This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1815 edition. Excerpt: ... in the Philosophical Transactions. The only possible means of changing our thermometer would be to persuade the makers to alter the graduation. If both the centigrade and Fahrenheit divisions were marked on the scale, I think: Jt would be an improvement. fV. Chemieal Nomenclature. (To Dr. Thomson.) SIR, As a ...
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1815 edition. Excerpt: ... in the Philosophical Transactions. The only possible means of changing our thermometer would be to persuade the makers to alter the graduation. If both the centigrade and Fahrenheit divisions were marked on the scale, I think: Jt would be an improvement. fV. Chemieal Nomenclature. (To Dr. Thomson.) SIR, As a philosophical journalist, you are in some degree invested with the character of arbiter of technical nomenclature; and as chemists are indebted to you for the introduction of the useful terms protoxide, &c. you may do some good by protesting against the introduction of similar terms leading to confusion instead of perspicuity. mean /wsulphate, prochlonde, &c. Surely writers neefj npt tif so sparing of their pens as to omit the short syllable which would give the word its true meaning: proto is intelligible: the other may be taken for the Latin word pro. In another respect, however, the term is objectionable; for even if written profosulphate, it would seem to denote a subsulphate, though it is meant to stand for sulphate of protoxide. A regular use of the modern self-explanatory nomenclature is extremely useful: a careless use of it renders the terms worse than arbitrary. Are you aware that the word complement has sometimes the word compliment substituted for it in the Annals: also the word radicle, for-radical? It would puzzle a botanist to find radicle applied to muriatic acid; though radical, an adjective, used substantively, would at once be understood to mean the radical base. Your obedient servant, If my Correspondent pay the requisite attention to the present fondness for new words, by which chemists and mineralogists in general are actuated, he will speedily be convinced that any remonstrance on my part would have little effect in...
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