Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X, list of scientific terms with Scottish connections).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
MEPHITIC AIR. Chem. A translated form of aer mephiticus used by Daniel Rutherford (1749–1819), later Professor of Botany at Edinburgh, in his thesis of 1772 De Aere Fixo Dicto in which he first distinguished between carbon dioxide and nitrogen, and applied the term to the former, leaving the latter nameless.
