William Whewell to Faraday   12 November 1844

Trin. Lodge, Cambridge, Nov. 12 | 1844

My dear Sir

I am glad to hear that you are working, and come to a point where you want new words¹; for new words with you imply new things. I fear I am not sufficiently in possession of the bearings of the subject on which you are now engaged to make my help of any use to you. As you are aware, I think the first condition of scientific terms is that they should bear such a relation to one another that the truths of science may be simply expressed. It is therefore difficult to recommend an insulated word. I will however mention to you what occurs to me, and you can make what use of it you will: If I understand right, the point of temperature and pressure special for each fluid, for which you want a name is a more general aspect of the boiling point or dew point: or perhaps rather like what we may conceive of water at a very high temperature, when it is prevented from flashing in to steam by very great pressure. In this case we may conceive the water to be virtually vapour and prevented from being actual[ly] so: and I suppose the same is the case with your fluids. Would it do to call them vaporiscent, and this point, the point of vaporiscence. As we say a solid liquesces, we may say that a liquid vaporisces. Or if you wish rather to say that the liquid state is destroyed, you might say that the fluid is disliquified ².

We are, as seems to me much in want of a phraseology for describing the solid, liquid, and aery conditions of bodies. To call them the solid, liquid and gaseous forms, leads to needless confusion; form has so many other senses. I proposed, in my Philosophy I think, to call them the solid, liquid and aery consistencies of bodies: for though consistency does not hang together well with our notion of an air, that is because the air itself does not hang well together for which there is no help.

If I have mistaken your object I should be glad to hear from you again.

Believe me | My dear Sir | Yours most truly | W. Whewell

Professor Faraday