Will-o’-the-wisps

Irr-lehre, /. false teaching, heresy, -licht, n. will-o -the-wisp, -sinn, m. insanity delirium. -Strom, m. (Elec.) stray current, -turn, m. error mistake, fault. 

Cyclobutadiene, 23, eluded Kekule, Willstatter, and a host of other investigators for almost 100 years. As more work was done, it became increasingly clear that the molecule, when formed in reactions, was immediately converted to something else. Finally, the will-o -the-wisp was captured in an essentially rigid matrix of argon at 8°K. It was characterized by its spectral properties (not by combustion analysis). On warming to even 35°K, it dimerizes to yield 26 ... 

Unfortunately, the discovery was lest because samples sent to Berkeley were recrystallised there before being tested the Y-isomer was rejected with the mother liquors and no activity was found. The subsequent development of BHC was bedevilled by this association of high activity only with the will-o -the-wisp Y-isomer and it is evident that only samples containing mainly the less soluble or and g- isomers, contaminated with small and variable amounts of lindane, were tested between 1933 and 1942. 

Occurrence.—The pale glow which hovers over marshes, and which, under the name of will o the wisps, Jack o lanterns, etc., has been the subject of many legends, has been attributed to traces of phosphine with other gases produced by the decomposition of organic matter. This is rendered probable by the observation that phosphine is produced by the putrefaction of proteins.1... 

The so-called "Persuasion Exercises" of mindless vowel and syllable compositions are senseless and false. Will- o-the-wisp (Ignus fatuus) are those who pretend to be Teachers of hermetic things, yet do not have their teachings from GOD, but instead, through false or misunderstood books, hearsay or external intelligence. 

The gas, if left standing in the light, loses its will-o -the-wisp properties. 

Work on phosphorus redox reactions was initiated in my lab on the basis of some enrichment cultures set up by an enthusiastic undergraduate student, Michael Friedrich. He as well as Volker Thiemann and Heike Laue have contributed to the experimental work in our lab on this subject Markus Gobel helped with the drawings for this contribution. My interest in phosphorus biochemistry was aroused by Dr. Ralph S. Wolfe who introduced me to the phenomenon of will-o -the-wisp. He and his colleague. Dr. William Metcalf, maintained my interest in this matter and stimulated my further activities in this held. 

It is now abundantly evident that a unique operational definition of the acidity of a system is a will-o -the-wisp. Qualitatively one conveys some significant information by saying for instance that 80% aqueous sulfuric acid is more acid than 5% sulfuric acid. (This represents a semantic change, for 50 years ago one would have said that the 80% acid is less acid because it is less ionized.) But by one standard, that of reaction with bases of the Hr type, the 80% acid is 11.8 logarithmic units more acid than the 5% acid, and by another standard, that of reaction with bases of the Ha type, it is only 4.3 units more acid. ... 

A slow oxidation of phosphine can occur by a branched chain reaction, and, like the slow oxidation of white phosphorus, there appear to be critical pressure limits for the reaction. The faint flickering light sometimes seen in marshes, will-o-the-wisp , has been attributed to the spontaneous ignition of impure PHj, formed in the bioreduction of phosphate esters. Traces of phosphine have been detected in human faeces and in sewage sludges [14,15,15a]. It is sometimes evolved from fer-rophosphorus (Section 4.1). 

Lime water may be used instead of potash water if dedred. The odour of phosphine is that of putrid fish. The gas on standing in the light loses its will-o -the-wisp properties. 

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