THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF THE NEW CHEMISTRY IN AMERICA IN MERCURIO PERUANO (1792) BY JOSEPH COQUETTE

Claudio Bifano and Guillermo Whittembury

Claudio Bifano. Chemist. Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV). Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, USA. Professor UCV. Address: Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra. UCV. Apartado 3985. Caracas, Venezuela. e-mail: bifanoc@cantv.net

Guillermo Whittembury. M.D. and Doctor in Medical Sciences (Biophysics), Universidad Cayetano Heredia, Peru. Senior Investigator Emeritus, Center of Biophysics and Biochemistry, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas Venezuela. Address: IVIC, Apartado 21827, Caracas 1020A, Venezuela. e-mail: gwhitt@ivic.ve

SUMMARY

Joseph Coquette, first director of the non-university scholarly learning center, Lima’s Mining Tribunal in Peru, published (1792) a text on chemistry in the Peruvian journal Mercurio Peruano: "Principles of Physical Chemistry ….", which was the first text published in America on the new chemistry, as it appeared five years before Lavoisier’s book of 1789 was printed in Spanish in Mexico, in 1797. It was complemented by "About the need to perfect and reform the Nomenclature in Chemistry…." in 1793. In addition he published "Didactic dissertation on Mining…..", also in 1792. The present essay examines in extenso "Principles of Physical Chemistry ….", and comments on the others. Some scholars and institutions of advanced learning in the New Continent are also mentioned. Mercurio Peruano is looked upon in more detail, after Alexander von Humboldt deemed it so important that he donated the 12 volume collection to the Berlin Library of King Frederick William III.

LA PRIMERA PUBLICACIÓN DE LA NUEVA QUÍMICA EN AMÉRICA, EN EL MERCURIO PERUANO (1792) POR JOSEPH COQUETTE

RESUMEN

Joseph Coquette, primer director del Tribunal de Minería de Lima, publicó en Mercurio Peruano (1792) un texto de química: "Principios de Química Física…", el primer texto sobre la nueva química publicado en América, pues el libro de Lavoisier (1789) en castellano fue impreso en México en 1797. Fue complementado por "Sobre la necesidad de perfeccionar y reformar la Nomenclatura de la Química". Además Coquette publicó "Disertación Didáctica de Minería….". En este ensayo "Principios..." es examinado in extenso y los otros dos son comentados. Se mencionan algunas instituciones de aprendizaje avanzado en el Nuevo Continente y se examina la revista Mercurio Peruano, tan importante que Alexander von Humboldt donó la colección de 12 volúmenes a la Biblioteca del Rey Federico Guillermo III de Prusia en Berlín.

A PRIMEIRA PUBLICAÇÃO DA NOVA QUÍMICA NA AMÉRICA, NO MERCÚRIO PERUANO (1792) POR JOSEPH COQUETT

RESUMO

Joseph Coquette, primeiro diretor do Tribunal de Mineria de Lima, publicou no Mercúrio Peruano (1792) um texto de química: "Princípios de Química Física…", o primeiro texto sobre a nova química publicado na América, pois o livro de Lavoisier (1789) em castelhano foi impresso no México em 1797. Foi complementado por "Sobre a necessidade de aperfeiçoar e reformar a Nomenclatura da Química". Além disso Coquette publicou "Dissertação Didática de Mineria….". Neste ensaio "Princípios..." é examinado in extenso e os outros dois são comentados. Se mencionam algumas instituições de aprendizagem avançada no Novo Continente e se examina a revista Mercúrio Peruano, tão importante que Alexander von Humboldt doou a coleção de 12 volumes à Biblioteca do Rei Frederico Guilherme III de Prússia em Berlin.

KEYWORDS / Coquette Joseph / First Chemistry Text in America / Humboldt Alexander v. / Lavoisier Antoine / Mercurio Peruano / Peru /

Received: 12/12/2006. Modified: 01/23/2007. Accepted: 03/15/2007.

Chemistry was thought to be unknown in the new continent. However, Joseph Coquette published in 1792, in the most isolated viceroyalty of the Spanish crown in America, Principios de Química Física para servir de Introducción a la Historia Natural del Peru, (Principles of Physical Chemistry to serve as an Introduction to the Natural History of Peru; Coquette, 1792c), which is shortened hereon to ‘Principles’, an up-to-date text with the last discoveries and nomenclature of the "new chemistry" which Lavoisier had compiled only 3 years earlier in his revolutionary book Traité élémentaire de la Chimie, présenté dans un ordre nouveau et d’après les découvertes modernes (Elements of Chemistry; Lavoisier, 1789) denoted here as ‘Traité’. ‘Principles’ shows Coquette’s extraordinary knowledge, capacity and mastery of this new and complex subject, and his teaching vocation, since he wrote ‘Principles’ in Mercurio Peruano, a journal dedicated to the cultured society of America.

At the time, while Nueva España (Mexico) could be reached directly from Spain by sailing across the Atlantic Ocean and Nueva Granada (Colombia) could also be approached directly by sailing across the Atlantic and Caribbean seas, Peru on the South Pacific was more remote. It could be reached from Spain only by one of three complex routes: sailing the South Atlantic, then proceeding round the tip of South America through Magellan’s Strait to the Pacific Ocean from the South; sailing the Atlantic westwards, crossing Panama by land and sailing South to the Pacific Ocean; or by crossing the Atlantic to Río de la Plata (Argentina), and traveling by land through what is now Bolivia.

To help appreciate Coquette’s scientific achievement, Lavoisier’s contribution to universal science is first outlined, as is the cultural level of the American elite societies of the time, leaning on some of Humboldt’s relations with members of the intelligentsia of America about which he so enthusiastically wrote (Minguet, 1969). Then, Mercurio Peruano is reviewed and Coquette’s ‘Principles’ and his other contributions to chemistry examined in detail.

The Birth of Modern Chemistry

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) begun his research in 1772, based in clear, quantitative and reproducible experimental measurements. Using the balance, he determined that the weight change was constant when combustion of phosphorus and sulfur, and calcination of lead and tin, were achieved in tightly closed containers, as in these processes the air inside the containers was absorbed. Thus, weight changes could not be attributed to "strange anomalies" of the processes involved, as had been thought to be observed in wrongly planned experiments. His findings led him to break with many concepts of the pneumatic chemistry and phlogiston theories of his time. He published his extensive investigations first in separate articles and then he collected them and those of others in book form in ‘Traité’. All this produced the rightly called "Chemical Revolution", changing most scientists’ conceptions (Moore, 1939). Some of Lavoisier’s extraordinary contributions were: i) air is not an element: it is formed in part by a fraction of it that is breathable, called oxygen; ii) burning hydrogen and oxygen yields water, which is "a compound" and not "a simple element", as was believed; and iii) chemistry helps understand mineral, animal and plant kingdoms. After Lavoisier, the chemistry of "principles" was replaced by the chemistry of "substances". Lavoisier’s revolution showed that some metals, metalloids and salts were part of simple bodies to begin with, and that the 4 or 5 elements in vogue before, were in fact more than 30. His irrefutable results led to the "law of mass and element conservation" in all chemical reactions and to a new nomenclature that he conceived with de Morveau, de Fourcroy, and Berthollet, following the Linnæus binomial system, and which Coquette (1793b) published in Mercurio Peruano. Naturalist Carl von Linne (Carolus Linnæus, 1707-1778) had introduced the binomial system of gender and species to classify plants and animals. Lavoisier and colleagues assigned a simple name for each simple substance and for each compound substance a generic name that referred to a given class (e.g. acid or salt) and a specific name, like "sulfuric" in the case of sulfuric acid, to distinguish it from other members of its own species. Before Lavoisier, chemistry was hardly accepted as a science even in advanced scientific centers; after him, it was established as a true science (Moore, 1939). In the English colonies, Lavoisier’s Elements of Chemistry was published in 1799 (Duveen and Klickstein, 1954)

Higher Learning Centers in Colonial America in the 18^th Century

University education in Spanish colonial America was carried out by friars of the Dominican Order. They established Universities in the Island of Hispaniola (1538), Lima and Mexico (1551), Bogotá (1580), Santiago de Chile (1589), Quito (1686) and Caracas (1725). Jesuits founded in 1621 the Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá, St. Gregory in Quito (1621), and others (Rodríguez-Cruz, 1973). In the English colonies, New College was founded in 1636, changing its name in 1639 to Harvard College. When Jesuits were expelled from Spain and its colonies in 1767, Dominicans were mainly responsible for higher education in Spanish America as non-clericals were discouraged to conduct such activities.

In the late 18^th century, the bourbon kings of the Enlightenment of Spain, Charles III (1759-1788) and Charles IV (1788-1808), stimulated in their colonies the study of natural sciences and the exploitation of natural resources. International scientific expeditions to America, were encouraged. Consequently, European naturalists and scientists arrived to America to undertake geodesic measurements, determine limits and boundaries between countries, build fortifications and study natural resources aiming at their exploitation. The European expeditions spread new knowledge and philosophies directly to the elites in the colonies and promoted the first non-university centers of learning, which produced science unlinked to university supervision, advancing scientific and technological development in the New World and yielding important economic gains for the Spanish crown. In Peru, Mexico and Nueva Granada teaching mineralogy and mining, physics, mathematics and natural sciences received special attention in these non-university centers, spreading the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and making outstanding contributions to science, its teaching and divulgation. These institutions were starting points for an organized scientific development in Spanish colonial America, as they trained students in the most advanced methods to explore and exploit minerals and plants for medical uses (Aceves, 1990).

Some of those expeditions and studies were: i) the geodesic mission of Charles de La Condamine (1735) organized by the French Academy of Sciences and the Spanish crown, in which also the experts Bourguer, Godin, Ulloa and Jorge Juan participated; ii) the study (1779-1786) of bishop Martínez de Compañón (1735-1797, that produced "An illustrated description of people, flora and fauna of Trujillo del Perú" in 9 volumes; iii) the botanical expedition of polymath José Celestino Mutis (1732-1808) in Nueva Granada, who produced 51 volumes of Flora…de Nueva Granada; iv) Charles III’s botanical expedition to Mexico (1787), California, Guatemala and Atlantic islands; v) the Philippines’ expedition; vi) the expedition of Ruíz and Pavón (1778-1788) to Peru and Chile that produced 4 volumes. To improve mining in Peru and to create an advanced learning center, the Tribunal de Minería de Lima (Lima’s Mining Tribunal), Joseph Coquette was called to Lima in 1784 and, with a similar aim, the mineralogical expedition (1788-1810) of the amalgamation expert Baron von Nordenflycht (1752-1815) reached Peru via Río de la Plata.

Humboldt Meets the New Continent’s Intelligentsia

Humboldt sailed from Spain on June 5^th, 1799, on board the Pizarro, arriving at Cumaná, Venezuela, on July 16^th. He explored the surrounding region; then Caracas, where he met the 18 year old Andrés Bello. Towards the Orinoco, through the Llanos of Calabozo, Humboldt, who was keen to mention people of value he came across with, relates his surprise at meeting autodidact Carlos del Pozo y Sucre (1743-1813; Pérez-Marchelli, 1997): "In Calabozo, in the middle of the llanos, we found an electric machine with great discs, electrophori, batteries and electrometers; an apparatus as complete as any found in Europe. These objects had not been bought in America but made by a man who had never seen any instruments, who had never been able to consult anybody, and who knew about electricity only from reading Sigaud de la Fond’s Traite and Franklin’s Memoirs. Carlos del Pozo, this man’s name, had begun by making cylindrical electrical machines using large glass jars and cutting their necks. Years later he managed to get two plates from Philadelphia to make a disc machine to obtain greater electric effects. It is easy to guess how difficult it must have been for Sr. Pozo to succeed once the first Works on electricity fell into his hands, and how he managed to work everything out for himself. Up to then he… had never traveled out of the llanos. Our stay in Calabozo gave him altogether another kind of pleasure. He must have set some value on two travelers who could compare his apparatus with European ones. With me I had electrometers mounted in straw, pith-balls and gold leaf, as well as a small Leyden jar that could be charged by rubbing, following Ingenhousz’s method, which I used for physiological tests. Pozo showed his joy when for the first time he saw instruments that he had not made but which appeared to copy his. We also showed him the effects of the contact of different metals on the nerves of frogs. The names of Galvani and Volta had not yet echoed in these vast solitudes." With his knowledge, del Pozo helped Humboldt obtain and study electric eels (Humboldt, 1956, 1991b, 1995a).

Then, Humboldt and Aime Bompland reached the colossal low Orinoco, the high Orinoco and Casiquiare rivers, returned to Cumaná, sailed to Cuba, and then to Colombia. In Bogotá and Quito, Humboldt had a long and intense intellectual relation with Mutis, Francisco José de Caldas and others. He wrote "Mutis’ library (in Bogota) is the largest botanical library I have seen, except for that of Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society of London" (Humboldt, 1986). Humboldt spent many months exploring the Andes in Ecuador. Then, with Bonpland, Carlos Montúfar and Carlos Cortés, a botanical painter that remained in Peru (Núñez and Petersen, 2002), following and admiring the Inca road, entered Peru from Loja on August 1^st, 1802 (Humboldt, 1986; Vegas-Vélez, 1991; Núñez and Petersen, 2002). They visited the Northern Peruvian Andes, the tropics of the Marañón river, then travelling SW towards Cajamarca (~7°S), at 2928m of altitude, studied the magnetic equator, fundamental in geography’s history (Minguet, 1969; Giesecke, 1959-1960).

Montúfar and Cortés had been born in Quito, home of a famous school of art. There were several Cortés painters: Casimiro, José (who painted a portrait of Humboldt in Quito; Nelken, 1980) and sons Francisco Javier, Manuel Antonio, Nicolás and César, who helped illustrate Mutis’ expedition.

Humboldt and friends arrived on October 10^th 1802 at the "…large and furious river Santa, (~9°S) with a torrent that often blocked the mail between Quito and Lima for longer than 10 days (until) in 1800, Sr. Coguet (sic), professor of mineralogy in Lima, built a ferry and hanging bridge to solve the problem". In the village of Santa "… we enjoyed the interesting company of Sr. Coguet" (sic), Head of the Santa Region" (Humboldt, 1986). Conversations between Humboldt’s group and Coquette must have been particularly interesting, since Coquette, a French mining and mineralogy expert, interested in Humboldt’s passion, volcanology. Together they visited pre-Incaic ruins, pyramids, castle San Ángel, 7km E of Santa, with high walls part of a "former city" of considerable extension, now mostly destroyed, and 20-30km-long pre-Hispanic irrigation channel remains. Humboldt adds that Coquette explained the use of humus-rich water by coastal pre-Inca cultures to improve agriculture by fertilization. Proceeding towards Lima he observed guano that he studied and introduced into Europe (Humboldt, 1986).

They reached Lima (~12°S) October 23^rd. He met, among others, Fray Diego de Cisneros, called from the library of El Escorial in Spain to organize the former Jesuit’s library in Lima. He mentions Hipólito Unanue, first physician (proto-medic) of the Vice-Kingdom of Peru, founder and first Secretary of the Academic Society of Friends of the Country (ASFC), who had important publications and already in 1802, ahead of his time, begun vaccinations against small pox. Humboldt attended many of the regular and interesting evening discussions of ASFC at Unanue’s home. Humboldt describes a favorable position towards science in Peru, where he was impressed by non-university institutions like Lima’s Mining Tribunal, ASFC and Mercurio Peruano (Humboldt, 1986; Vegas-Vélez, 1991; Núñez and Petersen, 2002).

On December 24^th 1802, Humboldt sailed from Lima to Mexico, where he remained for almost a year collecting, as in the previous years, vast amounts of information and materials about the region’s climate, natural resources, orography, flora and fauna, and met important groups, elite scientists, and other cultivators of science that helped in his field work. These meetings were to him extremely useful to describe the tropical nature and to popularize in Europe the scientific knowledge of America. Humboldt enthusiastically wrote about the situation of science in Mexico: "No city of the New Continent…" (including the US) "…presents scientific establishments as big and solid as those of Mexico’s capital. I will only quote the Mining School (Colegio de Minería) directed by polymath Elhuyar, the Botanical Garden, the Painting and Sculpture Academy, the College of Surgery and Pharmacy. An European traveler would be surprised to find in the country's interior, even to the extremes of California, young Mexicans that reason about water decomposition in the free air…In Mexico, the first Spanish Language version of Lavoisier’s ‘Traite’ of chemistry has been published. I quote these separate facts because they give an idea of the strength with which study of science has been undertaken in the capital of New Spain" (Humboldt, 1991a).

The strong pre-Hispanic cultural tradition in Peru, Colombia and Mexico, which continued in colonial times, was fundamental for the local elite society to appreciate and incorporate easily the elements of the "new philosophy" received from Europe, based on Copernicus’ and Newton’s theories. Thus, the European scientific expeditions arriving in America found a local elite eager to learn the latest European scientific advances.

In Peru, one outstanding intellectual was Joseph Coquette (Tauro, 1966). Having been first posted (1779-1783) as Cavalry Captain in Guatemala, he was called to Peru in 1784 as first director of the Lima Mining Tribunal, which he established in 1785 (Molina-Martínez, 1992). He proposed a Rimac river canal, with six dams, to improve transportation from Callao to Lima. As a member of ASFC he contributed to it’s important and widely read publication, Mercurio Peruano (Coquette, 1792b, 1793a; Clement, 1997, 1998), with papers in volcanology, botany, astronomy and chemistry, among which was ‘Principles’, the center of the present paper. Before examining ‘Principles’, it is pertinent to provide some information about Mercurio Peruano.

Mercurio Peruano

Printing begun in Mexico in 1539 and in Peru in 1584. The journal Mercurio Peruano was a publication of ASFC, the Asociation founded in 1787 by Joseph Rossi y Rubí, Demetrio Guasque, Jacinto Calero y Moreira and Unanue, among others. It published 12 volumes (416 issues, 586 articles and 3586 total pages) from 1790 to 1795, and had an average of 350 and a peak of 517 subscriptions, about 60% in Lima, 20% from other parts of Peru, 10% from other Spanish viceroyalties and 3% from Spain. The number of readers has been calculated as 3500-7000 and it contained articles on the scientific method, physics, chemistry, natural history, utility of sciences, teratology, medicine, religion, Peruvian society, economy, mining, commerce, agriculture, geography, maps and travels, besides usual literary contributions (Clement, 1997, 1998).

Mercurio Peruano was of difficult access (Figure 1), as was the translation of Lavoisier’s book in Mexico (Figure 2). Both are now available through facsimile editions which allowed to study and comment about Coquette’s publications.

Humboldt was so impressed by the importance, high quality of the articles and maps of this journal that he donated the complete collection to the Berlin Library of King Frederick William III of Prussia (Humboldt, 1986, 1991a). Humboldt arranged for it to be translated into German, although there existed a translation into English (Skinner, 2005). The German translation is in two volumes, the first of which is Skinner’s German version and the second is a translation by E.A. Schmidt of the rest of the material (Clement, 1997, 1998).

‘Principles’

As founder in 1785 and first director of Lima’s Mining Tribunal, and member of the intellectual body of Mercurio Peruano, Coquette was an illustrated person, well informed about the importance of chemistry for mining, as shown by his initiative to divulge the basis of the "new" chemistry, which he calls Chimia. He stated in his covering letter to the journal, asking for publication of ‘Principles’, that his initiative was triggered by his wish to show others that in Peru there was an illustrated community interested in science, appreciative of the importance of the new and fundamental principles of chemistry and physics. Thus, he wrote "Europe that treats as barbarians other parts of the world will perhaps admire that in this hemisphere the sublime discoveries we receive from her are treated historically and dogmatically….But as a spark may be sufficient to burn thousands of trees, to light the sacred fire that constitutes a man of knowledge, it is enough to feed him the food that inflames him. Be as it may, I believe to have served the Country if in this way I can contribute to develop the seeds of genius that nature profusely spreads among those that are born in this singular Country" (Coquette, 1792c).

The contents of ‘Principles’ are:

i.- Preliminary Discourse (Introduction). Coquette states that it was not unusual for men of science to publish scientific advances and research results in divulgative journals, to inform society about the evolution of science and its applications. …"From time sublime men are born with outstanding geniuses. Happy the land that possesses them, as nature so rarely produces them; but if we appropriate ourselves of the discoveries of other lands, we can enjoy such a happiness; we must put all our effort in increasing our knowledge by this method…"

He communicates the essence of Lavoisier’s thinking, …."The new shape that modern discoveries give to "Chimia" and the close relationship of the natural world with physics have changed these sciences so much that it is impossible to understand their phenomena without a previous knowledge of the substances that our present state of knowledge leads to look as principles of all composite bodies…". And …"The purpose of Chimia is to recognize the nature and properties of all bodies and to teach us to know the intimate and reciprocal action that all substances that exist in the universe have among themselves", giving a clear idea of his pedagogic intention, sharing through a divulgative journal the new science that enabled man to determine with greater precision the nature and properties of the elements. He repeats his didactic approach: "…to simplify this essay, as much as possible, I omit History which usually bores the beginners…" and "… I have suppressed part of the works and ingenious experiences that have led to the present state of knowledge, and I have transferred to the end of this work the part that deals with attraction, this force so necessary for the harmony of the world that influences minuscule corpuscles as well as bigger masses, whose laws seem differentiated or modified by the density, volume, distance of the objects upon which attraction exerts its power" "...I did not want to complicate with large difficulties simple elements that can be understood by all that read this essay"

ii.- Coquette defines Chimia with a descriptive and a dynamic part of the reactions. "The purpose of Chimia is to recognize the nature and properties of all the elements teaching us to learn the reciprocal action that have all substances of the universe"… "The art of Chimia favors the intimate reaction of the elements…. In carefully observing the phenomena that follow….of knowing the order of composition of the bodies that result from it…and the adhering force that they keep after they are combined". In this form Coquette establishes the conditions in which chemical reactions are produced and the composition of reaction products, and shows his intuition that "there must exist some force that keeps together the components in the new compound", the force of the chemical bond in present day terms.

iii.- The Usefulness of Chemistry. He develops four subtitles: a) General usefulness, where he deals with the manufacture of porcelain, glass, chinaware, tiles and bricks from different types of clay; and with the feedback that chemistry receives from the practical professions of tanner, soap-maker, distiller, winemaker and baker. He stresses the importance of chemistry in the manufacture of glass and lenses which serve as "eye glasses that replace sight deficiencies in senescence" and help astronomers discover "a new sky seeded with stars and planets". Enamels, varnishes and paints "owe to Chimia their most beautiful and solid colors". b) Usefulness for mining exploitation, where he stresses that, before, naturalists had characterized metals only by their physical properties, while modern naturalists "have added their chemical properties for their classification". c) Usefulness for medicine. Here he states "the apothecary, that is located between artists and scientists, needs a great deal of chemical knowledge to realize the many alterations to which the materials he uses are subjected; in order to discover mutations that compound medicaments may suffer and to instruct himself about the combinations and decompositions that may develop when simple substances are mixed". Also, the physician "must not use medicaments without knowing their chemical nature", and ought to use their chemical properties to classify them. With insight, he mentions the need to learn the chemical properties of human body fluids in health and disease to know "which humor dominates in an inflammatory or in a putrid disposition". d) Importance of Chemistry for human consumption. Here he mentions that chemistry explains the amount of nutrients present in foods and their properties, the quality and purity of the fluids one drinks and, finally, the properties of the air we breathe. This chapter ends informing readers about the knowledge and use of chemistry: "…a modern author affirms that anyone interested in progressing in the study of nature must have a good covering of Chimia."

iv.- Principles of Matter. Here Coquette defines the elements as the substances resulting from the analysis or decomposition of matter, in agreement with ‘Traite’ and adds that after the brilliant and decisive discoveries of Priestley, Lavoisier, Laplace, etc., the four elements of Aristotle and Plato, defined as "the primitive principles of matter" were substituted by light, caloric, oxygen, azote and hydrogen, which according to Lavoisier would stay as such until new analyses showed that these substances are not simple but composite ones. Coquette mentions here 5 of the 33 elements that Lavoisier postulated, but later on lists azote, phosphorus, oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, carbon, gold, silver, platinum and mercury. Possibly he mentioned in this first part what he thought most important, because in the table of simple substances (included by Lavoisier in ‘Traite’) he refers to these elements as "the simple substances that belong to the three kingdoms and that can be looked upon as elements of matter". With this simplification, Coquette centered his writing on the essential part of chemistry he wanted to emphasize. He covered:

a. Light (the first element) is "a body thrown out of the Sun and the Stars that sets us up in correspondence and communication with the entire nature". Acting on the optic nerve "…it paints on the retina the image that the bodies spread". Newton’s experiments on light refraction, reflection and decomposition indicated that "…each of the different threads that form each of the luminous bundles enjoys a different color that is peculiar to it…a painted specter of the following different colors: from bottom to top, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet". At the end of this part Coquette asks whether these properties of light, that characterize it as something isolated originating in the emanations of Sun and Stars and not as an element, "should limit us to consider under this only aspect a matter that obeys to chemical attraction, as all others we know". He stresses that light interacts chemically with a great number of substances as exemplified by the fact that minerals change color when exposed to light; oxides or metallic calxes become darker and mineral oils also darken. In addition, he mentions the action of light on vegetation, growth of plants, phototropism, and the fact that some follow the sun. He refers to the experiments of Ingenhouz, Bonet and Priestley showing that "plants exposed to Light and sun empty into the atmosphere torrents of air through their upper leaf pores, while those deprived of light exhale a deleterious mofette, truly carbonic acid."

b. Caloric was considered by Lavoisier’s school as the first principle of all elements, in which all materials of nature were submersed, that filled the intermolecular spaces. He distinguished free and combined caloric. Free caloric "surrounds and penetrates the elements" without being incorporated into them; their intensity can be measured with a thermometer. The combined caloric "constitutes part of the substance and the solidity of the bodies in which it has been fixed."

In the 18^th century the theory of caloric took prominence among researchers investigating in chemistry. After the invention of the thermometer (Galileo, 1592), many theories and mechanical applications developed using heat as the central element, but there were two options about its nature: the first, motivated by Francis Bacon (1620) when he stressed that "heat is movement", defined heat as a manifestation of the element’s particles that showed by effect of their friction; the second was based in the materiality of heat. This latter option originated the theory of caloric as a fluid formed by material corpuscles that repelled each other, but were attracted by the particles of matter. The theory was useful to chemists as it enabled it to explain contraction and dilation by heat in a simple way. Caloric was administered to a body when heated; when cooled, caloric diminished and contraction ensued, explaining the relation between volume and temperature described by Boyle (1660). Similarly, the different states of matter could be explained by the amount of caloric contained; substances with a great deal of it were gases because particles repelled and occupied large volumes. On the contrary, solids and liquids contained less caloric, there was less repulsion and thus they occupied a smaller volume. Coquette uses the changes on the state of water to explain the phenomenon and comes up with an interesting physical-chemical explanation of the transition from liquid to gas: "…water boils when one applies heat to it so that the thermometer rises to 80 degrees Réaumur; its molecules obey the repulsion originated by the heat, come out of their field of attraction, rise up in vapor and transform themselves into an aeriform and invisible fluid."

Coquette indicates that the law of Charles-Gay-Lussac could be explained by the theory of caloric: when a gas is compressed, the caloric is confined in a volume that diminishes with the increase in pressure; it increases in density and therefore the temperature increases. The contrary occurs on expansion. Lavoisier experimented with ether, spirit of wine, water and mercury, and pointed out that a greater or lesser amount of accumulated caloric induces these substances to pass from one state to another.

Parenthetically, Count Rumford (Benjamin Thompson, 1753-1814) was the first to provide evidence that heat was a form of energy and not a mass-less fluid, as he measured the heat produced when cannons were lathed. He lathed a cannon for many hours in a water tank and to his astonishment water boiled in the absence of a source of caloric. He concluded that the heat produced by friction was inexhaustible, which was incompatible with the idea of caloric as a substance. The idea of caloric was definitely ruled out when Joule (1847) published a paper showing that heat is a form of energy.

Coquette describes the experiments with ether, spirit of wine, water and mercury in detail to make his arguments clear, and ends the physical-chemical part of his work with "…the mellow and continuous heat that the ineffable architect of the universe keeps in nature produces many phenomena that Chimia must appreciate. Vibrations and oscillations excited by their presence in the solid molecules of the bodies, the rarefaction and agitation produced by their fluid parts keep an internal and continuous movement that changes step by step the form, dimension and texture of the first, and that alters sensibly the consistency, color, taste, in other words the nature of the second. Such is the general idea we must have of the existence and power of all chemical phenomena that happen in the natural matter…We must similarly use this powerful agent to conceive the physical alterations to which plants and animals are subjected."

He concludes stating that one characteristic that distinguishes light from caloric is their influence upon the growth of plants, that light cannot be substituted for these purposes by caloric, because plants stop growing and die in the absence of light, independent of the temperature. Also, in many cases luminous effects are produced without changes in temperature and he mentions that this occurs in some insects like the "luminous worms" and in putrefying matter, stressing that this fact is even more perceptible when one observes that the rays of the moon concentrated on a mirror can develop intense light without producing heat, and that many substances can be heated to very high temperatures without producing light.

c. His description of oxygen is based on Lavoisier’s reflections on its nature and properties. Coquette begins with its abundance in nature and its great capacity to combine with other elements, so that "…it is difficult to isolate oxygen, because of a reciprocal attraction between oxygen and the matter in contact with it …the union of oxygen and caloric constitutes the oxygen gas or vital air." In a footnote he informs that "…the basis of vital air that fixes itself in breathing beings and in matter that burns itself changing its nature and increasing weight, is called oxygen by the Paris Academicians. This word derives from the Greek, and is composed of oxux (acid) and geoigohat (to produce), because in fact the most general property of this substance is to form acids…"

d. He mentions the proportion of hydrogen and oxygen that produces water; the formation of sulfuric, nitric and carbonic acids when oxygen reacts with sulfur, azote (nitrogen) and carbon; he adds that on the earths' surface all minerals, plants and animals oxidate "and they take …the apparent characteristics of the earth, progressively as they progressively absorb oxygen…" Coquette continues with an explanation of the oxidation processes of metals, beginning with gray and black mercury oxides, rust and green copper mould as natural oxides, and indicates that "…to imitate these huge operations of nature, Chemists expose the matter they want to oxygenate or oxidate, to the action of atmospheric air and they heat them to a convenient temperature…". He does not describe the experiments that allow to reach these conclusions. He presents facts, like that lead, tin and mercury oxidate at temperatures closer to that of the environment, while gold, silver and platinum require "…of an intense heat, particularly when proceeding dry…"; although in some cases he briefly describes the experimental procedure and the necessary instruments. He refers that the color of metallic oxides depends on the metal and degree of oxidation. The latter requires a qualitative description of the compound using two names for each one, one to designate the metal that is oxidized and the other its color, like black iron oxide, grey or red lead oxides. Here he refers to the "…fertile and expressive language of modern nomenclature that shows first the degree of oxidation of the oxides and that in the second place designates acids that end up in -ous, as nitrous and sulfurous acids; and that in the third degree constitutes acids ending up in -ic, as nitric and sulfuric acids…". In the same paragraph he stresses that this nomenclature is due to Lavoisier "…who was not satisfied with calling oxides the combination of metals with oxygen, but who generalized this name applying to the first degree of oxidation of all matter that do not become immediately salts: thus he calls phosphorous oxide the first remains of its combustion…". Coquette attempts to give two physical-chemical explanations to the oxidation reaction: i) saying that when there is oxidation "…the caloric used in these operations dives inside the molecules of the metal, separates one from the other, diminishes its aggregation affinity and facilitates the combination with oxygen…" and ii) calling attention to the fact that "…when oxygenation is fast, it is accompanied by heat, light and even flames as when phosphorus combusts in atmospheric air…"

Coquette’s descriptions show that in the latter part of the 18^th century there was a serious attempt to explain experimental facts by looking at the internal structure of matter to interpret why, how and what was happening in its interior, in order to find a reaction mechanism. These were the founding steps to science development in the 19^th century.

Although there is no evidence that the author dedicated himself to research, the fact that he backs up his assertions with experimental proofs and the way he ends his chapter on oxygen confirm his conviction of the need of quantitative elements to understand natural phenomena. Thus, he compares Stahl’s phlogiston theory and the use of the "oxygen principle" to explain a number of chemical processes, stating: "…although the same objections can be raised against oxygen as a principle as against Stahl’s phlogiston, because we do not know this latter principle as an isolated entity that is always combined with caloric in vital air or in the residues of combustible bodies, and as phlogiston does not pass from one matter to another…There is however a large difference between these two theories: the oxygen theory has all the characteristics of exactitude and truth because it is based upon addition or subtraction of weight, which is not the case of Stahl’s theory…"

e. Azote (nitrogen) is the non-breathable part of atmospheric air. About its chemical properties "…they are still not well known….its name derives from its property of depriving animals of life…. composed of the Greek privative a and of zoe, life…". He comments about its abundance in nature and that when azote combines with caloric it produces the gaseous azote which forms part of the air. It has the property of remaining as a gas, independent of temperature and pressure, and constitutes part of the animal matter where it is combined with hydrogen, carbon and in some occasions with phosphorus. Coquette indicates important differences between animal and plant matter, because the first one contains phosphorus and "…it proves that the low combustibility of animal matter depends on the amount of azote they contain, while hydrogen is the main component of plant matter and makes them among the most combustible".

He explains the preparation of oxides and of nitric and nitrous acids according to Cavendish, and of ammonia says that "Mr Berthollet in his own researches analyzed ammonia and proved this alkali is composed of hydrogen, azote and caloric". Finally, he deals with obtaining azote from air by means of Volta’s eudiometer, by extracting it from animal matter by means of "cold and debilitated" nitric acid, and with the reaction of ammonia with metallic oxides, in which "…the hydrogen of ammonia combines with the oxygen of the oxide and forms a great amount of water, as Mr. Fourcroy had observed, while the azote is liberated as gas."

f. Coquette defines hydrogen as one of the principles of water, being highly combustible "…its existence and properties are known only recently; it is widely scattered in nature; its union with caloric forms hydrogen gas and its affinity with caloric is such that the most exquisite experiments have not been able to separate it from caloric which gives hydrogen its fluidity and elasticity; because of that it has not been obtained as an isolated and pure element…", an elegant way of stating that hydrogen can combine itself with other elements like oxygen to form water, from where its name originates. He mentions that hydrogen can be obtained by dissolving iron and zinc with sulfuric acid, or by means of "…red-hot iron, scorching zinc and burning carbon…; they have the property of decomposing water, fixing its oxygen and liberating the hydrogen that together with caloric gasifies and fills the glasses set up to obtain it…". He ends up consolidating the idea and intention of his book "I have given a brief idea of the properties of the five elementary substances that are considered as principles of compound matter: I could have multiplied the examples, and bring into consideration a series of convincing facts; but this would have anticipated knowledge reserved for future chapters. My intention has been to establish the differences between them and to fix the beginners attention as to its nature."

g. About sulphur he writes that: i) it is found pure in volcanoes and forming part of rotting animal and plant matter; ii) its combination with metals forms "…metallic sulpherets, as gold sulpheret (golden pyrites), silver sulpherets (vitreous silver), lead sulpherets (galen)…" while in combination "…with alkalies form sulphur livers (sic) that are also called sulpherets"; iii) its combination with oxygen in clays and with "…many other substances with which it forms salts which are called sulphates"; and iv) comments on the mixture of sulphur to prepare gun powder.

The series of articles finishes with chapters on carbon, phosphorus and other elements. ‘Principles’ is 40 pages long, tables (some very large) not included. Tables are on: i) specific caloric contained in some substances (after Kirwan); ii) expansions produced by caloric on vital air and on some gases (after Duvernois and de Morveau); iii) binary combinations of oxygen and metallic, non-metallic, oxidizable and acidifiable substances (after Lavoisier); iv) expansive force of the spirit of wine (after Betancourt); v) binary combinations of hydrogen; vi) binary combinations of azote; and vii) combinations of hydrogen and sulphur.

Coquette ends ‘Principles’ stating "We interrupt for now the preceding notes so that different articles may stimulate the readers. Among them there will certainly be many that are not entertained by science…It seems justified to present the latter with other articles more suited to their wishes and knowledge." On March 8^th, 1794 Unanue announced the publication of ‘Principles’ was to continue in Mercurio Peruano. Unfortunately this was not to happen as the journal stopped in 1795 (Clement, 1997, 1998).

Coquette’s other Contributions in Chemistry for Mercurio Peruano

‘Principles’ was followed by "About the need to perfect and reform the Nomenclature in Chemistry" (Coquette, 1793b). In this 40 pages long fundamental article the author translates the report of the commission formed by the most distinguished chemists of the day, de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet and de Fourcroy, to study the need that chemical nomenclature should be changed.

The commission had originated in 1782, requested by de Morveau, and worked for 5 years. The report, read at the Royal Academy of Sciences in Paris, on May 2^nd, 1787, begins with Lavoisier’s Introduction; then, de Mourveau explains the method used to change the nomenclature. An explanation follows of the acidifiable bases (or acid radicals), a section on metallic substances, and one about the earths (with an appendix). Finally, de Fourcroy explains the table of the new nomenclature.

The other article (Coquette, 1792a) explains modern terms in mining for lay people and miners. This useful practical publication was reprinted separately. Didactic Dissertation on Mining and other topics on Chemistry and Physics: An Index and Supplement to Kirwan’s Mineralogy covered 38 pages and 8 tables. Its topics are: Preliminary observation, where the Peruvian and Kirwan nomenclature for some 83 compounds is compared. i- table of Combinations of pure Sulfur with Earths and Metals, and 17 metals that sulfur combines with; the new nomenclature, the old names and the names used in Peru. ii- table of Combinations of Carbonic Acid (Fixed Air) with Metalic Oxides (known as Carbonates); a list of 7 oxides with the old nomenclature, names used in Peru adapted to the new nomenclature. iii- Supplement to Mines of Gold, explaining the physical and chemical characteristics of gold, and those in the mines and in the gold placer-mining sites. iv- Describes Platinum, Silver Mines and different forms in which Silver may be found, and Lead. v- Simple substances that so far ought to be looked at as elements (light, caloric, oxygen, hydrogen, azote; sulfur, phosphorus, carbon, muriatic radical, fluoric radical and boracic radical). vi- Significance of some words used by Kirwan, like acids (carbonic, fluoric, muriatic, nitric, nitro-muriatic, sulfuric, tungstenic). vii- Definitions of water, atmospheric air, alkali, azote, caloric, iron carbon, fluate, of different gases (azote, hydrogen, oxygen) and gases inside the mines (azote, hydrogen, sulfurated hydrogen, phosphorized hydrogen).

‘Principles’ Is Original, not a Copy of ‘Traité’

After having exhaustively compared ‘Principles’ with three editions of the ‘Traité’ by Lavoisier (1793, 1790 and 1990; Duveen and Klichstein, 1954), it is concluded:

1- Coquette had a solid training in chemistry.

2- He had studied and knew well ‘Traité’, long before it was translated into Spanish.

2- Coquette was well versed and up to date in the most modern aspects of the chemistry of his time, as also shown in his two publications reviewed above.

3- ‘Principles’ is not a translation of ‘Traité’. It is an up-to-date (for its time), abbreviated, didactic, simplified text of chemistry, without the length, number of Tables and erudition of ‘Traité’. In fact, although ‘Principles’ reproduces many ideas and tables from ‘Traité’, Coquette adds sources different from Lavoisier’s, like de Fourcroy’s "Elements" and others, partially shown in the tables of ‘Principles’ listed above, and in the author’s other papers. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing about the content of the unpublished part of ‘Principles’. Be as it may, Coquette should be listed as one of the first authors of the new chemistry in the New Continent.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank Marcos Cueto, for lending his personal copy of Mercurio Peruano, and for his discussions; Roger Guerra-García, Miriam Echevarría and Juan José Toledo-Aral for bibliography on Mercurio Peruano and Tribunal de Minería de Lima; Francisco Javier Álvarez-Leefmans for his encouragement and provision of literature, Duccio Bonavia for help and advice in various parts of this paper, Claude Chaptelaine for information about the pre-Inca Santa Valley ruins, and Antonio M Gutiérrez for discussions and help with the illustrations.

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