Glossary

	Glossary
	of
	Archaic Chemical Terms

Part V (S-Z)

Go to Part I (A-B), Part II (C-F), Part III (G-L), or Part IV (M-R).

saccharum saturni: sugar of lead; see also Saturn

sal ...

... absinthii or salt of wormwood: potassium hydrogen carbonate, KHCO₃, or possibly potassium carbonate, K₂CO₃.
... acetosella: see sorrel salt
... aeratus (or saleratus, literally aerated salt): potassium hydrogen carbonate, KHCO₃.
... albus: borax
... ammoniac: ammonium chloride, NH₄Cl [Black, Fahrenheit, Scheele, Wurtz, et al.]; also sal armoniack [Helmont]
... commune: common salt, i.e., sodium chloride, NaCl [Scheele]; also ; also sal fossile, sal marinum
... de duobus: potassium sulfate, K₂SO₄ (vitriolate of tartar)
... enixum: potassium hydrogen sulfate (KHSO₄)
... gemmae: rock salt or sea salt, i.e., sodium chloride NaCl.
... herbarum: potassium hydrogen carbonate, KHCO₃.
... mirabilis: Glauber's salt.
... nitrum or ... nitri: nitre. [Mayow]
... plantarum: potassium hydrogen carbonate, KHCO₃.
... sapientiae: mercury(II) ammonium chloride, HgNH₂Cl; literally, "salt of the wise". (white precipitate)
... tartari: potassium carbonate, K₂CO₃, but sometimes used for potassium hydrogen carbonate, KHCO₃.
... volatile: ammonium carbonate, (NH₄)₂CO₃

salt ...

... of hartshorn: ammonium carbonate, (NH₄)₂CO₃; see also spirit of hartshorn
salt of lemon: see sorrel salt
-peter or -petre: potassium nitrate, KNO₃ (nitre). [Bacon, Helmont, T. Thomson]
... of tin: tin(II) chloride, SnCl₂
urinous ...: (sel urineux) an ammonium salt. Occasionally any alkaline salt.
... of wormwood: potassium carbonate, K₂CO₃, or possibly potassium hydrogen carbonate, KHCO₃

Saturn: In astrological and alchemical thought, the seven heavenly bodies known to the ancients were associated with seven metals also known in antiquity. Saturn was associated with lead (plumbum)

Scheele's green: an acidic copper(II) arsenite, CuHAsO₃, named for Carl Wilhelm Scheele.

Schlippe's salt: sodium sulfantimonate, Na₃SbS₄^.9H₂O, named for Carl Friedrich von Schlippe.

Schšllkopf's acid: apparently, Schšllkopf had three. 1-naphthol-4,8-disulfonic acid, 1-naphthylamine-4,8-disulfonic acid, and 1-naphthylamine-8-sulfonic acid. (Click here for structures.)

scruple: See apothecary measures.

Seignette's salt: see rochelle salt. Peter Seignette was an apothecary at Rochelle.

Seven planets, seven metals: In astrological and alchemical thought, the seven heavenly bodies known to the ancients were associated with seven metals also known in antiquity. The associations were:
Sun (Sol) gold (aurum)
Mercury mercury (quicksilver, hydrargyrum)
Venus copper (cuprum)
Moon (Luna) silver (argentum)
Mars iron (ferrum)
Jupiter tin (stannum)
Saturn lead (plumbum)

siliceous earth: silicon dioxide, SiO₂. [Lavoisier, Scheele]

silver ...

black ...: stephanite, a native silver antimony sulfide, 5Ag₂S^.Sb₂S
fulminating ...: silver nitride, Ag₃N, an explosive solid; distinct from silver fulminate, Ag₂C₂N₂O₂, which is also explosive
... glance: argentite, silver sulfide, Ag₂S. (See glance.)
horn ...: a native silver chloride, AgCl (argentum cornu)
ruby ...: proustite, Ag₃AsS₃

soda: sodium carbonate, Na₂CO₃ (washing soda), or sodium hydrogen carbonate, NaHCO₃ (baking soda) [Dalton, Lavoisier, Prout, Rayleigh]. Caustic soda was sodium hydroxide, NaOH. [Mendeleev]. See also fossil alkali, marine alkali, common mineral alkali.

sorrel salt: potassium hydrogen oxalate, KHC₂O₄ (sal acetosella, salt of lemon)

Spanish white: bismuth oxychloride, BiOCl, or oxynitrate, BiONO₃

spirit (spiritus): an essence or extract that can be prepared from another substance as by distillation. If not specified, spirits refer to alcohol (ethanol).

... of alum: sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄
colonial or Columbian ...: methanol, CH₃OH
... of hartshorn: ammonia, NH₃, or its aqueous solution (formerly prepared from animal horns or hooves); see also salt of hartshorn. See alkaline air, volatile alkali. [Black]
... of nitre: nitric acid, HNO₃ (aqua fortis, nitrous acid, acid spirit of nitre) [Cavendish, Fahrenheit, Mayow, Priestley] or ethyl nitrite, C₂H₅NO₂, also known as the sweet spirit of nitre or nitrous ether. See nitre.
pyroacetic ...: acetone, (CH₃)₂CO
pyroligneous or pyroxylic ...: methanol
... of salt (spiritus salis): hydrochloric acid, HCl (acidum salis, marine acid, muriatic acid). [Black, Scheele]
... of vitriol (spiritus vitrioli): vitriolic acid.
... of wine (spiritus vini): concentrated aqueous ethanol, C₂H₅OH, typically prepared by distilling wine; see aqua vitae. [Fahrenheit, Helmont, Mayow, Scheele, et al.]
... of wood: methanol

stannum glaciale: bismuth (literally glacial tin)

sugar of lead (saccharum saturni: lead acetate, Pb(CH₃CO)₂^.3H₂O

sulphovinic acid: ethyl hydrogen sulfate, C₂H₅^.HSO₄, the product of the reaction of sulfuric acid with ethyl alcohol

sulphuret: sulfide (hepar). [Berzelius, Dalton, T. Thomson]

sulphuretted: combined with or impregnated with sulfur. [Frankland]

sulphuretted hydrogen: hydrogen sulfide, H₂S (hepatic air). [Dalton, Gay-Lussac, Prout, T. Thomson et al.]

sulphuric acid: formerly meant sulfur trioxide, SO₃. [Dalton, Gay-Lussac, Lavoisier, Prout, T. Thomson et al.]

sulphurous acid or sulphurous gas: formerly meant sulfur dioxide, SO₂. [Avogadro, Gay-Lussac, Lavoisier, Prout, T. Thomson, et al.]

Sun (Sol): In astrological and alchemical thought, the seven heavenly bodies known to the ancients were associated with seven metals also known in antiquity. The sun was associated with gold (aurum).

sweet salt: sodium chlorite, NaClO₂.

Sylvius's febrifuge salt: potassium chloride, KCl; named for the iatrochemist Franciscus Sylvius

tartar: (tartar of wine) potassium hydrogen tartrate, KHC₄H₄O₆ [Stahl]

cream of ... (cremor tartari): tartar purified into small white crystals.
... emetic: potassium antimonyl tartrate, KSbOC₄H₄O₆^.1/2H₂O
oil of ...: a saturated solution of potassium carbonate, K₂CO₃ [Lavoisier]
salt of ...: solid potassium carbonate [Black, Cavendish, Rey, Stahl]
vitriolate of ... (or vitriolated): potassium sulfate, K₂SO₄ [Priestley, Scheele] (sal de duobus)

tectum argenti: bismuth (construed as silver not completely formed in the earth)

terra ...: earth

... ponderosa ("heavy earth"), barium oxide, BaO
... ponderosa aerata ("aerated heavy earth"), barium carbonate, BaCO₃

Thénard's blue: blue cobalt aluminate, Co(AlO₂)₂, named for Louis-Jacques Thénard.

thorium ... See table.

... A: an isotope of polonium produced in thorium decay, namely ²¹⁶Po (half-life = 0.15 s).[Soddy]
... C: The names of two radioisotopes, both produced in thorium decay, included thorium C. Simple thorium C was an isotope of bismuth, namely ²¹²Bi (half-life = 61 min); thorium C' was an isotope of polonium, namely ²¹²Po (half-life = 0.3 µs) [Rutherford, Soddy]
... D: an isotope of thallium produced in thorium decay, namely ²⁰⁸Tl (half-life = 3 min). [Soddy 1 & 2]
... X: an isotope of radium produced in thorium decay, namely ²²⁴Ra (half-life = 3.6 d). [Rutherford, Soddy]

thymol blue: thymolsulphonphthalein, C₂₇H₃₀O₅S, an acid-base indicator that changes from pink to yellow as the pH is raised through 2.2 and then to blue as the pH is raised through 8.8

trona: natural sodium carbonate/bicarbonate, Na₂CO₃^.NaHCO₃^.2H₂O

Turnbull's blue: ferroferricyanide, Fe₃[Fe(CN)₆]₂, also known as insoluble Prussian blue

turbith mineral (or turpeth): basic sulfate of mercury, HgSO₄^.2HgO. [Cavendish, Lavoisier, Priestley]

tyrian purple: 6,6'-dibromoindigotin, C₁₆H₈N₂O₂Br₂, an important dye of the ancient Mediterranean.

uranium ... See table.

... I: is simply the most abundant isotope of uranium, ²³⁸U.
... II: an isotope of uranium produced in uranium decay, namely ²³⁴U (half-life = 2.5x10₅ y). [Soddy 1, 2, & 3]
... X: There were two uranium X produced in uranium decay. Uranium X₁ (simply uranium X before the discovery of uranium X₂) was an isotope of thorium, namely ²³⁴Th (half-life = 24 d); uranium X₂ was an isotope of protactinium ²³⁴Pa. [Crookes; Rutherford; Soddy 1, 2, & 3]
... yellow: sodium uranate, Na₂UO₄, a pigment used in glass and ceramics

urinous ...

... air: (aer urinosa) ammonia. See alkaline air
... salt: (sel urineux) an ammonium salt, or occasionally, any alkaline salt

vegetable alkali: usually crude or purified potassium carbonate, K₂CO₃ (pearl ash), sometimes specified as mild vegetable alkali or fixed vegetable alkali. Caustic vegetable alkali is potassium hydroxide. [Davy]

Venus: In astrological and alchemical thought, the seven heavenly bodies known to the ancients were associated with seven metals also known in antiquity. Venus was associated with copper (cuprum).

virginium (Vi or Vm): a name proposed for element 87 (francium) in a report of detection of the element whose validity was ultimately not recognized.

verdigris: basic copper acetate, used as a pigment from green to blue. Literally "green of Greece" in French; however, it was also called Spanish green. blue verdigris is copper(II) acetate, Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂^.H₂O.

vermilion: mercury(II) sulfide, HgS, a red pigment; also known as cinnabar. (See minium.)

vis viva: energy. The law of conservation of energy was originally phrased in terms of vis viva [Clausius, Joule, Kelvin, Mayer]

vitamin (or sometimes vitamine, from "vital amine" [Funk]): an organic substance essential in small quantities to the normal health of an animal. Vitamins must typically be supplied to the animal through diet. The chemical names for some vitamins follow. For structures, see this tutorial at Washington University St. Louis..

... A: retinol, C₂₀H₃₀O, a fat-soluble vitamin derived from carotenes
... B: a group of water-soluble, heat labile compounds that typically serve as co-enzymes. They include many examples that contain amine groups (as in "vital amine").
... B₁: thiamin (or thiamine), C₁₂H₁₇N₄OSCl
... B₂: riboflavin (or riboflavine), C₁₇H₂₀N₄O₆
... B₃: niacin (or nicotinic acid), C₆H₅NO₂
... B₆: pyridoxin (or pyridoxine), C₈H₁₁NO₃
... B₁₂: cyanocobalamin (or cyanocobalamine), C₆₃H₉₀CoN₁₄O₁₄P
... Bc: folic acid, C₁₉H₁₉N₇O₆
... C: ascorbic acid, C₆H₈O₆, a water-soluble vitamin found in many fruits and green vegetables
... D: This fat-soluble vitamin consists of steroid derivatives including ergocalciferol, C₂₈H₄₄O, and cholecalciferol, C₂₇H₄₄O.
... E: This vitamin occurs in four naturally occuring forms, called α-, β-, γ-, and δ-tocopherol. The α form, C₂₉H₅₀O₂, has the greatest activity; the β- and γ- forms have one fewer methyl group, and the δ- form two fewer.

vitriol: a sulfate, especially iron sulfate; see copperas.

vitriolic acid: sulfuric acid, H₂SO₄ [Black, Cavendish, Lavoisier, Priestley], also known as oil of sulfur per campanum, oil of vitriol [Black, Lavoisier, Scheele, Stahl], and spirit of vitriol (spiritus vitrioli) [Black, Scheele].
vitriolic acid air (and sometimes vitriolic acid): sulfur dioxide, SO₂, also known as sulphurous acid or sulphurous gas.
blue vitriol: copper sulfate, CuSO₄^.5H₂O, also roman vitriol
green vitriol: iron(II) sulfate, FeSO₄^.7H₂O
red or rose vitriol: cobalt(II) sulfate, CoSO₄^.7H₂O
uranvitriol: a uranium sulfate
white vitriol or salt of vitriol: zinc sulfate, ZnSO₄^.7H₂O [Scheele]; also salt of vitriol

volatile alkali: aqueous ammonia, NH₃; see alkaline air, spirit of hartshorn. Concrete volatile alkali refers to ammonium carbonate, (NH₄)₂CO₃. [Black, Cavendish, Lavoisier, Scheele, et al.]

water glass (also soluble glass): a hydrated sodium silicate, Na₂Si₄O₉^.xH₂O, either an amorphous solid or in thick aqueous solution, used as a binder or adhesive.

wolfram: a name of Germanic origin originally applied to a native iron manganese tungstate and later to the element tungsten, hence the symbol W.

xylenol blue: 1,4-dimethyl-5-hydroxybenzenesulfonphthalein, an acid-base indicator that changes from red to yellow as the pH is raised through 2 and then to blue as the pH is raised through 8.8.

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Sun (Sol)	gold (aurum)
Mercury	mercury (quicksilver, hydrargyrum)
Venus	copper (cuprum)
Moon (Luna)	silver (argentum)
Mars	iron (ferrum)
Jupiter	tin (stannum)
Saturn	lead (plumbum)

Glossary

of

Archaic Chemical Terms

Part V (S-Z)