ri^ DfiiomlnatioH! of the AHaVi of Tartar. 



tinftivc apiKlladon of the other fixed alkali, in confequence of its cxtradlion from thofc ve- 

 getables. 



'Fixed vegetable altallne fn!t, the defignation of this fubftance in the Edinburgh Pliarmaco- 

 pocia, to fay nothing of its being rather a (iefcription than a name, is no lefs objeftionab'e 

 on account of its impropriety. This alkali docs not ftem to be any more a produft of ve- 

 getation than foda. 



Potiije, the barbarous corruption of our word l>ot-/i% by the French chemifts, has witit 

 them at leaft one advantage ; it does not figiiify any thing clfe : but when ro-tranflated by il* 

 into pit-ajb, it certainly becomes in the hightft degree objeftionable, as tending to confound 

 afmiple fubdance in a Hate of chemical purity, with a heterogeneous compound of very dif- 

 ferent qualities- 



Spodium, the appellation propofed by Dr. Hopfon, is alfo inappropriate. This fait is cer- 

 tainly not formed by the proccfs of incineration any more than the other fixed alkali is : 

 indeed barilla, from which the greater pan of the foda uled in this country is obtained, is 

 as immediately in the ftate of a cinder as any fubftance in commerce. 



Tnrtariti, or, better perhaps, tmturiiif, is a word, which, if not every thing we could wifli, 

 has feveral great advantages, ift. It fignifies nothing elfe. 2dly. It is pcrfcrtly appro- 

 priate. Tartar is a fublhnce which has been long and univcrfally known, and which con- 

 tains this alkali only in combination with an acid which is deftvudible by fire ; fo that the 

 pureft fpecimen of its carbonate, which is commonly met with in the (hops, is obtained from 

 it by mere combuftion ; on which account it has been long called by feveral compound 

 names analogous to the one here fpoken of, as fait cf tartar, alkali of tartar, &c. 

 •7dly. The name itfelf recalls to the mind one of the readied and mod ordinary means of 

 diftinguiftiing the folution of this filt from that of foda by the teft of the acid of tartar. 

 And 4thly. It has already been ufed throughotjt tlie whole of a work of fome importance, 

 •which is in the hands of every chemift ; — a circumftance perhaps elTential to the eftablifh- 

 ment of any new chemical appellation. As the Latin, on account of its faving the neccf- 

 ■ fity of auxiliary particles, and for fome other reafons, feems better adapted to fome of the pur- 

 pofes of a chemical nomenclature than the modern languages, tlie feminine tartariita may 

 ferve well enough in this cafe. The word propofed in the French nomenclature will not 

 by this means become abfolutely ufelefs : — the clalTical chemilt may ftill label his common 

 pot-afh " Pota/a Ruffica" and its titles, if not of equal antiquity, will not perhaps be inferior 

 in elegance to thofe of its next-door-neighbour, the " Cincra Perlati." 



But as it is rather my intention to point out the difficulty than to propofc the remedy, I 

 (hall add no more on the fubjefl. The wilh of every one muft be, that by the univerfal re- 

 ception of fome unobje£lionable appellation, we may be enabled to fpcak of this fubftance 

 without impropriety, or the appearance of affe£lation. 



I am. Sir, your obedient fervant, 



PHILONOMUS. 

 jfanuary iSj 1798. 



VII. M 



