Precious Stones but Discovers a New Element

He obtained an emerald from Peru, brought it into solution and precipitated aluminum hydroxide by careful addition of potassium hydroxide. When this reagent was added in excess in order to dissolve the aluminum hydroxide he found something very important. A lai e part of the white hydroxide remained undissolved, an observation he had not made in his first investigation. Could it be the hydroxide of a new, undiscovered element He separated this hydroxide by filtration, dissolved it in acid and prepared the salts, which he also examined. They had a sweet taste and he gave the new oxide the name glucina, meaning sweet . 

The new discovery was aimounced to the French Academy of Sciences on the ZC of the month Pluviose in year 6 of the revolutionary calendar (February 15 in 1798). 

The composition he presented for emerald was 65% siKca, 14% alumina, 13% glucina, 2.6% lime, 3.5% chromium oxide and 2% of moisture and other volatile components. He finished by presenting the Academy with a sample of the new earth gluci- 

Vauquelin now examined a beryl from Siberia, showing that this gemstone mineral also contained silica, alumina and glucina as main components. It had no lime and chromium oxide but instead some iron oxide. J. F. Gmelin in Germany confirmed this result. Vauquelin had in fact discovered a new element and his priority was not questioned. He, but not Haiiy, is mentioned in tables of element discoverers - again something of an accident. 

The choice of name for the new element did not please Vauquelin s colleagues in Europe. Sweet taste is a bad basis for a name choice and, in addition, not at all unique to this new element. Try the salts of yttrium, Klaproth wrote, there is a sweet taste even there As the element is present in the mineral beryl, why not call it beryllium. And so it was, although it took a very long time for the new name to become customary. Even in the 1950s, the name glucinium could be used in France for Vauquelin s element. 

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