A History of Chemistry from the Earliest Times

"He used the following arguments to show that there is no in muriatic acid gas:—"

"He also put forward a dualistic hypothesis that chemical compounds are composed of two electrically different components. In extending this hypothesis to organic chemistry, he regarded organic compounds as containing a group or groups of atoms forming compound radicles, in place of simple substances or elements. Although his views never commanded full assent from other chemists, he is... one of the founders of the Radicle Theory."

"He indicated each simple substance or element by the initial letter (or, where more than one had the same initial, by two letters) of its Latin or Greek name. In the case of compound bodies he added a small subscript figure to show the number of atoms of each element present in the compound when these atoms exceeded unity. Thus:— Oxygen was represented by the letter O. Hydrogen was represented by the letter H. Mercury was represented by the letters Hg (Hydrargyrum). Lead was represented by the letters Pb (Plumbum). Water, a compound of two atoms of hydrogen and one of oxygen, was represented by H2O. Litharge, a compound of one atom each of lead and oxygen, was represented by PbO."

"The conclusions of Davy were at first doubted, but when and were also discovered, Gay-Lussac and his followers adopted Davy’s views. The latter worked out , and proved that (HF) contains no ."

"Next year, in an essay "On the Division of Salts through Galvanism," he propounded a theory of electro-chemistry."

"Davy and Berzelius were chemists of the first rank in all branches of the science; but... [in] electro-chemistry... they were the leading pioneers."

"One of the greatest contemporaries of Davy and Dalton was the Swedish chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius (1779—1848). He... studied medicine at the University of Upsala, especially chemistry under Afzelius. His first chemical research was an analysis of s in 1799."

"One of his most useful services to chemistry was the invention of a system of symbols and notation, which with modification is still used in stating chemical formulæ."

"As the outcome of his study of voltaic electricity, he proposed a theory based upon the supposition that the atoms of elements are electrically polarised, the positive charge predominating in some, and the negative in others."

"Graduating as Doctor of Medicine in 1802, his thesis was "On the Action of Galvanism on Organic Bodies," in which he made use of the discovery in 1800 by Volta of the battery known by his name."

"Gay-Lussac and Thenard... prepared by heating (caustic potash) with red-hot filings. On passing gaseous (NH3) over the metal thus obtained, they evolved , and consequently refused to believe the simple nature of potassium, declaring it to be a compound of potash and hydrogen. Davy met this by maintaining that potassamide (the substance they obtained) is a potassium-substitution compound of ammonia."

"Another far-reaching result of Davy’s research was the proof of the elemental nature of . Berthollet’s conclusion that chlorine is oxymuriatic acid was universally accepted until Gay-Lussac and Thenard in 1809 endeavoured to decompose the gas and failed. They concluded that it contained water, because it yielded water when passed over . Their researches read to the Institute in 1809 led Davy to investigate muriatic acid () gas, which in 1808 he had shown to be decomposed by , with evolution of ."

"In 1815 he applied the Atomic Theory to the mineral kingdom, and made a new arrangement of minerals, founded on their being definite chemical compounds."

"He analysed many rare minerals; in 1818 discovered , , and its compounds; in 1822 studied the mineral waters of Carlsbad; in 1823 made experiments on , , and pure ; in 1824 and ; in 1826 thio acids and those salts in which was held to replace ; in 1828 examined , , , ; in 1833 and thio derivatives; and in 1834 ."

"In 1810 he proved that is an element, and that muriatic acid gas is a compound of chlorine and . He thus overturned the oxygen-acid theory [of Antoine Lavoisier], and demonstrated that muriates are compounds of metals with chlorine. He pointed to the fact that some acids, such as sulphuretted hydrogen, contain no , and argued that muriatic acid gas was one of these, chlorine in it taking the place of oxygen."

"Berzelius also opposed Davy until the discovery of , but embraced the latter’s opinion in 1820."

"Berzelius spent ten years in ascertaining with unprecedented care and accuracy the atomic or molecular weights of over two thousand simple and compound bodies. The results were published in 1818, and revised in 1826. In making these calculations he regarded oxygen as the pivot round which chemistry revolves, and therefore took it as the basis of reference for atomic weights. The greater part of his figures bear comparison with the most accurate determinations of more modern date."

"His "Practical Chemistry" is now in its sixth edition."

"He was one of the original members of the Society of Chemical Industry, and as the result of a long series of experiments in the analysis of soils and examination of tea-plants, devised a fertiliser for use in tea plantations in India. Where it was adopted, this fertiliser raised the tea production from 397 to 494 pounds per acre, and it is characteristic of him that he refused... pecuniary return from its very extensive use."

"With a elear perception of whatever object he had for the time being set before him, with indomitable courage to fight against a delicate constitution and indifferent health, and with a determination which would be satisfied with no half-measures, but would insist that whatever was done should be rightly done, he was a true representative of [his] family..."

"He was skilled in forensic chemistry, and was engaged in a number of criminal cases involving the use of poisons. His experience in the matter of arsenic poisoning was unique."

"He roused the mental energy of medical men by calling their attention to the importance of chemical medicines and chemical investigations, and in consequence, workers arose who studied the preparations and reactions of those metals which were most likely to be useful in medicine, and by their efforts the store of chemical knowledge was rapidly increased."

"[A]lthough there is no reason to doubt that he was gifted with original genius... he was on the whole a vain and self-seeking quack, who neither understood the nature of chemical science, nor undertook any regular or successful investigation. But he condemned loudly and boldly all medical knowledge and all medical practitioners, except himself, and his own methods. By these means, and by some cures which he effected, partly by bold treatment, partly by good luck, he made such a reputation for himself that he freed the medical world from old trammels."

"How his services were appreciated by those who were associated with him in the Water Undertaking, may be estimated from the following extract from the Report of Mr. Joseph Parry, the Water Engineer, for the year 1910:—"He was a rigid guardian of the purity of the supply, and it was an enormous advantage to the Corporation to have the professional assistance of one who had attained to such eminence and influence as a chemist.""

"His father, Wilhelm von Hohenheim, was a physician and taught him alchemy, astrology, and medicine."

"After a short period spent at the University of Basle, [Paracelsus] became a wandering scholar, practising medicine and picking up knowledge over the greater part of Europe, Egypt, and ."

"He had little university training, but worked long and earnestly with the wealthy Sigismond Fuggerus of Schwartz, trying to make the philosopher’s stone."

"Loud advertisement of the successful cures he had wrought by the use of mercury and raised him to such a pitch of fame that the magistrates of Basle in 1526 appointed him to the Chair of Medicine in that University."

"At his first lecture he ostentatiously burned the works of Galen and Avicenna, the great medical authorities of the age. In this spirit he lectured for two years, but his vanity and bombast disgusted and drove away his students, and his greed made him quarrel with the magistrates over his fees. In the end he suddenly quitted the town, and resumed his wandering life through and Germany."

"During the latter part of his career he effected many cures, the reputation of which concealed his many failures, but his private life was disfigured by intemperance, which he indulged in the lowest company."

"[I]n 1863 he proceeded to the Royal College of Chemistry at London, where he studied under Tyndall and Hofmann, at the same time matriculating at London University. ...in 1870... obtaining the degree of Doctor of Science."

"[I]t seemed good to Mrs. Campbell Brown to entrust the writer with the duty of editing... and passing the work through the press."

"Paracelsus (1493—1541), who gave his name as Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombastes ab Hohenheim, created in his day more stir than any other alchemist, for he shook the faith of the world in Galen and Avicenna, and was thus the means of introducing a new era."

"At this stage a great, though erratic, genius appeared on the scene, and opened up a fresh channel, into which students of chemical science might thenceforth direct their energies."

"He was in 1872 appointed’Public Analyst for Liverpool under the Adulteration of Food Act, and received a similar appointment for Lancashire in 1875. ...In addition, he was analyst to the Water Committee for the City of Liverpool, and to all the Local Authorities in the administrative county of Lancashire, and was frequently consulted in reference to large schemes of public water supply, both at home and abroad."

"In the hands of the fourteenth century alchemists and their immediate successors, its main object had become the discovery of that mysterious powder or elixir, which was to bring about universal perfection, to raise the baser metals to the perfect gold, and to endow human beings with eternal youth."

"Having adopted the Cabala and its doctrines, he was grossly pantheistic."

"He arranged the several parts of man, his own universal elements, and the Aristotelian elements in triplets, thus :—"

"The art of alchemy was now to receive an impulse in a new direction."

"In the new College he occupied the Chair of Chemistry, and found a fresh field of work in organising the duties of the Chair, and planning and equipping the classrooms and laboratories which were essential for their performance. The Chemical Laboratories were built in 1884 and extended two years later, while in 1896-7 the Wilham Gossage Laboratory was opened and rooms were added for Metallurgy, Electro-Chemistry, and Gas Analysis. The whole forms one of the most perfect installations for the teaching of chemistry, which is to be found in this country."

"As a rule his writings are full of mysticism, although there are a few grains of wheat among the chaff."

"He repudiates the view of Galen that fire is dry and hot, air moist and hot, earth dry and cold, and water moist and cold. He says that each of these elements is capable of admitting all qualities, so that there is a dry water and a cold fire."

"[According to Paracelsus,] [t]here is in the stomach a demon named Archæus, who presides over the chemical operations which take place in that organ, changing bread into blood, and separating the poisonous from the nutritive. Tartar is the leading principle of the maladies which arise from the thickening of the humours. Stone in the abdominal organs is only part of it, and as tartar is deposited in wine casks, so tartar is deposited on the teeth. When tartar is increased by certain kinds of food, renal calculi are engendered. In this connection he thought it necessary to subject to chemical analysis."

"All remedies, according to Paracelsus, are subject to the will of the stars and are directed by them, but chemistry is indispensable in the preparation of medicines. After his time the old disgusting decoctions gave place to tinctures, essences, and extracts. He even recommended quintessences, and described how they were to be made."

"[H]e ascertained that contains an earth united to an acid."

"He mentions metallic , and , but did not regard them as true metals, to which he considered malleability and ductility as essential characters."

"[H]is reputation as a chemist depends not so much upon discoveries made, as on the importance which he attached to a knowledge of the science."

"In consequence of his teaching chemistry became an indispensable part of the education of a medical man, and it was perceived that the true object of the science was not the discovery of the philosopher’s stone, but the preparation of new medicines. He thus introduced the next period in the history of chemistry, when many medicinal and other substances were discovered in the laboratories of the chemical physicians, or Iatrochemists..."

"As might be expected the protest of Paracelsus against ancient tradition led to a vast amount of discussion among contemporary alchemists. One of these named Gerhardt Dorn (circa 1550—1600), a pupil of Paracelsus, in his Clavis Totius Philosophiae Chymisticae (1561), Artificii Chymistici {circa 1568), and In Aurorum Paracelsi (1583) attempted to explain and comment upon his master. ...[H]e only rendered obscurity more obscure."

"James Campbell Brown was born at , on January 31st, 1843. His father... soon removed to London as principal partner of the Bow Common Alum Works."