BOSTON JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY^;^>s^" 



■4' 



Volume XXII. 



BOSTON, JANUARY, 1888. 



Number 



P" 



CONTENTS. 



Familiar Science. — The Derivation of Scientific Terms . . 1 



The Princeton Eclipse Expedition to Kussia 1 



Botany as a Recreation 3 



The Preservation of Food 3 



The Brush Turliey 4 



Scientific Brevities ■* 



Practicai. Chemistry and the Arts. — White-Lead ... 5 



Laboratory Tables 5 



The Influence of Silicon on the Properties of Steel 5 



Purification of Recovered -Vlcohol 6 



Industrial Memoranda 6 



Workshop Hints 7 



Home, Farm, and Garden. — Artificial Warmth 7 



Cleaned Whole Wheat as an Article of Diet 7 



'I'be Acids of Fruits 8 



How to use Canned Goods 8 



Do Horses have Horse Sense ? 8 



Selected Recipes 8 



Cr leanings 8 



Editorial. — Prehistoric Relics at Panama 9 



The Dissolving Spectre 10 



A Mammoth Snow-Flake 10 



Meteorology for Xovember, 1887, with Review of the 



Autumn 11 



Astronomical Phenomena lor January, 1888 11 



Parasites of the House-Fly 12 



Do Worms fall during Showers? 12 



Questions and. Answers 12 



Literary Notes 12 



Medicine and Pharmacy. — .\re Americans a Nervous 



People? 13 



Sanitary Science and Domestic -Architecture 13 



Monthly Summary of Medical Progress 14 



Teething: is it a Common Cause of Disorder? 15 



American Patent Medicines in Germany 15 



Irregular Practice in Germany 15 



Changes in the Teeth 15 



Medical Memoranda 15 



Humors 16 



Publishers' Column 16 



famtliat Scteiue. 



THE DERIVATION OF SCIENTIFIC TERMS. 



The study of natural and phj'sical laws has 

 always been a favorite pursuit with men of all 

 nations. One of the old Assyrian inscriptions 

 now in the British Museum records a total 

 eclipse of the sun, from which the date of 

 the tablet has been accurately calculated. The 

 construction of the Egyptian pyramids was 

 governed, to some extent, bj- astronomical 

 conditions ; and as the knowledge gained from 

 the earliest times has come down to us through 

 many different races of men, and been recorded 

 in numerous languages, the scientific terms at 

 present in use tell a very interesting story of 

 their original derivation. 



The Arabs were among the earliest chemists, 

 or rather alchemists, in Europe, and manj- sci- 

 entific terms are derived from that language. 

 The name " chemistry" itself is derived from 

 the Arabic al-kimia. The word Jcimia, how- 

 ever, is primarily of Greek origin, and had 

 the signification of black, dark, or mysteri- 

 ous. The Greek name for Egypt was Chemeia, 

 from the black color of the soil. So the origi- 

 nal meaning of al-kimia was the mj-sterious 

 stud J', or the "black art." Another deriva- 

 tion is from the Greek kumos, or juice of 

 plants, which the early students of the science 

 extracted for medicinal or experimental pur- 

 poses. " Alembic " is another Arabic word de- 

 rived from the Greek. Sal-alembroth, a salt 

 of mercurj', which was much .used by the old 



alchemists, is from a Chaldaic word signifying 

 "the key of art." "Alkali" is an Arabic 

 word from qali, to roast or fry in a pan, refer- 

 ring to the manufacture of potash from ashes. 



In later times, after the revival of learning 

 in Europe, the Latin and Greek languages 

 were largely drawn upon to furnish names for 

 the newly discovered substances, and to de- 

 scribe the laws of their action. As an illus- 

 tration of mediaeval superstition, we may 

 mention the word " crucible," from the Latin 

 crux, a cross, which was marked upon the lid, 

 to prevent the evil spirits from interfering with 

 the success of the " pi-ojection. " Even this 

 sacred symbol was unable to turn the baser 

 metals into gold, and the faith of the alche- 

 mists must have been severely shaken at 

 times. The word "gas" was first used by 

 Van Helmont, a chemist of the seventeenth 

 century, and is from the German geist, a ghost 

 or spirit, or else from the verb gdschen, to 

 froth or ferment. The terms " spirit of wine " 

 and " spirit of salt " have an analogous origin. 



Hydrogen is derived from the Greek, and 

 means the " former of water : " this is a fairly 

 good description, though it would apply equally 

 well to oxygen. This latter element is most 

 unfortunately named. It signifies the " acid- 

 former," and was originally supposed to be a 

 constituent part of every acid ; but there are 

 many acids now known which contain no oxy- 

 gen at all. Hydrogen is more properlj- an 

 acid-former, since this class of bodies can be 

 defined as those which contain one or more 

 hydrogen atoms, which are replaceable by a 

 basic element or radical. 



Ammonia obtains its name from a temple of 

 Jupiter Ammon in Asia Minor, where the 

 chloride (sal-ammoniac) was first manufac- 

 tured from the excrement of camels. " Elec- 

 tricity " is from the Greek electron, amber, 

 which becomes electrified upon being rubbed. 

 " Alcohol " is from the Arabic al-kohl, and sig- 

 nified a fine black powder of antimony, which is 

 still used in Oriental countries as a hair-dj'e. 

 By some obscure process the term became ap- 

 plied to the liquid now known by that name. 

 " Geology " is derived from the Greek gea, the 

 earth, and " botany" from botane, a plant. 



The origin of the names of many of the 

 chemical elements is of great interest. Cobalt 

 was named from the German kobold, supposed 

 to be a demon of the mines who bewitched the 

 ore, and caused the miners trouble and loss. 

 The existence of this metal was not recognized 

 for a long time ; and when the ores failed to 

 smelt properly, it was attributed to the mach- 

 inations of the little goblins rather than to 

 the presence of an unknown metal. Nickel 

 ore was originally thought to be a base ore 



of copper, and was called derisively by the 

 Swedish miner koppar-nickel, or Old Nick's 

 copper. " Antimony " is said to be from the 

 French anti and moine; and the story is, that 

 the name was given to it by an abbot of an 

 inquiring turn of mind, who administered the 

 salts of this poisonous metal to his monks as 

 a medicine, with very discouraging results. A 

 more probable derivation is from the Arabic 

 al-uthmudun. 



Mercur}', the liquid, easily flowing metal, is 

 named after the nimble Roman god who had 

 wings to his heels. This deity was the patron 

 of commerce, and his name is derived from 

 merces, the merchandise which he protected. 

 "Phosphorus" is derived from the Greek 

 phos, light, and is so named from its property 

 of shining in the dark when exposed to the air. 

 " Arsenic " is from the Greek assenikos, mas- 

 culine, aud was so called from the masculine 

 strength attributed to this powerfully poisonous 

 substance. 



Several elements, like rubidium, thallium, 

 indium, and others, are uamed from the color 

 of the lines which compose their spectrum, 

 chromium from the highly colored salts which 

 it forms, bromine from its offensive odor, and 

 glucinium from the sweetish taste of some of 

 its salts. Many are named after mythological 

 characters, such as thorium, vanadium, ura- 

 nium, and tantalum ; others after countries or 

 regions, like columbium, gallium, and yttrium. 

 In fact, all but a few of the more common 

 elements are named from some characteristic 

 property, or circumstance connected with their 

 discoverj'. 



As to the word " science " itself, it is, as is 

 well known, derived from the Latin scio, to 

 know ; science, then, is simply knowledge, and 

 a scientist is one who knows any subject thor- 

 oughl3'. Sir William Hamilton gives the 

 following definition of "science:" "a com- 

 plement of cognitions having in point of form 

 the character of logical perfections, and in 

 point of matter the character of real truth." 

 The only object of scientific inquiry- is to learn 

 the truth ; and the nearer we approach to the 

 actual truths of nature, the nearer we shall 

 be to the establishment of a pure and perfect 

 scientific system. 



[Original in Popular Science ^ews.] 



THE PRINCETON ECLIPSE EXPEDITION TO 



RUSSIA. 



BY PROFESSOR C. A.- YOUNG. 



Although it is a weary task to recall the way 

 that led to disappointment, I cannot well resist 

 the kindly urging of the editors of the Science News 

 that I should give its readers a brief account of our 

 trip and our intended observations. 



The principal object aimed at was, to secure an 



