Editing Antimony (section)

==History==
[[File:antimony symbol.svg|upright=0.3|thumb|alt=An unshaded circle surmounted by a cross.|One of the [[alchemical symbol]]s for antimony]]

[[Antimony(III) sulfide]], {{chem2|Sb2S3}}, was recognized in [[predynastic Egypt]] as an eye cosmetic ([[kohl (cosmetics)|kohl]]) as early as about [[4th millennium BC|3100&nbsp;BC]], when the [[cosmetic palette]] was invented.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1475-4754.2006.00279.x|title=Application of Lead Isotope Analysis to a Wide Range of Late Bronze Age Egyptian Materials|date=2006|last1=Shortland|first1=A. J.|journal=Archaeometry|volume=48|issue=4|page=657|bibcode=2006Archa..48..657S }}</ref>

An artifact, said to be part of a vase, made of antimony dating to about 3000&nbsp;BC was found at [[Girsu|Telloh]], [[Chaldea]] (part of present-day [[Iraq]]), and a copper object plated with antimony dating between 2500&nbsp;BC and 2200&nbsp;BC has been found in [[Egypt]].<ref name="kirk" /> Austen, at a lecture by [[Herbert Gladstone, 1st Viscount Gladstone|Herbert Gladstone]] in 1892, commented that "we only know of antimony at the present day as a highly brittle and crystalline metal, which could hardly be fashioned into a useful vase, and therefore this remarkable 'find' (artifact mentioned above) must represent the lost art of rendering antimony malleable."<ref name="moorey">{{cite book|last=Moorey|first=P. R. S.|date=1994|title=Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: the Archaeological Evidence|place=New York|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=241|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P_Ixuott4doC&pg=PA241|isbn=978-1-57506-042-2}}</ref>

The British archaeologist [[Roger Moorey]] was unconvinced the artifact was indeed a vase, mentioning that Selimkhanov, after his analysis of the Tello object (published in 1975), "attempted to relate the metal to Transcaucasian natural antimony" (i.e. native metal) and that "the antimony objects from Transcaucasia are all small personal ornaments."<ref name="moorey" /> This weakens the evidence for a lost art "of rendering antimony malleable".<ref name="moorey" />

The Roman scholar [[Pliny the Elder]] described several ways of preparing antimony sulfide for medical purposes in his treatise [[Natural History (Pliny)|''Natural History'']], around 77&nbsp;AD.<ref name="mellor">{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/comprehensivetre0009mell/page/338/|chapter=Antimony|page=339|title=A comprehensive treatise on inorganic and theoretical chemistry|volume=9|author=Mellor, Joseph William|date=1964}}</ref> Pliny the Elder also made a distinction between "male" and "female" forms of antimony; the male form is probably the sulfide, while the female form, which is superior, heavier, and less friable, has been suspected to be native metallic antimony.<ref>Pliny, ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural history]]'', 33.33; W.H.S. Jones, the [[Loeb Classical Library]] translator, supplies a note suggesting the identifications.</ref>

The Greek naturalist [[Pedanius Dioscorides]] mentioned that antimony sulfide could be roasted by heating by a current of air. It is thought that this produced metallic antimony.<ref name="mellor" />

[[File:Specola, medaglione di vannoccio biringucci.JPG|thumb|right|upright=0.9|The Italian metallurgist [[Vannoccio Biringuccio]] described a procedure to isolate antimony in 1540]]

Antimony was frequently described in alchemical manuscripts, including the ''Summa Perfectionis'' of [[Pseudo-Geber]], written around the 14th century.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110668711 |title=Antimony |date=2021 |editor1-last=Filella |editor1-first=Montserrat |isbn=978-3-11-066871-1 |url=https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:153699 |page=4 |publisher=De Gruyter }}</ref> A description of a procedure for isolating antimony is later given in the 1540 book ''[[De la pirotechnia]]'' by [[Vannoccio Biringuccio]],<ref>Vannoccio Biringuccio, [http://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/delapirotechnial00biri ''De la Pirotechnia''] (Venice (Italy): Curtio Navo e fratelli, 1540), Book 2, chapter 3: ''Del antimonio & sua miniera, Capitolo terzo'' (On antimony and its ore, third chapter), pp. 27–28. [Note: Only every second page of this book is numbered, so the relevant passage is to be found on the 74th and 75th pages of the text.] (in Italian)</ref> predating the more famous 1556 book by [[Georg Agricola|Agricola]], ''[[De re metallica]]''. In this context Agricola has been often incorrectly credited with the discovery of metallic antimony. The book ''Currus Triumphalis Antimonii'' (The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony), describing the preparation of metallic antimony, was published in Germany in 1604. It was purported to be written by a [[Benedictine]] monk, writing under the name [[Basilius Valentinus]] in the 15th century; if it were authentic, which it is not, it would predate Biringuccio.{{efn|Already in 1710 Wilhelm Gottlob Freiherr von [[Leibniz]], after careful inquiry, concluded the work was spurious, there was no monk named Basilius Valentinus, and the book's author was its ostensible editor, [[Johann Thölde]] ([[wikt:circa|c.]] 1565 – c. 1624). Professional historians now agree the ''Currus Triumphalis&nbsp;...'' was written after the middle of the 16th century and Thölde was likely its author.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Priesner, Claus|editor2=Figala, Karin|date=1998|title=Alchemie. Lexikon einer hermetischen Wissenschaft|isbn=3406441068|place=München|publisher=C.H. Beck|language=de}}</ref> Harold Jantz was perhaps the only modern scholar to deny Thölde's authorship, but he too agrees the work dates from after 1550.<ref>[https://assets.cengage.com/gale/psm/2025000R.pdf Harold Jantz Collection of German Baroque Literature Reel Listing].</ref>|name=priesner}}<ref name="cww">{{cite book|last1=Wang|first1=Chung Wu|title=Antimony: Its History, Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Metallurgy, Uses, Preparation, Analysis, Production and Valuation with Complete Bibliographies|chapter=The Chemistry of Antimony|publisher=Charles Geiffin and Co. Ltd|date=1919|location=London, United Kingdom|pages=6–33|chapter-url=http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/antimony.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://library.sciencemadness.org/library/books/antimony.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1021/ed009p11|title=The discovery of the elements. II. Elements known to the alchemists|date=1932|last1=Weeks|first1=Mary Elvira|author-link1=Mary Elvira Weeks|journal=Journal of Chemical Education|volume=9|issue=1|page=11|bibcode=1932JChEd...9...11W}}</ref><!--An English translation of the ''[[Currus Triumphalis]]'' appeared in English in 1660, under the title [[The Triumphant Chariot of Antimony]]. The work remains of great interest, chiefly because it documents how followers of the renegade German physician, Philippus Theophrastus [[Paracelsus]] von Hohenheim (of whom Thölde was one), came to associate the practice of alchemy with the preparation of chemical medicines.-->

The metal antimony was known to German chemist [[Andreas Libavius]] in 1615 who obtained it by adding iron to a molten mixture of antimony sulfide, salt and potassium [[tartrate]]. This procedure produced antimony with a crystalline or starred surface.<ref name="mellor" />

With the advent of challenges to [[phlogiston theory]], it was recognized that antimony is an element forming sulfides, oxides, and other compounds, as do other metals.<ref name="mellor" />

The first discovery of naturally occurring pure antimony in the [[Earth's crust]] was described by the [[Swedish people|Swedish]] scientist and local mine district engineer [[Anton von Swab]] in 1783; the [[type locality (geology)|type-sample]] was collected from the [[Sala Silver Mine]] in the Bergslagen mining district of [[Sala Municipality, Sweden|Sala]], [[Västmanland County|Västmanland]], Sweden.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mindat.org/min-262.html|title=Native antimony|publisher=Mindat.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/14786440308676406|title=XL. Extracts from the third volume of the analyses|date=1803|last1=Klaproth|first1=M.|journal=Philosophical Magazine |series=Series 1|volume=17|issue=67|page=230|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxtRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA230}}</ref>

===Etymology===
The medieval Latin form, from which the modern languages and late [[Byzantine Greek]] take their names for antimony, is ''{{Lang|la|antimonium}}''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 22, 2024 |orig-date=July 20, 1998 |title=antimony |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/antimony |access-date=June 10, 2024 |website=Britannica.com}}</ref> The origin of that is uncertain, and all suggestions have some difficulty either of form or interpretation. The [[popular etymology]], from ἀντίμοναχός ''anti-monachos'' or French {{Lang|fr|antimoine}}, would mean "monk-killer", which is explained by the fact that many early [[alchemist]]s were monks, and some antimony compounds were poisonous.<ref>{{cite book|author=Fernando, Diana|isbn=9780713726688|title=Alchemy: an illustrated A to Z|date=1998|publisher=Blandford}} Fernando connects the proposed etymology to the story of "[[Basil Valentine]]", although ''antimonium'' is found two centuries before Valentine's time.</ref>  

Another popular etymology is the hypothetical Greek word ἀντίμόνος ''antimonos'', "against aloneness", explained as "not found as metal", or "not found unalloyed".<ref name="kirk">"Antimony" in ''Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology'', 5th ed. 2004. {{ISBN|978-0-471-48494-3}}</ref> However, [[ancient Greek]] would more naturally express the pure negative as ''α-'' ("not").<ref>{{cite OED|Antimony}}, which considers the derivation a "[[folk etymology|popular etymology]]".</ref> [[Edmund Oscar von Lippmann]] conjectured a hypothetical Greek word ανθήμόνιον ''anthemonion'', which would mean "floret", and cites several examples of related Greek words (but not that one) which describe chemical or biological [[efflorescence]].<ref name=Lippmann>[[Edmund Oscar von Lippmann|von Lippmann, Edmund Oscar ]] (1919) Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie, teil 1. Berlin: Julius Springer (in German). pp. 642–5</ref>

The early uses of ''antimonium'' include the translations, in 1050–1100, by [[Constantine the African]] of Arabic medical treatises.<ref name=Lippmann/> Several authorities believe ''antimonium'' is a scribal corruption of some Arabic form; Meyerhof derives it from ''ithmid'';<ref>Meyerhof as quoted in {{harvnb|Sarton|1935}}, asserts that ''ithmid'' or ''athmoud'' became corrupted in the medieval "traductions barbaro-latines". The ''[[#CITEREFReference-OED-Antimony|OED]]'' asserts some Arabic form is the origin, and if ''ithmid'' is the root, posits ''athimodium, atimodium, atimonium'' as intermediates.</ref> other possibilities include ''athimar'', the Arabic name of the metalloid, and a hypothetical ''as-stimmi'', derived from or parallel to the Greek.<ref name=e28>{{cite journal|author=Endlich, F. M.|title=On Some Interesting Derivations of Mineral Names|journal=The American Naturalist|volume=22|issue=253|date=1888|jstor=2451020|pages=21–32|doi=10.1086/274630|doi-access=free|bibcode=1888ANat...22...21E }}</ref>{{rp|28}}

The standard chemical symbol for antimony (Sb) is credited to [[Jöns Jakob Berzelius]], who derived the abbreviation from ''stibium''.<ref>Jöns Jacob Berzelius, "Essay on the cause of chemical proportions, and on some circumstances relating to them: together with a short and easy method of expressing them," ''Annals of Philosophy'', vol. 2, pages 443–454 (1813) and vol. 3, pages 51–62, 93–106, 244–255, 353–364 (1814). On [{{GBUrl|E8M4AAAAMAAJ|PA52}} p.&nbsp;52], Berzelius lists the symbol for antimony as "St"; however, starting from [{{GBUrl|E8M4AAAAMAAJ|PA248}} p.&nbsp;248], Berzelius consistently uses the symbol "Sb" instead.</ref>

The ancient words for antimony mostly have, as their chief meaning, [[kohl (cosmetics)|kohl]], the sulfide of antimony.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Helmenstine |first=Anne |date=2024-07-09 |title=Antimony Facts - Symbol, Definition, Uses |url=https://sciencenotes.org/antimony-facts-symbol-definition-uses/ |access-date=2024-10-30 |website=Science Notes and Projects |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Egyptians called antimony ''mśdmt''<ref>{{cite journal|last=Albright|first=W. F.|title=Notes on Egypto-Semitic Etymology. II|journal=The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures|volume=34|issue=4|date=1918|jstor=528157|pages=215–255|doi=10.1086/369866 }}</ref>{{rp|230}}<ref name="sarton">{{cite journal|last=Sarton|first=George|date=1935|title=Review of ''Al-morchid fi'l-kohhl, ou Le guide d'oculistique'' (Translated by Max Meyerhof<!--*Not* translator of the review; translator of the *reviewed book*-->)|journal=Isis|volume=22|issue=2|language=fr|jstor=225136|page=539-542|doi=10.1086/346926}}</ref>{{rp|541}} or ''stm''.<ref name="etym">{{OEtymD|antimony}}</ref>

The Arabic word for the substance, as opposed to the cosmetic, can appear as {{Lang|ar|إثمد}} ''ithmid, athmoud, othmod'', or ''uthmod''. [[Littré]] suggests the first form, which is the earliest, derives from ''stimmida'', an accusative for ''stimmi''.<ref name=e28/><ref>{{multiref|[[LSJ]], ''s.v.'', vocalisation, spelling, and declension vary|Celsus, 6.6.6 ff|Pliny ''Natural History'' 33.33|Lewis and Short: ''Latin Dictionary''|[[#CITEREFReference-OED-Antimony|''OED'', s. "antimony"]]}}</ref> The Greek word στίμμι (stimmi) is used by [[Attica|Attic]] [[tragedy|tragic]] poets of the 5th century BC, and is possibly a [[loan word]] from Arabic or from Egyptian ''stm''.<ref name="etym"/>