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X. On Chemical Symbols aiid Notation; in Reply to Pro- 

 fessor Whewell. By Mr. John Prideaux, Member of 

 the Plymouth Institutio7i. 



To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Annals. 

 Gentlemen, 

 TN the last Number (May 1831) of the Journal of the Royal 

 *- Institution, is an article by Professor Whewell, " On the 

 employment of Notation in Chemistry;" going to show the 

 advantages of using symbols in that science ; and to remove 

 anomalies in the foreign notation, by reducing it to mathema- 

 tical consistency and symmetry. I concur witli all that is 

 therein stated of the practical convenience and utility of such 

 symbols, and I am glad to see Professor Whewell's eminent 

 name enlisted in their advocacy. They constitute a prompt, 

 impressive and peculiarly legible short-hand ; expressing in a 

 few letters and dots what would occupy several lines of writing, 

 and what no writing will give with the same distinctness, — 

 a great point in a science of which the materials and modifi- 

 cations are so numerous and so complex. In experimental 

 notes they are of great service, placing constantly before our 

 eyes the entire analysis of every material employed ; and for 

 the same reason, as well as on account of their compactness, 

 are aptly suited for comparison and tabular classification. But 

 I am not yet convinced that it is desirable to sacrifice this 

 graphic simplicity, in order to convert them into an algebraic 

 notation ; to which, when requisite, they are easily accommo- 

 dated. Such of your readers as feel interested in this question, 

 and have not seen Professor Whewell's paper, would do well 

 to read it before proceeding with this. 



The chemical symbols of Berzelius were contrived " pour 

 faciliter I'expression des proportions chimiques, et de nous 

 mettre en etat d'enoncer brievement et avec facilite le nombre 

 d'atomes elementaires qui se trouve dans chaque corps com- 

 pose." To this purpose they seem happily fitted ; exhibiting, 

 in signs no less natural than compact, the entire constitution 

 of the substance through all the grades of analysis. 



Thus an atom of potassium, K (kalium in Berzelius's Latin), 



oxidized with one atom oxygen K, forms potash ; an atom of 



nitrogen N, with five atoms oxygen N, forms nitric acid, and 



KN forms nitrate of potash. 



In this concise symbol we see the acid and alkali, and the 

 elementary composition of each : the bases expressed in their 

 initial letters ; and oxygen, the great modifier of chemical 



properties ; 



