ABSTRACT
While reading a textbook of chemistry, I came upon the statement, ‘nitric acid acts upon copper’ … and I determined to see what this meant. Having located some nitric acid, … I had only to learn what the words ‘act upon’ meant. … In the interest of knowledge I was even willing to sacrifice one of the few copper cents then in my possession. I put one of them on the table; opened the bottle marked ‘nitric acid’, poured some of the liquid on the copper; and prepared to make an observation. But what was this wonderful thing which I beheld? The cent was already changed, and it was no small change either. A greenish blue liquid foamed and fumed over the cent and the table. The air … became colored dark red. … How could I stop this? I tried … by picking up the cent and throwing it out the window … I learned another fact; nitric acid … acts upon fingers. The pain led to another unpremeditated experiment. I drew my fingers across my trousers and discovered nitric acid acts upon trousers. … That was the most impressive experiment I have ever performed. I tell of it even now with interest. It was a revelation to me. Plainly the only way to learn about such remarkable kinds of action is to see the results, to experiment, to work in a laboratory. (Ira Remsen, 1846–1927, in Gutman, 1940)
