Ten Safety Commandments To the Editor:
Horatio: E'en so, my lord. Hamlet: To what base uses we may return, Horatio! Why may not irnseination trace the noble dust of Alexander. till he find it stov" ping a bunghole? Horatio: 'Twere to consider too curiously to consider so. Hamlet: No, faith, not a jot, but to follow him thither with modesty enough and likelihood to lead it. As thus: Alexander died, Alexander was buried, Alexander returneth into dust; the dust is earth; of earth we make loam: and why of that loam, whereto he was converted, might they not stop a beer barrel? "Imperious Caesar, dead and turned to clay, Might stop a hale to keep the wind away. 0, that that earth, which kept the world in awe Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw!" ["Hamlet," Act V, Scene 1,11. 216-2391 ~~~~~
T h e articles on safetv in THISJOURNAL were often very helpful t o me when I was chairman of my department's safety committee. In particular, the detailed information was appreciated. However, I find t h a t too much detail hinders the introduction of new eraduate students and other researchers t o the concepts of chemical safety. New people are often briefly overwhelmed by the mass information they must digest. T h e following T e n Safety Commandments evolved as a short, handy method of getting new researchers (and older professors) t o think about their safety problems. 1) Alwavs wear eve when inside any chemical lahora. motection .
tory. 2) Leam the location, use, and maintenance of all safety equipment: fire extinguishers, eye washers, overhead showers, fumehoods, first aid cabinet, and gas masks. 3) Never perform hazardous experiments alone. 4) Never smoke in a lab. 5) Gas cylinders are potentla1homhs; treat them carefully: (A) make sure they are clamped to an immovable object, (B) always use a tank-cart to move them (even if it is only 10 feet), (C) never roll or slide tanks over the floor, (D) put safety caps on all tanks which are not in use. 6) Collect waste solvents and put them in the waste solvent cans available from stares (not down the sink). 7) Learn the hazardous properties of the chemicals you use-toxicity, explosiveness, and flammahility-and be aware of how to neutralize the chemicals. 8) Never routinely vent hazardous chemicals into a fumehood. These are safety devices and should not be used as disposal sites. 9) Wire or clamp all water connections: at the tap, at the inlet and outlet of the equipment, and at the drain. The latter is particularly important since most floodsresult from drain tubes falling out of sinks. 10) When in doubt talh to your co-workers, research director, or safety committee member. Learning how to conduct research safely is as important as the research itself. Discuss your prohlems! Alan Shaver McGili University Montreal. PQ H3A 2K6. Canada
Our fellow chemist, Dr. Isaac Asimov, fails to comment on this point in his otherwise excellent "Asimov's Guide t o Shakespeare," Avenel Books, New York, 1970. J. J. Zuckerman The University of Oklahoma at Norman Norman, OK 73019
From Camel Dung To the Editor:
Althoqgh Gregory Miller's "Chemistry of the Month" article on ammonia in t h e May 1981 JOURNAL was well done, I must add the interesting origin of the name. Ammonia was named after its precursor, sal ammoniac (NH4C1). Sal amm o n i a ~or , "salt of Ammon," in turn, was named after Ammon, the chief god of the ancient Egyptians, because it was supposedly first obtained from camel dung near the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Libya around 332 BC.ls2
' Orion Research Inc., NewslefferlSpecificion Eiectrw'e Technology,
IV [5, 61, 17 (1972). Frear, G. L., and Baber, R. L., in "Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology," John Wiley 8 Sons, New York, 1963, Vol. 2,
p. 258.
Shakespeare and Chemistry To the Editoc
T h e problem posed by Professor D. W. Kingston concerning the redistribution of the constituents which had composed the bodies of famous people [(Chem. Ed. Compacts, J. CHEM. Eouc., 57, 506 (1980)] was anticipated by William Shakespeare nearly 500 years ago in the play "Hamlet." Standing in a churchyard observing the work of a gravedigger, Hamlet is handed theskull of the dead court jester of the old king ("Alas, poor Yorick!"), and discourses on it to his friend thus: Hamlet: . .Prithee, Horatio, tell me one thing. Horatio: What's that, my lord? Hamlet: Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion i' the earth? Horatio; E'en so. [Puts down the skull.] Hamlet: And smelt so? Pah!
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170
Journal of Chemical Education
Wayne L. Felty The Pennsylvania State University Wilkes-Barre, PA 18708
To the Editor: In my own research as to the etymology of ammonia, I found only that sal ammoniac (salt of Amon) was originally obtained from a region near the temple of Amon in Libya (William Morris, Ed., "The American Heritage Dictionary," American Heritage Publishing Co., Boston, 1971, p. 43). Of course, the added note t h a t its true source may have been from camel dung rather than the sands near the temple adds a n interesting note and hit of humor to the store of chemistry. Note added in proof: Dr. Felty's addition is further supported in "Ammonia," [Chemistry, 39 [ 6 ] ,151. Gregory C. Miller The Culver Academies Culver. IN 46511
