  Since Berzelius published the first resume of the chemistry of selenium, in 1818(1), many articles have appeared in this field. Several reviews(2) of its compounds, including references, have been published, besides the resumes in the chemical dictionaries. These reviews are confined mainly to the inorganic side. No attempt has ever been made to compile a bibliography of selenium organic compounds. From time to time, articles have appeared, but the field is still a promising one, with many alluring possibilities. In the perusal of the organic records of the metal, distributed over the span of a century, there are indications of the value of selenium compounds for pharmaceutical and tinctorial uses. An effort has been made to collect these scattered data for critical examination with other analogues and sulphur compounds in particular, and to prepare and study some new organic compounds containing selenium, for the purpose of gaining additional light upon the chemistry of such substances, and in the hope of discovering some which may be of practical service in medicine or elsewhere.
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