OXYGEN, a term adopted in the new chemical
nomenclature, to express the acidifying principle; from Oxygen σξος, "acid," and γενεσις, "to generate." It is not found naturally in a separate state, but always combined with some other substance. In its aeriform or elastic state, it is called oxygenous gas, and is the same as the dephlogisticated air of Priestley and Cavendish, the empyrean air of Scheele, the vital and pure air of other chemists. See OXYGEN, CHEMISTRY INDEX.