KNIFE SWALLOWING.* JOHN D, aged seven years, residing at 10, Salisbury-terrace, Islington, on the evening of the 6th of August, swallowed an open penknife, three inches long. The lad, a very sickly one, was subsequently visited by two medical men; the symptoms afterwards were slight, chiefly febrile, with occasional griping pains, and some tenderness, in the region of the bowels. The treatment enjoined was perfect quietude, fomentations, saline febrifuges, sedatives; the occasional exhibition of slight aperients, castor-oil, &c. On the morning of the sixth day, contrary to the opinion of some eminent physicians, to whom the case had been related, the knife appeared with an evacuation, blade downwards, somewhat corroded, and not at all improved in appearance by its change of resi

dence.

DISCOVERY OF ANOTHER PACTOLUS.

A BELGIAN paper gives the following strange tale, the truth of which it vouches for, and states, that more extensive details are in its possession, and would be given, only that they might be prejudicial to the realisation of the enterprise:"A distinguished French engineer, who was sent some years ago to Panama, to make geological researches, and study the question of piercing the isthmus, has brought back some specimens of gold, which Baron Thénard, after chemical assay, has pronounced to be of the greatest richness. The engineer states that he gathered this gold in the sands of a river of the isthmus. Such are the richness of the grains of gold which this river rolls along, that the natives who are occupied in gathering them, gain fifty francs per day; and that the sands they wash contain still, after the operation, more than double the quantity of gold which they had obtained from them. The engineer had examined with care the course of the river to its source, and remarked that it traversed an enormous group of rocks, in the midst of which it must have been depositing for ages a vast mass of grains of gold. According to his estimates, there must be far more than eight milliards of francs of gold mineral buried under these rocks. (One milliard of francs, it may be observed here, is equal to forty millions sterling.) When the engineer made known the result of his researches and conjectures at home, he met with incredulous hearers, and was treated as a visionary. Notwithstanding, he has given details so pre

* Lancet.

cise, it appears, of the success of a future exploration, that several capitalists have resolved to confide to him the funds necessary for exploring on a great scale the sands of the river. For this purpose it was resolved not to form a company by shares, but to confide the enterprise to a certain number of capitalists willing to run the risk of the affair. The capital embarked in this undertaking will be either entirely lost, or will produce more than a million per cent. to those who subscribe the funds. The engineer himself engages not to require any share of the profits until the enterprise shall have realised three milliards of francs (one hundred and twenty millions sterling !!!) There are, as may be seen all the riches of Potosi, all the gold of Pactolus, which it is expected will be found united between the two parts of America. The preparations for the undertaking are already in an advanced state. The dredging machine boat for the operation is in course of construction; and the departure of the engineers and workmen will take place in two or three months. If this affair, which has been in hand for several years, has remained unknown to the public, the reason is, that the parties engaged in it look upon their capital advanced as being exposed to an extraordinary risk, and therefore are anxious to avoid being held up to ridicule by appearing to have too much confidence in the result of these researches. Such is the marvellous story. It is evident from the length of years spoken of since the enterprise was first proposed, that the French engineer was one of those sent out in the famous bubble year 1825, to make surveys in Panama for one of the projects of a canal, for which several companies were formed in that year in this country and elsewhere.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

"K. K." (Bristol)-The revised edition of the Lecons d'Anatomic Comparé, by Cuvier, has lately been advertised at a very reduced price, and may be had of any of the foreign booksellers in London.

"C. L." (Pimlico)-No patent medicine is allowed to be sold in France, unless its composition is declared; secret remedies being prohibited.

NOTICE. All Communications and Books for Review must be addressed “To the PubJisher of THE CHEMIST, 310, Strand, London." Communications must be prepaid, and sent before the 15th of each month, Books for Review before the 10th."

CHEMICAL NOMENCLATURE AND CLASSIFICATION; TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN HISTORICAL LEXICON OF SYNONYMES, INCLUDING THE ANCIENT NAMES, THE FORMULE, THE NEW NAMES, THE NAMES OF THE AUTHORS, AND THE DATE OF THE DISCOVERY OF THE PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF CHEMISTRY.

(Continued from page 393.)

BY FERD. HOEFER, DOCTOR IN MEDICINE.

THIS law is equally true with regard to chlorine, bromine, iodine, sulphur, and several other substances, in fact, almost all the chlorides, sulphides, &c. (perchlorurets, persulphurets, &c.) are true chloracids and sulphacids, which combine with the protochlorurets and protosulphurets (chloro-bases, sulpho-bases) to produce chloro-salts, otherwise called double chlorides.

But all oxides are not bases or acids: there are some which are indifferent—that is, they are not susceptible of combination either with acids or bases. Many non-metallic oxides are of this nature. Examples:

:

Protoxide of nitrogen.

Deutoxide of nitrogen. (Lavoisier observed, "We are not content merely to call the combination of metals with oxygen, oxides, but we have felt no difficulty in using the term to express the first degree of oxidation in all substances, a state which, without constituting acids, brings them the nearest to a saline state. "Treatise on Elementary Chemistry," vol. 1, p. 85.)

SALINE COMPOUNDS.-The basic oxides or oxibases can combine with acids (oxacids) so as to efface (neutralise) their properties; the resulting compounds are called salts. To indicate these combinations we change the termination ic of the acid into ate, and the termination ous into ite.

Acetate of oxide of lead,

Sulphite of oxide of silver.

Nevertheless, when two or more oxides of the same metal can combine with an acid and form two different kinds of salts, it is indispensable to place before the name of the metal that of its degree of oxidation. Examples

Sulphate of protoxide of iron.
Sulphate of sesquioxide or peroxide of iron.
We also say in this case, salts at the minimum
or salts at the maximum (of oxidation).
Examples:-

Sulphate of manganese at the minimum. Sulphate of manganese at the maximum. It is incorrect to say, sesquisulphate, deutosulphate, persulphate, &c., instead of sulphate of sesquioxide, sulphate of deutoxide, sulphate of peroxide, for the particles sesqui, deuto, per, thus placed, would refer rather to the acid than the base.

Instead of chlohydrate, iodhydrate, bromhydrate, &c., we say chloruret,* ioduret, bromuret, sulphuret; and since it is known that these acids form with the oxibases compounds in uret, differing from the oxisalts.

Salts can be neutral, acid, or basic. A

* Brande, when speaking of the termination ide and uret, observes-" All the combinations of oxygen, chlorine, iodine, fluorine and bromine with the imflammables and metals that are not acid, are called oxides, chlorides, &c. The combinations of the inflammable substances with each other, and with the metals, are called sulphurets, phosphurets, carburets, &c., and in some cases the combination of certain metals with each other have the same termination as arseniurets, tellurets, antimoniurets, &c. 3 K

Nomenclature here again intervenes to indicate these differences. Thus the acid salts are called sur-salts (super-salts), and we designate them by the names sesqui, bi, quadri-salts, if they contain once and a half, twice, or four times as much acid as the neutral salt, which is taken as a comparative term.

Water does not play an indifferent part in the composition of acids, bases, and salts. The water of constitution,' (differing from the water of crystallisation, which is expelled at 312° F.) is called hydrate. Hence arise the compounds mono-hydrate, bin-hydrates, &c., when they possess 1, 2, &c., equivalents of water.

Lavoisier was not acquainted with the real composition of alkaline bases and earths, but his amazing sagacity, guided by analogy, caused him to suspect that the alkalies and earths were true oxides.

"It is necessary to observe," said this great legislator of science, "that the alkalies and earths enter simply into the composition of salts without any intermedium to assist them in uniting; while, on the contrary, the metals cannot combine with acids unless they are previously more or less oxigenated. We may, therefore, strictly say, that metals are not soluble in acids, but only metallic oxides. Thus, when we place a metallic substance in an acid, the first condition, to enable it to be dissolved, is, that it should be oxidated, and this cannot be done excepting by removing the oxygen from the acid, or the water with

The principles of nomenclature, laid down by Morveau and Lavoisier, have a reference, as we have just seen, almost exclusively to the oxacids, oxibases, and oxisalts. (The oxisalts, according to Morveau's and Lavoisier's nomenclature, are salts, properly so called. In these salts the oxygen of the acid is in simple proportion with the oxygen of the base. Thus, in the sulphates the oxygen of the base is, to the oxygen of the acid, as 1 to 3; in the phosphates as 1 to 5, &c.) We must not lose sight of this fact if we wish properly to appreciate the labours of these illustrious philosophers. All the confusion

afterwards introduced into the nomenclature, applied, in the first instance, to the oxigenated compounds of mineral chemistry, has been, since that time, equally applied to organic chemistry, without having previously received the necessary modifications. No science has made a more rapid progress than chemistry. Discovery has quickly succeeded discovery. Every five years chemistry has in a manner changed its aspect. In this manner Morveau's and La, voisier's nomenclature found itself soon overburdened with facts. Instead of entirely reforming it, we were content with a few slight modifications, which served rather to obscure the science than to simplify it.

These reflections naturally present themselves when we consider the numerous compound substances ending in uret and ide, to which has been given the name of haloid salts.

Morveau advised the giving the termi nation uret to substances, which, when combined with other bodies, are neither acid nor basic; for example-sulphuret of iron. Thus we call sulphuret every combination of sulphur, not brought to an acid state; this name will thus replace in an uniform manner the improper and discordant names of liver of sulphur, hepar, pyrite, &c. ("Morveau, on the Development of the Principles of Nomenclature." Read before the Academy, 2nd May, 1787.)

If a body terminating in uret is capable of combining in several proportions with the same quantity of the same body, we employ, as in the case of the oxides, the prefixes proto, sesqui, bi, deuto, per, &c. Examples:

Protochloruret of mercury,
Bichloruret of mercury,
Sesquichloruret of iron.

3

Some chemists have proposed the termination ide to those compounds in which the greatest proportion of chlorine, bromine, iodine, sulphur, &c., enters. Examples:

Chloride of phosphorus,

Chloride of arsenic. According to the principles established by M. Berzelius, it is the electro-negative principle which is placed first (the generic name), and that it receives the termination uret.

The progress of science has rendered evident the inapplicability of this part of the nomenclature. The whole series of compounds in uret may be assimilated with the class of oxigenated compounds. In fact, many of the chlorurets, sulphurets, &c., behave like two acids, while others perform the office of bases. It is usually the perchlórurets that perform the part of acids, while the protochlorurets act as bases. It is the same, as we have already seen, in the case of the peroxides and protoxides.

Thus we have the perchloruret of platina, the perchloruret of tin, the perchloruret of mercury, producing, with the chlorurets of sodium and potassium, crystallisable compounds in definite proportions. These compounds, commonly called double chlorurets, are true salts, and we shall call them chlorosalts. In this case the chlorine of the acid corresponds with the chlorine of the base, as in the oxisalts, the oxygen of the acid is in proportion to the oxygen of the base. On this account we ought to call the perchloruret of platina chloroplatinic acid, the perchloruret of mercury chloromercuric acid, the perchloruret of tin chlorostannic acid. The chlorurets, on the contrary, that perform the part of bases, ought to be called chlorobases or chlorides, in fact, they act like oxibases or oxides. Finally, in the same manner as there are indifferent oxides, are there chlo

rurets that are neither acid nor basic.

For

these we may preserve the name of chlorurets, on the condition, however, that the term oxyurets be given to the indifferent oxides for the purpose of obtaining, as nearly as possible, unity and simplicity.

The following table will show at a glance what we intend :

Indifferent

Ferrous oxide (protoxide of iron),
Ferric oxide (peroxide of iron),
Ferrous sulphate (sulphate of peroxide of
iron).

The authority of the celebrated Swedish chemist has caused this modification to be adopted by a considerable number of chemists, principally those of the north. It is more particularly in the Latin formulæ of the Codex and Pharmacopoeia that this generalisation of the nomenclature is of easy and commodious application.

The Germans give the name oxydul to the protoxide, reserving that of oxide for the degree of oxidation immediately above that. This term has, within the last few years, been even introduced into the French language. Thus we say oxydule and oxyde of iron instead of protoxide and peroxide of iron. In other respects every nation, with a few slight differences, has adopted the principles of the French nomenclature by each adapting them to their own language. The following table will give an idea of the chemical nomenclature in Latin, German, and English, as compared with the French nomenclature:

Latin Names.

Acidum sulphuricum Oxidum ferricum Oxidum sulphurosum Oxidum ferrosum Sulphas ferricus

Sulphas ferrosus

Oxyurets

Sulphurous acid Protoxide of iron Peroxide of iron Protosulphate of iron

Persulphate of iron

German Names. Schwefel-saure Schweflige-saure Eisen-oxydul

Eisen-oxyd

Schwefelsaures Ei

sen-oxydul Schwefelsaures El

sen-oxyd French Names. Acidé sulfuriqueAcide sulfureux Protoxyde de fer Peroxyde de fer Sulfate de Protoxyde de fer Sulfate de Peroxyde de fer

In no language have they imagined peculiar terminations to distinguish the compounds

of metals with each other. They have preserved for these compounds the names alloys, or amalgams, when mercury enters into the compounds, which differ from true chemical compound bodies, because the proportions of their elements may vary according to cir

cumstances.

The system of nomenclature proposed by M. Baudrimont, is founded on the knowlege (still to be determined) of molecular types. "Each numerical type should receive a name without a meaning, or taken from the history of one of the compounds by which it is furnished. This name should simply refer to a general formula, which might even afterwards be changed without the name of the type being, on that account, altered. Custom would soon identify the formula of the type with its name, and we should thus have the same name for bodies having the greatest analogy for each other. For example-or3 would represent a numerical type belonging to a great number of chemical compounds:

Az | H3 P K3

M. Baudrimont proposes to give the termination osic to certain acids formed of an acid in ic, and another in ous. Thus he proposes to call by the name of azotosic acid, hypoazotic acid, which in the presence of a base is decomposed, and forms an azotite and an

azotate.

NOMENCLATURE OF ORGANIC BODIES.

The nomenclature as it left the hands of Morveau and Lavoisier, was rarely applied to any compound bodies, excepting those belonging to mineral chemistry. It could not have been otherwise, for all the science of the older chemists was connected, only, with mineral substances, and the dry distillation of organic bodies, over the study of which no scientific principle dominated.

If the successors of Lavoisier had chosen to tread in the footsteps of their master, organic chemistry would not at the present day have been a prey to anarchy. What was the fundamental idea that brought about a reform in the nomenclature ? It was the substituting, in place of the ancient names, new terms, which might express the composition itself of the objects they indicated: and these new names, must at the same time attach themselves to a general and wellarranged system.

Lavoisier never lost sight of the fact, that "Every name of a compound body ought, at the same time, to indicate the names of the elements of that body." It was because he was unacquainted with the exact constitution of organic compounds, that Lavoisier bequeathed to posterity the task of perfecting the nomenclature of organic chemistry; the following words are admirable for their wisdom :

The

"The radicals of the vegetable and animal kingdom, having not yet been well analysed, it is impossible to make them the subject of a regular nomenclature. experiments, some of which are my own, and others executed by M. Harsenpratz, have only shown me that, in general, almost all the vegetable acids, have hydrogen and carbon as their radicals, but united in such a manner as to form but one and the same base; all these acids only differ from each other by the different proportions of these two bodies, and by their degree of oxidation. We know, also, principally by the experiments of M. Berthollet, that the radicals of the animal kingdom, and even some of those of the vegetable kingdom, possess a greater number of constituents, and that independently of hydrogen and carbon, they, also, frequently contain azote, and sometimes phosphorus, but at present there exists no accurate calculation of their quantities. We