427 
OXIDE V. OXYDE; CHEMIST V. CHYMIST. 
mentioned by Dr. Harley as instances of error and inconsistency in the conversion 
of the upsilon. The charge against plumbi ox/dum on the one hand and lithar- 
gyrum on the other has already been met by the justification which has been 
given of the spelling oxide, since the latter term is admitted to be derived from 
Atdoy and apyvpos. Let us therefore take the next words, namely, glycerine and 
glycyrrhiza. “ Here,” says Dr. Harley, “ is error and inconsistency both ; for 
if,” he adds, “ e were the proper substitute for v in the former word, y could 
not be the equivalent of v in the other, the root in both cases being the same—• 
yXvuvsJ But, I ask, is it certain that the root in both cases is the same? Ad¬ 
mitting that glycyrrhiza is formed from yXv<vs and pi{a, does it not appear more 
reasonable to look to yXvsepos, a word equivalent to yXvzvs, as the source of the 
word glycerine, in which case the ordinary spelling is etymologically correct ? 
In the new edition of Webster’s Dictionary, yXvsepos, and not yXvKv ?, is stated 
to be the source of the word glycerine. I may mention that in the hope of 
finding a verification of this, I referred to a translation of Scheele’s ‘ Memoir 
on the Discovery of Glycerine.’ It does not appear, however, that when the 
memoir was published, a specific name had yet been given to the body which 
we now know as glycerine. 
Dr. Harley also incidentally refers to the fact that it has become customary 
to write chemist instead of chymist. This he does in such a way as to indicate 
that he considers the use of the e to be an instance of “ orthographical degene¬ 
racy.” To what extent we are justified in sharing this opinion, we shall presently 
see. It must be admitted that Bichardson, in his Dictionary, gives chymist as 
the correct orthography, and adds, “ Perhaps from x v l JLa i fro m x eveiv i to P our 
and that Wright * also, under the heading chymistry, has the following :—“ The 
word appears to be derived through the Greek from the Arabic, and came into 
use during the middle ages. The old, and therefore (as fcir as it belongs to the 
English language) the correct orthography is chymistry ; but it has recently be¬ 
come fashionable to write it chemistry.' 1 ' 1 But, on the other hand, in the new 
edition of Webster’s Dictionary we find chemistry, and in Ogilvie’s Dictionary 
the same form of the word appears, accompanied by this explanation :—“ It is the 
Arabic kimia, the occult art or science, from kamai, to conceal. The common 
orthography is from ^eco, to melt or fuse; the old orthography, chymistry , was 
from x vti) i the sam © word differently written.” Again Dr. Latham, in his new dic¬ 
tionary, gives the preference to the same form, namely, chemistry, in the ensuing 
terms:—“Chemistry. ‘Chymistry—[is] derived by some from x^P os -> jnice, 
or x to melt; by others, from an oriental word, kema, black. According to 
the supposed etymology, it is written with y or e. Some deduce it from the 
name of a person eminently skilled in the science, whose name, however, is 
written both Xvpys and Xlpys. Others consider Chemi, the Coptick name of 
Egypt, which was the cradle of this science, as the original.’— Johnson , Dic¬ 
tionary, in voce. ‘ It is derived from chemia , and that word from Cham . . . .’ 
— Bryant, Ancient Mythology , iii. 299. [The principle that condemns y is stated 
under Alchemy. To apply this, it is not necessary to suppose that the deriva¬ 
tion from the Greek x^pos has actually been disproved. It is sufficient for it to 
be doubtful; the rule being that y is only to be used when it is certain that it 
represents a Greek upsilon.]” The principle above referred to by Dr. Latham 
is thus stated by him :—“ Both alchemy and chemistry are spelt with an e rather 
than y, the reason being this. The proper etymological use of y, as a vowel, 
when not at the end of a word, is to represent the Greek upsilon in words which 
have reached us through the medium of the Latin. Practically this means all 
* ‘ The Universal Pronouncing Dictionary,’ compiled by competent persons in the different 
branches of Literature and Science, under the direction of Thomas Wright, Esq, F.S.A, 
London and New York, [n. d,] 
2 F 2 
