Chap. I.] origin of word 'manganese'. 17 
Manganese does not occur in nature in the metallic condition, but only 
Origin of the word Combination, usually in the form of oxide, man- 
' manganese '. ganate, carbonate, or silicate. In the form of oxide 
manganese has been known from very early times. 
Pliny considered the oxide to be a form of magnetite or lodestone, 
calling both substances magnes manganese oxide being of the feminine 
gender and not attracting iron'. In the middle ages both the black 
oxide of manganese and the white oxide of magnesium were known as 
magnesia, being distinguished as magnesia nigra and magnesia alba, 
respectively. In the Didionnaire de Chymieoi Macquer^ published in 
1778, that is, just after the recognition of manganese as a new ele- 
ment, three sorts of magnesia are distinguished. These are magnesie 
calcaire, magnesie d'' Epsom and magnesie noire, the last named being 
even then also known as manganese and savon de verre ; the latter name 
refers to the property of manganese peroxide of removing from glass 
the greenish colour due to the presence of ferrous iron. It is not known 
how or when the word manganese originated. It is supposed by some to 
have been derived from magnesia nigra by metathesis or interchange of 
letters. In Latin manuscripts of the sixteenth, century it appears in the 
form la-pis manganensii, and still later as m,anganesium 3. In his 
' Opuscula Physica et Chomica', (1788/*, Bergmann, in giving an account 
of the then newly discovered metal, gives it the Latin name of magne- 
sium, from magnesia nigra. According to Bertrands. Guyton de Morveau 
proposed to translate this term magnesium into French not as magnesie, 
as this would have caused confusion, but as manganese. Since then 
the latter term has been used in science, the English form of the word 
being, of course, manganese. 
UntU 1740, when Pott 6 showed that black oxide of manganese does 
„ not contain iron, whilst it yields a definite series 
Kecognition as a new t , . , . 
element. of salts, the oxides of manganese and iron were con- 
founded one with the other. But Pott did not 
suggest that oxide of manganese contains a metal. Indeed, according 
to Bertrand 7, Bergmann was the first to give serious reasons for 
1 Ro8coe & Schorlemmer, ' Treatise of Chemistry Vol. 11, Part II, p. 1, 1879 . 
2 Quoted by G. Bertrand, loc. ext., 205. 
3 Roscoe & Schorlemmer, loc. cit, p. 2. 
4 Quoted by Bertrand, loc. cit., p. 206. 
5 Loc. cit., p. 206. 
6'Exa i en chymicum magnesia vitrariomm, Germanis Braunstein, (Roscoe 4 
Schorlemmer, loc. cit., p. 2.) 
7 Loc. cit., p. 20a 
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