RUTHERFORD, Daniel (1749-1819). Dissertatio inauguralis de aere fixo dicto, aut mephitico. Edinburgh: Balfour & Smellie, 1772. 8o (198 x 120 mm). Modern half green morocco, marbled boards, gilt spine with red leather label. Provenance: Medical & Chirurgical Society of Aberdeen (stamp); Wellcome Medical Library (stamp and withdrawal stamp). FIRST EDITION. THE DISCOVERY OF NITROGEN, IN RUTHERFORD'S DISSERTATION ON "FIXED AIR" (CARBON DIOXIDE). Although both Cavendish and Carl Wilhelm Scheele, a Swedish chemist, had isolated nitrogen previously, this is the first published description of a gas that could extinguish both life and combustion, but which was recognizably not "fixed air", (carbon dioxide). Even Rutherford did not recognize this gas to be a separate entity, but thought it only a combination of common air and phlogiston. Garrison-Morton 921; Norman 1869. Sold not subject to return.