In chapter 10 of 'Uncle Tungsten', Oliver Sacks gives examples of trivial names that were given to chemicals before systematic nomenclature
was adopted.
These include "Butter of Antimony" [antimony(III) chloride], "Blue Vitriol" [copper(II) sulphate], "Sugar of Lead"
[lead(II) acetate], "Fuming Liquor of Libavius" [tin(IV) chloride] and "Flowers of Zinc" [zinc oxide].
However, there is one that I haven't been able to identify: Jovial Bezoar.
Does anyone know what this is? All I know is that the term 'Jovial' generally applied to tin compounds.unionised - 3-1-2004 at 09:16
My best guess is that the term "Jovial" refers to Jupiter.
The distinction betwen astrology and alchemy isn't that clear.I am a fish - 3-1-2004 at 09:39
"Jovial" does refer to Jupiter. However, the alchemists associated the planets with metals and Jupiter was associated with tin.
Given the link provided by Adiabatic, I would imagine that Jovial Bezoar is Tin(II) Antimonate.a_bab - 6-1-2004 at 08:22
I am a fish, what about scanning that book ? I am a fish - 6-1-2004 at 11:06
Quote:
Originally posted by a_bab
I am a fish, what about scanning that book ?
1. My copy of the book and my scanner are currently 90 miles apart.
2. My scanner is an old one with an EPP interface rather than USB. Therefore each scan takes about 30 seconds and so scanning a whole book would
take a long time.
3. Uncle Tungsten is readily available in paperback. Amazon sell it for £5.59 in the UK.
