May 19, 1892] 



NA TURE 



57 



ing out that experimental chemistry had been carried, 

 early in the century, into Germany from France by Liebig, 

 who was tutored by Gay-Lussac, proceeded to say 

 that, although the science had now undoubtedly reached 

 its highest development in Germany, it was rnore than 

 probable that, in the future, circumstances would arise 

 which would lead to some other nation— France, 

 Russia, Italy, or England— coming to the fore. On this 

 occasion, on the motion of M. Le Bel, it was 

 unanimously decided to appoint M. Marignac Honorary 

 President of the Congress, and a letter to him expressing 

 our regret that ill-health prevented his taking part in 

 its work was at once signed by all present. We were 

 indebted in many other ways to the local committee, and 

 there is no doubt that the success of the meeting was in 

 large measure due to the forethought and hospitable care 

 exercised by them on our behalf ; absolute amity pre- 

 vailed throughout, and it was clear that all were bent on 

 co-operating to secure the carrying out to a succcessful 

 issue of a very difficult but most important work. The 

 great advantage to be derived from the personal inter- 

 course which such meetings promote was soon apparent : 

 gradually, the doubts which many entertained as to the 

 possibility of devising a practical rational scheme of 

 nomenclature were dispersed, and ere many hours had 

 elapsed the sympathies of all present were enlisted on 

 behalf of the work ; thus a mission has been sent forth 

 which will explain the enterprise to chemists generally. 



The resolutions passed at the meetings are appended 

 to this article. These, I think, are in no way to be taken 

 as in all respects final, but they will serve to prepare the 

 way and to indicate the lines on which the work is to be 

 carried out. The position in which we found ourselves 

 placed, in fact, was not one which justified our arriving at 

 decisions which could fairly be regarded as binding. 

 The report of the French Committee was placed in our 

 hands only on the morning of the first meeting, and it 

 was impossible to master its contents at so short a 

 notice, and still less to criticize and test the application of 

 its recommendations in detail. That the scheme would 

 serve but as the basis for discussion was soon evident, 

 when at the very outset a system of nomenclature for the 

 hydrocarbons was adopted very dififerent and far more 

 significant than that recommended in the report ; and 

 numerous other departures from its recommendations 

 were carried in the course of the proceedings. Again, 

 some of the most active members of the Congress had 

 confessedly paid attention only to special groups of com- 

 pounds, and had not tested the application of proposals 

 which they strenuously advocated to compounds of other 

 groups ; but as a nomenclature admirably adapted to one 

 class may be open to all sorts of objections when applied 

 to another, the general bearing of recommendations made 

 with reference to special groups will have to be fully con- 

 sidered before they can be finally adopted. The resolu- 

 tions relating to fatty acids (Nos. 18, 19) are of this kind, 

 and their adoption was warmly opposed by an important 

 minority on the ground that, however well they might be 

 adapted to acids pure and simple derived from open- 

 chain hydrocarbons, their application to acids derived 

 from closed-chain hydrocarbons and acids containing 

 other radicles in addition to carboxyl was beset with 

 difficulty. In order to name an acid in accordance with 

 this resolution, the formula of the corresponding hydro- 

 carbon must be constructed from that of the acid by 

 changing carboxyl into methyl ; for example, citric acid, 

 CH„(C02H).C(OH)(COOH).CH,(COOH),wouldhaveto 

 be regarded as a derivative of methylpentane, and would 

 be named methylpenianoltrioic acid, numerals being added 

 to indicate the positions of the hydroxyl and carboxyl 

 groups; in like manner, mellithic acid, C^CCOOHV,, 

 would be named hexamethylbenzenehexoic acid, although 

 no methyl is present in it. The mental effi)rt involved in 

 visualizing the formula from such names as these would 



NO. I I 77, VOL. 46] 



appear to be far greater than if they were respectively 

 named propanoltricarboxylic acid and benzenehexacar- 

 boxylic acid, or simply propanoltri-acid and benzenehex- 

 acid, the use of the term acid being understood to imply the 

 presence of carboxyl. A decision on points such as these 

 can only be arrived at after careful study of the general 

 effect of such a' proposal, and there was no time for such a 

 comparison during the brief debate possible at a Con- 

 ference. In some cases, there can be no doubt that the 

 full force of objections raised to proposals in favour of 

 which a majority subsequently voted was not felt, 

 owing to the difficulty which necessarily arises at an 

 international Conference if the language used be not 

 equally familiar to all present, and consequently full 

 expression cannot be given by all to their views. More- 

 over, although it is easy to criticize destructively even at 

 short notice, constructive criticism under such circum- 

 stances is very difficult ; consequently a proposal may be 

 accepted even in face of serious objections to its adoption 

 simply because nothing better can be suggested at the 

 time. An instructive case of the kind arose on discussing 

 thio-compounds. The proposals in the French report were 

 not regarded as altogether satisfactory, and an amend- 

 ment was suggested and carried which to many appeared 

 most undesirable : the next morning, when the tiine 

 came to confirm the resolutions arrived at on the previous 

 day, the discussion was reopened, and a slight modifica- 

 tion of the original proposal was suggested, which was 

 recignized to be an improvement, and the objectionable 

 resolution was rescinded. Clearly at such meetings much 

 must depend on the right expression being found by 

 happy inspiration at the right moment. 



The one resolution which covers all others and which 

 defines the nature of the task to be undertaken is the 

 first. Whatever name we may choose to apply to a sub- 

 stance colloquially, it is clearly an absolute necessity of 

 the times that every compound should bear a systematic 

 name of such a character that it can be at once translated 

 into the corresponding formula ; and that, vice versa, 

 a name corresponding to any particular formula may be 

 devised which we may count on finding in the official 

 register, if the compound thought of have been described. 

 The value of such a systematic nomenclature to original 

 workers as well as to students cannot be over-estimated, 

 and few who are qualified to take part in such a work 

 will grudge the time they may spend on it. There was con- 

 siderable difference of opinion at the meeting as to whether 

 a systematic nomenclature should be devised merely for 

 the purpose of an official register, or whether the object 

 aimed at should be a system of wider application : the 

 majority, I believe, came to the conclusion that it should 

 certainly subserve the one, but if possible both purposes. 

 There can be little doubt, however, that the future student 

 will cut the knot by declining to burden his memory with a 

 double vocabulary in the case of all but the commonest 

 substances, and that therefore there is but one course 

 open to us (cf. Res. 26). 



Although sufficiently conservative to retain methane^ 

 ethane, propane, and butane, the Congress decided not 

 to adopt the proposal to continue the use of the names 

 formic, acetic, propionic, and butyric for the first four 

 acids of the acetic series, which was advocated by a sub- 

 stantial minority on the ground that their retention would 

 facilitate the change from the old to the proposed new 

 system. This is one of the questions demanding careful 

 consideration. Many will, no doubt, prefer to retain old 

 unsystematic names as far as possible, but it is easy to see 

 that the desire to avoid change may carry us too far in this 

 direction ; it will undoubtedly be very inconvenient to the 

 present generation of chemists to abandon familiar and 

 cherished names, but nevertheless it may be a wise course 

 to boldly face the difficulty, rather than inflict on coming 

 generations a partially illogical and unsystematic nomen- 

 clature. The argument that the present familiar name^ . 



