"Fire, as the agent for , was a favorite tool of the alchemist. Although the general prevalence... of pyrolysis has long been recognized... in the last six decades... the subject has assumed a scientific basis. Since many... data on have been incidental observations... the information is widely scattered... [T]hat ...records of many melting-point determinations are accompanied by ..."It melts with decomposition" is ...evidence ...the subject ...has ...an unorganized past."