I'm trying to understand some paper about Udagawa Youan and chemistry in Japan and I have a big problem with 殺素. It's means all chemistry elements which can kill or mayby only radioactive? Or mayby it's means something else? And is this word in use today too?
Example from paper:
榕菴初期の気体化学、窒素と殺素、大気に濛気の語。
I googled and found the paper you are referring to. In a section later than your example it explains:
榕菴が苦労したのは、オランダ語を理解することであった。しかし直訳ではなく、多くの参考書を活用し自身の考えをいれた。しかしそうでない造語もある。水素、酸素、窒素など元素名は 榕菴以前にはなく、榕菴が造語せねばならなかった。窒素はオランダ語stikstofで、 榕菴は最初の殺素から途中で窒素に変えたもの、酸素はzuurstofでオランダ語では酸っぱい、水素はwaterstofで水の素であるという意である。
So unless I have misinterpreted this, it seems that it was his original neologism for 窒素, and was not, and has never been, in wide use for that meaning or any other.
