424 History of Luminescence 



The Gaseous Cherniluminescence of Phosphorus 



DISCOVERY OF PHOSPHORUS 



Just as phosphorescences, i. e., photoluminescences, may have been 

 known to the ancients or during the Middle Ages, before the time 

 of Cascariolo of Bologna, it is possible that the light of phosphorus 

 may have been seen before the generally accepted discovery by 

 Brand in 1669. The suggestion has been made by Raimondo di 

 Sangro - (1710-1771) that the "perpetual lamps" of St. Augustine 

 (354-430) found in the sepulchers of early Christians contained 

 phosphorus. However, in view of the marvelous but completely 

 false tales concerning the " liquor lucidus," allegedly made from 

 glowworms, the presence of phosphorus in perpetual lamps cannot 

 be given too much credence (see Chap. Ill) . 



Mention has already been made in Chapter III of the " icicles " 

 of Paracelsus (1493-1541) which were the " element of fire," but 

 surely had this material been phosphorus, much more would have 

 been written concerning it and the new discovery would have played 

 a prominent part in spagyric medicine.^ 



Like the discovery of the Bolognian stone, Brandt's preparation 

 of the element phosphorus was a matter of luck, a good example of 

 the reward which occasionally comes to those who try all procedures 

 with sufficient persistence. If a material which would light after 

 exposure to the sun aroused the wonder of observers, how much 

 more extraordinary the preparation of a material that luminesced 

 continuously in darkness. It is appropriate that the first example of 

 artificial chemiluminescence was called " phosphorus mirabilis." 

 Nothing like it was known except shining wood and shining flesh, 

 and these manifestations were not only short lived, but rare and 

 capricious. They could not be produced at will and did not have 

 the fascination of a substance fabricated by man himself. 



The history of the discovery of phosphorus has been related many 

 times * although the accounts differ somewhat, because of the secrecy 

 with which the preparation of the material was shrouded. It is fair 

 to say that the same motives and the same jealousies and greed for 



= See Gino Testi in Archion 13:67-68, 1931; also 14:490-491, 1932. 



^ In J. W. Mellor's Comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry 

 8: 730, 1928, it is suggested that Arab alchemists, who were continually distilling 

 bones and urine must have obtained phosphorus. See especially a twelfth-century 

 manuscript of Alchid Bechil, where the formation of " escarboucle " is described (c/. 

 F. Hoefer, Histoire de la chemie 1: 339, 1843 and 2: 183, Paris, 1843) . 



*For details see Discovery of the elements by M. E. Weeks, Easton, Pa., 1945. Also 

 J. Ince (1853, 1858), and G. Gore (1861), T. E. Thorpe (1890), T. L. Davis (1927) 

 and W. Prandtl (1948) . 



