INSIDE: THE UMR 2 SUMMER Rediscover Tellurium–Part II–the Hungarian Contribution pg 20 20 pg Contribution Hungarian II–the Tellurium–Part Rediscover 016 Marshall) sourcetelluriumtheofdiscovered KitaibelbyPál, scientistUniversitythe at Pest. of (PhotoJennyby Hungarianyouth journeying friend’shisto wedding, countrysideNagybörzsöny,near miningandsite Marshall) sourcetelluriumtheofdiscovered KitaibelbyPál, scientistUniversitytheat Pest. of (PhotoJennyby Hungarianyouth journeyingfriend’s histo wedding, countrysideNagybörzsöny,near miningandsite n Collegiate and Professional News pg 19 pg News Professional and Collegiate Redis co very of the Elements Tellurium-Part II The Hunga rian Con tribu tion I I I

Figure 2. The Facebánya mine (Hungarian name), James L. Marshall, Beta Eta 1971 , and where tellurium was first discovered, in the west - Beta Eta 2003 ern Romanian Carpathians, 84 km northwest of Virginia R. Marshall, , Sibiu (N46° 07.85 E23° 08.84). The mine is Department of Chemistry, University of accessible by jeep from the village of Zlatna on North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-5070, primitive roads to a base camp high in the moun - [email protected] tains, followed by a rugged 500-meter hike. The German name was “Faczebaya,” used by Müller All of the discoveries and research concerning von Reichenstein in his publications; the translit - tellurium in the 170 0–1800s were conducted in Figure 1. Laboratory of Müller von Reichenstein erated Romanian name i s “Fa ţa B ăii.” This was territory which was then the Kingdom of in Sibiu, Romania, where tellurium was discov - then part of Hungar y—nearby abandoned Hungary. Changes in international borders since ered in 1782. Old address was Fleischer Gasse 36, mansions had Hungarian owners, whose names World War I have reassigned these localities as modern address Str. [Strada = street] Mitropoliei were inscribed on the stone walls, e.g., “1854 parts of Romania, Slovakia, and present-day 26 (N45° 47.68 E24° 08.83). The house is now Kornyik György építtete ”—translated a s “In 1854 Hungary. used as a health food store. George Kornyik [had this house] built.”

Original tellurium discovery. In the very first In his laboratory Müller von Reichenstein lurium-lead sulfide, also called black leafy tel - issue of The HEXAGON “Rediscovery” series (16 worked with various minerals with gold/telluri - lurium 2 named for the gold mining village of years ago), 1a we reported on the discovery of um compositions found in the mountains of Nagyág, today known as S ăcărâmb, 86 km west tellurium in 1782 by Franz Joseph Müller von Transylvania, known locally as the Apuseni of Sibiu. Tellurium was also common in Reichenstein (1740(42? )–1825). The analytical Mountains, a branch of the Carpathian “Schrifttellur” (“pencil tellurium”), named after work was done in his home laboratory (Figure Mountains. His tellurium studies concentrated its naturally occurring splays of graphite-like 1) in Sibiu in Transylvania. This historical region on minerals from the Facebánya mine (Figure rod s—modern name of sylvanite, (Au,Ag)Te 2. in present-day central Romania is perhaps best 2), located in the higher altitudes of the (In American mining history, this mineral is known for the setting of Bram Stoke r’s Dracula . Apusenis. When he prepared this new metal - well known as the major gold-bearing ore dur - The city of Sibiu, although in the Kingdom of loid, he noted the radish-like odor when it was ing the Pike’s Peak gold rush days of the early Hungary, was settled mainly by Germans who heated. Both tellurium and selenium are known 1900s.) named it “Hermannstadt,” and its architecture for their radish or garlic-like odors; Berzelius The British took notice of this historic region reflects their culture. For example, the when he discovered selenium three decades in the early 19th century. Edward Daniel Clarke “Gaubenfenster” (“eye-windows” in the attic), later initially thought he had discovered a new (1769 –1822), Professor of Mineralogy at the previously seen in The HEXAGON article on source of tellurium in Sweden. 1d Müller called University of Cambridge, in 1802 visited coun - nickel 1e may be seen here, notably in the main the metal aurum paradoxum or metallum para - tries ranging from Sweden to Russia to Egypt. square, Pia ţa Mare (N45° 47.80 E24° 9.10). doxum , referring to its occurrence in gold min - In an 11-volume series, 3 he meticulously set (When the authors visited Sibiu, their hotel was erals and its metallic lustre. 2 Subsequently, tel - down his experiences as he observed chemical hosting a German reunion.) lurium was also found in nagyagite, a gold-tel - factories, mines, and laboratories, as well as the

20 THE HEXAGON/ SUMMER 2016 Figure 5. Map of the old university area in Pest. Site of Old Medical School (now Magyarok Világ Szövetségének, Hungarian World Society), Semmelweis utca 1; Kitaibel was professor of botany but was associated with this school—N47° 29.65 E19° 03.53. Kitaibel was appointed Director of the Botanical Garden in 1807; his laboratory was located in his house on the south side of the garden, where he analyzed ores from Nagybörzsöny and discovered tellurium, Reáltanoda utca, between Szép utca and Ferenciek tere—N47° 29.56 E19° 03.45. Franciscan church (Pesti Ferences templom, or Belvárosi Ferences templom), current landmark from which the botanical garden extended during Kitaibel’s time, Kossuth Lajos utca—N47° 29.59 E19° 03.36. The parent Eötvös University (Eötvös Lórand Tudományegyetem) is now a law school (Egyetem tér 5—N47° 29.45 E19° 03.51). Egyetemi Templom (University Church) is a prominent landmark, existing during the time of Kitaibel, Papnövelde utca 9 (N47° 29.46 E19° 03.48). Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum (Hungarian National Museum), exquisitely details the history of Hungary, Múzeum körút 14–16 (N47° 29.47 E19° 03.71).

countryside and the culture of the peoples. He described in detail the collections of Samuel von Brukenthal (1721–1803), the Habsburg governor of Transylvania. These collections, housed in the governor’s palace in Sibiu, included art objects, mineralogical specimens (including many splendid gold specimens), and other artifacts, as well as a library and a phar- maceutical branch. These were all opened to the public in 1817 as the Brukenthal National Museum. When the authors visited this muse- Figure 3. Kitaibel Pál (Paul Kitaibel; um in 1999, they observed superb specimens of 1757–1817), painting from unknown artist, native gold and gold-bearing minerals, includ- 1789; from Orvostörtenelem, Budapest ing “Schrifttellur.” [Library of Medical History].8 Some of these lands that Clarke visited had Figure 4. Franciscan church (Pesti ferences been protectorates of the Ottoman Empire, and templom), current landmark from which they could provide a strange and mysterious botanical garden extended during Kitaibel’s adventure—Clarke marveled at many “aston- time, Ferenciek tere 9—N47° 29.59 E19° ishing sights”—remarking, for example, about 03.36 (see next figure for map). Kitaibel did the women’s attire resembling Arabs, where not do his work at the medical school. there “shouldn’t be any connection” with those Instead, he worked on the botanical garden people. This wonder of Clarke was due to igno- site, which was behind the Pest Franciscan rance of Western Europe about such lands; he church. Kitaibel became famous for his work was using Pliny’s works, the ancient Roman in botany, and his work was so extensive historian, as a guide. One of Clarke’s goals was that he became known as the “Linnaeus of to visit the mines where tellurium was found, Hungary.” because as he explained,“. . .Transylvania is the only country in the whole world where telluri- um has yet been discovered. . . .”4 The reason behind the delay. Martin Heinrich Klaproth recognized Müller von Reichenstein’s But Clarke’s information was not complete. Klaproth (1743–1817) of Berlin1e and Louis claim and actually named it “tellurium” without It is true that Müller von Reichenstein discov- Nicolas Vauquelin (1763–1829) of Paris1c were mentioning Kitaibel’s contribution,6 in a report ered tellurium in 1782 from the Facebánya recognized as the two best analytical chemists to the Academy of Sciences in Berlin in 1798.7 mine,5 but a Hungarian—Pál (Paul) Kitaibel in the world during the late 1700s and early Kitaibel vehemently protested, since he had (1757–1817)—independently discovered it in 1800s, and they were often asked to verify ele- expected to be recognized, if not share the cred- another Hungarian gold mine in 1789 (13 years mental discoveries of others. Klaproth was it, in Klaproth’s announcement; he even sug- before Clarke’s travels in Romania). Clarke was actually asked to check the claims of both gested Klaproth of outright dishonesty.6 unaware of this discovery because Kitaibel’s Müller von Reichenstein and Kitaibel. In an Apparently the misunderstanding occurred announcement was delayed until 1803. innocent episode of misunderstandings, because Klaproth had analyzed Müller von

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s 9 2 r w . 0 5 a 9 1 r ) 6 d . Figure 10. On the eastern outskirts of Nagybörzsony, one enters the Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park (Danube Ipoly National Park). (N47° 55.96 E18° 50.20). The park entrance overhead sign announces “IFJÚSÁGI TÁBOR NAGYBÖRZSÖNY,” meaning “Nagybörzsöny Youth [Camp].” In the camp, at the foothills of the Figure 11. “Portrait” of Müller von Reichenstein, Börzsöny Mountains, are athletic fields and shelters for various activities for children. A narrow-gauge first discoverer of tellurium, at the Brukenthal railway is available for short trips into the mountains. Museum in Sibiu, Romania (Pieţa Mare 4 - N45° 47.79 E24° 9.04), was shown by the authors to be a misidentification (see text). INSET: 250th birth- day commemorative 5-schilling postage stamp of the discoverer of tellurium, issued in Austria in 1992—a repeat of the wrong Müller von Reichenstein!

This mystery was resolved when the authors unearthed the existence of the grandson of Franz Josef Müller von Reichenstein (1740–1825)—whose name is Franz Leonhard Müller von Reichenstein (1819–1880).11 This appears to be the answer to the mystery por- trait. This grandson was present in Transylvania (as an “Austrian government Vice-Chancellor”) and it is evident that some historian misidenti- fied the “Franz Müller von Reichenstein” in question. The rare tellurium coin. The story of tellurium in the historic Kingdom of Hungary ends with the description of the rare tellurium coin pro- Figure 12. Belházy, the building where the chemical and mineralogical laboratories were located, starting in duced at the smelter in Banská Štiavnica in pre- 1770 at the Schemnitz Mining Academy in Banská Štiavnica, Slovakia (1 Andreja Sládkovia – N48° sent-day Slovakia, 60 km north of 27.52 E18° 53.48). This city and environs have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Notable Nagybörzsöny. This city was the site of the chemists who were educated here include Josef Müller von Reichenstein, who discovered tellurium in pre- famous Academy of Mining school that pro- 1e sent-day Romania, and A. M. del Río, who discovered vanadium in Mexico. Belházy was built in 1616, duced many scholars known in the history of and was owned in 1756 by János Belházy, the mayor of Schemnitz. mining (Figure 12). This locality was known by various names including Selmecbánya Portraits of the two discoverers of tellurium. Reichenstein (Figure 11). However, the dress of (Hungarian) and Schemnitz (German). The portrait of Kitaibel (Figure 3) is well known the gentleman in the portrait does not appear Three examples of these tellurium coins are and stored in the medical archives of Budapest. to be contemporary with a middle-aged gentle- known to the authors: National Hungarian When the authors visited the Brukenthal man of late 18th century fashion; the hip- Museum in Budapest; the University of Sopron, Museum in Sibiu, they were shown a “portrait” length coat, and the lapel and cravat appear to Hungary; and a private collection in Hannover, of Müller von Reichenstein (Figure 11). be of the 1850s–1860s. Furthermore, the por- Germany (Figure 13). It is interesting that the Additionally, a postage stamp had been issued trait appears to be a photograph, when the tellurium for this coin was procured from by the Austrian government commemorating daguerreotype process did not make its appear- Nagyág, Romania, where Edward Daniel the 250th anniversary of the birth of Müller von ance until 1839. Clarke made his most extensive field studies.

SUMMER 2016/THE HEXAGON 23 Figure 13. Tellurium coin, minted in 1896. The obverse (left) displays the crossed hammers (Note 1); the inscription is “Mag. Kir. Femkoho Selmeczbányán” (“Hungarian Royal Smelter at Selmeczbanya”). The reverse inscription is “Nagyági Tellur 1896” (“Nagyág tellurium 1896”). Nagyág (present name Săcărâmb) was the primary mine that Edward Daniel Clarke visited during his 1802 visit, which at the time was quite productive. III Figure 14. Gold-mining was a prolific source of wealth during Hungary’s history. This resplendent miner’s badge, dated 1731 and fashioned from gilded silver, is representative of the exhibits at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, Hungary. As large as a policeman’s badge, it was worn on a miner’s cap. The crossed hammers motif, so common in the history of European mining, originated in Kremnica in the Kingdom of Hungary (now present-day Slovakia).

The motif on the obverse of the tellurium Figure 15. The Physics Institute of the Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem (University) (Péter sétány 1/A; coin—the crossed hammers (Figure 13)—orig- N47° 28.51 E19° 03.69) in Buda. Eötvös Loránd was a university professor in Budapest who became inated in the historic gold mining village of famous for his capillarity and gravity studies. In this institute is housed the fresco of famous scientists in Kremnica, Slovakia (Hungarian Körmöcbánya, the Harmony Room (see next figure). N48° 42.19 E18° 55.02), a 45-km drive north of Banská Štiavnica. Many times in The HEXA- Figure 16. This is a small portion GON “Rediscovery” series, the “crossed ham- of the three-panel fresco produced mers” have been mentioned—the symbol orig- in 1983 by Rátkay Endre (Andrew inated in the 13th century, and from Kremnica Rátkay, 1928-2011) in the it spread over the centuries westward as far as Harmony Room of the Institute of Norway. Gold mining in Kremnica dates back Physics of the Eötvös Loránd to the 12th century, and in 1335 the town was University. The entire fresco, com- granted special privileges to mint its own gold posed of three 2.17 x 4.50m panels, coins by the King of Hungary (Károly Róbert). is an unusual Greco-Roman/surre- Specimens of these extremely valuable coins alistic interpretation of 25 famous and associated medallions may be found in the scientists and philosophers (Note 2). National Hungarian Museum in Budpest, The persons in this figure are founded in 1802 (Figure 14). (left to right) Newton, Eötvös, and Kitaibel. Notice that Kitaibel is not Legacy of Kitaibel. The Kitaibel Pál Kilátó portrayed as a chemist, but as a (Lookout) (Viewing Tower; N46° 46.04 E17° botanist, sheathed in an interlacing 19.26) is a resting point along a hiking trail in tunic of vines. Above Eötvös is his the Keszthely Mountains, overlooking the city rule (equation) for surface tension. of Vonyarcvashegy, in the beautiful Balaton Eötvös is pointing to the falling Uplands National Park (Balaton-felvidéki bodies of Newton; surrounding Nemzeti Park), 153 km southwest from Newton are contributions from Budapest. Kitaibel’s name is prominent in his Principia, symbolizing the Hungarian circles as having spent many years interplay of falling, revolving, and studying the plants of that country; a genus of oscillating (pendulum) bodies, all mallow (Kitaibelia) and several species (kitabel- described by the universal principle li) of other plants (as well as a lizard) have been of gravitation—and all suspended named after him.8 above and thus superseding the On the western shore of the Danube in earlier beliefs of Aristotle. Buda, the Physics Institute of the Eötvös

24 THE HEXAGON/SUMMER 2016 several letters of correspondence between “REDISCOVERY” ARTICLES ARE NOW ON-LINE them. 7. W. von Waldstein, “Ueber den eigentlichen All HEXAGON issues that include “Rediscovery” articles—a series which began in 2000—are now Entdecker des Tellurerzes,” Vaterländische Blätter für den österreichischen Kaiserstaat, on-line and searchable at: http://www.chem.unt.edu/~jimm/REDISCOVERY ARTICLES/ 1818, 1, 515–516. These HEXAGON issues, as a group, are fully searchable and thus are amenable to scholarly 8. https://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitaibel_Pál research. One can search either for words, Boolean “OR” combinations, or for full phrases (by plac- 9. P. Kitaibel and F. de Paula Adam von ing in quotation marks). Not only the original “Rediscovery” articles may be accessed, but also cover Waldstein, Descriptiones et icones planatarum photographs by the authors and other auxiliary articles connected with the “Rediscovery” project. rariorum Hungariae [Descriptions and illus- trations of rare plants of Hungary], Vols 1–3, Additionally, the UNT Digital Library has separated out all these individual articles and placed 1802–1812. Vienna: Matthiae Andreae them in the “Scholarly Works” section. These articles may be located and perused at: Schmidt. Several species (kitaibellii), and a http://digital.library.unt.edu. At the top of the webpage, search for “James L. Marshall” as “creator” genus (Kitaibelia) have been named after and for convenience, “sort” by “Date Created (Oldest).” The “Scholarly Works” articles are not him. Waldstein (1759–1823) was an Austrian searchable as a group, but only within each individual article. naturalist; his botanical garden is archived in Prague. 10. J R. Partington, A History of Chemistry, Vol. 3, 1962, Macmillan, 657. Loránd University (Figure 15) is a three-panel kalapácsok”—but the correct Hungarian term 11. (a) https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/BLKÖ: fresco by Rátkay Endre in the “Harmony for this symbol, as is the shape of two “ham- Müller_Freiherr_von_Reichenstein,_Franz_ Room,” with historical figures depicted includ- mers” is simply “kalapács és ék” (literally JosephBLKÖ:Müller Freiherr von ing not only Kitaibel Pál but 25 other scientists “hammer and wedge”). Reichenstein, Franz Joseph; (b) Deutsche and philosophers (Figure 16). Kitaibel himself is 2. The persons depicted in the Rátkay fresco are Biographie - Müller von Reichenstein, not wearing a chemistry laboratory apron, but a Democritus, Aristotle, Pythagoras, Ptolemy, Franz Josef (österreichischer Adel 1788, skirt of vines, celebrating his fame as a botanist. Giordano Bruno, Nicolaus Copernicus, Tycho Freiherr 1820) (c) Gothaisches It is not clear from the painting, but it is possi- Brahe, János and Farkas Bolyai, Kepler, Galilei, Genealogisches Taschenbuch der Freiherrlichen ble, that Rátkay was trying to portray the leaves Pázmány, Newton, Eötvös, Ányos Jedlik, Miksa Häuser, 1875, Gotha Justus Perthes, 595; of the flowering Kitaibelia, which are grape-like Hell, Einstein, Max Planck, Max von Laue, (d) Biographiches Lexikon des Kaiserthums in appearance. James D. Watson, Marie Curie, Schrödinger, Oesterreich, 1868, Vienna, Hof- und Heisenberg, Bohr, and Kitaibel. Staatsdruckeri, 347. Acknowledgments. Special thanks go to Stefan Nicolescu, References. GE NOTE: Donald Goodner (Alpha Sigma 1961) Collections Manager for Mineralogy and passed along an interesting footnote to the Spring 1. J. L. Marshall and V. R. Marshall, The 2016 “Rediscovery” article. The obituary for Dr. Paul Meteoritics at the Yale University Peabody HEXAGON of Alpha Chi Sigma, (a) 2000, K. Kuroda (Alpha Sigma 1996) refers to his predic- Museum of Natural History, who (as a native of 91(3), 43–45; (b) 2003, 94(4), 60–62; (c) 2004, tion about geological, self-sustaining nuclear chain Romania) donated the photograph for Figure 1, 95(2), 24–28; (d) 2007, 98(4), 70–76; (e) 2008, reactions: and who furnished much information about 99(2), 20–24; (f) 2014, 105(2), 24–29. In the 1950s Kuroda predicted that self-sus- geology and chemistry in Romania. Fluent in 2. H. E. Roscoe and C. Schorlemmer, A Treatise taining nuclear chain reactions could have many languages, including Hungarian, occurred naturally in earth’s geologic history. In on Chemistry. Vol I, “The Non-metallic Romanian, and German, his critical editing of 1972, his prediction was confirmed when scien- Elements,” 3rd ed., 1905, Richard Clay and this article has proven to be invaluable. Also tists discovered a natural nuclear reactor in Sons, 473–374. critical for the planning for the original trips to Gabon, Africa… In 1960, he predicted the exis- Europe in 1999 was Dr. Dana Pop, head of the 3. E. D. Clarke, Travels in Various Countries of tence of plutonium-244 as an element present Mineralogical Collection of Cluj-Napoca, Europe, Asia, and Africa, Cadwell and Davies, during the solar system’s formation. Romania. She (now Dana Lüttge) presently Strand, London, 1818. A brief note in reply from the author: 4. “A Collecting Trip through Transylvania and resides in Bremen, Germany. For the In our article, “The Rare Earths—The Last Hungary 1802,” Mineralogical Record, 1990, Hungarian connection, the authors are indebt- Member” (Spring 2016, pp. 4–9), we did not men- ed to Kovács László, Department of Physics, 21, Jan–Feb, 83–95. tion that Paul K. Kuroda (1917–2001), the author Berzsenyi College, Szombathely, for the fresco 5. F. J. Müller von Reichenstein; first of reference 17, wherein he discusses the Oklo portraits; and to Papp Gábor, Dept. of announced in a letter to I. von Born Sept 21, phenomenon in Gabon, Africa, was a member of Mineralogy and Petrology, Hungarian Natural 1782, published Phys. Arb. Eintr. Freunde Alpha Chi Sigma. On page 49 of this reference, History Museum, for extensive information Wien, 1783, 1, 57–59; subsequent papers Kuroda reminds the reader that studies of the including the mineralogy, map layouts, history, ibid, 1783, 1, 63–69; 1784, 2, 49–53, 85–87; Oklo reactor “have generally confirmed that the and language of the region. 1785, 3, 34–52. theory of natural reactors as it was originally envi- sioned by the writer in 1956 was essentially cor- Notes. 6. M. E. Weeks and H. M, Leicester, Discovery rect.” Dr. Kuroda was a professor of chemistry at of the Elements, 7th ed., Journal of Chemical the University of Arkansas and won many awards 1. In German, the crossed hammers are called Education, 1968, 292–305. Weeks gives an from the American Chemical Society. Professor “Eisen und Schlägel.” In Hungarian, “crossed excellent and full review of the controversy Kuroda was the Honor Initiate at the 43rd Biennial hammers” is literally translated “keresztbe tett between Klaproth and Kitaibel including Conclave (1996).

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