point of view, a point of view which they helped to 



ere. ilc 



The widespread interest in the burning of sulfur 

 and of phosphorus, n.itui .ill\ . e.niuln I .a\ oisier's 

 attention. In his firsl volume of Opuscules Physiques et 

 Chimiques (1774), he devoted 20 pages to Ins experi- 

 ments on phosphorus. He amplified them .1 few 

 years latei ! when he attributed the combustion to a 

 combination of phosphorus with the "eminently 

 respirable" part of air. En the Mithodt de Nomenclature 

 pie of 1787, the column of "undecomposed 

 substances" lists sulfur as the "radical sulfurique," 

 and phosphorus, correspondingly, .is the "radical 

 phosphorique." The acids are now shown to be 

 compounds of the "undecomposed" radicals, the 

 complete reversion of the previous concepl of this 

 relationship. A part of the old analog) remained 

 ,iv t.u as the acids are concerned: sulfuric acid cor- 

 responds to phosphoric ; sulfui ous acid to phosphorous 

 acid with less oxygen than in the former." 



Early Uses 



In the Kith century, phosphorus was a costh ma- 

 terial. It was produced mostly for display and to 

 saiivl\ curiosity. Guillaume Francois Rouelle (1703- 

 1770) demonstrated the process in his lectures, and, 

 as Maequcr reports, he "very often" succeeded iii 

 making it. u Robert Boyle had the idea of using 

 phosphorus as a light for underwater divers. 1 \ 

 centurv later, "instant lights" were sold. Willi molten 



phosphorus as the "igniter," but the) proved cumber- 

 some and unreliable. 14 Because white phosphorus is 

 highly poisonous, an active development of the use in 

 matches occurred only after the conversion of the 

 white modification into the red had been studied In 

 Emile Kopp < Kill I. In Wilhelm Hittorf ( 1824 1914) 



11 \\miM Laurent Lavoisier, "Sur la Combustion du 

 Phosphore de Kunrkel, Kt sur l.i nature de I'acide qui resulte de 

 cette Combustion," M (moires Acadbnit 1777, (Paris, 1780), pp. 

 65 78 



" Guyton in Morveau and others. Mlthode de Nomenclature 

 Chimique, Proposer par MM. de Moive.ni. Lavoisier, Bertholet, 

 \ de Fourcroy (Paris, 17H7'. plate 9. 

 \1 v. QUER, op. cit. tfootnote 3), p 



v M vkii Boas, Robert Boyle and Seventeenth Century Chemistry 

 (New York : Cambridge University Press, 1958), p. 226; see 

 also \\ v sou vvi Ma is. "The History of Dr. Brand's Phosphorus 

 Elementarus," Armed Forces Chemical 7"""'"' (November- 

 December 1958), p. 25. 



" Archibald Clow and N vs I.. Clow, The Chemical Revolu- 

 tion (London: Batchworth Press, 1952), p. 451. 



u in tine nu'.Utibft r-olltuiiKu Q 



Figure 3. Distili ums apparatus (1849) '"' refining 

 crude phosphorus. I he crude phosphorus is mixed with 

 sand under hot water, cooled, drained, and filled into 

 the retort. I lie outlet of the retort, at least 6 cm. in 

 diameter, is partially immersed in the watei contained 

 in the bucket \ small dish, made from lead, with an 



iron handle, receives the distilled phosphorus. 1I10111 



I he,. 1 Fleck, D Fabrikation chemischer Produkte . . . 

 page 90.) 



and, in its practical application. In Anion SchrStter 

 ( 1 802-1 875). I5 



The most exciting earl) use, however, was in medi- 

 cine. It is not surprising that such a use was sought 

 at that time. An) new material immediatel) became 

 the hope of ailing mankind and of striving inven- 

 tors, ' Phosphorus was prescribed, in liniments with 

 fatty oils or as solution in alcohol and ether, for 

 external and internal application. A certain Dr. 

 Kramer found it efficient against epilepsy and 

 melancholia (1730). A Professoi Hartmann re< 

 mended it against cramps. 17 However, in the growing 



1 I. viui Kopp, Comples-rendus hebdomadaires des Seances de 



i Us Scien I' 1844), vol. 18, p. 871 : Wn in i M 



Una oki. Annalen der Chemic und Pharmaz'e, suppl. to vol 1, 

 |i >7 Vnton s. iikniim. Annates de Chimie et de Physique, 

 series (, vol _'4 (1848), p. 406; see also Schrotter's report on 

 "Phosphor und Zundwaaren" in A. \S'. von Hofmann, li.rhht 

 tiber die Entwicklung der Chemischen Industrie (Braunschweig: 

 Vieweg, 1875), pp. 219 246 



1 K. Glauber, l-'umi Novi Philosphici (Amsterdam, 1649), 

 vol. 2, pp. 12 il 



17 Hermann Schelenz, Gcsthichte der Pharmazie (Berlin: 

 Springer, 1904 p i98 



I'AI'IR 10: HISTORY OF I'Hl ISI'IK )Rt S 



181 



