格物入門 Géwù Rùmén, 1868
W. A. P. Martin (丁韙良), Tongwen College
The first Chinese chemistry textbook, volume six of Martin’s Tongwen College course. Twenty-five elements get Chinese names, mostly two-character glosses by property: 灰精 essence of ash for potassium, 玻精 essence of glass for silicon. Only three names are single characters.
Waseda University Library scan ↗
Forms attested here (27)
- 淡氣 Hydrogen H today 氢 qīng replaced
- 硼精 Boron B today 硼 péng replaced
- 炭精 Carbon C today 碳 tàn replaced
- 硝氣 Nitrogen N today 氮 dàn replaced
- 養氣 Oxygen O today 氧 yǎng replaced
- 鹻精 Sodium Na today 钠 nà replaced
- 礬精 Aluminium Al today 铝 lǚ replaced
- 玻精 Silicon Si today 硅 guī replaced
- 光藥 Phosphorus P today 磷 lín replaced
- 硫磺 Sulphur S today 硫 liú replaced
- 緑氣 Chlorine Cl today 氯 lǜ replaced
- 鹽氣 Chlorine Cl yánqì today 氯 lǜ “salt gas”, an alternative in the same book replaced
- 灰精 Potassium K today 钾 jiǎ replaced
- 丐而西黑 Calcium Ca gài'érxīhēi today 钙 gài full transliteration also used replaced
- 石精 Calcium Ca today 钙 gài replaced
- 蒙石 Manganese Mn today 锰 měng replaced
- 鐵 Iron Fe today 铁 tiě survives
- 尼愛 Nickel Ni ní'ài today 镍 niè transliteration of ni-ckel replaced
- 銅 Copper Cu today 铜 tóng survives
- 白鉛 Zinc Zn today 锌 xīn replaced
- 信石 Arsenic As today 砷 shēn replaced
- 硒 Selenium Se today 硒 xī survives
- 白銀 Silver Ag báiyín today 银 yín to keep it apart from 水銀 mercury replaced
- 愛阿靛 Iodine I ài'ādiàn today 碘 diǎn three-character transliteration replaced
- 白金 Platinum Pt báijīn today 铂 bó “white gold” replaced
- 黃金 Gold Au huángjīn today 金 jīn “yellow gold”, since platinum was 白金 replaced
- 黑鉛 Lead Pb hēiqiān today 铅 qiān since zinc was 白鉛 “white lead” replaced