The names were mostly derived from the Greek words for the color of characteristic lines in the spectrum (see Tablle III). The spectroscope was then employed as an aid in the separation of the rare earths, and many "new" elements were found, which proved later not to be so. But some were really new, and are embodied in our present list of elements (see Tables IV and V). Am. jour. Pharm.i Romance of Chemical Elements. 2=; August, 1918. J J m O Periodic System. The rapid discovery of a great many new elements stimulated not only the study of chemistry and made it more popular, but it also enabled the chemist to systemize and compare his results. In every science we can follow the gradual development from collect- ing facts to systematization. So we find the first attempts of a classification in 1829 as Doebereiner published his "triads," that is, he put always three elements into a group, in which there was a certain relation of their properties (e. g., Li-Na-K; Ca-Sr-Ba; S-Se-Te; etc.). This idea was further developed in 1854 by Crookes, and in 1865 by DeChancourtois. In the same year the important step of increasing the groups was taken by Newlands in his law of " octaves," grouping eight elements together. Then in 1869 came Mendeleeff and independently Lothar Meyer and an- nounced their periodic system! It is often said, in textbooks and otherwise, that the periodic system was " discovered." But this is misleading, as something that gradually develops with the increas- ing knowledge of mankind is not "suddenly discovered," but is "gradually attained." But Mendeleeff discovered something, and that was the prediction of two new elements. He thought, pre- suming the system was correct and assuming there is a unity and persistency in the material world, that some elements were missing, and he calculated from their assumed position the properties they should have and called them, in 1869, eka-boron and eka-silicon. Six years later gallium was discovered by Lecoq de Boisbaudran and its properties proved to be those of eka-boron. In 1886, Clemens Winkler found a new constituent in argyrodite of Frei- berg and termed it germanium, and its properties were identical with those predicted by Mendeleeff, as eka-silicon. These predic- tions could only be made because the elements were near those ele- ments of lower atomic weights, and filled out the table practically complete. To-day we are enabled to fix the end point of the ele- mental series, viz., the radioactive elements, and thus limit the sys- tem to 92 elements. Noble Gases. Throughout the modern development of chemistry it has been believed that we know exactly the constitution of air and its per- centage of different gases : oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, etc. The announcement of Sir William Ramsay and Lord 26 Romance of Chemical Elements. { Al A U J U g[' ^| ri Rayleigh in 1894 that they had discovered a new gas in the atmos- phere, was therefore generally accepted as very doubtful. But there came more, for not only argon, but in 1898 neon, krypton, xenon, and later helium, were found to be constituents of air. The percentage is very small, and the methods employed for determining it are a triumph of physics. These new gases developed to be ele- ments, although it was at first proposed by some chemists that argon might be only a different form of nitrogen, just like ozone is oxygen gas containing three atoms in the molecule. They were elements, but no compound could be made ; all means to produce a chemical reaction with these elements failed. In fact the name argon, from the Greek term for lazy, indicates its inertness. The difficulty arose how to place these elements in the periodic system, and a " zero " group was added. Now we know that these elements form, so to speak, the " missing link " in the system, for they form the transition from a highly electro-negative group of elements to a highly electro- positive group. From the halogens to the alkali metals. So they became of great theoretical importance in chemistry. TABLE VII. The Family Tree of the Noble or Inert Gases. Year. Discoverer. 1772 1774 1894 1895 1898 Air (1,000 liters) 1 Rutherford Priestley, Scheele, etc. Ramsay and Rayleigh Ramsay, Cleve Ramsay and Travers Ox 3 (209 Nitrogen ''gen .9!) Mtrogen Argon (780.3!) (9-4!) Helium (.004) Neon Argon Krypton Xenon .012 9.4 .00005 .000006 1 I 1 i l I I Number 8 7 2 10 18 36 54 Symbol o N He Ne A Kr Xe At. W. 16 14 4 20 40 83 130 N. B. The amount of each gas by volume is given in parenthesis. Thus 1,000 liters of air contain about 0.004 liters of helium, etc. Al AuJust r ; ?*. m '} Romance of Chemical Elements. 27 Radioactive Substances. Following this epoch-making discovery there came another one of equal, perhaps still greater importance, namely, the radio-active substances. The time was ripe and the stage set for this discovery. It came after physics had settled down and declared that there could no more be anything new in physics, and that the work of the physi- cist simply consisted in working out the details. Then came the discovery of the X-rays by Professor Rontgen, and with it an entirely new field had been opened up. Everyone began to work with " rays " of some kind or other. Becquerel in Paris studied especially the rays emitted from uranium salts, and this led to the discovery of polonium and radium by Professor and Madame Curie in 1898. Then followed a time of great confusion, for everywhere new radioactive substances were discovered. But the mystery was increased when it was found that these bodies disappear. For in- stance Madame Curie had separated with much care and time a little sample of polonium and sealed it into a small glass, and put it aside. After half a year, when she wanted to use it again, it was gone. That is the glass was there all right, but the polonium had left. Many experiments have been carried on, and many ingenious devices have been invented and as a result of the new phenomena, such as radioactivity, cathode rays, X-rays, etc., we have been forced to change our conception of an atom. For practical purposes an element still consists of atoms, but these atoms are also built up of still smaller particles, of which the electrons and the alpha- particles (which change into the element helium) have already been isolated. Our atomic theory is still in the process of being created, and the reader is more or less familiar with the tendencies of mod- ern physics (or is it chemistry?). We have in this way followed the history of the elements, and in Table VIII the reader will find a chronological arrangement. This and the other tables will serve as a reference, for the space of the text permitted the writer to mention only some and not all of the elements. A careful study of these tables will be helpful to understand certain movements in the history of chemistry. For instance how the introduction of electrolysis and the spectroscope resulted in the discovery of some new elements, and how 'the knowl- edge of about 60 elements assisted in the formulation of the periodic system, for these 60 elements were the important nucleus of the 28 Romance of Chemical Elements. { Al j u g t r> TABLE VIIT. Chronological Order of Discovery of the Chemical Elements. Year. Discoverer. Source. Preh : storic Carbon Native Sulphur Native Gold Native j Silver Native 4000 B. C Copper (Egypt) (Mt. Sinai) 3500 B. C ! Iron Meteorites Lead 1600 B. C Tin (Chaldaea) 1000 B. C Antimony 300 B. C Mercury Theophrastus Cinnabar Alchemistic Period: 1220 Arsenic Albertus Magnus j Orpimeru 1459 Bismuth Basil Valentin 1520 j Zinc Paracelsus Zincblende 1669 ! Phosphorus Brandt Urine Beginnings of Chem- istry: 1733 Cobalt Brand j Cobalt ore 1750 Platinum Wcod. Watson Platir.a i75i Nickel I Cronstedt | Kupfernickel 1758 Sodium ; Marggraf j Sodium salts 1758 Potassium \ Marggraf Potassium salts Founding of Chem- istry: 1766 Hydrogen j Cavendish Acids 1772 . | Nitrogen | Rutherford Air 1774 Cxygen Priestley Mercuric oxide Ch'orine Scheele Muriatic acid ' | Magnese Scheele Pyrolusite ' Barium j Scheele Earyte 1782 i Tellurium Miiller " Aurum paradoxum ' ' Mo'ybdenum j Hielm | Molybdenite 1783 i Tungsten j d'Elhujar j Scheelite 1787 | Strontium Cruikshank Strontianite 1789 Zirconium Klaproth Zircon Uranium Klaproth Pitchblende Titanium Gregor Ilmenite 1794 ! Yttrium Gadolin Gadolinite 1797 Chromium Vauquelin j Crocosite ! Beryllium Vauquelin Beryl 1801 Columbium Hatchett Columbite 1802 Tantalum Ekeberg Yttrotantalite 1803 i Cerium Klaproth Cerite ' | Osmium Tennant Platinum 1804 Iridium Tennant Platinum ' Palladium Wollaston Platinum Rhodium Wollaston Platinum Beginnings of Ele c tro chemistry: 1808 Calcium | Davy Lime Magnesium \ Davy j Magnesia alba Boron Davy, Thenard, etc,; Borax 1812 Iodine Courto's Sea-kelp 1817 Selenium Berzelius Chamberdeposits 1 Am. Jour. Pharm.\ August, 1918. ' Romance of Chemical' Elements TABLE 8. Continued. 2 9 Year. Name. Discoverer. Source. Beginnings of Electro- chemistry : 1817 Cadmium Silicon Bromine Aluminum Thorium Vanadium Lanthanum (Didymium) Erbia Ruthenium Caesium Rubidium Thallium Indium Gallium Terbia Ytterbia Holmium Thulium Samarium Scandium Gadolinium Dysprosium Praseodym Neodym Germanium Fluorine Argon Helium Neon Krypton Xenon Polonium Radium Actinium Europium Lutecium Brevium Denebium Dubhium Strohmeyer, Her- man Berzelius Balard Wohler Berzelius Sefstrom Mosander Mosander Mcsander Claus Bunsen Bunsen Crookes Reich, Richter Lecoq de Bo'sbau- dran Delafontaine Mariqnac Soret Cleve Lecoq de Boisbau- dran Xilson Mariqnac Lecoq de Boisbau- dran Auer von Welsbach Auer von Welsbach Winkler Moissan Ramsay & Rayleigh Cleve, Ramsay Ramsay & Travers Ramsay & Travers Ramsay & Travers Curie Curie, Bemont, Schmidt Debierne, Giesel Demarcay Urbain Fa jans Eder Eder Zincblende Flint quartz Sea-water Alum Thorite Iron s'.ag Cerite Cerite Cerite Platina Mineral water Mineral water Chamber deposits Zincblende Zincb'ende Cerium minera's Cerium minerals Cerium minerals Cerium minerals Samarscite Cerite Samarscite Holmia Didymia Didymia Argyrodite Hydrofluoric acid Air Cleveite, uranie Air Air Air Pitchblende Thorium ores Samarium Ytterbium Uranium Thulium Thulium 1827 1826 1827 1828 1830 1839 1841 1847 1845 Beginnings of Spec- troscopy : 1860 1861 1863. 1875 1878 1879 1880 1886 . Modern Chemistry : 1894 1895 . . . 1898 it " '.'.'.'.'.'.'.]'.'. 1900 1007 1913 1916 . 30 Romance of Chemical Elements. { An A U Jg t r - system. To-day the study of the periodic relationship among the elements will help us to solve our present problem : the constitution of the atom, for we have now with the noble gases a continuous line of elements, while the radioactive elements indicate the end of the line, so that we are entitled to believe our system to be complete. The romance of the chemical elements is fascinating, and while I am doubtful if I have made the subject interesting to the reader, I will be satisfied if I succeeded in pointing out how knowledge grows, and how, by the labors of our ancestors, we are enabled to lift the veil of the mysteries of nature and apply the natural laws for the welfare of mankind. 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