FOLTTECHNIC ASSOCIATION PROCEEDINGS. 1019 



the same bodj^, a compound word, not quite so euphonious, was the 

 necessary result. This may be illustrated by giving the new name 

 for one of the bodies alluded to above by Laurent, the hypersul- 

 phomolybdate of potash. The absurdity of the present nomen- 

 clature is seen in this one word, for the compound contains no oxy- 

 gen, although potash means the oxide of potassium and the molybdic 

 acid contains three atoms of oxygen to one of molybdenum. Now 

 by representing an atom of the metal potassium hy jpotam, and of the 

 metal molybdenum by molam^ and of sulphur by its present symbol, 

 /S, we easily combine them to represent the actual composition of 

 the first mentioned body. 



The sulphomolylidate of potash results from a combination of the 

 sulphide of potassium, which, by the new notation now generally 

 used, is regarded as two atoms of potassium with one of sulphur, 

 with the tersulphide of molybdenum, which is one atom of the 

 metal with three atoms of sulphur; therefore the whole compound 

 contains two atoms of potassium, one of molydenum, and four of 

 sulphur, which is fully expressed in the new nomenclature, by 

 'potem-molamos. The hypersulphomolybdate of potash contains the 

 sulphide of potassium and three atomoids of the tersulphide of 

 molybdenum, making a total of two atoms of potassium, three of 

 molybdenum, and ten of sulphur, which is shown by its new name, 

 jpotem-molimeus. This compound is regarded as a combination of 

 jpotemas with moUmeos; but, as we know nothing of the actual 

 internal arrangement of atoms in any chemical body, it seems more 

 consistent to merely express the fact of the presence of the precise 

 proportion of each element found in combination. For the same 

 reason, salts are not represented in my system as the union of an 

 acid with a base; therefore, protosulphate of iron, for example, is 

 designated by fermasot. 



It is certainly gratifying to discover, after years of devotion to 

 the subject, that those great masters, Gmelin, Laurent and Dumas, 

 had made attempts in the same direction. That I have succeeded 

 in applying to several thousand chemical compounds new and 

 euphonious names, which express, respectively, their exact compo- 

 sition as well as other prominent characteristics of each, thus form- 

 ing the only complete and consistent nomenclature yet produced, 

 is owing to the fiict that I have taken advantage of the latest views 

 of our foremost chemists, and have rejected all attempts to express 

 by notation the supposed internal structure of a chemical body. 



