Abstract
CHEMISTS are so much in the habit of employing what are called chemical symbols, that they are liable occasionally to forget the realities symbolised; while persons interested in the realities of chemistry, but not themselves chemists, are apt to call in question the propriety of employing any such symbols at all,—looking upon the entire system of chemical expression as an arbitrary one, having its chief warrant from authority, and not only throwing an unwarrantable gloss upon the facts, but frequently overshadowing them. That the accepted system of chemical notation is, indeed, to some extent arbitrary, and that it does throw more or less gloss upon the facts, may be admitted at once as indisputable; but nevertheless its relation to the facts is so simple and direct, and its utility as a means of illustrating and classifying the facts is so remarkable, that its justification ought not to prove a seriously difficult labour.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
ODLING, W. On the Basis of Chemical Notation . Nature 1, 600–602 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/001600a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001600a0