Lucium, the first patented element, was first reported by Prosper Barri�re in March of 1895. After news of the discovery was published by Sir William Crookes in Chemical News in 1896, controversy ensued: prominent scientists were incorrectly linked with experiments performed to verify the presence of the new element in the article published by Crookes, and ultimately the �element� lucium was proven not to be a new element at all by July of 1897. It was determined that lucium, instead of being a new element, was in fact an impure sample of yttrium.

Controversy of lucium - the first patented "element"

248th National Meeting (2014)

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