# Victorium

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**Victorium**,[1] originally named **monium**, is a mixture of [gadolinium](/source/Gadolinium) and [terbium](/source/Terbium). In 1898, [English](/source/England) chemist [William Crookes](/source/William_Crookes) reported his discovery of it in his inaugural address as president of the [British Association for the Advancement of Science](/source/British_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science). He identified the new substance, based on an analysis of the unique [phosphorescence](/source/Phosphorescence) and other [ultraviolet](/source/Ultraviolet)-[visible](/source/Visible_spectrum) spectral phenomena, as a new [chemical element](/source/Chemical_element), although this was later shown to be false. The name monium means "alone", because its [spectral lines](/source/Spectral_line) stood alone at the end of the ultraviolet spectrum.[2] In 1899 Crookes renamed the purported element "victorium" in honor of [Queen Victoria](/source/Queen_Victoria)'s recent [diamond jubilee](/source/Diamond_jubilee). He assigned it the symbol **Vc**. By 1905, however, [French](/source/France) chemist [Georges Urbain](/source/Georges_Urbain) had proven that victorium was not a distinct element but rather an impurity of gadolinium.[3]

## References

1. Elder, Eleanor S (1980). "Sir William Crookes, Victorium, and the Library of Congress". *Journal of Chemical Education*. **57** (6): 421. [Bibcode:1980JChEd..57..421E](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1980JChEd..57..421E). [doi:10.1021/ed057p421](https://doi.org/10.1021/ed057p421)

1. Fontani, Marco; Costa, Mariagrazia; Orna, Mary Virginia (2014). [*The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table's Shadow Side*](https://books.google.com/books?id=Ck9jBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA203). [Oxford University Press](/source/Oxford_University_Press). pp. 202–203. ISBN 9780199383368.

1. Brock, William Hodson (2008). *William Crookes (1832-1919) and the Commercialization of Science*. Ashgate Publishing. pp. 321–325. ISBN 9780754663225.

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