Luminous Phenomena in Oxygen

PROF. J. KAPLAN1 proposes the name 'active oxygen' for certain luminous phenomena observed by him “just as the name active nitrogen was given to similar phenomena in nitrogen”. I write to point out that this is not historically correct. I say so with some confidence, having coined the phrase 'active nitrogen' myself2. The full title of the paper cited was “A Chemically Active Modification of Nitrogen, Produced by the Electric Discharge”, and in the same paper it was shortened into “active nitrogen”.