60 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XL. No. 1019 



The element tungsten is the subject of a still 

 more exaggerated disagreement. Scheele was 

 unquestionably the first to mention this ele- 

 ment, stating that he had found, in the min- 

 eral then known as tungsten but now called 

 scheelite, a new acid to which he gave the 

 name tungstic acid. Two years later, in 1Y83, 

 it was noted by three Spanish chemists, the 

 d'Elhujar brothers, that the new acid is also 

 present in the mineral wolframite. The Ger- 

 man name wolfram was derived from the name 

 of this mineral. At the present time the ele- 

 ment is knovm as wolfram by the Russian and 

 German chemists while the English, French, 

 Spanish and American chemists employ the 

 name tungsten. It is interesting to note that 

 the English and American chemists, although 

 clinging to the historically more correct name, 

 unanimously use the symbol W for this ele- 

 ment. On the other hand, the French not only 

 employ the name tungsten but represent it by 

 the symbol Tu. 



Still another interesting example. Ruther- 

 ford and Priestley in 1773 independently 

 demonstrated that after a time an enclosed 

 volume of air no longer supports combustion 

 or respiration. Lavoisier, however, was the 

 first to recognize that this residual air, after 

 removal of the carbon dioxide, is a simple 

 body. On account of its inability to support 

 life, he immediately named the gas azote, de- 

 riving the name from a Greek expression 

 meaning literally antagonistic to life. The 

 name nitrogen which the element now com- 

 monly bears was first suggested by Chaptal. 

 At the present time the chemists of France 

 and Russia stiU cling to the original name 

 azote with the symbol Az, while to the chem- 

 ists of most other nations the element is 

 nitrogen. Nevertheless we stiU have in Eng- 

 lish a few relics of the original name, as for 

 example, the names hydrazoic acid, hydrazine, 

 azine and azole. 



The adoption or use of a name other than 

 the one originally given to an element by its 

 rightful discoverer is by no means an indica- 

 tion that the discovery is discredited. Al- 

 though the German chemists unanimously em- 



ploy the name wolfram, they nevertheless do 

 not hesitate to attribute the discovery to 

 Scheele. Again, these same chemists invari- 

 ably concede Hatchett to be the discoverer of 

 columbium, although they have substituted 

 and use the name niobium erroneously given 

 to the element by Rose some forty years later. 

 In all probability the greatest argument which 

 the chemists of certain nations can offer to- 

 day for endorsing the name niobium is the 

 com m on use which that name has had in their 

 respective countries since the days of Hein- 

 rich Rose. 



It is unfortunate indeed that there should 

 be lack of unity amongst scientists as to the 

 names and symbols for such fundamental bod- 

 ies as the chemical elements, but it is stUl 

 more unfortunate that the chemists of any 

 one land should be divided in their selection 

 of a name for an element as we Americans are 

 with respect to glucinum. A solution of the 

 entire question of names and symbols could 

 be brought about by the appointment of an 

 international committee definitely instructed 

 to waive all petty jealousy and, in a spirit of 

 all fairness, diligently to search the literature, 

 consider all claims of priority and finally re- 

 port on the original and therefore most proper 

 name for each element. That the chemists of 

 various nations would agree to the appoint- 

 ment of a committee so instructed is entirely 

 possible but very improbable. Furthermore, 

 it is extremely doubtful if a report submitted 

 by such a committee would be adopted by more 

 than one third of the chemists of chemical 

 societies to-day. It would, however, be a com- 

 paratively simple matter for American chem- 

 ists to intrust the settlement of this question 

 to a carefully chosen committee in order that 

 we Americans might use uniform names and 

 symbols although unable to agree entirely with 

 the chemists of other nations. 



H. B. North 



EuTGERS College, 

 New Brunswick, N. J. 



THE PROFESSOR AND THE INSTITUTION 



In America, we have in name freedom of 

 speech ; in fact there are considerable areas of 



