12 Prof. W. A. Miller on Chemical Nomenclature. 



general consent to be a convenient time for carrying out such 

 an attempt. 



Professor Williamson, in the paper which he published in the 

 June Number of this Magazine, has particularly urged the im- 

 portance of improving the existing nomenclature by the sys- 

 tematic adoption and extension of a method largely used by 

 Berzelius — a proposal which appears to have found very general 

 acceptance. 



As, however, the carrying out of this plan will involve a some- 

 what extensive alteration of the names at present employed by 

 chemists to designate inorganic compounds, it appears to be 

 desirable to consider whether, before such changes be generally 

 adopted, other alterations may not be beneficially introduced at 

 the same time. It is with a view of aiding in a discussion, the 

 results of which must be fraught with important practical con- 

 sequences, that the suggestions contained in the present paper 

 are offered*. 



The fundamental alteration proposed by Professor William- 

 son admits of a simple illustration. When a metal, for exam- 

 ple, has the power of forming two basic oxides, and consequently 

 of furnishing two distinct classes of salts, these oxides are distin- 

 guished from each other by the terminations ous and ic, the oxide 

 with the smallest proportion of oxygen being indicated by the 

 termination ous. 



Iron, for example, forms two basic oxides, FeO and Fe 2 O 3 ; 

 the first is termed ferrous oxide, the second ferric oxide; whilst 

 the salts formed by the action of acids upon the first constitute 

 the ferrous salts, such as Fe SO 4 , ferrous sulphate ; those from 

 the second oxide the ferric salts, such as Fe 2 3S0 4 , ferric 

 sulphate. 



To this plan, which gives simple and brief names, probably 

 no exception could reasonably be taken, if all the oxides desig- 

 nated by these terminations had an analogous atomic composi- 

 tion ; but it is universally admitted that this is not the case, as 

 will be immediately seen by comparing a few selected examples. 



Argentous oxide . 



Ag 4 



Aurous oxide . . 



Au 2 



Argentic oxide 



Ag 2 



Auric oxide . 



Au 2 3 



Cupreous oxide . 



Cu 2 



Stannous oxide . 



SnO 



Cupric oxide . 



CuO 



Stannic oxide 



SnO 2 



Now it appears that in the introduction of any change in our 

 nomenclature it would be proper to aim at a greater degree of 

 precision than the plan in its present form permits. By a 



* In the following remarks the now usual atomic weights are adopted ; 

 viz. 0= 16, C= 12, S = 32 ; and the old atomic weights of all the metals re- 

 ferred to are doubled, with the exception of potassium, sodium, thallium, 

 silver, gold, arsenic, antimony, and bismuth. 



