448 History of Luminescence 



However, Dr. W. E. Horner, a Philadelphia physician, wrote in 

 his Home Book of Health and Medicine (Philadelphia, 1834) : " It 

 has been recommended in a variety of diseases, but must be con- 

 sidered as an uncertain and dangerous prescription." 



The use of phosphorus in the match industry in the first half of 

 the nineteenth century led to many serious cases of phosphorus 

 poisoning. The history of this poison, the symptoms, the theory of 

 action and treatment have been reviewed by P. Munk and E. Leyden 

 in Die acute Phosphor-Vergiftung (Berlin, 1865) . The element 

 phosphorus as a physic has disappeared from the materia medica of 

 physicians, despite its mysterious and attractive luminescence,^^ 



Miscellaneous Chemiluminescent Phenomena in Gases 



A few other phenomena that appear to involve gaseous chemilumi- 

 nescence were observed in the eighteenth century. The most quoted 

 work is that of Martin van Marum (1750-1837) , a physician and 

 director of the physical and natural history museum in Haarlem, 

 who noticed (1776, 1782) that many oils (linseed, olive, butter, 

 etc.) when heated to 100° F or above would luminesce. Wedgwood 

 (1792) , Brugnatelli (1797) , Gottling (1800) , and many others ob- 

 served similar phenomena. Undoubtedly oxidation processes were 

 proceeding, possibly below the ignition point. In 1809-1810, Des- 

 saignes actually showed that many powdered organic bodies strewn 

 on a hot plate required air for luminescence, indicating a combus- 

 tion (see Chapter IX) Heinrich, also, included many combustible 

 bodies in the second section (1812) of his book, Die Phosphorescenz 

 der Korper, which dealt with thermoluminescent minerals, with 

 phosphorus, and with heated vapors. He described the vapor that 

 bursts into flame when fuming HNO3 is added to alcohol, turpen- 

 tine,^^ citron, and other oils, and the luminous phenomena observed 

 when oils of various kinds are heated in the dark. 



Such occurrences might be considered allied to incandescence and 

 of little interest for the history of luminescence. Many kinds of 

 pyrophores, bodies that spontaneously take fire in the air, were 

 known to early chemists. However, most chemiluminescences re- 

 quire the presence of oxygen also, and it is not possible to argue 

 that a light accompanying the vaporization of oils necessarily indi- 

 cates a local high temperature with incandescence from the heat of 

 combustion. In fact among the substances listed by Radziszewski 



** For various nineteenth-century opinions on phosphorus in medicine and phos- 

 phorus poisoning, see J. H. Robbi (1818) , A. B. Poggiale (1859) , and E. R. Arnaud 

 (1897) . 



*" Discovered by Rouelle (1747) . 



