Entry from July 05, 2015

“Johnny thought that H2O was H2SO4” (chemistry rhyme)

Water (H20) should not be confused with sulfuric acid (H2SO4). A rhyming aid was cited in 1894 and has long been popular with high school and college chemistry students:



Our Willie passed away today,

His face we’ll see no more;

What Willie thought was H2O

Proved H2SO4.



The author of the lines is not known. “Willie” has been replaced with other names, such as Johnny, Jimmy, Tommy and Timmy.





Wikipedia: Sulfuric acid

Sulfuric acid (alternative spelling sulphuric acid) is a highly corrosive strong mineral acid with the molecular formula H2SO4. It is a pungent-ethereal, colorless to slightly yellow viscous liquid which is soluble in water at all concentrations. Sometimes, it is dyed dark brown during production to alert people to its hazards. The historical name of this acid is oil of vitriol.



Google Books

November 1894, Hamilton Review (Hamilton College, Clinton, NY), pg. 54, col. 1:

A CHEMICAL TRAGEDY.

Our Willie passed away today,

His face we’ll see no more;

What Willie thought was H2O

Proved H2SO4.

-- Bowdoin Orient.



1 February 1895, The Cosmos (Cedar Rapids, IA), pg. 54, col. 2:

A CHEMICAL MISFORTUNE.

Our Willie passed away today,

His face we’ll see no more;

What Willie thought was H2O

Proved H2SO4.

-- Cornellian.



Old Fulton NY Post Cards

16 February 1898, Gazette & Courier (Greenfield, MA), pg. 3, col. 4:

Poor Jimmy Brown is dead and gone.

His face we’ll see no more

For what he took for H2)

Was H2SO4.

(This was published in the high school’s paper, “The Alpha.”—ed.)



Google Books

8 October 1898, The Polytechnic (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY), pg. 14, col. 2:

Our Willie passed away today,

His face we’ll see no more;

What Willie thought was H2O,

Proved H2SO4.



Hadst though but given Willie boy

Na HCO3,

NH3 Ca(HO)2,

He’d still have been with thee.



“Twa better thus,” Will’s spirit cried;

“No NH3 for me.

When vitriol gets in one’s inside,

The stomach goes, you see.”



E’en though the stomach’s gone,

We know—since Schlatter showed the way—

His ileum and oesophagus might

Have served for many a day.



But th’ oesophagus, too, is always charred

By H2SO4.

And so our antidotes are barred

And death has closed the door.—Ex.



Google Books

September 1907, The Pacific Pharmacist pg. 246, col. 1:

John H. Brown

He used to drink,

But now he drinks no more.

For what he thought was H2O

Proved H=SO.

-- Nathan Winter, Ph. G.



1 November 1907, The Daily Echo (Shortridge High School, Indianapolis, IN), pg. 1, col. 3:

Little Tommy’s gone to heaven.

His face we’ll see no more—

For what he thought was H2O

Was H2SO4.—Ex.



Google Books

June 1909, The Clinique (Chicago, IL), pg. 402:

Darby was a Drug Clerk,

Darby is no more!

What Darby thought was H2O,

Was H2SO4. — Exchange.



Google Books

February 1910, American Journal of Public Hygiene, pg. 104:

Before addressing myself to that topic, I am disposed to report the metrical form of death certificate, which is said to have been indulged in by a certain wag among the doctors:



“Regarding William Shore

We’ll never see him more,

For what he took for H2O

Was H2SO4.”



19 September 1910, Iowa City (IA) Citizen, pg. 4, col. 4:

“Our Willie boy is dead and gone,

We ne’er shall see him more.

What Willie thought was H2O

Was H2SO4.”

(From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.—ed.)



Google Books

Minnesota Magazine

Volume 18

1911

Pg. 79:

Alas for little Johnny

We shall never see him more

For what he thought was HsO

Was H2SO4.



25 November 1913, Shortridge Daily Echo (Shortridge High School, Indianapolis, IN), pg. 3, col. 2:

A TRAGEDY

Little Willie now is singing

On the golden shore.

For what he thought was H2O,

Was H2SO4. —Exchange.

ANOTHER VERSION

Little Willie now is coughing.

Coughing sure is something new.

For what he thought was perfumed water

Was H2O and Cl2.



Google Books

Year Book of the College of Pharmacy

University of Nebraska--Lincoln

the University Press

1914

Pg. ?:

Fortier took a drink one day,

But now he drinks no more;

For what he thought was H2O

Was H2SO4.



Google Books

April 1917, Journal of the Western Society of Engineers, pg. 200:

In this connection the speaker is reminded of Willie:



Willie had an awful thirst,

But Willie is no more,

For what he thought was H2O

Was H2SO4.



14 July 1928, Boston (MA) Herald, “Selections From Our Mail Bag,” pg. 14, col. 8:

It is to be hoped that his faith may have a surer foundation of knowledge than that of the youth in the time-worn lyric:



“Johnny was a druggist’s son,

But Johnny is no more—

For what Johnny thought was H2O

Was H2SO4.”

SARAH HINDS WILDER.

Worcester, June 11.



11 June 1929, Edwardsville (IL) Intelligencer, “Side Talks” by Ruth Cameron, pg. 3, col. 6:

Indeed I doubt if I could even give a product its chemical nom de plume except sulfuric acid, which was forever fixed in my mind by the delightful couplet, “Our Johnny is no more, what Johnny took for H2O was H2SO4.”



18 March 1930, San Diego (CA) Union, “The Northeast Corner,” pg. 6, col. 6:

Mysterious clipping received by the Corner:



“Johnny was a chemist.

But Johnny is no more.

For what Johnny thought was H2O,

Was H2SO4.”



Will some leading druggist tell us what that means?



Google Books

Total Recall:

How to Boost Your Memory Power

BY Joan Minninger

Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press

1984

Pg. 102:

Chemistry students have little desire to confuse a bottle of water with a bottle of sulfuric acid:



Johnny was a chemist.

Johnny is no more.

For what he thought was H2O

Was HZSO4.



Urban Dictionary

H2SO4

The chemical formula for sulfuric acid.

Little Timmy took a drink,

But he will drink no more,

For what he thought was H2O,

Was H2SO4.

by Thumbs it up plz July 07, 2006



Google Books

The 2,548 Wittiest Things Anybody Ever Said

By Robert Byrne

New York, NY: Touchstone

2012

Pg. ?:

2,021

Willie was a chemist;

Willie is no more

What Willie took for H2O

Was H2SO4

—One ofmany Little Willie poems



YouTube

Track 07 “Acid Head” - Album “Vanishing Lessons” - Artist “Tourniquet”

ChristianClassicRawk

Published on Jul 18, 2012

“Acid Head” Track 07 from the album Vanishing Lessons by Tourniquet.

Lyrics:

Johnny is a chemist’s son

But Johnny is no more

What Johnny thought was H2O

Was H2SO4