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Roy G. Neville1
Palos Verdes Peninsula California
Macauer and the First ~ h e & Dictionary, d 1766 A bicentennial tribute
T h e year 1966 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the appearance of the first chemical dictionary in the modern sense. Although the work was published anonymously, its author was PierreJoseph Macquer (1718-84), one of the foremost chemists of the period. Macquer had studied chemistry at the celebrated Jardin d u Roi under Guillaume-Francois Rouelle (1703-70) and, at age 24, had received an 1VI.D. degree. His interests were not centered in medicine, however, but in the physical sciences, particularly chemistry, and in 1745 he was elected adjoint chimiste of the Acaddmie des Sciences. Later, in 1766, he was promoted to the rank of assoeid, then pensionnaire (1772), and finally director of the AcadBmie (1774).= Macquer's first publication, on the solubility of diierent oils in alcohol, appeared in the MBmoires de 1'Acadh i e , in 1745. During the next thirty years he carried out research and published many mdmoires on a wide variety of chemical and technological ~ubjects.~In 1757, Macquer and BaumB4 collaborated and taught chemistry in their laboratory in Paris. Prior to this, however, Macquer had published two excellent textbooks which dealt with the basic principles of theoretical and practical chemistry.5 Macquer's clearly written books presented chemistry as a distinct branch of natural science, independent of pharmacy and medicine, and they made an immediate impact upon the scientific world. He also published an important book on silk dyeing6 and assisted Hellot in the development of the scientific principles of dyeing.' Macquer later succeeded Hellot as Director of the Dyeing Industries of France. Among Macquer's other accomplishments may be mentioned his researches on the production of porcelain, which resulted in his appointment as Director 'For reprints: 28219 Ells. Drive, Palos Verdes Peninsula, California 90274. 'Fuller details on Macquer and his work are given by FERGUSON, JOHN "Bibliot,heca Chemica," London, 1954, "01. 11, pp. 6 M 1 ; and P ~ T I K G T O J. N , R., "A History of Chemistry," Macmillan & Ca., London, 1962,"01. 111, pp. 80-90. The best account is by COLEBY, L. J. M., "The Chemical Studies of P. J. Macqner," George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, 1938. a Between 1745 and 1780 Macquer published 35 articles and reports, two in collaboration with A. L. Lavaisier. 'Antoine BaumB (1728-1804) , -~~ , waq lecture demonstrator to Macquer for 25 yeam. ' "Elemens de Chymie ThBorique," Paris, 17449; and, "Elemens de Chymie Pratique," Paris, 1751. Editions in English (1758), German (17681,Dutch (1773), and Russian (1774-75) a180 appeared. "L'Art de la Teinture en Soie," Paris, 1763. 'Jean Hellot (1685-1766)~ublished"L'Art de la Teinture des Laines," Pmis, 1750; which'cieated a scientificbmis for the art of dyeing. ~
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486 / Journol o f Chemical Education
of the royal porcelain factory at S&vres in 1766.8 Macquer also collaborated with Lavoisier and others in an official investigation of how the production of salb petre might be increased for gunpowder manufacture.
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The
Unquestionably, hlacquer's greatest work was the Dictionnaire de Chymie (Paris, 1766). His wide experience in pure and applied chemistry eminently fitted him 8 For an unpublished manwcript by Macquer on ingredients of porcelain, see: NEVILLE, ROYG.,.Chl/mia, 8, 89 (1962).
for the task of compiling such a comprehensive and ambitious work. Chemical lexicons and "dictionaries of hard chemical words" had appeared earlier,g hut Macquer's Dictimnaire was the first attempt to cover the whole field of chemistry, both pure and applied, in an encyclopedic manner. The first French edition, in two duodecimo volumes of approximately 1300 pages, contains about 500 distinct articles alphabetically arranged, and adequately cross-indexed. The dictionary is preceded by a 22-pane historical introduction which of chemistry from its origins briefly tracesthe to the time of Stahllo and Boerhaave." Surprisingly, the chemical contributions of Robert Bovle12 are omitted, yet the relat,ively minor works of Barnerls and Bohn" are praised. Of Becher,lSMacquer says:16 This man. . .aDDears to have seen. with s. single dance. the
passed through several editions in French. I t was translated into German (1767), English (1771), Danish (1771-72), and Italian (1783-84).17 The translator of the English edition, James I
