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                          COOLEY'S CYCLOPAEDIA
                                   OF
                           PRACTICAL RECEIPTS
                                  AND
                         COLLATERAL INFORMATION
                                 IN THE
              ARTS, MANUFACTURES, PROFESSIONS, AND TRADES
                               INCLUDING

           Medicine, Pharmacy, Hygiene, and Domestic Economy

                       DESIGNED AS A COMPREHENSIVE

                     SUPPLEMENT TO THE PHARMACOP[OE]IA

                                  AND

                      GENERAL BOOK OF REFERENCE

             FOR THE MANUFACTURER, TRADESMAN, AMATEUR, AND
                           HEADS OF FAMILIES

                             SIXTH EDITION

                    REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED BY

                    RICHARD V. TUSON, F.I.C., F.C.S.

         PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE;
      FORMERLY LECTURER ON CHEMISTRY AT THE CHARING CROSS HOSPITAL.

                                 VOL. I

                             [Illustration]

                                 LONDON

                J. & A. CHURCHILL, NEW BURLINGTON STREET

                                  1880

              PRINTED BY ADLARD AND SON BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE.

                      PREFACE TO THE SIXTH EDITION

Some one has said that "when a book reaches a fifth edition it scarcely
requires a preface." If such be true of a fifth, it is probably still
truer of a sixth edition, and therefore this issue of 'Cooley's
Cyclopaedia' might fairly be sent forth to the public without any prefatory
remarks whatever. It is, however, desirable to point out that the present
edition is larger than the last by about six hundred pages; that much
greater space than hitherto is devoted to Hygiene (including sanitation,
the composition and adulteration of foods) as well as to the Arts,
Pharmacy, Manufacturing Chemistry, and other subjects of importance to
those for whom the work is intended.

The articles on what is commonly termed 'Household Medicine' have been
amplified and numerically increased.

Short accounts of the more common diseases, their causes, symptoms, and
treatment, affecting the domesticated animals have been introduced. "Here,
however, it may be useful to repeat the cautions given in other parts of
this volume, as to the impropriety of unnecessarily meddling with the
healing art or neglecting a prompt application" (where and when possible)
"to a duly qualified practitioner in all cases demanding medical or
surgical aid." These remarks of Mr Cooley are as applicable to cases of
Veterinary as to those of Human Medicine.

Numerous authors have necessarily been consulted; a list of them, and the
titles of their works from which information has been derived, will be
found at the end of the second volume. When extracts have been introduced
_verbatim_ the authority is quoted in the body of the book.

Many of my scientific _confreres_ have rendered me valuable aid in
preparing this edition; but I am particularly indebted to my accomplished
and zealous friend Mr John Gardner for his hearty and constant
co-operation; to Dr Lionel Beale for his kindness in revising the articles
on "Urine," "Urinary Diseases," &c., as well as for the use of cuts from
his celebrated works on these subjects; to my friend and former pupil Mr
F. Woodland Toms for revising and rewriting the articles on "Sewage" and
"Water;" and to my assistants Mr James Bayne and Mr Cuthbert Neison for
correcting "proof."

The laborious task of preparing a sixth edition of 'Cooley' having been
accomplished, it is hoped that, due consideration being given to the
magnitude of the work and to the great variety of the subjects treated, it
will be found to be practically free from important errors, and that it
will meet with, at least, the same gratifying reception as that accorded
to its predecessors.

                                                   RICHARD V. TUSON.

  CHEMICAL LABORATORY;
       ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE, LONDON.
              _January, 1880._

                                PREFACE

The design of the present work is briefly, but not completely expressed in
its title-page. Independently of a reliable and comprehensive collection
of formulae and processes in nearly all the industrial and useful arts, it
contains a description of the leading properties and applications of the
substances referred to, together with ample directions, hints, data, and
allied information, calculated to facilitate the development of the
practical value of the book in the shop, the laboratory, the factory, and
the household. Notices of the substances embraced in the Materia Medica of
our national pharmacop[oe]ias, in addition to the whole of their
preparations, and numerous other animal and vegetable substances employed
in medicine, as well as most of those used for food, clothing, and fuel,
with their economic applications, have been included in the work. The
synonymes and references are other additions which will prove invaluable
to the reader. Lastly, there have been appended to all the principal
articles referred to brief, but clear, directions for determining their
purity and commercial value, and for detecting their presence and
proportions in compounds.

The sources from which I have derived the vast mass of materials forming
this volume are such as to render it deserving the utmost confidence. I
have invariably resorted to the best and latest authorities, and have
consulted almost innumerable volumes, both British and foreign, during its
compilation. Secondary channels of information have been scarcely ever
relied on when original authorities were within my reach. A large portion
of the work has been derived from my personal experience and observations
in the departments of applied chemistry and hygiene, and from the
processes of various laboratories and manufactories, many of which I can
the more confidently recommend from having either inspected or witnessed
their employment on an extensive scale. The indiscriminate adoption of
matter, without examination, has been uniformly avoided, and in no
instance has any formula or process been admitted into this work, unless
it rested on some well-known fact of science, had been sanctioned by
usage, or come recommended by some respectable authority. The settlement
of doubtful or disputed points has often occupied me a greater number of
hours, and not unfrequently a greater number of days, than that of the
lines of letter-press which convey the results to the public. In all cases
precedence has been given to the standard formulae of our national
pharmacop[oe]ias, and to those processes which long experience, or
well-conducted experiments, have shown to be the most successful,
profitable, and trustworthy. In general, the sources of information have
been indicated, for the purpose of enabling the reader to form a better
estimation of their value. Whenever this is not the case, in reference to
borrowed formulae and data, the omission has arisen from the impossibility
of determining to whom the merit is justly due.

I have endeavoured as much as possible, in the present work, to avoid
confusion of the medical weights with those commonly used in trade and
commerce--an attempt which, so far as I am aware, has not been
successfully carried out in any other quarter. For this purpose I
determined to entirely abandon the usual arbitrary signs or characters
employed to represent the divisions of the apothecaries' pound, and to
distinguish the two weights from each other, by simply printing, in
different type, the plain English names and abbreviations representing
their several denominations. The medical signs for the imperial gallon and
its subdivisions have also been abandoned for their common English names.
It would have afforded me pleasure to have reduced all the quantities to
one uniform standard, had it been practicable, or, in all cases,
advisable.

Under the names of most of the leading diseases that could be profitably
noticed in the present work, such explanations and directions have been
given as accord with the prevailing opinions and practice of the faculty
at the present day. These, when judiciously applied, will prove invaluable
to emigrants, travellers, voyagers, and other parties beyond the reach of
legitimate medical assistance; and, under opposite circumstances, will, in
general, enable those who have the care of the sick the better to second
and carry out the instructions and efforts of the physician for the
benefit of their charge. Here, however, it may be useful to repeat the
cautions given in other parts of this volume, as to the impropriety of
unnecessarily meddling with the healing art, or neglecting a prompt
application to a duly qualified practitioner, in all cases demanding
either medical or surgical aid. It is an indubitable fact that the best
efforts of the inexperienced and uninitiated in the mysteries of medical
science must be always enormously behind those of parties whose whole
lives and study have been devoted to the subject.

The nature of a condensed alphabetical arrangement not permitting
numerous articles to come under distinct heads, or to be referred to under
all their synonymes, the casual reader may often be led to suppose that
this book is most deficient where in reality it is the most copious. In
general I have attempted, as much as possible, to bring together subjects
of a closely allied character, and compounds which are analogous to each
other, either in constitution or the mode of their preparation. Thus, most
of the formulae for Mixtures, Ointments, Pills, &c., follow in alphabetical
order the general articles under these heads; whilst those for the Oxides,
Salts, &c., follow the names of their respective bases. In like manner, a
notice of a number of preparations will be found included in that of their
principal ingredients. The names under which the leading substances appear
are generally those which are most familiar to well-informed practical
men, and which have commonly reference to either their acknowledged
chemical constitution, or to some long-known and easily recognised
quality. The following extract conveys an important lesson on this
subject, with which I perfectly agree:--"We have been unwilling to make
any unnecessary changes in the nomenclature of substances whose names are
sanctioned by the usage of the present day; for these names have been, for
the most part, rightly assigned by our predecessors, or confirmed by lapse
of time. We are indeed aware that every improvement in the knowledge of
things ought to be embodied in their names; but we must be careful, in
selecting or forming these names, not to make those points appear certain
and established which are as yet doubtful, for it is safer to be in the
rear than advance of natural history."[1]

[Footnote 1: Preface to the Ph. L., 1851.]

I have exerted myself to the utmost to ensure the accuracy and
completeness of this volume, but I feel conscious that, after all my
efforts for this purpose, some errors have crept into it, that many
subjects which deserve insertion in it have been omitted, and that many
others have been either imperfectly or too briefly noticed. "Yet these
failures, however frequent, may," I trust, "admit of extenuation and
apology. To have attempted much is always laudable, even where the
enterprise is above the strength that undertakes it. To rest below his aim
is incident to every one whose fancy is active, and whose views are
comprehensive; nor is any man satisfied with himself because he has done
much, but because he conceives little." When I commenced this work I
resolved to leave nothing within its legitimate limits unexamined or
unelucidated; and I flattered myself with a prospect of the hours which I
should thus "revel away" in a pursuit so congenial to my desires--"the
treasures with which I expected every search into those neglected mines to
reward my labour--and the triumph with which I should display my
acquisitions to mankind." But these were the dreams of a poet, doomed at
last to wake a "Cyclopaedist". The long task which I had undertaken soon
exhibited its truly onerous character, and daily grew in urgency, until
that which promised to be a pleasure had been transformed into an
exhausting and continuous labour. At first, a sacrifice of the hours of
leisure only seemed necessary to the undertaking--next, those assigned to
professional and business avocations were demanded, and absorbed; but, ere
long, one by one, the hours usually devoted to repose were sucked into the
insatiable vortex, until the bright beams of the rising sun not
unfrequently illumined the lamp-lit study or the gloomy laboratory, and
surprised the author, no longer an enthusiast, at his still-enduring task.
But long ere this I had learned that to carry out my original resolutions
in all their completeness and entirety was impossible, and "that to pursue
perfection was, like the first inhabitants of Arcadia, to chase the sun,
which, when they had reached the hill where he had seemed to rest, was
still at the same distance from them."[2] All I can further say in
reference to this point is simply to assure the reader that three of the
elements usually deemed essential to give value to a technological
work--viz. zeal, industry, and capital--have not been wanting in the
production of the present one;--the first two depending on the author, and
the other chiefly on the liberality and enterprise of the publisher.

[Footnote 2: Dr Samuel Johnson's Preface to his English Dictionary.]

As heretofore, I beg to solicit my readers to apprise me of any
inaccuracies or omissions in this volume which may come beneath their
notice. I shall also thankfully receive any hints or suggestions tending
to the improvement of future editions of this work. Such communications,
to be useful, must, however be written on only one side of the paper.
Parties who may thus kindly afford me assistance will, in due course, have
their services publicly acknowledged; and their names and addresses,
unless when otherwise requested, will be published in full.

I have endeavoured to render the present volume as self-explanatory as
possible, and, in general, have appended ample directions to the several
formulae and processes that seemed to me likely to cause embarrassment to
those inexpert in chemical manipulation; but should any party find it
otherwise, I shall be happy to reply, gratuitously, to any reasonable
questions tending to elucidate the difficulty.

In conclusion, I may add that, having now for nearly a quarter of a
century devoted my attention to the applications of chemistry in most of
the useful arts and manufactures, both British and foreign, and in
sanitation, I am in possession of many valuable processes and formulae,
hitherto wholly unknown, or but partially developed, with various
improved plans of factories, laboratories, ventilation, &c., which the
limits of this work will not permit me to describe in its pages, but on
which I should be happy to communicate with parties interested in the
same. Persons desirous of establishing any new branch of manufacture, or
of improving an existing one, or of determining the purity or value of
articles of food, wines, liqueurs, medicines, &c., or of obtaining formulae
or processes which are not contained in this work, may, in like manner,
have their wishes complied with, by enclosing to me samples, or the
requisite information.

                                              ARNOLD J. COOLEY.

        NAMES OF THOSE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO, OR ASSISTED IN
                    THE REVISION OF, THIS EDITION

    JOHN ATTFIELD, Ph.D., F.I.C., F.C.S., Professor of Practical
        Chemistry to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

    J. WORTLEY AXE, P.C.V.M.S., Professor of Histology in the Royal
        Veterinary College.

    LLOYD BULLOCK, F.I.C., F.C.S.

    E. L. BARRET, B.Sc., F.I.C., F.C.S.

    E. CANTON, F.R.C.S., Surgeon to Charing Cross Hospital.

    SPENCER COBBOLD, M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Parasitology and
        Botany in the Royal Veterinary College.

    STEPHEN DARBY, F.C.S.

    DR DE VRIJ, of the Hague.

    JOHN GARDNER, F.I.C., F.C.S.

    WILLIAM HARKNESS, F.I.C., F.C.S., F.R.M.S., Assistant Chemist in
        the Laboratory of the Inland Revenue Department, Somerset
        House.

    C. W. HEATON, F.I.C., F.C.S., Lecturer on Chemistry at the
        Charing Cross Hospital.

    EDMUND NEISON, F.I.C., F.C.S.

    WILLIAM PRITCHARD, Professor of Anatomy in the Royal Veterinary
        College.

    A. E. SANSOM, M.D. Lond., M.R.C.P., Physician to the Royal
        Hospital for Diseases of the Chest.

    J. B. SIMONDS, Principal of, and Professor of Pathology in, the
        Royal Veterinary College.

    JOHN SPILLER, F.I.C., F.C.S.

    JOHN STENHOUSE, LL.D., F.R.S., formerly Lecturer on chemistry in
        St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

                ABBREVIATIONS, ETC., USED IN THIS WORK

These, for the most part, consist of the first syllable, or the initial
letter or letters of the words they stand for. As _Prep._, preparation;
_Pur._, purity; _Purif._, purification; _Obs._, observations; _Var._,
varieties, &c.--Ph., stands for _pharmacop[oe]ia_; B. P., for _British
Pharmacop[oe]ia_; Ind. Ph., for _Indian Pharmacop[oe]ia_; Cod., for
_Codex._--L., E., D., P., U. S., &c., associated with the last two
abbreviations, are the initial letters of the cities and countries which
produced the respective works; as, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris,
United States, &c. When no dates are given, the last editions of the
pharmacop[oe]ias are referred to.

_lb._, _oz._, _dr._, respectively represent the _pound_, _ounce_, and
_drachm_ (1/8 oz.), AVOIRDUPOIS WEIGHT. This is the only weight employed
in the British and last Dublin Pharmacop[oe]ias.

lb., oz., dr., and gr., refer to the _pound_, _ounce_, _drachm_, and
_grain_, APOTHECARIES' or TROY WEIGHT.

The word '_drop_' in all cases indicates a measured drop or minim.

The _names of individuals_ which appear in this work are those to whom the
immediately attached information or formula is usually attributed, or on
whose recommendation or authority it has been selected.

    ' denotes the _accented vowel_ or _syllable_.

    '' that the following consonant coalesces with the preceding
        letter in utterance.

    [dagger] that the name or the definition to which it is attached is
        '_obsolete_,'

    * that the name or the definition to which it is attached is
        '_obsolescent_,' little used, or objectionable.

    [double-dagger] that the name or the definition to which it is
        attached is '_colloquial_,' or popular, or used only in trade.

    Sec. that the name or the definition to which it is attached is
        '_vulgar_,'

            A CYCLOPAEDIA OF PRACTICAL RECEIPTS, PROCESSES, AND
                        COLLATERAL INFORMATION

A--ABBREVIATION

=A-, ab-, abs-.= [L.] In _composition_, from, denoting distance,
departure, separation, or opposition; as in _aberration_, _abstraction_,
_abnormal_, &c.

=A-, an-.= [Gr.] In _composition_, no, not, without, denoting the absence
or loss of some quality or thing; as in _achromatic_, _anhydrous_,
_amorphous_, &c.

=AB'ACA= (k[)a]h). A species of vegetable fibre, of several varieties,
obtained in the Philippine Islands, and remarkable for its brilliancy,
strength, and durability. The finer kinds are woven into muslins, and
other delicate fabrics; the coarser are formed into mats, cordage, and
sail-cloth. It has been recently employed in Paris for the manufacture of
various articles of furniture and dress; including bonnets, tapestry,
carpets, network, hammocks, &c. The fibre, and fabrics made of it, may be
bleached and dyed in a similar manner to flax and linen.

=ABATTOIR=. A public slaughter-house for cattle, &c., usually erected
within the walls or precincts of a continental town or city.

=ABBREVIATION=. One or more of the earlier letters of a word used to
express the whole.

1. Abbreviations in general use:--

  A.B., Bachelor of Arts.
  A.D., In the year of our Lord.
  A.I.C., Associate of the Institute of Chemistry.
  A.I.C.E., Associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
  A.M., Master of Arts.--Before noon.
  A.R.A., Associate of the Royal Academy.
  B.A., Bachelor of Arts.
  Bart., Baronet.
  B.C., Before Christ.
  B.D., Bachelor of Divinity.
  B.Sc., Bachelor of Science.
  C.B., Companion of the Bath.
  C.E., Civil Engineer.
  C.S., Civil Service.
  D.C.L., Doctor of Civil Laws.
  D.D., Doctor of Divinity.
  D.G., By the Grace of God.
  Dr., Doctor.--Debtor.
  D.Sc., Doctor of Science.
  D.V., God willing.
  Ed., Editor, or Edition.
  e.g., for example.
  F.C.P., Fellow of the College of Preceptors.
  F.C.S., Fellow of the Chemical Society.
  F.G.S., Fellow of the Geological Society.
  F.I.C., Fellow of the Institute of Chemistry.
  F.L.S., Fellow of the Linnean Society.
  F.R.A.S., Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society.
  F.R.C.P., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
  F.R.C.S., Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons.
  F.R.G.S., Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.
  F.R.S., Fellow of the Royal Society.
  F.R.S.E., Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
  H.M.S., Her Majesty's Ship.
  H.R.H., His (or Her) Royal Highness.
  i.e., That is.
  Inst., Instant (the present month).
  I.H.S., Jesus the Saviour of Man.
  K.B., Knight of the Bath.
  K.C.B., Knight Commander of the Bath.
  K.G., Knight of the Garter.
  Knt., Knight.
  K.St.P., Knight of St. Patrick.
  K.T., Knight of the Thistle.
  L.A.C., Licentiate of the Apothecaries' Company.
  Lat., Latitude.
  L.D., Licentiate in Dentistry.
  LL.D., Doctor of Laws.
  L.M., Licentiate in Midwifery.
  Loc. cit., The part referred to.
  Lon. or Long., Longitude.
  M.A., Master of Arts.
  M.B., Bachelor of Medicine.
  M.C., Master of Surgery.--Master of the Ceremonies.
  M.C.P., Member of the College of Preceptors.
  M.D., Doctor of Medicine.
  M.I.B.A., Member of the Institute of British Architects.
  M.R.C.P., Member of the Royal College of Physicians.
  M.R.C.S., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
  M.R.C.V.S., Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
  M.R.I., Member of the Royal Institution.
  M.R.I.A., Member of the Royal Irish Academy.
  MS., Manuscript.
  MSS., Manuscripts.
  Mus. Doc., Doctor of Music.
  N.B., Mark well.
  Nem. con., Without opposition.
  O.H.M.S., On Her Majesty's service.
  Op. cit., The work quoted.
  Per cent. (often expressed by the sign %), By the hundred.
  Ph.D., Doctor of Philosophy.
  P.M., Afternoon.
  Prox., The next (month).
  P.S., Postscript.
  Q.C., Queen's Counsel.
  Qy. (?), Query, Question.
  R.A., Royal Academician--Royal Artillery.
  R.E., Royal Engineers.
  R.H.A., Royal Horse Artillery.
  R.M., Royal Marines.
  R.N., Royal Navy.
  Tr., Translator.
  Ult., The last (month).
  v. or vide, See.
  W.S., Writer to the Signet.
  &, _ampersand_, and.
  &c., et cetera, And so on.

2. Abbreviations used in Prescriptions:--

  _A. aa._, _ana_ (Greek), of each. Equally by weight or measure.
  _Abdom._, _abdomen_, the abdomen, the belly.
  _Abs. febr._, _absente febre_, fever being absent.
  _Ad 2 vic._, _ad secundum vicem_, to the second time; or _ad duas
      vices_, for two times.
  _Ad gr. acid._, _ad gratam aciditatem_, to an agreeable acidity.
  _Ad def. animi_, _ad defectionem animi_, to fainting.
  _Ad del. an._, _ad deliquium animi_, to fainting.
  _Ad libit._, _ad libitum_, at pleasure.
  _Add._, _adde_, or _addantur_, add, or let them be added; _addendus_, to
      be added.
  _Adjac._, _adjacens_, adjacent.
  _Admov._, _admove_, _admoveatur_, _admoveantur_, apply, let it be
      applied, let them be applied.
  _Ads. febre_, _adstante febre_, while the fever is present.
  _Alter. hor._, _alternis horis_, every other hour.
  _Alvo adstr._, _alvo adstricta_, when the bowels are confined.
  _Aq. astr._, _aqua astricta_, frozen water.
  _Aq. bull._, _aqua bulliens_, boiling water.
  _Aq. com._, _aqua communis_, common water.
  _Aq. fluv._, _aqua fluviatilis_, river water.
  _Aq. mar._, _aqua marina_, sea water.
  _Aq. niv._, _aqua nivalis_, snow water.
  _Aq. pluv._, _aqua pluviatilis_, or pluvialis, rain water.
  _Aq. ferv._, _aqua fervens_, hot water.
  _Aq. font._, _aqua fontana_, or _aqua fontis_, spring water.
  _Bis ind._, _bis in dies_, twice a day.
  _Bib._, _bibe_, drink.
  _BB._, _Bbds._, _Barbadensis_, Barbadoes, as _aloe Barbadensis_.
  _B.M._, _balneum mariae_, or _balneum maris_, a warm-water bath.
  _B. P._, or _B. Ph._, British Pharmacop[oe]ia.
  _But._, _butyrum_, butter.
  _B.V._, _balneum vaporis_, a vapour bath.
  _Caerul._, _caeruleus_, blue.
  _Cap._, _capiat_, let him (or her) take.
  _Calom._, _calomelas_, calomel, subchloride of mercury.
  _C. C._, _cornu cervi_, hartshorn; it may also signify cucurbitula
      cruenta, the cupping-glass with scarificator.
  _C.C.U._, _cornu cervi ustum_, burnt hartshorn.
  _Cochleat._, _cochleatim_, by spoonfuls.
  _Coch. ampl._, _cochleare amplum_, a large (or table) spoonful; about
      half a fluid ounce.
  _Coch. infant._, _cochleare infantis_, a child's (or tea) spoonful.
  _Coch. magn._, _cochleare magnum_, a large spoonful.
  _Coch. med._, _cochleare medium_, } a middling or moderate spoonful;
      that is,
  _Coch. mod._, _cochleare modicum_,} a dessert-spoonful--about two fluid
      drachms.
  _Coch. parv._, _cochleare parvum_, a small (or tea) spoonful; it
      contains about one fluid drachm.
  _Col._, _cola_, strain.
  _Col._, _colatus_, strained.
  _Colet._, _coletur_, _colat._, _colatur_, let it be strained;
      _colaturae_, to the strained liquor.
  _Colent._, _colentur_, let them be strained.
  _Color._, _coloretur_, let it be .
  _Comp._, _compositus_, compounded.
  _Cong._, _congius_, a gallon.
  _Cons._, _conserva_, conserve; also (_imperat. of conservo_) keep.
  _Cont. rem._, or _med._, _continuentur remedia_, or _medicamenta_, let
      the remedies, or the medicines, be continued.
  _Coq._, _coque_, boil; _coquantur_, let them be boiled.
  _Coq. ad med. consumpt._, _coque_ or _coquatur ad medietatis
      consumptionem_, boil, or let it be boiled to the consumption of one
      half.
  _Coq. S. A._, _coque secundum artem_, boil according to art.
  _Coq. in S. A._, _coque in sufficiente quantitate aquae_, boil in a
      sufficient quantity of water.
  _Cort._, _cortex_, bark.
  _C. v._, _cras vespere_, to-morrow evening.
  _C. m. s._, _cras mane sumendus_, to be taken to-morrow morning.
  _C. n._, _cras nocte_, to-morrow night.
  _Crast._, _crastinus_, for to-morrow.
  _Cuj._, _cujus_, of which.
  _Cujusl._, _cujuslibet_, of any.
  _Cyath. theae_, _cyatho theae_, in a cup of tea.
  _Cyath._, _cyathus_, vel, a wine-glass; from an ounce and half...
  _C. vinar._, _cyathus vinarius_; to two ounces and half.
  _Deaur. pil._, _deaurentur pilulae_, let the pills be gilt.
  _Deb. spiss._, _debitur spissitudo_, due consistence.
  _Dec._, _decanta_, pour off.
  _Decub. hor._, _decubitus hora_, at the hour of going to bed, or at
      bedtime.
  _De d. in d._, _de die in diem_, from day to day.
  _Deglut._, _deglutiatur_, let it be swallowed.
  _Dej. alv._, _dejectiones alvi_, stools.
  _Det._, _detur_, let it be given.
  _Dieb. alt._, _diebus alternis_, every other day.
  _Dieb. tert._, _diebus tertiis_, every third day.
  _Dil._, _dilue_, _dilutus_, dilute (thin), diluted.
  _Diluc._, _diluculo_, at break of day.
  _Dim._, _dimidius_, one half.
  _D. in 2 plo._, _deter in duplo_, let it be given in twice the quantity.
  _D. in p. aeq._, _dividatur in partes aequales_, let it be divided in
      equal parts.
  _D. P._, _directione propria_, with a proper direction.
  _Donec alv. bis dej._, _donec alvus bis dejecerit_, until the bowels
      have been twice opened.
  _Donec alv. sol. fuer._, _donec alvus soluta fuerit_, until the bowels
      have been loosened.
  _Donec dol. neph. exulav._, _donec dolor nephriticus exulaverit_, until
      the nephritic pain has been removed.
  _D._, _dosis_, a dose.
  _Eburn._, _eburneus_, made of ivory.
  _Ed._, _edulcorata_, edulcorated.
  _Ejusd._, _ejusdem_, of the same.
  _Elect._, _electuarium_, an electuary.
  _Enem._, _enema_, a clyster.
  _Exhib._, _exhibeatur_, let it be administered.
  _Ext. sup. alut. moll._, _extende super alutam mollem_, spread upon soft
      leather.
  _F._, _fac_, make; _fiat_, _fiant_, let it be made, let them be made.
  _F. pil._, _fiant pilulae_, let pills be made.
  _Fasc._, _fasciculus_, a bundle.
  _Feb. dur._, _febre durante_, during the fever.
  _Fem. intern._, _femoribus internis_, to the inside of the thighs.
  _F. venaes._, _fiat venaesectio_, let venesection be performed.
  _F. H._, _fiat haustus_, let a draught be made.
  _Fict._, _fictilis_, earthen.
  _Fil._, _filtrum_, a filter.
  _Fist. arm._, _fistula armata_, a clyster-pipe and bladder fitted for
      use.
  _Fl._, _fluidus_, fluid.
  _F. L. A._, _fiat lege artis_, let it be made by the rules of art.
  _F. M._, _fiat mistura_, let a mixture be made.
  _F. S. A._, _fiat secundum artem_, let it be made according to art.
  _Gel. quav._, _gelatina quavis_, in any jelly.
  _G. G. G._, _gummi guttae gambae_, gamboge.
  _Gr._, _granum_, a grain; _grana_, grains.
  _Gr. vj pond._, _grana sex pondere_, six grains by weight.
  _Gtt._, _gutta_, a drop; _guttae_, drops.
  _Gtt. quibusd._, _guttis quibusdam_, with some drops.
  _Guttat._, _guttatim_, by drops.
  _Har. pil. sum. iij_, _harum pilularum sumantur tres_, of these pills
      let three be taken.
  _H. D._, or _hor. decub._, _hora decubitus_, at bedtime.
  _H. P._, _haustus purgans_, purging draught.
  _H. S._, _hora somni_, at the hour of going to sleep.
  _Hor. un. spaetio_, _horae unius spatio_, at the expiration of one hour.
  _Hor. interm._, _horis intermediis_, in the intermediate hours.
  _Hor. 11ma mat._, _hora undecima matutina_, at 11 o'clock in the
      morning.
  _Ind._, _indies_, daily.
  _In pulm._, _in pulmento_, in gruel.
  _Ind. Ph._, Indian Pharmacop[oe]ia.
  _Inf._, _infunde_, infuse.
  _Inj. enem._, _injiciatur enema_, let a clyster be thrown up.
  _Jul._, _julepus_, _julapium_, a julep.
  _Kal. ppt._, _kali praeparatum_, prepared kali (_potassae carbonas_).
  _Lat. dol._, _lateri dolenti_, to the affected side.
  _M._, _misce_, mix; _mensura_, by measure; _manipulus_, a handful;
  _minimum_, a minim.
  _Mane pr._, _mane primo_, early in the morning.
  _Man._, _manipulus_, a handful.
  _Min._, _minimum_, a minim, the 60th part of a drachm measure.
  _M. P._, _massa pilularum_, a pill mass.
  _M.R._, _mistura_, a mixture.
  _Mic. pan._, _mica panis_, crumb of bread.
  _Mitt._, _mitte_, send; _mittantur_, let them be sent.
  _Mitt. sang. ad [oz]xij, mitte sanguinem ad [oz]xij_, take blood to
      twelve ounces.
  _Mod. praescr._, _modo praescripto_, in the manner directed.
  _Mor. dict._, _more dicto_, in the way ordered.
  _Mor. sol._, _more solito_, in the usual way.
  _Ne tr. s. num._, _ne tradas sine nummo_, do not deliver it without the
      money.
  _No._, _numero_, in number.
  _N. M._, _nux moschata_, a nutmeg.
  _O._, _octarius_, a pint.
  _Ol. lini s. i._, _oleum lini sine ligne_, cold-drawn linseed oil.
  _Omn. hor._, _omni hora_, every hour.
  _Omn. bid._, _omni biduo_, every two days.
  _Omn. bih._, _omni bihorio_, every two hours.
  _O. M._, or _omn. man._, _omni mane_, every morning.
  _O. N._, or _omn. noct._, _omni nocte_, every night.
  _Omn. quadr. hor._, _omni quadrante horae_, every quarter of an hour.
  _O. O. O._, _oleum olivae optimum_, best olive oil.
  _Ov._, _ovum_, an egg.
  _Oz._, the ounce avoirdupois.
  _P. ae._, _part. aequal._, _partes aequales_, equal parts.
  _P. d._, _per deliquium_, by deliquescence.
  _Past._, _pastillus_, a pastil, or ball of paste.
  _P._, _pondere_, by weight.
  _Ph. D._, _Pharmacop[oe]ia Dubliniensis_.
  _Ph. E._, _Pharmacop[oe]ia Edinensis_.
  _Ph. L._, _Pharmacop[oe]ia Londinensis_.
  _Ph. U. S._, _Pharmacop[oe]ia of the United States_.
  _Part. vic._, _partitis vicibus_, in divided doses.
  _Per. op. emet._, _peracta operatione emetici_, the operation of the
      emetic being over.
  _Pocul._, _poculum_, a cup.
  _Pocill._, _pocillum_, a small cup.
  _Post sing. sed. liq._, _post singulas sedes liquidas_, after every
      loose stool.
  _Ppt._, _praeparata_, prepared.
  _P. r. n._, _pro re nata_, occasionally.
  _P. rat. aetat._, _pro ratione aetatis_, according to the age.
  _Pug._, _pugillus_, a pinch, a gripe between the thumb and the two first
      fingers.
  _Pulv._, _pulvis_, _pulverizatus_, a powder, pulverised.
  _Q. l._, _quantum lubet_, } as much as you
  _Q. p._, _quantum placet_,} please.
  _Q. s._, _quantum sufficiat_, as much as may suffice.
  _Quor._, _quorum_, of which.
  _Q. V._, _quantum vis_, as much as you will.
  _Red. in pulv._, _redactus in pulverem_, reduced to powder.
  _Redig. in pulv._, _redigatur in pulverem_, let it be reduced into
      powder.
  _Reg. umbil._, _regio umbilici_, the umbilical region.
  _Repet._, _repetatur_, or _repetantur_, let it, or them, be repeated.
  _S. A._, _secundum artem_, according to art.
  _Scat._, _scatula_, a box.
  _S. N._, _secundum naturam_, according to nature.
  _Semidr._, _semidrachma_, half a drachm.
  _Semih._, _semihora_, half an hour.
  _Sesunc._, _sesuncia_, half an ounce.
  _Sesquih._, _sesquihora_, an hour and a half.
  _Si n. val._, _si non valeat_, if it does not answer.
  _Si op. sit_, _si opus sit_, if it be necessary.
  _Si vir. perm._, _si vires permittant_, if the strength allow it.
  _Signat._, _signatura_, a label.
  _Sign. n. pr._, _signetur nomine proprio_, let it be written upon, let
      it be signed with the proper name (not the trade name).
  _Sing._, _singulorum_, of each.
  _S. S. S._, _stratum super stratum_, layer upon layer.
  _Ss._, _semi_, a half.
  _St._, _stet_, let it stand; _stent_, let them stand.
  _Sub fin. coct._, _sub finem coctionis_, towards the end of boiling,
      when the boiling is nearly finished.
  _Sum. tal._, _sumat talem_, let the patient take one such as this.
  _Summ._, _summitates_, the summits or tops.
  _Sum._, _sume_, _sumat_, _sumatur_, _sumantur_, take, let him or her
      take, let it be taken, let them be taken.
  _S. V._, _spiritus vini_, spirit of wine.
  _S. V. R._, _spiritus vini rectificatus_, rectified spirit of wine.
  _S. V. T._, _spiritus vini tenuis_, proof spirit.
  _Tabel._, _tabella_, a lozenge.
  _Temp. dext._, _tempori dextro_, to the right temple.
  _T. O._, _tinctura opii_, tincture of opium.
  _T. O. C._, _tinctura opii camphorata_, camphorated tincture of opium.
  _Tra._, _tinctura_, tincture.
  _Ult. praescr._, _ultimo praescriptus_, last prescribed.
  _U. S. Ph._, United States' Pharmacop[oe]ia.
  _V. O. S._, _vitello ovi solutus_, dissolved in the yolk of an egg.
  _Vom. urg._, _vomitione urgente_, the vomiting being troublesome.
  _V. S. B._, _venaesectio brachii_, bleeding from the arm.
  _Zz._, _zingiber_, ginger.

See FORMULA, PRESCRIPTIONS, SYMBOLS, &c.

=ABDO'MEN.= [Eng., Fr., L.] In _anatomy_, the belly, or lower belly; the
great cavity of the body extending from the thorax, or chest, to the
bottom of the pelvis. It contains the stomach, intestines, liver, spleen,
kidneys, bladder, &c.; and in the female, the uterus, ovaria. &c.

=AB'ERNE'THY MEDICINES.= These originally consisted of a calomel pill, and
subsequently of a mercurial or 'blue' pill, to be taken over-night,
followed by an aromatised black draught in the morning. The quantity of
either of the former, for an adult, was about 3 gr. to 3-1/2 gr.,
increased a little in bulk by the addition of some liquorice powder; that
of the latter, from 1 to 1-1/2 fl. oz. As, however, when frequently taken,
these pills sometimes occasioned salivation, which proved prejudicial to
their sale, a little compound extract of colocynth (_Ph. L._, 1836) was
introduced into their composition, by which this objection was obviated.
Ultimately, their composition was settled at 3 gr. of mercurial pill, and
2 gr. of compound extract of colocynth; and these proportions are still
followed as the best by those who prepare and sell them. Persons who
object to black draught, will find a dose of castor oil, or of any other
mild purgative medicine that may be more agreeable to them, equally
efficacious.

The occasional use of these medicines seldom fails to prove highly
beneficial to the plethoric, bilious, and dyspeptic. In ordinary cases of
constipation, headache, &c., arising from deranged stomach or liver,
wherein the administration of mercurials is not contra-indicated, they
will be found of great service. It need scarcely be added that these
medicines are named after Mr Abernethy, the celebrated surgeon, who is
said to have frequently employed them in his practice.

=ABERRA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ABERRA'TIO, L. A wandering or deviation
from the usual course, or from the normal condition. In _optics_, the
deviation of the rays of light from the true focus, when inflected by a
lens or speculum. This arises from a difference in the physical nature of
the rays, from the figure of the lenses or specula, or from the nature of
the materials of which the media traversed are composed. See ACHROMATISM,
LENS, &c.

=Aberration of mind.= Mental alienation or wandering; insanity. A term
frequently applied, in familiar language, to a mild form of incipient
insanity or dementia, which is more or less occasional or continued,
trifling or severe, according to circumstances. The studious, nervous,
slothful, and those who are engaged in sedentary occupations and spend
much of their time in ill-ventilated apartments, or who indulge in
irregular or vicious habits, as well as 'fast livers,' are the most liable
to this affection. It also frequently arises from disordered physical
health.

_Treat., &c._ Change of scene, out-door exercise, agreeable company,
pleasing and continued mental occupation, and due attention to diet,
clothing, ventilation, &c., with the judicious use of some mild aperient
medicine and tepid bathing, will generally alleviate, and frequently
effect a cure. For the prevention of its accession, or its recurrence,
care should be taken to promote the general health, and also, where
necessary, to elevate the spirits and to divert the mind.

=ABLU'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ABLU'TIO, L. In a _general sense_,
washing, cleansing, or purification by water.

=Ablution.= In _hygiene_ and the _toilet_, a washing of the whole body, or
any part of it. The value of frequent and copious affusions of pure water
to the surface of the body is well known. During life, the skin is
continually subjected to abrasion, and the processes of reproduction and
decay, by which the cuticle, its exterior portion, is being constantly
thrown off as effete and useless matter, in the shape of very minute
scales or dust. This, mingling with the oily and saline products of the
skin, acquires sufficient adhesiveness to attach itself to the surface of
the body and clothing, as well as to attract the waste particles of the
dress, and the dust and soot floating in the atmosphere. In this way, if
occasional ablutions be not had recourse to, the channels of perspiration
will become choked, and the clothing itself rendered unwholesome and unfit
for use. The consequence of the pores of the skin being obstructed is
impeded transpiration, by which its functions, as a respiratory organ, are
interfered with or suspended. This adhering pellicle of refuse matter also
acts as an irritant, and forms a favorable medium for the absorption, and
the transmission into the body, of effluvia, miasmata, poisonous gases,
and the infectious and contagious matters of disease. "The greater part of
(contagious) poisons are conveyed to us through the external surface of
our bodies; and it is fully proved that poison, already communicated, has
been by cleanliness removed, before it could actually produce any bad
effects. I here allude, in particular, to frequent washing, bathing,
rinsing the mouth, combing and brushing the hair, and often changing the
linen, clothing, and bedding." (Hufeland.) Such are the immediate effects
of neglected ablution of the skin; the further consequences are of an
equally serious character. The blood being deprived of one of its sources
of oxygen, and one of the outlets for its carbon, the functions of
nutrition become imperfect, and the animal temperature lessened. The
matters which would be thrown out of the system in the form of
perspiration are retained, and must be eliminated by other channels. The
lungs, the kidneys, the liver, and the bowels, are each, in their turn,
overtasked to perform the functions of another organ. The oppressed
viscera suffer from exhaustion, and incipient disease soon follows. Their
particular offices are languidly performed, the equilibrium of health is
disturbed, and skin diseases, or consumption, diarrh[oe]a, dropsy,
liver-complaints, visceral obesity, or some other serious diseases of the
vital organs, ensue. When it is added, that no dirty or imperfectly washed
skin can long continue healthy, and ceasing to be healthy must also cease
to be agreeable and beautiful, the argument in favour of the daily use of
water of good quality to the whole surface of the body, when possible,
will surely be complete. The inculcation of habits of personal cleanliness
cannot be too forcibly emphasized. The fact, however, cannot be
overlooked, that in order to introduce habits of cleanliness amongst the
poorer classes, a plentiful supply of water, combined with cheap baths,
are requisite. Every officer of health should inquire into the amount as
well as the character of the water supply in the district over which he
has supervision. The body should be washed all over every morning with
either cold or lukewarm water and soap. This custom is more necessary for
workmen employed in laborious and dirty occupations than for those who
live sedentary lives; but all people perspire, and from every drop of
perspiration the water evaporates, and leaves a fraction of solid matter
on and around the pores that excrete the perspiration. If this solid
matter be not washed off, it accumulates and may derange the health.
Instances have occurred in which persons suffering from extensive bodily
burns have died, not from the effect of the injury, but from the
destruction of the pores or excreting vessels, with which the skin is
covered. It is well, therefore, to bear in mind that a dirty skin does not
always come from without, but also from within. Cold ablution, that has
been so indiscriminately recommended, is not half so efficacious, nor so
safe, as lukewarm. The German aurists ascribe the presence of the large
amount of deafness in England to our habit of washing the head and ears
each morning with cold water.

=Ablution.= In _medicine_, the washing the body, externally, as by
bathing; or internally, by diluting drinks. In ancient medicine, according
to Galen, internal ablution was accomplished by the use of profuse
libations of milk-whey; an object now aimed at, by the hydropathists, by
the copious administration of pure cold water. To neglect the daily
ablution of an infant is to discard one of the greatest aids to its
healthy development and physical wellbeing. That disregard of this
precaution is a fertile source of most of the skin diseases that affect
infants and children there seems little question about amongst medical
men. Water at a temperature ranging from 80 deg. to 90 deg. F. should always be
used. Mr Chevasse, in his 'Counsel to a Mother,' is emphatic in his
advocacy of rain water. He also advises the employment of Castile soap,
and of glycerine soap, should there be any excoriation of the skin. Of
course the same remarks apply to children as to infants, with this
difference, that the ablution is to be performed with water a few degrees
colder; and both infants and children should be rubbed dry with a dry soft
towel. There are doubtless many persons who deem themselves cleanly
washed, if in addition to their hands and arms, neck and face, undergoing
duly daily ablution, they wash their feet once a week. These individuals
cannot reflect that, because of their less exposure to the depurating
influence of the atmosphere, the feet require to be more frequently washed
than either the hands or face. See BATHING, BATHS, HYDROPATHY, &c.

=ABNORM'AL.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ABNOR'MIS, L. In _medicine_ and the
_collateral sciences_, contrary to, or without system or rule; irregular;
deformed; unnatural. In a diseased or unhealthy state.

=ABORTION IN COWS.= Abortion is the expulsion of the contents of the
pregnant womb before the full period of gestation is complete, and occurs
much more frequently in cows than in any other of the lower animals.
Abortion is often induced by shocks and injuries, feeding on ergotised
grasses, but more commonly by causes which are less obvious. Thus, bad
smells, pasturing on flooded meadows, rich and stimulating food, and even
association with other cows while aborting, are among the exciting causes
of this malady. The premonitory signs are an irritable excited state of
the animal, a discharge from the vagina, looseness and fulness of the
external organs of generation, and, occasionally, sudden enlargement of
the udder. These symptoms may continue for several days, and, if noticed
before straining or other signs of calving have appeared, the animal
should be copiously bled and placed in a comfortable loose-box, kept as
quiet as possible, moderately supplied with soft laxative food, and, if
the bowels be costive, with a pound or two of treacle daily. Powerful
purgatives are too irritant, and must, therefore, be studiously avoided.
Two ounces of laudanum, with the same quantity of sweet spirits of nitre,
should be given twice a day until all danger is over. To prevent the
continuance and spread of the evil, place the cow by herself as soon as
she aborts; remove and bury the f[oe]tus beyond the reach of other cows;
feed off the cow, if practicable, but if she be again bulled, it ought not
to be for several weeks, and until the period of heat is passing off;
remove all disagreeable smells, and see that the remainder of the herd are
moderately fed and carefully watched, so that the earliest symptoms of
abortion may be noticed.

=ABRA'SION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ABRA'SIO, L. The rubbing or wearing down
of surfaces by friction. In the _arts_, the reduction or figuration of
materials by the use of an abrasive tool, or grinder, of which the
effective portion is an exact counterpart of the form to be produced.

=Abrasion.= In _numismatics_, the 'wear and tear,' or waste of the
substance of coins, in the pocket and circulation. It forms a large item
in the expense of a metallic currency. The means employed to obviate, or
to reduce it, consist in either alloying the metal to render it tougher
and harder, or raising the borders so as to lessen the surface exposed to
friction. In well-formed coin both methods are adopted.

=Abrasion.= In _pathology_ and _surgery_--1. A superficial removal or
injury of the skin by fretting or friction.

_Treat., &c._ When the injured surface is large, or exposed, it should be
protected from dirt and further injury, by applying a piece of lint or
soft linen rag, covered with spermaceti cerate, or some other simple
ointment; over which a piece of strapping, or bandage of any sort, may be
placed to keep it on. In many cases, a piece of common sticking-plaster
will be found quite sufficient.

2. A very superficial ulceration or excoriation of the intestinal or other
mucous membrane. _Treat_. Aperients of castor oil, demulcents, and a
light nutritious diet. See EXCORIATIONS.

=ABRUS PRECATORIUS.= (Ind. Ph.) Indian Liquorice Plant. _Habitat._
Tropical portions of both hemispheres, _Officinal part._ The root (_Abri
Radix_, _Indian Liquorice_). Occurs in pieces of various lengths, from 1/2
to 1 inch in diameter; pale brown externally, yellowish internally;
inodorous, taste sweetish and mucilaginous, much resembling officinal
liquorice root. _Properties and uses._ Similar to those of liquorice, for
which it forms an excellent substitute. _Preparation._ EXTRACT OF ABRUS
(_Extractum Abri_). Prepared as Extractum Glycyrrhizae.

=ABSCESS.= A formation of matter or pus, resulting from inflammation,
either acute or chronic. The symptoms are pain, swelling, heat, and
redness, a conical projection on the swelling, often with a white point at
the apex. Abscess or suppuration may come on any part of the body. When
the local inflammation does not yield to cold lotions, apply poultices; a
pledget of lint dipped in cold water and kept moist by means of oil-silk;
a slice of bread softened with boiling water or milk, or linseed meal,
make the best poultices. Should the pain be severe add laudanum, and
additionally rub it round the swelling. Or apply common white paint by
laying it on gently with a brush, or else tincture of marigold or arnica
in the same manner. Chronic abscesses in the glands in the neck are
usually scrofulous, and should be opened. Abscesses in the breast should
not be opened too early, or others are formed. Those in the gums may be
cut early, not so if in the tonsils. After opening with a needle or
lancet-point external abscesses, continue to poultice till the hardness
disappears, then dress with spermaceti ointment spread on lint. When the
abscess is of a dangerous nature, lose no time in consulting a medical
practitioner.

_Treatment for horses and cattle._ Mr Finlay Dun prescribes fomentations,
poultices, counter-irritants, the knife, cauterisation, carbolic-acid
dressing, stimulating injections, and the administration of sulphites and
chlorate of potash.

=ABSINTHE.= [Fr.] ABSINTHIUM, L.; WORMWOOD, E.; WERMUTH, G. This article
is met with in commerce in the form of the dried herb with the flowers of
_Artemisia Absinthium_, having a whitish-grey appearance, a soft feel, an
aromatic and unpleasant odour, and an extremely bitter and aromatic
flavour. The plant is indigenous, and grows in thickets, in mountainous
districts, and on waste ground. Its odour is due to its containing an
essential oil; its bitterness is referable to _absinthin_, a
crystallisable principle which may be extracted from the herb by water or
spirit. The name _absinthe_ is also given to an intoxicating liqueur which
is extensively drunk on the Continent, and which unfortunately appears to
be rapidly attracting consumers in this country. The remarks on this
subject by Blyth in his admirable 'Dictionary of Hygiene' are so pregnant
with important facts that they will be here produced _verbatim et
literatim_. "An analysis recently made at the _Conservatoire des Arts_
shows that absinthe now contains a large quantity of antimony, a poison
which cannot fail to add largely to the irritant effects necessarily
produced on the alimentary canal and liver by constant doses of a
concentrated alcoholic liquid. And we have recently received the results
of some experiments made by M. Magnan, of Paris. By means of successive
distillations he has been able to isolate various products--(1) a blue
oil; (2) a yellowish oil; (3) an oxygenated substance. There was besides a
yellowish residue left in the glass. These various substances were tried
on animals; ten grammes of the yellow sediment given to a small dog
produced no effect; thirty centigrammes of the blue oil produced from
eight to ten epileptiform attacks. The oxygenated product proved, however,
the most powerful toxic agent. Fifteen centigrammes of it, injected into
the veins of a large dog, caused the most violent epileptic attacks, which
followed in rapid succession, and ended in death. There was an
extraordinary rise of temperature, from 39 deg. to 42 deg. Centigrade, and the
_post mortem_ showed various apoplectic centres. Dr Decaisne regards the
terrible evil of this almost universal absinthe-drinking as the greatest
national calamity that has ever befallen France, and has made an eloquent
appeal to the Government to strike at once a decisive blow at the trade in
this liqueur. Originally the only important ingredient in its composition
besides alcohol was the essential oil of absinthium or wormwood; and
though this without doubt added something to the mischievous effects of
the liqueur, it would be impossible to trace to it, or to the other
comparatively trivial ingredients, the more serious of the special results
which are now observed to occur to victims of absinthe, though the
habitual drinking even in small doses of _good_ absinthe is believed by Dr
Decaisne, sooner or later, to produce disorders in the animal economy. Now
various deleterious substances are added, the most important of these
being antimony. As at present constituted, therefore, and especially when
drunk in the disastrous excess now common in Paris, and taken, as it
frequently is, on an empty stomach, absinthe forms a chronic poison of
almost unequalled virulence, both as an irritant to the stomach and
bowels, and also as a destroyer of the nervous system. The effect of
absinthe is to produce a superabundant activity of the brain, a cerebral
excitement, which at first is agreeable; intoxication comes on rapidly;
the head swims, and the effect produced is nearly the same as that of
poisoning by a narcotic, which certainly does not occur with an equal dose
of brandy. With the absinthe-drinker, as with the opium-eater, the
excitement the spirit produces diminishes daily in intensity. Each day he
is obliged to augment the dose in order to bring himself up to the right
pitch. The diseases brought on by the excessive drinking of ardent spirits
are produced with greater rapidity by the use of absinthe." The amount of
absinthe consumed in London has during the last few years been enormously
on the increase. See LIQUEURS.

=ABSINTHIN.= C_{16}H_{22}O_{5}. The bitter principle of wormwood
(_Artemisia absinthium_). A hard crystalline solid, having an intensely
bitter taste; slightly soluble in water, very soluble in alcohol, less so
in ether. Its physiological effects resemble those of extract of wormwood.
_Dose._ 1/2 gr. to 2 gr., or more; in dyspepsia; as a stomachic, to
promote the appetite, &c.; as a substitute for quinine in intermittents;
and in worms.

=ABSINTH'IUM.= [L.] See ABSINTHE.

=ABSOLUTE.= _Syns._ ABSOLUTUS, L.; ABSOLU, Fr.; UNDEBINGT, G. In
_chemistry_, pure, unmixed; as _absolute alcohol_, pure spirit of wine,
_i.e._ free from water.

=ABSORBED'= (-sorbd'). _Syn._ CHILLED; ABSORBE, Fr. In _painting_, a term
among French connoisseurs, to represent that state of a picture in which
the oil has sunk into the canvas or ground, leaving the colours 'flat,'
and the touches indistinct. The remedy consists in rubbing the surface of
the picture, previously well cleaned, with a soft sponge dipped in a
little drying oil, and after some days varnishing it; when it should be
kept in a warm room until perfectly dry.

=ABSORB'ENT.= _Syn._ ABSORB'ENS, L.; ABSORBANT, Fr.; ABSORBIREND, Ger.
Imbibing; that imbibes or sucks up; variously applied in science and art.
(See _below_.)

=Absorbent Ground.= In _painting_, a picture-ground prepared wholly or
chiefly in distemper or water colour, in order that the redundant oil in
the colours subsequently applied may be immediately 'absorbed,' by which
expedition is permitted, and brilliancy imparted to them.

=Absorbent Surfaces.= In the _arts_, these are usually rendered
non-absorbent, preliminary to their being bronzed, gilded, painted, or
varnished, by giving them one, or more, coats of thin size, so as to
destroy their porosity; care being taken to allow each coat to become
thoroughly dry before the application of the next one; and also, finally,
to remove any unabsorbed excess of size from the surface, by means of a
sponge dipped in warm water. This applies to ALABASTER, PAPER, WOOD,
PLASTER CASTS, &c.; and to WALLS and CEILINGS which are not exposed to the
weather, and which there is not time to prepare with drying oil. See
BRONZING, MAPS, VARNISHING, &c.

Absorption and consequent adherence in porous moulds, as those of plaster,
are usually prevented by thoroughly saturating the pores of the mould with
melted tallow, or a mixture of tallow and bees' wax; or for delicate
objects or the electrotype, with white wax. The 'dry moulds' are either
heated before the application of these substances, or they are boiled in
them; any portion that may finally remain unabsorbed, being carefully
removed with cotton-wool or a soft rag. Another method is to wash the
moulds over two or three times with drying oil, or to boil them in it;
after which they must be exposed to the air for some days, to dry and
harden. Before being used for plaster, composition, &c., the surface of
these prepared moulds require to be slightly moistened with sweet oil.

_Plaster moulds_ are generally prepared for sulphur, wax, and gutta percha
casts, by simply placing them (upright) with the back immersed in a little
water, contained in any shallow vessel, as a saucer or plate; and letting
them remain there until moisture begins to appear on the surface. The
materials to be cast, or moulded, should then be used at the lowest
possible temperature, to prevent the formation of air-bubbles.

The adherence of wax or mixtures containing it, and of gutta percha, is
best prevented by moistening the surface of the mould (whether of plaster,
metal, or gutta percha), immediately before use, with soft soap reduced to
the consistence of thin cream with water. See CASTS, MOULDS, ELECTROTYPE,
&c.

=ABSORB'ENTS.= In _anatomy_ and _physiology_, two distinct sets of small,
delicate, transparent vessels, which imbibe or suck up fluid substances,
and convey them to the blood. They are termed lacteals or lymphatics; the
former take up the chyme from the alimentary canal, the latter pervade
almost every part of the body in which they absorb lymph.

=Absorbents.= In _botany_ and _vegetable physiology_, the origins of the
different vessels constituting the vascular tissue, as they are found in
the root, where they imbibe or suck up the nutritive fluids from the soil.
See PLANTS and VEGETABLES.

=Absorbents.= In _agriculture_ and _chemistry_, substances which possess
the power of withdrawing moisture from the atmosphere; as soils,
argillaceous earths, &c. Also (but less frequently) substances which
neutralise acids; as chalk, lime, and magnesia. Absorbents differ from
'deliquescent salts'; the latter attract moisture and dissolve in it;
whilst the former merely suck it into their pores, as a sponge does water.
See ABSORPTION.

=Absorbents.= _Syn._ ABSORBEN'TIA, L. In _medicine_ and _pharmacy_,
substances which remove acidity from the stomach and bowels. Of these the
principal are--magnesia, carbonate and bicarbonate of magnesia, prepared
chalk, and the carbonates and bicarbonates of potash, soda, and ammonia.
The first four are popularly called earthy absorbents; and the others,
alkaline absorbents. See ANTACIDS.

The following absorbent mixtures are taken from Dr Kirby's valuable work,
'Selected Remedies':

1. Infusion of rhubarb, 1-1/2 oz.; compound spirit of ammonia, 1-1/2 dr.;
compound infusion of gentian to 6 oz. Two tablespoonfuls to be taken 3
times a day.

2. Bicarbonate of potash, 1-1/2 dr.; syrup, 2 drs.; compound spirit
ammonia, 1-1/2 dr.; compound infusion of gentian to 6 oz. Two
tablespoonfuls to be taken 3 times a day.

3. Bicarbonate of soda, 1-1/2 dr.; spirits of chloroform, 1-1/2 dr.;
infusion of calumba to 6 oz. Two tablespoonfuls to be taken 3 times a day.

=ABSORP'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ABSORP'TIO, L.; EINSAUGUNG, Ger. The act
or the power of absorbing, in various applications. (See _below_.)

=Absorption.= In _agriculture_, the power possessed by soils of absorbing
moisture from the atmosphere. The more a soil is divided by labour and
vegetation, the greater is its absorbent power, and, consequently, its
fertility. Indeed, the latter chiefly depends on its capacity for imbibing
moisture, and may be illustrated by reference to recent and disintegrated
lava. (Leslie.) The finely divided state, most penetrable by the delicate
fibres of plants, appears to derive its superior power of acting on
atmospheric vapour from the augmentation of its surface and the
multiplication of its points of contact. (Ure.) This method of increasing
the fertility of a soil is well known to scientific farmers, and seldom
neglected by them. (Loudon.) That soil must be regarded as the most
fertile which possesses this power in the greatest degree. Garden-mould
has the highest absorbent power of any mineral substance. (Leslie.)

_Process of ascertaining_ the ABSORBENT POWER OF SOILS, _and other
substances._ Thoroughly dry the article by the suitable application of a
heat not exceeding 212 deg. Fahr., continued for several hours, and transfer
it, while still warm, into a clean dry phial furnished with a perfectly
tight ground-glass stopper. When cold, quickly and cautiously introduce
it, along with a delicate hygrometer, into a large wide-mouthed glass
bottle, the atmosphere of which has been previously rendered as damp as
possible, by suspending a piece of moistened rag or filtering paper in it.
It must now be kept closed for some hours, when the hygrometer will
indicate the degree of dryness of the enclosed air, and, consequently, the
absorbent power of the substance examined.

_Obs._ Experiments of this nature are only relatively correct, and must be
performed under exactly similar circumstances, to furnish reliable
comparative results. The whole process, in each case, must be as similar
as careful manipulation can possibly make them. With this reserve, they
will be found invaluable to the agriculturist.

=Absorption.= In _chemistry_ the passage of gases and vapours into liquid
and solid substances. Thus, water absorbs the oxygen of the air, lime
absorbs water, charcoal absorbs ammoniacal and other gases.

=Absorption.= In _medicine_ and _toxicology_, see MEDICINES and POISONS.

=Absorption.= In _perfumery_, see ENFLEURAGE.

=Absorption.= In _physics_, see HEAT, LIGHT, REFRIGERATION, &c.

=Absorption.= In _physiology_ (animal and vegetable), the function of
sucking, or taking up, of appropriate substances, by the 'absorbent
vessels.' It is one of the chief vital functions, the primary object of
which is to convey to the circulatory organs the proper supply of the
materials necessary for the support and growth of the body; and
subsequently, to remove and convey to these organs its effete and useless
portions, in order to their ultimate elimination from the system.

=Absorption.= In _surgery_, the natural process by which tumours and their
contents, morbid growths, and, sometimes, even healthy glands, &c., are
gradually taken up and disappear, by the action of the 'absorbents.'

=Absorption= (of Surfaces, Moulds, &c). See ABSORBENT SURFACES.

=ABSTERG'ENTS.= _Syn._ ABSTERGEN'TIA, L. In _medicine_ and _pharmacy_,
substances which cleanse or clear away foulness from the surface of the
body or sores; as soap, lotions, &c. See DETERGENT, which has a nearly
similar meaning, and is in more general use.

=AC'ARI= (-r[=i]). [L.; prim. Gr.] _Syn._ ACAR'IDANS; ACAR'IDES (d[=e]z);
ACARID'IAE. (-e-[=e]). In _entomology_, a division of arachnidans,
including the _mite_ and _tick_. All the species are either microscopic or
extremely minute, and possess such tenacity of life as to resist for some
time the action of boiling water, and to live with comparative impunity in
alcohol. Leuwenhoek had one that lived eleven weeks glued on its back to
the point of a needle, without food. The following are well known--ACARUS
AUTUMNA'LIS, the _harvest-bug_ or _wheal-worm_; A. DOMES'TICUS, the
_domestic tick_; A. DYSENTE'RIAE, the _dysentery-tick_; A. FARI'NAE, the
_meal mite_ (fig. _a_); A. RI''CINUS (r[)i]c-), the _dog-tick_; A.
SAC'CHARI, the _sugar-mite_ (fig. _b_); A. SI''RO, the _cheese-mite_ (fig.
_c_); A. SCABIE'I, the _itch-insect_ (fig. _d_).

The irritation of the skin, caused by these vermin, may be relieved by a
lotion of equal parts of sal volatile and water; and they may be destroyed
by tobacco water, or a lotion or ointment of stavesacre. See ITCH, MANGE,
PARASITES, PEDICULI, SCAB, &c.

=Acarus Farinae=, or _meal-mite_ (fig. _a_). This insect is found only in
damaged flour, and is more frequently met with in the flour of the
_leguminosae_ (beans, peas) than in that of the _gramineae_ (wheat, rye,
oat).

Now and then a single acarus may occasionally be found in good flour, but
even one should be regarded with suspicion, and the flour should
afterwards be frequently examined to see if they are increasing.

[Illustration: FIG. _a._ Mag. 250 diams.]

=Acarus Sacchari=, or _sugar-mite_ (fig. _b_).

[Illustration: FIG. _b._ Mag. 260 diams.]

Most of the brown sugars of commerce are infested by this pest, which is
of a size sufficiently large to be visible to the naked eye. The following
method of proceeding will lead to its detection:

Dissolve 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of sugar in a large wineglass of tepid water,
and let the solution remain for an hour or so, at the expiration of which
time the acari may be found, some on the surface of the liquid, some
attaching themselves to the sides of the glass, and some at the bottom,
mixed up with the copious and dark sediment, made up of fragments of cane,
woody fibre, grit, dirt, and starch granules, which usually subside on
dissolving even a small quantity of sugar in hot water. When first hatched
this acarus is hardly visible.

Acari of all sizes--that is, in all stages of growth--may be met with in
most samples of sugar.

Dr Hassall, in seventy-two samples of sugar which he examined, found
sixty-nine containing them.

[Illustration: FIG. _c._]

=Acarus Siro=, the _cheese-mite_ (fig. _c_). The dry and powdery parts of
decayed cheese, which by careful watching may very frequently be seen in
movement, consist almost wholly of this insect and their eggs in different
stages of development. The cheese-mite can hardly be seen without the aid
of the microscope. They are very tenacious of life, even when kept without
food. Mr Blyth says that under these circumstances "it is no uncommon
sight to see them killing and devouring each other; and that cheese is
rapidly destroyed by them; they crumble it into minute pieces, and emit a
liquid substance which causes the decayed parts to spread speedily." They
may be destroyed by being exposed to a strong heat, or by putting the
cheese for a short time in whisky.

[Illustration: FIG. _d._]

=Acarus Scabiei=, the _itch-insect_ (fig. _d_). The parasitic character of
the disease known as the itch was first demonstrated by Dr Bononio, who
on turning out the contents of one of the little bladders that show
themselves between the fingers of those affected with the complaint, and
placing the fluid under the microscope, discovered a minute animal, very
nimble in its movements, covered with short hairs, having a short head, a
pair of strong mandibles or cutting-jaws, and eight legs, terminating in
remarkable appendages, each provided with a sucker and setae.

It has no eyes; but when disturbed it quickly draws in its head and feet,
and then somewhat resembles the tortoise in appearance, its march being
precisely the same. It usually lays sixteen eggs, which are carefully
deposited in furrows under the skin, and ranged in pairs; these are
hatched in about ten days.

"To find the itch-insect," says Mr Jabez Hogg, "the operator must
carefully examine the parts surrounding each pustule; he will then see a
red line or spot communicating with it; this part, and not the pustule,
must be probed with a fine-pointed instrument. The operator must not be
disappointed by repeated failures."

=ACCIDENT'AL COLOURS.= See COLOURS (Complementary).

=ACCIDENTS.= _Black eye._ Bathe the eye frequently with a soft piece of
linen rag dipped in a lotion composed of one part of tincture of arnica
and seven parts of water.

_Burns and Scalds._ Refer to BURNS and SCALDS.

_Charcoal_, _combustion of_, _poisoning by._ Refer to CARBONIC ANHYDRIDE.

_Choking, or suffocation from substances sticking in the throat._ Refer to
CHOKING.

_Cut Finger._ Refer to CUTS.

_Precautions against Fires._ Refer to FIRES.

_Precautions against Lightning._ To take refuge under a tree during a
thunderstorm accompanied by lightning is to expose oneself to a double
danger--firstly, because by keeping the clothes dry these are prevented
becoming the non-conductors they would be if damp; and secondly, because
the tree, serving as a point of attraction for the lightning, conducts it
to the ground, and in doing so frequently rends the trunks or branches,
and kills any person or animal who happens to be close to, or in contact
with, it at the time.

Never, therefore, if overtaken by a storm of thunder and lightning fly to
the dangerous cover of a tree, pillar, hay-rick, wall, or hedge, but seek
shelter in the nearest dwelling; or if this is not at hand, get to a part
of the road or field where there is no object to attract the lightning,
and there remain till the storm has expended itself. Also avoid
particularly the proximity of iron gates, palisades, bronze statues, bell
wires, iron railings, and such like. When in the house, do not sit or
stand near the windows, doors, or walls, but place yourself in the middle
of the room, unless there should be a lamp or chandelier hanging from the
ceiling. Franklin recommends persons to keep away from the neighbourhood
of fireplaces.

_Treatment of persons struck by lightning._ In case of any person being
struck by lightning, immediately strip the body and throw bucketsful of
cold water over it for ten or fifteen minutes; continued frictions and
inhalations of the lungs must also be employed, and electricity should be
tried if it be possible.

=Accidents by Poison.= The means to be adopted in cases where poison is
taken, if the poison be known, are embodied in the antidotes, which will
be found given in this volume under the respective poisons.

Under all circumstances, however, medical aid should be sought as
expeditiously as possible, since many of the antidotes themselves being of
a dangerous, if not poisonous, character, should only be administered
under medical supervision. Pending the arrival of the doctor, no time
should be lost in giving an emetic, consisting of a teaspoonful of flour
of mustard in half a pint of warm water, supplemented by copious draughts
of warm water, and tickling the throat with the finger if necessary.

_Fish poisoning._ It is a not unfrequent occurrence to find fish when
eaten giving rise to a species of poisoning of a more or less violent
form, such as a sense of weight at the stomach, accompanied with nausea,
vertigo, headache, heat about the head and eyes, pains in the stomach,
thirst, and often an eruption of the skin resembling nettle-rash. These
symptoms may be sometimes due to the nature of the fish itself; sometimes
to its being in a state unfit to be taken as food, as, for instance, when
it is in a stale or decomposing condition; and occasionally to the
peculiarity of constitution of those who partake of it, even if in a
perfectly fresh condition. Whenever any of the symptoms above described
follow from eating fish, an emetic of mustard and water (a teaspoonful of
mustard in half a pint of water) should be administered. If subsequently a
rash should appear, it would be well to take a dose of brisk purgative
medicine, and, if necessary, a few doses of carbonate of soda 3 or 4 times
during the day.

_Poisonous Mushrooms._ The same treatment should be followed as for fish.
With some people the edible mushroom acts as a poison.

_Sinks._ See that these be securely trapped, and in the event of any
unpleasant smell from them, pour down some disinfectant, such as chloride
of lime, carbolic acid, or Condy's fluid. The foul emanations from a sink
ought to be regarded as of a most dangerous and pestilential nature.

=Accidents to Children.= Many, if not most, of the casualties to which
children are exposed are given above, together with the best course to be
pursued in the event of their being overtaken by any of them. There are,
however, a few forms of disaster which seem more especially peculiar to
children. Of these we may select--

_Swallowing a piece of broken glass._ In this case avoid giving
purgatives, but give solid farinaceous food, so as to envelope the glass
and enable it to pass through the bowels without causing injury by coming
in contact with them.

_Swallowing a coin._ Give a dose or two of castor oil, and examine the
stools until the coin is perceived.

_A small coin sticking in the windpipe._ Seize the child by the legs,
letting his head hang downwards, then administer several brisk blows on
the back with the palm of the hand, when very frequently the coin will be
coughed out of the mouth and on to the floor. If this plan do not succeed,
send immediately for medical aid.

=ACCLI'MATE=, or =ACCLI'MATISE=. In _botany_ and _zoology_, to inure a
plant or animal to a climate to which it is not indigenous. When so inured
it is said to be ACCLIMATED. In _medicine_, to habituate the body to a
foreign climate, so that it may not be peculiarly liable to its endemic
diseases; or to become so habituated. Thus, a person who has resided
several years at New Orleans without an attack of yellow fever, or having
had an attack has satisfactorily recovered, is said to be ACCLI'MATISED.

=ACCOM'PANIMENTS.= In _cookery_ and _housekeeping_, see TRIMMINGS.

=ACCUMULA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ACCUMULA'TIO, L. In _medicine_, a term
applied when the effects of the first dose of any substance still continue
when the second is administered (accumulation of action); or when several
doses of insoluble substances remain inactive in the system until their
energy is developed by chemical influence (accumulation of doses). See
MEDICINES, POISONS, &c.

=ACEPH'ALANS.= _Syn._ ACEPH'ALA, CUV. In _malacology_, a class of aquatic
mollusca, having no apparent head, but a mouth between the folds of their
mantle. Several of them, as the oyster, cockle, mussel, scallop, &c., are
consumed for food.

=ACERB'ITY.= _Syn._ ACERB'ITAS, L.; ACERBITE, Fr.; HERBIGKEIT, Ger. In
_chemistry_, &c., sourness, with bitterness and astringency, or harshness.
See CIDER, FRUIT, WINE, &c.

=ACERBO'S ANTI-RHEUMATIC AND ANTI-CATARRH OIL.= For various horse
diseases. Gum euphorbium, 10 parts; absolute alcohol, 10 parts; olive oil,
80 parts. Digest in a warm-water bath for 24 hours, then boil until all
the spirit has evaporated, and, when cold, strain through cotton. (Hager.)

=ACER'IDES.= Plasters that do not contain wax.

=ACES'CENT.= _Syns._ ACES'CENS, L.; ACESCENT, AIGRELET, Fr.; SAeURLICH,
Ger. In _chemistry_, &c., growing sour; slightly tart or acid; having a
tendency to sourness, or to run into the acetic fermentation, as _wine_,
_beer_, _malt-wort_, &c. Hence, ACES'CENCE or ACES'CENCY (_acescen'tia_,
L.; _acescense_, _aigreur_, Fr.; _saeurlichkeit_, Ger.), the tendency to
become slightly acid, or the quality of being so. See ACETIFICATION,
MALT-LIQUORS, WINE, WORT, &c.

=ACETA''RIOUS= (-t[=a]re'-e-[)u]s). Used for salads (as plants); relating
to salads (which see).

=AC'ETATE= ([)a]s'-). _Syn._ ACE'TAS, L.; ACETATE, Fr.; ESSIGSAeURE SALZE,
Ger. In _chemistry_, a salt consisting of C_{2}H_{3}O_{2} (sometimes
called the acid-radical of the acetates) with hydrogen, a metal, or a
compound basic radical; _e.g._,

  Hydrogen acetate (acetic acid) HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}
  Potassium acetate              KC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}
  Lead (plumbic) acetate         Pb(C_{2}H_{3}O_{2})_{2}
  Ammonium acetate               NH_{4}C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}
  Salts of acetic acid           (HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2})
      with the alkaloids are likewise termed acetates; _e.g._,
  Morphia acetate                C_{17}H_{19}NO_{3} . C_{2}H_{4}O_{2}

_Prep._ That of the commercial acetates, and of many others, is noticed
under the respective metals. In general, they may all be formed by direct
solution of the carbonate, hydrate or oxide of the metal whose acetate it
is desired to form, in dilute acetic acid; or from a solution of an
acetate and of another salt of the metal, by double decomposition. In
either case, the resulting solution must be carefully evaporated by a
gentle heat, and, where possible, crystallised.

_Prop., &c._ All the neutral acetates, except those of molybdenum and
tungsten, are more or less soluble in water, several so much so as to be
uncrystallizable; many dissolve in alcohol; they suffer decomposition at a
dull red heat, and by distillation, at that temperature, yield acetone and
water, or acetone and acetic acid, and leave a carbonaceous residuum; at a
full red-heat, those of potassium, sodium, barium, strontium, calcium, and
magnesium, are converted into carbonates, whilst the other metallic
acetates leave behind the pure metal, or its oxide. The aqueous solutions
of the alkaline acetates soon turn mouldy and suffer decomposition. No
more of them should, therefore, be dissolved at once than is required for
immediate use.

_Char., tests, &c._ The acetates are known--1. By evolving fumes of acetic
acid, recognisable by its peculiar and characteristic odour, on the
addition of strong sulphuric acid:--2. By evolving the vapour of acetic
ether (known by its peculiar and agreeable odour) when heated with a
mixture of about equal parts of concentrated sulphuric acid and alcohol.

=AC'ETATED= ([)a]s'-). In _chemistry_ and _pharmacy_, combined or
impregnated with acetic acid or vinegar.

=ACE'TIC.= _Syn._ ACE'TICUS, L.; ACETIQUE, Fr. Of or relating to vinegar;
made with acetic acid, as perfumes, &c. (See _below_.)

=ACETIC ACID.= HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}. _Syn._ PYROLIG'NEOUS ACID (_pure_); ACID
OF VINEGAR; ACIDUM ACE'TICUM, L.; ACIDE ACETIQUE, Fr.; ACIDO ACETICO, It.;
ESSIGSAeURE, Ger.; AZYNZUUR, Dut.; EISEL, Sax. When free from water it
crystallises on cooling, and is distinguished as--ACETIC HYDRATE,
HY'DRATED ACETIC ACID, MONOHY'DRATED A. A., GLA'CIAL A. A., MONOHYDRATED
A. A., ACE'TUM GLACIA'LE, ACIDUM ACE'TICUM G., L., &c. the sour principle
of vinegar.

_Var._ Commercial acetic acid is found under the form of the pure acid of
the chemist and pharmaceutist (glacial and dilute), and of vinegar, of
which there are several varieties, which are noticed under their
respective heads.

_Sources._ Fermented liquors; the vinegars of commerce; alcoholic liquors;
wood, from which it is obtained, as pyroligneous acid, by distillation;
the commercial acetates of soda, potassa, lime, lead, copper, &c. The pure
acetic acid of the chemist and of commerce is almost wholly obtained from
the acetates, either by the action of a strong acid, which seizes on the
base, setting the acid free; or, by dry distillation, in which the high
degree of heat employed separates the acetic acid from the base in the
form of vapour. It is also obtained by the oxidation of alcohol.

_Prep._ The following are the principal processes at present adopted to
obtain pure acetic acid:--

1. From the _Acetates_ in the moist way:--

_a._ From ACETATE OF SODA:--

1. Commercial acetate of soda (_i.e._, the 'pure acetate' of the
pyroligneous acid works), in crystals, is put into the body of a stout
copper still, and a deep cavity being made in the centre of the mass,
about 35% of sulphuric acid of a sp. gr. of not less than 1.84 is poured
in; the walls of the cavity are then thrown in upon the acid, and the
whole briskly agitated, for a very short time, with a large wooden
spatula; the head of the still is next luted on, and the distillation
conducted at a gentle heat, the receiver being changed as soon as the
distillate begins to acquire a slight empyreumatic odour. The product,
when the process is well managed, is an almost colourless acid of the sp.
gr. of fully 1.05, containing about 40% of glacial acid, or between 34%
and 35% of anhydrous acid. Any trace of colour or empyreuma is removed by
agitation with some well-washed and recently ignited vegetable charcoal,
or with a very small quantity of recently ignited purified animal
charcoal, and subsequently passing it through a prepared calico
bag-filter; or by allowing it to stand, for about a fortnight, in barrels
containing some beech-wood chips; after which it is ready for sale, either
as the ordinary acetic acid or pure pyroligneous acid of commerce, or (on
dilution, &c.) as vinegar.

2. The acid of sp. gr. 1.05 (obtained as above) is distilled with fused
chloride of calcium, the distillate being run into a refrigerator; the
crystals that form are drained at a temperature below 40 deg. or 45 deg. Fahr.,
and after removal to a warmer temperature, where they liquefy, and
agitation with a little peroxide of lead, are submitted to a second
distillation, as before; and this is repeated until the whole of the acid
crystallises at 51 deg. Fahr. The product is the glacial acetic acid of
commerce.

_Obs._ The above are the processes usually adopted, on the large scale, in
this country.

3. (M. Mollerat's process--without distillation.) Pure commercial acetate
of soda, in coarse powder, is placed in a hard glazed stoneware or glass
pan or receiver set in a cool situation, and 35% or 36% of concentrated
sulphuric acid, of the sp. gr. 1.843, added, in such a manner that the
acid may flow under the powder, and little heat be generated by the
operation; the whole is then allowed to remain in contact (covered) for
some hours, when crystalline grains of sulphate of soda are found covering
the bottom and sides of the vessel, and hydrated acetic acid, partly
liquid and partly in crystals, the upper portion. The temperature being
now slightly raised to a point just sufficient to cause the liquefaction
of the crystals of acetic acid (_i.e._, to from 62 deg. to 65 deg. Fahr.), the
fluid is poured off, and a very small quantity of pure acetate of lime
added to it gradually, until it ceases to yield any trace of free
sulphuric acid on evaporation. After sufficient repose it is carefully
decanted for use. An excellent commercial strong acetic acid is thus
obtained, without distillation, owing to the insolubility of sulphate of
soda in acetic acid; and from which glacial acid may be procured by
refrigeration. If, however, the process be badly managed, or the
proportions of the ingredients be not carefully observed, the product will
be contaminated with either a little sulphuric acid or saline matter. It
is also important to the success of this process that it be performed in a
cool apartment, and in well-cooled vessels. Perfectly pure acetic acid may
easily be obtained by rectification from this acid. The above plan of
superseding a troublesome distillation is one of the greatest improvements
yet introduced into the manufacture of acetic acid.

4. (Liebig's process.) Pure acetate of soda, thoroughly dried and finely
powdered, 3 parts, is placed in a capacious retort, and pure concentrated
sulphuric acid, 9.7 parts, poured over it through the tubulature. One
eighth of the acetic acid passes over by the heat developed by the
reaction of the ingredients. The heat of a sand bath is next applied and
continued until the contents of the retort become quite liquid. The
distillate, carefully rectified, yields two parts of pure acid, containing
only 20 per cent. of water. On exposing the latter portion which comes
over in a closed vessel to a temperature below 40 deg. Fahr., crystals of
hydrated acetic acid are deposited. The weaker, or liquid portion, being
poured off, the crystals are again melted and re-crystallised by cooling.
The crystals of the last operation, separated from the liquid, and
carefully drained in a cool and closed vessel, are perfectly pure hydrated
acetic acid.

_Obs._ The above is an excellent process for obtaining a chemically pure
acid. The excess of sulphuric acid left from the process may be recovered
by distillation; or the whole residuum may be employed in a second
distillation with fresh acetate.

[Illustration: (_C._) A Liebig's Condenser. (The other _reference letters_
are self-explanatory.)]

Although a retort is recommended by Liebig for the distillation, and is
usually adopted, on the small scale, for the purpose, a flask closed by a
cork perforated by two tubes, as exhibited by the _engr._, will be found
more convenient and safe; as the product is then less likely to be
contaminated by the 'spirting' of the ingredients over the brim of the
vessel. The heat of a diffused gas-flame may also be often advantageously
substituted for a sand bath.

_b._ From ACETATE OF POTASH:--

1. Acetate of potash (fused and powdered) is placed in a still, or other
suitable vessel, and 50% of the strongest sulphuric acid ('oil of vitriol'
of fully 1.84 sp. gr.) being added, the mixture is distilled to dryness,
as before. The product is 50 to 51% of the weight of the acetate employed,
with a sp. gr. of about 1.0735 to 1.074, containing about 66% of anhydrous
acetic acid, or nearly 80% of ordinary glacial acid. By rectification from
a little dried acetate of lead a perfectly pure acid of almost any
strength may be obtained. The ingredients are nearly in equiv.
proportions.

_c._ From ACETATE OF LEAD:--

1. (Ure.) Take of dried acetate of lead, 4 parts; strongest oil of
vitriol, 1 part. Distil slowly to dryness. Nearly equal to the last.

2. (Liebig.) Acetate of lead, 3 parts; sulphuric acid, 8 parts; as before.

3. (Dollfuss' Concentrated Acetic Acid.) Take of dried acetate of lead, 12
oz.; sulphuric acid, 6 oz.; distil 7 ounces.

_d._ From ACETATE OF LIME:--

1. (Christl.) Raw acetate or pyrolignate of lime (prepared by Voelckel's
process), 100 parts, is mixed with hydrochloric acid (20 deg. Baume, or sp.
gr. 1.1515), 120 parts; and after 12 hours, distilled in a copper vessel,
with a gradually applied heat. The product is 100 parts or lbs. of acetic
acid of 8 deg. Baume (sp. gr. 1.0556), containing about 47% of hydrated acid,
only slightly  and empyreumatic, fit for various manufacturing
purposes. The advantage of this process is the low price of hydrochloric
acid, and the product not being contaminated with sulphuric or sulphurous
acid.

_Obs._ It will be found that pyrolignate of lime generally contains 60% to
70% of neutral acetate; but should it contain either more or less, a
proportionate quantity must be employed. When the proper proportions are
used the distillate gives only a scarcely perceptible turbid cloud when
tested with nitrate of silver. If the hydrochloric acid used has the sp.
gr. 1.16, a less quantity being employed, the product will have the sp.
gr. of 1.058 to 1.061, and will then contain from 48 to 51% of the
monohydrate, or 41 or 42% of anhydrous acetic acid. The resin sometimes
found floating on the mixed ingredients should be carefully removed, by
skimming, before distillation.

As acid of the above strength is rarely required, and as the distillation
is more easily conducted when the ingredients are less concentrated, a
little water may be conveniently added either before or towards the end of
the distillation. Hence the following proportions have been recommended:--

2. (Voelckel.) Acetate of lime (as last), 100 parts; hydrochloric acid (sp.
gr. 1.16), 90 to 95 parts; water, 25 parts; mix, and proceed as before.
<DW8>. 96 to 98 parts of an excellent acid, well adapted to trading
purposes, having a sp. gr. about 1.050, and containing nearly 40% of
hydrated acetic acid. It has been correctly remarked, that the acetic acid
produced with hydrochloric acid is always of better quality than that
produced with sulphuric acid; being not only less , but also
entirely free from sulphurous acid. The distillation uniformly proceeds
with ease and regularity, and the whole of the acetic acid passes over
between 212 deg. and 248 deg. Fahr.; by which the danger of contamination with
other products, resulting from a high degree of heat, is obviated.

3. An Acetic acid sufficiently strong and pure for many ordinary purposes
may be obtained without distillation, by pouring strong sulphuric acid, 60
parts, diluted with water, 5 parts, on well-dried acetate of lime, 100
parts; digesting, with occasional agitation in a close vessel, decanting
the clear liquid, and straining the remainder.

[Illustration:

  _A_, Furnace.
  _B B B B_, Glass receivers.
  _C_, Stoneware retort.
  _D_, Bottle containing vinegar.
  _E E E E_, Basins containing water.
  _F F F F_, Supports for basins.
  _G_, Welter safety-tube.
  _H_, Supply-pipe of cold water.
  _I I I I_, Cocks to supply water to the basins.
  _J_, Water main.
  _L_, Adapter connecting retort and globes.]

II. _From_ the _Acetates_ by _dry distillation_ with a _sulphate_:--

_a._ From ACETATE OF LEAD:--

1. Acetate of lead (dried), 5 parts; and sulphate of iron (gently
calcined), 2 parts; are separately powdered; and after thorough mixture,
carefully distilled, by the heat of a sand bath, into a well-cooled
receiver. An economical process for a strong acid, under certain
circumstances; but one now seldom adopted.

2. (Bardollier's Strong Acetous acid.) Dried acetate of lead, 10 oz.;
calcined green vitriol, 12 oz.; as the last.

_b._ From the ACETATES OF COPPER:--By substituting acetate or diacetate of
copper, in equiv. proportions, or better with excess of the sulphate.
Seldom used.

_c._ From ACETATE OF POTASH, as the last.

III. From the _Acetates per se_:--

_a._ From ACETATE OF COPPER:--AROMATIC V.[dagger]; SPIRIT OF
VERDIGRIS[dagger]; SPIRITUS VEN'ERIS[dagger], L.; ESPRIT DE VENUS, Fr.;
ACIDUM ACE'TICUM, (Ph. L. 1787.) _Process._ Carefully dry crystallised
verdigris (diacetate of copper) by a very gentle heat, and introduce it
into a large stoneware retort (see _engr._), the bottom of which has been
previously coated with a mixture of clay and horse-dung, to render it more
capable of standing the fire. Next place it in a suitable furnace, and
connect it, by an adapter, with 3 or 4 double tubulated globes, the last
of which must be furnished with a vertical tubulature, to which a double
Welter's safety-tube should be adapted; the other end being immersed in a
basin half-filled with distilled vinegar or water, while the funnel
portion communicates with the atmosphere. Then place each globe in a basin
of water, kept cool by a stream constantly passing through it; and cover
the upper portion with cloths kept continually wet with cold water. After
15 or 20 hours, fire may be applied, and must be so regulated that the
drops follow each other with considerable rapidity from the end of the
adapter, whilst the bubbles of air cause no inconvenience at the other end
of the apparatus. If otherwise, the fire must be damped a little. The
operation should be continued, and the fire gradually increased, until
vapour ceases to come over, known by the globes gradually cooling,
notwithstanding the heat of the furnace. The operation being concluded,
the whole may be allowed to cool, and the acid collected preparatory to
rectification. This may be effected in a similarly arranged apparatus,
except that it must be wholly of glass; and the retort should not be much
more than half-filled. The operation must now be very carefully
conducted, and discontinued before barely the whole of the acid has
distilled over; as the last portion is apt to injure the flavour and
colour of the rest. The first portions which come over are very weak, and
should be kept separate, until the sp. gr. reaches to about 1.372, when
the receiver should be changed, and the product collected in separate
portions, as noticed below.

_Obs._ Good diacetate of copper yields, by careful management, at a
temperature of 400 deg. to 560 deg. Fahr., fully one half its weight of a
greenish- acid, of the sp. gr. of about 1.061, containing above
50% of hydrated acetic acid, or 43% of anhydrous acid. 20 lbs. of the
ordinary acetate yields 9-3/4 lbs. of this rough acid, leaving a residuum
of about 6-1/2 lbs. of metallic copper mixed with a little charcoal, in
the retort; the remainder (nearly 2/10ths of the acid in the acetate)
being decomposed by the heat, and lost. This 9-3/4 lbs. of crude acid
yields by rectification, and dividing the products, 1/2 lb. of acid of the
sp. gr. 1.023; 3 lbs. of the sp. gr. 1.042; and 6 lbs. of the sp. gr.
1.065; exclusive of a little acetone which comes over with it. In the
first distillation, the strongest acid is found in the third receiver, and
the weakest in the first. The acid obtained in this way is always
accompanied with a little fragrant pyro-acetic spirit; which renders it
preferable for aromatic vinegar and perfumery. It dissolves camphor,
resins, and essential oils with facility. This is one of the oldest
methods of obtaining glacial acetic acid, and the product is still
preferred for some purposes. It is the RADICAL VINEGAR of the alchemists,
and it is that which is preferred by the perfumers. Well-dried acetate of
lead, or of iron, as well as several other acetates, may be substituted
for acetate of copper in the above process; but are less economical and
convenient. In all cases, great care must be taken to avoid over-firing,
as thereby the quantity obtained is lessened, and the quality injured. The
residuum of the distillation is pyrophoric and frequently inflames
spontaneously, on exposure to the air. Due caution must be therefore
observed regarding it.

IV. _From Wood_, by _dry distillation_. See PYROLIGNEOUS ACID. The
preparation of the purified acid, by converting it into an acetate, and
subsequent distillation with a strong acid, is noticed _above._

[Illustration]

V. _From Alcohol._ (ALCOHOL VINEGAR, GERMAN ACETIC ACID.) In a bell-glass,
or an oblong glass case, perforated shelves are arranged, a few inches
apart, one above another, on which are placed a number of small flat
dishes of porcelain, earthenware, or wood. These dishes are filled with
spirit of wine or dilute alcohol; and over each is suspended a watch-glass
or capsule containing a portion of platinum-black; the whole being
arranged so that the platinum-black and the surface of the alcohol are not
more than 1-1/2 to 2 inches apart. Strips of porous paper are next so hung
in the case, that their bottom edges are immersed in the spirit, to
promote evaporation; and lastly, the apparatus, loosely covered, is set in
a light place at a temperature of from 70 deg. to 90 deg. Fahr.--the sunshine,
when convenient. In a short time the temperature of the platinum rises,
and the formation of acetic acid begins; and the condensed vapour trickles
down the sides of the glass and collects at the bottom of the case, whence
it is removed once or twice a day. (See _engr._) The product of a case of
twelve cubic feet content, with 7 or 8 oz. of platinum-powder, is capable
of producing daily, if well managed, nearly 1.31 lb. of hydrated acetic
acid from 1 lb. of absolute alcohol; 25 lbs. of platinum-powder and 300
lbs. of alcohol will, in like manner, furnish a daily supply of nearly 350
lbs. of pure acid, and of other strengths in proportion. Theoretically,
the product should be 130 parts of the hydrated acid for every 100 parts
of alcohol consumed; but this is never quite obtained in practice, owing
to a small portion of the alcohol mixing with the newly formed acid, and
escaping decomposition; and from another small portion of both the
alcohol, and of the newly formed aldehyd, being carried off by the air
that permeates the apparatus. The platinum-powder does not waste, and the
most inferior spirit may generally be employed.

_Rationale._ In this process, the alcohol (as in other cases of
acetification) is first converted into aldehyd; and this, as rapidly as
formed, absorbs oxygen and passes into hydrated acetic acid. The
simultaneous formation of aldehyd during the oxygenation of that already
formed, may be detected by its odour.

_Obs._ During the mutual action of the platinum-black and the vapour of
alcohol, the temperature increases, and continues to do so until all the
oxygen contained in the air enclosed in the case is consumed, when the
acetification stops. On opening the case for a short time, to admit of a
fresh supply of air, the operation recommences, thus showing its
dependence on the oxygen of the atmosphere. For this transmutation, 100
grains of alcohol require 71 grains (equal to 200 cubic inches) of oxygen,
or about 1000 cubic inches of atmospheric air. To render the process
continuous and rapid, a fresh supply of air must, therefore, be constantly
provided. This may be effected by either having a loosely covered opening
at the top of the case, and several much smaller ones near its lower part;
or (and preferably) by means of two small glass tubes passing through the
lid or cover, one of which terminates just below the point of insertion,
whilst the other divides into branches which reach to within a short
distance from the bottom, as shown in the _engraving_. In this way a very
slow current of fresh air will always be kept up in the apparatus.

[Illustration]

In practice, we find, that by loosely spreading the platinum-black on
pieces of platinum-gauze, and supporting these on small tripods or bars of
glass or porcelain (or even wood), the watch-glasses and their troublesome
suspension may be dispensed with; as also may be the strip of porous
paper, provided a temperature of not less than 90 deg. Fahr. be maintained in
the case or acetifier, which may easily be done by the application of
artificial heat in the absence of sunshine. On the large scale, a case of
wood with a glass roof, or even a well-seasoned cask or vat may be
employed, in which case the temperature of the apparatus must be kept up
either by means of steam-pipes or flues, or by the supply of warm air. On
the small scale, a hand bell-glass placed on a dish, with a single
watch-glass or piece of platinum-gauze, and a single capsule containing
alcohol, may be used, provided the bell-glass be supported on three very
small wedges, to admit of a supply of air. A modification of this is
sometimes employed, in which the alcohol is supplied, in drops, to the
platinum-black, by means of a long, tubular funnel passing through the
mouth of the bell-glass, and having its lower extremity drawn to a very
fine point, as shown in the _engr._ To ensure success, the platinum-black
should be either fresh-prepared, or recently washed and very gently
heated, before placing it in the acetifier. Spongy platinum, though
ordered by many chemical compilers, does not answer well for this process.

By the above elegant and economical process, perfectly pure acetic acid of
considerable strength may be produced from even impure alcohol; but it is
impossible in this way to obtain a concentrated acid without a subsequent
operation, because the action of platinum-black on absolute alcohol, or
even on strong alcohol, is so violent that the platinum soon begins to
glow, and inflammation ensues. Unfortunately the revenue laws of this
country, until lately, stood in the way of the adoption of this beautiful
process, unless duty-paid alcohol or methylated spirit be employed; but
there is no statute that prevents an individual employing pure spirit, of
any strength, on the small scale, for private consumption. In Germany, and
in the United States of America, vinegar is manufactured on this plan, and
from the low price of crude alcohol there, it will no doubt prove
ultimately to be the cheapest source of both pure acetic acid and culinary
vinegars.

VI. _Miscellaneous Formulae_:--

1. An excellent acetic acid, of considerable strength, may be made by
soaking fresh-burnt and perfectly dry charcoal in common vinegar, and then
subjecting it to distillation. The water comes over first, and on
increasing the heat, the acid follows. Vinegar-bottoms and waste vinegar
may be used.

2. By exposing vinegar, or dilute acetic acid, to the air in very cold
weather, or to freezing mixtures, the water separates in the form of ice,
and the strong acetic acid may be obtained by draining it into suitable
glass vessels, observing to do so at a temperature sufficiently low to
keep the water solid. Said to answer well in cold climates.

3. Acetic acid containing 20% of water may be deprived of a good deal of
its superfluous water by standing over dry sulphate of soda. (Liebig.) It
may then be used either with or without distillation.

4. Acetic acid, of ordinary strength, may be concentrated to any degree,
by rectification once, or oftener, from dry acetate of potash or soda,
rejecting the first and last portions. The same acetate may be used
repeatedly. The temperature need not exceed 400 deg., and must not rise above
570 deg. Fahr.

ACETIC ACID. (B. P.) _Syn._ ACIDUM ACETICUM. Water mixed with 33% of
hydrated acetic acid. Prepared by distilling acetate of soda with
sulphuric acid. Colourless sour liquid. Sp. gr. 1.044.

_Prop._ Pure hydrated acetic acid is a thin, colourless liquid above 62
Fahr.; at 50 deg. to 55 deg. it crystallises in large, brilliant, colourless,
transparent needles and plates, and even at 60 deg. if a crystal of the acid
be dropped in; at 40 deg. it is a solid crystalline mass. Sp. gr.--liquid,
1.063 (Mollerat) to 1.0635 (Mohr);[3]--crystallised, 1.135 at 55 deg. Fahr.
(Ure). Odour, intensely pungent when concentrated, but grateful, fragrant,
and refreshing, when diffused; taste, intensely sour and acrid, becoming
agreeable and refreshing, on sufficient dilution with water; volatile;
inflammable, burning with a white flame; vapour of boiling acid highly
combustible; dissolves camphor, resins, gum resins, volatile oils,
gelatin, gliadin, coagulated albumen, and fibrin (as muscle or the
crassamentum of the blood); it coagulates casein, but not liquid albumen
(as the serum of the blood and white of egg): miscible with alcohol,
ether, and water in all proportions; boils at 248 deg. Fahr.;[4] and is
decomposed at a red heat. Its salts are called ACETATES (which _see_).

[Footnote 3: 1.064--H. M. Witt (Ure's '_Dict., of Arts, M. & M._,' 5th
ed.); 1.063 to 1.065--Muspratt ('_Chemistry, Theor. & Prac._,' p. 2);
1.06296--Pereira (4th ed.); 1.0629--Brande; 1.062--Ure; 1.057--Berzelius
('_Jahr. ber._,' xvi, 192):--variations evidently arising from difference
of purity in the acid examined, or from difference of temperature. The sp.
gr. 1.080, with other numbers given by Prof. Lehmann ('_Chemistry_,' Day's
Transl.), is probably a misprint.]

[Footnote 4: This is the boiling-point given by the best authorities, and
confirmed by Gerhardt ('_Chimie Organique_,' i, 718). Ure made it 230 deg.(an
error corrected in 5th ed.), Lehmann says 243.140, and others give it at
235 deg., 240 deg., &c. An acid of about 80% (sp. gr. 1.073 to 1.0743), its
maximum density, boils at 219 deg. to 220 deg. Fahr.]

_Char., Tests, &c._--1. Free acetic acid reddens litmus paper, like the
other acids; and may be readily recognised by its odour and
volatility:--2. Sesquichloride of iron being added, and the acid then
nearly saturated with ammonia, the fluid acquires a deep dark-red colour.

_Estim._ See ACETIMETRY. Organic mixtures that cannot be thus tested, or
from which the acid cannot be obtained by simple distillation, may be
neutralised, if acid, with carbonate of lime, boiled for a few minutes,
cooled, filtered, the lime precipitated with dilute sulphuric acid, and
the whole submitted to distillation, when the acid contents of the
distillate may be estimated as above.

_Pur._ By heat, it escapes (entirely) in vapour; nothing is precipitated
on the addition of either hydrosulphuric acid, nitrate of silver, or
chloride of barium. Sometimes it is contaminated with sulphurous acid,
which may be recognised by putting a fluid drachm of the acid, mixed with
an ounce of distilled water and half a drachm of pure hydrochloric acid,
also a few pieces of granulated zinc, into a flask. While effervescence
continues suspend a slip of white blotting-paper, moistened with solution
of sub-acetate of lead, in the upper part of the flask above the liquid,
for about five minutes. The paper should not be discoloured, and thus
indicate the absence of sulphurous acid.

_Adult._ The acetic acid of the shops is chiefly adulterated with water.
Sulphurous acid and lead are accidental contaminations; that of the latter
often reaches 2%, making the acid poisonous.

_Phys. eff., &c._ In its concentrated state it is a corrosive and an acrid
poison. Taken internally, it acts by dissolving the animal tissues, and by
thus destroying the organisation causes death, like the other acids. In
the dilute form it acts as a stimulant, rubefacient, alterative,
refrigerant, and escharotic.

_Uses._ Acetic acid is much employed by the chemist and pharmaceutist, in
the manufacture of various preparations, and in analysis; by the perfumer,
in the composition of several of his most refreshing and agreeable scents;
and in medicine, as an antiseptic, stimulant, rubefacient, alterative,
refrigerant, and escharotic. Acetic acid (B. P.) applied by means of a
piece of rag tied to the end of a small stick, is a nearly certain cure
for ring-worm and scaldhead--one or two applications generally effecting a
cure, and the severe smarting it causes is only of short duration; as a
caustic, it removes warts and corns; a piece of lint or blotting-paper
wetted with it and applied to the skin (evaporation being prevented),
forms a useful extemporaneous blister. It was once employed as a
disinfectant; but is now only used as a fumigation, to disguise the
unpleasant smell of the sickroom and crowded assemblies. It is a popular
refreshing scent in faintings, asphyxia, and nervous headache; and is a
valuable rubefacient, astringent, and local stimulant. It is also used as
a rubefacient and caustic in veterinary practice.

In the _arts_, the commercial acid (pure pyroligneous acid) is used by the
engraver to etch his plates; as an antiseptic in pickling and preserving
animal and vegetable substances used as food, and anatomical preparations;
in dyeing and calico printing, and in the manufacture of medicated
vinegars and other pharmaceutical preparations.

In the dilute state, its properties and applications are similar to those
of ordinary vinegar, and are noticed under that head.

_Poisoning_ from acetic acid is rare. When concentrated, it is capable, by
its corrosive and solvent action, of perforating the coats of the stomach
and digestive canal; and it colours the mucus of these organs by the
chemical action it exerts upon the blood. Vinegar in an excessive quantity
acts in a similar way, but in a slighter degree. The _treatment_ and
_antidotes_ are similar to those directed in cases of poisoning by the
other acids. See POISONS.

_Duty, Excise, &c._ See VINEGAR.

_Gen. commentary._ Acetic acid, on the large scale, is principally
prepared from acetate of soda, which yields by a comparatively
inexpensive, and not a difficult operation, an acid sufficiently strong
and pure for commercial purposes, without the necessity of rectification.
In this process shallow vessels of wood or of copper formed without rivets
or solder (except silver solder) in those parts exposed to the action of
the acid, are generally employed for the purpose of the distillation. A
coil of drawn copper pipe, heated by steam having a pressure of 30 to 40
lbs. to the inch, traverses the bottom of the apparatus, to impart the
necessary heat. The refrigerator consists of well-cooled earthenware,
Berlin ware, or glass vessels; and the adopter pipe is also of the same
materials. Another common form, which is even still more convenient, is a
stout copper still, furnished with a cast-iron jacket to hold
high-pressure steam, the usual refrigeratory being employed. In a few
instances the space between the still and jacket is filled with sand, oil,
tallow, or fusible metal; in which case the apparatus is set in brickwork,
and heated by a naked fire. Stills of earthenware are also frequently
employed; and even worms and condensers of silver, or silvered copper, are
sometimes used, and with advantage. With a leaden worm the product is
always contaminated with a little of that metal; the efforts of the
manufacturer to the contrary, by the exclusion of air, and by rejecting
the first and last portions of the distillate, only lessening and not
preventing this evil. A lute (if any) composed of linseed meal and water,
with or without a little powdered plaster of paris, may be employed; but
flat bands and short tubes of well-seasoned vulcanised india rubber are
infinitely more convenient and efficacious. The ingredients being placed
in the still, and well but hastily stirred together with a wooden spatula,
the head is luted on, and the distillation soon afterwards commenced. The
chief care now should be to increase the heat gradually as the
distillation proceeds; and when a steam-heat is not used, to carefully
avoid over-firing, particularly towards the close of the operation. A
little acetic ether is added by some manufacturers. In this way 4 lbs. of
acid of the sp. gr. 1.050, is obtained for every 3 lbs. of acetate of soda
employed. Should rectification be had recourse to, the addition of about 2
or 3% of bichromate of potash, peroxide of manganese, or red oxide of
lead, will remove empyreuma, if present. The first of these substances is
the most effective; the power of the others being in the order in which
they are printed. In distilling the weaker acids and vinegars, it is found
useful to add from 25 to 30% of chloride of sodium, which, by raising the
boiling-point of the liquid, allows the acid the more freely to pass over
(Stein); but this addition proves disadvantageous when any sulphuric acid
is present, in which case sulphate of soda may be employed instead. If
this addition be not made, the whole of the acid cannot be obtained
without distillation to dryness, and the generation of empyreuma.

On the small scale, glass retorts are usually directed to be used, but
glass alembics or flasks are more convenient and safe, as already noticed.
In the preparation of the pure acid, care should be taken that the acetate
of soda does not contain common salt, as the carbonate of soda prepared by
calcination, and frequently used to form the acetate, is generally
contaminated with it, and yields up its hydrochloric acid or chlorine
during the process of distillation, thus vitiating the product. In all the
methods given the product becomes more concentrated in proportion to the
dryness of the acetate and the strength of the oil of vitriol or muriatic
acid employed. By using the one dry, and the other concentrated, glacial
acid may always be obtained by collecting separately the last two fifths
that come over, and submitting this to refrigeration.

According to Melsens, pure GLACIAL ACETIC ACID is most advantageously
obtained by distilling pure and dry acetate of potash with an excess of
strong and moderately pure acetic acid, rejecting that which first passes
over.

Acetate of soda may be safely dried at a temperature of 400 deg. to 450 deg.,
provided care be taken to avoid ignition from contact with sparks. A less
heat is, however, quite sufficient to drive off the whole of its water of
crystallisation. It is known to be dry by its assuming the appearance of a
smooth oily liquid whilst hot. If, whilst heated, it emits fumes, it is
suffering decomposition. The same applies to the other commercial
acetates. Crystallised acetate of soda loses about 2/5ths of its weight by
thorough drying.

When acetate of soda and sulphuric acid are the ingredients employed in
the production of acetic acid, sulphate of soda is formed, which, in the
large way, the chemist returns to the manufacturer of acetate of soda (_i.
e._ to the pyroligneous acid maker), who employs it in the decomposition
of fresh acetate or pyrolignite of lime. In this way the same soda-salt is
employed over and over again, acting merely as the vehicle for the
separation of the crude acetic acid in the solid form, and its easy and
cheap transportation from one point to another. This ingenious method of
mutual assistance resulting from the application of chemical science to
provide for the wants of everyday life, offers some explanation of the
extraordinarily low price at which acetic acid may now be purchased.

The acetic acid of commerce (pure pyroligneous acid) is almost wholly
obtained from the acetates of soda and lime. The principal supply of crude
acetate (pyrolignite) of soda is from America, Norway, and Sweden; but
much is also obtained from our home manufactories. See ACETIFICATION,
ACETIMETRY, FERMENTATION, PYROLIGNEOUS ACID, SODIUM, (Acetate of),
VINEGAR, &c.

More recently, acetic acid has been obtained by decomposing with
hydrochloric acid the double salt of chloride of calcium and acetate of
lime, mentioned by Fritzsche ('Ann. de Poggend,' xxviii, 123). For this
purpose, solutions of acetate of lime and chloride of calcium are mixed
and evaporated, the combined salts readily crystallising in large needles.
These are freed from the mother-liquor and distilled with common muriatic
acid.

The acid furnished by this method requires redistillation, and is,
moreover, contaminated with some of the fatty products always present in
the crude pyrolignite.

=Anhydrous Acetic Acid.= _Syn._ ACETIC ANHYDRIDE. Acetic acid deprived of
the elements of water.

    Acetic Acid.     Water.   Acetic Anhydride.
  2C_{2}H_{4}O_{2} - H_{2}O = C_{4}H_{6}O_{3}.

=Aromat'ic Acetic Acid.= _Syn._ AROMATIC VINEGAR; A. SPIRIT OF V.; ACIDUM
ACE'TICUM AROMAT'ICUM, L.--_Prep._ 1. (Ph. E. 1839.) Dried rosemary and
origanum, of each 1 oz.; lavender flowers, 1/2 oz.; bruised cloves, 1/2
dr.; acetic acid (sp. gr. 1.068), 1-1/2 pint; macerate for 7 days,
express, and filter. A fragrant and refreshing perfume. Omitted in Ph. E.
1841 and P. B. 1867.

2. (Ph. E. 1817.) As the last, but using distilled vinegar instead of the
strong acid of the Pharmacop[oe]ia. Inferior.

3. (P. Cod. 1839) Camphor, 2 oz.; oil of lavender, 10 gr.; oil of
cinnamon, 20 gr.; oil of cloves, 30 gr.; concentrated acetic acid, 1 pint.
Very fragrant and refreshing.

4. (Ph. Bor. 1847; Cod. Med. Hamb. 1845.) Oil of cloves, 1 dr.; oils of
lavender and citron, of each 2 scrup.; oils of bergamot and thyme, of each
1 scrup.; oil of cinnamon, 10 drops; strongest acetic acid, 1 oz.; mix.
Limpid; yellow-brown; highly fragrant and refreshing. See ACETIC ACID
(Camphorated), and VINEGAR (Aromatic).

=Beaufoy's Acetic Acid.= A superior commercial acetic acid (_i. e._
purified pyroligneous acid), having a sp. gr. of about 1.044; or
containing about 28% of real acetic acid, or 32 to 33% of the hydrated
acid. Same strength, &c., as ACETIC ACID P. B.

=Cam'phorated Acetic Acid.= _Syn._ CAMPHORATED VINEGAR; ACIDUM ACE'TICUM
CAMPHORA'TUM, L.--_Prep._ 1. (Ph. E. 1841.) Camphor, 1/2 oz.; pulverise it
by means of a few drops of spirit of wine, and then dissolve it in acetic
acid (Ph. E.), 6-1/2 fl. oz.

2. (Ph. D. 1850.) Camphor, 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 fl. dr.; pulverise,
and dissolve in strong acetic acid (acid. acet. fort. Ph. D.), 10 fl. oz.

_Obs._ This preparation is intended as a substitute for the aromatic
acetic acid of the shops and previous pharmacop[oe]ias. It is also useful
as an embrocation, in rheumatism and neuralgia; as an extemporaneous
vesicant and counter-irritant; and as a fumigation in fevers, &c.

=Dilute' Acetic Acid.= _Syn._ ACIDUM ACETICUM DILU'TUM, L. Acetic acid, 1
pint; distilled water, 7 pints; mix, Sp. gr. 1.006. One fluid ounce
corresponds to 16 grains of anhydrous acid (3.63 per cent.).

=Glacial Acetic Acid.= _Syn._ ACIDUM ACETICUM GLACIALE. Acetate of soda,
20 oz., is liquefied by a gentle heat, stirred till it becomes
pulverulent, and then further heated until it fuses; it is at once removed
from the fire, and, when cool, the mass is broken up, placed in a 3-pint
stoppered retort connected with a Liebig's condenser, and then treated
with sulphuric acid, 8 fl. oz. When the distillation slackens heat is to
be applied, and the process continued until 6 fl. oz. of acetic acid have
passed over. If a little of the product strikes a blue colour when mixed
with a solution of iodate of potassium containing mucilage of starch, the
whole product must be agitated with perfectly dry black oxide of
manganese, 1/4 oz., and redistilled. Sp. gr. 1.065; contains 85% of
anhydrous acid.

=ACETIC ANHYDRIDE.= See ANHYDROUS ACETIC ACID.

=ACETICA.= [L.] Medicated vinegars.

=ACETIDUX, Dr DELFER'S.= Made by Doellinger, of Berlin. For the radical and
painless removal of warts, corns, hard skin, &c. A solution of 5 grms. of
chromic acid in 15 grms. of water. (Schaedler.)

=ACETIFICATION.= _Syn._ ACETIFACIO, L.; ACETIFICATION, Fr.; ESSIGMACHEN,
EINSAUeERN, Ger. In _chemistry_, the act or process of converting into
vinegar; also the state of undergoing such conversion.

Acetic acid is produced either by the partial dehydrogenation and
subsequent oxidation of bodies containing its elements, or by their
destructive distillation. The first is effected--by their exposure, in a
finely divided state, to the action of air or atmospheric oxygen, as in
the quick process of making vinegar; or--by submitting them, in
combination with ferments, to contact with a free supply of atmospheric
air, as in the old field process of making vinegar; or--by exposure to the
direct action of chemical or mechanical oxidizing agents, as condensed air
(platinum-black process), chromic and nitric acid, &c. In general, it is
alcohol more or less dilute, particularly as it exists in fermented
liquors, which is thus converted into acetic acid. In the second process
(destructive distillation), wood is the substance usually employed, and
heat is the agent which develops the acid.

The conversion of alcohol into acetic acid is not immediate and direct.
The atmospheric oxygen first oxidises two atoms of its hydrogen, aldehyd
and water being formed; and this aldehyd uniting with one atom of oxygen
produces one molecule of ACETIC ACID. The changes are represented in the
following equations:--

         Alcohol.  Oxygen.  Aldehyd.    Water.
  =1.=  C_{2}H_{6}O + O = C_{2}H_{4}O + H_{2}O

          Aldehyd.  Oxygen.  Acetic Acid.
  =2.=  C_{2}H_{4}O + O = HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}

After the first formation of aldehyd, the two processes, unless
artificially checked, go on simultaneously, as long as any undecomposed
alcohol is present.

The conversion of alcohol into acetic acid, although greatly accelerated
by the presence of nitrogenised organic matter (according to Mulder, of a
fungus--the _Mycoderma Vini_ or Vinegar Plant), is rather a case of
eremacausis (slow combustion) than of fermentation. Acetification effects
combination, as shown by the foregoing equations, whereas fermentation
resolves complex bodies into simpler ones, _e.g._ sugar into alcohol and
carbonic anhydride. Moreover, the presence of ferments is not essential to
the change, since pure alcohol becomes acetified when exposed to the
oxidising agents already named.

Another remarkable distinction between acetification and fermentation is,
that the former requires the continued presence of atmospheric oxygen;
whilst the vinous fermentation after being once established, proceeds
perfectly without it.

During the oxidation of the alcohol of vegetable solutions, some of the
other organic matters present also suffer change. A white gelatinous mass
(_mother of vinegar_)[5] is commonly deposited; but this is a secondary
result of the process, and not, as formerly supposed, one essential to it.
In ordinary cases acetification occurs only at or near the surface of the
liquid; which accounts for the length of time required for the operation
under the old process of 'fielding,' and the shorter time in which it is
accomplished by the improved process of Mr Ham. It proceeds favorably at
temperatures ranging from 60 deg. to 90 deg. Fahr.; and most rapidly at 95 deg. Fahr.
(Liebig). In the 'quick process' of making vinegar a temperature of 90 deg. to
92 deg. is generally aimed at; but it often rises to 100 deg., or even to 105 deg.,
Fahr. As the temperature falls acetification proceeds more slowly, and at
46 to 50 deg. Fahr. it ceases altogether (Liebig).

[Footnote 5: It has generally been asserted that this substance contains
vibriones, and other low forms of organised life; but Mulder describes it,
under the name _mycoderma aceti_, as a plant of the order 'fungi.' It is
formed at the expense of the constituents of the vinegar, and often causes
whole vats of it to pass into water.]

Aldehyd (see _above_) is an exceedingly volatile substance, and easily
dissipated by a slight heat. It is, therefore, of the highest importance
to duly regulate the temperature, as well as the supply of air, during
acetification. In the 'quick process' of making vinegar the loss from this
cause is always considerable, and often very great. This loss may be
diminished by passing the heated air, as it escapes from the acetifier,
through a porcelain or silvered copper worm or refrigerator, set in a
chamber containing water of a temperature not higher than 40 deg. to 45 deg.
Fahr.; the connection being made at the _lower_ end of the worm, whilst
the upper end is open to the air. On the small scale, as in the
platinum-black process, the loss may be almost entirely prevented by
causing the upper air tube to pass through a vessel containing ice or a
freezing mixture; or by uniting it with the lower end of a Liebig's
condenser.

In liquors undergoing the vinous fermentation, a portion of the newly
formed alcohol is invariably acetified whenever the temperature rises
above 51 deg. Fahr.; and at a higher temperature, this proceeds with a
rapidity often highly injurious to the quality of the liquor. In this way
there is frequently a useless loss of the alcohol, which is rendered more
apparent by the incipient, and sometimes the actual, souring of the
liquor.

=ACETIM'ETRY=. _Syn._ ACETOM'ETRY; ACETOMETRIE, Fr.; ACETIME'TRIA, &c., L.
The art or process of determining the quantity of pure acetic acid in
vinegar, or in any other liquid. The plans generally adopted for this
purpose are--

I. From the saturating power of the acid, as in the common methods of
acidimetry:--

1. The molecular weight of commercially pure bicarbonate of potash, in
crystals, being 100, whilst that of absolute acetic acid is 60, it is
evident that every ten grains of the bicarbonate will exactly equal 6
grains of the acid. To apply this practically, we have only to exactly
neutralise 100 gr. of the vinegar or solution under examination with the
bicarbonate, observing the usual precautions; then, as 10 is to 6, so is
the number of grains used, to the per-centage strength required. In this,
as in other like cases, it is convenient to form a test-solution with the
bicarbonate, by dissolving it in sufficient water to fill the 100
divisions of any simple form of 'acidimeter,' as _a_, _b_, or _c_; when
the quantity of the solution, and, consequently, of the salt used, may be
read off at once from the graduated portion of the tube. Still greater
accuracy may be obtained by dissolving the bicarbonate in exactly 1000 gr.
of distilled water contained in a 'Schuster's alkalimeter,' previously
very carefully weighed; in which case each grain of the test-solution will
indicate 1/10th of a grain, or 0.1% of absolute acetic acid, whilst every
10 grains will be equal to 1 grain, or 1%.

[Illustration]

The test-solution may also be prepared from bicarbonate of soda, or from
the carbonates of soda or potash, care being taken that the quantity of
the salt dissolved be in proportion to its molecular weight.

2. (Brande.) A small piece of white marble, clean and dry, is weighed, and
then suspended by a silk thread in a weighed sample (say 100 or 1000 grs.)
of the vinegar or acid under examination; the action being promoted by
occasionally stirring the liquid with a glass rod, until the whole of the
acid is saturated, as shown by no further action on the marble being
observable on close inspection. The marble is then withdrawn, washed in
distilled water, dried and weighed. The loss in weight which it has
sustained will be nearly equal to the acetic acid present, or strictly, as
50 (marble) to 60 (absolute acetic acid). The only precautions required
are, to avoid striking the piece of marble with the rod whilst stirring
the solution, or causing loss of substance in it after its withdrawal; and
to allow ample time for the action of the acid on it. If the sample
consists of strong acid, it should be diluted with twice or thrice its
weight of water before suspending the marble in it.

3. (Ure.) 100 grains of the sample under examination is slightly reddened
with tincture of litmus, and ammonia of the sp. gr. 0.992 is added drop by
drop (from an acetimeter holding 1000 water-gr. measure, divided into 100
divisions) until precise neutralisation is effected, indicated by the blue
colour of the litmus being restored. The number of the divisions of the
acetimeter used, multiplied by 60, and the first two right-hand figures of
the product cut off as decimals, gives a number which represents the exact
quantity of absolute acetic acid in the sample. In practice, it is found
more convenient to keep the test-ammonia ready tinged with litmus.

The mode of estimating the per-centage of acetic acid in beers, when
finding their original gravities, is a slight modification of the above. A
test-solution of ammonia is prepared of such a strength that a given bulk
of it will exactly neutralise one per cent. of absolute acetic acid in an
equal bulk of beer, so that, if 100 fluid grains of the solution are
sufficient to neutralise the acid in 1000 fluid grains of beer, such beer
contains one tenth per cent. of acid. A solution of ammonia, diluted with
distilled water until it has the sp. gr. .9986 at 60 deg., is of the exact
strength required.

An acetimeter holding 1000 grains, and graduated downwards to 100 equal
divisions, is filled to 0 of the scale with the test-ammonia, which is
then added, drop by drop, to 1000 measured grains of the beer, until
neutralisation takes place. Every division of the acetimeter
(corresponding to ten fluid grains), so emptied, indicates .01 per cent.
of acetic acid in the beer. The progress of the neutralisation is tested
from time to time with a slip of reddened litmus paper, which should be
suffered to become faintly blue before ceasing to add the ammonia. By this
method the exact per-centage of absolute acetic acid in any sample may be
accurately determined. The only precaution necessary is to be certain that
the 'test-ammonia' has the required sp. gr. (.9986). Test-solutions may
also be prepared with pure potash or pure soda.

II. From the specific gravity of the liquid after it has been neutralised
with hydrate of lime:--

Common hydrate of lime (freshly slaked lime), in powder, is added
gradually to the sample under examination, until it is saturated, when the
sp. gr. of the resulting clear solution of acetate of lime is taken by
Taylor's ACETIMETER. This instrument is so adjusted and graduated as to
float at the mark on the stem called 'proof,' in a solution containing 5%
of absolute acetic acid (No. 24 vinegar). For vinegars stronger than proof
small weights are provided, each of which indicates an additional 5 per
cent. To ascertain the per-centage of real acid, 5% must therefore be
added to the acetimeter number. Thus, without being loaded, the
instrument, floating at the 'proof mark,' indicates a vinegar of 5%; with
one weight, a vinegar of 10%; with two weights, 15%, and so on. According
to this system of notation, each 5% is called a 'vinegar.' An acid of 10%
is said to contain two vinegars; one of 15%, three vinegars, &c. It is
also common to speak of the degrees of the acetimeter as proof or
over-proof. Thus, No. 24 vinegar is said to be proof; one of 5 acetimeter
degrees, 5 over-proof; one of 10 degrees, 10 over-proof, &c. For malt and
wine vinegars, which contain gluten and mucilage, this method is not
strictly accurate, as a portion of these substances escapes precipitation
by the lime, and consequently alters the specific gravity. A small weight
marked 'M' is generally supplied with the acetimeters for trying such
vinegars.

III. From the specific gravity:--

The sp. gr. of the sample (carefully determined by any of the usual
methods) is sought in one of the following Tables, when the corresponding
per-centage content of acetic acid is at once seen.

This method furnishes reliable results only with pure, or nearly pure
solutions which do not contain much above 50% of glacial acid, or which
have a sp. gr. not higher than 1.062. It is also more to be depended on
for weak solutions than strong ones. By carefully diluting a strong acid
with an equal weight, or twice or thrice its weight of water, and allowing
the mixture to again acquire its normal temperature, the sp. gr. may be
taken as a guide in all cases in which great accuracy is not required.
When such dilution is made it only becomes necessary to multiply the
indication furnished in the Tables by 2, 3, or 4, as the case may be. As,
however, authorities are not agreed as to the precise sp. gr. of the
monohydrate or glacial acid, and of its solutions, extreme accuracy must
not be expected by this method.

        TABLE I.--_Adapted to the Specific Gravities of common
        vinegar_. By Messrs J. and P. TAYLOR.

                                                              per
  sp. gr.                                                    cent.
  1.0085  contains of anhydrous  or real acetic acid             5
  1.0170       "                         "                      10
  1.0257       "                         "                      15
  1.0320       "                         "                      20
  1.0470       "                         "                      30
  1.0580       "                         "                      40

        TABLE II.--_Exhibiting the quantity of_ ABSOLUTE _or_
        GLACIAL ACETIC ACID (HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}), _in acetic acid
        of successive strengths_. By Mr COOLEY.

  +---------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-------+
  |Absolute |       |Absolute |       |Absolute |       |Absolute |       |
  |  Acetic |Sp. Gr.|  Acetic |Sp. Gr.|  Acetic |Sp. Gr.|  Acetic |Sp. Gr.|
  |  Acid,  |       |  Acid,  |       |  Acid,  |       |  Acid,  |       |
  |per cent.|       |per cent.|       |per cent.|       |per cent.|       |
  +---------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-------+
  | _Pure   |       |         |       |         |       |         |       |
  |  acid_, |       |   75    |1.0731 |   49    |1.0593 |   23    |1.0320 |
  | or 100  |1.0630 |   74    |1.0732 |   48    |1.0582 |   22    |1.0311 |
  |   99    |1.0648 |   73    |1.0728 |   47    |1.0568 |   21    |1.0292 |
  |   98    |1.0663 |   72    |1.0721 |   46    |1.0557 |   20    |1.0275 |
  |   97    |1.0677 |   71    |1.0718 |   45    |1.0553 |   19    |1.0264 |
  |   96    |1.0685 |   70    |1.0713 |   44    |1.0544 |   18    |1.0253 |
  |   95    |1.0696 |   69    |1.0711 |   43    |1.0535 |   17    |1.0241 |
  |   94    |1.0704 |   68    |1.0708 |   42    |1.0525 |   16    |1.0229 |
  |   93    |1.0708 |   67    |1.0702 |   41    |1.0518 |   15    |1.0218 |
  |   92    |1.0715 |   66    |1.0701 |   40    |1.0513 |   14    |1.0200 |
  |   91    |1.0721 |   65    |1.0693 |   39    |1.0502 |   13    |1.0173 |
  |   90    |1.0726 |   64    |1.0692 |   38    |1.0492 |   12    |1.0172 |
  |   89    |1.0729 |   63    |1.0685 |   37    |1.0482 |   11    |1.0161 |
  |   88    |1.0730 |   62    |1.0679 |   36    |1.0473 |   10    |1.0150 |
  |   87    |1.0731 |   61    |1.0675 |   35    |1.0460 |   09    |1.0131 |
  |   86    |1.0732 |   60    |1.0672 |   34    |1.0449 |   08    |1.0121 |
  |   85    |1.0733 |   59    |1.0665 |   33    |1.0439 |   07    |1.0102 |
  |   84    |1.0734 |   58    |1.0662 |   32    |1.0425 |   06    |1.0085 |
  |   83    |1.07343|   57    |1.0653 |   31    |1.0413 |   05    |1.0071 |
  |   82    |1.0735 |   56    |1.0645 |   30    |1.0402 |   04    |1.0057 |
  |   81    |1.0738 |   55    |1.0641 |   29    |1.0392 |   03    |1.0042 |
  |   80    |1.0743 |   54    |1.0632 |   28    |1.0380 |   02    |1.0025 |
  |   79    |1.0742 |   53    |1.0628 |   27    |1.0364 |   01    |1.0012 |
  |   78    |1.0740 |   52    |1.0616 |   26    |1.0352 | _Pure   |1.0000 |
  |   77    |1.0739 |   51    |1.0610 |   25    |1.0341 | water._ |       |
  |   76    |1.0736 |   50    |1.0602 |   24    |1.0330 |         |       |
  +---------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-------+---------+-------+

_Concluding remarks_. Before applying the above processes, account should
be taken of any mineral acid which may be present in the sample, such
being not unfrequently added to vinegar to impart artificial strength; and
in those depending on the sp. gr., gum, gluten, &c., must also be allowed
for. The methods depending on the saturating power of the acid will be
found appropriate to acetic acid of all strengths, when unadulterated with
the mineral acid. The method based on the sp. gr. is also very convenient,
and is sufficiently accurate for distilled vinegars and for pure acids of
moderate strength.

It is found that the decimal fraction of the sp. gr. of pure or nearly
pure vinegar is doubled by its conversion into acetate of lime. Thus,
1.0085 in vinegar becomes 1.0170 when converted into a solution of acetate
of lime. In malt vinegar, however, 0.005 may be deducted from the sp. gr.
for mucilage and gluten. The quantity of foreign matter present in vinegar
may therefore be approximatively ascertained, by deducting the decimal of
the sp. gr. of the solution of acetate of lime from double that of the
decimal part of the sp. gr. of the vinegar. Thus:--the sp. gr. of a sample
of vinegar being 1.014, and after saturation with hydrate of calcium
1.023, the sp. gr. of the pure vinegar would be 1.009, and that due to
foreign matter .005. For--

  .028 - .023 = .005

and--

  1.014 - .005 = 1.009

The reason why proof-vinegar is called, in commerce, No. 24, is that 1 fl.
oz. of it requires exactly 24 gr. of pure anhydrous carbonate of soda to
neutralise it. Weaker vinegars are represented in the same 'notation' by
the Nos. 22, 20, 18, &c., according to their respective strengths
estimated by their saturating power.

=ACETINE.= An essence for the removal of corns. Concentrated vinegar (1.04
sp. gr.) slightly tinged with fuchsine, 15 grms. (Hager.)

=ACETINE, HOCHSTETTER'S.= Prepared by J. C. F. Witte, Berlin. A remedy for
corns, warts, and hard skin. Diluted vinegar,  with blue carmine,
16 grms. (Schaelder.)

=ACETOLATS.= [Fr.] _Syn._ ESPRITS ACETIQUES. In _French pharmacy_,
medicated vinegars obtained by distillation.

=ACETOLES.= [Fr.] In _French pharmacy_, medicated vinegars obtained by
maceration.

=ACETOUS FERMENTATION.= See ACETIFICATION.

=ACETUM.= [L.] Vinegar.

=ACETYL.= _Syn._ ACETYLE. A name originally given to a hypothetical body,
having the formula C_{2}H_{3}, and regarded by Berzelius as the radical of
the acetates and their congeners. The acetyl of Gerhardt (C_{2}H_{3}O)
is, however, according to that chemist, the true radical of the acetates.
Williamson, in order to remove the confusion of terms occasioned by the
application of the same name to compounds of different composition,
proposed the title of othyl for the radical C_{2}H_{3}O.

=ACHAR.= See PICKLES.

=ACEIILE'INE= (-k[)i]l-). A peculiar bitter principle obtained from
achille a millefolium (Linn.), or yarrow.

=A'CHOR=, (-k[)o]r). [Gr.] See SCALD-HEAD.

=ACHROMAT'IC= ([)a]k-ro-). _Syn._ ACHROMATIQUE, Fr. In _optics_, devoid of
colour; bodies that transmit light without decomposition, and
consequently, without the formation of  rings or fringes; applied
to compound lenses, prisms, &c., and to instruments fitted with them.

=ACRO'MATISM.= _Syn._ ACHROMATISME, Fr. In _optics_, the state of being
achromatic; the absence of  fringes in the images of objects seen
through a lens or prism.

Light is not homogeneous, but decomposable by refraction, absorption, or
reflection, into  rays of unequal refrangibility. A ray of white
light, in passing through a glass prism, is entirely separated into the
 rays forming the 'prismatic spectrum,' and when it passes through
a lens, an analogous resolution into  rays still occurs, though
not so readily observed, and that to an extent often incompatible with
distinct vision. Now, if a convex lens be regarded as a number of prisms
united by their bases round a common centre, and a concave lens, as a
similar number of prisms with their apices in contact, the action of
lenticular and prismatic glasses on light will be reduced to a common
principle. A beam of light thrown on a simple converging lens not only
suffers refraction at the spherical surface (SPHERICAL ABERRATION), but
the different  rays of which it is composed, from the causes
mentioned, being unequally bent or refracted, diverge from their original
course (CHROMATIC ABERRATION), forming as many foci on the axis of the
lens as there are colours, and fall separately, instead of together, on
the eye or object which receives them. Hence arise the  fringes or
halos that surround objects viewed through ordinary glasses, and which
form the great impediments to the construction of perfect lenses. This
effect, like the refractive power and focal distance, varies in degree in
different diaphanous substances.

The correction of the chromatic aberration of lenses is commonly effected
by combining two, or more, made of materials possessing different
'dispersive' powers. Thus, the spectrum formed by flint glass is longer
than that formed by crown glass, for the same deviation. When the two are
combined, so as to form a compound lens, the one tends to correct the
'dispersion' of the other. On this principle ACHROMATIC GLASSES are
generally formed in this country. A convex lens of crown glass is combined
with a weaker concave lens of flint glass, the latter counteracting the
dispersion of the former, without materially interfering with its
refractive power. The resulting combination is not absolutely achromatic,
but is sufficiently so for all ordinary purposes. According to Dr Blair, a
compound lens perfectly achromatic for the intermediate, as well as for
the extreme rays, may be made by confining certain fluids, as hydrochloric
acid, between two lenses of crown glass. In order to produce nearly
perfect achromatism in the object-glasses of telescopes, microscopes,
cameras, &c., a concave lens of flint glass is commonly placed between two
convex lenses of crown or plate glass, the adjacent surfaces being
cemented with the purest Canada balsam, to prevent the loss of light by
reflection from so many surfaces.

_Obs._ The production of perfect achromatism in lenses is a subject not
less fraught with difficulty than with practical importance to the
astronomer, the mariner, the microscopist, and the photographer; and it
has hence engaged the attention of the leading mathematicians and artists
of Europe up to the present time. All the larger object-glasses lately
manufactured are said to consist of only two lenses; the resulting
achromatism proving sufficiently exact for all useful purposes. Those of
recent production have come chiefly from the workshops of Dollond, of
London, and the opticians of Bavaria and Switzerland. The achromatism of
prisms depends upon the same principles, and it is effected in the same
way as that of lenses.

=ACIC'ULAR.= Needle-shaped; slender or sharp pointed; spicular; in
_botany_, applied to leaves, and in _chemistry_, to crystals. The last are
also sometimes termed ACIC'ULAE.

=ACID=, _Syn._ ACIDUM, L.; ACIDE, Fr.; ACIDO, Ital.; SAeURE, G. In familiar
language, any substance possessing a sour taste. In _chemistry_,
substances are said to be acid, or to have an acid reaction, when they are
capable of turning blue litmus red. In _chemistry_, also, the term acid is
applied to a very large class of compounds containing hydrogen (hydrogen
salts), and in which one or more atoms of that element may be replaced by
an equivalent quantity of a metal or other basic radical; _e.g._--

1. The one atom of hydrogen in hydrochloric acid (HCl) may be replaced by
sodium, producing the salt sodium chloride (NaCl).

2. The one atom of hydrogen in nitric acid (HNO_{3}) may be replaced by
silver, producing the salt silver nitrate (AgNO_{3}).

3. One atom of hydrogen in acetic acid (HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2})[6] may be
replaced by the basic radical ammonium (NH_{4}), producing the salt
ammonium acetate (NH_{4}C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}).

[Footnote 6: Symbols indicating the number of atoms of replaceable
hydrogen occupy the foremost position in the formulae of acids, as shown in
the text.]

Acids which, like those mentioned in the foregoing examples, contain
one atom of replaceable hydrogen are called monobasic; those which
contain two such atoms (_e.g._ sulphuric acid, H_{2}SO_{4}; tartaric
acid, H_{2}C_{4}H_{4}O_{6}),[7] dibasic; those which contain three
such atoms (_e.g._ phosphoric acid, H_{3}PO_{4}; citric acid,
H_{3}C_{6}H_{5}O_{7}),[7] tribasic; and so on with acids of higher
basicity. Acids of greater basicity than unity are frequently termed
polybasic.

[Footnote 7: See footnote, p. 26.]

Besides containing replaceable or basic hydrogen, acids are further
characterised by the property of combining with alkaloids to form salts;
_e.g._--

   Sulphuric Acid.        Quinia.
  H_{2}SO_{4} + 2C_{24}H_{24}N_{2}O_{2} =

            Quinia Sulphate.
  (C_{20}H_{24}N_{2}O_{2})_{2} . H_{2}SO_{4}

    Acetic Acid.          Morphia.
  HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2} + C_{17}H_{19}NO_{3} =

            Morphia Acetate.
  C_{17}H_{19}NO_{3} . HC_{2}H_{3}O_{2}

=Dibasic Acids.= See ACID.

=Fatty Acids.= Acids separable from fats or oils; _e.g._ stearic acid,
oleic acid, butyric acid, &c.

=Inorganic Acids.= Same as MINERAL ACIDS (which _see_).

=Mineral Acids.= Acids chiefly or wholly derived from the mineral kingdom.
In _medicine_, sulphuric, hydrochloric, and nitric acids, are commonly so
called.

=Monobasic Acids.= See ACID.

=Organic Acids.= Acids formed by, or derived from organic substances;
_e.g._ acetic acid, tartaric acid, uric acid, &c.

=Polybasic Acids.= See ACID.

=Pyro-acids.= Acids resulting from the decomposition by heat of other
acids, _e.g._ gallic acid, when heated, yields pyro-gallic acid.

=Tribasic Acids.= See ACID.

=ACIDIFICA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ACIDIFICA'TIO, L. In _chemistry_, the
act, process, or state of acidifying, or of making, becoming, or
impregnated with acid.

=ACIDIM'ETER.= _Syn._ ACIDOM'ETER; ACIDIME'TRUM, &c., L.; ACIDIMETRE, Fr.
An instrument or apparatus employed in acidimetry.

The ordinary acidimeters of the chemist are small tubes, constructed to
hold exactly 1000 grains of distilled water, at 60 deg. Fahr., within the
limits of their scale, which is accurately graduated into 100 divisions.
They are used to contain the alkaline solutions (TEST-LIQUORS, NORMAL or
STANDARD SOLUTIONS) employed in the following processes.

Beaume's Acidimeter, and others of the same class, are HYDROMETERS, and
are described under that 'head.'

=ACIDIM'ETRY.= _Syn._ ACIDOM'ETRY; ACIDIME'TRIA, &c., L.; ACIDIMETRIE, Fr.
The estimation of the strength or quantity of acid, in a free state,
contained in any liquid. It is the reverse of 'alkalimetry.' Acidimetrical
assays are understood to refer to the relative strengths of the same acids
(_i. e._, the quantity of real acid of the same kind contained in the
solutions examined), and not to the comparative strengths of acids of
different composition or names.

_Acidimetrical processes._ These are founded chiefly on the capacity of
the acids to saturate the bases; and, in some of the liquid acids, on the
specific gravity.

_a._ VOLUMETRICALLY:--

1. The sample of the acid to be examined (100 gr., or any convenient
aliquot part thereof) is placed in a suitable glass vessel, and if it be
one of the stronger acids, diluted with six or eight times its weight of
water, or if solid (as oxalic, or citric acid), dissolved in a like
quantity. This liquid is then exactly neutralised with an alkali.

This point is usually determined, by the addition of a small quantity of
litmus solution, which turns just blue when the solution is neutralised,
but when a carbonate is used for the alkaline solution, the acid must be
boiled a short time after each addition to expel the carbonic acid. The
quantity of the alkaline solution consumed for this purpose represents an
equivalent quantity of acid, and thus gives us the acid content of the
sample under examination. The common practice is to dissolve one
equivalent of the alkaline test in grains or grammes in water, and to make
up the solution to exactly 1000 parts by measure (_i. e._, 1000
'water-grains' or grammes), so as to accurately fill the 100 divisions of
an acidimeter; when the quantity, in grains or grammes, of the sample
tested, bears the same proportion to the equivalent number of the acid
under examination, that the number of acidimeter divisions of the
test-liquor consumed bear to the per-centage of acid sought.
Thus:--suppose 50 gr. of a sample of sulphuric acid take 25 acidimeter
divisions (300 parts or water-grains measure) of the test-liquid to
neutralise it, what is its content of real acid?

The equivalent of sulphuric acid is 49 (half its atomic weight); so, by
the rule of proportion,

  50 : 49 :: 25 : 24-1/2

It therefore contains 24-1/2 parts of real sulphuric acid, in 50.

If the 1000 parts or grain-measures, instead of the number of the
acidimeter divisions, be taken for the calculation, it will, of course, be
necessary to point off the first right-hand figure of the result as a
decimal. Thus; repeating the above example--

  50 : 49 :: 250 : 24.5

Or, since the equivalent of the test-liquid is 100, it will bear the same
proportion to the equiv. of the acid examined as the number of the
acidimeter divisions of the test-liquid consumed in neutralising 100 gr.,
do to the per-centage sought. Thus:--50 gr. of hydrochloric acid take 45
acidimeter divisions to effect neutralisation, what is its real
strength?--The equiv. of hydrochloric acid is 36.5: therefore--

  100 : 36.5 :: 45 : 16.425%

and, since only 50 gr. (instead of 100 gr.) were examined--

  16.425 x 2 = 32.85%

Some operators prefer employing 100 gr. instead of the equivalent weights
of the given tests in making their test-solutions, in which case each gr.
or 1000th part represents 1/10th, and each acidimeter degree 1 gr. of the
alkali or carbonate employed; when a similar proportion will obtain to
that first above given.

In technical analysis it is more convenient if the number of acidimeter
divisions of the 'test-liquid' consumed express the per-centage strength
of the acid, without further calculation. For this purpose the number of
grains of the acid taken for the assay should correspond to the equivalent
number of such acid (see _Table_ I, below); or to some convenient aliquot
part of it, as the 1/2, 1/4, 1/5, or 1/10th; the per-centage answer, in
the last case, being doubled, quadrupled, &c., according to the aliquot
part taken. The reason of this is obvious.

For the test-solutions, ammonia, and the dry and crystallised carbonates
and bicarbonates of potash and soda, are used, and are made by dissolving
in water their constituents except ammonia, of which 1000 grains, or one
litre, of solution of specific gravity 0.992 contains exactly one
equivalent.

53 grains (or grammes) of pure anhydrous carbonate of soda, prepared by
gradually heating to redness the crystallised salt, constitute one
equivalent (half the atomic weight), and 69 grains (or grammes) of pure
dry carbonate of potash. Of the crystallised salt 143 grains of carbonate
of soda will be required, and 84 grains (grammes) of the crystallised
bicarbonate of soda, and 100 of the crystallised bicarbonate of potash.
Occasionally solutions containing in one thousand parts, 50 of pure
carbonate of lime or chalk, or 28 of pure caustic lime, are used.

Besides these, a process known as Kiefer's is practised, and an ammoniacal
solution of oxide of copper is employed as the 'test-liquor,' and the
'point of neutralisation' is known by the turbidity observed as soon as
the free acid present is completely saturated.

The normal solution or test-liquor is prepared by adding to an aqueous
solution of sulphate of copper, pure ammonia water, until the precipitate,
which at first forms, is just redissolved, carefully avoiding excess. Or
better, by adding a rather strong solution of sulphate of copper, to a
quantity of a rather strong solution of ammonia containing exactly 17 gr.,
or one equiv. of pure ammonia, as long as the precipitate which forms is
redissolved on agitation; the resulting liquid being afterwards diluted
with pure distilled water, until it accurately measures 1000 water-grains,
or fills 100 divisions of an acidimeter, at 60 deg. Fahr. In either case, the
strength of the resulting 'test-solution' must be carefully determined by
means of standard sulphuric acid, and adjusted, if necessary.

This method answers well with all the stronger acids (excepting oxalic
acid), even when dilute; and it has the advantage of not being affected by
the presence of a neutral metallic salt with an acid reaction, as sulphate
of copper, or of zinc.

Besides this process a solution of lime in sugar may be used, as proposed
by M. Peligot, and made as follows:--

Pure caustic lime is carefully slaked by sprinkling with water, and 50
grains (or grammes), made up by water to a milky solution, and 100 grains
of pure sugar candy dissolved in 1000 grains of water, are added, and the
whole well shaken. It is allowed to settle in a closed bottle, and the
clear solution poured off and diluted, until 1000 grains neutralise
exactly 100 grains of pure hydrochloric acid of sp. gr. 1.1812. Of course
it only answers with acids whose calcium salts are readily soluble in
water.

_b._ GRAVERMETRICALLY:--

The test-liquors or standard solutions of the above methods are made up so
as to _weigh_ exactly 1000 grains, instead of to 'measure' 100 acidimeter
divisions. Every grain of the test-liquor thus represents 1/10th gr. of
alkali; and every 10 gr., 1 gr. of alkali; or respectively, 1/10th per
cent. and 1 per cent. The vessel used for containing the solutions is
carefully weighed whilst empty, and 1000 gr. being placed in the opposite
scale, the test-solution, containing exactly one equivalent of base, is
poured in, and the whole made up with distilled water (if necessary) so as
to restore the balance to an equilibrium. After the process of
neutralisation, the acidimeter, with its contents, is again placed in the
scales; its previous weight still remaining there. The number of grains
required to restore the equilibrium of the balance (_i.e._, the loss of
weight), gives the exact weight of the test-liquor consumed. In all other
respects the process is the same as in the 'volumetrical method' already
described.

Another method for estimating the strength of the sample of acid is by
weighing the amount of carbonic acid expelled during saturation. (Method
of Fresenius and Will.) This depends on the weight of gaseous carbonic
acid which a given weight of the acid-sample under examination is capable
of expelling from pure bicarbonate of soda (or of potash), which is
estimated by the loss of weight in the acidimeter, or apparatus, after the
gas, rendered perfectly dry by passing through sulphuric acid, has escaped
into the air.

        TABLE I.--_Weights of the respective acids equivalent
        to the given weight of the principal bases, hydrogen
        being taken as unity._

                                                      {51 Acetic acid (anhydrous).
                                                      {60   "     "   (crystallised or glacial).
                                                      {99 Arsenious acid (dry).
                                                      {35 Boracic acid (anhydrous).
  17 gr. of pure ammonia.[8]            }             {62   "     "   (crystallised).
  31   "    anhydrous soda.[9]          }             {22 Carbonic acid (dry).
  40   "    hydrate of soda.[9]         }             {67 Citric acid (crystallised).
  53   "    dry carbonate of soda.[10]  }             {85 Gallic acid (dried at 212 deg.).
  143  "    crystallised carbonate of   }             {94   "     "   (crystallised).
               soda.[11]                }             {127-1/2 Hydriodic acid (dry or gaseous).
  84   "    crystallised bicarbonate    }             {27 Hydrocyanic acid (anhydrous).
               of soda.                 }             {36-1/2 Hydrochloric acid (dry or gaseous).
  47   "    anhydrous potassa.[9]       }             {109         "       "   (liquid, sp. gr. 1.162).
  56   "    hydrate of potassa.[9]      } are         {166-1/2 Iodic acid.
  69   "    dry carbonate of potassa.[10]} exactly    {54 Nitric acid (anhydrous).
  100  "    crystallised bicarbonate    } neutralised {63   "     "   (liquid, _monohydrated_, sp. gr.
               of potassa.              }        by   {                       1.517 to 1.521).
  50   "   {pure chalk.                 }             {67-1/2 "   "   (liquid, _sesquihydrated_, sp. gr.
           {pure marble.                }             {                       1.5033 to 1.504).
  28   "    pure caustic lime.          }             {72   "     "   (liquid, _binhydrated_, sp. gr.
  37   "    hydrate of lime (fresh).    }             {                       1.486).
  44   "    dry carbonic acid (when     }             {90   "     "   (liquid, sp. gr 1.42).
               the bicarbonate of       }             {36 Oxalic acid (anhydrous).
               potassa or soda is       }             {63   "     "   (crystallised).
               used for testing in      }             {72 Phosphoric acid (anhydrous).
               the process of Fresenius }             {81   "         "   (glacial).
               and Will).               }             {50 Succinic acid (dry or anhydrous crystals).
  22   "    dry carbonic acid (when     }             {59   "       "   (ordinary crystals).
               a dry carbonate is       }             {40 Sulphuric acid (anhydrous).
               used).                   }             {49     "     "    (liquid, _monohydrated_, sp.
                                                      {                     gr. 1.8485).
                                                      {75 Tartaric acid (crystallised).
                                                      {212 Tannic acid (carefully dried).

[Footnote 8: 1000 water-grains measure of pure liquor of ammonia, sp. gr.
0.992, contains exactly 17 gr., or 1 equiv. of pure gaseous ammonia. A
standard liquor of this strength may be most conveniently prepared by
cautious dilution of a stronger solution, until a hydrostatic bead,
corresponding to the sp. gr., floats indifferently in the middle of the
new solution, at 60 deg. Fahr. By keeping two hydrostatic beads in the
solution--the one made barely to float, and the other barely to sink--we
shall always be able to detect any change of strength or temperature which
it may suffer; since the "loss of a single hundredth part of a grain of
ammonia per cent., or the difference of a single degree of heat, will
cause the beads to" vary their positions. To preserve its integrity it
must be kept in a well-stoppered bottle. (See below.)]

[Footnote 9: These substances, as well as 'test-solutions' containing
them, must be perfectly free from carbonic acid, and must be carefully
preserved to prevent the absorption of carbonic acid from the atmosphere.
Mohr states that a dilute solution of either of them is best preserved in
a flask or bottle well closed with a cork fitted with a small bulb tube
(resembling a chloride of calcium tube), filled with a finely triturated
mixture of sulphate of soda and caustic lime, and bearing a very thin open
tube in the exit aperture. Fresenius, and most other foreign chemists,
prefer 'test-solutions' of pure soda. With test-solutions containing
caustic alkalies, exact neutralisation of an acid is not only more easily
effected, but more readily perceived, particularly when either solution is
tinted with litmus.]

[Footnote 10: Prepared by gradually heating the pure crystallised
carbonate to redness. From being uniform in composition, and easily
procured or prepared, they are much employed; preference being usually
given to the soda-salt.]

[Footnote 11: The crystals must be free from attached water, but not the
least effloresced.]

_Oper._ A determined amount of the acid under examination is accurately
weighed into the flask _A_ (see _engr._); and if it be a concentrated
acid, or a solid, it is mixed with or dissolved in 6 or 8 times its weight
of water. The little glass tube (_e_) is then nearly filled to the brim
with pure bicarbonate of soda, in powder, and a fine silken thread is tied
round the neck of the tube, by means of which it can be lowered down into
the flask (_A_), so as to remain perpendicularly suspended when the cork
is placed in the latter; the cord being held between the cork and the
mouth of the flask. The flask (_B_) is next about half filled with oil of
vitriol, and the tubes being arranged in their places, as represented in
the _engr._; and time having been allowed for the mixture of acid and
water to cool completely, after the increase of heat caused by mixing, the
whole apparatus is very accurately weighed. The cork in the flask (_A_) is
then slightly loosened, so as to allow the little tube containing the
bicarbonate of soda to fall into the acid, and is again instantly fixed
AIR-TIGHT in its place. The evolution of carbonic acid now commences, and
continues until the acid in the flask (_A_) is neutralised. When this
takes place, which is easily seen by no bubbles being emitted on shaking
the apparatus, the flask (_A_) is put into hot water (120 deg. to 130 deg.
Fahr.), and kept there, with occasional agitation, until the renewed
evolution of gas has completely ceased. The little wax stopper is then
taken off the tube (_a_), the apparatus taken out of the hot water, wiped
dry, and suction applied, by means of a perforated cork, or a small
india-rubber tube, and the mouth, to the end of the tube (_d_), until the
sucked air no longer tastes of carbonic acid. The whole is then allowed to
become quite cold, when it is replaced in the balance (the other scale
still containing the original weights), and weights added to restore the
equilibrium.

[Illustration:

  (_A_) A wide-mouthed flask, capable of holding 2-1/2 to 8 oz.,
      containing sample for trial (_f_).
  (_B_) Ditto, capable of holding 1-1/2 to 2 oz., partly filled with
      oil of vitriol (_g_).
  (_a_, _c_, _d_) Tubes fitting air-tight in the flasks by means of
      the corks (_i_) and (_j_).
  (_b_) Piece of wax fitting air-tight on the end of _a_.
  (_e_) Small tube capable of holding about 1 drachm of powdered
      bicarbonate of soda or potash.
  (_h_) Open end of the tube (_d_).
  (_k_) Silk cord fastened to the tube (_e_).]

The loss of weight represents the exact quantity of dry carbonic
anhydride, or anhydrous carbonic acid gas, that has been expelled from the
bicarbonate of soda, by the action of the acid in the sample examined.

The quantity of real acid it contained is then deduced by the following
calculation:--One equivalent of gaseous carbonic anhydride, or anhydrous
carbonic acid (= 44) bears the same proportion to one equivalent of the
acid in question, as the amount of the carbonic anhydride expelled does to
the amount of the acid sought. Thus, suppose a dilute sulphuric acid
expels 3 gr. of carbonic anhydride, the arrangement is--

  44 : 49 :: 3 : 3.349

Consequently the sample operated on contained 3.5 (nearly) grains of true
sulphuric acid.

Instead of the above calculation, we may multiply the weights of the
respective acids required to expel 1 gr. of carbonic acid (as exhibited in
the following table) by the number of gr. of dry carbonic acid evolved
during the above operation. The product represents the per-centage
strength, when 100 gr. of the acid have been examined. When only 50, 25,
20, or 10 gr. have been tested, this product must, of course, be doubled,
quadrupled, &c., as the case may be.

        TABLE II.

                                                Multipliers.
  Acetic acid (anhydrous)                          1.159
    "      "  (hydrated or glacial)                1.364
  Citric acid (crystallised)                       1.523
  Hydrochloric acid (dry or gaseous)                .829
    "            " (sp. gr. 1.16)                  2.478
  Nitric acid (anhydrous)                          1.227
    "     " (sp. gr. 1.5)                          1.523
    "     " (sp. gr. 1.42)                         2.045
  Oxalic acid (crystallised)                       1.432
  Sulphuric acid (anhydrous)                        .909
    "        "  (sp. gr. 1.8485)                   1.114
  Tartaric acid (anhydrous)                        1.500
    "        "  (crystallised)                     1.705

Even this easy calculation may be avoided, in technical analysis, by
simply taking for the assay such a weight of the respective acids as is
capable of disengaging exactly 10 gr. of dry carbonic acid from the
bicarbonate. In this case, the loss of weight in grains, from the
operation, multiplied by 10, at once indicates the exact per-centage
strength sought. The proper weight of any acid to be taken to give
per-centage results is found by simply dividing ten times the equiv. of
that acid by 44. For, taking sulphuric acid as an example,

  as-- 44: 49 :: 10 : 11.1318

or 11.13 nearly.

On this principle are obtained the weights to be taken, as given in--

        TABLE III.

                                        Grains.
  Acetic acid (anhydrous)                11.59
    "      " (hydrated or glacial)       13.64
  Citric acid (crystallised)             15.23
  Hydrochloric acid (dry or gaseous)      8.29
    "            "  (sp. gr. 1.16)       24.78
  Nitric acid (anhydrous)                12.27
    "      " (sp. gr. 1.5)               15.23
    "      " (sp. gr. 1.42)              20.45
  Oxalic acid (crystallised)             14.32
  Sulphuric acid (anhydrous)              9.09
    "         "  (sp. gr. 1.845)         11.14
  Tartaric acid (anhydrous)              15.00
    "        " (crystallised)            17.05

2. A convenient modification of the preceding method of acidimetry
consists in using the common apparatus figured in the margin and employing
fused chloride of calcium to dry the evolved carbonic acid gas, instead of
concentrated sulphuric acid. The mode of conducting the process and
obtaining the results is precisely the same as in that last explained, and
need not, therefore, be repeated. In this case, however, suction must be
applied to the small tube (_g_), instead of (_d_) in the accompanying
engraving.

_Obs._ These methods, though apparently complicated, are not difficult to
perform, when once well understood. The application of heat after the
completion of the operation is indispensable, as, if it were neglected,
from 0.3 to 0.4 of a gr. of carbonic acid would be retained in the liquid.
The bicarbonate of soda must be pure, and perfectly free from any neutral
carbonate or sesquicarbonate of soda. To ensure this, the bicarbonate of
commerce is reduced to a uniform powder, put into a glass jar, and covered
with its own weight of cold distilled or rain water, and allowed to stand
for twenty-four hours, with frequent stirring. It is then placed upon a
funnel, the tube of which is stopped with loose cotton, so as to allow the
lye to drain off. It is next washed several times with small quantities of
cold distilled or rain water, and after being dried by pressure between
some sheets of blotting-paper, without the aid of heat, is kept for use in
a well-closed glass bottle. Before use, it may be tested to ascertain its
purity. If pure, it neither reddens turmeric paper, nor gives a brick-red
precipitate with a solution of bichloride of mercury. Pure bicarbonate of
potassa may be used instead of bicarbonate of soda; but in either case it
is always proper to use an excess, so as to leave some undecomposed
carbonate after the operation has ended. The presence of a little sodium
chloride or sulphate in the bicarbonate will not interfere in the least,
but the absence of every trace of neutral carbonate is a _sine qua non_.

[Illustration:

  (_a_) Wide-mouthed flask, containing the sample for examination,
      hermetically stopped by the cork (_e_) and supporting the
      tubes (_b_) and (_c_).
  (_b_) Bulbous tube, containing fragments of fused chloride of
      calcium, terminating in a capillary tube (_g_).
  (_c_) Bent tube, reaching nearly to the bottom of the flask (_a_).
  (_d_) Small tube containing bicarbonate of soda.
  (_e_) Cork fitting bottle (_a_), and the tubes (_b_) and (_c_),
      hermetically.
  (_f_) Silken thread, suspending the small tube (_d_).]

The two above methods of estimating the amount of acid are only superior
to the generally used methods first described, when the presence of
colouring matter interferes with the reaction of the litmus used to show
the point of neutralisation.

_Observations._ When great accuracy is required in conducting the
neutralisation of the solution in estimating volumetrically with litmus as
an indicator, it is proper to prepare and keep standard solutions of
sulphuric acid and oxalic acid, with which occasionally to try the
alkaline test-liquor. The only difficulty in the process is to avoid
over-saturation of the acid-sample. Great care must be taken not to exceed
the precise point of neutralisation of the acid. After adding each portion
of the test-liquor, the solution should be well stirred up, and as soon as
the effervescence becomes languid the greatest caution must be observed in
adding more. The proper point is arrived at when the liquor ceases to
redden litmus, and does not alter the colour of turmeric paper; if it
turns the latter brown, too much of the test-liquid has been added, and
the operation becomes useless. Towards the end of the experiment, when
great precision is required, a gentle heat may be applied, in order to
expel the free carbonic acid in the liquor; but otherwise this is
unnecessary. The peculiar soapy odour gradually acquired by the liquor as
it nears saturation will materially assist the operator when testing
vinegars, and some of the other vegetable acids. A good method is to tint
either the acid-sample or the test-liquid with a few drops of litmus, as
noticed under ACETIMETRY; when the reddish shade will gradually deepen
into 'purple,' or the purple into 'red,' as the point of saturation is
approached; and the blue colour will be perfectly restored as soon as this
point is reached. Dr Ure recommends keeping the ammonia-test ready tinged
with litmus, and the same applies to other test-liquors.

In commerce, the strength of acids is frequently reckoned with reference
to a standard, termed 100 acidimetric degrees. This is taken from the
circumstance that 91 gr. of commercial oil of vitriol, of a sp. gr. of
1.845, exactly saturate 100 gr. of dried carbonate of soda. An acid
requiring only 35, 50, or any other number of grains of the carbonate to
saturate it, is in like manner termed of so many degrees strong; the
number of grains representing in each case an equal number of degrees.
This method originated with the French chemists, and though only
conventional, and principally confined to commercial purposes, is
especially adapted to practical men but little conversant with chemistry,
yet very ready in retaining or calculating anything on the centesimal
scale, from its similarity to monetary language and reckoning.

=ACID'ITY.= _Syn._ ACID'ITAS, L.; ACIDITE, Fr.; SAeURE, Ger. In
_chemistry_, the state of being acid. In _physiology_, &c., the impression
given to the organs of taste by tart or acid substances. Sourness. See
FERMENTATION, MALT-LIQUORS, WINES, &c.

=Gas'tric Acidity.= Acidity of the stomach; a common and well-known
symptom of weak or disordered digestion.

_Treat., &c._ Small doses of absorbents or antacids, three or four times
daily, to which some tonic bitter, as calumba, cascarilla, chamomile,
gentian, or orange-peel, may be added. Stomachic stimulants, as capsicum,
ginger, mustard, or wine, &c., taken with, or after, meals, are also
useful. The diet should be light and nutritious; and acescent vegetables,
over-ripe fruit, and weak new beer or other liquors avoided as much as
possible. The bowels should be kept regular, but not open, by the
occasional use of mild aperients, as rhubarb, aloes, castor oil, senna, or
mercurial pill, or compounds containing them. Excessive looseness or
diarrh[oe]a may be checked by a few doses of carbonate of soda,
chalk-mixture, or astringents.

In INFANCY this affection is usually accompanied by restlessness,
continual crying, drawing up of the legs forcibly towards the body,
hiccups, vomiting, diarrh[oe]a, sour eructations, griping pains, green
stools, and debility; often followed, when the irritation is considerable,
by convulsions. The treatment consists in relieving the bowels of all
offending matter by a few doses of rhubarb-and-magnesia. The looseness or
diarrh[oe]a may be checked by a few small doses of carbonate of soda or
chalk mixture; or better, in an infant which is fed by lime-water (1 or 2
fl. oz.) mixed with as much milk. Two or three drops of caraway, cinnamon,
dill, or peppermint water, on sugar (not with the food) will tend to
promote the expulsion, and prevent the undue generation of gases. The
flatulence usually disappears with the acidity. The occasional
administration of 1 to 3 gr. of quicksilver-with-chalk ('grey powder'),
will frequently remove the complaint, and prevent its recurrence, when all
other means fail. The diet of both nurse and infant should be carefully
regulated.

See ANTACIDS, DYSPEPSIA, &c.

_Treatment for Horses._ Alkalies, their carbonates and bicarbonates;
alterative doses of aloes with alkalies; chalk, carbonate of magnesia;
mineral acids; bismuth, arsenic, nux vomica, or strychnia.

=ACIDS, EFFECTS OF, ON VEGETATION.= This subject has been ably
investigated of recent years by Dr Angus Smith and Mr Rothwell, and the
practical importance of their labours is shown by the circumstance that an
Act of Parliament passed in 1875 renders it penal for the proprietors of
alkali works to condense not less than 95 per cent. of the hydrochloric
acid evolved in the process of manufacturing 'soda,' also to allow air,
smoke, or chimney gases to escape into the atmosphere containing more than
one fifth of a grain of hydrochloric acid per cubic foot. Every owner of
an alkali work is likewise required to 'use the best practical means of
preventing the discharge into the atmosphere of all other noxious gases
arising from such work, or of rendering such gases harmless when
discharged.'

The injurious effects of acids on vegetation are indicated chiefly by the
shrivelled-up appearance which the leaves of herbage, trees, &c., exhibit
in the vicinity of chemical works in which the condensation of noxious
gases (hydrochloric acid, sulphurous acid, sulphuric acid, sulphuretted
hydrogen, nitric acid, and oxides of nitrogen and chlorine) is not
effectually carried out. According to Mr Rothwell, 'in fields exposed to
acid vapours handfuls of dead grass may be pulled up in the spring,
smelling strongly of the vapour, and that trees, under similar influences,
become bark-bound.'

The following is a list of trees arranged in the order of their
susceptibility. (Rothwell.)

_Forest Trees._ Larch, spruce fir, Scotch fir, black Italian poplar,
Lombardy poplar, ash, oak, elm, birch, alder, sycamore.

_Fruit Trees._ Damson, greengage, Halewood plum, Jacob plum, pears,
apples, cherries.

_Shrubs, Evergreens, and Wild Plants._ British laurels, Portugal laurels,
_Aucuba_ _Japonica_, Barberry evergreen, hazel, guelder rose, sloe thorn,
hawthorn, raspberries, gooseberries, blackberries, gorse, hollies.

_Farm Crops._ Potatoes, mangel, white clover and rhubarb, red clover,
trefoil, rye-grass, wheat, oats, barley, common turnips, swedes.

_Second list of Plants affected by Noxious Vapours, mixing the classes
according to the effects produced on each._

I. Fern--only in the summer.

Scotch firs, spruce, and larches--a little in winter.

Clover (white and red), trefoil, rye-grass, poplars, hawthorn,
potatoes--receive damage in winter to roots.

II. Wheat receives some damage in winter.

Oats in May, when in the grass state, soon receive damage.

Barley, mangel, common turnips, rhubarb.

III. Laurels (British and Portugal), aucubas, yews, holly, gorse--receive
damage in winter, but more in summer.

Old grass meadows and pastures receive much damage in winter.

IV. Ashes, oaks, hazels, horse-chestnuts, walnuts, Spanish chestnuts, sloe
thorn.

V. Swedish turnip and cabbages, damson, other fruit trees, beech, elm,
birch, alder, sycamores.

=ACIDULAE.= [L. pl.] In _medicine_, mineral waters rich in carbonic acid.

=ACIDULATED=. _Syn_. ACIDULATUS, L.; ACIDULE, Fr. Blended or flavoured
with an acid; made slightly sour. See KALI (Acidulated), DROPS, LOZENGES,
&c. In _chemistry_, the addition of an acid to a neutral or alkaline
liquid until it reddens blue litmus paper.

=ACIDUM.= [L.] An acid.

=ACNE.= [_Syn._ PIMPLED FACE.] There are two forms of this affection. 1st.
In young persons of both sexes; generally in phlegmatic habits. The
disease shows itself by hard pimples, with a small black spot on the apex,
unaccompanied with redness or inflammation at first, but after a while
they become red and inflamed, and sometimes suppurate, with a greasy look
of the skin between them. In this form of acne the black spots should be
picked out with a needle or a small pair of tweezers. A long piece of
thick matter, like a worm, is extracted; but is no worm. Afterwards wash
the face with water in which a small piece of Quillar bark has been
steeped, or with bitter almond emulsion, or borax, one drachm, water 4 oz.
When there is no inflammation, use Eau de Cologne, or a few drops of oil
of rosemary dissolved in spirit of wine, taking a small dose of magnesia
in the morning, or milk of sulphur daily. When the pimples are very
sluggish the cautious application of tincture of iodine, or of ointment of
nitrate of mercury, will be found serviceable.

2nd. Arises from intemperance. In this case a gradual change of habits is
essential. The use of soap should be avoided, and recourse had to warm
fomentations of slippery elm, or thin oat gruel. The following should be
applied to the pimples:--Cold cream, 1 oz., Goulard's extract 20 drops,
mixed together; or lemon juice diluted, or solution of borax in water. The
internal administration of the mineral acids combined with bitter tonics,
or small doses of iodide of potassium, will be found effectual.

_Treatment._ Fomentations, poultices, chloride of zinc solution
externally; sulphur and alteratives internally.

=ACOLOGY=. _Syn._ In _medicine_, the doctrine of, or a discourse on,
remedies or the materia medica.

=ACONITE.= (-nite). _Syn._ ACON'ITUM, L.; ACONIT, Fr.: AKONITUM, EISENHUT,
STURMHUT, Ger. Monkshood; wolfsbane. In _botany_, a genus of exogenous
plants. _Nat. ord._, Ranunculaceae; _Sex. syst._, Polyandria Trigynia. They
are characterised by showy purple or yellow helmet-shaped flowers growing
in panicles, deeply cut leaves, and perennial (usually) tap-shaped or
tapering roots. The whole plant is highly poisonous, the roots being more
poisonous than the leaves. In _medicine_ and _materia medica_, the plant
Aconitum Napellus (which _see_).

_Symptoms._ Numbness and tingling in the mouth and throat, which are
parched; followed by giddiness, dimness of sight, and (sometimes)
delirium, but seldom complete coma; there is numbness and tingling of the
limbs, a loss of power in the legs, (in some cases) frothing at the mouth,
severe abdominal pains, nausea, vomiting, and diarrh[oe]a; tremors or
twitchings of the voluntary muscles, (sometimes) convulsions (in animals,
but not in man); sharp cries; pupil (generally) dilated, very rarely
contracted; pulse fitful and sinking; skin cold and livid; difficulty of
breathing; general prostration; loss of sensation or feeling,
insensibility, general trembling, fainting, and sudden death. The eyes are
often glaring; and, in some cases, the patient is completely paralysed,
yet retains consciousness to the last. The case generally proves fatal in
from 1 to 8 hours. If it last beyond this period there is hope of
recovery. (Fleming.)

_Antidotes._ Ammonia, or brandy, with artificial respiration if necessary:
cold affusion and friction, with warm towels to the back and limbs. See
ALKALOIDS.

=ACONITE LEAVES= (B. Ph.). _Syn._ ACONITI FOLIA, L. The fresh leaves and
flowering tops of _aconitum napellus_, Linn., gathered when about one
third of the flowers are expanded, from plants cultivated in Britain.

_Char._ Leaves smooth, palmate, divided into five deeply cut wedge-shaped
segments; excizing slowly, when chewed, a sensation of tingling. Flowers
numerous, irregular, deep blue, in dense racemes.

_Prep._ Extractum aconiti.

=ACONITE ROOT.= (B. Ph.). _Syn._ ACONITI RADIX, L. The dried root of
_aconitum napellus_. Imported from Germany, or cultivated in Britain, and
collected in the winter or early spring before the leaves have appeared.

_Prep._ Aconitia, the active principle; Linimentum Aconiti, 1 ounce to 1
fluid ounce; Tinctura Aconiti, 54-1/2 grains to 1 fluid ounce.

_Char._ Usually from one to three inches long, not thicker than the finger
at the crown, tapering, blackish-brown, internally whitish. A _minute_
portion, cautiously chewed, causes prolonged tingling and numbness.

=ACONITI FOLIA.= See ACONITE LEAVES.

=ACONITI RADIX.= See ACONITE ROOT.

=ACONITIA.= C_{30}H_{47}O_{7}N. (B. P.) _Syn._ ACONITIA, L. An alkaloid
obtained from aconite.

  Take of
    Aconite root, in coarse powder, 14 pounds.
    Rectified spirit      }
    Distilled water       }    of each
    Solution or ammonia   }  a sufficiency.
    Pure ether            }
    Diluted sulphuric acid}

Pour upon the aconite root three gallons of the spirit, mix them well, and
heat until ebullition commences; then cool and macerate for four days.
Transfer the whole to a displacement apparatus, and percolate, adding more
spirit, when requisite, until the root is exhausted. Distil off the
greater part of the spirit from the tincture, and evaporate the remainder
over a water bath until the whole of the alcohol has been dissipated. Mix
the residual extract thoroughly with twice its weight of boiling distilled
water, and when it has cooled to the temperature of the atmosphere, filter
through paper. To the filtered liquid add solution of ammonia in slight
excess, and heat them gently over a water bath. Separate the precipitate
on a filter, and dry it. Reduce this to coarse powder, and macerate it in
successive portions of the pure ether with frequent agitation. Decant the
several products, mix and distil off the ether until the extract is dry.
Dissolve the dry extract in warm distilled water acidulated with the
sulphuric acid; and, when the solution is cold, precipitate it by the
cautious addition of solution of ammonia diluted with four times its bulk
of distilled water. Wash the precipitate on a filter with a small quantity
of cold distilled water, and dry it by slight pressure between folds of
filtering paper.

_Characters and Tests._ A white, usually amorphous, solid, soluble in 150
parts of cold, and 50 of hot water, and much more soluble in alcohol and
in ether; strongly alkaline to reddened litmus, neutralising acids, and
precipitated from them by the caustic alkalies, but not by carbonate of
ammonia or the bicarbonates of soda or potash. It melts with heat, and
burns with a smoky flame, leaving no residue when burned with free access
of air. When rubbed on the skin it causes a tingling sensation, followed
by prolonged numbness. It is a very active poison.

=ACONITIA, CRYSTALLISED.= C_{27}H_{40}NO_{10}. Exhaust the root of wild
aconite, carefully picked and powdered, with very strong alcohol, to which
1 per cent. of tartaric acid has been added. Distil at a gentle heat, and
sheltered from the air, to recover the alcohol. Treat the extract with
water to separate all the fatty and resinous matters. The solution which
contains the aconite in the state of acid tartrate is first shaken with
ether to remove colouring matters, and then the alkaloid is set free by
the addition of alkaline bicarbonate, until the cessation of
effervescence. A fresh treatment with ether of this alkaline solution
removes the alkaloid, which crystallizes upon the concentration of the
ethereal liquid, with an addition of petroleum spirit. The crystals are
colourless tables, rhombic or hexagonal, according to the modifications
produced principally in the acute angles. Crystallized aconitia is soluble
in alcohol, ether, benzine, and chloroform; insoluble in petroleum oils
and glycerine.

ACONITIA NITRATE, CRYSTALLISED. Crystallised aconitine q. s.; nitric acid,
sp. gr. 1.442, q. s. Saturate the nitric acid with the aconitine and
evaporate. Voluminous crystals are easily obtained (from 'Formulae for New
Medicaments adopted by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society').--'Pharm.
Journal.' Owing to the decomposition which this alkaloid undergoes in the
animal organism, as well as to its liability to decompose during the
process of evaporation, and exposure to the air, it often becomes
extremely difficult, if not impossible, to obtain it in a separate state
in conducting a _post-mortem_ examination. The physiological effects seem
to furnish the most prominent and characteristic evidence of its presence
in such cases, or at any rate these may serve as a valuable guide to the
toxicologist.

Uncrystallised aconitia is sometimes contaminated with delphinia, as well
as with aconella, another constituent of aconite root. For the dissection
of these see ALKALOIDS. One fiftieth of a grain of aconitia is stated to
have killed a dog.

_Antidotes._ See ACONITE.

=ACONITIC ACID.= (Identical with _Pyrocitric Acid_.) An acid extracted by
Peschier from _aconitum napellus_, and by Bracconnot from _equisetum
fluviatile_. It exists in these plants chiefly in the form of aconitate of
calcium.

_Properties._ A white, colourless, semi-crystalline mass.

=ACONITINA.= See ACONITIA.

=ACONITINE.= See ACONITIA.

=ACONI'TUM.= [L.] Aconite. The pharmacop[oe]ial name of _aconitum
napellus_(see _below_).

=Aconitum Ferox.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Temperate and sub-Alpine Himalaya,
at 10,000 to 14,000 feet elevation, from Gurhwal to Sikkim.

_Officinal part._ The dried root (_Aconiti ferocis Radix_), in common with
those of other Himalayan species, viz., _aconitum napellus_, _a.
palmatum_, and _a. luridum_, constitutes the drug well known in the
bazaars of Upper India under the Hindostani name of _Bish_ or _Bikh_.

It occurs in the form of tuberous roots of a more or less conical form,
from two to three inches in length, and from half an inch to one inch in
thickness at their upper end. They have usually a shrunken appearance, and
are covered with a dark shrivelled bark; fracture shining and resinous;
sometimes waxy, varying in colour from pale to deep brown. Some specimens
are white and spongy; and these, it is asserted, are superior in activity
to the more compact kinds. Inodorous; taste at first slightly bitter,
leaving a peculiar sense of numbness on the tongue and fauces. Active
principle, aconitia.

_Medical Properties and Uses._ Similar to those of _aconitum napellus_ of
Europe. _Preparations._ This root may be advantageously used for the
manufacture of aconitia, the proportion of this alkaloid being much larger
than in the European drug; and also for the preparation of Linimentum
Aconiti. From its greater activity, however, it is unsuited for the
preparation of this tincture, which is intended for external use.

=Aconitum Hetorophyllum.= (Ind. P.) _Habitat_. Western temperate Himalaya,
at 8000 to 13,000 feet elevation; from Indus to Kumaon. _Officinal part._
The dried root (_Aconiti heterophylli Radix_). Ovoid tuberous roots,
tapering downwards to a point, from one to one and a half inches or more
in length, and from three eighths to half an inch in thickness. The
surface, which is covered with a thin greyish epidermis, is slightly
wrinkled longitudinally, and marked here and there with root scars. It is
inodorous, and of a bitter taste, devoid of acridity. Does not contain
aconitia. It may be readily distinguished from other roots sold in the
bazaars under the same vernacular name (Atis) by its characteristic
bitterness. _Properties._ Tonic and antiperiodic. It may be administered
internally with safety, as it contains no poisonous principle.
_Therapeutic uses_. In convalescence after debilitating diseases, and in
intermittent and other paroxysmal fevers, it has been found an efficient
remedy. _Doses._ Tonic, 5 to 10 grains thrice daily; antiperiodic, 20 to
30 grains of the powdered root every three or four hours, irrespective of
the presence of pyrexia.

=Aconitum Napell'us.= [Linn.] _Syn._ ACONI'TUM, Ph. L., E., & D.;
ACONITNAPEL, CHAPERON DE MOINE, Fr.; EISENHUT, BLAUERSTURMHUT, Ger. Early
blue wolfsbane, or deadly aconite. _Hab._ Various parts of Europe; grows
wild in England, flowering in June and July. The fresh and dried leaves
(ACONITI FO''LIUM), Ph. L. & E. The root (ACONITI RA'DIX), Ph. L. & D.
This is the species of aconite ordered in the pharmacop[oe]ias, and
commonly used in medicine. When chewed it imparts a sensation of acrimony,
followed by a pungent heat of the lips, gums, palate, and fauces, which is
succeeded by a general tremor and chilliness. The juice applied to a wound
or the unsound skin affects the whole nervous system. Even by remaining
long in the hand, or on the bosom, it produces unpleasant symptoms. Fatal
cases of poisoning, by eating the root in mistake for horseradish, have
been common of late years. The two roots may be, however, easily
distinguished from one another; when scraped aconite emits an earthy, and
horseradish its well-known pungent odour. Moreover, the shape of the roots
is very different. In the accompanying figure _a_ represents aconite root,
and _b_ horseradish root.

[Illustration]

The leaves should be gathered as soon as the flowers appear. The root
should be taken up in autumn. When the whole plant is employed, it should
be gathered as soon as the flowers begin to open. The strength (richness
in aconitia) varies considerably with the time of the year. 1 oz. of the
fresh root contains 1/4 to 3/4 gr. of aconitia; 1 lb. of the dried English
root contains from 12 to 36 gr. (Herapath). The leaves possess the
greatest activity just before flowering; the root, after it. The root is
at all times fully six times as strong as the leaves or herb. The wild
plant contains much more aconitia than that which is cultivated. The herb,
and all its preparations, lose their efficacy if long kept. The powder,
more particularly, cannot be relied on. Mr Holmes says it is difficult to
find in a commercial sample of aconite root one root in a dozen, which
upon fracture appears sound and in good condition.

_Properties, Antidotes, &c._ See ACONITE.

_Tests, &c._ See ACONITE.

_Uses, &c._ In small doses aconite is narcotic, powerfully diaphoretic,
and sometimes diuretic; in larger ones, the symptoms are similar to those
produced by aconitia. It acts as a powerful sedative on the heart's
action, and destroys sensibility without disturbing the mental faculties.
It has been given in chronic rheumatism, gout, paralysis, scirrhus,
scrofula, cancers, venereal nodes, epilepsy, amaurosis, intermittents,
&c.; but its exhibition requires the greatest possible caution. As a
topical benumber it has been used with great advantage in painful
affections depending on increased sensibility of the nerves. Externally it
"is most valuable for the cure of neuralgic and rheumatic pains. In
neuralgia, no remedy, I believe, will be found equal to it. One
application of the tincture produces some amelioration; and after a few
times' use, it frequently happens that the patient is cured. In some
cases, the benefit appears almost magical. In others, however, it entirely
fails to give permanent relief." "I do not think that in any (case) it
proves injurious." "When it succeeds, it gives more or less relief at the
first application. When the disease depends on inflammation, aconite will
be found, I think, an unavailing remedy." "In rheumatic pains,
unaccompanied with local swelling or redness, aconite is frequently of
very great service." (Pereira, iii, 691.) _Dose_, of the powder, 1 to 2
gr., gradually increased to 6 or 8. Dr Stocrk was the first who gave
wolfsbane internally, about the year 1762. It has since been successfully
employed in Germany in cases of chronic rheumatism, gout, &c., some of
which were of long standing and had resisted every other remedy. In
England it has been less extensively used.

=Aconitum Panicula'tum.= Panicled wolfsbane; a species formerly ordered in
the Ph. L.; and, with _a. napellus_, also in the Ph. U. S. It is less
active than the officinal species.

=A'CORN.= _Syn._ GLANS. QUER'CUS, L. The seed or fruit of the oak. In the
early ages of the world, acorns probably formed one of the principal
articles of the food of man. (Ovid, _Met._, i, 106; Virgil, _Georg._, i,
8; &c.) In modern times, during periods of scarcity, they have been
consumed as food on the Continent. Besides starch, they contain a peculiar
species of sugar, which crystallises in prisms, and is unfermentable; they
also contain tannic and gallic acids. Mannite and dulcose are the
substances which it most nearly resembles. (M. Dessaignes.) During the
autumn, acorns are said to be sometimes poisonous to cattle and sheep.
Supposed cases of so-called acorn poisoning are best treated by
withdrawing the supply of acorns, or removing the animals from the
pastures on which the acorns fall, and by the administration of aperients,
alkalies, and stimulants.

=AC'ORUS CAL'AMUS.= See SWEET FLAG.

=ACOTYLE'DONS= (-ko-te-l[=e]'-). _Syn._ ACOTYLE'DONES (d[)o]n-[=e]z; L.,
prim. Gr.), Jussieu; ACOTYLEDONS, Fr.; OHNE SAMENLAPPEN, Ger. In _botany_,
plants whose seeds are not furnished with distinct cotyledons or
seed-lobes. _Acotyledonous plants_ form one of the two great divisions of
the vegetable kingdom, according to the natural system. They are
remarkable by increasing chiefly in length, by additions to their end; and
not by addition to the outside, as in Exogens; nor to the inside, as in
Endogens. They are also termed ASEX'UAL and FLOWERLESS PLANTS, and answer
to the CRYPTOGAMIA of the Linnean system. See ACROGENS, CELLULARES,
THALLOGENS, &c.

=ACOUS'TICS= (-kow'-). The science of audition and sound; that branch of
physics which treats of their cause, nature, and phenomena. The doctrine
of the production and transmission of sound is termed DIACOUS'TICS; that
of reflected sound CATACOUS'TICS.

=Acoustics.= In _medicine_, remedies employed to relieve deafness. See
DEAFNESS and DROPS, ACOUSTIC.

=ACQUETTA.= [IT., _Little Water._] _Syn._ AQUA TOFFANA; A. TOFFANIA;
ACQUETTA DI NAPOLI DELLA TOFFANA, IT. A celebrated poison, prepared by an
Italian woman named Toffano, or Tophana, and in great request in Rome
about the middle of the 17th century. The composition of this poison has
been a matter of frequent controversy. Pope Alexander VII, in his
proclamation, described it as "aquafortis distilled into arsenic." This
would produce a concentrated solution of arsenic acid. The Emperor Charles
VI, who was governor of Naples during Toffano's trial, declared to his
physician, Garelli, that it was arsenic (arsenious acid) dissolved in
_aqua cymbalaria_. According to Gerarde this cymbalaria was an aquatic
species of pennywort, highly poisonous. The only objection to the latter
statement is the smallness of the dose, regard being had to the
comparative insolubility of arsenious acid; but if the woman Toffano
prepared two poisons, as is probable from history--one, a single dose of
which was fatal, and another, of which the dose required repetition, and
which was more gradual in its activity--the discrepancy will be at once
removed.

=AC'RID.= _Syn._ AC'ER, AC'RIS, L.; ACRE (acre), Fr.; BEISSEND, SCHARF,
Ger. In _chemistry_ and _medicine_, sharp, pungent, acrimonious. Acrid
substances are such as excite a sensation of pungency and heat when
tasted, and which irritate and inflame the skin; as mustard, turpentine,
cantharides, &c.

=ACRIDITY.= _Syn._ ACRETE, Fr.; ACRITUDO, L. The quality of being acrid.

=AC'RIMONY.= _Syn._ ACRIMO'NIA, L.; ACRIMONIE, ACRETE, Fr.; SCHARFE, Ger.
In _medicine_ and _chemistry_, the quality or property of inflaming,
irritating, corroding, dissolving, or destroying other bodies.

=ACROGENS.= _Syn._ ACROGENAE, L.; ACROGENES, Fr. In _botany_, acotyledonous
or cryptogamic plants, in which stems and leaves, or an organisation
approaching leaves, are distinguishable; which have stomates or breathing
spores on their surface, are propagated by spores, and increase by the
growth of the stem at the point only. Ferns and club-mosses are examples
of this class of plants.

=ACROLEIN.= _Syn._ ACRYLIC ALCOHOL. This substance occurs amongst the
products of decomposition when glycerine or any of its compounds is
subjected to ordinary distillation. It derives its name from its violently
irritant effect upon the mucous membranes of the eyes and respiratory
organs. It is best prepared by the process of Redtenbacher (see 'Leibig's
Ann.,' xlvii, 114), by distilling in a capacious retort, a mixture of
glycerine with phosphoric anhydride, or with hydric-potassic sulphate (the
acid sulphate or bisulphate of potash); the vapours must be condensed in a
properly cooled receiver, which is luted on to the retort and provided
with a tube opening into a chimney having a good draught. The distilled
liquid separates into two layers, the upper one consisting of acrolein,
and the lower one of an aqueous solution of the same substance mixed with
a quantity of acrylic acid. This distillate, after digestion with finely
powdered litharge, with the object of neutralising the acid, must be
rectified by the heat of a water bath: the acrolein so obtained must be
submitted to a second rectification from calcic chloride. All these
operations must be conducted in vessels filled with carbonic anhydride
(carbonic acid) because acrolein becomes rapidly oxidized when exposed to
the air.

Acrolein is a clear colourless liquid, lighter than water, boiling at
about 125 deg. F. It has great refracting power and a burning taste; when pure
it is neutral to test paper.

=AC'ROSPIRE= (-spire). _Syn._ ACROSPI'RA, L.; PLUMULE, Fr.; BLATTKEIM,
Ger. The shoot or sprout of a seed, when it begins to grow; the part of a
germinating seed termed the plume, or plumula.

When the growth of a seed begins to be developed, the germ, from which the
stem originates, shoots forth under the form of a delicate curved fibre,
which, gradually bursting its covering, makes its appearance at the end of
the seed. The fibrils of the radicle first sprout forth from the tip of
the grain; a white elevation appears, that soon divides into three or more
radicles, which rapidly grow larger, and are succeeded by the plumula,
which peeps forth at the same point, in the form of a pale green leaflet,
which, twisting thence beneath the husk to the other end of the seed,
ultimately bursts its prison-house, and becomes a perfect leaf. See
GERMINATION and MALTING.

=ACTINIC RAYS.= See ACTINISM.

=ACTINISM.= _Syn._ ACTINIC RAYS; CHEMICAL RAYS. A term given to a supposed
principle accompanying the heat and light of the sunbeam. Actinic rays
chiefly exist beyond the violet extremity of the solar spectrum, and are
characterised by the power of exciting chemical change, _e.g._, the
decomposition of certain silver salts (in photography); the combination of
a mixture of chlorine and hydrogen, &c. The so-called vital functions of
animals and plants are also greatly influenced by the actinic or chemical
rays.

=ACTINOGRAPH.= An instrument for registering the intensity of the chemical
influence (_actinism_) of the sun's rays.

=ACT, TOWNS IMPROVEMENT CLAUSES, 1847= (10 & 11 Vict., c. 34), The
following provisions of this Act are incorporated in the Public Health
Act, 1875, and refer exclusively to urban districts:--

1. With respect to naming the streets and numbering the houses.

2. With respect to improving the line of the streets and removing the
obstructions.

3. With respect to ruinous or dangerous buildings.

4. With respect to precautions during the construction and repair of
sewers, streets, and houses.

5. With respect to the regulation of slaughter houses.

Notices for alterations under the 69th, 70th, and 71st sections,
directions under the 73rd section, and orders under the 74th section of
the said Towns Improvement Clauses Act, may, at the option of the urban
authority, be served on owners instead of occupiers, or on owners as well
as occupiers, and the cost of works done under any of these sections may,
when notices have been so served on owners, be recovered from owners
instead of occupiers; and when such cost is recovered from occupiers, so
much thereof may be deducted from the rent of the premises where the work
is done as is allowed in the case of private rates under the Act.

=AC'TUAL.= Real, effectual, absolute; as opposed to that which is merely
virtual or potential. In _surgery_, a red-hot iron, or any other heated
body, used as a cautery, is termed the ACTUAL CAUTERY; whilst a caustic or
escharotic so employed is called the POTENTIAL CAUTERY.

=ACTUAL CAUTERY.= See ACTUAL.

=ACUTE'.= _Syn._ ACUT'US, L.; AIGU, Fr.; HEFTIG, HITZIG, SPITZIG, Ger.
Sharp, pointed, sensitive. Applied to the senses, as acute hearing,
eyesight, &c. In _pathology_, diseases exhibiting violent symptoms, and
whose course is short, are said to be acute diseases.

=ADAPTER.= In _chemistry_, a tube placed between two vessels (commonly a
retort and receiver) for the purpose of uniting them or increasing the
distance between them, so as to facilitate the condensation of vapour in
distillation. (See _figure._)

[Illustration]

=ADDER'S TONGUE.= _Syn._ COMMON ADDER'S TONGUE; OPHIOGLOS'SUM VULGA'TUM,
Linn. A perennial plant, of the natural order Filices (DC.), growing wild
in England. It is found in our woods and pastures, and flowers in May and
June. It was once used to form a celebrated traumatic or vulnerary
ointment and is still highly esteemed among rustic herbalists.

=ADEPS.= _Syn._ LARD. See ADEPS PRAEPARATUS, FAT, and LARD.

=ADEPS BENZOATUS.= _Syn._ BENZOATED LARD.

=ADEPS PRAEPARATUS.= _Syn._ AXUNGE; PREPARED LARD.

=ADHE'SION= (-h[=e]-zhuen). _Syn._ ADHAE'SIO, L.; ADHESION, Fr.; ANHAeNGUNG,
ARXLEBUNG, Ger. The act or state of sticking or being united.

=Adhesion.= In _physics_, the force with which bodies remain attached to
each other when brought into contact; _e.g._, ink adheres to paper, paint
adheres to wood, &c. It differs from 'cohesion' in representing the force
with which different bodies cling together; whereas cohesion is the force
which unites the particles of a homogeneous body with each other, _e.g._,
particles of iron cohere and form a mass of iron; particles of water
cohere and form a mass of water, &c.

=Adhesion.= In _pathology_, the morbid union, from inflammation, of parts
normally contiguous but not adherent.

=Adhesion.= In _surgery_, the reunion of divided parts, by the adhesive
inflammation; as when incised wounds heal by what is termed the 'first
intention.'

=ADHE'SIVE.= _Syn._ ADHAESI'VUS, L.; ADHESIF, Fr.; ADHAeSIVE, VERWACHSEND,
Ger. In _pharmacy_, &c., having the quality or property of sticking or
adhering. Hence adhe'siveness.

=AD'IPOCERE= (-s[=e]re). _Syn._ GRAVE-WAX[double-dagger]; ADIPOCE''RA, L.;
ADIPOCIRE, Fr.; FETEWACHS, Ger. A substance resembling a mixture of fat
and wax, resulting from the decomposition of the flesh of animals in moist
situations, or under water. It is chiefly margarate of ammonium. Lavoisier
proposed to produce this substance artificially, for the purposes of the
arts. Attempts have since been made to convert the dead bodies of cattle
(carrion) into adipocere, for the purposes of the candle-maker and the
soap-boiler, but without success. Besides, dead animal matter can be
worked up more profitably than in making artificial adipocere.

Hatchettine or rock-fat is sometimes called 'adipocere'; and bog-butter is
a substance nearly similar to it.

=AD'JECTIVE.= _Syn._ ADJECTI'VUS, L.; ADJECTIF, Fr. In _dyeing_, depending
on another, or on something else; applied to those colours which require a
base or mordant to render them permanent. See DYEING.

=AD'JUVANT.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AD'JUVANS, L.; AIDANT, &c., Fr. Assistant;
helping. (As a substantive--) In _prescriptions_, see PRESCRIBING (Art
of).

=ADULTERATION.= Strictly speaking, this term ought only to be applied to
the practice of adding substances to articles of commerce, food or drink,
for the purposes of deception or gain, but a wider interpretation is
frequently placed on the word than the definition given by magistrates and
analysts, these latter often regarding accidental impurity, or even, in
some instances, actual substitution as acts of adulteration.

The following definition of an adulterated substance has been adopted by
the Society of Public Analysts--

A substance shall be deemed to be adulterated--

A. _In the ease of food or drink:_

1. If it contain any ingredient which may render such article injurious to
the health of a consumer.

2. If it contain any substance that sensibly increases its weight, bulk,
or strength, or gives it a fictitious value, unless the amount of such
substance present be due to circumstances necessarily appertaining to its
collection or manufacture, or be necessary for its preservation, or unless
the presence thereof be acknowledged at the time of sale.

3. If any important constituent has been wholly or in part abstracted or
omitted, unless acknowledgment of such abstraction or omission be made at
the time of sale.

4. If it be an imitation of or sold under the name of another article.

B. _In the case of drugs:_

1. If when retailed for medical purposes under a name recognised in the
'British Pharmacop[oe]ia' it be not equal in strength and purity to the
standard laid down in that work.

2. If when sold under a name not recognised in the 'British
Pharmacop[oe]ia' it differs materially from the standard laid down in
approved works on materia medica, or the professed standard under which it
is sold.

_Limits._ The following shall be deemed limits for the respective articles
referred to:

_Milk_ shall contain not less than 9.0 per cent., by weight, of milk
solids, not fat, and not less than 2.5 per cent. of butter fat.

_Skim Milk_ shall contain not less than 9.0 per cent. by weight, of milk
solids not butter fat.

_Butter_ shall contain not less than 80 per cent. of butter fat.

_Tea_ shall not contain more than 8.0 per cent. of mineral matter,
calculated on the tea dried at 100 deg. C., of which at least 3.0 per cent.
shall be soluble in water, and the tea as sold shall yield at least 30 per
cent. of extract.

_Cocoa_ shall contain at least 20 per cent. of cocoa fat.

_Vinegar_ shall contain not less than 3 per cent. of acetic acid.

The practice of fraudulent adulteration has been indulged in for
centuries. In every civilised state there have been enactments against it.
The Romans had their inspectors of meat and corn. In England an Act to
prohibit adulteration was passed as early as 1267, and penalties against
it were in force in 1581, 1604, 1836, 1851. In 1822, Accum published a
work having the sensational title of 'Death in the Pot,' and in 1855
appeared Dr Hassall's book, 'Food and its Adulterations.' The information
conveyed in these works, added to the revelations of the 'Lancet' Sanitary
Commission, and the contributions to scientific literature on the subject
of food by Letheby, Pavy, Parkes, Blyth, and others, together with the
published evidence given before the House of Commons Commission appointed
to carry out an inquiry into the subject, roused public attention to such
a degree as to lead to the passing by the legislature of the Adulteration
Acts.

The sophistications may be divided into several distinct classes:

1. To give weight or volume, such as water added to butter, plaster of
paris to flour, &c.; red earths to annatto, sand to tea-leaves, &c.; water
to milk, &c.; all these, therefore, are substitutions of worthless or very
cheap articles which take the place of the real.

2. To give a colour which either makes the article more pleasing to the
eye, or else disguises an inferior one, _e.g._, Prussian blue, black lead,
&c., to green teas; annatto to cheese, &c.; arsenite of copper to
sweetmeats, &c.

3. Substitutions of a cheaper form of the article, or the same substance
from which the strength has been extracted put in the place of the real,
_e.g._, tea mixed with spent leaves, &c.

4. A very small class where the adulteration is really added with no
fraudulent intent, but to enhance the quality of the goods sold--alum to
bread in small quantities.

The following, according to Blyth ('Dic. of Hygiene'), is a list of
articles most commonly adulterated, with the names of the substances used
in their sophistication:--

  ACONITIA with other alkaloids, _e.g._, delphinia, aconella, &c.
  ALE, common salt, _Cocculus indicus_, grains of paradise, quassia,
      and other bitters, sulphate of iron, alum, &c.
  ALLSPICE, mustard husks.
  ANCHOVIES, other fish, and colouring matters, _e.g._, Armenian
      bole, Venetian red, &c.
  ANNATTO, all sorts of starch, soap, red ferruginous earths,
      carbonate and sulphate of lime, salts, &c.
  ARROWROOT, various other fecula, such as sago, tapioca, potato,
      and others.
  BALSAM OF COPAIBA, turpentine and fixed oils.
  BEEF (POTTED), Armenian bole.
  BISMUTH, carbonate of lead, sometimes arsenic (this latter is an
      impurity not intentional).
  BLOATERS (POTTED), Armenian bole.
  BRANDY, water, burnt sugar, &c.
  BREAD, potatoes (mashed), alum, inferior flour, &c., &c.
  BUTTER, water, salt, colouring matter, lard, tallow, and other
      fats.
  CAJUPUT OIL, copper, camphor dissolved in oil of rosemary, and
       with copper as a substitute.
  CALAMINE,  sulphate of baryta.
  CALOMEL, sulphate of baryta, chalk, white precipitate, white lead,
      pipe-clay, &c., &c.
  CALUMBA, tinged bryony root, root of _Frasera Walteri_, and
      others.
  CAMBOGE, starch, &c.
  CAMPHOR, a substitution of Borneo camphor has been made.
  CANTHARIDES, golden beetle, artificially  glass, &c.
  CARBONATE OF LEAD, sulphate of baryta, sulphate of lead, chalk,
      &c., &c.
  CARMINE (COCHINEAL), sulphate of baryta, bone black, &c.
  CASSIA (SENNA), leaves of _Solenostemma argel_, and other foreign
      leaves.
  CASTOR OIL, other oils, often small quantities of croton oil.
  CAYENNE, ground rice, vermilion, Venetian red, turmeric.
  CHAMPAGNE, gooseberry and other wines as substitutes, different
      colouring matters, &c.
  CHEESE, annatto, bole (Armenian), and other colouring matters.
  CHICORY, colouring matters, such as ferruginous earths, and burnt
      sugar, Venetian red, &c., and different flours, such as wheat,
      rye, beans, &c., and sometimes sawdust.
  CIDER, lead (as an impurity, not intentional).
  CIGARS, substitutions of hay and other rubbish, inferior tobacco,
      leaves sometimes darkened by some brown vegetable dye.
  CINNAMON, cassia, clove stalks, and different flowers.
  CLARET, brandy, and substitution of inferior wines.
  CLOVES, clove stalks.
  COCOA AND CHOCOLATE, cheaper kinds of arrow-root, such as _Tous
      les mois_ and East Indian, animal matter, corn, sago, tapioca,
      &c.
  COFFEE, chicory, roasted wheat, rye flowers, and colouring
      matters, such as burnt sugar, &c.
  COD-LIVER OIL, other oils mixed with it.
  COLOCYNTH (COMPOUND EXTRACT OF), the extract is not unfrequently
      made with the pulp and seeds.
  CONFECTIONERY, injurious colouring matters, such as arsenite of
      copper, chromate of lead, &c.
  CONFECTION, AROMATIC (AROMATIC CHALK POWDER), expensive
      ingredients omitted, turmeric substituted for saffron, &c.,
      &c.
  COPAL, gum dammar, resin, &c.
  CURRY-POWDER, red lead, ground rice, salt.
  CUSPARIA BARK, the bark of _Strychnos Nux Vomica_ is said to have
      been substituted.
  CUSTARD AND EGG POWDER, turmeric, chrome yellow, and different
      flours.
  ELATERIUM, starch, flour, chalk, &c.
  EPSOM SALTS, chloride magnesium, chalk, &c.
  ETHER, alcohol.
  FLOUR, other and inferior flours, as the flour from rice, bean,
      Indian corn, potato, &c., sulphate of lime, alum.
  GELATINE, salt and sugar.
  GIN, water, sugar, capsicum, flavouring matters of different
      kinds, turpentine, alum, tartar.
  GINGER, turmeric, and husks of mustard, flour from wheat, sago,
      &c.
  GUAIACUM RESIN, other resins.
  HONEY, flour, cane sugar, &c.
  HOPS, _Cocculus indicus_, grains of paradise, &c., &c.
  IODIDE OF POTASSIUM, water, carbonate of potash, chlorides of soda
      and potash, iodate of potash, iodine, &c.
  IODINE, water, plumbago, charcoal, black oxide of manganese, &c.
  IPECAQUANHA, other roots, extraneous woody fibre; when in powder,
      chalk, flour, &c., have been added.
  ISINGLASS, gelatine.
  JALAP, raspings of guaiacum, false jalap root, &c.
  LARD, carbonate of soda, salt, potato, flour, and lime.
  LEMON JUICE, a mixture of sugar and water, acidulated with
      sulphuric acid, has been substituted.
  LIQUORICE, rice, chalk, gelatine, and different flours.
  MAGNESIA, MAGNESIA SULPHATE, lime, carbonate of magnesia.
  MAGNESIA, CARBONATE, lime, sulphate, &c., &c.
  MARMALADE, apple, or turnip pulp.
  MERCURY, lead, tin, zinc, bismuth, &c.
  MERCURY GREEN IODIDE OF, red iodide of
  MERCURY RED OXIDE OF, brick-dust, red lead, &c.
  MERCURY AMMONIATED (WHITE PRECIPITATE), chalk, carbonate of lead,
      plaster of Paris, &c., &c.
  MILK, water.
  MUSTARD, turmeric, wheat flour.
  MYRRH, gum bdellium, and other gum resins.
  OATMEAL, barley flour, rubble.
  OPIUM, stones, sand, clay, vegetable extracts, sugar, treacle,
      water, &c.
  PAREIRA ROOT, different roots substituted.
  PEPPER, linseed meal, different flours, mustard husks, &c.
  PICKLES, salts of copper, acetate of copper.
  PORTER AND STOUT, sugar, treacle, water and salt.
  POTASH, carbonate, sulphate, and chloride of potash, lime, iron,
      and alumina.
  POTASH, ACETATE OF, sulphates, and chlorides of potash.
  POTASH, CARBONATE OF, sulphates, and chlorides of potash.
  POTASH, BICARBONATE OF, carbonate of potash.
  POTASH, CITRATE OF, sulphates of potash.
  POTASH, CHLORATE OF, chloride of potassium.
  POTASH, TARTRATE OF, tartrate of lime.
  POTASH, NITRATE OF, sulphate or chloride of potassium.
  PRESERVES, salts of copper.
  QUININE, sulphate of lime, chalk, magnesia, cane-sugar, sulphate
      of cinchonine, &c.
  RHUBARB, turmeric, and inferior varieties substituted for Turkey.
  RUM, water, cayenne, burnt sugar.
  SAGO, potato flour.
  SAUCE, treacle, salt, cochineal, Armenian bole, and other
      colouring matters.
  SCAMMONY, chalk, starch, guaiacum, jalap, dextrin, &c.
  SENEGA, guiseng, gillenia.
  SENNA, leaves of _cynanchum argel._
  SHERRY, sulphates of potash, soda, brandy, burnt sugar, &c.
  SNUFF, carbonate of ammonia, glass, sand, colouring matter, &c.
  SODA, BICARBONATE, carbonate and sulphate of soda.
  SODA, CARBONATE, sulphate of soda.
  SODA, PHOSPHATE OF, phosphate of lime.
  SPICES, colouring materials, substitutions, and different flours.
  SQUILLS (POWDERED), wheat flour.
  SUGAR (MOIST), sand, flour, &c.
  SULPHUR, sulphurous acid (as an impurity).
  SULPHURIC ACID, lead, water, arsenic, hydrochloric acid, &c.
  TAPIOCA, mixing inferior starches with the pure tapioca.
  TEA, sand, iron filings, exhausted tea leaves, foreign leaves; and
      in green teas, black lead, Prussian blue, China clay.
  TOBACCO, inferior tobacco, water.
  TURMERIC, yellow ochre, carbonate of soda, or potash.
  UVA URSI (BEARBERRY LEAVES), leaves of red whortleberry, and
      others.
  VINEGAR, sulphuric acid, and metallic impurities.
  WINES, water, jerupiga, bitartrate of potash, substitution of
      inferior wines, brandy, spirits, and various other matters.
  ZINC, OXIDE OF, chalk, carbonate of magnesia.

"The Sale of Food and Drugs Act" has now supplemented several Acts which
were passed during the present century for the prevention of adulteration.
An Act prohibiting the mixture of injurious ingredients with intoxicating
liquors remains unrepealed, as do also one or two statutes relating to
trade frauds as for example the Adulteration of Seeds Act, 1809. These
latter have not been incorporated in "the Sale of Food and Drugs" Act.

=AE= ([=e]). [L.] For words sometimes written with this initial diphthong,
and not found below, look under =E=.

=AEGI'RINON= (-j[=i]'-). [Gr.] See OINTMENT.

=AEGYPTI'ACUM=[dagger] (-j[)i]p-t[=i]'-). [Lat.] _Syn._ UNGUEN'TUM
AEGYPTIACUM, L. Oxymel or liniment of verdigris. The name originated with
Hippocrates, who is said to have learned its composition in Egypt.

=AEOL'IPILE= (-p[)i]le). A hollow ball of metal, having a slender neck with
a very small orifice, contrived to exhibit the conversion of water into
steam by the action of heat, and to account for the natural production of
winds. It was known to the ancients, is mentioned by Vitruvius, and was
studied by Descartes and others. It has been used in _surgery_ to produce
eschars, in the same cases as moxas; the effect of the steam being limited
by means of a piece of perforated pasteboard. When filled with alcohol,
and the jet of vapour inflamed, it is sometimes employed as a blowpipe. M.
Soyer used an apparatus of this kind to supply the heat in his portable
furnace. The liquid, however, which he employed was camphine.

=A'ER=, ([=a]'-[)e]r). [L. prim. Gr.] Air.

=A'ERATED= ([=a]'-[)e]r-r[=a]te-[)e]d). In _chemistry_, &c., impregnated
with carbonic acid. See ALKALI, LEMONADE, WATERS, MINERAL.

=AE''RIAL= ([=a]-[=e]re'-e-[)a]l). Belonging to the air or atmosphere;
produced by, consisting of, depending on, or partaking of the nature of
the air.

AERIFICA'TION ([=a]-[)e]r-e-). _Syn._ AERIFICA'TIO, L.; AERIFICATION,
GAZEIFICATION, Fr. In _chemistry_, the conversion of a body into gas.

=A'ERIFORM= ([=a]'-[)e]r-). _Syn._ AERIFORM'IS, L.; AERIFORME, GAZEIFORME,
Fr. LUFTFORMIG, &c., Ger. In _chemistry_, air-like, gaseous.

=AEROL'OGY.= _Syn._ AEROLO'GIA, L.; AEROLOGIE, Fr., Ger. In _physics_, a
discourse or treatise of the air. In _physiology_ and _hygiene_, the
doctrine of the air, more especially with regard to its salubrity and
action on organised beings.

=AEROM'ETER.= _Syn._ AEROME'TRUM, L.; AEROMETRE, Fr. An instrument used in
aerometry.

=AEROM'ETRY=. _Syn._ AEROME'TRIA, L.; AEROMETRIE, Fr.; LUFTMESSKUNST, &c.,
Ger. In _chemistry_ and _physics_, the art of measuring gases, and of
determining their densities.

=AERONAUT'ICS.= _Syn._ AERONAUTIQUE, Fr. The art of sailing in, or of
navigating the air. See BALLOONS.

=AEROPHO'BIA.= [L.] _Syn._ AEROPHOBIE, Fr. In _pathology_, a dread of air
(wind); a common symptom in hydrophobia, and occasionally present in
hysteria and phrenitis.

=AEROSTAT'ICS.= _Syn._ AEROSTAT'ICA, L.; AEROSTATIQUE, Fr. That branch of
pneumatics which treats of air, and other elastic fluids, in a state of
rest.

=AEROSTA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AEROSTA'TIO, L. The art of weighing the
air; aerial suspension and navigation. See BALLOONS.

=AERU'GO= ([=e]-). [L.] The rust of brass, bronze, or copper; verdigris.

=AESCULIN.= C_{21}H_{24}O_{13}. A crystalline fluorescent substance
existing in the bark of the horse-chestnut (_aesculus hippocastanum_) and
of other trees of the genera _AEsculus_ and _Paria_. In the above-named
sources AEsculin is associated with another fluorescent body called Pariin.

=AE''THER.= See ETHER.

=AEITHE''REA= (-th[=e]re-). [L. pl.] Ethers.

=AESTHET'ICS= ([=e]z-). _Syn._ AESTHET'ICA, L. Medicines or agents which
affect sensation. See ANAESTHETICS and HYPERAESTHETICS.

=AETHIOPS.= See ETHIOPS.

=AFFEC'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AFFEC'TIO, L. In _pathology_, a term
nearly synonymous with disease.

=AFFINITY.= _Syn._ CHEMICAL AFFINITY; AFFINITAS, L.; AFFINITE, Fr.;
VERWANDTSCHAFT, Ger. If oil and water be shaken together they produce no
change upon one another, as is proved by their separating into two layers
with their properties unaltered, when the mixture is allowed to remain at
rest for a short time. Such bodies are said, in chemical language, to have
no affinity for one another. If iodine and metallic mercury be rubbed
together in a mortar they will unite in definite proportions by weight,
and form a combination possessing properties totally distinct from those
of its constituents. Thus, iodine is a greyish, metallic-looking solid,
convertible into a violet vapour by heat, perceptibly soluble in water,
and capable of producing a blue compound with starch. Mercury is a
metallic, silvery-looking liquid. The product of their union (biniodide of
mercury) is a scarlet powder, destitute of metallic lustre, convertible
into vapour by heat, without the production of violet fumes, insoluble in
water, and incapable of developing a blue colour with starch. Again, the
greenish-yellow and intensely poisonous gas, chlorine, unites in definite
proportions by weight with the soft, wax-like, and highly poisonous metal
sodium to produce the white crystalline solid chloride of sodium (common
salt), a compound which, except in very large quantities, is not only not
poisonous, but actually beneficial to health.

Such combinations are called chemical compounds, and the force which binds
their constituents together is distinguished from all other attractive
forces by the term affinity or chemical affinity. Bodies united by
affinity are also said to have united chemically.

Affinity is in most cases exerted between different substances, in which
respect it resembles adhesion; but bodies united by adhesion, _e.g._ ink
to paper, paint to wood, &c., unlike those united by affinity, suffer no
change of properties.

Affinity is exerted at immeasurable distances, therefore substances to be
submitted to its influence must be brought into (apparently) actual
contact. This condition is frequently fulfilled by the vaporisation,
fusion, or solution of one or more of the bodies to be submitted to its
action.

In many instances substances which have no affinity for one another at
ordinary temperatures manifest this power when heated.

Whenever chemical union takes place, heat is invariably evolved;
conversely, the decomposition of a chemical compound is always accompanied
by an apparent loss of heat or reduction of temperature.

Finally, the most striking phenomena characteristic of, and accompanying,
chemical affinity are, development of heat, change of properties, and
union in definite or constant proportions by weight.

=AFFUSION.= In _chemistry_, the washing of a precipitate, &c., for the
purpose of removing soluble matters. In _medicine_, affusion is of three
kinds:--

1. _Lotions_, which consist in washing a part of the body with a sponge or
rag soaked in a liquid.

2. _Aspersions_, which consist in throwing a liquid drop by drop, like
rain, upon the body.

3. _Shower baths_, which consist in allowing a number of small streams of
water to fall from a height upon the surface of the body. If the water
fall from a considerable height, affusion is then termed _douche_ by the
French.

=AFT'ER-DAMP.= _Syn._ CHOKE-DAMP. Carbonic acid gas resulting from
explosion of air and fire-damp (light carbonetted hydrogen) in coal mines.

=AFT'ER-PAINS.= Those following childbirth. The only remedy is patience;
they may, however, be frequently alleviated by small doses of morphia or
liquor opii sedativus. Heated cloths and warm fomentations are sometimes
useful, particularly if assisted by moderate but sufficient pressure on
the abdomen, by means of a broad bandage. They seldom follow with severity
the first birth.

_Treatment for Animals._ Remove clots from parts, raise the hind-quarters.
Give clysters of linseed tea, lukewarm, and laudanum or belladonna
extract. Syringe out parts with Condy's fluid considerably diluted. Give
internally belladonna, opium, or chloroform. Draw away milk.

=AFT'ER-WASH= (w[)o]sh). In the art of the distiller, the liquor in the
still after the spirit has been drawn over.

=AG'ARIC.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AGAR'ICUM, AGAR'ICUS, L.; BLAeTTERSCHWAMM,
PILZ, SCHWAMM, Ger. In _botany_, a genus of fungi, of numerous species,
embracing the mushrooms and champignons. Of these plants, some are edible;
others poisonous. The term is also commonly applied to the boletus found
on oaks (TOUCHWOOD), and on larches (MALE AGARIC). See MUSHROOMS.

=Fly-agaric.= _Syn._ FLY MUSH'ROOM; AGAR'ICUS MUSCA''RIA, Linn.; AMANI'TA
M. One of the most narcotic and poisonous of our fungi, producing, in
small doses, intoxication and a pleasing species of delirium; for which
purpose it is commonly employed in Kamschatka. (Hooker.) It possesses the
singular property of imparting an intoxicating quality to the urine, which
continues for a long time after taking it. This secretion is, therefore,
commonly saved by the natives during a scarcity of the fungus. "Thus, with
a few amanitae, a party of drunkards may keep up their debauch for a week;"
and the intoxication so produced is capable of "being propagated through
five or six individuals." (Langsdorff.) Water in which it has been boiled
is poisonous; but the boiled fungus itself is inert. The liquid from it is
used as a fly-poison; whence the name mushroom is derived. It may be known
by its rich orange-red colour in autumn.

=AG'ATE= (-[=a]te, -[)e]t[double-dagger]). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ACHA'TES
(-k[=a]'-t[=e]z), L. A semi-pellucid uncrystallised species of quartz,
remarkable for its hardness, variety of colour, and susceptibility of
receiving a high polish. It is an aggregate of various siliceous minerals,
of which chalcedony appears generally to be the base. Carnelian, jasper,
amethyst, and other similar minerals, often enter into its composition.
The colours are often delicately arranged in stripes, bands, or clouds.
Those which take an angular form, as the Scotch pebble, are called
FORTIFICATION AGATES. It is the least valuable of the precious stones, and
is chiefly made into rings, seals, beads, burnishers, &c., on account of
its hardness. Its powder is used for cleansing and polishing iron, brass,
&c., and to sharpen edge-tools.

=AGEING LIQUOR.= Dissolve 3 lbs. of chlorate of potash in 4 galls. of
boiling water. Add 20 lbs. of powdered white arsenic to 20 lbs. of
solution of caustic soda at 60 deg. Tw., and boil until the arsenic is
completely dissolved. Add the latter solution to the former, with
stirring, until the mixture stands at 28 deg. Tw.

=AG'NAIL.= See WHITLOW.

=AGRYPNOT'ICS= (-gr[)i]p-). _Syn._ ANTHYPNOT'ICS (-h[)i]p-); AGRYPNOT'ICA,
ANTHYPNOT'ICA, L. In _medicine_ and _pharmacology_, agents or substances
which prevent sleep; as tea, coffee, digitalis, vinegar, &c.

=A'GUE= (-g[)u]). Ague may be defined as febrile phenomena occurring in
paroxysms, and observing a certain regular succession, characterised by
chill, abnormal heat, and unnatural cutaneous discharge, which prove to be
a temporary crisis and usher in a remission. These phenomena are developed
in an uninterrupted series or succession more or less regular, which pass
into each other by insensible stages. Ague is paludal fever, and has
always been observed to prevail in marshy moist districts, and in low,
swampy humid countries, in which seasons of considerable heat occur.

The neighbourhood of marshes, or of a district which has been at some
recent time under water; the banks of extensive lakes, and the shores of
rivers and seas where the water flows sluggishly, and in some places
stagnates; shallow rivers; extensive level tracts of forest land, where
moisture is always present; and the surface of the land constantly covered
with excavation from the ground,--these are the terrestrial physical
conditions, in which marsh and littoral fevers are almost universally to
be found, although it must be admitted that there are some marshy
districts in which the disease does not show itself.

In these latter localities the effects of the miasmatic poison, show
themselves in cholera or typhus. No precise knowledge of the nature and
source of this subtle poison which, in default of a better name we call
_malaria_, has yet been acquired; indeed it has yet to be proved that
_malaria_ has a distinct existence. Science has as yet been unable to
discover the presence of any poisonous principle in the air of ague on
other regions.

Ague may exist without any alteration of structure being set up; but in
the milder forms of this fever a greater number of organs and tissues are
morbidly altered than perhaps in any other form of disease. The parts so
affected are the liver, spleen, lungs, heart, brain, and the serous and
mucous membranes of the body generally. Within certain limits, the
specific action of the malarial poison may be said to be in the inverse
ratio of the intensity of the fever which attends its action. The
affections of the liver and spleen also vary greatly according to the
locality in which the patient is attacked; for instance, whilst in some
parts of India the spleen is the organ principally involved, in other
districts of the same continent it is the liver. In England, under proper
medical treatment, the patient usually recovers without any manifest
derangement either of structure or impairment of function of any organ or
tissue. The liver may, however, become affected if the patient suffering
from the disease has been neglected for any length of time.

Notwithstanding the opinions of Finke and Professor Colin, there appears
to be considerable ground for the supposition that ague may be caused by
drinking marsh and surface water. In an interesting paper on the 'Indian
Annals' for 1856, Mr Bettington, of the Madras Civil Service, says:--"It
is notorious that the water produces fever and affections of the spleen."
In confirmation of this assertion, he brings forward what seems to be some
remarkably strong evidence. He cites cases of villages placed under the
same conditions as to marsh-air in some of which fevers were prevalent,
whilst in others they were absent; and he found on inquiry that whilst the
latter villages were supplied with pure water, the inhabitants of the
former had to drink marsh or mullah water, full of vegetable _debris_. In
one village there were two sources of supply--a spring and a tank, the
first fed by surface, and the other by marsh water. Those only who partook
of the tank water were attacked by fever. Again, in Tulliwaree the fever
was so universal that scarcely any inhabitant escaped it. In this village
Mr Bettington caused a well to be dug, and the result was that the fever
disappeared. Similar cases have occurred in this country. Twenty years ago
Mr Blower, of Bedford, directed the attention of medical men to a case
that occurred in a village, in which ague had nearly disappeared when a
well was dug; and to another instance which occurred in the village of
Houghton. In this parish almost the only family which escaped ague was
that of a farmer; the members of this family partook of well water; whilst
those who did not escape the disease drank ditch water.

In the 'Indian Annals' for 1867 is a paper by Dr Moore, confirming the
opinion that ague may be produced by the causes already stated, and M.
Commaille ('Rec. de Mem. de Med. Mil.,' Nov., 1868) states that in
Marseilles, paroxysmal fevers, formerly unknown, have made their
appearance, since the water supply to that city has been drawn from the
Marseilles Canal.

In his report for 1870 Dr Townsend, the Sanitary Commissioner for the
central provinces of India, states that the natives of India hold an
opinion that the use of river and tank water during rainy seasons (when
the water always contains an increased quantity of vegetable matter) will
almost always cause ague. Boudin ('Traite de Geographie et de Statistiques
Medicale,' 1857, t. i, p. 142), records an extraordinary case. Eight
hundred soldiers, in good health, embarked in three vessels to pass from
Bona, in Algiers, to Marseilles, in the year 1834. They all arrived at
Marseilles the same day. In two vessels there were 680 men, without a
single sick one amongst them. In the third vessel, the Argo, there had
been 120 soldiers; 13 died during the short passage, and of the 107
survivors no less than 98 were disembarked suffering from all forms of
paludal fevers. We may presume that the diagnosis was correct, since
Boudin himself examined the men. When the vessels started the crew of the
Argo had not a single sick man aboard. The crew and soldiers of all the
boats were exposed to the same atmospheric conditions. The influence of
air must, therefore, be excluded. There is no mention of food, but it has
never been suggested that food has ever been concerned in the production
of malarious fever. It was a very different matter, however, with the
water supply. In two of the vessels the water was good, whilst the Argo
had been supplied with marsh water, which was offensive to the smell, as
well as unpalatable. This latter was supplied to the soldiers, whilst the
crew drank uncontaminated water. Amongst those who deny that marsh water
is the cause of ague must be quoted Professor Colin. The professor, who is
regarded as an authority on intermittent fever, in his work De l'Ingestion
des Eaux Marecageuse comme cause de la Dysenterie et des Fievres
intermittentes,' instances numerous cases in Algiers and Italy in which
impure marsh water gives rise to indigestion, diarrh[oe]a, and dysentery,
but in no case to intermittent fever; and he states that in all his
observations he has never met with an instance of ague having such an
origin. Without contesting the case of the Argo, he views it with
considerable suspicion, and doubts whether Boudin is correct in his
details. Finke also states that, in Hungary and Holland, marsh-water is
daily drank without causing any ill-effects. The inhalation of the fumes
of oxide of zinc appears to produce in workers of this metal a variety of
ague termed by Shackrah "brass ague," and by Dr Greenhow, "brass-founder's
ague." The symptoms of the malady are tightness and oppression of the
chest; with indefinite nervous sensations, followed by shivering, an
indistinct hot stage, and profuse perspiration. These attacks, however,
are not periodical.

It is open to doubt whether the malarious poison exists in the form of a
gas, for the observations of microscopists go to show the extreme
minuteness of the germs of disease, which are probably not more than
1/70000th of an inch in size, and it is regarded as probable that the real
cause of ague is the entry into the circulation of some low forms of
spores of fungi, or of some minute animalcules. Ague is always to be met
with in places where fungi grow, and is always associated with what
Pettenkofer calls "the ground air"--that is, the air contained in the
interstices of the soil, no inconsiderable volume of which is drawn into
every house which has a fire on the floor which rests on the earth. That
animalcules (?) may exist in the blood is evidenced by the discovery of Dr
Lewis, who found hair-like worms in the circulation; and whilst
considering this point, we must bear in mind that the remedial agents
employed to check ague, quinine, arsenic, &c., are drugs capable of
destroying animal life, and it is not impossible that they may exercise a
beneficial effect in destroying the spores or animalcules to which the
disease may be due.

The best means to be employed to combat malarial fevers in any district
are thorough and efficient drainage (and it must be remembered that
drainage purifies both the ground-air and the ground water) and a supply
of wholesome water free from decomposing vegetable matter.

That the adoption of the above means cannot fail to succeed is
incontestably proved by the fact, that during the last 200 years, ague in
England has diminished to a wonderful extent, in short, as good drainage
and a pure water supply have prevailed, there has been a proportionate
diminution of paludal poisoning.

During the protectorate of Cromwell great mortality prevailed in London,
from the ravages of ague; at that time London was as swampy as the fens of
Lincolnshire. See FEVER (Intermittent).

=Ague-cake.= The popular name of a tumour felt under the false ribs on the
left side, formed by enlargement and induration of the spleen, following
protracted ague; also, sometimes, of indurations of the liver following
ague.

=Ague-drop.= See DROPS.

=Ague-salt= (s[)o]lt). Disulphate of quinine.

=Ague-tree.= Sassafras.

=Ague-weed.= The herb thorough-wort ('Eupato''rium perfolia'tum,' Linn.).

=AIG'REMORE= ([)e]g'r-mor). [Fr.] Pulverised charcoal in the state it is
used to make gunpowder.

[Illustration: Attelettes from Soyer.]

=AIGUILLETTE= (ATTELETTE). [Fr.] In _cookery_, a term applied to several
small dishes, from the articles of which they consist being mounted on
silver needles, or skewers, with ornamental handles or tops. (See _engr._)
They form one of the varieties of the 'hors-d'[oe]uvres' of Soyer; and are
commonly served on a napkin. The skewers should be about four inches long,
and of the thickness of an ordinary packing needle. The person eating what
is served on them takes the head of the skewer between the thumb and
fingers of the left hand, and picks it off with his fork. Those noticed by
Soyer are--

=Aiguillettes a l'Eperlan= (_smelts_);

=Aiguillettes aux Huitres= (_oysters_);

=Aiguillettes de Filets de Sole= (_soles_);

=Aiguillettes de Homard= (_lobsters_);

=Aiguillettes de Langue de B[oe]uf= (_ox-tongue_);

=Aiguillettes de Ris de Veau= (_sweetbread of veal_);

=Aiguillettes de Volaille a la Jolie Fille= (_fowl_);--

all of which are prepared in a nearly similar manner, merely varying the
sauces, &c., to suit the article and palate. See ATTELETTES,
HORS-D'[OE]UVRES, &c.

=AHORNZUCKER= (genuine American maple sugar). For coughs, hoarseness, and
all affections of the throat and chest caused by cold. The raw maple sugar
as imported. (Hager.)

=AILANTHUS.= The inner bark of the _ailanthus glandulosa_, a common tree
growing in northern China, said by Dr Dudgeon to have proved very
successful in dysentery.

The _ailanthus glandulosa_ is also well known throughout the United
States. Professor Hetet, of Toulon, tried the effect of the powdered bark,
leaves, and various preparations of the bark or drugs, with the result of
their administration being attended with purgative effect--and the
discharge of worms.

The powdered bark has been given in small cases of tape-worm in the human
subject, with marked success. The dose of the powder found sufficient for
the expulsion of the tapeworm was from seven or eight to thirty grains.

=AIL'MENT.= Pain, indisposition; disease. Its use is generally restricted
to the non-acute, and milder forms of disease.

=AIR.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ Aer, L. (from [Greek: aer] Gr.); LUFT, Ger.;
ATMOSPHERIC AIR; THE ATMOSPHERE. This name was formerly given to any
aeriform body; thus, by the old chemists ammoniacal gas was called
alkaline air; oxygen,--dephlogisticated, vital, or empyreal air; carbonic
anhydride (carbonic acid), fixed air; hydrogen, inflammable air; heavy
carbonetted hydrogen, olefiant gas, heavy inflammable air;
nitrogen,--mephitic, phlogisticated, or nitrous air. At the present time
the term air is usually restricted to the gaseous envelope surrounding the
solid and liquid parts of our globe.

=Air, Atmospheric= (or simply, The Air). The air chiefly consists of a
mechanical mixture of four volumes of nitrogen and one volume of oxygen,
or more accurately--

             By volume.   By weight.
  Nitrogen      79.1        76.8
  Oxygen        20.9        23.2
               -----       -----
               100         100[12]

[Footnote 12: At a meeting of the Paris Academy of Sciences, held on the
31st of December, 1877, it was announced that M. Cailletet had succeeded
in liquefying atmospheric air.]

We may premise our description of the functions of the constituents of the
atmosphere by the following quotation from Mr Blyth's 'Dictionary of
Hygiene and Public Health':--"One of the most important properties of air
is its power of penetration and its universality. Air is, indeed, present
everywhere; there is scarcely a solid, however compact it may appear to
be, which does not contain pores, and these pores filled with air. The
soil contains no small quantity; indeed, if it were not so the numberless
insects, worms, &c., which burrow in its interstices would cease to exist.
The most compact mortar and walls are penetrated with it, and water of
natural origin contains a large quantity of air in solution. The
atmosphere is supposed to extend to a very great height, from 200 to 300
miles; it used to be considered only five (forty-five) miles high, but
observations on shooting stars, &c., show that this opinion is erroneous.
Owing to the force of gravity, the air is much denser near the earth, and
gets more attenuated layer by layer as you ascend. If, then, the
atmosphere were possessed of colour, it would be very dark just round the
globe, and the tint would gradually fade into space. The air is by no
means wholly gaseous; it contains, indeed, an immense amount of life, and
small particles derived from the whole creation. In the air may be found
animalcules, spores, seeds, pollen cells of all kind, vibriones, elements
of contagion, eggs of insects, &c., and a few fungi, besides formless
dust, sandy, and other particles of local origin; for example, no one can
ride in a railway carriage without being accompanied with dust, a great
portion of which is attracted by a magnet, and is, indeed, minute
particles of iron derived from the rails. The purest air has some dust in
it. There probably never fell a beam of light from the sun since the world
was made which did not show, were there eyes to see it, myriads of motes;
these, however, generally speaking, are quite innocuous to man--some,
indeed, may possibly be beneficial. Another most important property of air
is its mobility; on the calmest day and in the quietest room there are
constant currents of air which rapidly dilute any noxious odours of
gases."

The chief functions of the oxygen are to maintain respiration and support
combustion, while the office of the nitrogen is to dilute the oxygen and
control its energy.

Besides nitrogen and oxygen, aqueous vapour, carbonic anhydride, ammonia,
and nitric acid are met with in the atmosphere, the last especially during
and shortly after thunder storms.

Although, doubtless owing to local conditions, trifling variations may
occur in the proportion of oxygen present in the atmosphere, this
variation is so trifling that the difference of the amount in air from
places separated by very long distances will be found in the second
decimal place only; thus, whilst a portion of air taken during a balloon
ascent by Mr Green gave on analysis 20.88 per cent. by vol., Dr Frankland
found in air collected by himself on the summit of Mont Blanc 20.96 per
cent. by vol. A still nearer approximation in uniformity in the amount of
oxygen present in atmospheric air is exhibited in the following table,
which gives the results of 95 analyses by Regnault on air obtained from
nine different localities:--

  100 from Paris gave in 100
      parts, by vol. of oxygen    20.913 to 20.999
  9   from Lyons and around
      gave in 100 parts, by vol.
      of oxygen                   20.918 to 20.966
  30  from Berlin gave in 100
      parts, by vol. of oxygen    20.908 to 20.998
  10  from Madrid gave in 100
      parts, by vol. of oxygen    20.916 to 20.982
  23  from Geneva and Switzerland
      gave in 100 parts,
      by vol. of oxygen           20.909 to 20.993
  15  from Toulon and Mediterranean
      gave in 100
      parts, by vol. of oxygen    20.912 to 20.982
  5   from Atlantic Ocean gave
      in 100 parts, by vol. of
      oxygen                      20.918 to 20.965
  1   from Ecuador gave in 100
      parts, by vol. of oxygen              20.960
  2   from Pichincha gave in
      100 parts, by vol. of
      oxygen                      20.949 to 20.981
                                  ------    ------
  Mean of all foregoing           20.949    20.988
    "  of the Paris specimens     20.96

Vapour of water is essential to the respiration of animals and plants, in
order that the organs concerned in this operation may be kept in a soft
and moist condition.

Carbonic anhydride is evolved during combustion, putrefaction, and
fermentation; it is also a product of the respiration of animals, and
highly poisonous to them, even when diluted with large proportions of air.
This gas is, however, greedily absorbed by plants, which decompose it;
they assimilate the carbon and return the oxygen to the atmosphere, ready
to be again consumed in supporting the life of the animal world.

Dr Angus Smith has defined a very pure air to be one that contains with
20.99 per cent. of oxygen 0.30 of carbonic acid (anhydride).

This latter varies in amount in the atmosphere of cities, as will be seen
upon inspection of the subjoined table, extracted from Dr Smith's work
'Air and Rain':--

                                                                Per cent.
  Air of Madrid, outside the walls, mean of 12 analyses, by Luna  .045
  Mean of 12 analyses, within the walls of Madrid, by Luna        .051
  Mean of 14 analyses, by Angus Smith, in Manchester suburbs      .369
  In Manchester streets                                           .403
  Usual weather                                                   .0403
  During fogs                                                     .0679

De Saussure's analyses show that there is more carbonic acid on the
mountains than in the plains, as might be inferred from the comparative
absence of vegetation in elevated positions. Dr Pietra Santa states that
the air of hills or mountains, at the height of 2300 feet, is lighter than
common air, contains a smaller proportion of oxygen, and is impregnated
with a largely increased amount of aqueous vapour. It also contains a
large quantity of ozone. He considers such a climate peculiarly soothing
to persons suffering from chest diseases.

Dr Angus Smith's analysis of the air from the mountainous districts of
Scotland confirms the above statement of Dr Pietra Santa's. The heaths and
mountains of that country are remarkably healthy localities, and the air
from them gave on analysis 20.94 per cent. by vol. of oxygen, and only
.033 of carbonic acid.

Ammonia is derived from the putrefaction of animal and vegetable
substances. It is from atmospheric ammoniacal compounds that plants obtain
much of the nitrogen which is essential to the formation of many parts of
their structure.

Nitric acid, like ammonia, is absorbed, and its nitrogen assimilated, by
plants.

In addition to the gases and vapours already enumerated, as well as others
which exist in minute quantity, or which are of only occasional
occurrence, Pasteur and other investigators have discovered in the air
living germs which are capable of exciting putrefaction and fermentation,
and which are competent, in some instances, to engender disease when they
are injected into the blood of animals. In fact, the spread of infectious
diseases, _e.g._, smallpox, typhus fever, cattle plague, &c., is
attributed to the presence in the atmosphere of the germs of such
maladies. These germs are believed to be living beings, which develope and
multiply at the expense of the tissues of the larger animals into whose
systems they have found entrance.

=Air, Vitiated.= As has been stated in the previous article, the air
consists chiefly of two gases, oxygen and nitrogen. In all open places it
has a similar composition, as might be concluded from the constant
mingling which takes place by the agency of currents continually in
movement, although sometimes to an inconsiderable extent only. Dr Angus
Smith regards air as very pure when it contains not less than 20.99 per
cent. by volume of oxygen, and 0.030 of carbonic anhydride (acid).
According as the proportion of the former gas diminishes and that of the
latter increases beyond certain limits in the air by which we are
surrounded, it becomes more or less deteriorated and unfit to be breathed,
particularly as the increased amount of carbonic acid is, in crowded
dwellings, assembly rooms, theatres, and confined inhabited spaces,
associated with deleterious and putrescent exhalations from the person.

        _The following tables exhibit the amount of carbonic
        acid in close places in London._

                                                            Per-centage
                     =I.=                                    by volume.
  Chancery Court, closed doors, 7 feet from the ground,
      March 3                                                  .193
  Same, 3 feet from ground                                     .203
  Chancery Court, doors wide open, 4 feet from ground,
      11.40, March 5                                           .0507
  Same, 12.40 p.m., 5 feet from ground                         .045
  Strand Theatre, gallery, 10 p.m.                             .101
  Surrey Theatre, boxes, March 7, 10.30 p.m.                   .218
  Olympic, 11.30 p.m.                                          .0817
  Same, 11.55 p.m.                                             .1014
  Victoria Theatre, boxes, March 24, 10 p.m.                   .126
  Haymarket Theatre, dress circle, March 18, 11.30 p.m.        .0757
  Queen's Ward, St. Thomas's Hospital, 3.25 p.m.               .052
  Edward's Ward, St. Thomas's Hospital, 3.30 p.m.              .052
  Victoria Theatre, boxes, April 4.                            .076
  Effingham, 10.30 p.m., April 9, Whitechapel                  .126
  Pavilion, 10.11 p.m., April 9, Whitechapel                   .152
  City of London Theatre, pit, 11.15 p.m., April 16            .252
  Standard Theatre, pit, 11 p.m., April 16                     .320

Dr Angus Smith states that out of 339 specimens of air obtained from
various mines he found 35 normal or nearly so, 81 decidedly impure, and
212 exceedingly bad; he also adds that owing to the frequent firing of
charges of gunpowder within the mines, and from other causes, the
atmosphere is further contaminated with sulphuretted hydrogen, sulphate,
carbonate, sulphide, sulphocyanide of potassium, and nitrate of potassium,
carbon, sulphur, carbonate of ammonia, organic matter, sand, and
sulphurous and arsenious acids.

The air of large cities, which are the seats of manufacturing industry, is
always more or less charged with the exhalations given off by chemical and
other works. The sulphuric-acid works contribute sulphuric, sulphurous,
nitrous, and arsenious acids; copper works, in which pyrites is employed,
give off large quantities of sulphurous acid, mixed with arsenic and a
little copper; manure works, in many cases, send out compounds of
fluorine, besides sulphuric acid; glass works, sulphuric and hydrochloric
acids; and alkali works, hydrochloric acid (although in small quantities),
which very frequently contains arsenic. Of ammonia, Angus Smith remarks:
"It is one measure of the 'sewage' of the air; it is the result of
decomposition. It is not, in these small quantities, hurtful, so far as we
know. The ammonia is in no case free, but combined probably with
hydrosulphuric, hydrochloric, and sulphuric acid in towns. In country
places it is, at all events partly, united to carbonic acid.

        II. _London Air.--Carbonic Acid, Metropolitan Railway,
        November, 1869._

  +--------+----------------------------+------------+---------+---------+
  |        |                            |            |Carbonic | Oxygen, |
  | Date.  |          Place.            |Time of Day.|  Acid,  |per cent.|
  |        |                            |            |per cent.|         |
  +--------+----------------------------+------------+---------+---------+
  | 1869.  |Tunnel between Gower Street |            |         |         |
  |Nov. 12.|and King's Cross Stations;  |  10 a.m.   |  .150   |  20.60  |
  |        |specimen taken at the open  |            |         |         |
  |        |window, first-class         |            |         |         |
  |        |carriage.                   |            |         |         |
  |        |                            |            |         |         |
  | "   12.|Tunnel between Gower Street |            |         |         |
  |        |and King's Cross Stations;  | 7.30 p.m.  |  .078   |  20.79  |
  |        |specimen taken at the open  |            |         |         |
  |        |window, first-class         |            |         |         |
  |        |carriage.                   |            |         |         |
  |        |                            |            |         |         |
  | "   12.|Tunnel Praed Street;        |            |         |         |
  |        |specimen taken at the open  | 10.30 a.m. |   ...   |  20.71  |
  |        |window, first-class         |            |         |         |
  |        |carriage.                   |            |         |         |
  |        |                            |            |         |         |
  | "   15.|Specimen taken during       |            |         |         |
  |        |journey between Gower Street| 10.15 a.m. |  .338   |  20.66  |
  |        |and King's Cross,           |            |         |         |
  |        |first-class carriage, window|            |         |         |
  |        |open.                       |            |         |         |
  |        |                            |            |         |         |
  | "   15.|Same                        |   3 p.m.   |  .155   |  20.70  |
  |        |                            |            |         |         |
  | "   15.|Same                        |  11 p.m.   |  .150   |  20.74  |
  |        |                            |            |         |         |
  +--------+----------------------------+------------+---------+---------+
  |        |Average                     |            |  .1452  |  20.70  |
  +--------+----------------------------+------------+---------+---------+
                                                          ANGUS SMITH.

        _The Air of Mines_ (_Metalliferous_).

  +-------------+---------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
  |Name of Mine,|Description of place,|Thermo-|Number |Oxygen,|Carbonic|
  |and depth    |where taken and time |meter, |of Men | per   | Acid,  |
  |from surface,|when taken.          |Fahr.  |working| cent. |  per   |
  |in fathoms.  |                     |       |in it. |       |  cent. |
  +-------------+---------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |    Hurst    |End, 300 ft. beyond  |  ...  |   2   |  ...  |  1.99  |
  |             |a rise, 9 ft. high,  |       |       |       |        |
  |             |7 ft. wide.          |       |       |       |        |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |   Old Gang  |End of level         |  ...  |   2   | 20.58 |   .48  |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |     "       |End of level         |  ...  |   2   |  ...  |   .28  |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |     "       |(_a_) Rise 7 ft.     |  ...  |   2   | 20.25 |   .39  |
  |             |high, 132 ft. from   |       |       |       |        |
  |             |current.             |       |       |       |        |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  | Grassington |(_b_) End of cross   |  ...  |   2   | 20.94 |   .06  |
  |             |cut, 480 ft. from    |       |       |       |        |
  |             |rise.                |       |       |       |        |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |     "       |End, 480 ft. from    |  ...  |   2   | 19.53 |  1.59  |
  |             |rise.                |       |       |       |        |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |     "       |Rise 60 ft. high in  |  ...  |   2   | 19.52 |  1.72  |
  |             |shale.               |       |       |       |        |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |     "       |End, 60 ft. from     |  ...  |   2   | 20.47 |  1.06  |
  |             |rise.                |       |       |       |        |
  |             |                     |       |       |       |        |
  |     "       |(_c_)End, 840 ft.    |  ...  |   2   | 20.08 |   .94  |
  |             |from rise.           |       |       |       |        |
  +-------------+---------------------+-------+-------+-------+--------+
  (_a_) Air machine.
  (_b_) Unusual amount of dust.
  (_c_) Crystals were chiefly hexagons.
                                                  ANGUS SMITH.

The following table, showing the amount of ammonia present in rain
collected at the different places named, is from Dr Smith's work, 'Air and
Rain.'

          COMPARATIVE.                           AMMONIA.

  That of Valentia (Ireland) taken as 1 or 100.

  Ireland, Valentia                                 .1
  Scotland, sea-coast, country places, west        2.69
  Scotland, inland, country places, west           2.96
  Scotland, sea-coast, country places, average     4.10
  Scotland, sea-coast, country places, east        5.51
  England, inland, country places, east            5.94
  England, sea-coast, country places, west        10.55
  German specimens                                10.61
  London, 1869                                    19.17
  Scotland, towns (Glasgow not included)          21.22
  St. Helen's                                     25.33
  Runcorn                                         25.72
  England, towns                                  28.67
  Liverpool                                       29.89
  Manchester, 1869                                35.33
  Manchester, 1869 and 1870, average              35.94
  Manchester, 1870                                36.54
  Glasgow                                         50.55

The effects resulting from breathing an impure atmosphere are necessarily
dependent upon the extent of the pollution and other conditions. When the
contamination is moderate the first effect is headache, accompanied with
lassitude, and a general paleness of the face and skin, owing to a
diminution of the red corpuscles of the blood or to their imperfect
aeration; the pulse becomes lowered, and at the same time the breathing is
accelerated. When in addition to breathing such air from day to day is
superadded the misfortune of an insufficiency of food, scrofula and
consumption very often follow. Dr Guy has demonstrated the great mortality
that is caused by consumption in those trades in which workmen pursue
their calling in hot, close, gas-lit rooms, in comparison with those who
pass most of their time in the open air. The amount of air required by
each person in a room is no less than 2100 feet per hour; when the
ventilation does not supply this amount of fresh air, the apartment smells
stuffy, the furniture becomes coated with a film of organic matter, unless
constantly cleaned, and the carbonic acid becomes increased beyond its
normal quantity.

Dr Parkes has shown that bronchitis and consumption are more frequently
than not contracted by those who live in an atmosphere of foul air. In the
years 1834 to 1847 the proportion of deaths in the ill-ventilated prison
of Leopoldstadt in Vienna was 86 per 1000, out of which number 51.4 per
1000 was due to phthisis or consumption; while in the well-ventilated
House of Correction in the same city the deaths were 14 per 1000, of which
7.9 were from phthisis; hence 43.5 cases per 1000 of the deaths were
clearly traceable to foul air and nothing else.

Mr Noel Hartley, in his valuable little manual, 'Water, Air, and
Disinfectants,' says: "During the outbreak of cattle plague in 1866, in
sheds containing twenty to thirty cows--which the owners kept closed to
such an extent that all chinks in the doors and windows were stuffed with
straw and matting, under an ignorant belief that thus the plague could be
kept out--very frequently the entire stock died in two or three days after
the first appearance of disease; while in other cases where animals were
housed in a well-cleaned and tidily-kept shed, with a plentiful supply of
fresh air, not only did some of them escape the disease altogether, but
the deaths were reduced to one third of the number of beasts attacked."

The large supply of fresh air necessary in hospitals for contagious
diseases is fully recognised by medical men, and more especially so in
America. Wounds carefully protected from contact with impure air do not
suppurate, and organic fluids do not putrefy. On the other hand, in a bad
atmosphere sores become unhealthy, and are difficult to heal, erysipelas
and hospital gangrene frequently set in, while the best prevention and the
best means of cure for such afflictions is the greatest possible exposure
to fresh air.

Vitiated air, as a consequence of over-crowding, aids the spread of
measles, scarlet fever, and the much to be dreaded smallpox; it brings on
ophthalmia, a troublesome inflammation of the eyes, and is not
unfrequently the cause of the ricketty and scrofulous condition of
children. Although exposure to cold does cause such affections as
bronchitis, pneumonia, cold in the head, sore throat, and other affections
of the respiratory organs, it is more frequently the case that they are
the result of a sudden change of temperature, such as experienced in
coming out of a crowded assembly in a close, badly-ventilated building,
than by actually cold weather. This is decidedly and strikingly shown by
the fact which Dr de Chaumont has quoted, that the British Army when in
the Crimea, when lodged in tents during extremely rigorous weather,
experienced a wonderful condition of health, such a thing as a cold being
an unknown complaint; but when some of the men were placed in huts which
were much warmer, and into which there was a smaller circulation of fresh
air, the sick rate increased, and coughs and colds began to put in an
appearance. Persons who during summer and winter sleep with their windows
more or less open cannot endure a night spent in the chamber with the
chimney closed and the window shut. A less refreshing sleep occupies the
night, and a somewhat feverish sensation is felt next morning.

If in cold weather the window be opened only one inch at the top, the
difference in the air in the bedroom is something quite beyond
comprehension to those who have not paid attention to these things. See
VENTILATION.

=Air, Analysis of.= Priestley's discovery of oxygen gas in 1774 prepared
the way for the knowledge of the real composition of air, which was
discovered about the same time by Scheele and Lavoisier. Scheele's method
of operating was by exposing some atmospheric air to a solution of
sulphide of potassium. Lavoisier effected the same object by the
combustion of iron wire and phosphorus, and subsequently by heating
mercury on a flask filled with air for some time, just below its boiling
point.

These, however, were but elementary methods, which, however creditable to
the ingenuity of the great founders of modern chemistry, not only failed
in accuracy, but took no account of the presence and amount of two most
important constituents in the atmosphere, viz. carbonic anhydride (acid)
and ammonia.

_Determination of Aqueous Vapour._ To effect this an aspirator must be
used (see ASPIRATOR). This instrument is easily made, and is not
expensive. The accompanying figure will illustrate the arrangement
generally adopted: _a_ is an aspirator made of galvanised iron or sheet
zinc. It holds from 50 to 200 litres (from 11 to 44 gallons). By this
means a known volume of air is drawn through the tubes marked _b_, _c_,
_d_, _e_, which may be filled with pumice-stone moistened with strong
sulphuric acid; but if the carbonic acid is to be estimated as well, _b_
and _c_ are filled with moist hydrate of lime (potash used to be employed,
but hydrate of lime is to be preferred, as the potash absorbs oxygen), and
_d_ and _e_ as above. Each of the tubes is accurately weighed previously
to connecting them with the apparatus.

[Illustration]

It is imperative to have each of the tubes connected by perfectly
air-tight joints. The gain of weight in _d_ and _e_ gives the water in _b_
and _c_ the carbonic acid.

_Determination of Carbonic Acid._ A better and perhaps more exact means of
determining the carbonic acid is that invented by PETTENKOFER. It may be
briefly described as follows:--Baryta water of definite strength is
prepared and accurately standardised by a standard solution of oxalic
acid. A portion of this baryta water is then made to act upon a definite
quantity of air. It will absorb the whole of the carbonic acid in that
air.

The alkalinity of the liquid will in consequence be diminished; it will
take less of the oxalic-acid solution than before, which shows so much
less caustic baryta, and from which the carbonic acid absorbed may be
easily calculated.

_The actual Analysis._ Two kinds of baryta water may be used, the one
containing 7 grammes to the litre, the other three times that strength; 1
c. c. of the stronger = 3 m. grms. of carbonic acid; 1 c. c. of the weaker
= 1 m. grm. The baryta water is best kept in the bottle represented below.

[Illustration]

The bottle (_a_) contains the baryta water. It has an accurately-fitting
double-perforated stoppered caoutchouc. The left-hand tube is connected
with the tube (_b_) containing pumice-stone moistened with potash, while
the right-hand one is a syphon. When required for use the stop-cock (_f_)
is opened, and suction applied by a glass tube to F. The syphon is thus
filled and the stop-cock closed. If a pipette is required to be filled its
nozzle is inserted at F, the stop-cock compressed, and the fluid
immediately rises into the pipette.

The air entering the bottle as the fluid decreases in _a_ is, of course,
thoroughly deprived of its carbonic acid by the tubes at _b_.

The first thing to be done is to standardise the baryta solution by a
solution of oxalic acid, containing 2.8636 grammes of crystallised oxalic
acid to the litre.

Thirty c. c. of baryta solution are run into a small flask, and the oxalic
acid run in from a Mohr's burette with float, the vanishing-point of the
alkaline reaction being ascertained by delicate turmeric paper. As soon as
a drop placed on turmeric paper does not give a brown ring the end is
attained.

The actual analysis is performed by filling a bottle of known capacity,
with the aid of a pair of bellows, with the air to be analysed, then
distributing over its sides 45 c. c. of the baryta water it is left for
half an hour. The turbid water is poured into a cylinder, closely secured,
and allowed to deposit; then take out 30 c. c. by a pipette of the clear
fluid, run in the solution of oxalic acid, multiply the volume used by
1.5, and deduct the produce from the c. c. of oxalic acid used for 45 c.
c. of the fresh baryta water. A different method has been suggested by Dr
Angus Smith, viz. to measure the carbonic anhydride by the turbidities of
the baryta water; this is, in fact, a colorimetric test. For rough
approximative results Dr Smith's process will be found a very useful and
convenient one. It depends upon the fact that the amount of carbonic acid
in a given quantity of air will not produce a precipitate in a given
quantity of lime or baryta water unless the carbonic acid is in excess.
The following is one of his tables:--Columns 1 and 2 give the rates of
carbonic acid in the quantity of air which will produce no precipitate in
half an ounce of lime water. Column 3 is the same as column 2; but 14.16
c. c. (half an ounce) is added to give the corresponding size of the
bottle, and column 4 gives the size of the bottle in ounces.

        To be used when the point of observation is "no
        precipitate." Half an ounce of baryta water contains
        about .08 gramme of baryta.

        Air at 0 deg. C. and 760 millims. Bar.

  Carbonic Acid  Volume of   Size of bottle  Size of bottle
   in the Air,  Air in cubic    in cubic       in ounces
    per cent.   centimetres.  centimetres.    Avoirdupois.

      .03           185           199            7.06
      .04           139           154            5.42
      .05           111           125            4.44
      .06            93           107            3.78
      .07            79            93            3.31
      .08            70            84            2.96
      .09            62            76            2.69
      .10            56            70            2.46
      .11            51            65            2.29
      .12            46            60            2.14
      .13            43            57            2.01
      .14            40            54            1.90
      .15            37            51            1.81
      .20            28            42            1.48
      .25            22            36            1.29
      .30            19            33            1.16
      .40            14            28            1.04
      .50            11            25             .89
      .60             9            23             .89
      .70             8            22             .78
      .80             6            20             .72
     1.00             5.5          19.7           .70

Mr Wanklyn's process for the determination of carbonic acid in the
atmosphere is as follows:--A solution of carbonate of soda is first made
as follows: 4.47 grammes of gently-ignited carbonate of soda are dissolved
in one litre of water, giving a solution of such a strength that 1 c. c.
contains exactly 1 c. c. of carbonic acid (= 1.97 milligrammes of CO_{2});
a large quantity of baryta water (strength about 0.1 per cent.) is
prepared.

If now 100 c. c. of clear baryta water be treated with 1 c. c. of
carbonate of soda, just described, a certain degree of turbidity is
produced.

If 2 c. c. of the solution be taken another degree of turbidity is
produced, and so on. If, then, a bottle capable of holding 2000 c. c. of
air, together with 100 c. c. of baryta water, be filled with the sample of
air to be tested, there will be a certain depth of turbidity produced by
shaking it up. Having got the air to expend itself on 100 c. c. of baryta
water the degree is to be found by comparison with another 100 c. c. of
baryta water, in which a like turbidity has been induced by means of the
standard solution of carbonate.

Every c. c. of soda solution counts for a c. c. of carbonic acid in two
litres of air. A consumption of 1 c. c. will correspond to .05 volumes of
carbonic acid per cent. Good air should accordingly not take more than 1
c. c. of soda solution, air which takes already 2 c. c. being already bad.

In order practically to carry out this method of estimating carbonic acid
the following apparatus is required:--Several bottles capable of holding
2.210 c. c., and well stoppered (failing bottles of exactly the right
capacity Winchester quart bottles will answer); a small pair of bellows;
several colourless glass cylinders marked at 100 c. c. capacity--the
Nesslerising cylinders will answer for this purpose--a graduated pipette
or burette to deliver tenths of a c. c. of solution, the standard solution
of carbonate of soda, and the baryta water, which may be of moderate
strength.

The testing is managed thus: Winchester quart bottles having been made
clean are rinsed with distilled water, and allowed to drain a little. They
are then closed with their stoppers, and are ready for use. The operator
having provided himself with two or three of these bottles and a small
pair of bellows enters the room the air of which is to be tested. The
stopper is then removed from one of the bottles, and some air of the room
blown through with the bellows, and then the stopper is replaced, and the
bottle carried away to be tested.

The testing is done by pouring into the bottle 100 c. c. of clear baryta
water, shaking up for two or three minutes, and then pouring out into a
cylinder of colourless glass, and observing the depth of the turbidity in
various lights and against various backgrounds. The turbidity is to be
exactly imitated by means of the standard solution of carbonate of soda.
In order to imitate the turbidity produced by a Winchester quart full of
good air only 1 c. c. of this solution of carbonate of soda is required.

If 2 c. c. or more than 2 are required, the air is bad and the ventilation
is defective.

In place of the first c. c. of solution of carbonate of soda the carbonic
acid naturally present in a Winchester quart of good average air may be
used, and a little practice and intelligence will suggest the necessary
precautions.

_Estimation of the Oxygen._--To determine this Angus Smith has recourse to
the endiometer. Five or six of Bunsen's endiometers were used at once and
the mixed gases were exploded by means of a powerful battery and a
Ruhumkorff's coil. In his 'Inorganic Chemistry,' Miller thus explains the
principle upon which the action of the endiometer is based: "By means of
the endiometer various gaseous mixtures may be analysed with great
exactness. Many different forms of this instrument are in use. One of the
most convenient is Hoffmann's. It consists of a stout syphon tube. (See
next figure.) Into the sides of the tube, near the sealed end, two
platinum wires (_a_, _b_) are fixed for the purpose of transmitting an
electric spark through the cavity of the tube. The sealed limb is
accurately graduated to tenths of a c. c. or other suitable divisions.
Suppose it be desired to ascertain the proportion of oxygen in atmospheric
air. The instrument is first filled with mercury, after which a small
quantity of air is introduced; the bulk of the air is accurately measured,
taking care that the liquid metal stands at the same level in both tubes,
which is easily effected by adding mercury, or by drawing off the mercury
if needed, through the caoutchouc tube, which is fixed upon the small
inlet tube just above the bend, and which is closed by means of a screw
tap (_c_).

[Illustration]

A quantity of pure hydrogen, about equal in bulk to the air, is next
introduced, and the bulk of the mixture is then accurately measured. The
open extremity of the tube is now closed with a cork, below which a column
of atmospheric air is safely included. This portion of air acts as a
spring, which gradually checks the explosive force, when the combination
is effected by passing a spark across the tube by means of the platinum
wires. The mixture is then exploded by the electric spark. The remaining
gas now occupies a smaller volume, owing to the condensation of the steam
which has been formed. Mercury is, therefore, again poured in the open
limb until it stands at the same level in both tubes, and the volume of
the gas is measured a third time. One third of the reduction of the bulk
experienced by the gas will represent the entire volume of oxygen which
the mixture contained. Liebig's method is as follows. It is based upon the
fact that an alkaline solution of pyrogallic acid absorbs oxygen:

1. A strong measuring tube holding 30 c. c., and divided into one fifth or
one tenth c. c., is filled to two thirds with the air intended for
analysis. The remaining part of the tube is filled with mercury, and the
tube is inverted over that fluid in a tall cylinder widened at the top.

2. The volume of air confined is measured--a quantity of solution of
potash of 1.4 sp. grf. (1 part of dry hydrate of potash to 2 parts of
water), amounting from 1/40th to 1/50th of the volume of the air, is then
introduced into the measuring tube by means of a pipette with the point
bent upwards (see _drawing_), and spread over the entire inner surface of
the tube by shaking the latter. When no further diminution of volume takes
place the decrease is read off. The carbonic acid is thus removed.

[Illustration]

3. A solution of pyrogallic acid containing 1 gramme of the acid in 5 or 6
c. c. of water is introduced into the same measuring tube by means of
another pipette similar to the above. The mixed fluid (the pyrogallic acid
and the solution of potash) is spread over the inner surface of the tube
by shaking the latter, and when no further diminution of volume is
observed the residuary nitrogen is measured.

4. The solution of pyrogallic acid mixing with the solution of potash of
course dilutes it, causing thus an error from the diminution of its
tension; but this error is so trifling that it has no appreciable
influence upon the results. It may, moreover, be readily corrected by
introducing into the tube, after the absorption of the oxygen, a small
piece of hydrate of potash, corresponding to the amount of water in the
solution of the pyrogallic acid.

There is another slight error on account of a portion of the fluid
adhering to the inner surface of the tube, so that the volume of the gas
is never read off with absolute accuracy.

In conducting these endiometric experiments the necessary corrections for
temperature and barometric pressure must, of course, be made.

_Estimation of the Nitrogen._ The amount of this gas is usually determined
by deducting the aqueous vapours, oxygen and carbonic acid, from the
volume of air examined.

_Determination of Ammonia and Organic Matter._ These are best determined
by drawing a known volume of air through absolutely pure water. To obtain
this latter it is best to redistil distilled water, to reject the first
portions, then to add an alkaline solution of permanganate of potash, and
to discard any portions of the distillate which give the slightest
reaction with the Nessler test. The water through which the air is drawn
must be kept cool, and afterwards submitted to the proper tests, which
will be found under AMMONIA and WATER ANALYSIS. Mr Blyth says, "Solid
bodies such as vibrionic germs, dust, fungi, &c., may be obtained by using
an aspirator, and drawing the air either through a drop of glycerine or
water. Organic matter may also be obtained by suspending glass vessels
filled with ice water, over or in the places to be investigated, and
submitted to the microscope. High powers, such as immersion lenses, are
requisite for the investigation of germs," &c.

Of these germs Dr Angus Smith says:--"They may probably be divided into
many kinds--the useful and the deleterious, those which promote health and
those which bring disease. The idea of any of them bringing health is not
founded on anything positive, but we can scarcely imagine these numberless
forms to be all useless. The idea that they bring disease is, I think, one
well confirmed." See a paper by the same author "On the Air and Rain of
Manchester." 'Memoirs of the Literary and Scientific Society of
Manchester,' vol. x. See AIR, VITIATED.

=AIR-GAS.= Air deprived of its carbonic acid and moisture, and then
impregnated with the vapours of very volatile fluid hydrocarbons, such as
benzine and benzoline, can be used as an illuminating agent. It is
requisite, however, to use burners with wide openings, and to apply a low
pressure, because if the current be too rapid the flame becomes too much
cooled, and is readily extinguished. Apparatus for preparing air-gas have
been devised and constructed by Marcus, Mille, Methei, and others.

[Illustration]

=AIR-PUMP.= An instrument designed for the removal of air from closed
vessels. The simplest form of air-pump is the exhausting syringe, which
consists of a cylinder fitted with a stop-cock, and having a valve at the
bottom opening inwards. Another valve opening outwards is attached to a
piston working inside the cylinder, and by screwing the instrument on to a
vessel, and alternately elevating and depressing the piston, all except a
very small quantity of residual and comparatively inelastic air is pumped
out of the vessel (Figs. _a_ and _b_). The accompanying figures show
relative positions of the valve during (_a_) the elevation, and (_b_) the
depression of the piston. In the usual and more convenient form of
air-pump, a brass tube passes from the bottom of the syringe and
terminates in the centre of a disk of brass or glass ground accurately;
the vessel from which the air is to be exhausted has its edge very
accurately ground, and is mounted upon the plate as shown in the subjoined
figure.

[Illustration]

=Air-pump, Bunsen's Water.= (See figure on page 53.)

This consists of a wide glass tube, _a_, into which another tube, _b_,
_b'_, _b''_, passes air-tight. _c_ is an india-rubber tube connecting a
with the water supply, _d_ is a clamp to stop the flow of water through
_c_. _e_ is another clamp to regulate the flow, _f_ is a reservoir to
prevent any water which may accidentally come over from getting into _j_.
_g_ is a plug to let out any water from _f_. _h_ is a screw for connecting
a air-tight to a piece of tubing, which should pass 32 feet, if possible,
below the level of _a_. _i_ is a piece of strong india-rubber tubing to
connect the pump with the vessel to be exhausted. The water rushes in at
_c_ and down _h_, carrying bubbles of air with it till the exhaustion is
complete. The figure illustrates a common application of this pump to the
rapid filtration of liquids which ordinarily pass through paper with
difficulty. _a_ is represented as being about half full of water. _k_ is a
funnel fixed air-tight in the india-rubber stopper of the bell-jar _j_.
_l_ is a small cone of platinum foil to prevent the paper filter which
fits into it from being broken. _m_ is a plate of ground glass, _n_ is a
beaker to receive the filtrate.

[Illustration: Bunsen's water-air-pump.]

=Air-pump, Sprengel's.= This apparatus depends on the principle of
converting the space to be exhausted into a torricellian vacuum.

In the subjoined figure, _c_, _d_ is a glass tube longer than a barometer,
open at both ends, and connected by means of india-rubber tubing with a
funnel, A, filled with mercury and supported by a stand. Mercury is
allowed to fall in this tube at a rate regulated by a clamp at C; the
lower end of the tube, _c_, _d_, fits in the flask B, which has a spout at
the side a little higher than the lower end of _c_, _d_; the upper part
has a branch at _x_ to which a receiver R can be tightly fixed. When the
clamp at C is opened, the first portions of mercury which run out close
the tube and prevent air from entering below. As the mercury is allowed to
run down the exhaustion begins, and the whole length of the tube from _x_
to _d_ is fitted with cylinders of air and mercury, having a downward
motion. Air and mercury escape through the spout of the bulb B, which is
above the basin H, where the mercury is collected. It is poured back from
time to time into the funnel A, to be repassed through the tube until the
exhaustion is complete.

[Illustration: Sprengel's air-pump.]

=AIRY'S (Dr.) NATURE'S MEDICAL TREATMENT= is the title of a pamphlet which
recommends four secret remedies against 166 diseases:

_a._ The Pain Expeller, a mixture of about 35 parts of tincture of
capsicum, 20 parts of diluted spirit, and 20 parts of spirit of ammonia.

_b._ Sarsaparillian, a fluid extract of sarsaparilla and China root,
containing 1 per cent. of iodide of potassium.

_c._ Pills composed of powdered iron, jalap resin, jalap powder, and marsh
mallow powder, made into a mass with some bitter extract. Each pill weighs
0.1 gramme.

_d._ Calming Pastilles are thick, hard tablets, composed of sugar, with
oil of anise, and  with liquorice juice. (Hager.)

=AKUSTICON= (an ear essence). A proved remedy for every kind of ear
disease, by Pserhofer. This may be imitated by dissolving in common
glycerine one fifth of its weight of fir tar, filtering, and adding a few
drops of cajeput oil dissolved in spirit (Hager.)

=AL-.= [Ar.] An inseparable article equivalent to the English _the_. It is
found in many chemical and other words derived from the Arabic; as
alchemy, alcohol, alembic, almanac, &c.

=AL'ABASTER.= _Syn._ ALBATRE, Fr.; =Alabas'ter=, =Alabastri'tes=,
=Alabas'trum=, L. A soft, white species of calcareous and of gypseous
stone, used by sculptors. There are several varieties, all of which may be
ranged under two heads:--

1. CALCA''REOUS ALABASTER; ORIENT'AL, A.; CALC-SIN'TER. A sub-variety of
carbonate of calcium, formed by the deposition of calcareous particles in
the caverns of limestone rocks. It has a foliated, fibrous, or granular
structure, and a pure, soft, rich, semi-translucent whiteness, generally
agreeably variegated with undulating zones or stripes of various shades of
yellow, red, or brown. This variety is that most esteemed by sculptors,
and for the manufacture of alabaster ornaments. The ancients used it for
ointment and perfume boxes. At the baths of San Filippo (Tuscany), the
process of its formation may be examined by the observer. The natural
spring of boiling water holds carbonate of lime in solution by means of
sulphuretted hydrogen, which, escaping into the air, leaves the lime as a
precipitate, which is gradually deposited in a concrete form. (M. Alex.
Brogniart.)

2. GYP'SEOUS OR COMMON ALABASTER; GYPSUM. A natural hydrated sulphate of
calcium, containing a little carbonate of calcium. That from the quarries
of the Paris basin contains about 12% of the latter substance. When
calcined or roasted, and powdered, it forms the substance known under the
name of PLASTER OF PARIS. The more compact, fine-grained specimens of this
variety are, like the preceding one, sculptured into almost numberless
articles of ornament and utility, such as vases, clock-stands, statuettes,
&c. The inferior kinds only are manufactured into the 'plaster of Paris'
of the shops. The best specimens are obtained from the lower beds of the
gypsum quarries, and are white, and granular, not unlike Carrara marble.
It takes a high polish; but from its softness and liability to become
discoloured, articles formed of it require more careful treatment than
even those of 'calcareous alabaster.'

Alabaster is wrought, turned, and fashioned, in a nearly similar manner to
the softer varieties of marble. The tools resemble those employed for the
like operations in ivory and brass. Machinery is now often applied to this
purpose.

Alabaster is polished, first with pumice-stone, and then with a paste or
pap made of whiting, soap, and milk or water; and lastly, with dry
flannel. A better method, however, is to rub it first with dried
shave-grass (equisetum), and afterwards with finely powdered and sifted
slaked lime formed into a paste with water. The surface is then 'finished
off' by friction with finely powdered talc or French chalk, until a satiny
lustre is produced, or with putty powder, in a similar way to marble.

Alabaster is engraved with tools resembling those employed for other soft
minerals. It is etched by covering every part of the surface, except that
to be acted on, with a solution of white wax in oil of turpentine (1 to
4), thickened with a little finely powdered white lead, and subsequent
immersion in water acidulated with acetic acid or hydrochloric acid, for
the calcareous variety; and in spring water, for 20 to 50 hours (according
to the effect desired), for the gypseous variety. The varnish is washed
off with oil of turpentine, and the etched parts carefully brushed over
with finely powdered gypsum.

Alabaster is joined and repaired by means of white of egg, or rice glue,
thickened with finely powdered quicklime; or by a paste of newly baked and
finely powdered gypsum, mixed up with the least possible quantity of
water.

Calcareous alabaster is usually cleaned with a brush and warm
soap-and-water, or with tepid water to which a few grains of carbonate of
soda or of ammonia have been added; followed in either case by rinsing in
clean water. If much discoloured, thoroughly cover the article with a
paste of freshly slaked lime and water, and let it remain twenty-four
hours; then wash off the paste with soap and water, rubbing hard the
stains.

Delicate objects in gypseous alabaster can only be safely cleaned with
benzol, or with pure oil of turpentine. If necessary, the surface must be
repolished. Grease spots may be removed from either variety with a little
benzol or oil of turpentine.

Alabaster is occasionally stained or , and, for the calcareous
variety, in a similar way to marble, except that heat is not employed; and
for the gypseous variety, in the manner noticed under PLASTER OF PARIS.
The gypseous variety is also bronzed and hardened in a similar way to that
adopted for casts in the latter substance.

_Obs._ Gypseous alabaster is dissolved by water; and the beauty of both
varieties is almost irrecoverably destroyed by grease,  oils,
varnishes, smoke, &c. It is, therefore, unfitted for garden ornaments, or
other objects exposed to the rain or weather, unless it be painted or
bronzed; and is even then very perishable. Contact with acids, alkalies,
and ammoniacal and sulphurous fumes, also injure, and, if prolonged,
destroy it. Even an uncorked phial of smelling-salts placed on a
mantel-piece beside an alabaster vase will soon destroy its beauty. Thus,
all delicate objects in alabaster should be protected by a glass shade.

=Alabaster, Orient'al= (Factitious). Figures, basso relievos, &c., of
considerable hardness and beauty, may be formed by imitating the process
adopted at the baths of San Filippo, before referred to.

_Proc., &c._ Moulds of sulphur are placed either vertically or obliquely
in an open tub or cistern, having a freely perforated bottom. Surmounting
the whole are two or more pieces of wood in the form of a cross or star.
The sulphurous calcareous water, falling on this cross, is scattered into
spray or streamlets, and losing the gaseous portion which holds the lime
in solution, deposits it in the form of oriental alabaster on the surface
of the moulds. In from 1 to 4 months, according to the nature of the
article, a sufficiently thick deposit is obtained. The object is then
removed from the mould, and trimmed and polished. It is found that the
more vertical the position of the mould, the finer is the grain of the
resulting deposit. The water of the Spring of San Filippo may be exactly
and easily imitated by the chemist; and the whole process offers a new and
valuable ornamental art for the amusement and profit of the ingenious and
enterprising.

=Alabaster, Shand's Chinese.= Carbonate of lime. (Chandler.)

=Alabaster Tablets, John Swine's Chinese.= Carbonate of lime. (Chandler.)

=ALAMODE'= ([)a]l-[)a]h-m[=o]de). [Fr., _a la mode_.] According to the
prevailing mode or fashion. In _cookery_, applied to several dishes, but
more particularly to one of beef (alamode beef), commonly shortened by the
lower class of Londoners into "alamode." See BEEF, STEWING, &c.

=ALAN'TINE.= [Eng., Fr., Ger.] _Syn._ ALANTI'NA, L. A substance identical
with inulin, found in the roots of garden angelica ('angelica
archangelica,' Linn.).

=ALBA'TA.= [L., Eng.] A name given to several alloys resembling silver.
See ALLOYS, GERMAN SILVER, &c.

=ALBION= (Parisian). "Will preserve the skin white and free from
wrinkles." An aromatic water with chloride of lead and calomel suspended
in it. (Landerer.)

=ALBOLITH.= A cement powder prepared by W. Riemann, Breslau. Made with
calcined magnesia (obtained from magnesite) and chloride of magnesium. It
is recommended for painting walls, stairs, and wooden articles. (Hager.)

=ALBU'MEN.= [Eng., L.] _Syn._ ALBUMIN; ALBUMINE, Fr.; EIWEISS, EIWEISTOFF,
Ger. Literally, the white of egg; a peculiar nitrogenous substance which
enters largely into the composition of animal bodies. It abounds in the
blood, muscles, bones, coagulable lymph, vitreous and crystalline humour
of the eye, fluid of dropsy, &c. The white of egg consists of nearly pure
albumen dissolved in water.

A substance identical with albumen is found in many vegetables. It enters
largely into the composition of all the emulsive seeds. According to
Seguin, it exists in considerable quantity in all those vegetables and
fruits that afford a vinous liquor without the addition of yeast.

_Prep._ The white of egg and the serum of blood, when strained through
muslin, furnish albumen, in solution, in a sufficiently pure state for all
the ordinary purposes of the arts. Pure solid albumen may be prepared as
follows:--

1. Agitate strained white of egg with 10 or 12 times its bulk of alcohol,
collect the precipitated flocculi on a muslin filter, and suffer it to dry
at a temperature not exceeding 120 deg. Fahr.

2. Add a little water to white of egg, mix, filter, exactly neutralise
with acetic acid, and then largely dilute with pure cold water; the
precipitate which falls may be collected on a filter and washed. Strained
serum of blood may be used instead of white of egg, in both the above
forms.

_Comp._, _&c._ The following is the composition of albumen according to
Lieberkuehn:--

  Carbon    53.3
  Hydrogen   7.1
  Nitrogen  15.7
  Oxygen    22.1
  Sulphur    1.8
            ----
           100.0

Chatin found iodine in the white of egg; it also contains chloride,
sulphate, phosphate, and carbonate of sodium, phosphate of calcium, and
traces of potassium in it; but, unlike the sulphur, none of these
substances form a constituent part of pure albumen, though probably always
present in white of egg.

_Prop._ Pure solid albumen (unaltered by heat) is nearly colourless,
inodorous, and tasteless; scarcely soluble in water, but readily so in
water, containing an exceedingly small quantity of caustic soda or potash,
and in a strong solution of nitrate of potassium. When dried by a gentle
heat it shrinks into a translucent horny mass; and when exposed to a
sufficient temperature, yields the usual ammoniacal odour and products of
animal matter. Its solution (as white of egg) is solidified or coagulated
by a heat of from 145 deg. to 165 deg. Fahr., forming a white, opaque mass; when
very dilute, on boiling (only) it separates in fine light flocks. When
thus coagulated, it is insoluble in water at a less temperature than 302 deg.
Fahr. (Woehler and Voegel), unless alkalised. Ordinary solutions of albumen
give precipitates with sulphuric, hydrochloric, nitric, and metaphosphoric
acids, with tannin and astringent solutions, and with most of the metallic
salts; but are not affected by either acetic acid or tribasic (common)
phosphoric acid. Alcohol, in quantity, also precipitates albumen. Strong
oil of vitriol turns it black in the cold, but on applying a gentle heat,
a gorgeous, red- liquid is produced. Strong hydrochloric acid
gives a deep violet-blue solution. White of egg or serum exposed in a thin
stratum to the air, dries up into a pale, yellow, gum-like substance, and
in this state may be kept for any length of time, retaining its property
of redissolving when immersed in slightly warm water.

_Tests._--1. Both heat and alcohol (or strong spirit) coagulate it:--2. A
solution of perchloride of mercury dropped into a fluid containing
albumen occasions a white precipitate:--3. Subacetate of lead acts in the
same way. Either of the last two will render turbid a solution containing
only the 1-2000th part of fresh white of egg, or the 1-10,000th part of
dry albumen:--4. Tannin and tincture of galls give yellow, pitchy
precipitates:--5. If dry caustic potash or soda be triturated with either
liquid or solid albumen, ammoniacal fumes are evolved, and the mixture on
calcination yields ferrocyanide of potassium:--6. Its coagulability by
heat, and its incoagulability by acetic acid, distinguish it from casein.

_Uses, &c._, Independently of its value as an alimentary substance,
albumen is largely employed in photography as a glaze or varnish, for
fixing colours in calico printing, as a cement, &c., and more particularly
as a clarifier for wines, syrups, vegetable solutions, and other liquids.
Its efficacy for the last purpose depends on its entangling the impurities
in its meshes during coagulation, and either rising to the surface with
them as a 'scum,' or sinking with them as a precipitate. In France it is
prepared on an extensive scale, at the abattoirs, by being spread in thin
layers to dry; the source of supply being of course the stream of the
blood of the slaughtered animals. When the liquid operated on does not
spontaneously coagulate albumen, it is necessary to apply heat to it. In
cases of poisoning by the mineral acids, corrosive sublimate, nitrate of
silver, sulphate of copper, bichloride of tin, or sugar of lead, the white
of egg (or indeed the yolk as well) is one of the best antidotes that can
be administered.

=Albumen, Flake.= _Syn._ ALBUMEN IN POWDER, SOLID A., SOLUBLE A.,
PLANTER'S A. _Prep._ Expose strained white of egg or serum of bullock's
blood, in a thin stratum, to a current of dry air, until it concretes into
a solid transparent substance, resembling horn. In this state it may be
kept any length of time, or it may be further dried until brittle, and
then reduced to coarse powder.

_Use._ It is extensively employed as a 'clarifier' in the sugar
plantations of the West Indies, and elsewhere. It is prepared for use by
soaking and stirring it with cold water until it is dissolved, when it is
whisked to a froth in the usual way, and agitated with the liquid to be
clarified.

=Albumen, Iodised.= 1. To the white of every egg employed add 7-1/2 grains
of iodide of potassium dissolved in an equal weight of distilled water.
Beat the mixture to a froth, let it stand until insoluble matters have
settled, pour the clear portion into a wide-mouthed bottle, and keep in a
cool place. 2. Dissolve 50 grains of iodide of potassium and 10 grains of
bromide of ammonium in 2-1/2 oz. of distilled water, and add 120 minims of
strong liquor ammoniae. Add this solution to 10 oz. of albumen, let the
mixture stand to settle, and filter. This preparation is said to keep good
for a long time.

=Albumen, Solution of (B. P.).= Take of white of one egg; distilled water,
four fluid ounces. Mix by trituration in a mortar, and filter through
clean tow, first moistened with distilled water. This solution must be
recently prepared.

=Albumen, Vegetable.= This substance, long considered to be a distinct
proximate principle peculiar to the vegetable kingdom, has been shown, by
recent researches, to be identical with animal albumen. It is particularly
abundant in carrots, turnips, cabbages, green stems of peas, and
oleaginous seeds.

=ALBU'MEN.= In _botany_, the solid, fleshy, or horny substance found in
many seeds, between the integuments and the embryo. It is the part that
furnishes the flour of the 'cereals,' the flesh of the 'cocoa-nut,' and
the great mass of the seeds of coffee and other vegetables. However
poisonous the plants which produce it may be, this substance is never
deleterious.

=ALBUMENISED PAPER.= A French paper highly glazed, having a fine surface,
and made by Rive; a German paper having a more uniform texture, and made
by Saxe; also a paper by Towgood, are recommended for the preparation of
albumenised paper. Positive paper may be albumenised as follows:--Add 15
grains of finely pulverised common salt to the white of every egg used,
and whisk until the mixture is entirely converted into a white froth.
Allow this froth to stand in a glazed earthenware pan which must be rather
larger than the sheets of paper to be albumenised, for about twelve hours.
At the end of this pour the clear portion of the liquid into a flat
porcelain tray. Mark the inferior side of the paper, slightly damp it,
lift it by its ends, and float it carefully on the prepared albumen,
keeping its inferior and dry side uppermost. Then raise the paper at each
end, and if any air bubbles are seen remove them with a card or brush and
replace the paper in the bath. Remove the paper from the bath and suspend
it at the corners by clips. Albumenised paper should be kept dry by
enclosing it in tin or zinc cases.

=ALBUMENOIDS.= A term applied to albumen, fibrin, casein, and similar
bodies.

=ALBU'MENOUS.= _Syn._ ALBUMINO'SUS, L.; ALBUMINE, ABUMINEUX, Fr.;
EIWEISSTOFFHALTIG, Ger. Formed of, containing, or having the properties of
albumen.

=Albuminous Plants=. In _botany_, all plants whose seeds contain albumen
in a separate state; as in the cereals, palms, &c.

=Albuminous Principles _or_ Substances.= Albumen, casein, fibrin, gluten,
&c.

=ALBURN'UM.= [L.] _Syn._ ALBURN*; SAPWOOD. In _botany_, the white and
softer parts of the wood of exogenous plants, lying between the inner bark
and the heartwood. It consists of empty or nearly empty tubes or cells,
which gradually acquire solidity by the deposition of resins, tannin, and
other products of vegetation, and in time becomes wood. It is through the
alburnum that the ascending sap chiefly flows.

=ALCARAZ'ZA.= [Sp.] A species of porous earthenware, or a vessel formed of
it, made in Spain from a light, sandy marl, and but slightly fired. Their
value as 'coolers' arises from the copious evaporation of the water, which
gradually transudes. A similar ware and articles are made in France, under
the name of HYGROCERA'MEN; and in England, under the names of POROUS WARE,
WATER COOLERS, WINE COOLERS, BUTTER COOLERS, &c. The following are forms
said to be used in our potteries:--

_Prep._ 1. Take of sandy marl, 2 parts; brine, q. s.; make a dough, and
then knead in of common salt, in fine powder, 1 part. Bake the pieces
slowly, and lightly.

2. Good clay, 2 parts; fine siliceous sand, 3 parts; brine, q. s.; common
salt, 1 to 2 parts; as before.

3. Powdered clay, 2 parts; powdered charcoal, 3 parts (by weight); water
q. s. to form a stiff dough. The kilning must be so arranged that the heat
is applied gradually, and the vessels exposed to a current of hot air; and
it must be continued until all the charcoal is burnt out, carefully
avoiding over-firing.

=AL'CHEMY= (-k[)i]m-). _Syn._ AL'CHYMY (-k[)i]m-); HERMETIC ART*;
ALCHEM'IA, ALCHYM'IA, L.; ALCHIMIE, Fr.; ALCHEMIE, Ger.; ALCHIMIA, It. The
romantic forerunner of the modern science of chemistry. An imaginative art
or science, having for its objects the discovery of a substance
(PHILOSOPHER'S STONE) capable of transmuting the baser metals into gold--a
panacea, or universal remedy (ELIXER VITAE), by which disease and death
were to be avoided by its possessor--an alkahest, or universal solvent--a
universal ferment; and other like absurdities. A mixed metal formerly used
for utensils was also called by this name.

=AL'COHOL.= C_{2}H_{6}O. [Eng., L.; B. P.] _Syn._ AL'KOHOL, Eng., L.;
ALCOOeL, ALCOHOL, Fr.; ALKOHOL, HOeCHST RECTIFIEIRTER WEIN-GEIST., Ger.;
ALCOOeLE, It. A term commonly applied to one kind of spirit--that obtained
by the distillation of any fermented saccharine liquid, and forming the
characteristic principle of wines, beers, spirits, and other intoxicating
liquors.

_Etym._ Kohol, a Hebrew-Syriac word, is the name given to a preparation of
powdered antimony used by Oriental ladies to paint their eyebrows. In
course of time this term was applied to other fine powders, and ultimately
to highly rectified spirits.

_Hist., &c._ Although the art of distillation was probably known at a
comparatively early age of the world, the preparation of pure rectified
spirit is a discovery of modern times. It was not until the 13th century
that Raymond Lully first showed the way to concentrate spirit by means of
carbonate of potash; after which date pure concentrated spirit gradually
rose into note as an article of trade and commerce in Europe. In the 16th
century its distillation was in common practice in these countries.
(Burns.) By means of chloride of calcium, Dr Black obtained alcohol of sp.
gr. 0.800 (about A.D. 1760); and Richter afterwards procured it of a sp.
gr. so low as 0.796 at 60 deg. Fahr. (Crell's 'Annals,' 1796.) Lavoisier first
demonstrated the composition of alcohol (about 1780). Its analysis was
subsequently perfected by M. Saussure, jun., and confirmed by MM. Dumas
and Boullay, and Gay-Lussac; and by many others since.

_Nat. Hist._ Alcohol is peculiar to the organic kingdom, being exclusively
produced, in the natural way, by the process of fermentation.

_Sources, &c._ Dilute alcohol may be procured, by the ordinary process of
distillation, from all fermented liquors. When drawn from wine (as in
France), it constitutes BRANDY; when from the refuse juice of the
sugar-cane, it is called RUM; when from malt, grain, or molasses (as in
England), it is called MALT, RAW-GRAIN or MOLASSES SPIRIT; and when from
rice or palm-wine, ARRACK. Brandy, rum, Hollands, and whisky, contain only
about half their volume of alcohol; and gin much less. When distilled from
any of these spirituous liquors, the alcohol contains, besides water,
variable quantities of essential oils, ethers, and other flavouring
matters, which, by one or more redistillations with charcoal or lime, it
for the most part loses, and then becomes commercial spirit of wine. By a
further rectification from chloride of calcium, lime, carbonate of potash,
or any other substance having a strong affinity for water, the water is
retained, and a strong spirit passes over containing not more than 10 per
cent. of water. By repeating the process, and using the proper
precautions, it may be obtained almost entirely free from water, and is
then called absolute or anhydrous alcohol.

_Preparation I._ Of _Absolute Alcohol_:--

_a._ Alcohol (highly rectified spirit), of 85% (sp. gr. .835 to .822), is
mixed, in a tubulated retort, with about half its weight of fresh-burnt
quick-lime, in coarse powder; and the whole, after securely stopping the
neck with a cork, and agitation, is allowed to repose for several days.
The alcohol is then carefully distilled off, drop by drop, by the heat of
a water bath, until the weight of the distillate nearly equals that of the
'anhydrous alcohol' in the spirit operated on. The sp. gr. of the product
should be .795 or .796; but by carefully repeating the process with the
distillate and a fresh quantity of lime, and prolonging the last digestion
with the latter for several weeks, absolute alcohol of the sp. gr. .79381
at 60 deg. Fahr. may be easily obtained.

_b._ (Drinkwater; Fownes.) The strongest rectified spirit of wine is
digested in a stoppered bottle for several days, with about half its
weight of anhydrous carbonate of potash, in powder, frequent agitation
being had recourse to; the alcohol, after repose, is then decanted, and
treated with sufficient fresh-burnt quick-lime to absorb the whole of the
spirit. After 48 hours' digestion, the spirit, when distilled, will have
the sp. gr. .793 at 60 deg. Fahr.

_c._ (Liebig; Ure.) Alcohol of about 90% is saturated with fused chloride
of calcium, in powder, and after repose for a few hours in a stoppered
bottle, is submitted to distillation as before. The product should nearly
equal the quantity of dry alcohol in the sample. Ure recommends equal
weights of the spirit and chloride to be taken; and the process to be
stopped as soon as about half the volume of the spirit employed has passed
over, or the distillate acquires a higher sp. gr. than .791 at 68 deg., or
.796 at 60 deg. Fahr.

_d._ (B. P. 1867.) Take of rectified spirit, 1 pint; carbonate of potash,
1-1/2 ounce; slaked lime, 10 ounces. Put the carbonate of potash and
spirit into a stoppered bottle and allow them to remain in contact for two
days, frequently shaking the bottle. Expose the slaked lime to a red heat
in a covered crucible for half an hour, then remove it from the fire, and,
when it has cooled, immediately put the lime into a flask or retort, and
add to it the spirit from which the denser aqueous solution of carbonate
of potash, which will have formed a distinct stratum at the bottom of the
bottle, has been carefully and completely separated. Attach a condenser to
the apparatus, and allow it to remain without any external application of
heat for twenty-four hours; then applying a gentle heat, let the spirit
distil until that which has passed over shall measure 1-1/2 fluid ounce;
reject this, and continue the distillation into a fresh receiver until
nothing more passes at a temperature of 200 deg. Fahr.

_e._ (Poggendorff.) Saturate alcohol with caustic potash, then add half
its volume of water, and distil at a low temperature.

II. Of _Hydrated_ or _Commercial Alcohol_:--

_a._ (ALCOHOL, Ph. L. 1836.) Take of rectified spirit (sp. gr. 0.838), 1
gal.; chloride of calcium, 1 lb.; proceed as above, and distil 7 pints and
5 fl. oz. Sp. gr. of product 0.815. It contains about 7% of water, by
weight, and 5% by volume.

_b._ (ALCOHOL, Ph. D. 1826.) Rectified spirit, 1 gal.; pearl-ashes (dried
and still hot), 3-1/2 lbs.; mix, digest in a covered vessel, with frequent
agitation, for seven days; then decant the clear portion, and add to it of
chloride of calcium, 1 lb.; agitate to effect solution, and distil off the
spirit until the mixture in the retort begins to thicken. Sp. gr. of
product 0.810. It contains about 5% of water, by weight.

_c._ (Without distillation.) Rectified spirit is agitated, in a closed
vessel, with anhydrous carbonate of potash (prepared by heating the salt
to redness, and still slightly warm), until the powder sinks to the bottom
undissolved; the carbonate is then added in considerable excess, and the
agitation repeated at short intervals for some hours or even days; lastly,
after sufficient repose, the clear upper portion is decanted.--_Obs._ If a
clean spirit, and pure carbonate of potash (or at least one perfectly free
from caustic potash or any other impurity soluble in strong spirit), be
used, an alcohol sufficiently pure and free from water for many common
purposes may be thus obtained; otherwise the product contains a little
potassa, &c., which can only be removed by distillation. For some
purposes, however, this would not be objectionable. Sp. gr. about .812.

[Illustration:

  _A_, A bottle with two necks, the upper furnished with a
      ground-glass stopper.
  _B_, Loop of cord to hang the apparatus up by.
  _C_, Bladder, containing spirit, filled by means of the bottle
      _A_.
  _D_, Neck of bladder accurately secured to the under neck of the
      bottle _A_.]

III. (Soemmering.--VARNISH-MAKER'S ALCOHOL.) The bladder of an ox or calf,
thoroughly cleansed from fat, and washed and dried, is nearly filled with
rectified spirit, and then securely fastened and suspended in any dry
situation, at a temperature of about 122 deg. Fahr. In from six to twelve
hours, when the heat is properly maintained, the spirit is generally
sufficiently concentrated, and in a little time longer is rendered nearly
free from water (anhydrous), or of the strength of 96 to 98%.--_Obs._ The
same bladder will serve for more than one hundred operations. If not kept
very nearly full, a portion of the spirit escapes through the empty part.
To prevent this accident, a bottle with a double neck, of the shape
represented in the _engr._, may be employed; by which means the bladder
may be kept constantly full during the process. After the first or second
time of using, the bladder gives alcohol sufficiently pure for all
ordinary purposes. Before hanging the apparatus up, it is better to
enclose it in a coarse potato-netting, to prevent any accident arising
from the strain on the neck of the bladder. Soemmering recommends both the
inside and outside of the dry bladder to be smeared over 2 or 3 times
with a strong solution of isinglass; but this is not necessary to the
success of the process.

IV. _Rectified Spirit._ (B. P. 1867.) _Spiritus Rectificatus._ Alcohol
with 16 per cent. of water; obtained by the distilling of fermented
saccharine fluids. Sp. gr. 0.838.

V. _Proof Spirit._ (B. P. 1867.) _Spiritus Tenuior._ Take of rectified
spirit, 5 pints; distilled water, 3 pints. Mix. Sp. gr. of product 0.920.

_Prop. of Alcohol._ Light, transparent, colourless; highly volatile and
inflammable, burning with a pale blue and smokeless flame; very mobile;
odour, agreeable; taste, strong and pungent; miscible in all proportions
with water, with the evolution of heat, and temporary expansion, but
ultimate condensation of the mixture, some hours elapsing before the union
is complete, and the normal temperature restored. The mixture has a higher
sp. gr. than the mean of its constituents; and this is greatest when 54
vols. of alcohol are mixed with 49.77 vols. of water, the resulting
compound measuring only 100 volumes. It absorbs water from moist air;
dissolves resins, essential oils, camphor, bitumen, soaps, sugar, carbonic
and boracic acid, iodine and the iodides, lime, ammonia, soda, potash, the
alkaloids, wax and spermaceti (when boiling), all the deliquescent salts
(except carbonate of potassa), and various other substances. It curdles
milk, coagulates albumen, and (in quantity) separates both starch and gum
from their mucilages. It boils, in the air, at 173 deg. Fahr., when in the
anhydrous state. When diluted with water its boiling point rises in
proportion to the amount of water added. It boils, in vacuo, at 56 deg. Fahr.
Every volume of boiling alcohol yields 488.3 vols. of vapour at 212 deg. Fahr.
Its sp. gr. is 0.793811 at 60 deg. Fahr., that of its vapour being 1.6133. It
has never been frozen; when cooled to -166 deg. Fahr., it acquired the
consistence of castor oil, but did not solidify. It contracts by cold;
between -15 deg. and +99 deg. Fahr., this occurs with great regularity, at the
rate of .00047 part of its volume for every degree of the thermometer. Its
evaporation, like that of ether, produces intense cold. The products of
its combustion are carbonic anhydride and water. It acts as a powerful
antiseptic on organic substances immersed in it, and is in consequence
extensively employed in the preservation of anatomical preparations. With
the acids it forms ethers.

_Phys. eff._ Alcohol is a narcotico-acrid poison. In small doses it
occasions excitement and intoxication; in larger ones, delirium,
somnolency, coma, apoplexy, and death. It acts as a violent nervous
stimulant, and, by abstracting water from the soft tissues of the stomach
and primae viae, destroys their organisation. It is alike poisonous to all
animals;--2 drs. will kill a dog. All strong spirits act in the same way,
the effect being proportionate to the state of concentration and the
quantity taken. On plants it acts as a rapid and fatal poison.

_Ant., &c._ Copious internal use of tepid water, with cold affusions to
the head and spine, and injection of cold water into the ears. In the
absence of vomiting, a strong emetic should be given, or the stomach-pump
used. Ammonia may be used as a stimulant, and, added to water just in
sufficient quantity to flavour it, is one of the best antidotes. The head
should be kept elevated, and bleeding had recourse to, if cerebral
congestion threatens.

_Tests in cases of death._ 1. The odour of the contents of the stomach and
ejected matters, and their ready inflammability. 2. The spirit may be
separated by digestion with water, filtration, the addition of carbonate
of potash, and distillation.

_Comp., &c._ Its per-centage composition is--

              Dumas and    Brande and    Ure. sp.
               Boullay.       Ure.       gr. 0.812.
  Carbon        52.37        52.18         47.85
  Hydrogen      13.01        13.04         12.24
  Oxygen        34.61        34.78         39.91
               -------     --------      --------
                99.99       100.00        100.00

This nearly represents 2 equivalents of carbon, 3 eq. of hydrogen, and 1
of oxygen. The atom of alcohol is now regarded as a multiple of these
numbers, and formed by the breaking up of one atom of grape sugar
(C_{13}H_{28}O_{11}) into 4 eq. of alcohol, 8 eq. of carbonic acid, and 4
eq. of water. It was formerly regarded as a compound of 1 eq. of olefiant
gas, and 1 eq. of water; but it is now generally viewed as HYDRATE OF THE
OXIDE OF ETHYLE (C_{2}H_{5}.HO), or a compound of ethylene and water
(C_{2}H_{4}.H_{2}O). Grape sugar alone yields alcohol; cane sugar, before
it undergoes the vinous fermentation, being first converted into this
substance by contact with the ferment.

_Purity._ The presence of water is shown by the specific gravity (see
ALCOHOLOMETRY); the absence of other foreign matter by the following
tests:--

1. Its colour and transparency is not affected by the addition of a little
colourless oil of vitriol (Liebig), or by a solution of nitrate of silver,
and subsequent exposure for some time to solar light (Voegel), unless
either essential oil or organic matter be present, when it assumes a
reddish tinge. 2. It should be neutral to test-papers, colourless, leave
no residue on evaporation, and be miscible, in all proportions, with water
and with ether. 3. Its boiling point should never be less than 170 deg. Fahr.;
a lower temperature suggests the presence of wood spirits, or acetone, or
one of the ethers. To detect wood spirit (wood naphtha) see Nessler's
Test. For the reverse of this adulteration--the evasion of the duty by the
introduction of spirit, under the disguise of naphtha, turpentine,
&c.--see those articles.

4. The presence of water in alcohol may be detected, not only by the sp.
gr., but also by white anhydrous sulphate of copper burning blue when
dropped into it. 5. Potassium placed on alcohol does not take fire, unless
a considerable per-centage of water be present.

_Tests, &c._ 1. It may generally be recognised by its volatility,
inflammability, odour, taste, miscibility with water, power of dissolving
camphor and resins, and other qualities already described. 2. If a few
fibres of asbestos be 'moistened' with a saturated solution of bichromate
of potash in oil of vitriol, and exposed to the smallest possible portion
of hot alcohol vapour, it is almost instantly turned green, owing to the
formation of oxide of chromium. In practice, the asbestos may be inserted
in the neck of a retort, or even of a bulbed glass-tube containing a few
drops of the suspected solution, when the effect occurs as soon as
distillation commences. Ether and pyroxylic spirit produce a nearly
similar result; but the 'first' of these is distinguished from alcohol by
its not being miscible with water in all proportions; and the 'other' by
Nessler's Test; whilst both may be readily distinguished by their peculiar
and characteristic odour. 3. Dissolve 3 pts. crystallised carbonate of
soda in 10 pts. water. To this solution add 1 pt. of liquid to be tested,
and heat to about 160 deg. Fahr. Lastly, add iodine in small pieces, till it
has entirely dissolved, and the liquid has become colourless. If alcohol
be present, iodoform will make its appearance on cooling, and sink to the
bottom in the form of a yellow powder. As a similar result is obtained
with wood spirit, this must be proved to be absent before applying this
test.

The only reliable method of proving that a sample is ethylic alcohol is
the production of ether, by acting on the suspected liquid with sulphuric
acid. See ETHER.

_Uses._ In the _arts_, alcohol is used by the varnish-maker to dissolve
resins; by the perfumer, to extract the odour of plants, and dissolve
essential oils, soaps, and other similar substances; by the pharmaceutist,
to prepare tinctures and other valuable medicinals; by the
instrument-maker, to fill the bulbs of thermometers required to measure
extreme degrees of cold; by the photographer, in the preparation of
collodion; by the chemist, in analysis, and in the manufacture of numerous
preparations; by the anatomist and naturalist, as an antiseptic; and by
the physician, for various purposes and applications as a remedy. It is
also frequently burnt in lamps, and in parts of the world where it is
inexpensive, it is employed in the manufacture of vinegar. Its uses, when
dilute, as in the 'spirituous liquors' of commerce, are well known. In
medicine, it is employed both concentrated ('alcohol,' 'rectified spirit')
and dilute ('proof spirit,' 'brandy,' 'gin,' &c.), as a caustic, irritant,
stimulant, tonic, &c. It has also been used in a multitude of other cases,
and has been applied to an almost infinite variety of other purposes.

[Illustration]

_Gen. commentary._ The selection of any one of the processes given above
for the preparation of alcohol must greatly depend on the convenience or
position of the operator. Chloride of calcium, and quick-lime, from their
powerful affinity for water, and easy application, are the hygrometric
substances most generally employed; but the processes involving the use of
the other substances and methods already noticed, have all of them
advantages under particular circumstances. Gay-Lussac has recommended the
use of caustic baryta instead of lime; and others have employed dry
alumina, as an absorbent of the water prior to distillation. Common proof
spirit may be concentrated until its sp. gr. falls to about 0.825, by
simple distillation in a water bath; at which sp. gr. it contains only
about 11% of water, by weight, and is then nearly as volatile as pure
alcohol.

A convenient apparatus for the preparation of alcohol, on the small
scale, is that figured in the _engr._, and which will be self-explanatory
to every one competent to use it. The tank (_i_) should be supplied with
ice-cold water; and the receiver (_g_) should be covered with cloths kept
continually wet with water of the same temperature. The capsule or basin
(_c_) is a water bath heated by the little gas furnace (_d_). On the large
scale, for commercial alcohol, a copper still, fitted with a glass
refrigeratory and receiver, is commonly employed.

By surrounding the capital of a still, or other like apparatus, by a water
bath kept at the proper temperature, the alcoholic richness or content of
the product may be regulated to the greatest nicety, for any desired
strength.

The different statements of chemical authors as to the boiling point,
specific gravity, &c., of alcohol, already noticed, may be referred to
their having either experimented with samples which have not been
absolutely anhydrous, or to their not having made the proper corrections
for temperature, and for the different materials of which their vessels
and instruments were composed--some probably having been made of glass,
and others of brass or some other metal. In some instances the differences
are more apparent than real, as in the _Tables_ by Tralles and Lowitz; in
the former of which water, at its lowest sp. gr., is taken as the
standard. Until recently, the only known source of alcohol was the
fermentation of saccharine solutions. Its production by synthesis, though
often attempted, is, however, erroneously said to have always failed. It
had long been employed as an occasional source of bicarburetted hydrogen
(olefiant gas) at a high temperature; but M. Berthelot succeeded in
reproducing it, from bicarburetted hydrogen, by agitating the latter, in a
closed vessel, with sulphuric acid and metallic mercury ('Journ. de Chimie
Med.,' 1855, p. 175); and Henry Flennel, nearly thirty years before M.
Berthelot's discovery, found that pure olefiant gas is absorbed by
agitation with concentrated sulphuric acid, with the formation of
sulphovinic acid, and that by subsequent dilution with water, and
distillation, alcohol passes over into the receiver.

=ALCOHOLATE.= _Syn._ ALCOHATE; ALCOHOLAS, L. A salt in which alcohol
appears to replace the water of crystallisation, as is the case with
certain chlorides, nitrates, &c. Some of them may be formed by simple
solution and crystallisation of the salt in alcohol. (Graham.) They are
all very unstable, being readily decomposed by water.

=ALCOHOLIC.= _Syn._ ALCOHOLICUS, L.; ALCOHOLIQUE, &c., Fr.; ALKOHOLISCH,
Ger. Pertaining to, containing, of the nature of, or made with, alcohol.

=ALCOHOLICA.= [L.] _Syn._ ALCOOeLIQUES, Fr.; WEINGEIST-VERBINDUNGEN, Ger.
In _pharmacy_, liquids containing, or preparations made with, alcohol, as
a characteristic ingredient.

=ALCOHOLISATION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOHOLISATIO, L.; ALCOOeLISATION,
&c., Fr.; ALKOHOLISERUNG, Ger. In _chem._ and _pharm._, the development of
the characteristic properties of alcohol in a liquid, or the use of it
either as an addition or a menstruum; also the act or process of obtaining
alcohol from spirit by rectification.

[Illustration]

=ALCOHOLOM'ETER= (-l[)o]m'-). _Syn._ ALCOHOL'METER (h[)o]l'-;
-h[)o]m'-[double-dagger]); ALCOHOLOMETRUM, L.; ALCOOeLOMETRE, ALCOOeMETRE,
ALCOHOLMETRE, &c., Fr. An instrument or apparatus used in alcoholometry.
Alcoholometers are simply 'hydrometers' adapted to the densities of
alcohol, either concentrated or dilute. Some of these, as BAUME'S,
CARTER'S, &c., merely indicate the number of degrees corresponding to the
state of concentration of the liquid. Others, of a like construction, as
those of RICHTER (_a_), TRALLES (_b_), and GAY-LUSSAC (_c_), have their
stems so graduated as at once to indicate the proportion per cent. of
alcohol present, either by weight, or by volume, at some standard
temperature. (See _engr._) A third class, as those of the Abbe
BROSSARD-VIDAL, FIELD, &c. are essentially thermometers, with scales which
indicate the boiling points of spirits of different strengths, instead of
the common thermometric degrees; whilst to a fourth class belong the
alcoholometer of M. SILBERMANN, which is based upon the known rate of
expansion of alcoholic liquors by heat, expressed in alcoholometric
degrees; and that of M. GEISSLER, which depends on the measurement of the
tension of the vapour of the liquid, as indicated by the height to which
it raises a small column of mercury. In SYKE'S HYDROMETER, used by
officers of the Revenue, the scale of the instrument is enormously
extended by the use of movable weights, with each of which it becomes, in
fact, a separate instrument, adapted to a certain range of specific
gravities.

A very convenient alcoholometer for ordinary purposes (_d_) has been
lately produced by some of the instrument makers. It is of the usual form,
but its stem on one side exhibits the per-centage richness of the sample
in alcohol by volume; and on the other, the per-centage by weight. Thus,
both results may be obtained at one trial. This instrument is sometimes
called RICHTER'S ALCOHOLOMETER, in England. A further improvement, still
more recently introduced, is a similar 'double-scale' instrument, showing
the degrees of Sykes on one side, and carrying a small spirit-thermometer
in the bulb, to which a scale is fixed ranging from 35 deg. to 82 deg. Fahr.

=ALCOHOLOM'ETRY.= _Syn._ ALCOHOL'METRY (-h[)o]l'-;
-h[)o]m'-[double-dagger]); SPIRIT TESTING[double-dagger]; ALCOHOLME'TRIA,
L.; ALCOOeLOMETRIE, ALCOOeMETRIE, &c., Fr. In _chemistry_, the art or
process of ascertaining the richness of spirits in alcohol. In _commerce_,
the determination of the quantity of spirit of a certain strength, taken
as a standard, present in any given sample of spirituous or fermented
liquors. In England, this standard is called "proof spirit."

_Hist., &c._ The great importance of being able accurately to determine
the strength of spirits in the United Kingdom, on account of the high
duties levied on them, has induced the Government authorities, at various
times, to investigate the subject. In 1790, the matter was referred to Sir
C. Blagden, then Secretary to the Royal Society, who instituted an
extensive series of experiments to determine the real specific gravities
of different mixtures of alcohol and water. The results of his labours and
researches were put forward, with 'Gilpin's Tables,' in 1794, but no
practical measures appear to have been taken in consequence. In 1832 a
committee of the Royal Society, at the request of the Lords of the
Treasury, examined into the accuracy of the Tables, and the construction
and application of the instrument (SYKE'S HYDROMETER) now used by the
Revenue officers, on which they reported favorably, and declared that they
were sufficiently perfect for all practical and scientific purposes. The
errors introduced into calculations of the strength of spirits by these
tables were found to be quite unimportant in practice, and did not, in any
one instance, amount to unity in the fourth place of decimals. This method
adapts the specific gravity as the test of the strength of spirits, and is
founded on the fact that alcohol is considerably lighter than water, and
that (with proper corrections for condensation and temperature) the sp.
gr. regularly increases, or decreases, according to the relative
proportions in which the two are mixed.

Several other methods of alcoholometry have been proposed, founded
upon--the variations in temperature of the vapour of alcohol of different
strengths--the heat involved by its admixture with water--its dilatation
by heat--the tension of its vapour--the insolubility of carbonate of
potash in alcohol--its volatility, boiling point, &c. &c., the more
important and useful of which are noticed further on. The method adopted
by the Boards of Inland Revenue and Customs is, however, the one which is
almost exclusively employed in trade and commerce in Great Britain, not
only on account of its simplicity and correctness, but for the purpose of
the results exactly coinciding with the results obtained by the Revenue
officers.

        METHODS OF ALCOHOLOMETRY.

1. _Methods based_ on the _specific gravity_, or _per-centage strength_,
by VOLUME:--

[Illustration]

_a._ With SYKES' HYDROMETER. _Revenue system._ The _engraving_ below
represents Sykes' hydrometer, as made by Mr Bate, under the directions of
the Commissioners of Inland Revenue and Customs. It consists of a
spherical ball or float, with an upper and lower stem, and is made of
brass, which (in the more expensive instruments) is usually coated with
gold, to prevent corrosion from damp, and the acidity so generally present
in spirituous liquors. The upper stem (A) is about four inches long, and
is divided into ten parts, each of which contains five subdivisions. There
are nine movable weights of the form _b_, of different sizes, numbered
respectively 10, 20, 30, &c., to 90, each of which represents so many of
the principal divisions of the stem, as its number indicates. In use, one
of these weights is slipped on to the lower stems; and thus, by means of
them, the instrument acquires a range of above 500 divisions, or degrees,
extending from the Revenue 'standard alcohol' (sp. gr. .825) to water. It
is so formed as to give the sp. gr. with almost perfect accuracy, at 62 deg.
Fahr. When loaded with the weight 60 it sinks in proof spirit to the line
marked (P) on the narrow edge of the stem at 51 deg. Fahr.; and, by further
placing the square weight or cap (also supplied with the instr.) on the
top of the upper stem, it floats exactly at the same point in distilled
water. This weight or cap is found to weigh 43.66 grs., which is
practically 1-12th of the total observed weight of the instrument, and its
poise 60, and hence shows the difference between the gravity of proof
spirit and water, as explained hereafter. The whole is fitted up in a neat
mahogany case, accompanied with a thermometer, and a book of tables
containing corrections for temperature, &c.--_Process._ A glass tube of
the form of fig. _B_ is filled to about the mark (_a_) with the sample for
examination; the thermometer is then placed in the liquor, and stirred
about for two or three minutes (observing not to breathe upon the glass,
nor hold it in the hand), and the temperature noted. The hydrometer is
next immersed in a similar manner, and gently pressed down in the liquor
to the 0 on the stem with the finger; it having been previously loaded
with any one of the nine weights that will cause it to float with the
surface of the spirit at some point on the graduated part of the scale.
The indication at the point cut by the surface of the liquor, as seen from
below, added to the number of the weight with which the float is loaded,
gives a number which must be sought in the hook of Tables, which is always
sold with the instrument. In this book, at the page headed "Temperature as
observed by the Thermometer," and against the part of the column
appropriated to the given indication (weight), will be found the strength
per cent., expressed in degrees over or under proof, by VOLUME, in whole
numbers or decimal parts. In reading off the indication, to ensure
accuracy, it is necessary to allow for the convexity of the liquor at the
part where it immediately rests against the stem.

_Obs._ In an instrument requiring so much care and skill in its
manufacture the purchaser should be careful to procure a perfect one. A
very slight blow, friction from continual wiping with a rough cloth, and
other apparently trivial causes, tend to injure so delicate an instrument.
The shape of the weights occasionally vary; some being intended to be
attached to the hydrometer at the bottom of the spindle, and others to
rest on its top. The first plan is, perhaps, the best, as it tends to make
the instrument float with greater steadiness in the liquor; but, at the
same time, it renders its adjustment by the maker a matter of greater
difficulty.

In employing this instrument, the Revenue officers are instructed to take
the nearest degree above the surface of the mercury, when it stands
between any two degrees of the thermometer; and the division on the scale
of the hydrometer next below the surface of the liquid, when it cuts the
stem between any two lines; thus giving the difference in favour of the
trader in both cases.

By means of the _Table_ at page 64 the hydrometer indication, or the
degrees over or under proof, of the Revenue system, may be converted into
'real specific gravities,' by mere inspection; and the corresponding
'per-centage richness' in alcohol of any sample may be found, either by
WEIGHT or VOLUME.

The specific gravities in this table are such as, on being referred to
Gilpin's Tables, will give the expressions of proof strength answering to
the whole indications of the Revenue hydrometer. Intermediate values at
fifths of indications may be had by taking proportional differences
between the nearest tabular numbers. Thus, to find the specific gravity
that should stand opposite to Indication 70.6, we first obtain the
difference between the densities standing in a line with Indications 70
and 71 respectively, and then say, as 1 : 0.6 :: .00192. 00.115, and
.94135 + .00115 = .94250, the specific gravity required.

_b._ With GLASS ALCOHOLOMETERS. That of Tralles, and most others of a like
description (as made in England), gave the per-centage strength, by
VOLUME, with tolerable accuracy, at the standard temperature of 60 deg. Fahr.
Gay-Lussac's ALCOOeMETRE, which closely resembles that of Tralles, is
adjusted for the temperature of 59 deg. Fahr. (15 deg. Cent.). All of these, to
give at once accurate results, must, of course, be employed at the 'normal
temperature' of the instrument. As, however, in practice, the experiment
cannot be conveniently performed at any 'fixed' temperature but only at
that of the atmosphere, it is obvious that certain corrections are
constantly required in order to obtain results of any value. Perfect
accuracy requires that table for every variation of the thermometer,
founded on actual experiments, should accompany each instrument; as,
without them, tedious and difficult calculations are necessary, which, in
the hurry of the cellar and laboratory, or by persons inexpert at figures,
are not easily performed. A series of such Tables were prepared by
Gay-Lussac, and, with his instrument, are those which are almost
exclusively used in France. For rough purposes, in the absence of Tables
or nicer calculations, it may be useful to know that, for commercial
spirits, at ordinary temperatures, a variation of--

                              By VOLUME,
  5 deg. Fahr. is equal }  1.00%     of Alcohol; }  1.794% of Proof
         to (about) }            or (about)  }     spirit.
  1 deg.   "     "         0.20%         "          0.359%  "
  5 deg. Cent.   "         1.80%         "          3.229%  "
  1 deg.   "     "         0.36%         "          0.646%  "

                              By WEIGHT,
  5 deg. Fahr. is equal }  0.80%     of Alcohol; }  1.62%   "
         to (about) }            or (about)  }
  1 deg.   "     "          .16%         "           .32%   "
  5 deg. Cent.   "         1.43%         "          2.9%    "
  1 deg.   "     "          .28%         "           .58%   "

        TABLE I.--_Showing the Densities and Values of Spirits
        at 60 deg. Fahr., corresponding to every Indication of
        Sykes' Hydrometer._

  +-----------+---------+----------+--------------------+
  |           |         |          |    Per Cents. of   |
  |  Sykes'   |         |          |  Absolute Alcohol. |
  |Hydrometer |Strength | Specific +----------+---------+
  |Indication.|per cent.| Gravity. |   By     |   By    |
  |           |         |          | Measure. | Weight. |
  +-----------+---------+----------+----------+---------+
  |           |   O.P.  |          |          |         |
  |     0     |   67.0  |  .81520  |   95.28  |  92.78  |
  |     1     |   66.1  |  .81715  |   94.78  |  92.08  |
  |     2     |   65.3  |  .81889  |   94.31  |  91.42  |
  |     3     |   64.5  |  .82061  |   93.84  |  90.78  |
  |     4     |   63.6  |  .82251  |   93.33  |  90.07  |
  |     5     |   62.7  |  .82441  |   92.80  |  89.36  |
  |     6     |   61.8  |  .82622  |   92.29  |  88.67  |
  |     7     |   60.9  |  .82800  |   91.77  |  87.99  |
  |     8     |   60.0  |  .82978  |   91.25  |  87.30  |
  |     9     |   59.1  |  .83151  |   90.74  |  86.63  |
  |    10     |   58.2  |  .83323  |   90.23  |  85.96  |
  |    11     |   57.3  |  .83494  |   89.72  |  85.30  |
  |    12     |   56.4  |  .83661  |   89.21  |  84.65  |
  |    13     |   55.5  |  .83827  |   88.70  |  84.00  |
  |    14     |   54.6  |  .83993  |   88.17  |  83.33  |
  |    15     |   53.7  |  .84153  |   87.67  |  82.70  |
  |    16     |   52.7  |  .84331  |   87.10  |  81.99  |
  |    17     |   51.7  |  .84509  |   86.51  |  81.26  |
  |    18     |   50.7  |  .84680  |   85.95  |  80.58  |
  |    19     |   49.7  |  .84851  |   85.39  |  79.89  |
  |    20     |   48.7  |  .85022  |   84.81  |  79.19  |
  |    21     |   47.6  |  .85205  |   84.19  |  78.44  |
  |    22     |   46.6  |  .85372  |   83.61  |  77.74  |
  |    23     |   45.6  |  .85537  |   83.04  |  77.07  |
  |    24     |   44.6  |  .85700  |   82.47  |  76.39  |
  |    25     |   43.5  |  .85878  |   81.85  |  75.66  |
  |    26     |   42.4  |  .86055  |   81.21  |  74.92  |
  |    27     |   41.3  |  .86229  |   80.59  |  74.19  |
  |    28     |   40.2  |  .86402  |   79.97  |  73.47  |
  |    29     |   39.1  |  .86574  |   79.34  |  72.75  |
  |    30     |   38.0  |  .86745  |   78.71  |  72.03  |
  |    31     |   36.9  |  .86915  |   78.08  |  71.32  |
  |    32     |   35.7  |  .87099  |   77.40  |  70.54  |
  |    33     |   34.5  |  .87282  |   76.71  |  69.77  |
  |    34     |   33.4  |  .87450  |   76.08  |  69.06  |
  |    35     |   32.2  |  .87627  |   75.41  |  68.32  |
  |    36     |   31.0  |  .87809  |   74.72  |  67.55  |
  |    37     |   29.8  |  .87988  |   74.03  |  66.79  |
  |    38     |   28.5  |  .88179  |   73.29  |  65.98  |
  |    39     |   27.3  |  .88355  |   72.60  |  65.23  |
  |    40     |   26.0  |  .88544  |   71.86  |  64.43  |
  |    41     |   24.8  |  .88716  |   71.17  |  63.68  |
  |    42     |   23.5  |  .88901  |   70.43  |  62.89  |
  |    43     |   22.2  |  .89086  |   69.69  |  62.10  |
  |    44     |   20.9  |  .89268  |   68.95  |  61.32  |
  |    45     |   19.6  |  .89451  |   68.21  |  60.53  |
  |    46     |   18.3  |  .89629  |   67.47  |  59.76  |
  |    47     |   16.9  |  .89822  |   66.67  |  58.92  |
  |    48     |   15.6  |  .89997  |   65.93  |  58.15  |
  |    49     |   14.2  |  .90182  |   65.14  |  57.34  |
  |    50     |   12.8  |  .90367  |   64.34  |  56.52  |
  |    51     |   11.4  |  .90551  |   63.54  |  55.70  |
  |    52     |   10.0  |  .90732  |   62.74  |  54.89  |
  |    53     |    8.6  |  .90913  |   61.94  |  54.09  |
  |    54     |    7.1  |  .91107  |   61.09  |  53.23  |
  |    55     |    5.6  |  .91299  |   60.24  |  52.38  |
  |    56     |    4.2  |  .91479  |   59.43  |  51.57  |
  |    57     |    2.7  |  .91666  |   58.58  |  50.73  |
  |    58     |    1.3  |  .91839  |   57.78  |  49.94  |
  |           |   U.P.  |          |          |         |
  |    59     |    0.3  |  .92037  |   56.86  |  49.04  |
  |    60     |    1.9  |  .92228  |   55.96  |  48.17  |
  |    61     |    3.4  |  .92408  |   55.10  |  47.33  |
  |    62     |    5.0  |  .92597  |   54.19  |  46.46  |
  |    63     |    6.7  |  .92798  |   53.22  |  45.53  |
  |    64     |    8.3  |  .92984  |   52.30  |  44.65  |
  |    65     |   10.0  |  .93176  |   51.36  |  43.76  |
  |    66     |   11.7  |  .93367  |   50.39  |  42.84  |
  |    67     |   13.5  |  .93586  |   49.34  |  41.86  |
  |    68     |   15.3  |  .93758  |   48.31  |  40.90  |
  |    69     |   17.1  |  .93949  |   47.29  |  39.96  |
  |    70     |   18.9  |  .94135  |   46.29  |  39.04  |
  |    71     |   20.8  |  .94327  |   45.20  |  38.04  |
  |    72     |   22.7  |  .94518  |   44.09  |  37.03  |
  |    73     |   24.7  |  .94709  |   42.96  |  36.01  |
  |    74     |   26.7  |  .94899  |   41.82  |  34.98  |
  |    75     |   28.8  |  .95092  |   40.63  |  33.92  |
  |    76     |   31.0  |  .95288  |   39.40  |  32.82  |
  |    77     |   33.2  |  .95484  |   38.10  |  31.68  |
  |    78     |   35.6  |  .95677  |   36.76  |  30.50  |
  |    79     |   38.1  |  .95877  |   35.32  |  29.24  |
  |    80     |   40.6  |  .96068  |   33.90  |  28.01  |
  |    81     |   43.3  |  .96259  |   32.41  |  26.73  |
  |    82     |   46.1  |  .96457  |   30.77  |  25.32  |
  |    83     |   49.1  |  .96651  |   29.08  |  23.88  |
  |    84     |   52.2  |  .96846  |   27.31  |  22.38  |
  |    85     |   55.5  |  .97049  |   25.39  |  20.77  |
  |    86     |   59.0  |  .97254  |   23.41  |  19.11  |
  |    87     |   62.5  |  .97458  |   21.39  |  17.42  |
  |    88     |   66.0  |  .97660  |   19.41  |  15.78  |
  |    89     |   69.4  |  .97857  |   17.46  |  14.16  |
  |    90     |   72.8  |  .98057  |   15.51  |  12.56  |
  |    91     |   76.1  |  .98261  |   13.58  |  10.97  |
  |    92     |   79.2  |  .98452  |   11.85  |   9.56  |
  |    93     |   82.3  |  .98657  |   10.04  |   8.08  |
  |    94     |   85.2  |  .98866  |    8.28  |   6.65  |
  |    95     |   88.0  |  .99047  |    6.83  |   5.48  |
  |    96     |   90.7  |  .99251  |    5.25  |   4.20  |
  |    97     |   93.3  |  .99448  |    3.80  |   3.03  |
  |    98     |   95.9  |  .99658  |    2.31  |   1.84  |
  |    99     |   98.2  |  .99851  |    .997  |   .793  |
  |   100     |   ...   | 1.00000  |    ...   |   ...   |
  +-----------+---------+----------+----------+---------+

This Table {above} has been copied, by permission, from Loftus's 'Inland
Revenue Officer's Manual,' and its correctness verified by W. H. Johnston,
Esq., Surveying General Examiner.

        TABLE II.--_Table for finding the Specific Gravity of
        any Spirit at 60 deg. Fahr., when the Specific Gravity at
        any other Temperature is given._

                      Water taken as 1000.
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |                 |Correction|                 |Correction|
  |Specific gravity.| for each |Specific gravity.| for each |
  |                 | degree.  |                 | degree.  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   810 to 820    |  +- .475  |   910 to 920    |  +- .434  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   820 "  830    |  +- .473  |   920 "  930    |  +- .424  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   830 "  840    |  +- .472  |   930 "  940    |  +- .406  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   840 "  850    |  +- .471  |   940 "  950    |  +- .381  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   850 "  860    |  +- .471  |   950 "  960    |  +- .340  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   860 "  870    |  +- .466  |   960 "  970    |  +- .269  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   870 "  880    |  +- .460  |   970 "  980    |  +- .165  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   880 "  890    |  +- .456  |   980 "  990    |  +- .090  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   890 "  900    |  +- .450  |   990 "  1000   |  +- .084  |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+
  |   900 "  910    |  +- .442  |                 |          |
  +-----------------+----------+-----------------+----------+

Thus, by making the proper ADDITION to the apparent strength per cent.,
when the observed temperature is BELOW the normal temperature of the
instrument, or a corresponding SUBTRACTION, when it is ABOVE it, the
strength of the sample may be determined sufficiently near for all
practical purposes.

The following Table, taken from Loftus's 'Inland Revenue Officer's
Manual,' will be found of great value in making these corrections, and has
the merit of being easily applied.

An example will show how this Table is to be used.

_Example._--If a quantity of spirit is of the sp. gr. 894 at 73 deg., what
will be its sp. gr. at 60 deg.?

Here the sp. gr. being between 890 and 900, we must add .450 for each
degree of temperature between 73 deg. and 60 deg.. The sp. gr. at 60 deg. would,
therefore, be 894 + (.450 x 13) = 899.85. When the temperature is below
60 deg., the correction for each degree must be subtracted. When, however,
very accurate results are desired, and the necessary Tables are not
accessible, the sample for trial must be brought to the normal temperature
of the instrument, in the manner explained under HYDROMETRY.

_c._ From the SPECIFIC GRAVITY. The temperature having been taken by a
thermometer, and the specific gravity ascertained by any of the usual
methods, but preferably by means of an accurate glass hydrometer, it
merely becomes necessary to refer to Table I, where, against the number
expressing the specific gravity, the alcoholic content per cent., by
volume, of the sample examined, will be found for 60 deg. Fahr., subject to
the corrections just referred to, when the temperature is either above or
below this point.

If the precise specific gravity sought cannot be found in the _Table_, the
difference between it and the next greater specific gravity must be taken
for the numerator of a fraction, having for its denominator the difference
between the greater and the next less specific gravity in the table. This
fraction, added to the per-centage of alcohol in the fourth column of the
table, opposite the greater sp. gr., will give the true per-centage
sought. Thus, the sp. gr. .96051 is not in the table, and the next greater
number is .96068; the former must, therefore, be deducted from the latter,
and the difference (17) put as the numerator of the fraction, having for
its denominator 191, the difference between .96068 and .95877. The
fraction (17/191) .089, so found, added to the per-centage strength
opposite .96068 in the third column, gives 33.989 as the true per-centage
of alcohol in the given sample.

The per-centage by volume may be converted into per-centage by weight, by
multiplying the former by .793811, the sp. gr. of absolute alcohol, and
dividing the product by the sp. gr. of the sample. The quotient is the
number of pounds of alcohol in 100 pounds of the given spirit.
Thus:--Suppose 1000 grains by measure of alcohol to weigh 950.92 grains,
and to contain (see Table I) 40.63 per cent. by volume of absolute
alcohol, what per cent. by weight does the sample contain?

.793811 x 40.63 = 32.25254093, and this product divided by .95092 =
33.917, the true per-centage by weight of absolute alcohol in the sample.

2. Method based on the specific gravity, or per-centage strength by
WEIGHT:--

The specific gravity is ascertained and the Table used in precisely the
same manner as in the "method by volume," already described.

The per-centage by weight may be converted into per-centage by volume, by
multiplying the former by the sp. gr. of the sample, and dividing the
product by the sp. gr. of absolute alcohol. This is merely the reverse of
the operation described above.

_Obs._ The preceding methods of alcoholometry, as well as all others
depending on the sp. gr. refer to UNSWEETENED SPIRITS only; and are
inapplicable to those holding sugar in solution, or any other organic
matter capable of altering the sp. gr. For sweetened spirits, fermented
worts, wine, beer, &c., one or other of the following processes must be
adopted:--

3. Other methods, adapted to either SWEETENED or UNSWEETENED SPIRITS,
Tinctures, Fermented Liquors, &c.--

_a._ By DISTILLATION as originally proposed by M. Gay-Lussac. 300 parts of
the liquor under examination (measured in a graduated glass tube) are
placed in a retort or small still, and a quantity exactly equal to one
third (_i.e._, 100 parts), carefully drawn over; a graduated glass
tube[13] being used as a receiver, and the operation stopped as soon as
the distillate reaches the hundredth degree. The 'alcoholic strength' of
the distilled liquor is then ascertained by any of the usual methods, and
the result divided by three, when the per-centage of alcohol in the
original liquor is at once obtained. If, from want of attention, more than
100 parts should be distilled over, the number which expresses the
relation of the volume of the distilled product to the original bulk of
the liquor tested, must be employed as the divisor. Thus, if 106 parts of
liquor have distilled over (instead of 100), containing 33% of alcohol,
the 300 must be divided by 106, which gives 2.83, and the 33% by this
2.83, which gives 11.66%, the true proportion of alcohol in the original
liquor. The strength at 'proof' may be calculated from this in the usual
way.

[Footnote 13: Mulder, in his 'Chemistry of Wine' recommends this receiver
to be shaped like a bottle, with its neck, or tubular part, bent at right
angles above the line of its scale; and that it should be set in the
centre of a glass jar kept filled with very cold water.]

To ensure accurate results, the acidity (if any) of the liquor must be
neutralised with carbonate of sodium, prior to distillation. It is also
advisable to add 8% or 10% of common salt to the liquor in the retort or
still; this, by raising the boiling point, causes the whole of the spirit
to pass over into the receiver before the distillate has reached the
required measure. This applies more particularly to weak liquors. With
those of greater strength (as the stronger wines), it is better to distil
over 150 parts, and divide the result by 2 instead of 3. To liquors
stronger than 25% by volume of alcohol, or above 52% to 54% under proof,
add about an equal volume of water to the liquor in the still, and draw
over a quantity equal to that of the sample tested; when the alcoholic
strength of the distillate gives, without calculation, the true strength
sought. To liquors stronger than 48% to 50% (14 to 12 u. p.), add thrice
their bulk of water, and do not stop the process until the volume of the
distillate is double that of the sample tested, when the per-centage
obtained must also be doubled. In each case a proportionate quantity of
salt is employed.

REVENUE METHOD. The following is the method adopted in the Inland Revenue
and Customs Laboratories for the estimation of the per-centage of alcohol
in wines, liqueurs, &c. A measure flask is filled up to a mark on its
neck, with the wine, which is then carefully transferred to a distilling
flask or retort, the traces of wine remaining in the former vessel being
rinsed out with small quantities of distilled water, and the rinsings
added to the wine in the latter vessel. About two thirds of the contents
of the retort are then distilled over into the clean measure flask, and
made up to the original bulk with distilled water, at the same temperature
as the sample was previous to distillation. The strength is then taken by
Sykes' hydrometer, and this (if u. p.) deducted from 100, gives the
per-centage of proof spirit in the wine. Thus:--

Strength of distillate = 74.6 u. p. = 25.4 per cent. proof spirit.

_b._ From the TEMPERATURE of the VAPOUR, as originally proposed by
Groening. The bulb of a thermometer is thrust through a cork into the head
of the still, or other vessel employed, and the temperature of the vapour
in which it is immersed being noted, is sought in the following table:--

        TABLE III.--_Showing the Alcoholic Content, by_
        VOLUME_, of Boiling Spirits, and of their Vapour, from
        the Temperature of the latter, as observed by a
        Thermometer._ By GROeNING.

  +---------------+-------------------+-------------------+----------------+-------------------+------------------+
  |Temperature of | Alcoholic content | Alcoholic content | Temperature of | Alcoholic content | Alcoholic content|
  |  the Vapour.  | of the Distillate |  of the Boiling   |   the Vapour.  | of the Distillate |  of the Boiling  |
  |     Fahr.     |    per cent.      |  Liquid per cent. |     Fahr.      |    per cent.      |  Liquid per cent.|
  +---------------+-------------------+-------------------+----------------+-------------------+------------------+
  |     170.0     |      93           |        92         |     189.8      |      71           |        20        |
  |     171.8     |      92           |        90         |     192.0      |      68           |        18        |
  |     172.0     |      91           |        85         |     194.0      |      66           |        15        |
  |     172.8     |      90-1/2       |        80         |     196.4      |      61           |        12        |
  |     174.0     |      90           |        75         |     198.6      |      55           |        10        |
  |     174.6     |      89           |        70         |     201.0      |      50           |         7        |
  |     176.0     |      87           |        65         |     203.0      |      42           |         5        |
  |     178.3     |      85           |        50         |     205.4      |      36           |         3        |
  |     180.8     |      82           |        40         |     207.7      |      28           |         2        |
  |     183.0     |      80           |        35         |     210.0      |      13           |         1        |
  |     185.0     |      78           |        30         |     212.0      |       0           |         0        |
  |     187.4     |      76           |        25         |                |                   |                  |
  +---------------+-------------------+-------------------+----------------+-------------------+------------------+

This method is admirably adapted to the purposes of the distiller and
rectifier, as it furnishes a ready means of approximately determining the
strength of the spirit passing over, at every part of the process of
distillation, as well as that of the wash left in the still.

_c._ From the BOILING POINT, as originally proposed by M. l'Abbe
Brossard-Vidal. This method is founded on the fact, that the boiling
points of mixtures of alcohol and water, unlike water alone, are scarcely
disturbed by the addition of saline, saccharine, or extractive matter
within certain limits. It hence offers a ready means of determining the
proportion of alcohol present in spirits, wines, fermented liquors, &c.,
with sufficient accuracy for all ordinary purposes. In applying it, a
thermometer, with a large bulb and a narrow bore, and a movable scale
graduated from 180 deg. to 212 deg. Fahr., is usually employed. Before using it as
an alcoholometer, it is set, with its bulb immersed, in a small metallic
boiler (brass or copper) containing distilled water, which is then raised
to the boiling-point, and the 212 deg. of the scale accurately adjusted on a
level with the surface of the mercury, should it vary from that point.
This is necessary on account of variations of atmospheric pressure causing
corresponding variations of the boiling-points of liquids. It is then
ready for several hours' operations, and, generally, for an entire
business day, without further adjustment. The little boiler is next filled
with the liquor to be examined, and the lamp again lighted. The
temperature as shown by the scale of the instrument at the commencement of
full ebullition being ascertained, may be sought in one of the following
_Tables_, against which the alcoholic content of the liquor will be found
(nearly).

        TABLE IV.--_Exhibiting the_ BOILING POINTS _of Mixtures
        of Alcohol and Water of the given strengths._ By
        GROeNING.

  ---------------+------------+----------------+------------
                 | Alcohol    |                | Alcohol
  Boiling point. | per cent.  | Boiling point. | per cent.
      Fahr.      | by volume. |    Fahr.       | by volume.
  ---------------+------------+----------------+------------
     205.34      |    5       |  179.96        |  55
     199.22      |   10       |  179.42        |  60
     195.8       |   15       |  178.7         |  65
     192.38      |   20       |  177.62        |  70
     189.50      |   25       |  176.54        |  75
     187.16      |   30       |  175.46        |  80
     185.        |   35       |  174.92        |  85
     183.38      |   40       |  174.2         |  90
     182.12      |   45       |  173.14        |  95
     181.58      |   50       |  172.          | 100
  ---------------+------------+----------------+------------

        TABLE V.--_Showing the_ BOILING POINTS _of 'under
        proof' spirit._ By Dr URE.

  ----------------+-------------+---------------
  Boiling points. | Per-centage | Corresponding
       Fahr.      |  strength.  |    Sp. Gr.
  ----------------+-------------+---------------
      178.5       |   Proof.    |    .9200
      179.75      |   10. U.P.  |    .9321
      180.4       |   20.  "    |    .9420
      182.1       |   30.  "    |    .9516
      183.4       |   40.  "    |    .9600
      185.6       |   50.  "    |    .9665
      189.        |   60.  "    |    .9729
      191.8       |   70.  "    |    .9786
      196.4       |   80.  "    |    .9850
      202.        |   90.  "    |    .9920
  ----------------+-------------+---------------

_Obs._ This method does not answer well with spiritous liquor above
'proof,' owing to the variations of their boiling point being so slight as
not to be easily observed with accuracy; but with liquors under 'proof,'
and particularly with wines, beer, and other fermented liquors, due care
being observed, it gives results closely approximating to those obtained
by distillation, and sufficiently accurate for all ordinary purposes. In
testing strong alcoholic solutions it is, therefore, proper to dilute them
with twice their bulk of water; and commercial spirits, with an equal bulk
of water; the results obtained being doubled or tripled as the case may
be.

[Illustration]

_d._ From the EXPANSION of the LIQUID when heated: Silbermann's
DILATATOMETER. The expansion of alcohol between 0 deg. and 212 deg. Fahr. is
triple that of water; and between 77 deg. and 122 deg. Fahr. it is much greater.
Between -14 deg. and -98 deg. Fahr. the rate of expansion is about the .00047th
part in volume for every degree of Fahrenheit's scale. The measurement of
this expansion has been proposed as a new and ready method of
alcoholometry, adapted to nearly all spirituous and fermented liquors.
Silbermann's instrument, which is based on it (see _engr._), simply
consists of a flat brass or ivory plate (_A_), on which are fixed a
mercurial thermometer (_D_) graduated from 22 deg. to 50 deg. Cent. (= 77 deg. to 122 deg.
Fahr.); and the DILATATOMETER (_B_), which is a glass pipette open at both
ends. A valve of cork, or vulcanised india rubber, closes the tapering end
(_c_); this valve is attached to a movable rod (_C_) which is fastened to
the supporting-plate, and connected with a spring (_f_) and a handle
(_g_) bearing a four-threaded screw, by which the lower orifice of the
pipette can be opened or closed at will. In use, the pipette is filled
with the liquor under examination, to a little above the zero point (0) on
the scale. This is effected by suction, by means of a little piston of
leather (_i_), which fits tightly in the long and wider limb of the
pipette; the valve (_d_) being previously opened by turning the knob
(_h_). The proper quantity of liquor being introduced, and the lower end
closed, the piston is moved up and down two or three times, for the
purpose of drawing the air-bubbles and absorbed air out of the liquid, the
presence of which would vitiate the results of the trial. To allow the
piston to be withdrawn without any shock, or the danger of dividing the
column abruptly, the rod attached to it is made hollow throughout. In
using it the operator applies the ball of his forefinger to the top of the
piston-rod (_E_), in order to create a vacuum as he raises it; and then
withdraws it, to readmit the air when he thrusts it down or removes it
from the tube. The excess of liquid (if any) in the pipette is then run
off until its upper surface is exactly level with the zero (0) of the
scale, at 25 deg. C., to which it is raised by immersion in a water bath of
that temperature, as observed by the thermometer; which is done by very
cautiously turning the rod which depresses the valve. The whole apparatus
is now again immersed in the water bath; and, held by the upper portion of
the plate, kept in gentle motion with the hand, until the temperature
rises to exactly 50 deg. C., when the coefficient of expansion is obtained,
and hence also the proportion of alcohol--the scale of the instrument
being so graduated, from actual experiments previously made upon mixtures
of known composition, as to give, at once, the per-centage of alcohol by
VOLUME (nearly).[14]

[Footnote 14: 'Comptes Rendus,' xvii, 418.]

[Illustration]

_e._ From the TENSION of the VAPOUR:--Geissler's ALCOHOLOMETER. This
method, for which we are indebted to M. Geissler, of Bonn, depends on the
measurement of the tension or elastic force of the vapour of the liquid,
as indicated by the height to which it raises a small column of mercury.
The spirit, wine, or other liquor, of which it is desired to ascertain the
strength, is put into the little flask (_a_), which, when completely
filled, is screwed on to the curved glass-tube which contains the
mercurial column (which is inverted for the purpose), and is closed by the
stop-cock (_b_). The instrument (see _engr._) is then placed erect, and
the flask and lower part of the tube immersed in a water bath, as in the
previous method. The number, on the graduated scale of the instrument
corresponding to the height of the mercury, at the boiling point of the
liquor under examination, gives the per-centage of alcohol by VOLUME
(nearly).

This method furnishes approximative results with great facility and
expedition; and, with proper care, these do not vary more than 1/3 to 1/2
of 1%, from those obtained by distillation. We find, that by having the
diameter of the part of the tube at which the surface of the mercury is
acted on by the vapour a little larger than that of the longer limb, and
by previously abstracting the air from the sample, as in Silbermann's
method, or even by agitation and exposure in an open vessel, the two may
be made to correspond almost exactly.

_f._ From the DIFFERENCE between the sp. gr. BEFORE and AFTER
ebullitiom:--Taberie's method and [OE]NOMETER. The sp. gr. of the sample
is first accurately determined by any of the usual methods. It is next
carefully evaporated, in an open vessel, to one half its volume. The
residuum, when cold, is made up with pure water to exactly its original
measure at its original temperature, and the sp. gr. again ascertained.
The difference between the two being due to the spirit originally present,
furnishes the means of calculating a new sp. gr., from which the
per-centage richness of the sample may be obtained by mere inspection of
the Tables. The observed sp. gr. is the true one, whenever the liquor,
after ebullition and restoration to its original volume, has the same sp.
gr. as water (_i. e._, 1.000), at 60 deg. Fahr. Taberie employs a peculiar
instrument, which he calls an [oe]nometer; but its use is not essential to
his method of alcoholometry. The results are, of course, only
approximative, though sufficient for all ordinary purposes. Prof. Mulder,
however, says that he prefers it to any of the previous methods; and that
the results, with care, are almost as accurate as those obtained by
distillation.

_g._ By means of CARBONATE OF POTASH:--

_g. a._ (Brande's Method.) The liquor for trial is poured into a long,
narrow glass tube (graduated centesimally), until the vessel is
half-filled, and, after the solution of about 12% or 15% of a strong
solution of subacetate of lead, or a little finely powdered litharge, is
agitated until the colour is entirely, or nearly removed. Anhydrous
carbonate of potash, in powder, is next added, until it sinks undissolved,
even after prolonged agitation of the liquid. The whole is now allowed to
repose for a short time, when the alcohol is seen floating on the top of
the aqueous portion of the liquid in a well-marked stratum. Its quantity,
read off by means of the graduations of the tube, and doubled, gives the
per-centage richness of the sample in alcohol, by volume.

This process answers well with cordials, wines, and the stronger ales; but
with very weak liquors it is not to be relied on. The whole operation may
be performed in two to five minutes, and (with these exceptions) furnishes
very reliable approximative results. In most cases the decolouring part of
the process may be omitted. The alcohol thus separated has a sp. gr. of
from .8061 to .8118, and contains 3% or 4% of water; but for ordinary
purposes it may be regarded as pure alcohol.

4. Alcoholometry of MINUTE QUANTITIES of liquid. When only a few drops, or
a quantity too small for the application of the preceding methods, can be
obtained, an organic analysis may be had recourse to, and the quantity of
absolute alcohol calculated from that of the resulting carbonic anhydride
and water; care being previously taken to free the sample from other
volatile bodies, if it contains any of them.

_Gen. commentary._ The duties on spirits in England are charged on the
number of proof gallons they contain, which is ascertained by gauging or
weighing the spirit, and then trying its strength by Sykes' hydrometer.
The per-centage of proof spirit multiplied by the number of gallons gives
the net amount of proof spirit to be charged.

'PROOF STRENGTH' is an arbitrary standard, adopted for the purpose of
facilitating calculations, for which it is well suited; although pure
alcohol would, for this purpose, be more simple. As defined by Act of
Parliament, 58 Geo. III, c. 28, "proof spirit" is such "as shall, at the
temperature of 51 deg. of Fahrenheit's thermometer, weigh exactly twelve
thirteenth parts of an equal measure of distilled water."

Taking, therefore, water at 51 deg. Fahr. as unity, the sp. gr. of "proof
spirit" at 51 deg. Fahr. is 12/13 of 1.000 or .92308. When such spirit is
raised to the temperature of 60 deg. Fahr., its density is .91984.

Spirit at "proof" contains very nearly equal weights of absolute alcohol
and water; the exact proportions according to recent experiments are:--

  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
                  |           By VOLUME.                  |            |
   By WEIGHT.     |---------------------------------------| Sp. gr. at |
                  |   Bulk before   | Bulk after admixture| 60 deg. Fahr.  |
                  |   admixture.    | and condensation.   |            |
  ----------------+-----------------+----------------------------------|
  Alcohol.  Water.| Alcohol.  Water.|                                  |
  100.00 + 103.08 |  100.00 + 81.80 |    175.23            }  .91984   |
   49.24 +  50.76 |   57.06 + 46.68 |    100.00            }           |
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The standard alcohol of the Revenue authorities, and that on which
Gilpin's Tables are founded, is a spirit of the sp. gr. .825 at 60 deg. Fahr.,
which is said to contain, by weight, 89% of pure alcohol of .796; and
92.6% of alcohol, by volume, which corresponds to about 62.5 o. p.

It is of great importance to the spirit dealer to be able to estimate
correctly the number of 'proof gallons' in any quantity of his
commodities, or in the whole or any portion of his stock, as disagreeable
errors frequently result from ignorance on this point. Calculations of
this kind are extremely simple. Thus, when we find, by the hydrometer,
that a given sample of spirit is 10 per cent. over-proof, it means, that
100 gallons of such spirit contain as much alcohol as 110 gallons of proof
spirit.

In over-proof spirit, the per-centage o. p. always represents the quantity
of water which the given spirit requires to reduce it to proof. By adding
this per-centage over-proof to 100, we obtain a number which, multiplied
by any number of gallons, and divided by 100, gives the exact number of
proof gallons which is contained in any quantity of the spirit referred
to. Thus:--A puncheon of rum gauged at 91 galls., and shown by the
hydrometer to be 21 o. p., contains--

  21 o. p. of sample added to 100    121
  No. of gallons of rum               91
                                  ------
                                   11011

  No. of gal. of proof-spirit = 11011 / 100 = 110.11

In like manner when a spirit is said to be 11 u. p., or under-proof, it
means that 100 gal. of such spirit contains 11 gal. of water, and 89 gal.
of 'proof spirit.' By deducting the per-centage under-proof from 100, we
not only obtain the number of proof gal. contained in 100 gal. of such
spirit, but, as in the last case, a factor which multiplied by any number
of gal., and divided by 100, gives the exact number of 'proof gallons'
contained in any quantity of the given strength. Thus:--An ullage brandy
piece containing 45 gal. of spirit at 10 u. p., would have the proof value
of--

  Per cent. u. p. of sample 10, }
    subtracted from 100         } 90
  No. of gall                     45
                                 ---
                                4050

  Quantity of proof spirit = 4050 / 100 = 40.50

Or exactly 40-1/2 gallons.

The strength of absolute alcohol (sp. gr. .7938) is estimated at 75-1/4%
over-proof. It therefore contains 175-1/4% of 'proof spirit,' whilst
proof spirit (sp. gr. .91984) contains 57.06% of 'absolute alcohol,' both
being by measure or volume. Thus--

  (meas. of alc. x 175-1/4) / 100   = equiv. meas. of pf. spt.

And--

  (meas. of pf. spt. x 57.06) / 100  = equiv. meas. of abs. alc.

From which we derive the 'constant multipliers' 1.7525 (or roughly 1-3/4),
and .5706, applicable to any number of volumes or gallons. For--

  meas. of alc. x 1.7525 = equiv. meas. of pf. spt.

and--

  meas. of pt. spt. x .5706 = equiv. meas. of alc.

To ascertain what quantity of a spirit at any given strength is equiv. to
or contains 100 lbs. of absolute alcohol, we have only to divide the
constant number 2207.7 by the proof value per cent. of such spirit.[15]
Thus--for a spirit 12 u. p.--this would be

[Footnote 15: This number is obtained thus:--

  100 /.79381 = 12.6 (nearly),

  12.6 x 175.25 = 2207.7.

]

  100 - 12 = 88% of proof spirit;

and--

  2207.7 / 88 = 25.1 gal. (nearly).

That is, 25-1/10 gal. of such spirit would contain 100 lbs. of absolute
alcohol.

By removing the decimal point one place to the _right_, we have the equiv.
measure of 1000 lbs. By removing it one, two, or three places to the
_left_, we have it respectively for 10 lbs., 1 lb., and 1/10 lb.; from
which the equiv. for all other weights may be easily obtained.

By reversing the above operation, the measure of alcohol corresponding to
any given weight of spirit, at any strength, may also be easily found.

The weight of 1 gal. of absolute alcohol being 7.938 lbs.; that of 1 gal.
of proof spirit, 9.2 lbs,; and that of the 'alcohol' in 1 gal. of proof
spirit, 4.53 lbs.; the weight of any number of gallons or volumes of
either, and their equivalents, may be easily found. Thus:--

  gallons of alc. x 7.938 = lbs. weight of alc.
    "     pf. sp. x 9.2   = lbs. w. of pf. spt.

and--

  gallons of alc. x 16.121 = lbs. weight of pf. spt.
     "   pf. spt. x  4.53  = content in lbs. weight of alc.

In these cases a knowledge of the first four rules of decimal fractions is
necessary, or, at least, advantageous; as the Excise officers carry their
calculations to two figures of decimals, or 1/100ths. Their plan is to
reject the third decimal figure when less than 5; but to carry 1 to the
next figure on the left hand, when it exceeds 5. Thus, 5.432 is set down
as only 5.43; but 5.437 is written 5.44. In the delicate chemical
processes of the laboratory, even greater accuracy is observed.

Formerly, spirit was said to be 1 to 3, 1 to 4, &c., over-proof, by which
it was meant that 1 gal. of water added to 3 or 4 gals. of such spirit
would reduce it to 'proof.' On the other hand, 1 in 5, or 1 in 8,
under-proof, meant that the 5 or 8 gals., as the case might be, contained
1 gal. of water, and the remainder represented the quantity of 'proof
spirit.' This method of calculation has now long given way to the
'centigrade system,' which not only admits of greater accuracy, but is
quite as simple. It should be adopted by every spirit-dealer in England,
from being that which is employed by the Revenue officers, whose 'surveys'
it is absolutely necessary that the trader should understand, in order
that his own estimation of his stock and his business calculations should
correspond with theirs.

Several other methods of alcoholometry, besides those already noticed,
have been adopted at various times, but the majority of them possess so
little accuracy as to be quite inapplicable to the purposes of trade, and
of the laboratory. Thus, the strength was at one time estimated by what
was called the 'proof.' A little of the spirit was poured upon a small
quantity of gunpowder, contained in a spoon or saucer, so as just to
moisten it, and was then inflamed. If at the end of the combustion the
gunpowder took fire, the spirit was held to be 'above proof,' if it only
languidly fizzed away, or slowly burnt, the spirit was said to be 'proof,'
but if the gunpowder failed to ignite, the spirit was esteemed 'below
proof.' Hence arose the terms 'proof' and 'proof spirit,' which have since
been adopted by Act of Parliament. Another method was that of dropping oil
into the spirit; if the oil floated, the spirit was considered to be
'under proof,' if it sunk, it was rated as 'proof' or 'over-proof.' The
'gunpowder test' is quite fallacious; for, if a certain quantity of a
spirit is capable of firing the gunpowder, a little excess of a spirit 20%
or 25% stronger will often fail to do so, so much water being formed as to
prevent the ignition. The 'PREUVE D'HOLLAND' test, of the French, or the
'BEAD,' is still frequently employed by persons unacquainted with the use
of the hydrometer. It consists in shaking the spirit in a phial, and
observing the size, number, and duration of the bubbles or beads, as they
are called. The larger and more numerous these are, and the more rapidly
they break and disappear, the stronger the spirit is presumed to be. This
method is unreliable, as the presence of sugar or acid, even in minute
quantities, will sometimes give to a weak sample the appearance of one
many degrees stronger. LOVI'S BEADS are also often employed to ascertain
approximately the strength of spirit, when a hydrometer is not at hand.

The insufficiency of most of the methods of alcoholometry here referred
to, throws us back on the Revenue System (Sykes' hydrometer), or on the
specific gravity for unsweetened spirits. For sweetened spirits, as
cordials, wines, beers, &c., there are none of the tests which give such
accurate results as the distillation test, previously described as the
Revenue Method.

The spirituous liquors of commerce being sold by measure, and not by
weight, the methods of alcoholometry which give the results, per cent., by
volume, are those we have chiefly explained. In the laboratory, the method
by weight is that most generally employed in delicate processes and in
analyses. By weight, the per-centage of alcohol remains the same for all
temperatures, for the same sample; whilst by volume, the per-centage
varies with the temperature of the liquid. This variation explains the
cause of many of the sudden apparent decreases and increases, which occur
in large stocks of spirits. Persons purchasing spirits during very warm
weather, and paying for them according to their apparent quantity and
strength, lose considerably by selling the same spirit when the weather
becomes colder, without being conscious of such loss from the hydrometer.
The reason of this is obvious, for, whilst the relative proportions of the
alcohol to the water continue the same, the sp. gr. and the volume alter
with the temperature; the latter being increased by warmth, and decreased
by cold, in exact opposition to the former. Accuracy requires, in all
cases, that a spirituous liquor should be tested for its strength at the
temperature at which it was measured; and measured at the same temperature
at which its strength was determined.

A consideration of these facts has led some of the great houses to
introduce the system of weighing their spirits, instead of measuring them,
the weight of an imperial gallon at 60 deg. Fahr. being taken as the standard
gallon. This is the method adopted by the Inland Revenue, at all
distilleries, for assessing the duty, and will be readily understood by
the following example:--

                             Cwts. qrs. lbs.

  Gross weight of full cask =  13   2   27
  Tare                      =  2    2    5
                              ------------
  Net weight of spirit      =  11   0   22

or 1254 lbs. Let us suppose the hydrometer indication to be 43.0, the
weight per imperial gallon would be 8.903 lbs. (see Table VI), and 1254 /
8.903 = 140 gallons.

        TABLE VI.--_Table for determining the Weight per Gallon
        of Spirits by Sykes' Hydrometer._

    A = Indication on Sykes' Hydrometer.
    B = Weight per Gallon.

    A      B       A      B       A      B       A      B       A      B
   0     8.145      8   8.509      6   8.878      4   9.264      2   9.667
     2   8.157   21     8.512      8   8.881      6   9.267      4   9.671
     4   8.161      2   8.516   42     8.885      8   9.271      6   9.674
     6   8.164      4   8.519      2   8.889   63     9.275      8   9.678
     8   8.168      6   8.523      4   8.892      2   9.279   84     9.682
   1     8.171      8   8.526      6   8.896      4   9.283      2   9.686
     2   8.174   22     8.530      8   8.899      6   9.286      4   9.690
     4   8.178      2   8.533   43     8.903      8   9.290      6   9.694
     6   8.181      4   8.537      2   8.907   64     9.294      8   9.698
     8   8.185      6   8.540      4   8.911      2   9.298   85     9.702
   2     8.188      8   8.544      6   8.914      4   9.302      2   9.706
     2   8.191   23     8.547      8   8.918      6   9.305      4   9.710
     4   8.195      2   8.551   44     8.922      8   9.309      6   9.714
     6   8.198      4   8.554      2   8.926   65     9.313      8   9.718
     8   8.202      6   8.558      4   8.929      2   9.317   86     9.722
   3     8.205      8   8.561      6   8.933      4   9.321      2   9.726
     2   8.208   24     8.565      8   8.936      6   9.324      4   9.730
     4   8.212      2   8.568   45     8.940      8   9.328      6   9.733
     6   8.215      4   8.572      2   8.944   66     9.332      8   9.737
     8   8.219      6   8.575      4   8.947      2   9.336   87     9.741
   4     8.222      8   8.579      6   8.951      4   9.340      2   9.745
     2   8.225   25     8.582      8   8.954      6   9.344      4   9.749
     4   8.229      2   8.586   46     8.958      8   9.348      6   9.753
     6   8.232      4   8.589      2   8.962   67     9.352      8   9.757
     8   8.236      6   8.593      4   8.965      2   9.356   88     9.761
   5     8.239      8   8.596      6   8.969      4   9.360      2   9.765
     2   8.242   26     8.600      8   8.972      6   9.363      4   9.769
     4   8.245      2   8.603   47     8.976      8   9.367      6   9.773
     6   8.249      4   8.607      2   8.980   68     9.371      8   9.777
     8   8.252      6   8.610      4   8.984      2   9.375   89     9.781
   6     8.255      8   8.614      6   8.987      4   9.379      2   9.785
     2   8.258   27     8.617      8   8.991      6   9.382      4   9.789
     4   8.262      2   8.620   48     8.995      8   9.386      6   9.792
     6   8.265      4   8.624      2   8.999   69     9.390      8   9.796
     8   8.269      6   8.628      4   9.002      2   9.394   90     9.800
   7     8.272      8   8.631      6   9.006      4   9.398      2   9.804
     2   8.275   28     8.635      8   9.009      6   9.401      4   9.808
     4   8.279      2   8.639   49     9.013      8   9.405      6   9.812
     6   8.282      4   8.642      2   9.017   70     9.409      8   9.816
     8   8.286      6   8.646      4   9.021      2   9.413   91     9.820
   8     8.289      8   8.649      6   9.024      4   9.417      2   9.824
     2   8.292   29     8.653      8   9.028      6   9.420      4   9.828
     4   8.296      2   8.656   50     9.032      8   9.424      6   9.832
     6   8.299      4   8.660      2   9.036   71     9.428      8   9.836
     8   8.303      6   8.663      4   9.039      2   9.432   92     9.840
   9     8.306      8   8.667      6   9.043      4   9.436      2   9.844
     2   8.309   30     8.670      8   9.046      6   9.440      4   9.848
     4   8.313      2   8.674   51     9.050      8   9.444      6   9.852
     6   8.316      4   8.677      2   9.054   72     9.448      8   9.856
     8   8.320      6   8.681      4   9.058      2   9.452   93     9.860
  10     8.323      8   8.684      6   9.061      4   9.456      2   9.864
     2   8.326   31     8.688      8   9.065      6   9.459      4   9.868
     4   8.330      2   8.692   52     9.069      8   9.463      6   9.872
     6   8.333      4   8.695      2   9.073   73     9.467      8   9.876
     8   8.337      6   8.699      4   9.076      2   9.471   94     9.880
  11     8.340      8   8.702      6   9.080      4   9.475      2   9.884
     2   8.343   32     8.706      8   9.083      6   9.479      4   9.888
     4   8.347      2   8.709   53     9.087      8   9.483      6   9.892
     6   8.350      4   8.713      2   9.091   74     9.487      8   9.896
     8   8.354      6   8.716      4   9.095      2   9.491   95     9.900
  12     8.357      8   8.720      6   9.098      4   9.495      2   9.904
     2   8.361   33     8.723      8   9.102      6   9.498      4   9.908
     4   8.364      2   8.727   54     9.106      8   9.502      6   9.913
     6   8.368      4   8.730      2   9.110   75     9.506      8   9.917
     8   8.371      6   8.734      4   9.114      2   9.510   96     9.921
  13     8.375      8   8.737      6   9.117      4   9.514      2   9.925
     2   8.378   34     8.741      8   9.121      6   9.517      4   9.929
     4   8.382      2   8.745   55     9.125      8   9.521      6   9.934
     6   8.385      4   8.748      2   9.129   76     9.525      8   9.938
     8   8.389      6   8.752      4   9.132      2   9.529   97     9.942
  14     8.392      8   8.755      6   9.136      4   9.533      2   9.946
     2   8.395   35     8.759      8   9.139      6   9.537      4   9.950
     4   8.399      2   8.763   56     9.143      8   9.541      6   9.955
     6   8.402      4   8.766      2   9.147   77     9.545      8   9.959
     8   8.406      6   8.770      4   9.151      2   9.549   98     9.963
  15     8.409      8   8.773      6   9.154      4   9.553      2   9.967
     2   8.412   36     8.777      8   9.158      6   9.557      4   9.972
     4   8.416      2   8.781   57     9.162      8   9.561      6   9.976
     6   8.419      4   8.784      2   9.166   78     9.565      8   9.981
     8   8.423      6   8.788      4   9.170      2   9.569   99     9.985
  16     8.426      8   8.791      6   9.173      4   9.573      2   9.989
     2   8.429   37     8.795      8   9.177      6   9.576      4   9.994
     4   8.433      2   8.799   58     9.181      8   9.580      6   9.998
     6   8.436      4   8.802      2   9.185   79     9.584      8  10.003
     8   8.440      6   8.806      4   9.189      2   9.588   100   10.007
  17     8.443      8   8.809      6   9.192      4   9.592
     2   8.446   38     8.813      8   9.196      6   9.596
     4   8.450      2   8.817   59     9.200      8   9.600
     6   8.453      4   8.820      2   9.204   80     9.604
     8   8.457      6   8.824      4   9.207      2   9.608
  18     8.460      8   8.827      6   9.211      4   9.612
     2   8.464   39     8.831      8   9.214      6   9.615
     4   8.467      2   8.835   60     9.218      8   9.619
     6   8.471      4   8.838      2   9.222   81     9.623
     8   8.474      6   8.842      4   9.226      2   9.627
  19     8.478      8   8.845      6   9.229      4   9.631
     2   8.481   40     8.849      8   9.233      6   9.635
     4   8.485      2   8.853   61     9.237      8   9.639
     6   8.488      4   8.856      2   9.241   82     9.643
     8   8.492      6   8.860      4   9.245      2   9.647
  20     8.495      8   8.863      6   9.248      4   9.651
     2   8.498   41     8.867      8   9.252      6   9.655
     4   8.502      2   8.871   62     9.256      8   9.659
     6   8.505      4   8.874      2   9.260   83     9.663

[asterism] For further information in connection with _Alchoholometry_ see
ALCOHOL, BEER, BREWING, DISTILLATION, EBULLIOSCOPE, HYDROMETER,
HYDROMETRY, LIQUEURS, MALT-LIQUORS, ORGANIC SUBSTANCES, SACCHARINE,
SPECIFIC GRAVITY, SPIRIT, SUGAR, SYRUPS, TINCTURES, WINE, WORT, &c. &c.

=ALCOHOL; EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM.= Without entering into the controversy as
to whether the moderate consumption of alcohol, or its total disuse, is
the more conducive to personal health and comfort--whether, as Dr Anstie
and others have asserted it acts, when prudently taken, as a food--or
whether, as other medical authorities contend, even its moderate use is a
disturbing factor in the human economy--there need be no qualification of
the assertion, that when the drinking of spirituous liquids of any kind is
indulged in to excess, the habit, if persisted in, must sooner or later
terminate in impaired health, serious disease, and premature death.

A powerful array of facts could be brought in support of this statement.
For instance, in NELSON'S statistics we find it mentioned that--

  A temperate person's   | An intemperate person's
  chance of living is--  | chance of living is--
                         |
  At  20 = 44.2 years.   | At 20 = 15.6 years.
   "  30 = 36.5   "      | "  30 = 13.8   "
   "  40 = 28.8   "      | "  40 = 11.6   "
   "  50 = 21.25  "      | "  50 = 10.8   "
   "  60 = 14.285 "      | "  60 = 8.9    "

The average duration of life after the commencement of habits of
intemperance is--

  Among mechanics, working and labouring men  18 years.
    "   traders, dealers, and merchants       17   "
    "   professional men and gentlemen        15   "
    "   females                               14   "

Again, Dr Dickinson, writing "on the morbid effects of alcohol in persons
who trade in liquor," gave the results of an examination of 149 traders in
liquor, as compared with 149 persons of various trades. The general
results were diseases of the liver much more common in those who dealt in
alcoholic drinks. In the lungs tubercle affected sixty-one persons of the
alcoholic, forty-four of the non-alcoholic.

Tubercle in the brain, liver, kidneys, spleen, bowels, mesenteric glands,
and peritoneum were twice as common in the alcoholic as in the
non-alcoholic. The verdict, therefore, is unavoidable that alcohol (in
excess) engenders tubercle in the brain, inflammations, atrophy,
haemorrhages; in the heart and vessels atheroma, hypertrophy, and other
affections, were all more common in the alcoholic than in the
non-alcoholic series. The evidence in kidney disease did not appear so
conclusive, but some forms of kidney disease appear to be increased. The
author sums up thus:--"Alcohol causes fatty infiltration and fibroid
encroachment; it engenders tubercle, encourages suppuration, and <DW44>s
healing; it produces untimely atheroma, invites haemorrhage, and
anticipates age. The most constant fatty change, replacement by oil of the
material of epithelial cells and muscular fibres, though probably nearly
universal, is most noticeable in the liver, the heart, and the kidney."

Alcohol also seems to be the cause of special diseases, besides those more
common and generally known ones, delirium tremens, alcoholism, &c. Of
these we may mention one recorded by M. GALEZOWSKI, a peculiar affection
of the eyes, which the doctor found very prevalent during the siege of
Paris in 1870-1. In the five months of the siege fifty patients were
affected by it, whilst during the twelve months preceding the siege only
nineteen were to be found. Dr GALOWSKI ascribed the malady to the habit of
taking alcoholic drinks in the morning fasting. A peculiar kind of palsy
has also been referred to alcoholic poisoning.

The following table, compiled by Dr Joseph Williams, lends support to the
fact that an indulgence in alcohol is either the cause of insanity, or
that it tends to its increase:

                                     Proportion
                           Total     caused by
                        admission.  intemperance.

  Charenton                 855         134
  Bicetre and Salpetriere  2012         414
  Bordeaux                  156          20
  Turin, 1830-31            158          17
    "    1831-36            390          76
  Gard                      209           4
  United States             551         146
  Palermo                   189           9
  Caen                       60          16
  Dundee                     14           4
  M. Parchappe              167          46
  M. Batten                 288          54
                           ----         ---
                           5019         940

Commenting on these figures, Mr Walter Blyth remarks, "There may be
another explanation of the fact that many mad people have been great
drinkers. A large proportion of those subject to insanity are driven by
their morbid minds to drink; so that it may be that insanity causes drink,
and not drink causes insanity."

Many medical writers who are no advocates for the total abandonment of
alcohol limit its consumption, in healthy people, to one or two fluid
ounces a day, in the form of wine, beer, or spirits and water; two fluid
ounces is, we believe, the quantity apportioned daily to every able-bodied
seaman in the Royal Navy. Any slight habitual departure from this
standard--even when the evidences of excess are not perceptible to
others--all authority, historical, pathological, and physiological (unless
it be given as a medicine), shows to be injurious. The researches of
Anstie, Parkes, and Count Wollowicz, appear to prove that any quantity of
alcohol exceeding an ounce and a half taken by an adult showed itself in
the urine, a circumstance which these writers look upon as tending to show
that the system has taken more alcohol than can be used in the body
itself. In slight doses the action of alcohol is to produce a sedative
effect upon the nerves, to redden slightly the lining membrane of the
stomach, and to stimulate the secretion of the gastric juice.

Thus, in small doses alcohol may, and doubtless does, promote appetite. In
excess, however, all these effects are turned to evil, and then ensue an
inflammatory condition of the stomach, compression of the gland ducts from
thickening of the tissue around them, excessive mucous secretion, and
great loss of appetite. When carried into the circulation it greatly
increases the force of the heart's action, and at the same time paralyses,
as it were, the restraining nervous supply to the arteries and small
vessels, so that they can no longer oppose themselves to the
blood-current, but dilate. This action in a small degree, occurring in
persons of a weak and languid circulation, is no doubt beneficial; on the
other hand, when in excess, it is most dangerous, and is a cause of the
greater part of the diseases of the heart and great vessels.

"There appears to be a slight fall of temperature with moderate doses of
alcohol, a very decided fall with excessive doses; the muscular and
nervous systems are transitorily stimulated, and may do more work when
small doses are given in cases of fatigue, but in other cases there is a
marked torpor of the nervous and a want of co-ordination of the muscular
system."--BLYTH.

Notwithstanding the researches of Percy, Strauch, Masing, Lallemand,
Duroy, Parkes, Dupre, Anstie, Thudichum, and others, there is still a
considerable divergence of opinion as to how alcohol is eliminated from
the body. By some of the authorities just named it is affirmed to be
eliminated as aldehyd, by others as carbonic acid; as to the latter, the
experiments of Dr E. Smith show that the carbonic acid is decreased when
brandy and gin are drunk, and increased by rum.

The only probable supposition, which facts support, tends to show that the
alcohol is turned into acetic acid in the body, some of which unites with
potash and other bases, and some is destroyed. All are pretty well agreed
that in the form of spirits alcohol as a food is valueless, but that in
the form of beer and wine it is possessed of a slight dietetic power,
naturally varying with the amount and nature of the different substances
held in solution in these beverages.

The imports of spirits into this country, in the seven years from 1850 to
1857, amounted to 70,740,980 gallons; whilst the imports in the seven
years following, viz. from 1857 to 1864, were 78,016,071 gallons, showing
an increase of 7,305,091 gallons. The population has, however, increased
in the time, and a deduction on that account, as well as correction on one
or two other heads, are required; still, that there is an increase is
indisputable.

As respects France, a considerable increase in the consumption of spirits
has taken place of late years, as the following table by M. Husson will
illustrate:

        _The Mean Consumption of Spirits for each Inhabitant._

                        Litres.        Litres.

  From 1825 to 1830    8.96 yearly.  .024 daily.
   "   1831  " 1835    8.74   "      .023   "
   "   1836  " 1840   10.15   "      .026   "
   "   1841  " 1845   11.14   "      .031   "
   "   1846  " 1850   11.03   "      .030   "
   "   1851  " 1854   14.25   "      .039   "

In the United States, during the period from 1807 to 1828, the average was
27 litres for every inhabitant, which is even greater than the highest of
the two sets of figures just quoted.

The demoralisation of the French army during the late Franco-Prussian war
has been also unanimously ascribed to the excessive consumption of
spirituous liquids.

The following results of an inquiry instituted in 1870 by the
Massachusetts Board of Health into the comparative sobriety of different
nations are gathered from an able paper which appeared in the 'Medical
Times and Gazette' of April 15th, 1872, by Dr Druitt, in which he dissects
and summarises the results in question. Dr Druitt writes:

"Highest in the scale of temperance come the Turks and Arabs; next the
Iberians, Levantines, Greeks, and Latin races; lower down the Japanese,
Scandinavians, Belgians, and the Irish Celt; lowest of all the so-called
Anglo-Saxon of either continent."

Professor Levi contributes to our knowledge on this subject by giving the
following statistics:--In 1860 the committals for drunkenness in England
and Wales were 88,000, and in 1870 134,000, an increase of 50 per cent.

In Manchester the increase from 1860 to 1870 was 375 per cent., or
computed according to the increase of population 35.3 per cent. In London
drunkenness is in the proportion of 5.43 per 1000, in Leeds 7.40, in
Manchester 31.13, and in Liverpool 42.82. It must, however, be remembered
that these figures are based on mere committals, which greatly depend on
the activity of the police, and the noisy or quiet character of the
drunkard.

We quote the following from Dr Blyth's work on 'Hygiene,' without,
however, attempting either to endorse or controvert what he says on the
subject.

"_Whether is Alcohol necessary or not._ All experience, both at home and
abroad, shows by facts that cannot be disputed that a person can do quite
as hard work without alcohol as with it; and probably as the limits
between moderation and excess are easily passed, and as the generality of
mankind, even without intending it, err on the latter side, the result is
that a comparison between total abstainers and even temperate men
generally terminates in favour of the former. It would appear that total
abstainers live longer, are better citizens, and can do more work than the
rest of mankind. The figures of the "United Kingdom Temperance and General
Provident Institution" go far to prove the above. This insurance society
is divided into two sections. One section consists of abstainers, the
other of persons selected as not known to be intemperate. The claims for
five years anticipated in the temperance section were L100,446, but the
actual claims were only L72,676. In the general section of the anticipated
claims were L196,352; the actual claims no less than L330,297. In war the
march of 2000 miles in his War of Independence by Cornwallis and his
troops (1783), the Maroon war of Jamaica, the 400 miles' march of an
English army across the Desert from Komer, on the Red Sea, a march of 1000
miles in the Kaffir war, experiences at sieges, in action, in hot,
temperate, and cold climates, where abstinence was either forced through
circumstances or followed, shows to every unprejudiced mind that soldiers
endure more fatigue, are healthier, and fight better, without stimulants
than with them; and this fact is endorsed by every commander of the
present day.

The excess and abuse of spirits, as before remarked, lost the French their
military prestige in the Franco-German war. In very hot and very cold
climates the Indian observers and the Arctic explorers all unite in
condemning its (that is, the use of alcohol) use in the slightest excess,
or even in moderate doses. It does not warm the body in cold climates, and
the reaction that follows the exciting of the circulation is followed by a
dangerous depression; whilst in hot it combines with the climate, and
quickly produces disease."

=ALCOHOLIC DRINKS, EFFECTS OF.= In addition to the serious injury to
health caused by an excessive or imprudent indulgence in spirituous
stimulants (see previous article), even a moderate and not injudicious use
of them may often be attended with very disagreeable consequences--a more
or less mild or modified form of poisoning, in fact--if the beverages
themselves are, as very frequently happens, contaminated, either
accidentally or intentionally, with certain objectionable ingredients.
These ingredients are described under the articles BEER, WINES, and the
various SPIRITS, such as GIN, BRANDY, ABSINTHE, &c. Of spirit drinking it
may be observed, that this dangerous practice is intensified by what is to
be feared is the too prevalent custom of taking them undiluted, or "neat,"
as it is termed. There is no doubt that they constitute the very worst
form of alcoholic drinks, and shorten the lives of those who indulge in
them to excess more summarily than any other intoxicating potion. The
greatest and most ineradicable drunkards are almost always found to be
spirit drinkers.

Liebig remarked that less bread was consumed in families where beer was
drunk, and there seems to be little doubt that the different species of
beer, including porter and ale, when pure and free from adulteration,
act, although in a small degree, as food. Probably there are some who will
agree with, whilst others will dissent from, Benjamin Franklin, who said
"there was more sustenance in a penny loaf than in a gallon of beer." The
starchy extractive matters of the beer no doubt perform the same function
in the animal economy that sugar does. It is well known that those who
drink freely of beer mostly become corpulent, as witness the portly forms
of draymen. The hop contained in the beer has doubtless tonic and
stomachic qualities. We can speak with less certainty about the free acids
contained in malt fluids. It is very certain that some people cannot drink
a glass of beer without experiencing rheumatic pains in the joints, which
effect is generally ascribed to the acidity of the beer; but which is
really supposed to be due to the decreased elimination of urea and
pulmonary carbonic acid from the system caused by the alcohol of the beer.

The heavy low-priced beers occasion drunkenness of a peculiarly violent
and savage kind, a fact which strongly favours the inference that this
form of intoxication is due to some toxic agent, used as an adulterant. Of
wines, the clarets and subacid wines are undoubtedly antiscorbutic in
properties, and light wines as beverages are preferable to the stronger.
Port, sherry, beer, stout, and ale are almost universally condemned in
cases where there is a tendency to gout. The light clarets and Rhine wines
are far more desirable beverages when this is the case, and the German
wines are said to be valuable drinks in many lithic affections. It seems
probable that the ethers and the vegetable salts, together with the sugar
contained in wines, perform the most important part in the human economy.

It has been proposed to introduce the red subacid wines as drinks for our
sailors, because of their antiscorbutic qualities. Some of the alcoholic
drinks prepared in India frequently cause temporary madness.

=ALCOHOLISM.= ALCOHOL; EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLISM.

=AL'COHOLS.= In _chemistry_, a term applied to compounds possessing a
composition, formulae, and chemical properties similar to those of ordinary
alcohol. They form a series presenting an unmistakable symmetry, and
differ from one another by well-marked gradations, as shown below:--

  Methyl-alcohol (_wood spirit_).      CH_{4}O
  Ethyl-alcohol (_ordinary alcohol_)   C_{2}H_{6}O
  Amyl-alcohol (_fuesel-oil_)           C_{5}H_{12}O
  Capryl-alcohol                       C_{8}H_{18}O
  Cetyl-alcohol                        C_{16}H_{34}O
  &c., &c.

=Alcohols.= In _commerce_, pure spirits of a greater strength than about
58 o. p. (sp. gr. 8335), or containing more than about 85% by WEIGHT, or
90% by VOLUME, of pure alcohol, are commonly so called.

=Alcohols.= In _perfumery_, rectified spirit of wine, or commercial
alcohol, holding essential oils or other odorous matters in solution.

=Alcohols.= In _Fr. pharmacy_, alcoholic tinctures and essences.

=ALCOOLATIFS= (alcooelatifs). [F.] _Syn_. ALCOHOLATI'VA, L. In _Fr.
pharmacy_, alcoholic solutions of liniments, embrocations, &c., whether
made by distillation, maceration, or solution.

=ALCOOLATS= (alcooelats). [Fr.] In _Fr. pharmacy_, spirits; applied by
Beral, Henry and Guibourt, and others, to medicated distilled spirits.

=ALCOOLATURES= (alcooelatures). [Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOHOLATU''RA, L. In. _Fr.
pharmacy_, alcoholic tinctures, elixirs, &c. M. Beral confines the term to
vegetable juices preserved by alcohol.

=ALCOOLES= (alcoooeles). [Fr.] Tinctures; the 'teintures alcoholiques' of
the Fr. Codex.

=ALCOOLIQUES= (alcooeliques). [Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOHOL'ICA, L. In _Fr.
pharmacy_, alcoholic or spirituous solutions. (Beral.)

=AL'CORNINE= (-n[)i]n). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALCOR'NOCINE (-s[)i]n);
ALCOR'NEUM, ALCORNI'NA, L. A crystallisable substance, apparently
intermediate between fat and wax, discovered by Biltz, in alcornoco bark.

=ALCORNO'CO.= _Syn._ A.-BARK; ALCORNOQUE, Fr.; ALKORNOC, A.-RIND, Ger. The
bark of an unknown tree of South America. It is astringent and bitter, and
has been highly extolled as a specific in phthisis; but appears to possess
little medicinal virtue. The bark of the young branches of the cork tree
(_quercus suber_), used in tanning, is also sometimes called
alcornoco-bark; but possesses none of the characters of the former
article.

=AL'DECAY.= The galls on the leaves of _myrobalanus chebula_ (Gaertn.), a
forest-tree of Bengal. Equal to the best oak-galls.

=AL'DEHYD= (-h[=i]d). [_al_-(cohol)-_dehyd_ (rogenatus).] C_{2}H_{4}O.
Syn. HYDRATED OXIDE OF ACETYLE; HYDRATE OF OTHYLE*; HYDROXIDE OF O.*
Literally, dehydrogenated alcohol. In _chemistry_, a peculiar ethereal
liquid, first obtained in a pure form by Liebig, from alcohol. It is
produced under various circumstances, particularly during the destructive
distillation of certain organic matters, and in several processes of
oxidation. The following are the most convenient methods of preparing
it:--

_Prep._ 1. (Liebig.) Sulphuric acid, 3 parts; is diluted with water, 2
parts; and as soon as the mixture has cooled, alcohol of 80%, 2 parts, is
added; and, subsequently, peroxide of manganese (in fine powder), 3 parts.
The whole, after agitation, is then distilled at a very gentle heat, from
a spacious retort into a receiver surrounded with ice, the connection
between the two being perfectly air-tight. The process is continued until
frothing commences, or the distillate becomes acid which generally occurs
when about one third (3 parts) has passed over. The distillate is next
agitated in a retort, with about its own weight of fused chloride of
calcium, in powder; after which about one half only is drawn over at a
very gentle heat (85 deg. to 90 deg. Fahr.), by means of a water bath. This
rectification is repeated in a precisely similar way. The last distillate
is ANHYDROUS ALDEHYD only slightly contaminated with foreign matters.

2. (Liebig.) Aldehyd-ammonia, 2 parts, is dissolved in an equal weight of
distilled water; and, after being placed in a retort, sulphuric acid, 2 or
3 parts, previously diluted with rather more than its own weight of
distilled water, and allowed to cool, is added. The whole is now
distilled, by means of a water bath, into a receiver surrounded with ice,
or (preferably) a freezing-mixture, the temperature of the bath at first
being very low, and the operation being stopped as soon, or rather before
the water begins to boil. The distillate is then placed in a retort
connected with a well-cooled receiver, as before; and after all the joints
are made perfectly tight, powdered fused chloride of calcium, in weight
equal to that of the liquid in the retort, is added through the
tubulature. The heat produced by the hydration of the chloride causes the
distillation to commence, after which it is carried on, by means of a
water bath, at a temperature ranging from 80 deg. to 82 deg. Fahr. This
rectification being very carefully repeated, the last distillate is PURE
ANHYDROUS ALDEHYD.

_Prop., &c._ Limpid, colourless, ethereal, neutral, inflammable; mixes in
all proportions with alcohol, ether, and water; odour peculiar,
penetrating, and, when strong, exceedingly suffocating, the vapour, in
quantity, producing spasmodic contraction of the thorax; boils at 72 deg.
Fahr. (70 deg.--Ure, 5th ed.); sp. gr. .790 at 60 deg., and .800 at 32 deg. Fahr.; sp.
gr. of vapour, 1.532; by exposure to air it is gradually converted into
acetic acid, and speedily so under the influence of platinum-black; heated
with caustic potash, a brown substance resembling resin (ALDEHYD-RESIN) is
formed; gently heated with protoxide of silver, or its solutions, metallic
silver is deposited on the inner surface of the vessel, in a uniform and
brilliant film, whilst ALDEHYDATE OF SILVER remains in solution; heated
with hydrocyanic acid it yields ALANINE. By age, even in close vessels, it
passes into one or more isomeric compounds (ELALDEHYDE; METALDEHYDE), with
change of properties. Aldehyde for experiments should, therefore, be
always recently prepared; and it must be kept in a well-stopped bottle, in
a very cold place, and preferably in ice.

_Obs._ Aldehyd is important for its assumed position in the acetyl-series,
and the part which it plays in the process of acetification, &c. The word
is now also commonly employed, by chemists, as a generic term for any
organic substance which, by assimilating two atoms of hydrogen, yields, or
would yield, a compound having the composition or properties of an
alcohol; or which, by taking up one atom of oxygen, yields an acid. Many
of the essential oils (as those of almonds, cinnamon, and cumin) are
composed principally of bodies which may thus be called aldehyds. One of
the most valuable properties of these substances, is their strong tendency
to combine with the bisulphites of ammonium, potassium, and sodium; and by
which they may be separated from complex mixtures.

=AL'DEHYD-AMMO'NIA= (-h[)i]d-). An ammonia-compound of aldehyd, discovered
by Doebereiner and Liebig.

_Prep._ (Liebig.) Aldehyd (of process No. 1, above) is mixed with an equal
volume of ether,[16] in a flask surrounded with ice, or (what is better) a
freezing-mixture; and is then saturated with dry gaseous ammonia. The
crystals which soon form, after being washed with ether, and dried by
means of bibulous paper and a short exposure to the air, are pure aldehyd
ammonia.

[Footnote 16: Some authorities recommend the use of twice this quantity of
ether.]

_Prop., &c._ It smells like a mixture of turpentine and ammonia; melts at
165 deg. to 170 deg.; volatilises, unchanged, at 212 deg. Fahr.; decomposed by
exposure to the air; very soluble in water; soluble in alcohol, and more
or less so in most other menstrua, except ether; acids decompose it. With
sulphuretted hydrogen it forms thialdine.--_Use._ Chiefly to make pure
aldehyd (which _see_).

=AL'DER= (awl'-). _Syn._ AL'DER-TREE; AL'NUS ([)a]l-), L.; A. GLUTINO'SA
(Gaertn.); BETU'LA ALNUS, Linn.; AUNE, AULNE, Fr.; ERLE, Ger. A well-known
English tree, chiefly growing in moist grounds near rivers. Its wood is
used for hurdles, for various articles of turnery and furniture, and when
converted into charcoal, for making gunpowder; it possesses considerable
durability under water; but is otherwise of little value. Bark and leaves
very astringent, and reputed vulnerary; decoction used as a gargle in sore
throat, and, in double the dose of cinchona, as a febrifuge in agues; bark
and sap used in dyeing and tanning. The following belong to different nat.
orders and genera to the preceding:--

=Alder, Black.= _Syn._ WIN'TER-BERRY; PRI'NOS VERTICILLA'TUS, Linn. A tree
growing in the United States of America. Bark febrifuge, tonic, and
astringent; berries tonic and emetic. (Bigelow.) It has been much
recommended in dropsies, diarrh[oe]a, intermittents, &c. _Dose_ (of the
dried bark), 1/2 to 1 dr., 3 or 4 times a day.

=Alder-tree, Black.= _Syn._ BERRY-BEARING ALDER-TREE; RHAM'NUS FRAN'GULA,
Linn. A large shrub found in the woods and thickets of England, &c. Wood,
BLACK DOG'WOOD; bark, bitter, emetic, purgative; used to dye yellow;
root-bark, a drastic purgative; berries, purgative, emetic; unripe berries
yield SAP-GREEN; charcoal of the wood esteemed the best for gunpowder.

=ALE.= _Syn._ BARLEY WINE*; AILE, Fr.; WEISS-BIER, Ger.; AEL, EALE, Sax.;
CEREVIS'IA ALBA, C. LUPULA'TA, A'LA*, AL'LA*, L. Pale- beer,
prepared from lightly dried malt, by the ordinary process of brewing. The
ale of the modern brewer is manufactured in several varieties, which are
determined by the wants of the consumer, and the particular market for
which it is intended. Thus, the finer kinds of Burton, East India,
Bavarian, and other like ales, having undergone a thorough fermentation,
contain only a small quantity of undecomposed sugar and gum, varying from
1 to 5 per cent. Some of these are highly 'hopped,' or 'bittered,' the
further to promote their preservation during transit and change of
temperature. Mild or sweet ales, on the contrary, are less attenuated by
lengthened fermentation, and abound in saccharine and gummy matter. They
are, therefore, more nutritious, though less intoxicating, than those
previously referred to.

In brewing the finer kinds of ale, pale malt and the best East Kent hops
of the current season's growth, are always employed; and when it is
desired to produce a liquor possessing little colour, very great attention
is paid to their selection. With the same object, the boiling is conducted
with more than the usual precautions, and the fermentation is carried on
at a somewhat lower temperature than that commonly allowed for other
varieties of beer. For ordinary ale, intended for immediate use, the malt
may be all pale; but, if the liquor be brewed for keeping, and in warm
weather, when a slight colour is not objectionable, one fifth, or even one
fourth of 'amber malt' may be advantageously employed. From 4-1/2 lbs. to
6 lbs. of hops is the quantity commonly used to the quarter of malt, for
'ordinary ales,' and 7 lbs. to 10 lbs. for 'keeping ales.' The
proportions, however, must greatly depend on the intended quality and
description of the brewing, and the period that will be allowed for its
maturation.

The stronger varieties of ale usually contain from 6 to 8% of 'absolute
alcohol,' ordinary strong ale, 4-1/2 to 6%; mild ale, 3 to 4%; and table
ale, 1% to 1-1/2%; (each by volume); together with some undecomposed
saccharine, gummy, and extractive matter, the bitter and narcotic
principles of the hop, some acetic acid formed by the oxidation of the
alcohol, and very small and variable quantities of mineral and saline
matter. For the adulterants of ale, see PORTER. See BEER, BREWING,
FERMENTATION, MALT-LIQUORS, &c.

=Ale, Dev'onshire White.= A liquor once generally drunk, and still in
demand, in the neighbourhood of Kingsbridge and Modbury, Devon.

_Prep._ Ordinary ale-wort (preferably pale) sufficient to produce 1
barrel, is slowly boiled with about 3 handfuls of hops, and 12 to 14 lbs.
of crushed groats, until the whole of the soluble matter of the latter is
extracted. The resulting liquor, after being run through a coarse
strainer, and become lukewarm, is fermented with 2 or 3 pints of yeast;
and, as soon as the fermentation is at its height, is either closely
bunged up for 'draught,' or is at once put into strong stoneware bottles,
which are then well corked and wired.

_Obs._ White ale is said to be very feeding, though apt to prove laxative
to those unaccustomed to its use. It is drunk in a state of effervescence
or lively fermentation; the glass or cup containing it being kept in
constant motion, when removed from the mouth, until the whole is consumed,
in order that the thicker portion may not subside to the bottom.

=Ales, Med'icated.= _Syn._ BRYT'OLES; BRUTOLES, Fr.; CEREVIS'IAE MEDICA'TAE,
L. In _pharmacy_, ale prepared by macerating medicinal substances in it,
either at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, or when heated;
infusions and decoctions, in which ale or beer is employed as the
menstruum. The old dispensatories enumerate several medicated ales; such
as CEREVISIA OXYDOR'CICA, for the eyes; C. ANTI-ARTHRIT'ICA, for the gout;
C. CEPHAL'ICA, for the head; C. EPILEP'TICA, against epilepsy; &c.
Preparations of this kind are now seldom ordered by the faculty, and their
use is chiefly confined to the practice of empirics, and to domestic
medicine. Bark, rue, savine, antiscorbutic plants, aromatic bitters, and
stomachics, are the substances most commonly administered in this way. Ale
in which wormwood, gentian, orange-peel, and the like, have been steeped,
taken warm early in the morning, is much esteemed as a restorative tonic
by drunkards and dyspeptics. See BEER, PURL, &c.

=ALE'BERRY.= A beverage made by boiling ale with spice, sugar, and
bread-sops; the last commonly toasted. A domestic remedy for a cold.

=ALE'GILL= (_g_ hard). Ale or beer flavoured or medicated by infusing the
leaves of ground ivy in it; pectoral, stomachic, and nervine.

=ALE'WIFE.= The _clupea serrata_, an American species of herring. Its
proper name is a'loof, although the established pronunciation and common
orthography is ale-wife.

[Illustration]

=ALEM'BIC.= _Syn._ MOORS'HEAD[dagger]; ALEM'BICUS, L.; ALAMBIC, Fr.;
DESTILLIRKOLBEN, Ger. An old form of distillatory vessel usually made of
glass or earthenware, but sometimes of metal. The body (_a_) which holds
the liquid for distillation is called the CU'CURBIT; the upper part (_b_)
the HEAD or CAP'ITOL; (_c_) is the RECEIVER. It is still employed in the
laboratory, in the distillation of articles that are apt to spurt over
into the neck of the common retort, and thus vitiate the product.

=ALEUROM'ETER.= _Syn._ ALEUROMETRE, Fr. An instrument for determining the
quantity and quality of gluten in wheat-flour, invented by M. Boland. It
essentially consists of a hollow copper cylinder, about 6 inches long, and
3/4 of an inch internal diameter. This tube has two principal parts; the
one, about 2 inches long, is closed at the lower end, forming a kind of
cup, into which the gluten is placed; it screws into the remainder of the
cylinder. The cup being charged with a sample of gluten, and the upper
part of the cylinder being screwed on, it is exposed in an oven, or
(preferably) in an oil bath, to a temperature of 350 to 380 deg. Fahr.[17]
From the length of the tube the gluten occupies in swelling, as measured
by a graduated scale, its quality is determined. The 'crude gluten' of
good wheat-flour augments to four or five times its original volume, when
thus treated; but that from bad flour does not swell, becomes viscid and
semi-fluid, and generally gives off a disagreeable odour; whilst that of
good flour merely suggests the smell of hot and highly baked bread.

[Footnote 17: Mr Mitchell recommends the heat to be 420 deg.; whilst Dr
Masprett gives 284 deg. Fahr. as the proper temperature; but of these the
first is too high, and the other too low. About 210 gr. are also ordered
to be taken for examination; but the exact quantity is immaterial. (See
Mitchell's 'Falsification of Food.')]

=AL'GA.= (-g[)a]). [L.] Sea-weed. A common name of grass-wrack ('zostera
marina'--Linn.), though not one of the algae.

=AL'GAE.= ([)a]l'-j[=e]). [L. pl.] _Syn._ AL'GALS; ALGAE (DC.), AL'GALES
(Lindl.), L.; ALGUES, VARECH, Fr.; ALGE, MEERGRASS, SEEGRASS, Ger.
Sea-weeds. In _botany_, an order of Thallogens living in water or very
moist places, nourished throughout their whole surface by the medium in
which they live, having no distinct axis of vegetation, and propagated by
zooespores,  spores, or tetraspores. Linnaeus defines them--"plants,
the roots, leaves, and stems of which are all in one." The algae consist
either of simple vesicles lying in mucus, or of articulated filaments, or
of lobed fronds formed of uniform cellular tissue. Those that vegetate in
salt water are popularly called SEA-WEEDS (fu'ci, L.) and LA'VER (ulvae,
L.); those found in fresh water CONFER'VAE. One of their divisions (the
_Zooespermeae_) comprehends the lowest known forms of vegetable life, being
merely adhering cells, emitting, at maturity, seeds or sporules having a
distinct animal motion. In _Oscillatorias_, the whole plant twists and
writhes spontaneously; and _Zymenas_ actually copulate like animals. Some
of the Algae possess great beauty. In the lower grades the colour is green;
in the higher, red or purple.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ None of the Algae are poisonous. Several are nutritious,
emollient, and demulcent, from containing mucilage (carrageenin), starch,
sugar (mannite), and a little albumen; and are hence used as esculents.
The ash from the dried weed varies in different varieties from 9% to fully
25%; and contains variable quantities of potassa, soda, lime, magnesia,
iron, manganese, and silica, with sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid,
chlorine, and a little iodine and bromine. (Schweitzer; Forchhammer;
Goedechens.) Sea-weeds, their charcoal, and their ashes, have been long
regarded as alterative and resolvent; and anti-phthisic virtues have been
attributed to them by Laennec and others. They were formerly much given in
scrofulous affections and glandular enlargements; but their use is now
almost superseded by that of iodine and its preparations. Dr Stenhouse has
proposed some of the algae as furnishing an economical source of mannite.
The sea algae are used for manure; their ashes form KELP.

The following table, showing the results of several analyses of different
kinds of algae, and illustrating the very large amount of nitrogen
contained in them, is from Mr Walter Blyth's excellent dictionary of
'Hygiene and Public Health.'

  -----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------
                               |        |           | Per cent. |   Protein
          Kinds of Algae.       | Water. |Dry matter.|Nitrogen in|contained in
                               |        |           |dry matter.|dry matter.
  -----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------
  _Chondrus crispus_,          |  17.92 |   82.08   |   1.534   |   9.587
    bleached, from Bewlay      |        |           |           |
    Evans.                     |        |           |           |
  _Chondrus crispus_,          |  21.47 |   78.53   |   2.142   |  13.387
    unbleached, Ballycastle.   |        |           |           |
  _Gigastina mamillosa_,       |  21.55 |   78.45   |   2.198   |  13.737
    Ballycastle.               |        |           |           |
  _Chondrus crispus_,          |  19.79 |   80.21   |   1.485   |   9.281
    bleached, second           |        |           |           |
    experiment.                |        |           |           |
  _Chondrus crispus_,          |  19.96 |   80.04   |   2.510   |  15.687
    unbleached second          |        |           |           |
    experiment.                |        |           |           |
  _Laminaria digitata_, or     |  21.38 |   78.62   |   1.588   |   9.925
    dulse tangle.              |        |           |           |
  _Rhodomenia palmata._        |  16.56 |   83.44   |   3.465   |  21.656
  _Porphyra laciniata._        |  17.41 |   82.59   |   4.650   |  29.062
  _Iridaea edulis._             |  19.61 |   80.39   |   3.088   |  19.300
  _Alaria esculenta._          |  17.91 |   80.09   |   2.424   |  15.150
  -----------------------------+--------+-----------+-----------+------------

From the above, we learn the important fact that the sea-weeds found on
our coasts are amongst the most nutritious of vegetable substances, and
that they, when dry, are even richer in nitrogenous matter than either
oatmeal or Indian corn in the same state. The following are the chief
varieties of algae which are used as food by the dwellers on our coasts as
well as on the continent:--PORPHYRA LACINIATA and VULGARIS, called _laver_
in England, _stoke_ in Ireland, and _slouk_ in Scotland. CHONDRUS CRISPUS,
called _carrageen_ or _Irish moss_, and also _pearl-moss_, and _sea-moss._
LAMINARIA DIGITATA, known as the _sea-girdle_ in England, _tangle_ in
Scotland, and _red-ware_ in the Orkneys; and LAMINARIA SACCHARINA, ALARIA
ESCULENTA, or _bladder-lock_, called also _henware_, and _honey-ware_ by
the Scotch. ULVA LATISSIMA or GREEN LAVER--RHODOMENIA PALMATA or _dulse_
of Scotland. Under the name of "marine sauce" the LAVER was esteemed a
luxury in London, where it may now occasionally be met with in the shops
of provision merchants. The employment of the CHONDRUS CRISPUS or
_Carrageen_ in the form of an aliment for consumptive and weakly persons,
would seem from the analysis of it given above to be fully justified. In
preparing the algae for food, they must be soaked in water to remove the
saline matter, and where they are possessed of a bitter flavour this may
be removed by adding a little carbonate of soda to the water. They should
then be stewed in water or milk till they are tender. The best flavourings
are pepper and vinegar. See JELLY.

=ALGARO'BA.= _Syn._ CA''ROB-TREE, ST. JOHN'S BREAD; CERATO'NIA SIL'IQUA,
Linn. A leguminous tree of southern Europe, Palestine, and part of Africa.
Pods (ALGAROBA BEANS), used for food, and to improve the voice; they
contain a sweetish, nutritious powder, and are supposed to have been the
'locusts' on which St. John fed in the wilderness; their decoction has
been used as a pectoral in asthma and coughs.

=Algaroba or Algarovil'la.= The astringent pods of prosopis pallida, p.
siliquastrum, and Inga Marthae (South American trees), bruised and more or
less agglutinated by the extractive exudation of the seed and husks. They
are used in tanning, for which purpose they have been strongly
recommended; indeed that of Chili, and of Santa Martha (New Carthagena),
is said to possess "four times the power of good oak bark" (Ure); and in
dyeing are only inferior to oak-galls.

=ALGONTINE.= A mouth and tooth wash. An aqueous solution of nitrate of
potassium, aromatised with oil of peppermint, tincture of myrrh, and
tincture of cinnamon.

=ALGOPHON= (Bernhard, Salzburg). For pains in decayed teeth. A solution of
ethereal oil of mustard (2 grms.) in spirit of cochlearia (30 grms.),
 green by saffron and litmus. (Wittstein.)

=AL'IMENT.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALIMEN'TUM, L.; NAHRUNG, SPEISE, Ger. Food;
nutriment; anything which nourishes or supports life.

=ALIMENT'ARY= _Syn._ ALIMENTA''RIUS, L.; ALIMENTAIRE, Fr.; ZUR NAHRUNG
GEHOeRIG, Ger. Pertaining to food or aliment; nutrimental; nourishing.

=Alimentary Canal'.= _Syn._ ALIMENTARY DUCT; CANA'LIS ALIMENTA''RIUS, L.
In _anatomy_, the cavity in the bodies of animals into which the food is
taken for the purpose of being digested; the whole passage or conduit
extending from the mouth to the anus. In some of the lower animals this is
a simple cavity, with only one opening; when the same aperture which
admits the food also gives egress to the excrementitious matter. In others
it is a true canal, with both a mouth and an outlet. Another step, and we
find this canal is divided into a stomach and intestines. In the higher
grades, a mouth, pharynx, and [oe]sophagus precede the stomach. Birds have
one or two sacculi or crops added to the [oe]sophagus. The stomach of the
ruminants consists of four sacs or parts, each of which may be regarded as
a separate stomach; that of the bottle-nose whale contains no less than
seven of such sacs. The part below the stomach, forming the intestines, is
also variously subdivided, complicated, and connected. In man, these
subdivisions are termed--DUODENUM, JEJU'NUM, IL'EUM, CAE'CUM, CO'LON, and
REC'TUM; the lower end or orifice of the last being called the A'NUS. The
existence of an alimentary canal is said to be the only true
characteristic of an animal. Plants have no common receptacle for their
food, nor canal for carrying away effete matter; but every animal, however
low in the scale of being, possesses an internal cavity which serves it as
a stomach.

=Alimentary Sub'stances.= _Syn._ ALIMENTS; MATE''RIA ALIMENTA''RIA, L.
Substances employed as food.

=ALIMENTA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ALIMENTA'TIO, L.; NAHRHAFTIGKEIT, Ger.
The act, process, power, or state of nourishing, or being nourished.

=AL'IZARI.= [Tur., ali-zari.] The commercial name of madder in the Levant.

=ALIZARIN.= C_{10}H_{6}O_{3} . 2H_{2}O. _Syn._ LAZARIC ACID. A red
colouring matter obtained from madder.

_Prep._ 1. Exhaust madder with boiling water, and precipitate the
decoction by sulphuric acid. Wash the precipitate, and, while yet moist,
boil it with a concentrated solution of hydrate of aluminum in
hydrochloric acid, and mix the solution with hydrochloric acid; red flakes
of impure alizarin deposit. Dissolve this precipitate in alcohol or in
dilute ammonia, and treat the solution with hydrate of aluminum. Boil the
aluminum compound thus formed with carbonate of sodium, and, after freeing
it from resinous impurities by digestion with ether, decompose it with hot
hydrochloric acid. Wash the alizarin thus separated, dry it by simple
exposure to air, and purify it by repeated crystallisation out of alcohol.

2. Sublime on a paper an alcoholic extract of madder. This method yields
the purest alizarin.

_Props._ Red prisms; sublimes at 419 deg. F.; odourless, tasteless, and
neutral to test-paper; sparingly soluble in water, even at the boiling
temperature; soluble in alcohol and ether; not decomposed by hydrochloric
acid; dissolved, without decomposition, by strong sulphuric acid; soluble
in solutions of the alkalies and their carbonates; acids precipitate
alizarin from its alkaline solutions in orange- flakes; alumina
decolorises an alcoholic solution of alizarin, forming a red lake.

=ALIZARIN, ARTIFICIAL.= C_{14}H_{8}O_{4}. This colour was first obtained
by Graebe and Liebermann in 1869 from anthrachinon, an oxidation product
of anthracen, this latter being a substance which is formed during the
destructive distillation of coal-tar. These chemists converted anthracen
into antichinon by means of nitric acid.

The crude anthracen is previously purified by treatment with benzoline
(petroleum spirit), aided by heat, and by being subjected to the action of
the centrifugal machine to fusion, and to sublimation.

According to the original method of preparing alizarin, the anthrachinon
was first converted into a dibromide of anthrachinon by treatment with
bromine, and this bromated compound, by further treatment either with
caustic potash or soda at a temperature of 180 deg. to 200 deg. C., converted into
alizarin-potassium (or alizarin-sodium if caustic soda has been used),
from which the alizarin is set free by means of hydrochloric acid.

Alizarin is now procured from anthrachinon by treatment at a temperature
of 260 deg. C., with concentrated sulphuric acid of 1.84 sp. gr., the
anthrachinon being converted into a sulpho-acid; this acid is next
neutralised with carbonate of lime, the fluid decanted from the deposited
sulphate of lime, and carbonate of potash added to it, with the object of
throwing down all the lime. The clear liquid is then evaporated to
dryness, the resulting saline mass is converted into alizarin-potassium by
heating it with caustic potash. From the alizarin-potassium thus obtained
the alizarin is set free by the aid of hydrochloric acid.

In another method the preparation of anthrachinon is avoided, and
anthracen employed directly, by first converting it, by means of sulphuric
acid and heat, into anthracen sulphonic-acid. After having been diluted
with water, the solution of this acid is treated with oxidising agents
(peroxides of manganese, lead, chromic acid, nitric acid), and the acid
fluid is afterwards neutralised with carbonate of lime. When peroxide of
manganese has been used, the manganese is also precipitated as oxide. The
oxidised sulpho-acid having been previously converted into a potassium
salt, the latter being heated with caustic potash, alizarin is obtained.
The details of these two processes will be found set forth in the terms of
the patent taken out by Messrs Caro, Graebe and Liebermann, further on.

The following method of preparing alizarin from anthracene paranaphthalene
and their homologues is by Girard. The material used is that which distils
between 290 deg. and 360 deg.; it is purified by distillation and pressure, the
portion which passes over, between 300 deg. and 305 deg., being collected
separately. This mixture is treated with potassium chlorate and
hydrochloric acid, whereby it is converted into tetra-chlorinated
products. These are oxidised either by nitric acid in the water bath, or
by a metallic oxide (red or brown oxide of lead), and sulphuric or acetic
acid. In the first place a mixture of dichloranthraquinine and chloride of
chloroxyanthranyl are obtained. These substances are treated in presence
of a metallic oxide (oxide of zinc, oxide of copper, or litharge), with an
alcoholic solution of sodium acetate. The metallic oxide removes the last
atom of chlorine from the sodium chloroxyanthranilate, and converts it,
like the dichloranthraquinine, into alizarin. The purification is effected
by means of benzine, petroleum, &c., which dissolve out the foreign
matters, and by successive precipitation from the alkaline solutions by
mineral acids. The foreign matters may also be separated by means of a
little alum, when it is necessary to work with neutral potash or soda
salts.

Another method for the preparation of alizarin has been patented by Dale
and Schorlemmer. It is as follows: 1 part of anthracen is boiled with 4 to
10 parts of strong sulphuric acid, then diluted with water, and the
solution neutralised with carbonate of calcium, barium, potassium, or
sodium. The resulting sulphates having been removed by nitration or
crystallisation, the solution is heated to between 180 deg. and 260 deg. with
caustic potash or soda, to which a quantity of potassium nitrate or
chlorate has been added, about equal in weight to the anthracen, as long
as a blue-violet colour is thereby produced. From this product the
alizarin is separated in the usual way by precipitation with an acid.
Several other patents have been taken out for the preparation of
artificial alizarin.

The specification of Messrs Caro, Graebe, and Liebermann, and dated June
25th, 1869, was the first which was taken out in England. We quote it here
because it enters more fully into detail than any of the others.

"Our invention is carried into effect by means of either of the two
processes which we will proceed to describe.

"In the one process we proceed as follows--We take about one part by
weight of anthraquinone and about three parts by weight of sulphuric acid
of about specific gravity of 1.488, and introduce the same into a retort,
which may be made of glass, or porcelain, or of any other material not
easily acted upon by sulphuric acid, and the contents are then to be
heated up to about 260 deg. Centigrade, and the temperature is maintained
until the mixture is found no longer to contain any appreciable quantity
of unaltered anthraquinone. The completion of this operation may be
ascertained or tested by withdrawing a small portion of the product from
time to time, and continuing the operation at the high temperature until
such product upon being diluted with water is found to form a
substantially perfect solution, thereby indicating that the anthraquinone
has become either entirely or in greater part converted into the desired
product. The products thus obtained are then allowed to cool, and are
diluted with water; carbonate of lime is then added in order to neutralise
and remove the excess of sulphuric acid contained in the solution; the
mixture is then filtered, and to the filtrate carbonate of potash, or
carbonate of soda, by preference in solution, is to be added until
carbonate of lime is no longer precipitated; the mixture is then filtered,
and the clear solution is evaporated to dryness, by which means the potash
or soda salts of the sulpho-acids of anthraquinone are obtained, and which
are to be treated in the following manner:--We take about one part by
weight of this product, and from two to three parts by weight of solid
caustic, soda, or potash; water may be added or not, but by preference we
add as much water as is necessary to dissolve the alkali after admixture;
we heat the whole in a suitable vessel, and the heating operation is
continued at a temperature of from about 180 deg. to 260 deg. Centigrade, for
about one hour, or until a portion of the mixture is found upon
withdrawing and testing it to give a solution in water, which being
acidulated with an acid, for example, sulphuric acid, will give a copious
precipitate of the colouring matters. The heating operation having been
found to have been continued for a sufficient time, the resulting products
are then dissolved in water, and we either filter or decant the solution
of the same, from which we precipitate the colouring matters or artificial
alizarin, by means of a mineral or organic acid, such, for example, as
sulphuric or acetic acid. The precipitated colouring matters thus obtained
are collected in a filter or otherwise, and after having been washed may
be employed for the purpose of dyeing and printing, either in the same way
as preparations of madder are now used or otherwise.

"In carrying out our other process we proceed as follows:--We take about
one part by weight of anthracene and about four parts by weight of
sulphuric acid of specific gravity of about 1.848, and the mixture being
contained in a suitable vessel, is heated to a temperature of about 100 deg.
Centigrade, and which temperature is to be maintained for the space of
about three hours; the temperature is then to be raised to about 150 deg.
Centigrade, which temperature is to be maintained for about one hour, or
until a small portion of the product when submitted to the two subsequent
processes hereinafter described is found to produce the desired colouring
matters; we then allow the result obtained by this operation to cool, and
dilute it with water, by preference in the proportion of about three times
its weight. To the solution thus obtained we add for every part of
anthracene by weight which had been employed in the previous operations,
from about two to three parts by weight of peroxide of manganese,
preferring to employ an excess, and we boil the whole strongly for some
time, and in order fully to ensure the desired degree of oxidation the
mixture may be subsequently concentrated, and by preference be evaporated
to dryness, and the heat be continued until a small portion of the
oxidised product, when submitted to the subsequent processes hereinafter
described will produce the desired colouring matters. We then neutralise
and remove the sulphuric acid contained in this mixture, and at the same
time precipitate any oxides of manganese that may be held in solution, by
adding an excess of caustic lime, which we use by preference in the form
of milk of lime, and we add the same until the mixture has an alkaline
reaction. We then filter, and add to the filtrate carbonate of potash or
soda, until there is no further precipitation of carbonate of lime. The
solution is then filtered and evaporated to dryness, and we thus obtain
the potash or soda salts of what we call the sulpho-acids of
anthraquinone.

"In effecting the conversion of the oxidised products thus obtained into
colouring matters, or into what we call artificial alizarin, we proceed as
follows:--We take one part by weight of this product, and from two to
three parts by weight of solid caustic soda or potash, and water may be
added or not, but by preference we add as much water as may be necessary
to dissolve the alkali. After admixture we heat the whole in a suitable
vessel, and continue the heating operation at a temperature of about 180 deg.
to about 260 deg. Centigrade for about one hour, or until a portion of the
mixture is found to give a solution in water, which upon acidulation with
an acid, for example, sulphuric acid, is found to give a copious
precipitate of the colouring matters. The heating operation having been
found to have been continued for a sufficient time, we then dissolve the
product in water, and either filter or decant the solution of the same,
from which we precipitate the colouring matters or artificial alizarin by
means of a mineral or organic acid, such, for example, as sulphuric or
acetic acid. The precipitated colouring matters thus obtained are
collected on a filter or otherwise, and after having been washed may be
employed for the purpose of dyeing and printing, either in the same way as
preparations of madder are now used or otherwise.

"Instead of acting upon anthracen by means of sulphuric acid of the
density before mentioned, fuming sulphuric acid may be employed, but we
prefer to use the ordinary kind before described.

"In order to effect the process of oxidation, before referred to, other
oxidising agents may be used in the place of the oxide of manganese,
before mentioned, such, for example, as perioxide of lead, or chromic,
nitric, or other acids capable of effecting the desired oxidation may be
employed."

Mr W. H. Perkin's patent is similar in principle to that of Messrs Caro,
Graebe, and Liebermann, and is dated only one day later.

The following is an outline of a patent taken out in France in May, 1869,
by MM. Br[oe]nner and Gutzkon, for the manufacture of artificial alizarin.
One part of anthracen is heated with two parts of nitric acid, sp. gr. 1.3
to 1.5. The anthraquinone thus produced is washed and dissolved at a
moderate heat in sulphuric acid. Mercuric nitrate is now added, which
converts the anthraquinone into alizarin, The mass thus formed is
dissolved in an excess of alkali, which precipitates the oxide of mercury,
and retains the colouring matters in solution. The alkaline liquor is
decanted and neutralised with sulphuric acid, and the precipitate thus
formed is washed and collected. If not quite pure the treatment with
alkali must be repeated. (The complete specification of this patent is
published in the 'Moniteur Scientifique,' vol. xi, p. 865.)

In England a large quantity of artificial alizarin is manufactured by the
process of Mr Perkin, and is used as a substitute for madder and madder
extract, in Turkey red dyeing and topical styles. The largest makers of
artificial alizarin on the continent are Messrs Gessert Freres, of
Ebelfort, Messrs Maister, Lucius and Co., of Haechst, near Frankfort, and
the Badische Anilin und Soda Fabric, Mannheim.

The following recipes for printing with artificial alizarin are extracted
from Mr Crookes' 'Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico Printing':

        REDS.

  5 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
  16 lbs. thickening;
  1 lb. acetate of alumina, at 15 deg. Tw.;
  1/2 lb. acetate of lime, at 25 deg. Tw.

        PINKS.

The above diluted with 2 or 3 parts of thickening.

For double printing, when deep red is printed on first, the goods must be
steamed one hour before the second printing takes place. After the second
printing the goods are again steamed for one hour, and aged for
twenty-four hours; they are then passed through one of the following
baths, at from 120 to 140 F., remaining in the bath not longer than 1 to
1-1/2 minute:--

  250 gals. water;
  60 lbs. chalk;
  3 lbs. tin crystals.

  Or, 250 gals. water;
  40 lbs. chalk;
  10 lbs. arseniate of soda.

The goods are then washed, and cleaned as follows:--

Take, for 10 pieces of fifty yards each,--

  1st. Soaping at 120 deg. F., 3 lbs. soap;
  1/4 lb. tin crystals.
  2nd. Soaping at 160 deg. F., 3 lbs. soap;
  3rd. Soaping at 175 deg. F., 3 lbs. soap.
  Wash between each soaping.

        RED FOR MOSAICS.

  8 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
  10 quarts thickening;
  9-1/2 oz. nitrate of alumina, at 23 deg. Tw.;
  19 oz. acetate of alumina, at 15 deg. Tw.;
  13 oz. acetate of lime, at 25 deg. Tw.

  Or, 10 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
  10 quarts thickening;
  13 oz. nitrate of alumina, at 23 deg. Tw.;
  19 oz. acetate of alumina, at 15 deg. Tw.;
  16 oz. acetate of lime, at 25 deg. Tw.

        ANOTHER RED WITHOUT OIL.

  8-1/2 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
  9-1/2 lbs. acetic acid, at 12 deg. Tw.;
  3-1/2 lbs. wheat flour;
  5  pints water.

Boil well and stir till cold; then add--

  1 lb. acetate of lime, at 29 deg. Tw.;
  2 lbs. nitrate of alumina, at 23 deg. Tw.;
  3 lbs. hyposulphite of lime, at 13 deg. Tw.

        PURPLE.

  3 lbs. alizarin paste (10 per cent.);
  10 quarts purple thickening;
  6  oz. pyrolignite of lime, at 18 deg. Tw.;
  12 oz. acetate of lime, at 25 deg. Tw.

The printed goods are steamed for an hour or two, and then aged from
twenty-four to thirty-six hours. They are then padded in the chalk and
arseniate of soda bath; after which they are washed and soaped in a single
soap-bath without tin crystals; and, if needful, cleaned in a weak
solution of bleaching powder.

        THICKENING FOR REDS.

  12 lbs. wheat starch;
  40 quarts water;
  4 quarts acetic acid, 9^{9} Tw.;
  1-1/4 lbs. gum tragacanth;
  2 lbs. olive oil.

Boil well together, and stir till cold.

        THICKENING FOR PURPLE.

  10 lbs. starch;
  27 quarts water;
  3 quarts acetic acid;
  1-1/8 lbs. gum tragacanth;
  2 lbs. olive oil.

Boil well together, and stir till cold.

The mordants in the above recipes are prepared as fellows:

        ACETATE OF ALUMINA.

Stir 30 lbs. of hydrate of alumina into six quarts of acetic acid, warm,
filter, and reduce to the specific gravity required.

The hydrate of alumina is prepared by dissolving 72 lbs. of alum in 100
gals. of water, and 62 lbs. soda in 100 gals. of water. The two solutions
are mixed, this precipitate is washed eight times by decantation,
collected on a filter and pressed. It must be dissolved on the filter
before it gets dry.

  NITRATE OF ALUMINA.
  2 lbs. nitrate of lead;
  2 lbs. alum;
  2 quarts water.

Dissolve and filter off the liquid from the precipitate, and dilute to
proper standard.

The reds are turned more yellow by nitrate than by acetate of alumina, and
when the former is used more acetate of lime is taken in addition.

        ACETATE OF LIME.

A solution of acetate of lime at 25 deg. Tw. contains 25 per cent. of acetate
of lime; generally 1/10th of the weight of alizarin paste is required; but
with a fresh quantity of alizarin it is safer to ascertain, on a small
scale, the amount needed.

        BROWN.

  13-1/4 lbs. alizarin paste (15 per cent.);
  9 quarts thickening;
  2 lbs. nitrate of alumina, at 29 deg. Tw.;
  15 oz. acetate of alumina, at 19 deg. Tw.;
  15 oz. red prussiate potash, dissolved in
      water;
  1 lb. 1 oz. acetate of lime, at 29 deg. Tw.

To obtain a yellower shade, for every quart of mixed colour, 1 oz. bark
liquor, at 30 deg. Tw., may be added.

Old spoiled red colours may be advantageously used for browns by adding
per quart, 3/4 oz. to 1 oz. red prussiate, dissolved in water.

=ALKALI.= _Syn._ ALKALI, Fr.; LANGENSALZ, Ger. This word has been used in
various senses, but is now usually applied to four substances only, viz.
the hydrates of potassium, sodium, lithium, and ammonium (the latter being
supposed to exist in the aqueous solution of ammonia). In a more general
sense it is applied to the hydrates of barium, strontium, and calcium,
which, for the sake of distinction, are called the alkaline earths. The
following properties are characteristic of the alkalies:--(1) They are
soluble in water, the alkalies proper more so than the alkaline earths.
(2) They change the hue of many vegetable colouring matters; thus, they
turn reddened litmus blue, yellow turmeric brown, and syrup of violets and
infusion of red cabbage green. (3) They neutralise the strongest acids.
(4) They precipitate most of the heavy metals from solutions of their
salts as hydrates or oxides. (5) They saponify the fixed oils and fats.
(6) They exert a caustic or corrosive action on animal and vegetable
substances.

=ALKALI ACTS.= The principal alkali Act is the 26 and 27 Vict., c. 24,
amended by 37 and 38 Vict., c. 43, the amended Act having come into
operation in 1875.

Every alkali work must be carried on so as to ensure the condensation of
not less than 95% of muriatic acid evolved therein; and it must be so
condensed that in each cubic foot of air, smoke, or chimney gases,
escaping from the works into the atmosphere, there is not contained more
than one fifth part of a grain of muriatic acid. Penalty for first
conviction, L50; for second and other offences, L100, or less (26 and 27
Vict., c. 124, s. 4; 37 and 38 Vict., c. 43, s. 4).

The owner of every alkali work is also bound "to use the best practicable
means of preventing the discharge into the atmosphere of all other noxious
gases arising from such work; or of rendering such gases harmless when
discharged."

The noxious gases are defined to be sulphuric acid, sulphurous acid
(except that arising from the combustion of coals), nitric acid, or other
noxious oxides of nitrogen, sulphuretted hydrogen and chlorine (37 and 38
Vict., c. 43, ss. 5 and 8).

The owner is liable for any offence against the Alkali Acts, unless he
prove that the offence was committed by some agent, servant, or workman,
and without his knowledge, in which case the agent, &c., is liable (26 and
27 Vict., c. 124, s. 5).

Every alkali work must be registered; penalty for neglect L5 per day
(ibid., s. 6).

Powers are given to owners to make special rules for the guidance of their
workmen (ibid. s. 13).

=ALKALIM'ETRY.= _Syn._ ALKALIME'TRIA, L.; ALCALIMETRIE, Fr. In
_chemistry_, the estimation of the strength of the commercial alkalies;
the art or process of determining the quantity or proportion of pure
caustic alkali, or of its carbonate, in any given sample or simple
solution. It is the reverse of 'acidimetry,' and it should be understood
that it does not apply to alkalies occurring under any other form or
condition than those just mentioned. Alkalimetric assays are now also
frequently and conveniently extended to the estimation of the alkaline
earths and their carbonates, as hereafter noticed.

_Alkalimetrical processes._ These, like those of 'acidimetry,' are for
the most part founded on--the capacity of the bases to saturate acids--the
estimation of the quantity of dry carbonic acid liberated from a given
weight of an alkaline carbonate under the influence of a stronger acid;
and, in the case of the pure alkalies, the sp. gr. of their solutions.
From any one of these results the exact amount of alkali, or of alkaline
carbonate, present in a sample, is easily found or calculated. These
processes are, indeed, precisely similar to those described under
ACIDIMETRY; but here the unknown quantity sought is the alkali, instead of
the acid.

_Assay._ The SAMPLE is drawn from as near the centre of the cask
containing the alkali as possible, and at once placed in a wide-mouthed
bottle, which is then closely corked up and numbered. Before proceeding to
the assay, the contents of the bottle are thrown on a piece of dry paper,
the lumps crushed small, and the whole reduced to coarse powder as rapidly
as possible. The number of grains required for the trial are then at once
weighed, placed in a phial or small glass tube, and agitated with about
1/2 oz. of hot water. After a short time allowed for repose, the clear
liquid is poured off into a beaker-glass or other vessel in which the
trial is to be made. This process is repeated with a second and a third
quantity of water, or until nothing soluble remains, shown by the last
washings not affecting the colour of turmeric paper. The greatest care
must here be taken not to waste the smallest portion of the liquid, which
would render the results inaccurate.

To the solution in the beaker-glass a little solution of litmus is added,
unless the acid is tinted with it when it is unnecessary. The solution is
now heated until near its boiling point, and a piece of white paper or
porcelain put behind it, to better show up the changes of colour. The
alkaline solution is now treated with the standard test-acid, which is
poured carefully from an alkalimeter or Mohr's burette, until the
solution, after turning a purple red, suddenly assumes a pink colour.
Neutralisation being thus effected, the operator allows the sides of the
alkalimeter or burette to drain, and then either 'reads off' the number of
divisions which have been consumed, or (if using the test-acid by weight)
determines the quantity by again weighing the alkalimeter. The common
practice is to allow two drops (= 1/5th of an alkalimetrical division by
VOLUME, or 2 gr. by WEIGHT) for over-saturation, which is, therefore,
deducted from the 'observed quantity' of the test-liquor employed.

In testing solutions of the PURE or CAUSTIC ALKALIES, the colour, on
neutralisation, suddenly changes from blue to pink or red, without any
intermediate vinous or purple colour being produced.

The quantity of test-acid used gives the absolute or per-centage
composition of the sample examined, according to the constitution of the
test-acid used.

_Standard Acids._ The various test-acids in use as described below, each
being used by different operators as they think best.

The most convenient test-acid, or normal solution, both for commercial and
chemical assays, is perhaps dilute sulphuric acid, which, when intended to
be used VOLUMETRICALLY, has the sp. gr. 1.032 at 60 deg. Fahr., and contains
in 100 alkalimetrical divisions 1000 water-grains measure, or 1 litre,
exactly 49 gr. (or grammes) of sulphuric acid; and when intended to be
used GRAVIMETRICALLY, or by weight, has the sp. gr. 1.033, and contains in
1000 gr. (or grammes) weight exactly 49 gr. (grammes) of sulphuric acid;
and, in both cases, consequently corresponds to 1 equiv. of every other
base. These dilute acids are easily prepared by mixing 1 part of the
concentrated acid with 11 or 12 parts of distilled water; the precise
quantity depending on the strength of the acid employed, and must be so
arranged that 1000 grains shall exactly neutralise 1000 grains of water
containing 53 grains of pure anhydrous sodium carbonate.

This acid (as well as all those hereafter mentioned) may be kept faintly
tinged with litmus, which is often more convenient than tinging the
alkaline solution at the time of making the assay.

It will at once be seen that every alkalimeter division of the first of
the above acids, and every 10 gr. of the second, represent the 1/100th
part, or 1% of alkali whenever the equivalent weight[18] of the latter is
taken for the assay. Every 1-10th part of an alkalimeter-division (or
every drop), and every grain weight (when a Schuester's alkalimeter is
employed) then respectively represents the 1/10 of 1%; and the result
sought is obtained without the necessity of any calculation.

[Footnote 18: See Table II, at the end of this article.]

This is obvious--for if the equivalent of a pure alkali or of
its carbonate (_i. e._ one of 100%) requires an equiv. (100
alkalimeter-divisions, or 1000 gr.) of test-acid to saturate it, an alkali
or alkaline carbonate of 75%, 50%, or 25%, will respectively require only
75, 50, or 25 divisions, or 750, 500, or 250 gr.; and so of other
strengths in proportion. The only precaution necessary is always to take
the standard weight for the assay answering to the equiv. of the
denomination of the per-centage result sought. Thus, in testing a
carbonate of potash, we may either wish to determine its per-centage
richness in 'dry carbonate,' or in 'pure potassa,' the latter being
usually the case. To obtain the first, we must take 69 gr. for the assay;
and to obtain the second, 47 gr. With _CAUSTIC ALKALIES_, or mixtures
containing them, the weight, in grains, taken for the assay, must always
correspond to the equiv. of the pure base. See Table II, at the end of
this article.

In _commercial assays_, when 100 gr. (or some aliquot part thereof) are
taken for trial, the per-centage result is obtained from the number of
alkalimeter-divisions, or the number of grains, of the test-acid consumed,
by the common Rule of Proportion. Thus:--A crude sample of potash having
taken 90 alkalimeter-divisions of test-acid to neutralise it, would
contain--

  100 : 47 :: 90 : 42.30%

or nearly 42-1/3 per cent. of pure potassa. If only 50, 25, or 20 gr. are
tested, the result must, of course, be double, quadruple, &c., as the case
may be. Or the third term of the proportion may be multiplied by the
denominator of the fraction representing the aliquot part. This, in the
case of 50 gr. (repeating the above example), would be--

  10 : 47 :: 45 x 2 : 42.30%

as before; but even these easy calculations may be simplified, as is shown
below.

One of the advantages, and not the least, attending the use of test-acids
corresponding to equivalents, is, that by means of the simple Rule of
Three, the per-centage quantity of alkali may be found whether 100 or any
other number of grains have been submitted to trial. For--The weight of
the sample tested (in grains) bears the same relation to the equivalent
weight of the alkali under examination, that the number of
alkalimeter-divisions or of the grains of test-acid consumed do to the
per-centage of alkali sought. Thus, with a sample of 33 gr. of pearlash
taking 35 alkalimeter-divisions or 350 grains (every 10 gr. being = 1%) of
test-acid for neutralisation, this would be--

  33 : 47 :: 35 : 49.85%

or nearly 50 per cent. of pure potassa. By substituting the equiv. of the
dry carbonate of potash (69), for that of pure potassa used above, the
quantity of that article corresponding to the same weight of the pure
alkali may be at once found. Repeating the last example this will be--

  33 : 69 :: 35 : 73.18%

or nearly 73-1/4 per cent. The same applies to all the alkaline bases and
their carbonates.

For commercial purposes, there is used, amongst others, an empirical
solution, as a test-acid for potassa, soda, and ammonia, to save the
necessity of calculation.

This is dilute sulphuric acid having a sp. gr. of about 1.071; 100
alkalimeter-divisions (1000 water-grains measure) exactly saturate 100 gr.
of pure potassa, or 113 gr. of anhydrous carbonate of soda. The number of
measures consumed, read off by mere inspection from the scale of the
alkalimeter, gives the exact per-centage of alkali in the sample examined,
for POTASH; and by multiplying it by .66, that for SODA also. By employing
.362 as the multiplier, it gives the like result for AMMONIA. In fact,
occasionally, in order to save the necessity of any calculation, two
'test-acids' are frequently employed--the one for potash and the other for
soda.

These are made by diluting sulphuric acid to a sp. gr. of near 1.071 and
1.086 respectively; 1000 grains, by measure, of the first neutralising
exactly 100 grains of pure potassa, or 113 of pure anhydrous soda
carbonate, and the latter neutralising exactly 100 grains of pure soda, or
171 gr. of pure anhydrous sodium carbonate.

There is another system of preparing standard acids by means of a
Faraday's alkalimeter. A strong acid is prepared by diluting sulphuric
acid to a sp. gr. of 1.1268 at 60 deg., and 455.7 grains exactly neutralise
100 of anhydrous carbonate of soda.

The glass tube here referred to, and known as Faraday's ALKALIMETER, is
graduated centesimally, in the usual manner; but opposite the numbers
22.1, 48.62, 54.43, and 65, are cut the words 'soda,' 'potassa,'
'carbonate of soda,' and 'carbonate of potassa,' to indicate the quantity
of the test-acid to be employed for each of these substances. (See
_engr._) It is used by pouring the test-liquor into it until it reaches
the line marked against the alkali, or carbonate, under examination, the
remaining divisions being filled up with pure water, and the whole well
mixed by placing the thumb on the orifice of the tube and shaking it well.
The measure of the resulting dilute acid must then be very carefully
observed, and more water added, if required, to bring it up to the zero
(0) or 1000 gr. on the scale; careful agitation being again employed as
before. The test-acid thus prepared is then added, with the usual
precautions, to the sample until exact neutralisation is effected. The
quantity consumed for this purpose, read off from the graduated scale,
expresses the exact per-centage of the pure ALKALI, or of its CARBONATE,
as the case may be, contained in the sample examined, provided 100 gr.
have been taken for the assay.

[Illustration]

Another method sometimes used is that of M. Mohr, and practised as
follows:--The alkaline solution, slightly  blue with litmus, is
strongly super-saturated with a standard acid (sulphuric or oxalic) of
known strength, supplied from an alkalimeter in the usual manner; the last
traces of carbonic anhydride being removed by boiling, shaking, blowing
into the flask, and, finally, sucking out the air. A standard solution of
caustic soda (of a strength exactly corresponding to that of the test-acid
already used) is now cautiously added, drop by drop, until the colour,
rendered yellowish-red by the acid, just appears of a light blue. The
difference between the quantity of the solution of the test-alkali and of
the test-acid consumed, expresses the exact quantity of acid neutralised
by the alkali, and hence also its strength.

Besides the above methods, the alkaline carbonates are analysed, by the
loss of carbonic anhydride (carbonic acid) they suffer, by being
decomposed by a strong acid. The best method in use is that of MM.
Fresenius and Will, and depends on the same principle, and is performed in
a similar manner and in a similar apparatus to that described under
ACIDIMETRY; the only difference being that here the uses of the small tube
(_e_) is dispensed with, and that the alkali is tested under the form of
carbonate, instead of bicarbonate.

_Oper._ The smaller flask (_B_) is about half filled with concentrated
sulphuric acid, and the sample of alkali, in solution (under the form of
carbonate), being placed in the larger flask (_A_), water is added until
it is about one third full. The tubes are then fitted into the apparatus
quite air-tight; the end of the tube (_b_) is fastened with a piece of
wax, and the whole is very carefully weighed. The apparatus is now removed
from the scales, and a perforated cork, or a small piece of india-rubber
tube, being temporarily applied to the end of the tube (_h_), a few
bubbles of air are sucked out of the flask (_B_) by means of the lips; the
consequence of which is, that on removing the mouth the acid in (_B_)
ascends to a certain height in the tube (_c_). If in a short time this
little column of liquid maintains its height in the tube, it is a proof
that the apparatus is perfectly air-tight, and as it should be. Suction is
now again cautiously applied to the tube (_h_) and a little of the acid in
(_B_) made to flow over into the flask (_A_), the quantity being
proportionate to the vacuum produced by suction, and capable of being
regulated at will. No sooner does the acid come into contact with the
carbonate in the flask (_A_) than the evolution of carbonic acid
commences, and this, from the construction of the apparatus, having to
pass through the concentrated sulphuric acid, is rendered quite dry before
it can escape by the tube (_d_) into the atmosphere. Whenever the
effervescence flags, a little more acid is sucked over, until the whole of
the carbonate is decomposed; after which an additional quantity is made to
pass into (_A_), so as to raise the temperature considerably, for the
purpose of expelling all the gas absorbed by the fluid during the
operation. As soon as this is effected, the wax is removed from the
aperture (_b_), and suction applied to (_h_), until all the carbonic acid
in the apparatus is replaced by atmospheric air. The whole is now allowed
to cool, and (together with the piece of wax removed) is again accurately
weighed. The loss of weight gives the exact amount of dry carbonic
anhydride, or anhydrous carbonic acid, which was contained in the
specimen, from which the weight of PURE ALKALI is readily estimated, as
every 22 gr. of dry carbonic acid gas evolved represents exactly 31 gr. of
pure SODA, 47 gr. of pure POTASSA, &c. &c.; these numbers being the
equivalents of the respective substances from which the per-centage
strength may be found by the rule of proportion, as before explained.

Thus, in the case of a 100-gr. sample of carbonate of soda which has lost
15-1/4 gr. of carbonic acid, by the assay, this would be--

  22 : 31 :: 15-1/4 : 21.48%

or nearly 21-1/2 per cent. of pure soda. If 53, the equiv. of anhydrous
carbonate of soda, be taken, instead of 31 (the eq. of pure soda), the
answer would have been, in the terms of that substance, 36.748%, or nearly
36-3/4 per cent. When an aliquot part of 100 gr. has been taken for the
assay, either the result, or the third term of the proportion, must, of
course, he multiplied by the denominator and divided by the numerator of
the fraction representing such aliquot part.

By multiplying the weight of carbonic anhydride lost, by the numbers
opposite the names of the respective alkalies and their carbonates in the
second column of the following _Table_ the equivalent per-centage value of
the carbonates examined may be obtained in terms corresponding to the
various denominations named therein, when 100 gr., or any aliquot part of
100 gr., have been tested; the result, in the latter case, being, of
course, multiplied as before.

By taking certain standard weights for the assay, the quantity of carbonic
acid evolved may be made to furnish the per-centage strength or value of
the specimen in the terms of either the pure or carbonated alkalies,
whether in their anhydrous or hydrated state. The numbers in the second
column of the following _Table_ represent the quantity in grains and
decimal parts of each of the substances named in the first column,
equivalent to one grain of carbonic anhydride. These numbers, as already
mentioned, may be employed as factors for converting any numbers
representing grains of that acid into the equivalents of these substances,
true to 4 places of decimals; and further, they furnish us with the data
for determining the exact number of grains which must be tested, so that
the loss of weight in carbonic anhydride shall at once give us the
per-centage richness of the sample in the terms of the denomination for
which it is taken. The numbers in the third column of the _Table_, formed
by simply moving the decimal point of the numbers in the second column one
figure further to the right, indicate the weights to be taken for the
assay, so that the loss of weight, reckoned in tenths of a grain, exactly
represents the per-centage strength in the terms sought. The weights
corresponding to the numbers in the fifth column give the same results,
provided the loss of weight is reckoned in quarter-grains; those in the
sixth column effect the same when the loss of weight is reckoned in
half-grains; whilst those in the last column require that the gas
eliminated should be counted in grains, and are simply the numbers in the
second column of the _Table_ multiplied by 100, or reproduced by moving
the decimal point two figures to the right.

        TABLE I.--_Multipliers and Standard Weights for the
        Principal Alkalies and their Carbonates._ (COOLEY.)

KEY:

    A - Factors or Multipliers for converting the weight of carbonic
        acid expelled into real strengths.
    B - Quantity (in grains) to be taken, so that the per-centage
        value of the sample tested shall be shown in the terms of
        any of the denominations given, by the weight of the evolved
        Carbonic Acid reckoned--
    C - in tenths of a grain.
    D - Whole numbers and decimals.
    E - Nearest common numbers.
    F - in quarter-grains.
    G - in half-grains.
    H - in grains.

  -----------------------+-------+-------------------------------------------+
                         |       |                    B                      |
                         |       |--------------------^----------------------+
           NAMES, &c     |       |      C        |         |        |        |
                         |       |------^--------|         |        |        |
                         |   A   |   D  |   E    |    F    |    G   |   H    |
  -----------------------+-------+------+--------+---------+--------+--------+
  AMMONIA                |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (pure, gaseous)        | .77273| 7.727| 7-3/4  | 19-1/3  | 38-5/8 | 77-3/0 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of ammonia   |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (neutral, anhydrous)   |1.77273|17.727|17-3/4  | 44-5/16 | 88-5/8 |177-1/4 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of ammonia   |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (neutral,              |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  crystallised)          |1.9773 |19.773|19-3/4  | 49-7/16 | 98-7/8 |197-3/4 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Sesquicarbonate of     |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  ammonia (translucent)  |2.6818 |26.818|26-13/16| 67-1/10 |134-1/10|268-1/5 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Bicarbonate of ammonia |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (crystallised)         |3.5909 |35.909|35-9/10 | 89-13/16|179-5/8 |359-1/10|
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  POTASSA (anhydrous)    |2.1364 |21.364|21-1/2  | 53-1/2  |107     |213-3/8 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Hydrate of potassa     |2.54546|25.455|25-5/11 | 63-5/8  |127-1/4 |254-1/2 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of potassa   |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (anhydrous)            |3.1364 |31.364|31-3/8  | 78-1/2  |157     |313-1/2 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of potassa   |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (granulated)           |3.7727 |37.727|37-1/2  | 94-3/10 |188-5/8 |377-1/4 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of potassa   |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (crystallised)         |3.9545 |39.545|39-5/8  | 99      |198     |395-1/2 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Bicarbonate of potassa |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (crystallised)         |4.5454 |45.454|45-1/2  |113-3/4  |227-1/2 |454-1/2 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  SODA (anhydrous)       |1.4091 |14.09 |14-1/10 | 35-1/4  | 70-1/2 |141     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Hydrate of soda        |1.8182 |18.182|18-1/5  | 45-1/2  | 91     |182     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of soda      |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (anhydrous)            |2.4091 |24.091|24-1/10 | 60-1/4  |120-1/2 |241     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Carbonate of soda      |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (crystallised)         |6.5    |65.   |65      |162-1/2  |325     |650     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Sesquicarbonate of soda|       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (dry; theoretical)     |2.9091 |29.091|29-1/10 | 72-1/2  |145     |290     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Sesquicarbonate of     |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  soda (Ph. L., 1836)    |3.7273 |37.273|37-1/4  | 93-1/4  |186-1/2 |373     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Sesquicarbonate of     |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  soda (average          |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  commercial)            |3.7954 |37.954|38      | 94-7/8  |189-3/4 |379-1/2 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  Bicarbonate of soda    |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  (crystallised)         |3.8182 |38.182|38-1/5  | 95-1/2  |191     |382     |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  LITHIA (pure,          |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  anhydrous)             | .6818 | 6.818| 6-13/16| 17-1/20 | 34-1/10| 68-1/5 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  BARYTA (pure,          |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  caustic)               |3.4773 |34.773|34-4/5  | 86-7/8  |173-7/8 |347-3/4 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  LIME (pure, caustic)   |1.2727 |12.727|12-3/4  | 31-3/4  | 63-5/8 |127-1/4 |
                         |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  MAGNESIA (pure,        |       |      |        |         |        |        |
  anhydrous)             | .90909| 9.091| 9-1/11 | 22-3/4  | 45-1/2 | 91     |
  -----------------------+-------+------+--------+---------+--------+--------+

In this ingenious method of alkalimetry it is absolutely necessary that
the whole of the alkali in the specimen tested should be in the state of
neutral carbonate. If a sample of potash contains any caustic alkali (as
the potashes and pearlash of commerce generally do), Fresenius and Will
direct it, previously to being tested, to be triturated with its own
weight of pure quartzose sand, and about one third of its weight of
carbonate of ammonia; and the resulting mixture, placed in a small iron
capsule, or a porcelain crucible, to be moistened with water, and exposed
to a gentle heat until it becomes quite dry, and all the ammonia is
expelled. If the sample contains any bicarbonate or sesquicarbonate, it
must be heated to dull redness before being placed in the apparatus and
tested. In the case of crude soda (particularly soda ash), the proportion
of carbonate of ammonia should be equal to at least one half the quantity
operated on. With both alkalies, if the sample contains sulphides,
sulphites, or hyposulphites, the same method is to be followed, except
that solution of ammonia, instead of water, is to be employed for
moistening the powder. To remedy the error which would arise from the
apparent amount of carbonic anhydride liberated during the assay, being
swelled by the disengagement of 'sulphuretted hydrogen' or sulphurous acid
from these substances, a small quantity of neutral (_i. e._ yellow)
chromate of potash may be added to the alkaline solution in the flask
(_A_); by which they will be converted into sulphates, sulphur, and water,
which will remain in the apparatus, the carbonic acid only being evolved.
"As most sorts of soda of commerce contain one or other of the substances
(just) named, and as it is far more simple to add at once some chromate of
potassa to the soda solution, than to test the latter for either of the
three salts, it is always advisable to make it a rule, in the examination
of SODA, to add some chromate of potassa." (Fresenius.)

If the sodium or other carbonate under analysis contains much chloride,
the addition of more sulphuric acid than necessary must be avoided, and
the carbonic anhydride expelled by gently heating over a warm bath, and
not by the addition of excess of acid.

[Illustration]

To obviate the difficulties, and to give greater precision and delicacy to
volumetrical assays, the instrument known as Mohr's ALKALIMETER, or Mohr's
BURETTE, and which is figured in the margin, may be employed. By means of
it the test-acid in the graduated tube (_a_) may be added to the alkaline
solution in (_f_), in any quantity at a time, however minute, by merely
pressing the handles of the clamp (_d_) with the thumb and finger. The
terminal tube (_e_) has its lower orifice very small, and it is connected
with the burette by means of a small piece of vulcanised india-rubber
tube, on which the clamp (_d_) acts. (See _engr._) The inner cylindrical
part of the arm (_b_) is lined with cork, to prevent injury to the glass
burette, and to hold it the more firmly.

Generally the alkali in the specimen examined may be in either the caustic
or carbonated state, or it may consist of any mixture of caustic alkali,
or carbonates; but it is absolutely necessary for accurate results, that
it should be free from sulphides, sulphites, and hyposulphites, as
sulphuric acid acts upon these substances as well as on carbonates. The
presence of chlorides does not interfere with the accuracy of the assay,
unless a higher degree of heat is employed than that necessary for the
expulsion of the absorbed carbonic acid. The SODA-ASH of commerce
generally contains all these substances besides common salt, sulphate of
soda, and insoluble matter, which do not interfere. Rough samples of
POT-ASHES and PEARL-ASH also generally contain some sulphides, though not
a large quantity. Various plans have been proposed to avoid this source of
error. The best is that of MM. Fresenius and Will, given above, in which
the value of the carbonates is estimated by their yield of carbonic
anhydride.

The difference between an assay of a sample of the unprepared alkali and
of another which has been treated as above, indicates the quantity of
impurities contained in them under the forms just referred to. The
presence of these substances in the commercial alkalies may be detected by
the following tests:--

_Sulphides._ The addition of sulphuric acid causes the evolution of an
odour like that of rotten eggs. The sample in solution yields a black
precipitate with acetate of lead. But the most delicate test is the
splendid violet-blue colour with nitro-prusside of sodium.

_Sulphites and Hyposulphites._ A solution of the alkali, insufficient for
saturation, being added to sulphuric acid tinged reddish yellow with
bichromate of potash, occasions a greenish tinge (owing to the formation
of oxide of chromium), when these are present. Hydrochloric acid added to
a clear solution, after some time, causes a turbidity and odour of
sulphurous anhydride.

_Chlorides_ yield a copious curdy precipitate with nitrate of silver,
soluble in ammonia, and reprecipitated by excess of nitric acid.

The amount of pure caustic alkali in a sample of alkali is best determined
by Fresenius's method, as follows:--The total amount of pure alkali, both
caustic and carbonated, expressed in per-cents. of carbonate of soda or
carbonate of potassa, is ascertained by any of the usual methods. The
apparent quantity of alkali per cent. is then determined, without previous
treatment of the sample with carbonate of ammonia, by the method of Will
and Fresenius (p. 86). The difference between the results indicates the
per-centage of dry caustic alkali present; or if the volumetric method be
in use, it can be often fairly estimated by adding the first portions of
the test-acid very gradually to the sample, carefully observing the
effect. When the effervescence at length commences the weight or measure
of the test-liquor expended shows the quantity of pure caustic alkali
under treatment (nearly). The result depends upon the fact, that little or
no carbonic-acid gas is expelled from the liquid on the addition of the
test-acid, until the caustic portion is very nearly neutralised.

The quantity of WATER or MOISTURE, per cent., present in an alkaline
carbonate, is indicated by the loss of weight which 100 gr. suffer on
gentle ignition in a loosely-covered iron dish or platinum crucible. So
also with samples containing caustic alkali, except that here the water of
hydration (= 1 equiv. = 9) is not expelled from the 'caustic' portion, and
must therefore be determined by calculation.

Other matters deserving the serious attention of the operator are--hitting
the exact point of neutralisation, and--preparing the test-acids of the
proper strength. The method of effecting the former correctly has been
already referred to in this article, and is also fully noticed under
ACETIMETRY and ACIDIMETRY.

_Test-acids_ may be very simply prepared by gradually diluting
concentrated sulphuric acid with water until it is reduced to the proper
strength; the dilution being made in a glass vessel containing a
'hydrostatic bead' exactly corresponding to the desired specific gravity
of the dilute acid. When the proper point is reached, and the mixture has
again acquired the normal temperature of 60 deg. Fahr., the bead rises from
the bottom of the vessel, and floats about indifferently in the middle of
the liquid. The sp. gr. may then he carefully ascertained by means of an
hydrometer or a specific gravity bottle; after which the strength must be
accurately determined by means of a standard solution of either pure
anhydrous carbonate of soda or pure caustic soda. An acid of any given
strength or saturating power may also be prepared in the following
manner:--49 parts of commercial sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol), sp. gr.
1.825, contain nearly 40 parts or 1 equiv. of anhydrous sulphuric acid; if
we, therefore, wish to prepare a dilute acid containing in every 1000
grains weight, or measure, exactly 1 equiv. of hydrated sulphuric acid, we
have only to make 49 gr. of such acid up to 100 gr. weight or measure with
pure water. After it has recovered the proper temperature, its sp. gr., or
rather its saturating power, must be carefully tried, and, if necessary,
readjusted. As, however, it very often happens that the oil of vitriol
employed is not so strong as that above referred to, it is better first to
test its strength with pure anhydrous carbonate of soda, and to calculate
the quantity required by the Rule of Proportion. Every 53 gr. of the dry
carbonate are equal to 40 gr. of 'dry sulphuric acid.' Suppose we find the
oil of vitriol to contain only 72% of hydrated acid, then--

  100 : 40 :: 72 : 55.55

or, instead of only 40 gr., fully 55-1/4 gr. will be required, which are
to be made up with water to 1000 gr., as before. Finally, the diluted acid
must be very carefully re-tested, and if found correct, at once put into a
well-stoppered bottle, and labelled, for use. Too much care cannot be
taken to ensure the test-liquid, whether for alkalies or acids, being of
the proper strength, of which the specific gravity alone is an
insufficient proof. In practice, so small a quantity only of test-acid as
that referred to above is, of course, seldom made; but as any larger
quantities are mere multiples of the smaller one, the necessary
proportions to be employed are easily calculated. The common plan is to
prepare one or more gallons or quantities of 10 lbs. each, and to preserve
the liquid in stoppered green glass 'Winchester-quart bottles,' so that it
may be always ready for use.

Although, as may be inferred from the text, sulphuric acid is generally
used as the standard acid, yet oxalic acid in pure crystals is recommended
by M. Mohr, and answers admirably, and is prepared and used exactly in the
same manner.

        TABLE II.--_Alkalimetrical Equivalents._

                                            Grains.
                                       { 17 AMMONIA (pure or gaseous).
                                       { 43-1/2 Carbonate of ammonia
                                       {                 (neutral, hydrated).
                                       { 59 Sesquicarbonate of ammonia
                                       {     (Ph. L.; translucent, hydrated).
                                       { 79   Bicarbonate of ammonia
                                       {                      (crystallised).
                                       { 47   POTASSA (anhydrous).
                                       { 56   Hydrate of potassa (pure
                                       {                    caustic potassa).
                                       { 69   Carbonate of potassa
                                       {                         (anhydrous).
                                       { 83      "           "   (granulated,
                                       {                         commercial).
                                       { 87      "           "
                                       {                      (crystallised).
                                       {100 Bicarbonate of potassa
                                       {                      (crystallised).
  Grains                               { 31 SODA (anhydrous).
    22 Carbonic anhydride   }          { 40 Hydrate of soda (pure caustic
           (dry).           }          {                               soda).
    63 Oxalic acid          }          { 53 Carbonate of soda (anhydrous).
           (crystallised).  }          {143     "          "  (crystallised).
    49 Sulphuric acid       }    are   { 84 Bicarbonate of soda
           (liquid,         }equivalent{                      (crystallised).
           monohydrated,    }   to     { 83-1/2 Sesquicarbonate of soda
           sp. gr. 1.8485). }          {                (average commercial).
    75 Tartaric acid        }          { 84 Bicarbonate of soda (crystals,
           (crystallised).  }          {                 or cryst. powder,
  1000 Dilute sulphuric acid}          {                 free from moisture).
           (sp. gr. 1.033). }          {                ============
                            }          {
  Water--gr. measure.       }          { 15 LITHIA.
  1000 Dilute sulphuric     }          { 24 Hydrate of lithia.
      acid (sp. gr. 1.032). }          { 37 Carbonate of lithia.
                                       {                ============
                                       { 76-1/2 BARYTA (pure, caustic).
                                       { 85-1/2 Hydrate of baryta.
                                       { 98-1/2 Carbonate of baryta.
                                       { 28 LIME (pure, caustic;
                                       {                 _i. e._ quick-lime).
                                       { 37 Hydrate of lime (slaked lime).
                                       { 50 Carbonate of lime
                                       {                     (chalk; marble).
                                       { 20 MAGNESIA (pure, calcined).
                                       { 42 Carbonate of magnesia (dry,
                                       {                            neutral).
                                       { 48-1/2  "          "     (ordinary
                                       {                          commercial).
                                       { 52 STRONIA (pure, caustic).
                                       { 61 Hydrate of strontia.
                                       { 74 Carbonate of strontia.

=ALKALOID.= _Syn._ VEGETABLE ALKALI, ORGANIC BASE; ALKALOIDES (_pl._,
-IDES, or -IDAE), L.; ALCALOIDE, ALCALI ORGANIQUE, Fr. In _chemistry_, a
name commonly given to any proximate principle of vegetable origin
possessing alkaline or basic properties, however feeble. In its most
extended sense the term embraces all organic bases, whether obtained from
the animal or vegetable kingdom, or produced artificially. The alkaloids
form a numerous and important class of bodies. They exist in nature nearly
always in the form of salts, the acid being often, like themselves,
peculiar to the plant, or class of plants, in which they are found; whilst
the medicinal activity of the latter, in most cases, almost entirely
depends on their presence.

_Prep._ The following general methods of procuring the alkaloids will be
found applicable to such as full directions are not given for under their
respective heads:--

1. (When the base is insoluble in water, non-volatile, and existing in the
plant in an insoluble form.) The bruised plant is boiled or macerated in
water acidulated with hydrochloric or acetic acid, and the liquor, after
filtration, is neutralised with an alkali (ammonia, potassa, lime, or
magnesia); the resulting precipitate is purified by re-solution in dilute
acid, digestion with a little animal charcoal, and subsequent
crystallisation, or re-precipitation with an alkali; or the first
precipitate is purified by dissolving it once, or, if necessary, several
times, in boiling alcohol, which yields the pure alkaloid either on
cooling or by evaporation.

2. (When the base is insoluble in water, and non-volatile, but existing in
the plant as a soluble salt.) The bruised or sliced plant is boiled or
macerated in water, and the filtered liquor precipitated and otherwise
treated as before.

3. (When the base is soluble in water, and non-volatile.) An infusion made
with very dilute acid, hydrochloric or acetic, is concentrated by a gentle
heat; and the residual liquor treated with potassa (or concentrated
solution of ammonia) and ether conjointly; after repose, the ethereal
solution is decanted and evaporated. For those alkaloids which are
insoluble in ether (as morphia and cinchonia), the previous process may be
adopted.

4. (When the base is both soluble in water and volatile.) The vegetable,
in a bruised or divided state, or its extract, is alkalised with potassa
and distilled; the distillate is neutralised with dilute oxalic or
sulphuric acid, and carefully evaporated to dryness; the residuum is next
digested in alcohol, and the resulting tincture agitated with potassa and
ether, the former being in quantity just sufficient to seize on all the
acid; lastly, the ethereal solution thus formed, on careful evaporation,
leaves the alkaloid nearly pure. It may be further purified by cautious
distillation.

As some of the alkaloids are soluble in excess of the alkaline
precipitant, over-saturation should be carefully avoided; or the
precipitant may be used under the form of carbonate or bicarbonate. When
lime and magnesia are employed, they are boiled for a few minutes with the
solution.

_Props._ Alcoholic or aqueous solutions of the alkaloids generally exhibit
an alkaline reaction with vegetable colours. Like the alkalies, also, they
combine with acids to form salts which, when dissolved in water, are
capable of producing the ordinary phenomena of saline double
decomposition. Their taste is usually intensely bitter.

The majority of the natural alkaloids contain carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen,
and oxygen, and are, at ordinary temperatures, solid, and not volatile
without decomposition. Some natural alkaloids contain carbon, hydrogen,
and nitrogen only; these are, for the most part, liquid at ordinary
temperatures, and can be distilled without decomposition. The greater
number of the artificial alkalies are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and
nitrogen; some, however, contain oxygen in addition. Alkaloids have also
been obtained artificially, in which nitrogen is replaced by phosphorus,
arsenic, antimony, or bismuth. Most of the alkaloids, as they are obtained
in the free state, correspond in function to ammonia, NH_{3}, rather than
to the fixed alkalies; that is to say, they form salts by direct union
with acids, without elimination of water or any other substance. In order
to make them strictly comparable to the fixed alkalies, they require, like
ammonia, the addition of water (H_{2}O) to their formulae; they may then be
considered as hydrates of compound radicles analogous to ammonium.

_Physiological action._ The alkaloids generally possess great medicinal
power; some of them act with terrific energy, and are the most violent
poisons with which we are acquainted. Perfectly pure aconitia is about 200
times more poisonous than arsenic, and at least 50 times more poisonous
than ordinary medicinal prussic acid. The greater number act on animals in
the same way as the plants which produce them, provided they are given in
proportionately small doses. Many of them, when judiciously administered,
are most valuable medicines.

_Pois., Ant., &c._ Some of the alkaloids act as narcotic or stupefying
poisons; others are classed with the narcotico-acrid poisons, or those
which produce both narcotism and irritation of the parts they touch. The
general symptoms produced by opium and its preparations may be taken as an
example of the former; those from aconite and strychnia, of the latter. In
large doses of the greater number, narcotism predominates; in smaller
ones, irritation; they are rarely coexistent.--_Treatm._ No common
antidote to the effects of this class of substances has yet been
discovered. The only safe treatment, of at all general application, is to
immediately clear the stomach by means of a strong and quick-acting emetic
(as sulphate of zinc), or the stomach-pump, and to administer copious and
continued draughts of astringent vegetable solutions (as of tannin,
nut-galls, oak-bark, or what is always at hand--very strong tea or
coffee). These may be followed by or combined with a smart purge of castor
oil, as soon as the stomach is thoroughly cleared of the poison. M.
Bouchardat strongly recommends a solution of iodine, 3 gr., and iodide of
potassium, 6 gr., in pure water, 16 fl. oz., in cases of poisoning by
OPIUM, ACONITE, COLCHICUM, DEADLY NIGHTSHADE, HEMLOCK, NUX VOMICA, &c., or
by the alkaloids obtained from them--ACONITINE, ATROPIA, COLCHICINA,
CONIA, MORPHIA, STRYCHNIA, &c., or their salts; but _not_ where foxglove
or digitalin has been taken. The stomach having been well emptied by an
emetic, the solution is to be given by wine-glassfuls for some time; the
vomiting being still encouraged during the early part of the
administration of the antidote. In the case of narcotics (as opium,
morphia, &c.), this is to be followed by the free use of a strong infusion
of coffee. According to Dr Garrod, purified animal charcoal is an
'excellent antidote' to many of the alkaloids, including those above
enumerated, when taken in poisonous doses; as it not merely absorbs them,
but, for the most part, renders them inert. To be serviceable it should be
recently prepared and fresh-burnt; and should be given in doses of about
an ounce at a time, diffused in warm or tepid water, and frequently
repeated. The vomiting which follows its use, owing to the warm water,
proves advantageous; but after a sufficient time may be lessened by
employing less water, or cooler or even cold water. Drowsiness, if
present, may be combated by the subsequent use of strong coffee or tea, as
before. We have seen this plan succeed in several cases.--_Lesions._
These, like the symptoms, vary. In some cases there are redness and
inflammation of the stomach and intestines, and turgescence of the vessels
of the lungs and brain; in others, these appearances are either slight or
wholly wanting. Wherever there has been much cerebral disturbance, traces
of congestion are usually discernible.

_Detec., Tests, &c._ The identification of the pure alkaloids is extremely
simple; but their detection, when combined with organic and colouring
matters, is a task of considerable difficulty. One or other of the
following plans may be adopted for this purpose:--

1. (Merck.) The matter under examination is digested, for several hours,
with concentrated acetic acid, added in sufficient quantity to produce a
strongly acid reaction; the fluid portion is then strained from the
insoluble matter, and the latter being washed with water acidulated with
acetic acid, the mixed liquors are gently evaporated to dryness in a water
bath; the residuum of the evaporation is boiled first with rectified
spirit, and next with rectified spirit acidulated with acetic acid; the
mixed liquors are again evaporated, the residuum redissolved or diluted
with distilled water, and carbonate of soda or potassa added to feebly
alkaline reaction, and the whole, after evaporation to the consistence of
a syrup, set aside to repose for 24 hours; it is now again diluted with
water, filtered, and the insoluble portion washed with cold distilled
water, and digested with concentrated acetic acid; this last solution is
diluted with distilled water, and decoloured with pure blood-charcoal (if
it be necessary); the fluid, either at once, or after cautious
evaporation, may then be tested for the alkaloids, in the usual manner.
The charcoal previously used should also be tested in the way described
below. This method answers admirably with all the NON-VOLATILE ALKALOIDS,
and may be applied to the stomach and viscera, and their contents, and to
food, &c., in cases of poisoning.

2. (Stas.) The suspected matter, in a finely divided state, is digested,
at 160 deg. to 165 deg. Fahr., with twice or thrice its weight of strong alcohol
acidulated (according to the quantity) with 1/2 dr. to 2 or 3 dr., or
more, of pure oxalic or tartaric acid. After a sufficient time, and when
the whole has become quite cold, it is thrown on a filter, and the
undissolved portion, after being squeezed dry, is washed with strong
alcohol. The mixed and filtered alcoholic liquids are then evaporated at a
temperature not exceeding 95 deg. Fahr., and, if no insoluble matter
separates, the evaporation is continued nearly to dryness;[19] but if
fatty or other insoluble matter separates during the process of
concentration, the concentrated fluid is passed through a moistened
filter, and the filtrate evaporated nearly to dryness, as before. The
residuum is next digested with absolute alcohol, in the cold, the
insoluble portion, after filtration, washed with alcohol, and the mixed
filtrates again evaporated in the air, or in vacuo. The acid residue is
now dissolved in a little distilled water, and bicarbonate of soda added
as long as effervescence ensues. To this mixture 4 or 5 times its volume
of ether is added, and after lengthened agitation (the bottle or tube
being held in a cold wet cloth), the whole is allowed to repose for a
short time. A little of the supernatant ether is now removed to a small
glass capsule or watch-glass, and allowed to evaporate spontaneously.[19]
When this leaves oily streaks upon the glass, which gradually collect into
a small drop, which emits, when gently heated, a disagreeable, pungent,
and stifling odour, the presence of a LIQUID VOLATILE BASE or ALKALOID is
inferred; whilst a solid residue or a turbid fluid with small solid
particles floating in it, indicates a NON-VOLATILE SOLID BASE.[20] In
either case the blue colour of reddened litmus is permanently restored by
the residuum. If no residuum is left on the capsule, some solution of pure
soda or potassa is added to the liquid, the whole well agitated for
several minutes, and the ether (after repose) decanted; an operation which
is repeated with fresh ether a second, third, and even a fourth time. The
base, or bases (if any are present), will now be found in the mixed
ethereal solution, which is, therefore, tested as before. The presence of
an alkaloid being detected, the mixed ethereal solutions are allowed to
evaporate spontaneously, care being taken, if a volatile alkaloid be
present, to neutralise the liquid with an acid before the final
evaporation. The last residuum is then tested for the particular alkaloid
present, as before.[21]

[Footnote 19: The evaporation, according to Stas, should be conducted
under a bell-glass over sulphuric acid, with or without rarefaction of the
air; or in a tubular retort through which a current of air is made to
pass.]

[Footnote 20: A merely disagreeable animal odour, without pungency, is
here disregarded.]

[Footnote 21: 'Bulletin de l'Academie de Med. Belgique,' ix, 304; 'Jahrb.
f. prakt. Pharm,' xxiv, 313; &c.]

This method, according to Stas, answers well for all the ALKALOIDS which
are soluble in ether; including--ACONITIA, ANILINE, ATROPIA, BRUCIA,
CODEIA, COLCHICINA, CONIA, DELPHIA, EMETINA, HYOSCYAMINE, MORPHIA (?),
NICOTIA, PETININE, PICOLINE, SOLANINE, STRYCHNIA, VERATRIA, &c. By means
of it Stas found nicotia in the heart-blood of a poisoned dog. With such
alkaloids as are, however, only very sparingly soluble in ether (as
morphia for instance), the result must, necessarily, be doubtful. To
detect these, as well as all the alkaloids which are insoluble in ether,
it is, therefore, necessary, as directed by Otto, to add to the alkaline
fluid left by the decantation of the ether, sufficient solution of soda to
dissolve the morphia, &c. (if any has separated), and after the expulsion
of the last traces of the ether by a gentle heat, to add a concentrated
solution of hydrochlorate of ammonia, and to allow the mixture to repose
for some time in the open air. When MORPHIA is present, it separates under
the form of small crystals.[22] Or the alkaline liquor may be diluted with
distilled water, and treated with charcoal, and this with alcohol, in the
manner noticed under method 4 (_below_).

[Footnote 22: Otto's 'How to Detect Poisons.']

4. (Graham and Hoffmann--slightly modified.) 2 or 3 oz. of purified animal
charcoal are digested in about 1/2 gal. of the (neutral or only slightly
acid) aqueous fluid under examination, with frequent agitation, for 10 to
12 hours, or longer. The liquid is then filtered, and the charcoal left on
the filter is washed twice with cold distilled water. The charcoal
is then boiled for 1/2 an hour with about 1/2 a pint of rectified spirit
of 80 or 90%; the ebullition being conducted in a flask having a very long
tube, open at both ends, fitted air-tight through the cork, to prevent
loss of the alcohol by evaporation. The spirit, which now contains the
alkaloid (if any was present in the original liquor), is next filtered
whilst hot, and the filtrate is submitted to distillation until the whole
of the alcohol is removed. A small quantity (commonly a few drops) of
solutions of potassa is then added to the residual aqueous liquor,
followed by 1 to 2 fl. oz. of pure ether, after which the whole is well
agitated for several minutes, and allowed to repose for a short time.
Lastly, the supernatant ether is decanted, and allowed to evaporate
spontaneously, when the residuum (if any) left in the capsule may be
tested by reagents, as before.

This method was devised for the detection of STRYCHNIA and NUX VOMICA in
malt-liquors; but it is equally applicable to the detection of ANY
ALKALOID which is soluble in ether. The CHARCOAL TEST may also be employed
to detect alkaloids which are insoluble in ether; but then the base must
be sought in the aqueous residuum obtained by the evaporation of the
alcohol.[23]

[Footnote 23: 'Journ. of the Chem. Soc.,' v, 173.]

The presence of the alkaloids and their salts, in clear solutions, may be
thus determined:--

I. (Fresenius).--1. The solution is rendered very slightly alkaline with
dilute solution of potassa or soda, added drop by drop:--

    a. No precipitate is formed; total absence of the alkaloids.
        (See 4, _below_.)

    b. A precipitate is formed:--solution of potassa or soda is
        added, drop by drop, until the liquid exhibits a strong
        alkaline reaction:--

      [Greek: a]. The precipitate redissolves; absence of Brucia,
          Cinchonia, Narcotina, Quina, Strychnia, and Veratria; probable
          presence of MORPHIA.

      [Greek: b]. Precipitate does not redissolve, or not completely;
          probable presence of one or more of the first six of the
          above-named alkaloids:--the fluid is filtered from the
          precipitate, mixed with either bicarbonate of soda or of
          potassa, gently boiled nearly to dryness, and treated with
          water. If it dissolves completely; absence of morphia; an
          insoluble residue indicates MORPHIA.

2. The precipitate 1. _b._ [Greek: b]. is washed with cold distilled
water, dissolved in a slight excess of dilute sulphuric acid, neutralised
with a saturated solution of bicarbonate of soda, and allowed to repose a
few hours:[24]--

[Footnote 24: Before setting the glass aside the liquor should be well
mixed, and the glass stirrer vigorously rubbed against the sides of the
vessel.]

    _a_. No precipitate; absence of Cinchonia, Narcotina, and
        Quina:--the solution is gently evaporated nearly to dryness,
        and treated with cold water:--if it dissolves completely,
        pass on to 4; if there is an insoluble residue, it may
        contain Brucia, Strychnia, or Veratria. (See 3.)

    _b._ A precipitate:--the filtered fluid is treated as directed
        at 2 _a_.; the precipitate is washed with cold distilled
        water, dissolved in a little hydrochloric acid, ammonia is
        added in excess, and subsequently a sufficient quantity of
        ether, agitation being had recourse to:--

      [Greek: a]. The precipitate formed by the ammonia redissolves
          completely in the ether, and the clear fluid separates
          into two layers; absence of Cinchonia; probable presence
          of QUINA or NARCOTINA.

      [Greek: b]. The precipitate produced by the ammonia does not
          redissolve in the ether, or not completely; probable presence of
          CINCHONIA, and perhaps also of Quina or Narcotina. The
          filtered liquid may be tested for these alkaloids as at
          _a_.

3. The insoluble residuum after the evaporation of the solution 2. _a._,
or of the filtrate 2. _b._, is now dried in a water bath, and digested
with absolute alcohol:--

    _a._ It dissolves completely; absence of strychnia; probable
        presence of BRUCIA, QUINA (?), or VERATRIA:--the alcoholic
        solution is evaporated to dryness, and, if quina has been
        already detected, the residue is divided into two portions,
        one of which is tested for Brucia, the other for Veratria.

    _b._ It does not dissolve, or not completely; probable presence
        of STRYCHNIA, and perhaps also of Brucia and Veratria:--the
        filtered fluid is divided into two portions, and tested
        separately as at _a_.

4. The original liquid 1. _a_. may contain Salicine, a proximate vegetable
principle closely allied to the alkaloids:--a portion is boiled with
hydrochloric acid for some time; the formation of a precipitate shows the
presence of SALICIN. (See 2, _below_.)[25]

[Footnote 25: For further information on this subject, see the admirable
'System of Qual. Chem. Anal.,' by Dr C. R. Fresenius. Churchill.]

II. (Larocque and Thibierge.) Terchloride of gold is recommended, by these
writers, as a more decisive test for the alkaloids than the 'double
chloride of gold and sodium' commonly employed for this purpose. The
following are the colours of the precipitates which it produces with the
aqueous solution of their salts:--BRUCIA, milk-brown, passing into
coffee-brown, and lastly chocolate-brown:--CINCHONIA, sulphur
yellow:--MORPHIA, yellow, then bluish, and lastly violet; in this last
state the gold is reduced, and the precipitate is insoluble in water,
alcohol, the caustic alkalies, and sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric
acid; it forms with aqua regia a solution which is precipitated by
protosulphate of iron:--QUINA, buff-:--STRYCHNIA,
canary-yellow:--VERATRIA, pale greenish-yellow. All these precipitates,
with the exception mentioned, are very soluble in alcohol, insoluble in
ether, and only slightly soluble in water. Those with morphia and brucia
are sufficiently marked to prevent these alkalies from being mistaken for
each other; and those with brucia and strychnia are, in like manner,
easily distinguishable.

III.--Mr Wanklyn discriminates the different alkaloids from the estimation
of the ammonia they evolve. His process is as follows:--A small flask with
a lateral tube, and connected with a Liebig's condenser, is charged with
about 25 c. c. of an alkaline solution of permanganate potash made by
dissolving 200 grammes of caustic potash and 8 grammes of crystallised
permanganate of potash in 1 litre of water. A minute quantity of the
alkaloid carefully and accurately weighed is now introduced, and the
mixture slowly distilled. The most satisfactory results are obtained by
treating from 1 to 5 milligrammes of the alkaloid in this way, but
quantities so small as 1/10th of a milligram will in skilled hands give
accurate results. The ammonia is formed in the distillate by Nesslerising
it, as described under WATER ANALYSIS. For all practical purposes the
poisonous alkaloids may be divided into four classes:

(a) Those which yield from 5 to 2 per cent. of ammonia.

(b) Those which yield from 2 to 3 per cent. of ammonia.

(c) Those which yield from 3 to 5 per cent. of ammonia.

(d) Those which yield a larger quantity than 5 per cent., _e.g._

                              I.

                                           NH_{3}
                                          per cent.

  SOLANINE yields half its nitrogen as
    Ammonia                                 0.98

                              II.

  MORPHIA yields half its nitrogen as
    Ammonia                                 2.98

  CODEINE, ditto, ditto                     2.87

  PAPAVERINE, ditto, ditto                  2.50

  VERATRIA, ditto, ditto                    2.87

                             III.

  ATROPIA yields all its nitrogen as
    Ammonia                                 5.73

  NARCOTINE, ditto, ditto                   4.11

  STRYCHNIA yields half its nitrogen as
    Ammonia                                 5.09

  BRUCINE, ditto, ditto                     4.32

  ACONITE, ditto, ditto                     3.50

  CONEINE, ditto, ditto                     4.60

                              IV.

  NICOTINE yields half its nitrogen as
    Ammonia                                10.49

IV. Dr Guy, as well as others, have made researches, having for their
object the determination of the exact temperature at which the poisonous
alkaloids melt and sublime. A very minute speck of the substance is placed
on a porcelain plate or copper disc, and a square or oval of
microscope-covering glass is placed over it, supported by a thin ring of
glass or any other convenient substance.

Heat is then applied to the plate or copper, and the temperature, as
indicated by a thermometer at which the substance fuses or volatilises, is
carefully noted.

  CANTHARIDINE sublimes as a white                 Fahr.  Cent.
       vapour without change of form or colour.    212 deg.   100 deg.

                                    Sublime.         Melt.
                                  /----------\   /----------\
               Sublime, melt and   Fahr. Cent.    Fahr. Cent.
  MORPHINE  } yield carbonaceous { 330 deg.  165 deg.     340 deg.  171 deg.
  STRYCHNINE} residue.           { 345 deg.  174 deg.     430 deg.  224 deg.

                                     Melt.        Sublime.
                                 /----------\   /----------\
                                  Fahr. Cent.    Fahr. Cent.
  ACONITINE }                    { 140 deg.   60 deg.     400 deg.  204 deg.
  ATROPINE  } Melt, change       { 150 deg.   66 deg.     280 deg.  138 deg.
  VERATRINE } colour, sublime,   { 200 deg.   93 deg.     360 deg.  182 deg.
  BRUCINE   } and                { 240 deg.  116 deg.     400 deg.  204 deg.
  DIGITALIN } deposit carbon.    { 310 deg.  154 deg.     310 deg.  154 deg.
  PICROTOXIN}                    { 320 deg.  160 deg.     320 deg.  160 deg.
  SOLANINE  }                    { 420 deg.  215 deg.     420 deg.  216 deg.

_Selmi's method of extracting poisonous alkaloids in forensic
investigations._ The alcoholic extract of the viscera, acidified and
filtered, is evaporated at 65 deg. C., the residue taken up with water,
filtered to separate fatty matters, and decoloured by means of basic
acetate of lead, leaving the solution in contact with the air for 24
hours. It is then filtered, the lead precipitated by means of sulphuretted
hydrogen, and the solution after concentration repeatedly extracted with
ether. The ethereal solution is then saturated with dry carbonic
anhydride, which generally causes a precipitate of minute drops adhering
to the sides of the vessel, and containing some of the alkaloids. The
ethereal solution is then poured into a clean vessel, mixed with about
half its volume of water, and a current of carbonic anhydride passed for
about twenty minutes, which may cause the precipitation of other alkaloids
not precipitated by dry carbonic anhydride. Usually the whole of the
alkaloids present in the ether are thrown down by these means, but if not,
the solution is dehydrated by agitation with Barium oxide, and then a
solution of tartaric acid in ether added to the clear liquid, taking great
care not to employ excess of acid. This throws down any alkaloid that may
remain. In order to extract any alkaloids that may still remain in the
viscera, they are mixed with Barium hydrate and a little water, and then
agitated with purified amylic alcohol; the alkaloids may subsequently be
extracted from the alcohol by agitation with very dilute sulphuric acid.

A knowledge of the different solubilities of the alkaloids will be found
an important auxiliary in their analysis. The following is a summary of
the relative solubility of the most important of them. The figures denote
the number of parts of the liquid required for their solution:--

_Absolute alcohol._--Strychnine insoluble; brucine soluble.

_Amylic alcohol._--Solanine (1061); digitalin sparingly soluble; morphine
(133); strychnine (122); veratrine, brucine, atropine, aconitine, and
picrotoxin, freely soluble.

_Benzol._--All the poisonous alkaloids, except solanine, are soluble in
benzol.

_Chloroform._--Solanine (50,000); morphine (6550); strychnine (8); the
rest freely soluble.

_Ether._--Solanine (9000); morphine (7725); strychnine (1400); aconitine
(777); brucine (440); veratrine (108); atropine, picrotoxin,[26] and
digitalin, very soluble.

[Footnote 26: Digitalin and picrotoxin, although not alkaloids, are
inserted in the above list, because they have a general similarity in
chemical properties to them; and for the convenience of the toxicologist.]

_Water_ (_cold_).--Strychnine (8333); veratrine (7860); morphine (4166);
aconitine (1783); solanine (1750); brucine (900); atropine (414);
picrotoxin (150); digitalin very soluble.

The principal Alkaloids and their Salts, in the state of powder, or with
'conia' and 'nicotia,' in the state of an oily looking liquid, may be thus
distinguished:--

1. _a._ The powder is treated with nitric acid:--It is  red;
probable presence of Brucia, Delphia, Morphia, or commercial Strychnia. If
the reddened acid becomes violet on the addition of 'protochloride of
tin,' it is BRUCIA; if it becomes black and carbonaceous, it is DELPHIA.
If the powder is fusible without decomposition, and strongly decomposes
iodic acid, it is MORPHIA; if it is not fusible without decomposition, and
does not decompose iodic acid, it is STRYCHNIA.

_b._ If instead of a red, the powder strikes a green colour with nitric
acid, it is SOLANIA; if it is insoluble in 'ether,' and not reddened by
'nitric acid,' it is EMETIA; if soluble in ether, not reddened by 'nitric
acid,' but melts and volatilises when heated, it is ATROPIA; if it is thus
affected by ether or nitric acid, but does not volatilise, it is VERATRIA.
(See 2, _below_.)

2. _a._ The powder, or (with 'conia and nicotia') concentrated liquor, is
treated with a drop or two of concentrated sulphuric acid:--A red colour
is produced; probable presence of Brucia, Nicotina, Salicine, or Veratria.
If the reddened mixture has at first a roseate hue, turning deep red on
the addition of nitric acid, it is BRUCIA; if the original substance
moistened with solution of potassa evolves the odour of tobacco, it
contains NICOTINE; if the red colour produced by the acid is permanent and
of an intense blood-hue, and the powder agglutinates into lumps like
resin, it is SALICINE; if the colour is at first yellowish, changing to
blood-red, and ultimately to crimson and violet, it is VERATRIA.

_b._ If instead of the substance being 'reddened' by strong sulphuric
acid, no particular action ensues in the cold, it contains either Conia or
Strychnia; if a small fragment of bichromate of potassa being now dropped
in, produces a rich violet colour, it is STRYCHNIA; if the original matter
on being heated, or treated with solution of potassa, evolves a
penetrating, disagreeable odour, somewhat analogous to that from
'hemlock,' or to a mixture of those from tobacco and mice, it is CONIA.

"_Reactions with ceroso-ceric oxide._ This oxide exhibits characteristic
colours with several alkaloids, especially with STRYCHNINE. When strong
sulphuric acid is poured upon strychnine, and then a small quantity of
ceroso-ceric oxide added, a fine blue colour is produced, similar to that
which strychnine exhibits with potassium bichromate, but much more
permanent. The blue colour gradually changes to cherry-red, and then
remains unaltered for several days. This reaction is capable of detecting
one part of strychnine in a million parts of liquid. BRUCINE similarly
treated acquires an orange-colour, gradually changing to yellow; MORPHINE,
olive-brown, finally brown; NARCOTINE, brown cherry red, finally wine-red;
CODEINE, olive-green, finally brown; QUININE, pale-yellow; CINCHONINE and
THEINE remain colourless; VERATRINE becomes reddish-brown; ATROPINE, dingy
yellowish-brown; SOLANINE, yellow at first, finally brownish; EMETINE,
brown; COLCHICINE, first green, then dirty brown; ANILINE, after a long
time, acquires a blue colour extending from the edges inwards; CONINE
becomes light-yellow. PIPERINE colours the sulphuric acid blood-red, and
is turned dark-brown, almost black by the cerium oxide" (Sonnenschein).

"_Reactions with picric acid._ This acid is a very good precipitant for
alkaloids, affording a very delicate test for many of them, and may
perhaps also serve for separating them one from another. The precipitation
takes place even in solutions containing a large excess of sulphuric
acid, and is sometimes complete. _Precipitated_ are, BRUCINE, STRYCHNINE,
VERATRINE, QUINIDINE, CINCHONINE, and most of the opium alkaloids; _not
precipitated_, MORPHINE, ATROPINE (English), PSEUDO-MORPHINE, CAFFEINE,
and all glucosides" (Hager).

The presence of one or more of the alkaloids being shown by any of the
preceding methods, a portion of the original clear solution or powder, or
of the precipitates or filtrates above referred to, must be treated with
their characteristic tests, as given under the individual notices of these
articles, so as to set at rest all doubt as to their identity. No single
test must ever be relied on as a positive proof. The presence of Brucia,
Morphia and Strychnia may be determined in substances which after being
mixed with the salts of these alkaloids have undergone the acetous,
vinous, or putrefactive fermentation, as shown by Orfila, MM. Larocque and
Thibierge, and many other eminent chemists and toxicologists, and
confirmed, in numerous cases, by our own experiments. Opium and morphia
may thus be readily detected in beer, wine, soup, and milk. A paper by
Professor DRAGENDORF in the 'American Chemist' for April, 1876, may be
consulted with advantage.

_Concluding Remarks._ It is a singular fact that none of the organic bases
found in plants have yet been formed artificially, although several
analogous substances have been thus produced. Closely allied to the
alkaloids there also exists an extensive series of neutral proximate
principles, which differ from those substances chiefly in the absence of
basic properties, and in most of them being destitute of nitrogen. They
are usually bitter, and, like the alkaloids, generally represent the
active properties of the plants in which they are found; whilst some of
them possess considerable medicinal energy. Of this kind are asparagin,
elaterin, gentianin, picrotoxin, salicin, &c. These two classes of bodies,
though actually distinct, are frequently confounded. See ALKALI, ORGANIC
BASES, POISONS, PROXIMATE PRINCIPLES, VEGETABLES, NOMENCLATURE, &c.; also
the individual alkaloids under their respective heads.

=ALKALOIDS OF ACONITE=. The nature of the active principle of aconite root
does not appear to have been satisfactorily determined. Messrs Groves,
Wright, and Williams contend that the _Aconitum napellus_ yields an active
crystalline alkaloid, which they distinguish as _Aconitine_, and to which
they assign the formula C_{33}H_{43}NO_{12}; they add that additionally
the root contains more or less of another active alkaloid, which they term
_Pseudaconitine_, and which is represented by the formula
C_{36}H_{49}NO_{11}; they also assert that the extract of the roots
contains varying quantities of certain decomposition products resulting
from the saponification of the above bases by the acids, which are
produced by the breaking up of part of the aconitine. The name of these
decomposition products is _Aconine_ and _Pseudaconine_. Of _Aconitum
ferox_ they report that it yields a comparatively large quantity of
_Pseudaconitine_ and a small quantity of _Aconitine_. They further affirm
that the so-called aconitine of commerce is a mixture of true aconitine
and pseudaconitine with variable quantities of their alteration products,
aconine and pseudaconine, and of certain amorphous unnamed alkaloids.

Messrs Paul and Kingzett contest the accuracy of these deductions, and
dispute the correctness of the formula given to aconitine. Dr Paul doubts
whether the alkaloid to which the active properties of the root are
ascribed has ever yet been obtained in an isolated condition. He thinks it
probable that the substance obtained from aconite root was to a great
extent a salt of an acid, like aconitic acid. For further information the
reader is referred to the 'Pharmaceutical Year Book' for 1873, 1874, 1875,
1876, and 1877.

=AL'KANET.= _Syn._ ANCHU'SA, L.; ORCANETTE, Fr.; ORKANET, Ger.;
OR'CHANET*, DYER'S AL'KANET, D. BU'GLOSS*. The _anchu'sa tincto''ria_
(Willd.; _lithosper'mum tincto''rium_--Linn.), a deciduous herbaceous
plant, with a perennial, dark blood-red root. _Hab._ Asia Minor, Greece,
Hungary, &c. It is also largely cultivated in the neighbourhood of
Montpellier. The dried root (ALKANET ROOT; RADIX ANCHUSAE, R. A. TINCTORIAE)
is chiefly imported from the Levant. It contains a beautiful blood-red
colour, which it freely gives out to oils, fats, wax, spirits, essences,
and similar substances, by simply infusing it in them, and is consequently
much employed to colour these articles. Wax tinged with it, and applied on
warm marble, stains it of a rich flesh-colour, which sinks deep into the
stone, and possesses considerable durability. Its spirituous tincture also
imparts a deep red to marble.

_Prop._, _&c._ The colouring matter of alkanet was regarded by Pelletier
as a fatty acid (ANCHUSIC ACID); but it has since been shown to be a
species of resin (ANCHUSINE, PSEUDO-ALKANNINE, P.-ALKANIUM). According to
Dr John, good alkanet root contains 5-1/2 per cent. of this substance.
Anchusine melts at 140 deg. Fahr.; is scarcely soluble in water, to which it
only imparts a dirty red colour, but is very soluble in alcohol, oils, and
acetic acid. Alkalies turn it blue. It is found wholly in the root-bark.
In selecting this article, the smaller roots should therefore be chosen,
as they possess more bark than the larger ones, in proportion to their
weight. Exposure to ammoniacal fumes, or even handling it much with the
fingers, changes its red to a crimson or purplish hue.

_Uses_, _&c._ It is much employed by druggists and perfumers to colour
oils, lip-salves, plasters, pomatums, &c.; by varnish-makers, to tinge
their varnishes and lacquers; by statuaries to stain marble; by
dairy-farmers, to colour cheese; by wine-merchants and bottlers (in the
form of tincture), to stain beforehand the corks of their port-wine
bottles, in order to imitate the effects of age, and as colouring and
flavouring for factitious port wine; and by dyers, and others. A species
of crimson rouge was formerly prepared from it (hence its name).

=ALLANTO'IC ACID.= See ALLANTOIN.

=ALLAN'TOIN.= C_{8}H_{6}O_{6}N_{4}. _Syn._ ALLANTO'IC ACID*, AMNIOT'IC
A.[dagger] AM'NIC A.[dagger]; ALLANTOI'NA, L. A substance discovered by
Vauquelin and Buniva in what they imagined to be the liquor amnii of the
cow, and hence named by them amniotic acid. It was afterwards shown by
Dzondi and Lassaigne to exist in the fluid of the allantois, and not of
the amnios. It has since been produced artificially by Woehler and Liebig.

_Prep._ 1. The allantoic fluid of the f[oe]tal calf is evaporated to 1-4th
or 1-5th of its volume, and then set aside for some time. The crystals
thus obtained are purified by re-solution, digestion with animal charcoal,
and re-crystallisation.

2. (Woehler and Liebig.) Uric acid, 1 part; is dissolved in water, 20
parts; and freshly precipitated and well-washed binoxide of lead is added
to the solution until the colour ceases to change; the liquid is next
filtered while hot, evaporated until a pellicle forms on the surface, and
then set aside to crystallise; the crystals being purified as before.

_Prop., &c._ Small, but very brilliant prismatic, transparent, colourless
crystals; tasteless; neutral; soluble in 160 parts of cold water, and in
much less at 212 deg.; nitric acid converts it into ALLANTURIC ACID; oil of
vitriol resolves it into ammonia, carbonic acid, and carbonic oxide; hot
concentrated solutions of the caustic alkalies change it into ammonia and
oxalic acid.

=ALLANTOX'ICUM.= [L.] _Syn._ ALLANTOX'ICUM, L. (prim., Gr.). The poison
developed, during putrefaction, in sausages made of blood, liver, &c. "It
often proves speedily fatal." (Kraus.)

=ALLGEMEINE FLUSSTINCTUR= (Sulzberger, Salzungen). For the relief of a
number of diseases, among which are cholera and sea-sickness. Aloes, 1
part; spirit of wine, 2 parts. (Spau.)

=ALLIA'CEOUS= (-sh'us). _Syn._ ALLIA'CEUS, L.; ALLIACE, AILIACE, Fr.;
KNOBLAUCHARTIG, &c., Ger. Garlick-like; an epithet applied to substances
having the odour or properties of garlic or onions.

=Alliaceous Plants.= Chives, garlic, leeks, onions, rocambole, shallots,
&c.

=ALLIGA'TION.= _Syn._ ALLIGA'TIO, L. In _commercial arithmetic_, a rule
for ascertaining the price or value of mixtures, and for determining the
proportions of the ingredients that must be taken to produce mixtures of
any given price, value, or strength. The first is called ALLIGATION
ME'DIAL; the second, ALLIGATION ALTERN'ATE. Its principles and
applications are explained under MIXTURES (Arithmetic of).

=ALLOP'ATHY.= _Syn._ ALLOPA'THIA, L. (from [Greek: allos], _other_,
_different_, and [Greek: pathos], _affection_ or _disease_, Gr.);
ALLOPATHIE, Fr. In _medicine_, the method of curing disease by the use of
remedies which tend to produce a condition of the system, either differing
from, opposed to, or incompatible with the condition believed to be
essential to the disease it is sought to cure. It is commonly employed to
distinguish the ordinary system of medical practice from hom[oe]opathy
(which see). Hence (an) ALLOP'ATHIST, and the corresponding adjective
ALLOPATH'IC (_allopath'icus_, L.).

=ALLOT'ROPY.= _Syn._ ALLOT'ROPISM; ALLOTRO'PIA, ALLOTROPIS'MUS, L.
Literally, a difference in character; another form of the same substance.
In _chemistry_, a term invented, by Berzelius, to express the state or
condition, or the change of character, assumed by certain substances at
different temperatures, or under different treatment, whilst their nature
and composition continue the same. It more particularly relates to colour,
hardness, solubility, texture, &c. Boron, carbon, silicon, iron, sulphur,
and phosphorus, afford striking examples of the changes here referred to.

=ALLOX'ANTIN.= C_{8}H_{4}N_{4}O_{7}.3H_{2}O. A crystallisable substance,
first obtained by Dr Prout from uric acid.

_Prep._ 1. Uric acid, 1 part; is boiled in water, 32 parts; dilute nitric
acid being added until solution is complete; the resulting liquid is
evaporated to 2/3rds its volume, and then set aside for 10 or 12 hours;
the crystals, which are deposited, are purified by re-solution and
crystallisation.

2. Sulphuretted hydrogen gas is passed, in a full stream, through a
moderately strong aqueous solution of alloxan, in the cold. The
alloxantin, which is deposited as a crystalline mass, is purified by
draining, cautious washing with cold water, re-solution in boiling water,
and re-crystallisation. The impure mother-liquor from which crystals of
alloxan have separated, if diluted with water, may be used for this
purpose.

_Prop., &c._ Crystals, small colourless, transparent, four-sided, oblique
rhombic prisms; scarcely soluble in cold water; solution reddens litmus;
with baryta water it gives a characteristic violet- precipitate,
which disappears on heating; and with nitrate of silver a black
precipitate of that metal; the crystals are reddened by ammoniacal
vapours.

=ALLOY'.= _Syn._ ALLIAGE, Fr.; LEGIRUNG, VERMISCHUNG DURCH SCHMELZEN, Ger.
In _coinage_, a compound of the precious metals with another, or others,
of less value; also the least valuable metal, or metals, in such
compounds. In _chemistry_ and _metallurgy_, combinations of the metals
with each other usually obtained by fusion. When mercury is one of
the component metals, the compound is termed an AMALGAM.

_Prep., &c._ No General rules can be given for this purpose. Alloys of
metals differing greatly in fusibility, are commonly made by adding the
more fusible one, either in the melted state, or in small portions at a
time, to the other melted, or heated to the lowest possible temperature at
which a perfect union will take place between them. The mixture is usually
affected under a flux, or some material that will promote liquefaction,
and prevent volatilisation and unnecessary exposure to the air. Thus, in
melting lead and tin together, for solder, resin, or tallow is thrown upon
the surface; in tinning copper, the surface is rubbed with sal ammoniac;
and in combining some metals, powdered charcoal is used for the same
purpose. Quicksilver combines with many metals in the cold, forming
AMALGAMS.

_Comp._ The following _Table_ exhibits the composition of the more
important compounds of this class:--

        _Table of the principal Alloys._[27]

  NAMES.                      COMBINING METALS.

  ALBATA                      See German Silver.
  AMALGAMS                    Mercury and other metals.
  BATH-METAL                  Copper and zinc.
  BELL-METAL                  Copper and tin.
  BRASS                       Copper and zinc.
  BRITANNIA METAL             Tin with antimony, copper, and bismuth.
  BRONZE                      Tin and copper.
  BRONZE ALUMINIUM            Copper and aluminium.
  CANNON-METAL                Tin and copper.
  DUTCH GOLD                  Copper and zinc.
  FUSIBLE METAL               Bismuth, lead, and tin.
  GERMAN SILVER               Copper, nickel, and zinc, with,
                                  sometimes, a little iron and tin.
  GOLD (_standard_)           Gold with copper.
  GOLD (_old standard_)       Gold with copper and silver.
  GUN-METAL                   See Cannon-metal.
  MOSAIC GOLD                 Copper and zinc.
  OR-MOLU                     Copper and zinc.
  PEWTER (_common_)           Tin and lead.
  PEWTER (_best_)             Tin with antimony, bismuth and copper.
  POT-METAL, COCK-METAL       Copper and lead, with,
                                  sometimes, a little zinc.
  QUEEN'S METAL               Tin with antimony, bismuth, and copper.
  SHOT-METAL                  Lead with a little arsenic.
  SILVER (_standard_)         Silver and copper.
  SOLDER                      Tin and lead.
  SPECULUM-METAL              Tin and copper, and arsenic.
  STEREOTYPE-METAL            Lead, antimony, and bismuth.
  TOMBAC, RED TOMBAC          Copper and zinc.
  TUTANIA                     See Britannia metal.
  TYPE-METAL                  Lead and antimony.
  WHITE COPPER (_Packfong_;   Copper and arsenic.
      _Whitetombac_)

[Footnote 27: For the proportions of the component metals, refer to the
alloys under their respective heads.]

_Prop., &c._ Alloys generally possess characteristics unshared by their
component metals. Thus, copper and zinc form brass, which has a different
density, hardness, and colour to either of its constituents. Whether the
metals tend to unite in atomic proportions, or in any definite ratio, is
still undetermined. The evidence afforded by the natural alloys of gold
and silver, and by the phenomena accompanying the cooling of several
alloys from the state of fusion, goes far to prove that such is the case.
(Rudberg.) The subject is, however, one of considerable difficulty, as
metals and metallic compounds are generally soluble in each other, and
unite by a simple fusion and contact. That they do not combine
indifferently with each other, but exercise a species of elective affinity
not dissimilar to other bodies, is clearly shown by the homogeneity and
superior quality of many alloys in which the constituent metals are in
atomic proportions. The variation of the specific gravity and
melting-points of alloys from the mean of those of their component metals,
also affords strong evidence of a chemical change having taken place.
Thus, alloys generally melt at lower temperatures than those required for
their separate metals. They also usually possess more tenacity and
hardness than the mean of their constituents.

Matthiessen found that when weights are suspend to spirals of hard-drawn
wire made of copper, silver, gold, or platinum, they become nearly
straightened when stretched by a moderate weight; but wires of equal
dimensions composed of copper-tin (12% of tin), silver-platinum (36% of
platinum), and gold-copper (84% of copper), scarcely undergo any permanent
change in form when subjected to tension by the same weight.

The same chemist gives the following approximative results upon the
tenacity of certain metals and wires hard drawn through the same gauge
(No. 23):

Breaking strain for:

                                           lbs.
  Copper                                  25-30
  Tin                               under     7
  Lead                                "       7
  Tin-lead (20% lead)               about     7
  Tin-copper (12% copper)             "       7
  Copper-tin (12% tin)                "   80-90
  Gold                                    20-25
  Gold-copper (8.4% copper)               70-75
  Silver                                  45-50
  Platinum                                45-50
  Silver-platinum (30% platinum)          75-80

On the other hand, their malleability, ductility, and power of resisting
oxygen is generally diminished. The alloy formed of two brittle metals is
always brittle; that of a brittle and a ductile metal, generally so; and
even two ductile metals sometimes unite to form a brittle compound. The
alloys formed of metals having different fusing-points are usually
malleable whilst cold, and brittle whilst hot. The action of the air on
alloys is generally less than on their simple metals, unless the former
are heated. A mixture of 1 part of tin and 3 parts of lead is scarcely
acted on at common temperatures; but at a red heat it readily takes fire,
and continues to burn for some time like a piece of bad turf. In like
manner, a mixture of tin and zinc, when strongly heated, decomposes both
moist air and steam with almost fearful rapidity.

The specific gravity of alloys is never the arithmetical mean of that of
their constituents, as commonly taught; and in many cases considerable
condensation or expansion occurs. When there is a strong affinity between
two metals, the density of their alloy is generally greater than the
calculated mean; and _vice versa_, as may be seen in the following
Table:--

              _Alloys having a density_--

  Greater than the mean of        Less than the mean
    their constituents:--       of their constituents:--

    Copper and bismuth,             Gold and copper,
       "       palladium,               "    iridium,
       "       tin,                     "    iron,
       "       zinc,                    "    lead,
    Gold and antimony,                  "    nickel,
       "       bismuth,                 "    silver,
       "       cobalt,              Iron and antimony,
       "       tin,                     "    bismuth,
       "       zinc,                    "    lead,
    Lead and antimony,              Nickel and arsenic,
    Palladium and bismuth,          Silver and copper,
    Platinum and molybdenum,        Tin and antimony,
    Silver and antimony,                "   lead,
       "       bismuth,                 "   palladium,
       "       lead,                Zinc and antimony.
       "       tin,
       "       zinc.

"Every alloy," says Dr Ure, "is, in reference to the arts and
manufactures, a new metal, on account of its chemical and physical
properties. A vast field here remains to be explored. Not above sixty
alloys have been studied by chemists, out of many hundreds which may be
made, and of these very few have yet been practically employed. Very
slight modifications often constitute very valuable improvements upon
metallic bodies." See ANALYSIS, ASSAYING, BRASS, BRONZE, ELECTROTYPE,
GERMAN SILVER, GOLD, METALS, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, &c.

=ALL'SPICE.= See PIMENTO.

=ALLU''VIAL.= (-l'[=o][=o]v'-y[)a]l). _Syn._ ALLU''VIOUS*; ALLU''VIUS, L.;
D'ALLUVION, Fr. In _geology_, applied to partial deposits of mud, sand,
gravel, &c., left by rivers and floods upon land not permanently submerged
beneath water; in _agriculture_, applied to soils so formed or deposited.

=ALLU''VIUM.= [L., Eng.] _Syn._ ALLUVION, Fr.; ANFLOeSSUNG, ANSCHWEMMUNG,
Ger. In _geol._ and _agr._, alluvial deposit or soil. See SOILS, &c.

=AL'LYL= (-l[)i]l). C_{3}H_{5}. In _chemistry_, the radical of the
essential oils containing sulphur, as those of assaf[oe]tida, garlic,
horseradish, mustard, onions, &c., which are either sulphides or
sulphocyanides of allyl. Its probable existence was first shown by Captain
Reynolds, who succeeded in producing several of its derivatives. It has
since been obtained, in a separate state, by the action of sodium upon
iodide of allyl. It is an oily substance with a high boiling point.

=Allyl, Sulphide of=, (C_{3}H_{5})_{2}S; obtained (artificially) by acting
on sulphocyanide of allyl with sulphide of potassium. See OIL OF GARLICK.

=Allyl, Sulphocy'anide of=, C_{3}H_{5}CNS; obtained by submitting iodide
of allyl to the action of sulphocyanide of potassium; or by gently heating
a mixed alcoholic solution of sulphide of allyl and bichloride of mercury,
with sulphocyanide of potassium. See OIL OF MUSTARD (VOLATILE).

=AL'MOND= (ah'-m[)u]nd). _Syn._ AMYG'DALA (also -US, -UM*), L.; AMANDE,
Fr.; MANDEL, Ger., Dut., Dan., Swed. The 'almond-tree' (_amyg'dalus
commu'nis_--Linn.; Ph. L., E., and D.; _Amandier_--Fr.), a tree of the
nat. ord. Rosaceae, indigenous to Persia, Syria, and the north of Africa;
but also extensively cultivated in southern Europe. The almond-tree is
about the size of the peach-tree, which it much resembles in appearance.
It is incapable of ripening its fruit in this country, and is, therefore,
only grown here for the sake of its beautiful vernal flowers. There are
several varieties, of which the most important are the sweet and the
bitter, so named from the flavour of the seed or kernel. These, for the
most part, resemble each other in appearance. De Candolle ('Prodromus,'
ii, 530) gives five varieties of this species:--A. AMA''RA
(_bitter-almond_); A. DUL'CIS (_sweet-a._); A. FRAGILIS (_tender-shelled
a._); A. MACROCAR'PA (_large-fruited a._, _pista'chio a._, _sultana a._);
A. PERSICO'IDES (_peach a._).

=Almond, Per'sian.= The peach.

=AL'MONDS=. _Syn._ AMYG'DALAE, L.; AMANDES, Fr.; MANDELN, Ger. The seed or
kernels of the almond-tree. They are met with in commerce both in the
shell (AMYG'DALAE CUM PUTAM'INE, -[)i]n-e, L.), and shelled (AMYGDALAE, L.).
In the retail shops, most commonly in the latter form. Those rancid,
broken, or worm-eaten should be rejected.

=Almonds, Bitt'er.= _Syn._ AMYG'DALAE AMA''RAE, L.; AMYGDALA AMARA, Ph. E.;
AMANDES AMERES, Fr.; BITTERE MANDELN, Ger. A variety imported from
Mogadore, chiefly characterised by possessing the bitter flavour, and when
rubbed with water, the odour of peach-kernels. They are also smaller and
thicker than the sweet almond.

_Uses, &c._ Bitter almonds are used to relieve the flavour of sweet
almonds, to clear muddy water, and to flavour confectionery, liqueurs, &c.
By pressure, they yield their bland oil (OIL OF ALMONDS; O'LEUM AMYG'DALAE,
L.); the resulting cake (BITTER-A. CAKE; PLACEN'TA A. AMARAE, L.) is
distilled for the volatile oil (ESSENTIAL OIL OF A.; O. A. A., L.), and is
afterwards again pressed into cakes (A.-CAKE), and used to fatten pigs,
and for other purposes. Bitter almonds are now seldom employed in
medicines, although it is said that they have cured 'intermittents' when
bark had failed (Bergius), and that their emulsion has been found useful
in pulmonary and dyspeptic affections, hooping-cough, and asthma; and
externally as a lotion in acne. (Thomson.) In large quantities they are
poisonous, and even in the smallest quantities have been known to produce
nettle-rash (_urticaria_) and other unpleasant symptoms. They have long
been in repute as an antidote to intoxication. The ancient bacchanals
chewed them at their orgies, to lessen the effects of wine, and to enable
them to take it in larger quantities with impunity.

=Almonds, Blanched'= (bl[)a]ncht'-). _Syn._ AMYG'DALAE DECORTICA'TAE, L.
Almonds from which the husk or seed-coat has been removed. This is
effected by soaking them for a short time in warm water, until the skin
can be easily removed by pressure between the thumb and forefinger. They
are then peeled, rinsed in cold water, drained, and dried. When intended
for the table, the last is effected by wiping them with a soft towel; but
when they are intended to be powdered, or kept, they are dried by a very
gentle heat in a stove, or in the sun.

=Almonds, Burnt'.= _Syn._ ROASTED ALMONDS; ALMOND COFFEE. Used to colour
and flavour liqueurs and confectionery; and formerly, as a substitute for
coffee.

=Almonds, Guia'na.= (g_h_e-[=a]_h_'-n[)a]; _g_ hard). Brazil-nuts.

=Al'monds, In'dian.= The fruit of _terminalia catappa_ (Linn.). They are
oleaginous, and nutritious; and are used as a substitute for almonds.

=Almonds, Ja'va= (j[=a]_h_'-). The nuts or kernels of _canarium commune_
(Linn.). They are eaten, made into bread, and pressed for their oil.

=Almonds, Sweet'.= _Syn._ ALMONDS; AMYG'DALAE, L.; A. DULCES, Ph. D.;
AMYGDALA, A. JORDAN'ICA, Ph. L.; A. DULCIS, Ph. E., & Ph. L. 1836;
AMANDES, AMANDES DOUCES, Fr.; SUeSSE MANDELN, Ger. These are the well-known
dessert or table fruit of the name, and are the kind always referred to
when 'almonds' (simply) are spoken of or ordered.

_Comm. var._--1. JOR'DAN ALMONDS, which are the finest, and are imported
from Malaga. Of these there are two kinds; the one, above an inch in
length, flat, and with a clear brown cuticle, sweet, mucilaginous, and
rather tough; the other, more plump, and pointed at one end, brittle, but
equally sweet with the former.--2. VALEN'TIA A. (which come next in
quality) are about 3/8ths of an inch broad, not quite an inch long, round
at one end, and obtusely pointed at the other, flat, of a dingy brown
colour, with a dusty cuticle.--3. BAR'BARY and ITAL'IAN A., which resemble
the latter, but are generally smaller and less flattened.--4. A variety,
of medium quality, imported in baskets from Spain.

_Uses, &c._ Sweet almonds are nutritive, emollient, and demulcent; but
frequently disagree with weak stomachs. The husk is apt to occasion
indigestion and nausea. Owing to a peculiar idiosyncrasy of some habits,
dyspepsia, diarrh[oe]a, [oe]dematous swelling of the face, and urticaria
(_nettle-rash_), sometimes, though seldom, follow the use of unblanched
almonds. Blanched almonds do not produce these inconveniences, and,
therefore, should be preferred for the table. In _medicine_, almonds are
employed chiefly under the form of emulsion, confection, &c., and to
suspend oily substances in water. Their uses for dietetical purposes are
well known. Preparations of them are also employed as cosmetics. The cake
left after expressing the oil (ALMOND-CAKE) is used for washing the skin,
which it is said to render beautifully soft and clear. See ALMOND PASTE,
&c.

=AL'NIGHT=[dagger] (awl'-). A cake of wax with a wick in the midst. The
forerunner of, and a rude form of the modern dumpy night-lights called
MORTARS.

=AL'OE= ([)a]l'-o). _Syn._ AL'OE (-o-[=e]), L., Fr. (or ALOES), Ger.,
Ital., Sp., Belg., Dan., Dut., Swed. The aloe-tree. In _botany_, a genus
of plants of the nat. ord. Liliaceae (DC). The species, of which there are
several, are succulent plants or small trees with endogenous stems, and
stiff, fleshy, hard, pointed leaves, abounding in a purgative principle
(ALOES), which is obtained from them by either evaporating the expressed
juice or the decoction. They are all natives of warm climates, and most of
them are indigenous to southern Africa.

_Hist._ [Hebrew: a-enx], _aehleem_ (aloe-trees), were known to the sacred
historians; and both the plant and the inspissated juice are described by
Dioscorides[28] and Pliny.[29]

[Footnote 28: Lib. iii, c. xxv.]

[Footnote 29: 'Hist. Nat.,' lib. xxvii, c. v.]

_Uses, &c._ In Africa, the leaves of the Guinea aloe are made into ropes,
fishing-lines, bow-strings, stockings, hammocks, &c. The leaves of another
species are used to catch and hold rain-water. The expressed juice and
decoction are also used by the natives as a distaff. (Vide _infra_.)
Comparative trials, made in Paris, of the strength of cordage and cables
formed of hemp, and of the aloe from Algiers, are said to have shown the
great superiority of the latter. Fabroni obtained a fine violet colour
from the recent juice of the aloe, which has been proposed as a dye for
silk.[30]

[Footnote 30: 'Annales de Chimie,' xxv, 305.]

=American Aloe.= The _agave Americana_ (Linn.) is a plant unconnected with
the preceding, and belonging to the nat. ord. Bromeliaceae. It is found in
all parts of tropical America, and is largely cultivated on the shores of
the Mediterranean; and less frequently, as an exotic plant in this
country. It grows to the height of about 20 feet, and takes many years to
produce its gigantic and magnificent pyramid of flowers; shortly after
which it perishes, exhausted, as it were, by its efforts in bestowing its
rare beauty on the floral world. The vulgar belief is that it blossoms
only once in a century; but, as stated by the late Mr Loudon, it flowers
sooner or later according to the culture bestowed on it. Its sap yields a
kind of honey (AGAVE HONEY), and by fermentation an intoxicating liquor
(PULQUE); desiccated juice, mixed with wood ashes, is used as soap, and
lathers either with sea or fresh water; leaf-fibre, used as hemp to make
thread and twine.

=AL'OE-RESIN.= _Syn._ RESI'NA AL'OES, L. The resinous matter deposited by
a decoction of aloes as it cools.

_Prep._ (Ph. L. 1746.) Boil aloes, 1 part, in water, 8 parts, and allow
the decoction, strained whilst hot, to repose until the next day; then
wash the deposited RESIN, and dry it by a gentle heat. It is probably a
mixture of aloine and oxidised extractive.

=AL'OES= (-[=o]ze). _Syn._ BITT'ER ALOES[double-dagger]; AL'OE (-o-[=e]),
L.; ALOES, SUC D'ALOES, Fr.; ALOE, GLAUSINDE ALOE, Ger.[31] The
inspissated juice or extract of several species of aloe.

[Footnote 31: Also see ALOE, (above).]

_Comp., Prep., &c._ Aloes is a complex resinous substance containing a
body called aloin, which is its active or purgative principle. It is
completely soluble in boiling water, and in alcohol or rectified spirit.
The decoction deposits an impure resin or resinoid on cooling.

_Phys. eff., Uses, &c._ Aloes is a warm stimulating purgative, in doses of
3 to 10 gr.; whilst even 1 or 2 gr. seldom fail to produce one motion
without pain or inconvenience. It is considered highly serviceable in
hypochondriacal, hysterical, and dyspeptic affections, particularly in
phlegmatic habits, and in cases arising from deficiency of bile. As an
emmenagogue, and a vermifuge, few medicines are more valuable. It acts on
the large intestines, and principally on the rectum; and, therefore,
should be administered with caution, or only in small doses, where there
is a tendency to prolapsus or piles, and in cases where uterine stimulants
(as in pregnancy, &c.) would be improper. "It is remarkable with regard to
it, that it operates almost to as good a purpose in a small as in a large
dose; and one or two grains will produce one considerable dejection, and
twenty grains will do no more, except it be that in the last dose (case)
the operation will be attended with griping, &c. It is one of the best
cures for habitual costiveness." (Cullen.) Many of the effects complained
of arise from its slow solubility in the primae viae, and may be obviated by
administering it in a liquid form, or in a solid form combined with soap,
which renders it freely soluble in the juices of the stomach.

Aloes is more frequently taken than, perhaps, any known purgative. It
enters into the composition of a majority of the aperient medicines
prescribed by the faculty, and forms the principal ingredient of nearly
all the advertised purgative, antibilious, and universal pills of the
nostrum-mongers. The fact of aloetic pills not acting until about 8 to 10
hours after being swallowed--so that if taken on retiring to rest at night
they do not generally disturb the patient before the usual time of rising
in the morning--has contributed more than anything else to make such
remedies popular with parties whose habits or business avocations would be
otherwise interfered with.

Aloes is also extensively used in veterinary practice. It is the most
valuable and reliable purgative for the horse of the whole materia medica;
but is less to be depended on for cattle, sheep, and hogs. Barbadoes aloes
is the best for this purpose. Cape aloes are, however, often employed,
when 1-4th more must be given.--_Dose_ (of the former), for a HORSE, 4 to
8 dr.;[32]--CATTLE, 3 to 6 dr. (followed by a purging drench);--HOGS, 5 to
15 gr.;--SHEEP, 15 to 30 gr.;[33]--DOGS (small ones), 10 to 30 gr.,
(middle-sized) 20 to 44, or even 60 gr., (large) 3/4 to 1 dr., or even 2
dr.

[Footnote 32: Aloes takes from 18 to 30, or even 36 hours, to operate on a
horse.]

[Footnote 33: Aloes, however large the dose, often fails to purge sheep.
In very large quantities it is poisonous to them.]

Aloes is also used in dyeing; and as a colouring matter in stains,
lacquers, and varnishes. Aloes, and several of its preparations, are
likewise extensively employed to adulterate porter.

_Var._ These, arranged in the order of their reputed medicinal value,
are--Socotrine, Hepatic, Barbadoes, Cape, &c.; and alphabetically, as
given below:--

=Aloes, Barba'does.= _Syn._ ALOES IN GOURDS; AL'OE BARBADEN'SIS, L., Ph.
L. & E. Imported from Barbadoes and Jamaica, usually in gourds; sometimes
in boxes. The best is the inspissated juice of the cut leaf of _aloe
vulga''ris_; an inferior quality is prepared from the decoction.--_Char.,
&c._ Opaque, lustreless, of a liver colour, a little tending to black,
with a bitter nauseous taste, and a very disagreeable odour, especially
when breathed on; powder a dull olive-yellow. It is the 'hepatic' aloes of
most continental writers, and said to be the [Greek: Aloe] of Dioscorides.
It is more active than the other varieties of aloes; but is also more apt
to occasion haemorrhoids, and to gripe, than any of them.

=Aloes, Cab'alline= (-l[=i]ne.) _Syn._ F[OE]T'ID ALOES, HORSE A.; ALOE
CABALLI'NA, A. GUINIEN'SIS, L.; ALOES CABALLIN, Fr. From _aloe In'dica_
(O'Shaughnessy); or from _aloe spica'ta_ by long and careful boiling.
(Lindley.) Used only by farriers. Scarcely known in English commerce.

=Aloes, Cape.= _Syn._ ALOE CAPEN'SIS, A. LU'CIDA (_Geiger_), L. Imported
from the Cape of Good Hope, and obtained from _aloe spica'ta_, and other
Cape species. Odour stronger and even more disagreeable than that of
Barbadoes aloes; colour deep greenish-brown; appearance shining and
resinous; fracture generally glassy; powder a lively greenish-yellow;
almost completely soluble in boiling water, decoction paler than that of
other kinds. It is weaker than Barbadoes or even hepatic aloes, and is
more apt to gripe, &c., than the latter. A finer kind, known as
'_Bethelsdorp aloes_,' imported from Algoa Bay, is more of a liver colour,
and softer than the preceding, and hence often called CAPE HEPATIC-ALOES.

=Aloes, Hepat'ic.= _Syn._ BOMBAY' ALOES*, EAST-INDIA A.*, LIVER-
SOCOTRINE A.*; ALOE HEPAT'ICA, Ph. L. & D.; A. IN'DICA, Ph. E. Imported
from Bombay and Madras. It is usually said to be obtained from "uncertain
species of aloes;" but it is almost certain that it is "the juice of the
Socotrine aloes plant which has been solidified without the aid of
artificial heat."[34]--_Char., &c._ "Opaque, of a liver colour, bitter
taste, and an unpleasant odour." (Ph. L.) It is less odorous, darker
, and more opaque than Socotrine aloes; its powder has also a
duller colour, and weak spirit leaves much undissolved matter. Its
decoction on cooling frequently deposits a yellow powder. The finer and
brighter varieties of hepatic aloes are commonly sold for 'Socotrines,'
and their medicinal virtues are nearly similar. (See _below._)

[Footnote 34: Pereira, 'Elem. Mat. Med. and Therap.,' vol. ii, 188, 4th
Ed.; 'Pharm. Journ.,' vol. xi.]

=Aloes, In'dian= (various);--1. Deep brown or black, very opaque, and less
soluble than ordinary aloes. Scarcely known in commerce.--2. Several
varieties ranging in character from 'Cape aloes' to 'hepatics,' and
occasionally to 'Barbadoes,' obtained from several species.

=Aloes, Mo'cha= (-k[)a]h). _Syn._ ALOE DE MOCHA, L. Imported from Muscat.
An inferior kind of Indian aloes. (Christison.) It is obtained from the
same plant as produces genuine hepatic aloes. (Lindley.) It holds an
intermediate position between 'Cape' and 'hepatics,' but contains much
impurity; the latter often amounting to upwards of 25%. Some specimens
are, however, of excellent quality. When melted and 'doctored,' it is sold
for Barbadoes, hepatic, and even Socotrine aloes.

=Aloes, Soc'otrine= (-tr[)i]n; s[)u]k'-[double-dagger]). _Syn._
SOC'OTORINE ALOES, SMYR'NA A., TUR'KEY A.; ALOE SOCOTRI'NA, Ph. L.; ALOE,
Ph. L. 1836; A. SOCOTRI'NA, Ph. E. "The juice of the cut leaf of uncertain
species hardened by the air." (Ph. L.) Genuine Socotrine aloes is
generally supposed to be obtained from _aloe spica'ta_; but is referred by
De Candolle to a distinct species, A. SOCOTRI'NA; and by Martius, also to
_a. purpuras'cens_. Formerly this variety was brought from the Island of
Socotra or Zocotora (hence the name), by way of Smyrna and Malta; but it
is now chiefly obtained from Bombay and Madras.--_Char., &c._ Colour
garnet red to golden red; smell peculiar and aromatic, not unlike a
decaying russet apple, especially when fresh-broken, or breathed on, or
warmed; taste permanently and intensely bitter; fracture conchoidal;
softens in the hand, and becomes adhesive, yet retains considerable
brittleness; powder bright golden-yellow colour; central portions of the
lumps often soft, especially when first imported. "It is brittle, bitter,
of a reddish-brown colour, and an aromatic odour. Light permeates thin
recently broken laminae." (Ph. L.) "In thin pieces, translucent and garnet
red; almost entirely soluble in spirit of the strength of sherry. Very
rare." (Ph. E.)

Socotrine aloes are always preferred for medicinal purposes, and are the
only variety used in perfumery, varnishes, and other nice purposes in the
arts.

=Aloes, Strained.= _Syn._ MELTED ALOES; ALOE COLA'TA, L. _Proc._ 1. The
aloes are melted in a copper pan, by the heat of steam or a water bath,
and are then pressed through a strong hair or wire sieve, and allowed to
cool.

2. As above, but with the addition of about twice its weight of water; the
decoction being strained and evaporated.

_Obs._ Mocha, Indian, and other common aloes, treated in this way and
, are frequently sold for melted or strained 'Socotrines' and
'hepatics.' The colouring matter usually employed is the precipitated
carbonate of iron (sesquioxide), or Venetian red, in very fine powder,
with, sometimes, a little annatto. This fraud is not readily detected by
mere inspection, by those unaccustomed to these matters; and hence the
impunity with which it is perpetrated.

The object in melting aloes is to deprive it of the foreign matters, as
sand, leaves, pieces of wood, &c., which the commoner kinds generally
contain in large quantities. The action of the heat drives off much of
their nauseous smell, at the same time that it deepens their colour, and
renders their appearance more translucent and resinous, to the disguise of
their original nature. The operation, on the large scale, is usually
carried on at night, in consequence of the horribly nauseous fumes
evolved, which may be smelt at a great distance, and contaminate the
clothes of those engaged in it for a long time afterwards.

=AL'OES HEMP.= A plant growing in Peru, the East and West Indies, and
Mexico (_A. Americana_, _A. vivapara_, _A. f[oe]tida, &c._), where the
leaf is cultivated for its fibre, which is generally of a yellowish-white
colour, and used for rope-making.

=AL'OES WOOD.= _Syn._ AL'OE-WOOD; EAGLEWOOD; AGAL'LOCHUM (-k[)u]m),
LIG'NUM AL'OES, L. AGAL'LOCHI, L. A. VE''RI, L. AQ'UILAE, L. ASPAL'ATHI,
L.; AGALLOCHE, BOIS D'ALOES, Fr.; ALOEHOLZ, Ger.; CALAM'BAC, CALAM'BOUC,
Ind.; XYLO-AL'OES[dagger]. A name applied to the wood of _aloeex'ylon
agal'lochum_ (Lam.), a leguminous tree of Cochin China; and, though
apparently less correctly, to that of _aquila''ria agallochum_ and _a.
ova'ta_ (Lour.), trees of tropical Asia, belonging to a different nat.
order. Both are highly fragrant and aromatic; used in fumigations and
pastilles, and occasionally by cabinet makers and inlayers. The essential
oil of the wood, dissolved in spirit, was regarded by Hoffmann as one of
the best cordials and invigorants known. The same has also been said of a
tincture of its resin.

The same name and synonyms are popularly applied to the resin of the above
woods (ALOES-WOOD RESIN), of which there are two varieties:--the one,
light and porous, and filled with a highly fragrant resinous substance;
the other, denser and less resinous. It is an oily concretion in the
centre of the tree, the result of disease, which gradually hardens, and,
in time, kills it. It is highly fragrant, and is said to be nervine,
cephalic, cardiac, and stimulant. The powder is regarded as tonic and
astringent. Of all perfumes this is said to be the one most esteemed by
oriental nations.

=ALOE'TIC.= _Syn._ ALOET'ICUS, L.; ALOETIQUE, Fr. Of or belonging to
aloes. In _medicine_, _pharmacy_, &c., applied to any preparation
containing aloes as a characteristic ingredient; made or obtained from
aloes. Substantively, an aloetic medicine.

=AL'OIN= (-o-[)i]n). C_{17}H_{18}O_{7}. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AL'OeIN;
ALOI'NA, L. The Messrs T. & H. Smith, of Edinburgh, have applied this name
to a crystalline substance, which they assert to be the pure cathartic
principle of aloes. Their process is to evaporate to the consistence of a
syrup, in vacuo, a solution obtained by exhausting a mixture of aloes and
sand, with cold water, and then to set it aside for a few days. The
resulting dark crystalline mass is purified by pressure between folds of
bibulous paper, and repeated crystallisation from hot water. Barbadoes
aloes are commonly used for the purpose; but soft or semi-liquid Socotrine
aloes, or the unevaporated Socotrine-aloes juice, is probably its best
source. Tilden gives the following process for the preparation of
aloin:--The aloes crushed small is to be dissolved in nine or ten times
its weight of boiling water acidified with sulphuric acid. After cooling
and standing for a few hours, the clear liquid is decanted from the resin,
and evaporated. The concentrated solution deposits a mass of yellow
crystals, which can be purified by washing, pressure, and
recrystallisation from hot spirit. After several recrystallisations the
aloin is obtained in the form of beautiful yellow needles, which are
pretty soluble in water and in alcohol, but soluble with difficulty in
ether.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 gr.

=ALOPE'CIA= (-sh'[)a]). [L.] _Syn._ AL'OPECY, FOX'-EVIL; ALOPECIE, Fr.;
FUCHSRAUDE, Ger. In _pathology_, baldness from disease, often extending to
the beard and eyebrows; as distinguished from 'calvities,' or ordinary
baldness arising from attenuation of the scalp or defective nutrition. See
BALDNESS.

=ALPAC'A.= A species of Llama, popularly known as the PERUVIAN SHEEP, an
animal intermediate between the camel and sheep, having long silky hair,
nearly as fine as that of the Cashmere goat. It was introduced to the
British manufacturers in 1834, when only 5700 lbs. of it was imported; but
it soon became an important article of commerce, the quantity imported
having gradually risen to above 2-1/4 millions of lbs. in 1853; whilst
the price has risen from about 9d. to 2s. 7d. the lb., in the same time.
The name is also given to fabrics woven from the wool of this animal; and
to others in fine wool, made in imitation of them. The gigantic factory,
&c., erected at Saltaire, Yorkshire, in 1852, for this manufacture, covers
about 12 acres of land. See LLAMA.

=ALPENKRAUTER-BRUST-TEIG= (Grablowitz, Gras). Pectoral cakes of Alpine
herbs. Gum arabic, 100 parts; sugar, 200 parts; extract liquorice, 1 part;
saffron, 1/8th part. Each box contains 48 lozenge-shaped yellowish cakes.
Made into a mass with decoction of marsh mallow. (Hager.)

=ALPENKRAUTER GESUNDHEIT'S LIQUEUR= (Rudolph Bohl). Medicinal liqueur of
Alpine herbs. A bottle containing 350 grammes of a liqueur which is an
extract of star anise, cassia, frangula bark, centaury, chicory, gentian,
and a little aloes. (Hager.)

=ALPENKRAUTER-MAGENBITTER= (Hauber). Stomachic bitters of Alpine herbs. A
brown liqueur of bitter, spirituous, and slightly aromatic flavour,
containing in 100 parts: oil of anise, 0.5; oil of cloves, 0.5; aloes,
1.5; alcohol, 40; water, 50. 157 grammes in each bottle. (Wittstein.)

=ALPHA-ORSELL'IC ACID.= See ORSELLIC ACID.

=ALPINE ROSE SOAP, SWISS.= A preservative against syphilitic infection (G.
A. Sarpe, Zurich). A glass cylinder corked and sealed, about 2 inches
long, and containing a hard brownish-grey mass weighing 12 grammes,
prepared thus:--Ammonia, 1 part; sublimate, 3 parts; tannin, 2 parts;
chloride of lime, 24 parts; Castile soap, 190 parts; oil of cloves, 1
part; spirit of wine, q. s. (Hager.)

=AL'QUIFOU= (-ke-f[=o][=o]). _Syn._ BLACK LEAD-ORE, POTTER'S ORE. A native
sulphide of lead used by potters to give a green glaze to coarse wares.

=ALSTONIA SCHOLARIS.= (Ind. Ph.) _Habitat._ Common in forests throughout
India.--_Officinal part._ The bark (_Alstoniae cortex_). It occurs in
thick, irregular, more or less contorted pieces, easily broken. It
consists of a rough greyish epidermis, investing a buff or pale
cinnamon- bark; internally, still lighter in colour,
and of a spongy texture, having a very bitter taste, but devoid
of odour.--_Properties._ Astringent, tonic, anthelmintic,
antiperiodic--_Therapeutic uses._ In chronic diarrh[oe]a and the advanced
stages of dysentery; also as a tonic in debility after fevers, and other
exhausting diseases.--_Dose._ 3 to 5 grains, either alone or combined, in
bowel affections, with small doses of ipecacuanha and extract of
gentian.--_Preparations._ TINCTURE OF ALSTONIA (_Tinctura Alstoniae_). Take
of alstonia bark, bruised, 2-1/2 ounces; proof spirit, 1 pint. Macerate
for seven days in a closed vessel, with occasional agitation; filter, and
add sufficient proof spirit to make 1 pint. Or prepare by percolation, as
Tincture of Calumba.--_Dose_, 1 to 2 fluid drachms.

=Alstonia, Infusion of.= (_Infusum Alstoniae._) Take of alstonia bark,
bruised, 1/2 an ounce; boiling water, 10 fluid ounces. Infuse in a covered
vessel for an hour and strain.--_Dose._ From 1 to 2 fluid ounces twice or
thrice daily. A good serviceable tonic.

=AL'TERATIVE= (awl'-t[)e]r-[)a]-t[)i]v). _Syn._ AL'TERANT*; AL'TERANS
([)a]l'-), L.; ALTERANT, ALTERATIF, Fr. In _medicine_, having power to
alter; applied to substances and agents which occasion a change in the
habit or constitution, and thus re-establish the healthy functions of the
body, or any part of it, without producing any sensible evacuation or
other obvious effect.

=ALTERATIVE EXTRACT=, or =GOLDEN MEDICAL DISCOVERY= (Dr Pierce, Buffalo),
for the cure of all severe, acute, chronic, or long-standing coughs,
inflammations, hoarseness, scrofulous, and syphilitic diseases. A clear
light-brown fluid, 220 grms., composed of 15 grms. purified honey, 1 grm.
extract of lettuce, 2 grms. laudanum, 100 grms. of proof spirit tasting of
fusel oil and wood spirit, and 105 grms. water. (Hager.)

=AL'TERATIVES= (-t[)i]vz). _Syn._ ALTERAN'TIA, L.; ALTERATIFS, &c., Fr.
Alterative medicines or agents. The preparations of mercury and iodine,
when properly administered, are the most useful members of this class; and
are those which are now the most generally employed.

=ALTHE'IN= ([)a]l-th[=e]'-[)i]n). _Syn._ ALTHAE'INA, L. The name given by
Braconnot to a substance identical with asparagin, which he discovered in
the 'marsh-mallow' (_althae'a officina'lis_, Linn.).

=ALTHOFF WATER= (aqua mirabilis), for torpid ulcers. Wine vinegar, 750
parts; sulphate of copper, 100 parts; potash, 25 parts; ammonia, 30 parts;
salt of sorrel, 8 parts; French brandy, 375 parts. Digest for a few days
in a glass vessel and distil to dryness from a glass retort. (Wittstein.)

=AL'UDEL= (-[=u]-). In _chemistry_, a pear-shaped glass or earthen pot
open at both ends, formerly much used for connecting other vessels in the
process of sublimation. A number of them joined together are still
employed for the distillation of quicksilver, in Spain.

=AL'UM= K_{2}SO_{4}.Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}.24Aq. _Syn._ POT'ASH-ALUM,
SUL'PHATE OF ALUMINUM AND POTASSIUM, COMMON ALUM; ALU'MEN, A. POTAS'SICUM,
L.; ALUN, SULFATE D'ALUMINE ET DE POTASSE, Fr.; ALAUN, Ger.; ALUME, Ital.

The principal alum-works in England, until recently, were those of Lord
Glasgow, at Hurlett and Campsie, near Glasgow, and those of Lords Dundas
and Mulgrave, at Whitby, Yorkshire (est. 1600); but those of Mr Spence, at
Manchester, and at Goole (Yorkshire), and of Mr Pochin, at Manchester, are
now among the largest, if they be not actually the largest in the world.
There are also extensive alum-works at and near Newcastle-on-Tyne; but
none of importance, that we know of, in any other part of these realms.

_Nat. hist._ Alum is found native in some places (NATIVE ALUM), either
effloresced on the surface of bituminous alum-schist (Goettwigg, Austria);
or united with the soil in the neighbourhood of volcanoes (Solfatara,
Naples); when it may be obtained by simple lixiviation and evaporation, a
little potash being commonly added to convert the excess of sulphate of
alumina present into alum. It is also found in certain mineral waters
(East Indies).

_Sources._ The alum of commerce is usually obtained from schistose pyritic
clays, commonly termed alum-ores, aluminous shale, a.-schist, &c.; and
from alum-rock, a.-stone, or alunite. At La Tolfa, Civita Vecchia, where
the best Roman-alum is produced, the source is stratified alum-stone. On
the Continent, and in Great Britain, it is generally pyritaceous clays,
volcanic aluminous ores, aluminous shale, or alum-slate. These minerals
contain sulphide of iron, alumina, bitumen or carbon, and frequently a
salt of potassium. Of late years large quantities of alum have been
prepared on the banks of the Tyne from aluminous clay.

_Prep._ The manufacture of alum is technically said to be conducted
according to the natural process when prepared from alum-schist or
alum-ore; and according to the artificial process when made by acting on
clay with sulphuric acid, and adding a potassium salt to the resulting
lixivium. The manufacture of alum and of sulphate of alumina from such
materials as contain only alumina, to which consequently sulphuric acid
and alkaline salts have to be added, has come largely into practice in
England. The materials employed are, in addition to clay, cryolite or
Greenland spar, a fluoride of aluminum and soda; bauxite, a hydrate of
alumina, of more or less purity; and slag. The following are the details
of these processes:--

_a._ From ALUM-ORE, ALUMINOUS SCHIST, or SHALE, &c.:--

[Illustration]

1. The mineral (alum-ore, a.-schist, &c.) is placed in heaps, and
moistened from time to time with water, when it becomes gradually hot, and
falls into a pulverulent state. This decomposition commonly occurs either
wholly, or partially, on the floor of the mine. If the ore does not
possess this property on mere exposure to air and moisture, it is broken
into pieces and laid upon a bed of brushwood and small coal, to the depth
of about four feet, when the pile is fired and fresh lumps of the
alum-mineral thrown on, until the mass becomes of considerable height and
size. The combustion, as soon as established, is conducted with a
smothered fire, until the calcination is complete; care being taken to
prevent fusion, or the disengagement of either sulphurous or sulphuric
acid, from contact between the ignited stones and the carbonaceous
fuel.[35] To promote these ends the pile, at the proper time, is 'mantled'
(as the workmen call it) or covered with a layer of already calcined and
exhausted ore, in order to protect it from high winds and heavy rains; as
also to moderate the heat, and let it proceed gradually, so that the
sulphur present may not be lost or wasted by volatilisation. The roasting
is finally checked by a thicker 'mantling,' and the whole allowed to cool.
By this time the pile has usually lost about one half its bulk, and become
open and porous in the interior, so that the air can circulate freely
through the mass; the latter, in dry weather, as the heap cools, being
usually promoted by sprinkling a little water on it, which, by carrying
down some of the saline matter, renders the interior still more open to
the atmosphere. The whole, when cold, or nearly cold, is, if necessary,
still further exposed to the action of air and moisture. The time required
to calcine the heap properly, including that taken by the burned ore to
cool, varies, according to its size and the state of the weather, from
three to nine, or even twelve months. The residuum of the calcination is
next placed in large stone or brick cisterns, and edulcorated with water,
until all the soluble portion is dissolved out; the solution is then
concentrated in another stone cistern, so made that the flame and heated
air of its reverberatory furnace sweep the whole surface of the liquor.
(See _engr._) The evaporation is continued until it just barely reaches
the point at which crystals are deposited on cooling; when it is run off
into coolers. After the sulphate of iron, always present, has been
deposited in crystals, the mother-liquor, containing the sulphate of
aluminum, is run into other cisterns, and a saturated solution of chloride
of potassium, or of sulphate of potassium, or (sometimes) impure sulphate
or carbonate of ammonium, or a mixture of them,[36] is added until a cloud
or milkiness ceases to be produced on addition of more.[37] It is next
allowed to settle and get thoroughly cold, and the supernatant
'mother-liquor' being drawn off with a pump or syphon, the precipitate,
which is alum in the form of minute crystals (technically termed 'flour'),
is well drained, and subsequently washed by stirring it up with a little
very cold water, which is then drained off, and the operation repeated a
second time with fresh water. A saturated solution of the pulverulent alum
('flour') is next formed in a leaden boiler, and the clear portion is run
or pumped off, while boiling hot, into crystallising vessels, called
roaching casks (see _engr._), the staves of which are lined with lead, and
nicely adjusted to each other. After the lapse of a week or ten days, the
hoops and staves of these 'casks' are removed, when a thick crust of
crystallised alum is found, which exactly corresponds in form and size to
the interior of the cask. A few holes are then made in the sides of this
mass, near the bottom, to allow the contained mother-liquor to drain off,
after which the whole is broken up and packed in casks for sale. Sometimes
the alum thus obtained, or the lower portion of it, is washed with a
little very cold water, and, if discoloured, or small or slimy, is
purified by a second crystallisation.

[Footnote 35: The generality of alum-minerals require roasting; and their
own bituminous matter is, in many cases, sufficient to produce the heat
required, which need not necessarily exceed 600 to 650 deg. Fahr., provided it
be continued for a sufficient period. It is only when they are less
bituminous or carbonaceous that slack or saw-dust, &c., is employed.]

[Footnote 36: For pure POTASH-ALUM a salt of potash only must be employed.
When ammonia (usually in the form of gas-liquor or gas-sulphate) is used
as the precipitant, the product is AMMONIA-ALUM. The ordinary alums of
commerce are now generally mixtures of the two.]

[Footnote 37: The respective quantities required to produce 100 parts of
alum from the sulphate of alumina liquor are--

  Chloride of potassium    15.7
  Sulphate of     "        18.4
      "       ammonium     13.9

In practice, the exact quantity required may be found by a previous trial
of a little of the aluminous liquor; but the indications mentioned in the
text will always show the operator when a sufficient dose is added.]

[Illustration]

2. As ammonia-alum (Spence's process; see _below_), but using a
potash-salt as the precipitant, either wholly or in part, instead of
ammonia; and, in the latter case, supplementing the deficiency of potash
with ammonia, as there explained.

_b._ From ALUMINOUS CLAY and OIL OF VITRIOL:--

1. Clay, free or nearly free from carbonate of lime and oxide of iron, is
chosen for this purpose. It is moderately calcined (in lumps) in a
reverberatory furnace, until it becomes friable; great care being taken
that the heat be not sufficient to indurate it, which would destroy its
subsequent solubility. It is next reduced to powder, sifted, and mixed
with about 45% of its weight of sulphuric acid (sp. gr. 1.45), the
operation being conducted in a large stone or brick basin arched over with
brickwork. Heat is then applied, the flame and hot air of a reverberatory
furnace being made to sweep over the surface of the liquor. The heat and
agitation are continued for 2 or 3 days, when the mass is raked out and
set aside in a warm place for a few weeks (6 to 8), to allow the acid the
more perfectly to combine with the clay. At the end of this time the
newly-formed sulphate of alumina is washed out, the solution evaporated
until of a sp. gr. of about 1.38 (1.24 for 'ammonia-alum'), and the salt
of potash added. The remaining operations resemble those above described.
Good alum may be produced by this process at about two thirds the cost of
rock or mine alum.

2. (Process of Mr Pochin.) Fine China clay is heated in a furnace, and
mixed with a suitable proportion of sulphuric acid; the latter being
considerably diluted with water, in order to moderate its action, which
would otherwise be far too violent. The mixture is then passed into
cisterns furnished with movable sides, where, in a few minutes, it heats
violently and boils. The thick liquid gradually becomes thicker, until it
is converted into a solid porous mass; the pores being produced by the
bubbles of steam which are driven through it, owing to the heat resulting
from the reaction of the ingredients on each other. This porous mass
(ALUM-CAKE; CONCENTRATED ALUM) appears perfectly dry, although retaining a
large amount of combined water. It also contains all the silica of the
original clay, but in such a state of fine division, that the whole
appears homogeneous; whilst it imparts a dryness to the touch which can
scarcely be given to pure sulphate of alumina. From this substance a
solution of pure sulphate of alumina is easily obtainable by lixiviation,
and allowing the resulting solution to deposit its silica before using it,
but for many purposes the presence of the finely divided silica is not
objectionable. The sulphate of alumina solution so obtained is adapted to
all the purposes in dyeing for which alum is now employed; the sulphate of
potash or of ammonia in the latter being an unnecessary constituent, and
one merely added to facilitate the purification and subsequent
crystallisation of the salt. To obtain ALUM from the porous alum-cake, the
proper proportion of acid having been used in its preparation, or
subsequently added, it is only necessary to precipitate its concentrated
solution with a strong solution of a salt of potash, or of ammonia, or a
mixture of them, and to otherwise proceed as before.

_Ratio._ In the above process the sulphide of iron of the shale or schist
is converted by atmospheric oxygen into sulphate of iron and sulphuric
acid; the sulphuric acid decomposes the clay, setting silica free, and
producing sulphate of aluminum. The sulphate of iron is mostly got rid of
by concentrating the solution of the mixed sulphates, and the
mother-liquors are converted into alum by the addition of the salt of
potassium. When chloride of potassium is used, it yields chloride of iron
and sulphate of potassium, the latter combining with the sulphate of
aluminum, and the former remaining behind in the mother-liquor. See ALUMS
(in Chemistry).

_Comp._ Potassium alum has the formula
K_{2}SO_{4}.Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}.24Aq.

_c._ From CRYOLITE.

1. (Thomson's method.) Decomposition of cryolite by ignition with
carbonate of lime. From the ignited mass the aluminate of soda is obtained
by lixiviation with water, and into the solution carbonic acid gas is
passed, when there result precipitated hydrated gelatinous alumina and
carbonate of soda, which remains in solution. If it be desired to obtain
the alumina as an earthy compact precipitate, bicarbonate of soda is used
instead of carbonic acid. While the clear liquor is boiled down for the
purpose of obtaining carbonate of soda, the precipitated alumina is
dissolved in dilute sulphuric acid; this solution is evaporated for the
purpose of obtaining sulphate of alumina (the so-called concentrated
alum), or the solution after having been treated with a potassa or an
ammonia salt is converted into alum.

2. (Sauerwein's method.) Decomposition of cryolite by caustic lime by the
wet way. Very finely ground cryolite is boiled with water and lime, the
purer the better, and as free from iron as possible, in a leaden pan. The
result is the formation of a solution of aluminate of soda, and insoluble
fluoride of calcium (lime). When the fluoride of calcium has deposited,
the clear liquid is decanted, and the sediment washed, the first
wash-water being added to the decanted liquor, and the second and third
wash-waters being used instead of pure water at a subsequent operation. In
order to separate the alumina from the solution of aluminate of soda,
there is added to the liquid while being continuously stirred very finely
pulverised cryolite in excess, the result of the decomposition being
alumina and fluoride of sodium, (soda). When no more caustic soda can be
detected in the liquid, it is left to stand for the purpose of becoming
clear. The clarified solution of fluoride of sodium is then drawn off, and
the alumina treated as above described. The solution of fluoride of sodium
having been boiled with caustic lime yields a caustic soda solution, which
having been decanted from the sediment of fluoride of calcium is
evaporated to dryness. Recently the fluoride of calcium occurring as a
by-product has been used in glass-making.

3. The decomposition of cryolite by sulphuric acid yields sulphate of soda
convertible into carbonate by Leblanc's process, and sulphate of alumina
free from iron. This method of decomposing cryolite is, however, by no
means to be recommended, as owing to the liberation of hydrofluoric acid,
peculiarly constructed apparatus are required, whilst the sulphate of soda
has to be converted into carbonate.

_d._ From Bauxite. This mineral, occurring in some parts of Southern
France, in Calabria, near Belfast, and in other parts of Europe, consists
essentially (viz. 60 per cent.) of hydrate of alumina, more or less pure.
In order to prepare alums and sulphate of alumina from it, the mineral is
first disintegrated by being ignited with carbonate of soda, or with a
mixture of sulphate of soda and charcoal; in each case the lixiviation of
the ignited mass yields aluminate of soda, from which, by the processes
already described under "Cryolite," alum, or sulphate of alumina, and soda
are prepared.

_e._ From blast-furnace slag. Luermann recommends the slag to be decomposed
by means of hydrochloric (muriatic) acid. From the resulting solution of
chloride of aluminum the alumina is precipitated by carbonate of lime, any
dissolved silica being precipitated at the same time. The alumina is
dissolved in sulphuric acid, leaving the silica.

[Illustration]

_Prop._ Alum crystallises in regular octahedrons, often with truncated
edges and angles; (see _engr._); and sometimes in cubes, but only when
there is a deficiency of acid in its composition, with the alkali in
slight excess of the proper quantity. (Loewel.)[38] It is slightly
efflorescent in dry air: soluble in 18 parts of cold water, and in rather
less than its own weight of boiling water; tastes sweet, acidulous, and
very astringent; is styptic; and reddens litmus. When heated it melts,
loses its water of crystallisation, and becomes white and spongy (DRIED
ALUM); a strong heat, short of whiteness, decomposes it, with the
evolution of oxygen and a mixture of sulphuric and sulphurous anhydride;
calcined with carbonaceous matter it suffers decomposition, and furnishes
a pyrophoric residuum (HOMBERG'S PYRO'PHORUS). Ignited with alkaline
chlorides, hydrochloric acid is liberated; which also occurs when their
concentrated solutions are boiled together. Ammonia precipitates pure
hydrate of aluminum from potassium alum; but only a subsulphate from the
simple sulphate of alumina. Sp. gr. 1.724; but, when containing ammonia,
often so low as 1.710.

[Footnote 38: The ordinary alum, of commerce, consisting of large
crystalline masses, which do not present any regular geometrical form; but
by immersion in water for a few days, octahedral and rectangular forms are
developed on its surface. (Daniell.)]

_Tests, &c._ It is easily recognised by its crystalline form, its taste,
and by its complete solubility in water. Its aqueous solution gives a
white gelatinous precipitate soluble in excess; a platinum wire moistened
with the solution imparts a violet colour to the blowpipe flame; and
chloride of barium gives a white precipitate insoluble in nitric acid.

_Pur._ When pure, its solution is not darkened by tincture of galls,
sulphuretted hydrogen or ferrocyanide of potassium; neither does it give
any precipitate with solution of nitrate of silver. Heated with caustic
potassa, or quick-lime, it does not evolve fumes of ammonia.

_Adult., &c._ The principal impurity, and one which renders alum unfit for
the use of the dyer, is iron. This may be readily detected by the blue
precipitate it gives with ferrocyanide of potassium, or the black
precipitate with sulphide of ammonium, which are very delicate tests.[39]
Lime, another very injurious contamination, may be detected by
precipitating the alumina and iron (if any) with ammonia, and then adding
oxalate of ammonia to the boiled and filtered liquid. The liquid filtered
from the last precipitate (oxalate of lime) may still contain magnesia,
which may be detected by the white precipitate caused on the addition of
an alkaline phosphate. Common alum frequently contains ammonia, from
urine, or the crude sulphate of the gas-works, having been employed in its
manufacture. Powdered alum is frequently adulterated with common salt, in
which case it gives a white curdy precipitate with nitrate of silver,
turning black by exposure to the light.

[Footnote 39: Good English alum contains less than 0.1% of iron. The best
Roman or Italian alums seldom contain more than .005% of iron-alum,
notwithstanding their exterior colour.]

_Phys. eff. &c._ In small quantities alum acts as an astringent; in larger
doses as an irritant. It acts chemically on the animal tissues and fluids,
is absorbed, and has been discovered in the liver, spleen, and urine
(Orfila), the last often becoming acid (Kraus). Externally, it is
astringent. The almost general use of alum by the English bakers is one of
the most fertile sources of dyspepsia and liver and bowel complaints in
adults; and of debility and rickets in children. Bad teeth and their early
decay is another consequence of the daily use of alum in our food. The
bone matter (phosphate of lime) of bread, instead of being assimilated by
the system, is either wholly, or in part, converted into a salt of
alumina, which is useless and incapable of appropriation. When alum has
been taken in poisonous doses an emetic should be given, followed by warm
diluents and demulcents, containing a little carbonate of soda; and
subsequently by a purgative.

_Uses, &c._ The applications of alum in the arts and manufactures are
numerous and important. It is used to harden tallow and fats; to render
wood and paper incombustible; to remove greasiness from printers' blocks
and rollers; to prepare a paper for whitening silver and silvering brass
in the cold; to help the separation of the butter from milk; to purify
turbid water; to dress skins; to fix and brighten the colours in dyeing;
to make lake and pyrophorus, &c., &c. It is also extensively used for
clarifying liquors, and for many other purposes connected with the arts
and everyday life. In _medicine_, alum is used as a tonic and astringent,
in doses of 5 to 20 gr.; as a gargle (1 dr. to 1/2 pint of water); and as
a collyrium and injection (10 to 15 gr. to 6 oz. of water). In lead colic,
1/2 to 1 dr. of alum (dissolved in gum-water), every 3 or 4 hours, is said
to be infallible. Powdered alum is frequently applied with the tips of the
fingers, in cases of sore throat and ulcerations of the mouth, &c. A
teaspoonful of it is said to be one of the very best emetics in croup. (Dr
Meigs.) Alkalies, alkaline carbonates, lime, magnesia, acetate of lead,
astringent vegetables, &c., are incompatible with it.

_Gen. commentary._ In addition to the particulars of its manufacture given
above, we may add, that the plan of getting rid of the ferric salts there
referred to has to some considerable extent been successfully replaced by
that of precipitating the alum, instead of the sulphate of iron, by adding
alkaline matter to the lixivium. The crystalline precipitate is purified
by draining, re-solution, and re-crystallisation; whilst the sulphate of
iron and Epsom-salts contained in the mother liquor are obtained by
subsequent evaporation and crystallisation; after which a fresh crop of
alum may be got from it, by the use of an alkaline precipitant, as before.

In estimating the strength of his solution the alum-maker takes as a
standard a measure or sp. gr. bottle capable of holding exactly 80
pennyweights of distilled water. The excess of the weight of liquor, in
pennyweights, over 80, or that of water, is called so many 'pennyweights
strong.' Thus one of 90 pennyweights (90 dwt.) is said to be '10 dwt.
strong,' or simply, 'one of 90 dwt.' These numbers correspond to 2-1/2
degrees of Twaddle's hydrometer, and may easily be found by dividing
Twaddle's degrees by 2.5 or 2-1/2; or by multiplying them by 4, and
pointing off the right-hand figure of the product for a decimal. The
result is in alum-makers' pennyweights.

By a patent now expired (Weisman's, 1839) the ferric salts are
precipitated by the addition of a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium
(prussiate of potash); after which the supernatant clear liquor, which is
now a solution of nearly pure sulphate of alumina, is decanted, and
evaporated for future operations, until it either forms, on cooling, a
concrete mass, which is moulded into bricks or lumps, for the convenience
of 'packing,' or until it is sufficiently concentrated to be converted
into ALUM by the addition of a salt of potash or of ammonia in the usual
manner. The product, in each case, is perfectly free from iron. By a like
addition of the ferrocyanide to a solution of ordinary sulphate of
aluminia or alum, the dyer may himself easily render them free from
iron, or iron-alum; when, as mordants for even the most delicate colours,
they are equal to the very best Roman alum.

Another process has been patented (Barlow & Gore, 1851) for the
manufacture of alum from the ash or residue of the combustion of
Boghead-coal, which, though hitherto regarded as almost valueless,
actually contains about 30% of alumina. It has not, however, been found a
convenient material for the purpose.

By the latest and most approved processes the least possible quantity of
boiling water or liquor is employed for making the solutions, so that they
may crystallise without evaporation, and thus economise fuel; and the
mother-liquors of previous operations are constantly employed for this
purpose, when possible. Nor is anything which is convertible to use, from
the drainage of the heaps, to the liquor and slime of the roaching casks,
allowed to be wasted.

By whatever process, or from whatever materials alum is obtained, it is
absolutely necessary for the successful and economical conduct of its
manufacture, that the precise composition of the mineral or minerals
employed should be exactly known. This can only be determined by actual
analysis, which should be extended to several parts of the same bed, and
particularly to the upper and lower strata, which frequently differ in
composition from each other, and thus require different treatment, or may
be most advantageously employed in combinations with each other. The
necessity of this will be seen by reference to the composition of the
following minerals, of which the top contains a larger proportion of
iron-pyrites than the bottom, and the two require to be mixed, to equally
diffuse the sulphuric acid generated by the calcination, &c., to which
they are subjected.

The following is the per-centage composition of certain alum shales:--

  +------------------+-------------------+
  |                  | Whitby, Yorkshire.|
  |                  | (_Richardson._)   |
  |                  +--------+----------+
  |                  |  Top   | Bottom   |
  |                  |  rock. | rock.    |
  +------------------+--------+----------+
  |Sulphide of iron  |   4.20 |   8.50   |
  |  (_pyrites_)     |        |          |
  |Silica            |  52.25 |  15.16   |
  |Protoxide of iron |   8.49 |   6.11   |
  |Alumina           |  18.75 |  18.30   |
  |Lime              |   1.25 |   2.15   |
  |Magnesia          |    .91 |    .90   |
  |Oxide of manganese| traces | traces   |
  |Sulphuric acid    |   1.37 |   2.50   |
  |  (SO_{3})        |        |          |
  |Potassa           |    .13 | traces   |
  |Soda              |    .20 | traces   |
  |Chlorine          | traces | traces   |
  |Coal              |   4.97 |   8.29   |
  |Water             |   2.88 |    .00   |
  |Loss              |   4.60 |   (?)    |
  |                  |        |          |
  +------------------+--------+----------+
  |                  | 100.   | 100.     |
  +------------------+--------+----------+

  +---------------------+------------------------------+
  |                     |   Campsie, near Glasgow.     |
  |                     |        (_Ronalds._)          |
  +---------------------+---------+----------+---------+
  |                     | Top     |   Top    | Bottom  |
  |                     | rock.   |   rock.  | rock.   |
  |---------------------+---------+----------+---------+
  |Sulphide of iron     | 40.52   |   38.48  |  9.63(?)|
  |  (_pyrites_)        |         |          |         |
  |Silica               | 15.40   |   15.41  | 20.47(?)|
  |Protoxide of iron    |  ...    |    ...   |  2.18   |
  |Alumina              | 11.35   |   11.64  | 18.91(?)|
  |Lime                 |  1.40   |    2.22  |   .40   |
  |Magnesia             |   .50   |     .32  |  2.17   |
  |Oxide of manganese   |   .15   |    ...   |   .55   |
  |Sulphuric acid       |  ...    |    ...   |   .05   |
  |Potassa              |   .90   |    ...   |  1.26   |
  |Soda                 |  ...    |    ...   |   .21   |
  |Carbon or            | 27.65(?)|  28.80   |  (?)    |
  |  bituminous matter  |         |          |         |
  |Coal                 |  ...    |    ...   |  8.51   |
  |Water                |  ...    |    ...   |  8.54   |
  |Loss                 |  2.13(?)|   3.13   |  1.59(?)|
  +---------------------+---------+----------+---------+
  |                     | 100.    | 100.     | 100.    |
  +---------------------+---------+----------+---------+

Alum-rock, or alum-stone, is a species of impure alunite, and is not of
very common occurrence. That of Tolfa, near Civita Vecchia, according to
Klaproth, consists of--

  Silica                   56.5
  Alumina                  19.
  Sulphuric acid (SO_{3})  16.5
  Potassa                   4.
  Water                     3.
  Loss                      1.
                         ------
                          100.

which exhibits an excess of about 3% of sulphuric acid, and about 14% of
alumina, more than are requisite to form alum with the 4% of potassa;
proportions which, therefore, require to be supplemented with a potassium
salt during the process of manufacture. The alum-stone of Mont d'Or
contains, according to Cordier, 1.4% of oxide of iron.

The presence of lime in alum-ore is most prejudicial, owing to its
affinity for sulphuric acid being greater than that of either alumina or
iron. Ores containing it in any quantity are, therefore, unfitted for the
manufacture of alum. Magnesia is also prejudicial; but in this case the
sulphate of magnesia left in the mother-liquors is not wholly valueless,
as it may be crystallised and sold as 'Epsom-salt,'--a thing which is
actually done in some English alum-works.

The potash-salt employed by the alum-makers is either the sulphate or the
chloride--chiefly the latter; its sources being the waste liquor of
soap-works, saltpetre refineries, and glass-houses. Wood-ashes, although
rich in potash, do not answer well unless freed by lixiviation from the
large amount of carbonate of lime which is always present in them.

The ammonia-salt used in making alum is generally the crude sulphate
prepared from the ammoniacal liquor of gas-works, or that from the
manufacture of sal-ammoniac by the destructive distillation of animal
matter. Both these liquors may be used without previous conversion into
sulphate of ammonia whenever there is an excess of sulphuric acid in the
aluminous solution.

Soda-salts are seldom, if ever, used as precipitants in the manufacture of
alum, on account of the easy solubility of the resulting SODA-ALUM--a
property which unfits them for this purpose. See ALUMS, AMMONIA, DYEING,
MORDANTS, POTASH, SULPHURIC ACID, &c. (also _below_).

=Alum, Ammonia.= (NH_{4})_{2}SO_{4} . Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3} . 24 Aq. _Syn_.
(ALUMEN; ALUM; B. P.), ALU'MEN AMMONIA'TUM, L.; ALUN D'AMMONIAQUE, A.
AMMONIACAL, Fr. This is an alum in which the sulphate of potassium is
replaced by an equivalent of sulphate of ammonium. It is prepared by
adding crude sulphate of ammonium to solution of sulphate of aluminum; or
gas-liquor, putrid urine, &c., to the acid-sulphate.

Much of the common alum, especially that prepared on the Continent,
contains both potassium and ammonium; and recently enormous works for its
manufacture have been established in England. As an astringent, and as a
source of alumina in dyeing, it resembles potash-alum (_i. e._ ordinary
alum). It may, however, be readily distinguished from the latter by the
fumes of ammonia which are evolved when it is moistened and triturated, or
heated, with caustic potassa or quick-lime; and by the residuum of its
exposure to a white heat being pure alumina. See ALUM (_ante_).

=Alum, Basic.= A variety of alum found native at Tolfa. On calcination and
subsequent lixiviation it yields ordinary alum. A like substance falls as
a white powder, when newly precipitated alumina is boiled in a solution of
alum.

=Alum, Baume's.= Alum-white. See WHITE PIGMENTS.

=Alum, Dried; Alum, Burnt.= _Syn_. ALU'MEN US'TUM, A. EXSICCA'TUM (B. P.);
ALUN SEC, Fr.; GEBRANNTER ALAUN, Ger.; ALUME CALCINATO, Ital. Alum
deprived of its water of crystallisation by heat.

_Prep._ Take of alum, 4 oz. Heat the alum in a porcelain dish or other
suitable vessel, till it liquefies, then raise and continue the heat, not
allowing it to exceed 400 deg., till aqueous vapour ceases to be disengaged,
and the salt has lost 47 per cent. of its weight. Reduce the residue to
powder, and preserve it in a well-stopped bottle.

_Prop., &c._ Similar to those of common alum, but it is rather more
astringent, and is less soluble. When moistened, or placed in contact with
water, it resumes its water of crystallisation with evolution of
heat.--_Dose_, 10 to 20 gr.; in colic (especially painters' colic),
haemoptysis, &c. It is chiefly used as an escharotic, to destroy 'proud
flesh,' &c. It must be kept in a stoppered bottle.

=Alum, Chrome.= See ALUMS (in Chemistry).

=Alum, I'ron= (-[)u]rn). _Syn_. ALU'MEN FER'RICUM, SUL'PHAS FER'RI ET
POTAS'SAE, FER'RI PEROX'IDI POTASSIO-SUL'PHAS, &c., L.

_Comp._ K_{2}SO_{4} . Fe_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}.24Aq.

_Prep._ Take of peroxide of iron, 9 lbs.; sulphuric acid 14 lbs.;
dissolve, dilute the mixture with water, q. s., and add of potassium
sulphate, 10 lbs.; evaporate, and crystallise.

_Prop., &c._ Crystals, beautiful octahedrons of a pinkish or pale violet
colour. It is strongly recommended, by Dr Tyler Smith, as a chalybeate
tonic, and has been used by him, at St. Mary's Hospital with marked
success. It has also been used as a mordant, in dyeing black.--_Dose_, 1/2
gr. to 5 gr.

=Alum, Ro'man.= _Syn_. RED ALUM*, ROACH A., ROCHE A., ROCK A.*; ALU'MEN
ROMA'NUM, A. RU'BRUM, A. RU'PEUM, &c., L.; ALUN ROMAIN, A. DE ROCHE, Fr.;
ALUME DI ROCCA, It. In small fragments, covered with a reddish powder
(ALUMEN RUBRUM VE''RUM); originally imported from Civita Vecchia, where it
occurs native. It is much esteemed by dyers from being nearly free from
iron-alum. That now sold for it in England is ordinary alum  with
Venetian red, Armenian bole, or rose-pink (ALUMEN RUBRUM SPU''RIUM). This
is done by shaking the fragments in a sieve over a vessel of hot water,
and then stirring them up with the colour, until the surface is uniformly
tinged with it. In genuine roach-alum the colour not only covers the
surface, but also partially pervades the substance of the crystals. The
name was formerly also applied to a pure white variety of alum, prepared
at Tolfa; but it is now, in English commerce, exclusively given to common
alum artificially .

=Alum, Saccharated.= Alum, 6 oz., white lead 6 drms., sulphate of zinc 3
drms., sugar 1-1/2 oz. Mix the ingredients reduced to powder into a paste,
with vinegar and white of egg. Used in eye waters and cosmetic washes.

=Alum, So'da.= _Syn_. SULPHAS ALUMINAE ET SODAE, L. _Comp._ Na_{2}SO_{4} .
Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3} . 24Aq. An alum in which the potassium sulphate of
common alum is replaced by a like salt of sodium. It does not occur in
commerce. (Vide _supra_ et _infra_.)

=ALUM-EARTH.= Alumina.

=ALUM MOR'DANTS.= In _dyeing_, mordants having for their basis either
common alum or the acetate or sulphate of aluminum. See ALUMS and
MORDANTS.

=AL'UM-ROOT.= _Syn._ AMER'ICAN SAN'ICLE; HEU'CHERA (Ph. U. S.), L. The
root of _heuchera America'na_ (Linn.), a plant of North America. It is
powerfully styptic and astringent; and is used chiefly as an external
application in cancer.

=ALUM-WHITE.= See WHITE PIGMENTS.

=AL'UMS.= _Syn._ ALU'MINA (pl. of _alu'men_), L. In _chemistry_, a term
applied to a series or group of salts having potassium alum for their
type, which they resemble in crystalline form and constitution.

It is found that the aluminum of common alum may be replaced by any other
metal having a like nature, without affecting the leading characteristics
of the salt; and further, that in the newly formed compound, as in
potassium-alum, the second sulphate may also be replaced under the like
conditions. All the alums crystallise in octahedrons or cubes, and they
all contain the same number of molecules of water. The alums of commerce
(or alums proper) all contain aluminum sulphate and an alkaline sulphate.

_Prep._ All the alums may be made by mixing together solutions of the
respective sulphates in equivalent proportions, when crystals may be
obtained by evaporation in the usual manner. The presence of sulphuric
acid, in slight excess, assists their crystallisation.

=AL'UMED= (al'[)u]md). Mixed or impregnated with alum. In _dyeing_,
mordanted with alum.

=ALU'MEN= (-l'[=o][=o]-). [L.] Alum; the pharmacop[oe]ial name of alum.
(See _above_.)

=ALUMINIUM.= _Syn._ ALUMINUM (which _see_).

=ALUMINOUS.= In _mineralogy_, of, resembling, or containing aluminum. In
_chemistry_, containing or obtained from alum.

=ALUMINUM.= [Eng., Fr., L.] _Syn._ ALUMINIUM, Eng., Fr., L.; ALUMIUM, Ger.
A metallic radical or element very abundantly distributed, united with
silica. Discovered by M. Woehler, who succeeded in obtaining it as a grey
metallic powder (A.D. 1827); and later (1845), under the form of globules
exhibiting the leading characteristics of the metal. In 1854, M. Dumas
announced to the 'Academy of Sciences,' that M. St. Clair Deville had
procured pure aluminum from clay, and exhibited several specimens of
considerable size and beauty. The result was a general impression that it
might be easily obtained in any quantity, and ultimately at a reasonable
price; expectations which have been only partly, though to a great extent
fulfilled, owing to the expense and trouble of the process,
notwithstanding recent improvements.

_Prep._ (M. Deville; A.D. 1854-59.)--A quantity of chloride of aluminum,
varying from 200 to 300 grammes (say from 6 to 10 oz.), is introduced into
a wide glass or porcelain tube, between two plugs of asbestos to retain it
in position, and a current of hydrogen (thoroughly dried by passing first
through concentrated sulphuric acid, and then through a tube containing
fused chloride of calcium) passed over it; a gentle heat being at the same
time applied to the part of the tube containing the chloride, to drive off
any free hydrochloric acid which might have been formed by the action of
the air upon it. A small porcelain boat, containing sodium, is now
introduced at the other extremity of the glass tube, which is then again
closed; and when the sodium is fused, the chloride is sufficiently heated
to cause its vapour to come into free contact with it. A powerful reaction
ensues, with the evolution of much heat, and this continues as long as any
undecomposed sodium remains to act on the passing vapour. The mass in the
boat, which is now a mixture of the double chloride of aluminum and
sodium, in which small globules of the newly reduced metal are suspended,
is allowed to cool in the hydrogen; after which it is treated with water,
to remove the soluble double chloride. The residuum, consisting of small
globules of aluminum, is, lastly, reduced to a solid button or mass, by
fusion, at a strong heat, under a layer of the fused double chloride of
aluminum and sodium.

On a large scale two cast-iron cylinders are employed, instead of the
glass or porcelain tube just referred to; the anterior one of which
contains the chloride of aluminum, and the posterior one a tray holding
the sodium, of which 10 or 12 lbs. are commonly operated on at once. These
cylinders are united by means of a smaller intermediate one, filled with
clean scraps of iron, which serve to separate iron, free hydrochloric
acid, and chloride of sulphur, from the vapour of the chloride of
aluminum, as it passes through them. During the passage of the vapour of
the chloride this smaller cylinder, or tube, is kept heated to from 400 deg.
to 600 deg. Fahr.; but the two other cylinders are only very gently heated,
since the chloride is volatilised at a comparatively low temperature, and
the reaction between it and the fused sodium, when once commenced, usually
generates sufficient heat for the completion of the process.

Occasionally a mixture of the double chloride of aluminum and sodium, 40
parts; chloride of sodium 20 parts; fluor spar, 20 parts; each separately
dried, powdered, and then blended together; sodium, in small pieces, 7-1/2
to 8 parts, are used instead of the last.

It is likewise made from a mixture of cryolite and fused chloride of
potassium, of each, in powder, 5 parts; sodium, 2 parts; a cast-iron
crucible being employed; the resulting minute globules being collected and
fused to a button under a layer of the double chloride of aluminum and
sodium.

_Prop., &c._ Aluminum, when quite pure, closely approaches silver in
appearance, except in being rather less white and lustrous than that
metal. Ordinary specimens, called pure, have a slight bluish tint or
tin-white colour, with a perfect lustre, but far inferior to that of pure
silver. Sp. gr. 2.56, which by hammering may be raised to 2.67. It is both
ductile and malleable; fuses at a temperature between the melting-points
of zinc and silver; is not affected by either damp or dry air, or by
oxygen at ordinary temperatures, or by water whether cold or boiling; even
steam, at a red heat, is only slowly decomposed by it. It is not acted on
by nitric acid, however concentrated, unless boiling, and then very
slowly; nor by dilute sulphuric acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, and the
sulphides, or even the fused hydrates of the alkalies. It is, however,
readily dissolved by hydrochloric acid, with the evolution of hydrogen,
even in the cold; and by a concentrated mixture of nitric and sulphuric
acid. It is feebly magnetic, conducts electricity about eight times better
than iron, and is more electro-negative than zinc. Commercial specimens,
owing to the presence of iron and silicon, and often zinc, usually slowly
tarnish in damp air, and possess the other properties described above in a
somewhat diminished degree.

In a finely divided state, particularly in the state of powder or minute
scales in which it was originally obtained, when heated to redness, it
catches fire and burns with great rapidity in the air, and in oxygen gas
with intense brilliancy, the product in each case being alumina.

Aluminum unites with the other metals, forming ALLOYS, of which some
promise to be of great value in the arts. An alloy of 100 parts of
aluminum with 5 parts of silver may be worked like the pure metal, but is
harder and susceptible of a finer polish, whilst its property of not being
affected by sulphuretted hydrogen and acids remains unimpaired; even 3% of
silver is said to be sufficient to impart to it the full brilliance and
colour of pure silver. An alloy containing 10% of gold is softer and
scarcely so malleable as the pure metal. With 8% of iron, or 10% of
copper, it still remains tough and malleable; but a larger proportion of
either of these metals renders it brittle.

The presence of 2 or 3% of zinc destroys its ductility and malleability,
and also impairs its colour and lustre; whilst less than even 1/4% of
bismuth renders it brittle in a high degree. Small quantities of aluminum
added to other metals change their properties in a very remarkable manner.
Thus, copper alloyed with 10%; of aluminum has the colour and brilliancy
of gold, is harder than bronze, very malleable, and may be worked at high
temperatures easier than the best varieties of iron; and with 20% is quite
white, and closely resembles silver. With more than 12% of aluminum the
alloy is harder, but brittle. The alloy formed of 100 parts of silver with
5 parts of aluminum is as hard as the silver of our coinage, whilst the
other properties of the latter metal remain unaltered.

_Uses._ The valuable properties of aluminum adapt it to numerous
applications in the arts and everyday life. Hitherto these have been very
limited, owing to its comparatively high price; which, notwithstanding it
has fallen considerably, is still sufficient to prevent its general or
even extensive application. The 'eagles' of the French army have been made
of it, as well as certain articles of jewelry, plate, &c., as brooches,
bracelets, chains, spoons, and other ornamental and useful objects. Owing
to its low sp. gr., it has been used as a suitable material for the minute
decimal weights of chemists, for military helmets, trumpets, &c. A few
cornet-a-pistons, for which its lightness and sonorousness admirably adapt
it, have actually been made of it. Its power of resisting oxygen,
sulphuretted hydrogen, moisture, &c., would render it invaluable as a
coating to metals, particularly iron and lead, to protect them from rust
or corrosion, did not its price intervene. As an internal coating for
water-pipes, cisterns, &c., no other substance, except gold and platinum,
is so well adapted. In _chemistry_, capsules, tubes, &c., either made of
or coated with it, may be often advantageously substituted for those of
platinum.

In addition to what has been said above, it may be observed that, in
preparing aluminum, the chief care should be to avoid accidents or failure
by the employment of too high a temperature, and to avoid the product
being contaminated with other metals or with carbon. To ensure the purity
of the metal is a matter of the greatest difficulty, owing to the facility
with which foreign matters are taken up, during the process, from the
materials of which the apparatus is composed; and from the substances from
which it is prepared being seldom absolutely pure. Indeed, it is not too
much to assert that chemically pure aluminum has not yet been obtained;
and that even a very close approximation to it is of very rare occurrence.
Whenever a copper boat is used to hold the sodium, the product is always
contaminated with copper. Chloride of aluminum always contains some of the
chlorides of iron and silicon, both of which are volatile, and probably
takes up a further portion from the porcelain or earthenware used to form
the apparatus. Sodium also is seldom uncontaminated with carbon or some
compound of it; in which case, and likewise when it is not carefully freed
from the naphtha in which it has been preserved, the product always
contains carbon. The crucible, whether of porcelain or iron, in which the
final fusion is made, also contributes to contaminate the metal. Hence the
inferior whiteness and brilliancy of commercial specimens of aluminum; a
metal which, in its absolutely pure state, may be reasonably inferred to
be as superior in the above respects to silver as silver is to tin.
Commercial aluminum contains from 88 to 94 per cent. only of pure
aluminum, and from 1 to 4 per cent. of iron, 1/2 to 3 per cent. of
silicon, and from 1 to 6 per cent. of copper.

Aluminum salts are generally colourless, soluble, and crystallise with
difficulty, and are distinguished as follows:--

_Tests._--1. Ammonia and the alkaline carbonates throw down a bulky white
precipitate (hydrate of aluminum) from solutions of its salts, which is
insoluble in excess of the precipitant.--2. Pure potassa and soda throw
down white gelatinous precipitates, freely soluble in excess of the
precipitant; from which the hydrate of aluminum is reprecipitated by
chloride of ammonium, even in the cold:--3. Phosphate of ammonium gives a
white precipitate--4. Iodide of potassium produces a white precipitate,
passing into a permanent yellow:--5. Sulphuretted hydrogen gives no
precipitate:--6. Sulphydrate of ammonium precipitates alumina from these
solutions:--7. Bisulphate of potassium, added to concentrated solutions,
gives a precipitate of octahedral crystals of alum:--8. At a red heat its
salts part with some of their acid; at a white heat, most of it, if not
all:--9. Aluminum compounds, ignited on charcoal before the blowpipe, and
afterwards moistened with a solution of nitrate of cobalt and again
strongly ignited, give an unfused mass, which, on cooling, appears blue by
day, and violet by candlelight; a test, however, which is inapplicable to
fusible compounds of aluminum, and such as are not free, or nearly free,
from other oxides.

=Aluminum, Acetate of.= _Syn._ ACETATE OF ALUMINA. _Prep._ Pure hydrate of
aluminum is digested, to saturation, in strong acetic acid, in the cold;
and the resulting solution, after being filtered or decanted, is either
evaporated by a very gentle heat to a gelatinous, semi-solid consistence
(its usual form), or is preserved in the liquid state. By spontaneous
evaporation it may be obtained in long, transparent crystals.

_Red liquor._ From alum, in powder, 4 parts; warm water, q. s. to
dissolve; acetate of lead, in powder, 3 parts; the solution and mixture
being effected by lengthened agitation in a tub or other wooden vessels,
and the clear liquid, after repose for a sufficient time, decanted or
drawn off from the sediment.

From alum, 2 parts; (dissolved in) warm water, q. s.; solution of
pyrolignite of lime (20 deg. Baume), 3 parts; as before, but allowing a longer
time for the subsidence of the precipitate, and taking more care in the
decantation than when acetate of lead is employed.

By decomposing a solution of crude sulphate of alumina with neutral or
monobasic acetate of lead.

_Prop._ Its characteristic property is the feeble affinity existing
between its acid and base, which, when it is used as a mordant, is
counterbalanced by that of the fibres of the cloth or yarn to which it is
applied. In other respects it resembles the other simple salts of alumina.

_Uses, &c._ In _dyeing_ and _calico printing_, as a mordant. In
_medicine_, properly diluted, in chronic diarrh[oe]a; and, mixed with
syrup of poppies, in slight cases of haemoptysis (spitting of blood). It
has been employed by M. Gannal as an injection to preserve animal bodies,
which it will do for years.--_Dose_, 1/2 to 1 dr. daily, in divided
portions, taken in thin mucilage or syrup, or in barley-water; as an
injection, 10 to 20 gr., to water, 4 to 6 fl. oz., in gonorrh[oe]a,
leucorrh[oe]a, &c.

=Aluminum, Chloride of.= Al_{2}Cl_{6}. _Syn._ SESQUICHLO''RIDE OF
ALUMINUM; ALUMIN'II CHLORI'DI, &c., L. _Prep._ A thick paste made of dry
precipitated alumina, lampblack, and oil, is strongly heated in a covered
crucible until all the organic matter is carbonised. The residuum is
transferred to a porcelain tube fixed across a furnace, one end of which
is connected with another tube containing dry chloride of calcium, and the
other end with a small tubulated receiver. The porcelain tube is then
heated to redness, whilst chlorine, dried by passing through the
chloride-of-calcium tube, is transmitted through the apparatus. In one or
two hours, or as soon as the tube is choked, the whole is allowed to cool,
and the newly-formed SESQUICHLORIDE collected and preserved in mineral
naphtha for use.

On the large scale:--Chlorine, dried as before, is passed over a mixture
of pure clay, lamp-black, and coal-tar, contained in an iron retort,
similar to that used in the manufacture of coal-gas (previously ignited by
means of a suitable furnace), and connected with a cool chamber accurately
lined with tiles of earthenware. The vapours of the SESQUICHLORIDE
condense in this chamber, as a yellowish crystalline mass, which is
collected and preserved as before.

_Prop., &c._ It is volatile at a dull red heat; excessively greedy of
moisture; and very soluble, with decomposition, hydrochloric acid and
alumina being formed. Once dissolved, it cannot be again recovered. Its
chief use is in the preparation of aluminum.

_Obs._ Although alumina, like magnesia, is freely soluble in hydrochloric
acid, the sesquichloride of aluminum contained in this solution cannot be
obtained in the anhydrous state, or even the solid form, by its
evaporation; the chloride suffering decomposition, with the formation of
hydrochloric acid, which is volatilised, and alumina, which is left
behind.

=Aluminum, Ni'trate of.= Al_{2}(NO_{3})_{6}. _Syn._ NITRATE OF ALUMINA;
ALU'MINAE NI'TRAS, L. _Prep._ Similar to that of the acetate and citrate.
Its concentrated acid solution deposits rhombic crystals, containing 18
equiv. of water.

=Aluminum, Oxide of= (Al_{2}O_{3}), and =Hydrate of= (Al_{2}(HO)_{6}).
_Syn._ ALUMINA.

_Prep._ Aluminum is precipitated as a hydrate from solutions of aluminum
salts on the addition of an alkali or alkaline carbonate; and this
precipitate, after being thoroughly washed and dried, on ignition loses
its water and becomes anhydrous. The following are the best formulae for
the purpose:--

Alum is dissolved in about 20 times its weight of distilled water, and the
solution is dropped slowly into pure solution of ammonia, until the latter
is nearly but not entirely saturated, when the whole is set aside for some
time. The clear supernatant liquid is then decanted, and the precipitate
is carefully and thoroughly washed three or four times with tepid
distilled water; after which it is collected on a filter, again well
washed with water, and, lastly, pressed and dried between bibulous paper,
either without heat, or at a temperature not higher than 120 deg. Fahr. The
product is pure hydrate of ammonium, and is converted into anhydrous
alumina by exposure to a white heat in a covered crucible. The residuum,
after ignition, is pure ANHY'DROUS ALUMINA, or SESQUIOX'IDE OF ALUMIN'UM.

A solution of alum is slowly added to a solution of carbonate of ammonia,
avoiding excess; and the resulting precipitate, after being washed and
pressed, is dried at a heat of from 120 deg. to 180 deg. Fahr.

_Prop., &c._ A soft white powder. The hydrate is freely soluble in the
acids and in solution of caustic potassa and soda (from which it is
precipitable by sal ammoniac); when anhydrous (as after ignition), it is
scarcely acted on by acids, and when perfectly indurated, or crystallised,
it is wholly insoluble; but on ignition with alkalies, alkaline
ALU'MINATES are formed, and the alumina is then readily dissolved by
acids, forming salts, which are mostly colourless, non-volatile, and
soluble; they have a very astringent and somewhat sweetish taste, redden
litmus paper, and lose their acids by ignition. Its most remarkable, or
rather useful property, is its strong affinity for the fibres of organic
bodies, as cotton, flax, silk, wool, &c., which are capable of taking it
from its salts; and also for organic colouring matters. Hence its great
use in dyeing, and in bleaching liquids and the preparation of lakes.
Hydrate of aluminum agitated or digested with liquids containing vegetable
colouring matter, combines with the latter, and either entirely, or to a
great extent, removes it from the solution.

Moist precipitated alumina, dried at a heat between 70 deg. and 80 deg., contains
above 58% of water; dried at 212 deg. Fahr., about 32% of water.

_Estim._ Aluminum is weighed as oxide, after ignition. The solubility of
the moist or recently precipitated hydrate in solution of ammonia enable
us to separate it from the ALKALINE EARTHS which, when present, are thrown
down with it.

_Uses, &c._ The moist hydrate is used in several processes in the arts. It
is the base of cobalt-blue, the lake-pigments, &c. In _medicine_, it is
employed as an antacid and astringent, in acidity of the stomach, cholera,
diarrh[oe]a, and dysentery; in which it is said to be superior to the
other absorbent remedies. (Ficinus.) It has also been highly recommended
in the vomiting and diarrh[oe]a of infancy. (Durr; Neumann; Weese;
&c.)--_Dose._ Children 3 to 10 gr.; adults, 5 or 6 to 20 or even 30 gr.,
three to six times daily, suspended in water, by mucilage or simple syrup.

=Aluminum, Sil'icate of.= Al_{2}(SiO_{2})_{3}. _Syn._ SIL'ICATE OF
ALUMINA. A substance which, in its hydrous form, is the chief and
characteristic ingredient of common clay; and which also occurs, in
combination, in several other important and abundant minerals.

=Aluminum, Sul'phate of.= Al_{2}(SO_{4})_{3}. _Syn._ SESQUISUL'PHATE OF
ALUMINA, NEUTRAL S. OF A., ALU'MINAE SUL'PHAS, A. SESQUISUL'PHAS, L.
_Prep._ 1. Saturate dilute sulphuric acid with hydrate of aluminum, gently
evaporate, and crystallise.

2. (Crude, commercial.) By mixing clay and oil of vitriol, in the way
described under ALUM. The product is the 'CONCENTRATED ALUM' of the dyers.

_Prop._ Its crystals are needles and thin pearly plates; soluble in 2
parts of water; taste astringent, and somewhat sweetish; reaction acid; a
full red heat expels its acid, leaving a residuum of pure alumina; with
the sulphates of potassium, sodium, and ammonium, it forms alum.

_Uses, &c._ In the _arts_, chiefly as a substitute for alum; the sulphate
of potassium in the latter, being found to be an unnecessary and costly
ingredient, only useful to purify the salt from iron, by forming a
compound of easy crystallisation; an object that may be effected with
greater certainty by cheaper methods. In _medicine_, as a wash for foul
and ill-conditioned ulcers; and as an astringent and antiseptic injection.
M. Gannal has successfully employed a solution of this salt to preserve
animal bodies, by throwing it into the arteries. Even an enema of 1 quart
of it, or an injection of a like quantity into the [oe]sophagus, will
suffice to preserve a body for several weeks. The mineral called AL'UNITE
or ALU'MINITE, found near Newhaven (Sussex), is a native subsulphate or
basic sulphate (DISUL'PHATE) of alumina.

=Aluminum, Sulphide of.= Al_{2}S_{3}. _Syn._ SUL'PHIDE OF ALUMINIUM, &c. A
substance best obtained by passing the vapour of bisulphide of carbon over
pure alumina, at a bright red heat. It is instantly decomposed by water,
with the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen. See ALUMINUM (_above_).

=Aluminum Tann'ate.= _Syn._ TANNATE OF ALUMINA, Eng.; ALU'MINAE TANN'AS, L.
_Prep._ Take of pure hydrate of aluminum (dried at 90 deg. Fahr.), 1 part;
tannic acid (dried at 212 deg.), 2 parts; triturate them together for some
time, adding just sufficient water to bring them to the consistence of a
syrup, and carefully evaporate to dryness at a heat not higher than 120 deg.
Fahr.; lastly, reduce the residuum to powder.

_Uses, &c._ A combination of certain constitution, which is said to have
been found very useful in obstinate vomiting and diarrh[oe]a, in
dysentery, and particularly in haemoptysis, haemorrhage, &c.--_Dose_, 3 to
12 or 15 gr.

=Aluminium Bronze.= See BRONZE ALUMINIUM.

=AL'VINE= (-v[)i]n). _Syn._ ALVI'NUS, L.: ALVIN, Fr. Of or from the belly
or intestines; relating to the intestinal secretions.

=AMABELE.= Consists of crushed millets. See MILLET.

=AM'ADOU= (-[)a]h-d[=o][=o]). _Syn._ GERMAN TINDER, TOUCH'WOOD,
PYROTECH'NIC SPONGE, SPUNK[double-dagger]Sec., SURGEON'S AG'ARIC, A. OF THE
OAK, &c.; AGAR'ICUS QUER'CUS, A. QUER'NUS, A. CHIRURGO''RUM, FUN'GUS
QUER'CUS, &c., L.; AMADOU, AGARIC AMADOUVIER, Fr.; ZUNDERSCHWAMM. Ger. A
soft, spongy, combustible substance, being the prepared flesh of _bole'tus
fomenta''rius_ (Linn.), an indigenous species of fungus found on the oak,
birch, and a few other trees (REAL AMADOU or OAK-AGARIC); for which _b.
ignia''rius_ (Linn.), a like fungus, found on the willow, cherry, plum,
and other trees, is frequently substituted.

_Collec., Prep., &c._ The outer bark of the fungus (collected in Aug. or
Sept.) having been removed with a knife, the inner spongy substance is
carefully separated from the woody portion lying below, and after being
cut into slices, is well beaten with a mallet until sufficiently soft and
pliable. Sometimes it is first boiled in water, in order to separate the
epidermis and porous parts, and to free it from soluble matter; after
which it is beaten as before. In this state it is used in _surgery_, &c.
To complete its manufacture for TINDER, it is soaked once, or oftener, in
a strong solution of saltpetre (RED AMADOU; BROWN A.); or in a thin paste
made of gunpowder and water, which is thoroughly forced into the pores
(BLACK A.); after which it is dried, and well rubbed to free it from loose
matter. The first is the more cleanly; the last the more combustible.

_Uses, &c._ A light brown or reddish-brown substance. In _surgery_,
_pharmacy_, &c., it is used to stop local bleeding, to spread plasters on,
as a compress, and for other like purposes. When covered with
resin-plaster it forms an excellent article for the protection of abraded
surfaces. A small piece thus prepared, of a circular shape, having a round
hole cut in the middle, the size of the apex of the corn, is one of the
very best corn-plasters known; as from its great softness it at once
protects the part from pressure, and removes the cause. As a material for
shoe-socks it is superior to all other substances. The amadou for surgical
purposes must not contain nitre.

=AMAL'GAM.= [Eng., Ger.] _Syn._ AMAL'GAMA, L.; AMALGAME, Fr. In
_chemistry_ and _metallurgy_, an alloy containing quicksilver; more
particularly one in which that metal plays a conspicuous part. Medallists
improperly apply this term to all soft alloys.

Mercury unites with many of the metals by mere contact; and with some of
them, as gold, silver, tin, and lead, in certain proportions, without
losing its fluidity. In a few cases, as with potassium, this union is
attended with considerable violence, and with the production of light and
heat.

_Prep._ Most of these compounds may be formed by agitating or rubbing the
mercury with the other metal, or metals, in the state of filings or small
fragments, either with or without heat; or with the easily fusible metals,
by adding it to them in the melted state; care been taken, in both cases,
that the heat be not sufficient to volatilise the mercury.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Some amalgams are solid, and not unfrequently
crystalline; others are fluid. Of the latter several crystallise after a
time, becoming solid; being, probably, merely solutions of the solid
amalgams in excess of mercury. The amalgams of gold, silver, tin, zinc,
&c., are extensively employed in gilding, silvering and dentistry, and in
other useful arts and manufactures.

=Amalgam, Ammonium.= An unstable compound produced when a globule of
mercury is placed in a small cavity formed in a piece of sal ammoniac, and
the negative pole of a powerful galvanic battery is brought into contact
with the metal, and the positive pole, with the ammoniacal salt. In a few
seconds the new compound (ammonium amalgam) of the consistence of butter
is formed. On withdrawing the influence of the battery, the whole returns
to its former condition. By putting an amalgam of sodium into the
moistened cavity of the sal ammoniac, similar results are obtained. The
phenomena attending the formation of this new substance have been urged as
evidence of the existence of the theoretical basic radicle AMMONIUM.

=Amalgam, Elec'trical.= _Prep._ 1. Take zinc and grain-tin, of each, 1
_oz._; melt them in an iron ladle, remove it from the fire, and add of
mercury (hot), 3 _oz._; stir the whole well together with an iron rod,
pour it into a well-chalked wooden box, and agitate it violently until
cold; or, instead of this, it may be briskly stirred until cold, and then
powdered. It should be preserved in a corked glass bottle.

2. (La Baume.) Zinc, 2 _oz._; grain-tin, 1 _oz._; bees' wax, 1/2 _oz._;
melt, add of mercury, 6 _oz._, and otherwise proceed as before. Preferred
by some to all other mixtures.

3. Zinc, 2 _oz._; mercury, 5 _oz._

_Use._ To cover the cushions of electrical machines. A little of the
powder is poured on a piece of paper, crushed smooth with a flat knife,
and then spread thinly on the surface of the cushion or rubber, previously
slightly smeared with tallow; or the powder may be rubbed down with a
little tallow, prior to the application of it.

=Amalgam, Gild'ing.= _Syn._ AMALGAM OF GOLD.

_Prep._ Take of grain-gold, 1 part; mercury, 8 parts; put them into a
small iron saucepan, or ladle, and apply a gentle heat, using a smooth
piece of iron as a stirrer; when the solution or combination is complete,
pour it out on a clean plate or smooth stone slab.

_Use._ To gild brass, copper, &c., in the common process of wash or
fire-gilding. A less proportion of gold than the above is used when a thin
and cheap gilding is required; as by increasing the quantity of the
mercury the same weight of the precious metal may be extended over a much
larger surface.

=Amalgam, Sil'vering.=--_a._ For METALS. _Syn._ AMALGAM OF SILVER.
_Prep._, _Uses_, &c. As the last, but substituting silver for gold.

_b._ For GLASS. _Prep._ 1. Lead, tin, and bismuth, of each, 1 _oz._; bees'
wax or resin 1/4 _oz._; melt, skim off the dross, cool to the lowest point
at which the mixture will remain liquid, and add of quicksilver 10 _oz._;
mix well with an iron rod.

2. Lead and tin, of each, 1 _oz._; bismuth, 2 _oz._; quicksilver, 4 _oz._;
as the last.

_Uses, &c._ For silvering the insides of hollow glass vessels, globes,
convex mirrors, &c. The glass being thoroughly cleaned and dried, is
carefully warmed, and the amalgam, rendered fluid by a gentle heat, is
poured in, and the vessel turned round and round, so as to bring the metal
into contact with every part which it is desired to cover. At a certain
temperature it will be found to readily adhere to the glass. The excess is
then poured out, and the vessel set aside to cool.

=Amalgams, Tooth.= See DENTISTRY and TOOTH-CEMENTS.

=Amalgam, Var'nisher's.= _Prep._ Melt grain-tin, 4 _oz._, with bismuth, 1
_oz._; add quicksilver, 1 _oz._, and stir till cold; then grind it very
fine with white-of-egg or with varnish, and apply the mixture to the
figure or surface with a soft brush. It is used in several of the
ornamental trades.

=Amalgamating Salts.= Boil a solution of pernitrate of mercury with excess
of equal parts of powdered persulphate and perchloride of mercury, and
decant the liquid portion of the result for use. Chiefly used for
amalgamating the zinc plates of galvanic batteries, also as a substitute
for mercury in gilding by the amalgam process.

=AMAL'GAMATED.= _Syn._ AMALGAMA'TUS, L.; AMALGAME, Fr. Compounded or
blended with quicksilver; formed into an amalgam.

=AMALGAMA'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AMALGAMA'TIO, L.; VERQUICKEN, Ger. The
act or process by which an amalgam is formed; hence loosely, the mixing or
blending of different things. In the art of the refiner, the operation of
separating gold and silver from their ores by means of mercury.

=AM'ANDINE= (-d[=e]ne). _Prep._ 1. (Transparent.)--_a._ Fine new white or
pale honey, 4 _oz._; white soft-soap (prepared from lard and potassa), 2
_oz._; mix thoroughly in a marble mortar, adding 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls (if
necessary) of solution of potassa, until a perfectly homogeneous paste or
cream is produced; then rub in, by degrees, and very gradually, of oil of
almonds, 7 _lbs._ (or q. s.), previously mixed with essential oil of
almonds, 1 _oz._; essence (oil) of bergamot, 3/4 _oz._; oil of cloves, 1/2
_oz._; and balsam of Peru, 3 _dr._ The product, which should have a rich,
transparent, jelly-like appearance and behaviour, is, lastly, put into
pots for use or sale.

_b._ (G. W. S. Piesse.) Simple syrup, 4 oz.; white soft-soap (see
_above_), 1 oz.; oil of almonds, 7 _lbs._ (previously scented with--);
essential oil of almonds and bergamot, of each 1 _oz._; oil of cloves, 1/2
_oz._; the whole being mixed, &c., as before. Both the above are of very
fine quality. Glycerin, in the proportion of about 1/2 _oz._ to each _lb._
of the products, added with the soap, improves their softening quality.

2. (Opaque.)--_a._ From white potash-soap and gum-mucilage (thick), of
each 3 _oz._; new white honey, 6 _oz._; and the yelks of 5 large eggs;
well mixed together, and afterwards intimately blended first, with oil of
almonds (scented as before, or at will), 2 _lbs._; and afterwards, with
thick pistachio-milk (made of the fresh-peeled nuts and rose-water), 5
_fl. oz._

_b._ From almond-paste, honey, white potash-soap, and glycerin, of each. 1
_oz._; yelk of 1 egg; oil of almonds, 1/2 pint (holding in solution--);
essential oil of almonds, 1 _dr._; balsam of Peru, 1/2 _dr._

_Uses, &c._ To whiten and soften the skin, and to prevent it chapping. A
small portion, about half the size of a filbert, with a few drops of warm
water, produces a very white and rich lather, with which the hands and
face are lightly rubbed, and the skin, in a short time, gently wiped with
a small napkin, whilst the water on it is still milky.

The manufacture of AMANDINE is a matter of some difficulty and labour. The
details essential to success are given under EMULSINES. It is sometimes
, which is done by infusing or dissolving in the oil, before using
it, a little--spinach-leaves, for GREEN; and palm-oil, or annatto, for
YELLOW and ORANGE. A beautiful SCARLET or CRIMSON tinge may be given to it
by a little liquid rouge or carmine (ammoniacal), added just before
removing it from the mortar. See EMULSINES, OLIVINE, PASTE, &c.

=AMANI'TA MUSCA''RIA.= The fly-agaric or fly-mushroom. See AGARIC.

=AMANITINE.= _Syn._ AMANITINA, L. The name given by Letellier to the
poisonous principle of _amani'ta muscaria_, and some other species of
fungi. It is brown, uncrystallisable, and soluble.

=AMARA.= [L.] In _medicine_ and _pharmacology_, the bitter tonics.

=AMARANTH.= _Syn._ AMARANTH'US, L.; AMARANTE, Fr. The flower
love-lies-bleeding (_amaranthus caudatus_--Linn.). In _poetry_, an
imaginary flower that never fades. (Milton.) In _chromatics_, a colour
inclining to purple.

=AMARYTH'RINE.= A bitter principle found, in certain lichens, associated
with erythrine (which _see_).

=AMASI.= This, the native name given by the natives of Central Africa to
sour milk, which they prepare by adding to the new milk, a small quantity
of milk previously allowed to become sour. The milk thus acidified is
considered by them far more wholesome than new milk.

=AMAUROSIS.= _Syn._ GUTTA SERENA, SUFFUSIO NIGRA. A diminution or total
loss of sight, arising from paralysis of the retina or optic nerve.

=AM'BER.= _Syn._ ELEC'TRON, Gr.; ELEC'TRUM, SUC'CINUM (Ph. D.), L.; AMBRE,
SUCCIN, Fr.; BERNSTEIN, Ger.; LYNX-STONE[dagger], LA'PIS LYN'CIS[dagger],
L. A well-known yellowish, semi-transparent, fossil resin, of which
trinkets and the mouth-pieces of pipes are commonly made.

_Nat. hist., &c._ Amber is found in detached pieces on the sea-coast, and
is dug up in diluvial soils. That of commerce comes chiefly from the
southern coasts of the Baltic, where it is cast ashore between Koenigsberg
and Memel; and from Ducal Prussia, Saxony, Poland, Sicily, and Maryland
(U.S.), where it is dug out of beds or mines. It has also been found on
the shores of Norfolk, and small pieces are occasionally dug up in the
gravel pits round London. It is probably an antediluvian resin; and when
found on the coast, is supposed to be disengaged, by the action of the
sea, from neighbouring beds of lignite or fossil coal. Much diversity of
opinion for a long time prevailed amongst naturalists and chemists as to
the origin of amber, some referring it to the vegetable, others to the
mineral, and some even to the animal kingdom; its natural history and
analysis affording something in favour of each. The vegetable origin of
amber has, however, been recently shown by various facts, and is now
generally admitted. According to Sir David Brewster, its optical
properties are those of an indurated vegetable juice. ('Ed. Phil. Journ.,'
ii.) Insects and fragments of vegetables are frequently found imbedded in
it; and this in a manner which could only have occurred when the resin was
a viscid fluid. Microscopical researches have led to the conclusion that
it is the production of some species of pine, closely allied to the pinus
balsamea. ('Entom. Trans.,' i & ii.)

_Manuf._ Amber is WORKED in a lathe, POLISHED with whiting and water or
rottenstone-and-oil, and FINISHED OFF by friction with flannel. During the
operation the pieces often become hot and electrical, and fly into
fragments; to avoid which they are kept as cool as possible, and only
worked for a short period at a time. The workmen are said to often suffer
considerably from electrical excitement. Amber is JOINED and MENDED by
smearing the surface of the pieces with linseed or boiled oil, and then
strongly pressing them together, at the same time holding them over a
charcoal fire, or heating them in any other convenient way in which they
will not be exposed to injury. The commoner varieties are HARDENED and
rendered CLEARER, either by boiling them in rape oil for about 24 hours,
or by surrounding the pieces with clean sand in an iron pot, and exposing
them to a gradually increasing heat for 30 or 40 hours. During this
process small fragments are kept in the sand at the side of the pot, for
the purpose of occasional examination, lest the heat be raised too high,
or be too long continued.

_Prop., &c._ Hard; brittle; tasteless; glossy; generally translucent, but
sometimes opaque, and occasionally, though rarely, transparent; colour
generally yellow or orange, but sometimes yellowish-white; becomes
negatively electric by friction; smells agreeably when rubbed or heated;
fracture conchoidal and vitreous or resinous; soluble in the pure
alkalies, and, without decomposition, in oil of vitriol, which then
becomes purple; insoluble in the essential and fixed oils without long
digestion and heat; soluble in chloroform; melts at about 550 deg. Fahr.;
burns with a yellow flame, emitting at the same time a peculiar fragrant
odour, and leaving a light and shiny coal. By dry distillation it yields
inflammable gases, a small quantity of water, a little acetic acid, a
volatile oil (OIL OF AMBER; O'LEUM SUC'CINI, L.) at first pale, afterwards
brown, thick, and empyreumatic, and an acid (SUCCIN'IC ACID; ACIDUM
SUCCIN'ICUM, L.); with residual charcoal 12 to 13%. Sp. gr. 1.065 to 1.09,
but usually about 1.070. It cannot be fused without undergoing more or
less chemical change.

_Ident._ Amber may be known from mellite and copal, both of which articles
are occasionally substituted for it, by the following characteristics:--1.
MELLITE is infusible by heat, and burns white:--2. A piece of COPAL,
heated on the point of a knife, catches fire, and runs into drops, which
flatten as they fall:--3. AMBER burns with spitting and frothing, and when
its liquefied particles drop, they rebound from the plane on which they
fall (M. Hauey):--4. Neither mellite nor copal yields succinic acid by
distillation; nor the agreeable odour of amber when burnt; nor do they
become so readily electric by friction.

_Uses._ It is chiefly made into mouth-pieces for pipes, beads for
necklaces, and other ornaments and trinkets. It is also used as the basis
of several excellent varnishes. In _medicine_, it was formerly given in
chronic coughs, hysteria, &c.--_Dose_ (of the powder), 10 to 60 gr.

_Remarks._ The finer sorts of amber fetch very high prices. A piece 1
_lb._ in weight is said to be worth from 10L to 15L. 5000 dollars a few
years since were offered in Prussia for a piece weighing 13 _lbs._, and
which, it was stated by the Armenian merchants, would fetch from 30,000 to
40,000 dollars in Constantinople. It is more valued in the East than in
England; and chiefly on account of the Turks and other Orientals believing
it to be incapable of transmitting infection. In the royal cabinet,
Berlin, there is a piece weighing 18 _lbs._, supposed to be the largest
ever found. The coarser kinds alone are employed in medicine, chemistry,
&c.

=Amber, Ac'id of=* ([)a]s'-). Succinic acid.

=Amber, Bal'sam of.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM SUC'CINI, L. The thick matter left
in the retort after the rectification of oil of amber; and which it
resembles in its properties.

=Amber, Facti''tious= (-t[)i]sh'-). _Syn._ SUC'CINUM FACTI''TIUM, L.
Mellite, copal, and anime, have each been substituted for amber,
especially for small fragments of it. Recently an imitation has been
produced by acting on gutta percha with sulphur, at a high temperature,
which, either alone or in combination with copal, is said to have been
extensively passed off for genuine amber.

=Amber, Liq'uid=[dagger]. See LIQUID-AMBAR.

=Amber, Oil of.= See OILS.

=Amber, Re'sin of.= See PYRETINE.

=Amber, Salt of.= Succinic Acid.

=Amber, Sol'uble.= _Prep._ Fragments of amber are cautiously heated in an
iron pot, and as soon as it becomes semi-liquid, an equal weight of pale
boiled linseed-oil, previously made hot, is very gradually stirred in, and
the whole thoroughly blended. Used as a cement for glass and earthenware,
and thinned with oil of turpentine to make varnishes. It will keep any
length of time if preserved from the air.

=AMBER-CAM'PHOR.= See PYRETINE (Crystalline).

=AM'BER DRINK=[dagger]. Amber- malt liquor.

=AM'BER-SEED.= Musk-seed (which _see_).

=AM'BER-TREE.= The popular name of a species of anthospermum, an evergreen
shrub, of which the leaves, when bruised, emit an agreeable odour.

=AM'BERGRIS= (-gr[)i]s; gr[=e]se[double-dagger]). _Syn._ GREY AMBER*;
AMBRAGRI''SEA (gr[)i]zh'-e-[)a]), L.; AMBREGRIS, Fr.; AMBRA, AMBAR, Ger.
An odorous, solid substance, found floating on the sea in tropical
climates, and in the caecum of the cachalot or spermaceti whale (physeter
macrocephalus). It has been supposed by some to be a morbid secretion of
the liver or intestines, analogous to biliary calculi; but according to Mr
Beale, it consists of the mere indurated faeces of the animal, perhaps (as
suggested by Brande and Pereira) somewhat altered by disease. "Some of the
semifluid faeces, dried with the proper precautions, had all the properties
of ambergris." (Beale.) It is occasionally found in masses weighing from
60 to 225 _lbs._

_Prop., &c._ Solid, opaque, ash-, streaked or variegated, fatty,
inflammable; remarkably light; highly odorous,[40] particularly when
warmed, cut, or handled--the odour being peculiar and not easily described
or imitated, of a very diffusive and penetrating character, and
perceptible in minute quantities; rugged on the surface; does not
effervesce with acids; melts at 140 deg. to 150 deg. Fahr. into a yellowish
resin-like mass; at 212 deg. flies off as a white vapour; very soluble in
alcohol, ether, and the volatile and fixed oils. It appears to be a
non-saponifiable fat, analogous to cholesterine. Sp. gr. 0.780 to
0.926.[41]

[Footnote 40: It has a "pleasant musk-like odour, which is supposed to be
derived from the squid ('sepia moschata') on which the animal feeds," the
"horny beaks" of which "are often found imbedded in the masses."
(Pereira.) It has a smell resembling that of dried cow-dung." (Redwood,
'Gray's Supplement,' 1857, p. 606.)]

[Footnote 41: Sp. gr .780 to .896--Brande; .908 to .920--Pereira.]

_Pur._ From the high price of genuine ambergris it is very frequently, if
not nearly always, adulterated. When quite pure and of the best quality,
it is--1. Nearly wholly soluble in hot alcohol and ether, and yields about
85% of ambreine:--2. It almost wholly volatilises at a moderate heat, and
when burnt leaves no notable quantity of ashes; a little of it exposed in
a silver spoon melts without bubble or scum; and on the heated point of a
knife it is rapidly and entirely dissipated:--3. It is easily punctured
with a heated needle, and on withdrawing it, not only should the odour be
immediately evolved, but the needle should come out clean, without
anything adhering to it (Normandy):--4. The Chinese are said to try its
genuineness by scraping it fine upon the top of boiling tea. "It should
dissolve (melt) and diffuse itself generally." Black or white is bad. The
smooth and uniform is generally factitious.[42]

[Footnote 42: Ure's 'Dict. of A., M. & M.,' 5th Ed., i, 128.]

_Uses, &c._ It is highly prized for its odour, which is found greatly to
improve and exalt that of other substances; hence its extensive use in
perfumery. In _medicine_ it was formerly given as an aphrodisiac, in doses
of 3 to 10 gr. "A grain or two, when rubbed down with sugar, and added to
a hogshead of claret, is very perceptible in the wine, and gives it a
flavour, by some considered as an improvement." (Brande.)

=Ambergris Facti''tious.= An article of this kind, met with in the shops,
is thus made:--Orris-powder, spermaceti, and gum-benzoin, of each, 1
_lb._; asphaltum, 3 or 4 _oz._; ambergris, 6 _oz._; grain-musk, 3 _dr._;
oil of cloves, 1 _dr._; oil of rhodium, 1/2 _dr._; liquor of ammonia, 1
_fl. oz._; beaten to a smooth hard mass with mucilage, and made into lumps
whilst soft. This fraud is readily detected.

=AM'BREINE= (-bre-[)i]n). _Syn._ AMBREI'NA, L.; AMBREINE, Fr.; AMBARSTOFF,
Ger. The fatty, odorous principle of ambergris.

_Prep._ Digest ambergris in hot alcohol (sp. gr. 0.827) until the latter
will dissolve no more, then filter. The AMBREINE will be deposited as the
solution cools, in an irregular crystalline mass, which may be purified by
recrystallisation in alcohol.

_Prop., &c._ Melts at about 90 deg.; volatilises at 212 deg. to 220 deg. Fahr.; nitric
acid converts it into AMBREIC ACID. It closely resembles
cholesterine.--_Prod._ 85%.

=AMBRETTE'= (-br[)e]t'). [Fr.] Musk-seed.

=AMBROSIA, RING'S VEGETABLE= (Tubbs, Peterborg, U.S.). A liquid with a
sediment, containing 1 per cent. of lead. (Chandler.)

=AMEISEN BALSAM.= Von Dr Livingstone (Ahnelt, Charlottenburg). Balsam of
ants. Castor oil, 72 grms.; balsam of Peru, 2 grms.; bergamot, 5 drops.
(Hager.)

=AMERICAN PILLS= (A. H. Boldt, Lexington). For full-blooded, corpulent
persons, and for those of sedentary habits, for irregular menstruation,
and against contagious diseases. Made of scammony, rhubarb, and soap.
(Schaedler.)

=AMERICAN MEDICINES, Dr SAMPSON'S= (New York). Two kinds of pills of
coca:--No. 1. 85 pills composed of coca extract and coca powder, and each
pill containing about 0.006 grm. of a morphia salt. No. 2. 50 pills, also
of coca, and each containing 0.05 grm. of powdered iron. Both kinds are
rolled in lycopodium. (Hager.)

=AMERICAN PILLS FOR ASTHMA.= Gilded pills made of gum ammoniacum.

=AMERICAN SCHAMPOO-FLUID FOR PROMOTING THE GROWTH OF THE HAIR.= Spirit of
wine and rum, with some carbonate of ammonia and potash.

=AMERICAN DROPS FOR TOOTHACHE= (Majewsky, Warsaw) have been found of
various composition. Some which profess to have taken a prize at the
Vienna Exhibition were composed of French brandy, containing common salt,
and  with cochineal. The first was a spirituous solution of an
ethereal oil with some oil of cloves,  rather reddish; No. 2 was a
similar solution with some oil of peppermint and tincture of rhatany; and
No. 3 was merely a diluted solution of No. 2. (Hager.)

=AMERICAN UNIVERSAL BLOOD-PURIFYING HERB TEA= (Dr Kuhr), for women's
diseases, hysteria, nervous debility, epilepsy, stomachic complaints,
asthma, haemorrhoids, gout, rheumatism, worms, and much besides. White
horehound, marsh mallow, liquorice wood, and sassafras, of each, 10 parts;
anise, coriander and fennel, of each, 5 parts; red poppy petals, 4 parts;
lavender flowers, 2 parts; senna, peppermint, millefoil flowers, and
valerian root, of each, 1 part. (Kuhr and Selle.)

=AM'ETHYST= (-th[)i]st). _Syn._ PURPLE ROCK-CRYSTAL; AMETHYSTE, Fr.;
AMETHYS'TUS, L. A beautiful sub-species of quartz or rock crystal, of a
violet-blue colour of varying intensity, in great request for cutting into
seals, brooches, and other like articles of ornament. It was known and
prized in the earliest ages of antiquity. Among the ancients, cups and
vases were made out of this mineral; and it was an opinion of the Greeks
and Persians, that an amethyst bound on the navel would counteract the
effects of wine, and that wine drank out of an amethystine vessel would
not intoxicate. See GEMS.

=Amethyst.= In _chromation_, _dyeing_, &c., a rich variety of deep violet
colour. Hence, AMETHYST'INE ([)i]n), &c.

=Amethyst, Orient'al.= A rich violet-blue variety of transparent,
crystallised corundum.

=AM'IANTH= (-e-[)a]nth). _Syn._ AMIANTH'US, AMIAN'TUS, L.; AMIANTE, Fr.
The whiter and more delicate varieties of asbestos, particularly those
which possess a satiny lustre.

=AM'IDIN= (-e-d[)i]n). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AM'YDINE; AMIDI'NA, L. A
substance noticed by Saussure in starch-paste, when long kept. According
to Caventou, it is formed at once by the action of boiling water on
starch. It forms the interior substance of the starch-grains, and its
properties are intermediate between those of starch and gum. It is,
indeed, the soluble part of starch, of which a perfect solution can only
be obtained by prolonged ebullition in a large quantity of water.

=AMID'OGEN.= NH_{2}. Literally, the generator of amides; in _chemistry_,
the name given by Kane to an hypothetical body, composed of two atoms of
hydrogen and one of nitrogen. It forms AMIDES by combining with other
bodies.

=Amidogen Ba'ses.= In _chemistry_, 'amines' in which only one equiv. of
hydrogen is replaced by an organic radical; and hence called PRIMARY
MON'AMINES.

=AMMONIA.= NH_{3}. _Syn._ AMMONIA GAS, AMMONIACAL GAS, ANHYDROUS AMMONIA,
TERHYDRIDE OF NITROGEN; AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; AMMONIAK, Ger. At the present day
the ammonia of commerce is chiefly prepared from the ammoniacal liquor of
the gas-works and the manufactories of ivory black, animal charcoal, &c.
Lant or stale urine is also an important source of ammonia. In these
places a large quantity of crude ammoniacal liquor is produced; to which
either sulphuric or hydrochloric acid is added, by which it is converted
into a salt, which may be obtained nearly pure by evaporation, and one or
more crystallisations, and, in the case of the hydrochlorate and
carbonate, subsequent sublimation. Other sources and processes have been
sought out and occasionally adopted for the preparation of the principal
salts of ammonia (its sulphate, carbonate, and hydrochlorate); some of
which have been patented, but few of them have got into general use, or
have been carried out on the large scale. For many years the manufacture
of ammonia and its compounds has incessantly engaged the attention of
European chemists.

Many unsuccessful attempts have been made to directly convert the nitrogen
of the atmosphere into ammonia. Of these we may mention one which
consisted in passing a mixture of nitrogen, carbonic oxide and steam over
red-hot hydrate of lime, whereby ammonia and carbonic acid are formed. A
plan for the indirect application of atmospheric nitrogen in the
preparation of ammonia was suggested by Margueritte, in which it was
proposed that cyanide of barium should be prepared, and its nitrogen
converted into ammonia by the aid of a current of superheated steam at
600 deg. C. According to the description of this process in a patent, not,
however, in practice, native carbonate of baryta is calcined with about
30% of coal-tar, for the purpose of rendering the mass porous as well as
more readily converted into caustic baryta at a lower temperature. The
carbonaceous mass is, after cooling, placed in a retort, and kept at a
temperature of 300 deg. C., while air and aqueous vapour are forced in, the
result being the formation of ammonia in considerable quantity, and
carbonate of baryta, which is again used.

Ammonia is evolved from ball soda while cooling; during the formation of
cyanogen and cyanide of potassium in blast furnaces; and the formation of
sal-ammoniac in the process of iron smelting.

Ammonia, in a state of combination, is found, in variable quantities,
among the saline product of volcanoes, in sea and rain water, in
bituminous coal, in urine, in guano, and in the atmosphere, especially
that of large towns. The minute stellated crystals sometimes found on
dirty windows in London, and other populous cities, consist of sulphate of
ammonia. It is also found in clayey and peaty soils, and in minute
quantity in good air and water. (Brande; Fownes; Letheby.) In the free
state it exists in the juices of some plants, and in the living blood of
animals, and it is freely developed during the decomposition of azotised
vegetable substances, and during the putrefaction of animal matter.

[Illustration]

_Prep._ A mixture of fresh hydrate of lime with an equal weight of sal
ammoniac (both dry and in fine powder) is introduced into a glass flask or
retort, the beak of which communicates with one end of a U-shaped tube
filled with small fragments of recently burnt quick-lime, and from which
extends another glass tube, about 18 inches long, having its further end
bent up ready to be placed under a gas-jar, on the shelf of a mercurial
pneumatic trough. (See _engr._) The joints being all made air-tight by
collars of india rubber, heat is applied by means of a spirit-lamp, and as
soon as the air contained in the apparatus is expelled, the gas is
collected for use. It cannot be dried by means of chloride of calcium.
Powdered quick-lime may be substituted for the hydrate in the above
process; in which case the evolved gas is anhydrous, but a much greater
heat is then required for its liberation.

_Comp._ Ammonia is a compound of 3 volumes of hydrogen, and 1 vol. of
nitrogen, condensed into two volumes; and by weight of 82.35 parts of
nitrogen, 17.65 parts of hydrogen, or, in other words, of one atomic
weight of nitrogen and three of hydrogen, having the formula NH_{3}.

_Prop._ Gaseous, colourless, invisible; highly pungent, acrid, irritating
and alkaline; irrespirable, unless very largely diluted with air;
extinguishes combustion; burns slowly in oxygen; sp. gr. 0.589; 100 cub.
inches weigh 18.26 gr. Under a pressure of 6.5 atmospheres, at 50 deg. Fahr.,
it forms a transparent, colourless liquid of the sp. gr. 0.731; at 60 deg.
Fahr. this liquid expanded into 1009 times its volume of ammoniacal gas;
at -40 deg. Fahr., and the ordinary atmospheric pressure, it forms a subtle
colourless liquid, which at -103 deg. Fahr. freezes into a white, translucent,
crystalline substance. (Faraday.) It is highly basic; all its salts are
either volatilised or decomposed at, or under, a red heat--those with a
volatile acid sublime unchanged--those with a fixed acid lose their
ammonia. It is decomposed into its elements by transmission through a
red-hot tube; and when in contact with metallic oxides or spongy platinum,
at the same temperature, the newly evolved hydrogen unites with the oxygen
of the oxide or of the atmosphere, forming water. Water at 50 deg. Fahr.
absorbs 670 times its volume of this gas, and the solution has the sp. gr.
0.875. Its concentrated aqueous solution boils at 130 deg., and freezes at
-40 deg. Fahr.

_Tests, &c._ Ammonia is recognised by--1. Its pungent odour:--2. By
turning vegetable blues green, and vegetable yellows brown; but which soon
regain their previous colours, especially on the application of heat:--3.
By producing dense white fumes when brought in contact with those of
hydrochloric acid:--4. By the Nessler test (see WATER, QUANTITATIVE AND
QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF):--5. If a saturated solution of arsenious acid is
mixed with a solution of nitrate of silver (strength 2%) a trace of
ammonia causes the formation of try-argentic arsenite:--6. Boettger says a
very delicate test for ammonia is afforded by an aqueous solution of
carbolic acid. On adding to a liquid containing the smallest quantity of
ammonia, or an ammoniacal salt, a few drops of this solution, and then a
small quantity of a filtered solution of chloride of lime, the liquid
becomes green, especially when warmed.

_Phys. eff., &c._ Inhaled, undiluted with air, it is an irritant poison,
producing spasms of the glottis, convulsions, and death; even when diluted
it acts as a powerful acrid, and local irritant; applied to the skin it
causes vesication. The use of the pungent odour of common 'smelling
salts,' in syncope, headache, &c., is well known. Largely diluted with
air, it has been recently highly extolled in chronic hoarseness, asthma,
&c.; and as an antidote to the fumes of bromine, chlorine, and hydrocyanic
acid. (Smee.)

_Ant., &c._ The vapour of acetic acid or common vinegar, freely inhaled.
It may be produced by sprinkling a little on a piece of hot iron, as a
heated shovel. If bronchial inflammation follows, it must be treated by
purgatives and a low diet; and, if severe, and the patient be plethoric or
robust, by venesection or cupping.

_Uses._ Ammonia is employed in numerous processes in _chemistry_ and the
_arts_; but chiefly in the form of 'liquor of ammonia,' 'spirits of
hartshorn,' &c., and in combination, under the form of salts. In its pure
or gaseous state it possesses little practical interest.

=Ammonia, Solution of.= _Syn._ SOLUTION OF AMMONIA, LIQUOR AMMONIAE,
AMMONIUM HYDRATE, AMMONIA, Eng.; AMMONIAQUE LIQUIDE, DISSOLUTION
D'AMMONIAQUE, ESPRIT DE SAL AMMONIAC, Fr.; ATZENDER AMMONIUM-LIQUOR,
SALMIAK-GEIST, Ger.; LIQUORE DI AMMONIACO, Ital. Ammonia gas readily
dissolves in water, one volume of water absorbing about 670 volumes of
ammonia, much heat being liberated, and the solution increases greatly in
volume.

This solution is regarded in two very different lights; firstly and most
generally as simply a solution of gaseous ammonia, a view rendered most
probable by its general physical and by many chemical reactions; by a few,
however, it is looked upon as a solution of ammonium hydrate.

[Illustration]

Prepared by distilling, in a tubular retort, equal parts of sal ammoniac,
hydrated lime, or slaked lime and water, and passing the gas evolved
through a set of Wolff's bottles partially filled with water, as in the
figure above.

[Illustration:

  _A_, Cylindrical Iron Retort.
  _B_, Furnace for ditto.
  _C C C C_, Stoneware Receivers.
  _D D D D_, Connecting Pipes.
  _E F_, Waste Pipe and Receiver.
  _G_, Safety Tube. ]

Commercially this article is prepared on the large scale, from a mixture
of about equal parts of fresh-slaked lime and sal-ammoniac or sulphate of
ammonia, which is heated in an iron cylinder or retort connected with a
set of 'refrigerators,' the latter consisting of a row of stoneware
bottles with double necks, containing water, and kept very cold. The
general arrangement of the apparatus used in this manufacture is exhibited
above, and with the accompanying references, will be easily understood.
The 'condensers,' when in use, are surrounded with cloths (not shown in
the _engr._) kept wet with very cold water, whilst constant current of
cold air is commonly made to pass over them. The pipe (_D_) leading from
the retort is also several feet long, and is advantageously passed through
a wooden screen in order that the radiated heat of the retort and
brickwork of the furnace may be intercepted as much as possible.

Two different methods of proceeding are adopted in this process. In the
one the dry pulverulent ingredients are mixed together, and the resulting
gas distilled over into the water placed in the receivers. In the other
the lime is made into a 'pap' with water, and the ammonia-salt, in coarse
powder, being added, the whole is rapidly blended together, before closing
the retort, and applying heat. In either case a proportionate quantity of
water is put into the condensers, and the operation is nearly similar; but
the latter method requires the least heat, and so far as the receivers and
refrigerators are concerned, is, perhaps, the one most easily managed. It
is that which is always, and necessarily followed, when sulphate of
ammonia is employed.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Highly pungent, caustic, and alkaline; lighter than
water, and presenting in a liquid form most of the characteristics of pure
ammonia. When strongest has a sp. gr. of .875, and contains about 39 per
cent. of ammonia, but the usual strong ammonia of commerce has a sp. gr.
of but .88. The liquor ammonia fortior, B. P., has a sp. gr. of about
.893, and contains 32.5 per cent. of ammonia, while the liquor ammoniae B.
P. has a sp. gr. of about .940, and contains about 10 per cent. of
ammonia. As a medicine it is antacid, diaphoretic, rubefacient, stimulant,
and counter-irritant; and is used in various affections in which these
remedies are indicated. As a vesicant it is superior to cantharides, and
as a caustic it is used with advantage in the bites of rabid animals,
especially those of serpents and insects. Its vapour is a common nasal
stimulant in faintings, epilepsy, &c. In its concentrated form it is a
corrosive poison.--_Dose_, 5 to 25 drops, in cold water, or milk and
water. It enters into the composition of several valuable external
remedies, and is in constant employment in the _chemical laboratory_, both
as a reagent and for the preparation of other compounds.

_Ant., &c._ When the fumes have been inhaled, the patient should be
exposed to a current of fresh air; and when the liquid has been swallowed,
vinegar or lemon-juice mixed with water may be administered; followed by
an emetic, or, on its failure, by the stomach-pump.

_Estim._ The quantity of gaseous ammonia in pure water of ammonia is
easily determined from the specific gravity of the liquid, or from its
saturating power. When impure or mixed with other substances, a given
weight of the sample is placed in a small retort, the end of which is made
to dip into a vessel containing dilute hydrochloric acid. A strong
solution of caustic potassa is then poured into the retort, and heat
applied by means of a small spirit lamp. When _all_ the ammonia is
distilled over, the acid solution is evaporated to dryness, by the heat of
a water bath, and the residuum (chloride of ammonium) weighed. Each grain
of the chloride thus found represents .31804 gr. of pure ammonia; 53.5
parts of the former being equivalent to 17 of the latter. If the article
for examination be a solid substance (as a salt), it may be dissolved in
water, or in dilute acid, before being put into the retort.

In accurate experiments in the laboratory, ammonia is usually WEIGHED
either as chloride of ammonium (see _above_), or as ammonio-bichloride of
platinum (NH_{4}Cl, PtCl_{2}); every gr. of the latter representing .07614
gr. of pure ammonia. Sometimes, though rarely, the quantity of ammonia is
determined from the volume of nitrogen eliminated from it, of which 14 gr.
represent 17 gr. of ammonia.

_Concluding remarks, Patents, &c._ Whatever form or process may be adopted
for the preparation of liquid ammonia, it is absolutely necessary to keep
the receivers as cool as possible, by means of snow, ice, or a current of
very cold water, for the purpose of promoting the absorption of the gas,
and to prevent its loss. On the small scale, the glass receivers or
bottles may be most conveniently surrounded with ice, or a freezing
mixture, and two, or more of them, should be furnished with safety-tubes,
to prevent accidents. On the large scale, a capacious oblong retort,
usually of iron (but sometimes, though seldom, of lead), with a large
opening or tubulature conveniently situated for inserting the 'charges,'
and withdrawing the residuum of the distillation, is employed. The
tubulature, or opening, is closed by means of a large and accurately
ground iron stopper, or with a door secured by screws, as the case might
be. The stopper is well greased before insertion, and is removed by means
of a powerful lever. Should it become so firmly fixed that it cannot be
displaced in the usual manner, a cloth moistened with cold water, and
carefully wrapped round it, without touching the neck of the retort, will
generally cause it to contract sufficiently to enable the operator to
remove it with facility. Sometimes a large iron kettle, with a moveable
and accurately fitting lid secured in its place like that of a 'Papin's
digester,' and having a large and long tubulature in its centre, is
employed instead of a retort, over which it has the advantage of exposing
a larger opening for the removal of the residuum of the process. In either
case the distillatory vessel is imbedded in sand supported by fire-brick,
and is not exposed directly to the heat of the furnace. Before commencing
the distillation the joints are all well luted, to avoid leakage. An
excellent plan is to pass the gas, as it leaves the retort, through a
silver or pewter 'worm' or 'refrigerator' set in a tub supplied with a
stream of very cold water; by which it will be sufficiently cooled before
it reaches the 'receivers' to obviate the necessity of any further
attention to them than keeping the cloths wrapped round them constantly
moistened with cold water. The lower end of the 'worm' should be
connected, by means of a balloon-shaped 'adopter,' with the 'still,' and
the upper end with the first 'receiver,' the use of the balloon being to
intercept any volatilised ammonia-salt that might be accidentally driven
over by the heat being too high, or too suddenly raised.

The heat should be gradually applied, and very gradually raised, to
prevent any of the sal ammoniac or sulphate being volatilised
undecomposed; and even towards the end of the process it should not even
approach redness.

The lime is best 'slaked' and 'papped' with about 4 parts of water; as a
lower heat is then required to expel the gas, and it passes over more
easily and fully than when less water is employed. This is absolutely
necessary when the sulphate is the ammonia-salt used; as otherwise the
residuum of 'sulphate of lime' would become so hard that it could not be
easily removed from the retort.

The gas being wholly expelled from the retort, or other distillatory
vessel, it is disconnected from the receivers, and (when sal ammoniac has
been employed) the heat is raised sufficiently high to fuse the residual
chloride of calcium, which is then at once baled or poured out. Glass
retorts often suffer fracture at this point; but if they escape now, it
generally happens that they are broken when heat is applied for a second
operation. Hence, according to Prof. Muspratt, it is rare to find a
retort, even when carefully handled, that will stand two operations.

When crude sulphate of ammonia is employed it is advisable to have only a
little water in the first receiver, which is placed there merely to purify
the gas which passes through it, and to retain any traces of volatile
empyreumatic or oily matter which may be carried over with it.

Pure solution of ammonia is most easily obtained from 'sal ammoniac,' but
crystallised sulphate of ammonia, often crude, is more commonly employed,
on account of its lower price.

The preparation of pure solution of ammonia admits of no other
improvements than such as merely affect the form of the apparatus employed
to produce it; and hence, unlike the ammonia-salts of commerce, has been
little meddled with by inventors and patentees. Among the plans having for
their object the production of an ammoniacal solution, more or less
concentrated, fitted for many of the purposes of the arts, and for the
preparation of salts, but not for chemical and medical use, besides those
of Reece, Spence, Crane and Jullien, &c., already noticed, may be
mentioned--

1. That of Watson (Patent dated 1838) in which gas-liquor mixed with a
proper quantity of fresh-slaked lime is distilled from a spacious retort
or still into a receiver containing cold water, until much steam passes
over with the gas, when the strong alkaline liquor forming the distillate,
and called the first portion, is drawn off. The distillation is then
continued, when a weaker and impurer solution is obtained, called the
second portion. The first portion is then reintroduced into a retort or
still with a small quantity of fresh lime, and the distillation repeated.
The product the patentee calls the first portion of the second
distillation. The latter is a strong ammoniacal liquor sufficient for all
the purposes of scouring, cleaning, conversion into commercial
ammonia-salts, &c. It may be further purified by a third distillation; the
second portion of each operation being transferred again to the still with
the next fresh charge of gas-liquor.

2. A modification of Coffey's still,[43] patented by Mr W. E. Newton
(1841), under the name of the 'AMMONIA STILL,' is now extensively and
successfully employed in this manufacture. By its use ammonia may be
obtained from 'gas-liquor,' 'bone-spirit,' or any other ammoniacal liquor
or solution, and even from solutions of the salts of ammonia, of almost
any density, and of considerable purity; and this by a process which is
continuous and inexpensive. The body of the apparatus is formed of wood,
the chambers are lined with lead, and the diaphragms are of perforated
sheet iron. The management of the apparatus varies with the form in which
it is desired to obtain the product. When the ammonia is required to leave
the upper chamber of the rectifier in the form of gas, either pure or
impure, the steam which ascends, and the current of 'ammoniacal liquor'
which descends, are regulated in such relative proportions that the latter
remains at or near the atmospheric temperature during its passage through
some of the upper chambers, becoming successively hotter as it descends,
until at length it enters into ebullition; in which state it passes
through the lower chambers, either to make its escape, or to enter a
cistern provided to receive it. If, on the contrary, the ammonia is
required to leave the upper chamber in combination with the vapour of
water, the supply of steam entering below must be in such proportion to
that of the ammoniacal liquor supplied from above, that the latter may be
at or near the boiling temperature in the upper part of the apparatus.
Crude liquor and ammonia-salts, before being thus submitted to
distillation, are, of course, first treated with a proper quantity of
quick-lime--in the one case to remove most of the impurities, and in the
other to set the ammonia free by seizing on its acid.[44]

[Footnote 43: An _engr._ and description of this still, as employed for
spirit, is given under DISTILLATION (which _see_).]

[Footnote 44: For a full description of the "AMMONIA-STILL," _see_
Newton's 'Patent Journ.,' 'Pharm Journ.,' xiii, 64; &c.]

The water or solution contained in the first bottle or the first receiver
is found to be the strongest, provided it has been kept well cooled; and
that in the others, of progressively decreasing strength. By mixing the
contents of one bottle with another a solution of almost any strength may
be made. It is also easy to prepare liquor of ammonia of any required
strength, or to ascertain the strength of that in the receivers, by
observing the expansion of the liquid. Water, when fully saturated with
ammonia, expands from 3 volumes to 5 vols.; and in less, but corresponding
proportion, according to the quantity absorbed. All that is necessary in
practice is, that each receiver be furnished with a gauge-pipe by which
the degree of expansion may be noted. On the small scale, graduated glass
receivers may be used.

3. Mallet's Apparatus. This, which is employed in many of the large gas
works, is shown in vertical section in the accompanying woodcut. Steam is
forced into large receptacles, which are filled with gas water, by which
means the carbonate of ammonia is volatilised. When lime, as is sometimes
the case, is added, ammonia gas is evolved, and this being conveyed into
weak sulphuric acid, sulphate of ammonia is the result.

[Illustration]

The apparatus consists of two cylindrical boiler-plate vessels, A and B. A
is heated directly by the fire, and has a leaden tube, _c_, which dips
into the liquid contained in B, this vessel being so placed as to catch
the waste heat from the fire. _b_ and _e_ are man-holes; _a_ and _a'_ are
stirrers. By means of the tube _d_ the fluid from B can be run off into A.
Gas-water is poured into both vessels, and lime added; ammonia is
liberated, whilst carbonate of lime and sulphide of calcium are formed,
and these latter remain in the vessels after the volatilisation of the
ammonia. The vessel D is also filled with ammoniacal water, and when the
operation is in action this water, already warmed, is run by the aid of
the tube _h_ from D into B. E is a gas-water tank, from which D is filled
by means of _g_. The ammonia set free in A is, with the steam, conveyed by
the pipe _c_ into B, thence through _c'_ into the wash-vessel C, and
thence again through _c''_ into the first condenser, D. The partially
condensed vapour now passes into the condensing vessel F, the worm of
which is surrounded by cold water. The dilute ammonia is collected in G,
and forced by means of the pump (R) into C, from whence it is occasionally
removed by means of a syphon into either A or B. The non-condensed
ammoniacal gas is carried from G through a series of Wolfe's bottles, the
first bottle (H) containing olive oil, with the object of retaining any
hydrocarbons that may be present in the gas; the bottle J contains caustic
soda-ley, in order to purify the ammonia and retain impurities; the bottle
K is half filled with distilled water. The ammoniacal gas having passed
through K, is conveyed to the large wooden tank (lined with lead) L,
filled with diluted sulphuric acid, if it is intended to prepare sulphate
of ammonia, or with water, if solution of ammonia be required. The vessel
L is placed in a tank of water; _i_ is a small pipe for introducing acid,
while the tube leading to M serves to carry off any unabsorbed ammonia, M
being likewise filled with acid.

4. By means of Rose's apparatus, the ammoniacal gas-liquor mixed with one
third of slaked lime is heated in a boiler to a temperature of from 96 deg. to
100 deg., the ammoniacal gas evolved being passed into hydrochloric acid, and
thence through charcoal into vessels containing from 120 to 150 litres of
water, which is converted into liquid ammonia of a sp. gr. 0.920.

5. In Lunge's apparatus the gas-water is heated in a boiler, and the
liberated ammoniacal gas passed into sulphuric acid.

Solution of ammonia is now seldom made by the druggist, or on the small
scale, the large manufacturing chemists supplying it at a very low rate,
and of very superior quality. In the shops it is kept of two or three
strengths.

The estimation of the strength of ammonia solutions in commerce is known
as ammonimetry, and depends upon their specific gravities. The per-centage
richness of solutions of ammonia, or of its carbonates, may be most
accurately determined, by ALKALIMETRY. For all the ordinary purposes of
commerce, and of the laboratory, the strength of pure solutions of ammonia
may, however, be inferred, with sufficient correctness, from their
density; and to this the term AMMONIOMETRY is usually restricted.

The specific gravity of the sample being found either by the
hydrometer[45] or specific gravity bottle, in the usual manner, its
per-centage strength may be seen by inspection of the following _Table_
and the _Table_ on p. 127.

[Footnote 45: An hydrometer specially weighted and graduated for this
purpose is called an AMMONIM'ETER, AMMONIOM'ETER, or AMMO'NIA-ME'TER
(AMMONIM'ETRUM, AMMONIOM'ETRUM, &c., L.)]

        TABLE I.--_Showing the per-centage of_ PURE AMMONIA,
        _and of_ AMMONIA-WATER _of_ .9000, _in Water of
        Ammonia, of the given specific gravities, at_ 60 deg. Fahr.
        By Dr URE.

  ------------+------------+----------------+------------
  Sp. Gr. by  |  Water of  |  Pure          |  Water,
  experiment. |  Ammonia   |  Ammonia, per  |  per cent.
              |  of 900,   |  cent.         |
              |   per cent.|                |
  ------------+------------+----------------+------------
  .9000       |   100      |    26.500      |  73.500
  .9045       |    95      |    25.175      |  74.825
  .9090       |    90      |    23.850      |  76.150
  .9133       |    85      |    22.525      |  77.475
  .9177       |    80      |    21.200      |  78.800
  .9227       |    75      |    19.875      |  80.125
  .9275       |    70      |    18.550      |  81.450
  .9320       |    65      |    17.225      |  82.775
  .9363       |    60      |    15.900      |  84.100
  .9410       |    55      |    14.575      |  85.425
  .9455       |    50      |    13.250      |  86.750
  .9510       |    45      |    11.925      |  88.075
  .9564       |    40      |    10.600      |  89.400
  .9614       |    35      |     9.275      |  90.725
  .9662       |    30      |     7.950      |  92.050
  .9716       |    25      |     6.625      |  93.375
  .9768       |    20      |     5.300      |  94.700
  .9828       |    15      |     3.975      |  96.025
  .9887       |    10      |     2.650      |  97.350
  .9945       |     5      |     1.325      |  98.675
  ------------+------------+----------------+------------

[asterism] Strengths corresponding to sp. gr. which are not in the above
_Tables_ may be found by the 'method of differences' explained under
ALCOHOLOMETRY.

[asterism] The sp. gr. of any sample of liquid ammonia, expressed in three
integers, deducted from .998, and the remainder divided by 4, gives a
number which represents the per-centage strength, nearly. (Ure.) This rule
may be sometimes conveniently employed for rough calculations, in the
absence of _Tables_.

=Ammonia, Carbonates of.= (B. P.) _Syn._ AMMONIAE CARBONAS. See AMMONIUM,
SESQUICARBONATE OF.

        TABLE II.--_Exhibiting the relations between the_
        SPECIFIC GRAVITY _of Solution of Ammonia and the_
        PER-CENTAGE STRENGTH, _for every variation of .00125
        sp. gr., from .87500 to 1.00000, at_ 62 deg. Fahr. Abridged
        from the larger _Table_ of Mr J. J. GRIFFIN.

  ----------+------------+----------+------------+----------+------------
  Sp. Gr. of|Pure Ammonia|Sp. Gr. of|Pure Ammonia|Sp. Gr. of|Pure Ammonia
  the Liquid| per cent., |the Liquid| per cent.  |the Liquid| per cent.,
   Ammonia. |by Weight.  | Ammonia. |by weight.  | Ammonia. |by weight.
  ----------+------------+----------+------------+----------+------------
   .87500   |  34.694    | .91750   |  21.837    | .96000   |  10.119
   .87625   |  34.298    | .91875   |  21.477    | .96125   |   9.790
   .87750   |  33.903    | .92000   |  21.118    | .96250   |   9.462
   .87875   |  33.509    | .92125   |  20.760    | .96375   |   9.135
   .88000   |  33.117    | .92250   |  20.403    | .96500   |   8.808
   .88125   |  32.725    | .92375   |  20.046    | .96625   |   8.483
   .88250   |  32.335    | .92500   |  19.691    | .96750   |   8.158
   .88375   |  31.946    | .92625   |  19.337    | .96875   |   7.834
   .88500   |  31.558    | .92750   |  18.983    | .97000   |   7.511
   .88625   |  31.172    | .92875   |  18.631    | .97125   |   7.189
   .88750   |  30.785    | .93000   |  18.280    | .97250   |   6.867
   .88875   |  30.400    | .93125   |  17.929    | .97375   |   6.547
   .89000   |  30.016    | .93250   |  17.579    | .97500   |   6.227
   .89125   |  29.633    | .93375   |  17.231    | .97625   |   5.908
   .89250   |  29.252    | .93500   |  16.883    | .97750   |   5.590
   .89375   |  28.871    | .93625   |  16.536    | .97875   |   5.273
   .89500   |  28.492    | .93750   |  16.190    | .98000   |   4.956
   .89625   |  28.133    | .93875   |  15.846    | .98125   |   4.641
   .89750   |  27.736    | .94000   |  15.502    | .98250   |   4.326
   .89875   |  27.359    | .94125   |  15.158    | .98375   |   4.011
   .90000   |  26.984    | .94250   |  14.816    | .98500   |   3.698
   .90125   |  26.610    | .94375   |  14.475    | .98625   |   3.386
   .90250   |  26.237    | .94500   |  14.135    | .98750   |   3.074
   .90375   |  25.865    | .94625   |  13.795    | .98875   |   2.763
   .90500   |  25.493    | .94750   |  13.456    | .99000   |   2.453
   .90625   |  25.123    | .94875   |  13.119    | .99125   |   2.144
   .90750   |  24.754    | .95000   |  12.782    | .99250   |   1.835
   .90875   |  24.386    | .95125   |  12.446    | .99375   |   1.527
   .91000   |  24.019    | .95250   |  12.111    | .99500   |   1.220
   .91125   |  23.653    | .95375   |  11.777    | .99625   |    .914
   .91250   |  23.288    | .95500   |  11.444    | .99760   |    .609
   .91375   |  22.924    | .95625   |  11.111    | .99875   |    .304
   .91500   |  22.561    | .95750   |  10.780    |1.00000   | { 0
   .91625   |  22.198    | .95875   |  10.449    |          | {or Water.
  ----------+------------+----------+------------+----------+------------

  [asterism] The specific gravity of mixtures of pure solution of
  ammonia and pure water is precisely the mean of the specific
  gravities of their constituents. (Davy; Dalton; Christison.) In
  all solutions of ammonia, a quantity of anhydrous ammonia,
  weighing 212-1/2 gr., displaces exactly 300 gr. of water, and
  reduces the sp. gr. of the liquid to the extent of .00125.
  (Griffin.) The strongest solution of ammonia which it is
  possible to prepare at 62 deg. Fahr. has the sp. gr. .87500, and
  contains 34.694% of pure ammonia, by weight, or 21,251 gr. per
  gallon. (Griffin.)[46]

[Footnote 46: Mr Griffin, in his 'System of Ammonimetry,' calls every
212-1/2 gr. of anhydrous ammonia a TEST-ATOM; and every 7 water gr.
measure, a SEPTEM. Thus, a gallon of water (= 10 _lbs_) contains 100,000
septems. The degrees of his AMMONIA-METER range from 1 to 100, and
indicate the number of test-atoms of ammonia in one _gal_. of the liquid.]

=AMMONIUM.= The name given to a group of atoms, which play the part of a
compound basic, radical, or metallic element. This substance, whose
formula is NH_{4} or (NH_{4})_{2}, has never been isolated, although
capable of forming most stable salts with the various acid radicals.
Several attempts have been made, however, to obtain this compound radical,
or group of elements, in a free state, and with more or less success, but
on account of its great instability it invariably decomposes when set free
into ammonia and hydrogen.

Ammonium salts are some of the most important chemical agents, and are
usually recognised as follows, ammonia solution, however, usually acting
in exactly the same manner as a solution of ammonium hydrate:--By
imparting a deep blue tint to solutions of salts of copper. By exhalation
of ammoniacal gas (recognised by its odour), when triturated or mixed and
heated with caustic potassa, soda, or lime. Added to a solution of
bichloride of platinum, they produce a heavy yellow, crystalline
precipitate, consisting of minute octahedrons easily discernible under
the microscope. With protonitrate of mercury, a black precipitate. With
bichloride of mercury, a heavy, white precipitate. With a concentrated
solution of tartaric acid, a crystalline, white precipitate, nearly
similar to that given with salts of potassa. They are nearly all soluble
in water, volatile, and crystallisable.

Except the carbonate, they are almost invariably estimated by conversion
into ammonia, and estimation by volumetric analyses, as in alkalimetry. In
the laboratory, however, for exact purposes, they are converted into the
double chloride of ammonium and platinum.

=Ammonium Salts:--=

=Ammonium, Acetate of.= NH_{4}C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}. _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE ACE'TAS,
L.; ACETATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; ESSIGSAeURES AMMONIAK, Ger. _Prep._ 1. Take
of acetate of lime or of potassa and sal ammoniac, equal parts; mix and
distil at a gentle heat. The oily liquid (BINACETATE OF AMMONIUM,
HNH_{4}(C_{2}H_{3}O_{2})_{2}), in the receiver forms a radiated
crystalline mass on cooling. Dry gaseous ammonia passed into this salt,
melted by a gentle heat, transforms it into the solid and inodorous
neutral acetate, NH_{4}C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}.

2. Strong acetic acid is saturated with ammonia or carbonate of ammonium,
and the solution evaporated over sulphuric acid in vacuo; the resulting
crystals, after being carefully drained, are dried by pressure between
bibulous paper.

_Prop., &c._ Long, slender crystals, or a crystalline mass, freely soluble
in both alcohol and water, and deliquescent in the air; taste sharp and
cooling, and somewhat sweetish. Its solutions cannot be evaporated without
loss of the ammonia; even the salt passes off in large quantities with the
vapour of water. Its aqueous solution becomes alkaline on keeping, from
decomposition of the acid. Distilled with anhydrous phosphoric acid, it is
converted into ACETONITRILE. An aqueous solution of this salt was
introduced into the Materia Medica by Boerhaave, and has since been
extensively used as a diaphoretic and febrifuge, under the popular name of
MINDERERUS SPIRIT, after Minderer or Mindererus, who extensively employed
it and extolled its virtues. When pure, both the salt and its solutions
are neutral to test-paper, and are wholly volatilised by heat. See
SOLUTIONS.

=Ammonium, Arseniate of.= (NH_{4})_{3}AsO_{4}. _Syn._ AMMONIAE ARSE'NIAS,
L. _Prep._ 1. (NEUTRAL.) Saturate a warm concentrated solution of arsenic
acid with carbonate of ammonium in slight excess; evaporate by a gentle
heat, that crystals may form on cooling.

2. =Ammonium, Binarseniate of.= H(NH_{4})_{2}AsO_{4}. As above, but adding
an additional equiv. of the acid, as soon as any excess of ammonia has
been expelled by the heat employed to evaporate the solution.--_Dose_ (of
either). 1-24th to 1-12th gr.; in phthisis, certain skin diseases, &c. See
SOLUTIONS (and _below_).

=Ammonium, Arsenite of.= NH_{4}AsO_{2}. _Syn._ AMMONIAE AR'SENIS, L.
_Prep._ From a hot concentrated solution of arsenious acid, and
sesquicarbonate of ammonium, as the last.--Used (chiefly) to make arsenite
of iron. The properties and physiological effects of the above arsenical
preparations are for the most part similar to those of arseniate and
arsenate of potassa. They are all poisonous.

=Ammonium, Benzoate of.= _Prep._ 1. Dissolve benzoic acid in ammonia
solution to saturation, then further add ammonia in slight excess, and
crystallise by refrigeration, or in vacuo.

2. (LIQUID; SOLU'TIO AMMONIAE BENZOA'TIS, L.) As the last, but without
evaporating the solution.

_Prop., &c._ Very soluble and very difficult to crystallise. If the
solution is boiled for a short time and then abandoned to spontaneous
evaporation, crystals of ACID BENZOATE OF AMMONIUM are deposited. It is
used chiefly as a chemical test; but has been recently recommended in
chronic bronchitis, old coughs, &c.; and to check the formation of
chalk-stones and urinary calculi.--_Dose_, 10 to 15 gr.; (of the solution)
15 drops to 1 fl. dr., or more. See BENZOIC ACID.

=Ammonium, Bromide of.= NH_{4}Br. _Syn._ AMMO''NII BROMI'DUM, A. BRO'MIS,
L.; HYDROBROMATE D'AMMONIAQUE, BROMURE D'AMMONIUM, Fr. A salt which is
obtained from hydrobromic acid, bromide of iron, &c., by similar processes
to those adopted for the iodide. The following process for the preparation
of bromide of ammonium is from the formula for the new medicaments adopted
by the Paris Pharmaceutical Society: "Add bromine very slowly to a
solution of ammonia, with continual stirring, until the liquid remains
faintly and persistently  by a slight excess of bromine." It forms
white prismatic crystals; and, in its general properties, resembles
bromide of potassium. It is volatile, and easily decomposed.

Used as a nervine in hysterics; especially useful for sleeplessness where
there is no organic disease; given in epilepsy when bromide of potassium
fails.--_Dose_, 2 to 20 grains.

=Ammonium, Carbonates of=[47]--

[Footnote 47: For complete information respecting the various carbonates
of ammonia consult Dr Divers' papers in the 'Journal of the Chemical
Society.']

=Ammonium, Carbonate of.= _Syn._ NEUTRAL CARBONATE OF AMMONIUM. Equal
parts of dry sal ammoniac and sodium carbonate are heated to form the
neutral ammonium carbonate of commerce, which sublimes. Solid crystalline
substance, with a strong ammoniacal odour, volatile and soluble.

_Uses, &c._ In the solid form it is not now used in medicine; but it is
indirectly employed in several liquid preparations in which the
sesquicarbonate is ordered. It is superior to any other preparation of
ammonia for filling smelling bottles; as it is not only more pungent, but
does not lose its pungency by keeping. It volatilises more quickly than
the sesquicarbonate, and the residuum, unlike that of the latter salt,
continues as odorous as ever. It is the basis of several of the most
popular and esteemed advertised smelling salts of the shops. Spirit of
hartshorn is an impure solution of this salt, originally obtained by
distilling hartshorn or bones.

=Ammonium, Sesquicarbonate of.= Probably 2NH_{4}HCO_{3} +
NH_{4}NH_{2}CO_{3}, _i. e._ a mixture or compound of bicarbonate of
ammonium and carbamate of ammonium. _Syn._ (CARBONATE OF AMMONIA, AMMONIAE
CARBONAS. B. P.). CARBONATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; KOHLENSAURES AMMONIAK, Ger.
It is prepared on a very large scale commercially as follows:--Sal
ammoniac or sulphate of ammonia, and chalk, equal parts, both dry and in
powder, are mixed as before, and sublimed from a series of iron retorts or
iron pots, into a well-cooled and capacious receiver lined with lead or
earthenware; or, more generally, into such a receiver connected, by iron
or lead pipes, with a second and similar one containing a stratum of
water, to absorb the free ammonia evolved during the process.

The so-called "Volcanic Ammonia" is evolved during the manufacture of
borax, from carbonate of soda and boracic acid. It is largely used in
pharmacy.

_Prop._ The carbonate of ammonia, of commerce, usually occurs in the form
of white, fibrous, translucent, or semi-translucent cakes, generally about
two inches thick. It is less volatile and pungent than the neutral
carbonate; soluble in 4 parts of water at 55 deg. Fahr., 3.3 parts at 62 deg., 2.5
parts at 96 deg., and 2 parts at 120 deg.; boiling water and alcohol decompose it,
with the evolution of carbonic acid gas and ammonia; by age or exposure to
air, the surface assumes an opaque white colour, from its carbonate flying
off, and the remaining bicarbonate being less volatile. Unlike the
carbonate, it can neither be resublimed nor digested or distilled with
either alcohol or water, without suffering decomposition. Sp. gr. 0.966.

The exact composition of this salt varies, according to its method of
preparation.

_Uses, &c._ It is commonly employed by bakers to give lightness to their
fancy goods, and to make extemporaneous bread and pastry; by the chemist
and pharmaceutist, for the preparation of other salts of ammonia, and in
analysis, &c. In _medicine_ it is used as a stimulant, antispasmodic,
antacid, and diaphoretic, in acidity of the stomach, dyspeptic affections,
gout, scrofula, hysteria, lowness of spirits, epilepsy, &c.; and in the
convulsions attending dentition. It has been recently recommended, by Dr
Barlow, in diabetes. It is also employed to make effervescing draughts;
and externally as a counter-irritant and stimulant. Its use as a nasal
stimulant in headaches, fainting, &c., is well known. In large doses it is
emetic; in excessive doses poisonous. Its long-continued use, in quantity,
is often productive of very serious consequences--slow fever, debility,
emaciation, scurvy, loss of teeth, haemorrhage, general cachexy, and even
death. The antidote and restorative treatment are, the free use of
lemon-juice, wine or malt-liquors, new milk, and antiscorbutic vegetables,
with a generous diet, of which the red meats form a large
proportion.--_Dose._ As a stimulant or diaphoretic, 5 to 15 gr., dissolved
in cold water; as an emetic, 20 to 30 gr., in tepid water, repeated if
necessary; as an effervescing saline draught, 15 to 30 gr. A few grains (8
or 10) dissolved in a tumbler of cold water is an excellent 'refresher' in
lowness of spirits, or after fatigue; and is highly esteemed by drunkards;
being, in each case, preferable to 'spirit of sal volatile,'--_Doses for
Animals._ HORSE: 1 to 2 drachms. CATTLE: 2 to 4 drachms. SHEEP: 20 grains
to 1 drachm. PIG: 20 grains to 1 drachm. DOG: 3 to 10 grains; in bolus,
pill, or cold gruel.

_Concluding remarks, Patents, &c._ In extension of the above it may be
added that, on the large scale, the distillation is usually carried on in
cast-iron retorts, similar in size, shape, and character to those employed
in the manufacture of coal-gas, and of which five, or more, are commonly
set horizontally in the same furnace. (See _engr._) Each retort has its
mouth (_a_), through which the 'charge' is introduced, closed with a
movable door, which is securely fastened in its place, in the manner shown
in the engr.; and is furnished, at the upper part of its further end, with
an iron pipe (_c_), to carry off the evolved vapours to the condenser or
receiver. The latter consists of two large square wooden chambers (_B,
C_), lined with lead, and either fitted with movable covers, secured by
water-joints, or with doors in the side, to permit of the easy removal of
the sublimed salt. The first receiver communicates with the second by
means of a large lead tube (_d_) near its centre, and by another tube
(_d'_), somewhat smaller, and nearer the bottom, but above the surface of
the stratum of water in the second receiver, before alluded to. These
chambers have also a lead pipe (_e, e_), stopped during the process with a
plug or cock of lead, to allow of the liquid product of the distillation,
&c., to be drawn off, or run into another receiver or cistern, at will.
Both chambers are placed on strong wooden supports, or scaffolding, to
bring them on a level with the retorts. When the impure sulphate or other
ammonia-salt is used in the manufacture of the sesquicarbonate (which is
generally the case), the resulting salt being impure and discoloured, is
resublimed in iron pots (_f, f, f_), furnished with movable leaden heads,
which are kept cool by a current of air passing over them; a little water
being introduced into the subliming pots to render the product
translucent. The heat is applied either by means of a flue passing from
the retort-furnace (_A, b_), or by a water bath heated in the same manner;
the latter being the preferable method, as the temperature should not be
greater than about 200 deg. Fahr., and need not exceed 150 deg. to 155 deg.. These
pots are arranged in sets, as shown at _D_ in the engraving.

[Illustration]

The charge of a retort usually consists of about 70 to 72 _lbs._ of
sulphate of ammonia or 57 to 58 _lbs._ of the hydrochlorate to 1 _cwt._ of
chalk; or in these proportions. The product is about 40 _lbs._ of the
crude salt, which, by careful resublimation, yields about 39 _lbs._ of
marketable carbonate of ammonia.

Carbonate of ammonia, like the chloride and sulphate, is now scarcely ever
prepared on the small scale, that of commerce being not only cheaper, but
sufficiently pure for all the purposes of medicine and the arts.

=Ammonium, Bicarbonate of.= HNH_{4}CO_{3}. _Prep._ By digesting cold water
on sesquicarbonate of ammonia in considerable excess, until the whole of
the pungent neutral carbonate is dissolved out. If the salt is reduced to
powder the operation is facilitated.

To powdered sesquicarbonate of ammonia add boiling water just sufficient
to dissolve it, and immediately close the vessel; crystals form as the
liquid cools, containing 2-1/2 equiv. of water.

_Prop., &c._ For the most part similar to the sesquicarbonate, except in
having a taste and smell which is only faintly ammoniacal, and hence more
palatable. Crystallises in oblique prisms, which, as usually obtained,
contain about 23% of water. It requires 8 parts of cold water to dissolve
it. It is distinguished from the previous carbonates by the almost entire
absence of ammoniacal odour, and by its solution giving no immediate
precipitate with chloride of barium, but by standing, or on the addition
of a little liquor of ammonia, a white earthy precipitate, accompanied
with the evolution of carbonic acid gas. A saturated solution of this
salt, evaporated by a very gentle heat, or refrigerated, gives small
prismatic crystals having neither smell nor taste.

_Uses, &c._ Similar to those of the other carbonates.--_Dose_, 6 or 7 to
20 or 25 gr.

=Ammonium, Chloride of.= NH_{4}Cl. _Syn._ MURIATE OF AMMONIA, SAL
AMMONIAC, HYDROCHLORATE OF AMMONIA; CHLOROHYDRATE D'AMMONIAQUE, SEL
AMMONIAC, &c., Fr.; SALMIAK, Ger. A substance which, as already noticed,
appears to have been originally obtained, by sublimation, from the soot of
camels' dung, in Egypt. In this country, at the present day, it is
manufactured chiefly from the crude ammoniacal liquors obtained as
secondary products in the manufacture of coal-gas and animal charcoal.

_Prep._ 1. From GAS-LIQUOR:--The crude ammoniacal liquor of the gas-works
is, either at once, or after distillation,[48] neutralised with
hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, the choice being given to the one which is
the cheaper and more accessible at the place where the works are situated.
When hydrochloric acid is employed, the SATURATION is usually effected by
allowing the acid to flow from a large wooden vessel or tank lined with
lead or gutta percha into a large underground reservoir or tank containing
the ammoniacal liquor, and having an exit-tube passing into the chimney or
shaft of the steam-engine, to carry off the sulphuretted hydrogen and
other offensive gases liberated during the mixture. Sometimes the
gas-liquor is accumulated in enormous covered wooden tuns, capable of
holding from 10,000 to 20,000 gallons, or more; and the acid is added by
raising the gutta-percha carboys containing it by means of cranes, and
then thoroughly mixing it with the liquor by means of powerful
'agitators,' whilst the offensive fumes are either passed off as before,
or made to traverse the fire of the steam-engine before entering the
chimney-shaft. The quantity of acid employed to effect saturation must, of
course, depend on the ammoniacal strength of the gas-liquor operated on.
The usual proportions are 1-1/2 to 2 _lbs._ of the former, to each gal. of
the latter; but in all cases sufficient should be added to impart a very
faint acid reaction to the mixture. This last having been effected, the
saline solution, now containing hydrochlorate of ammonia, is, after
repose, ready to be pumped or run off into the evaporators.

[Footnote 48: This is now generally conducted in a large wrought-iron
boiler, connected with a rude modification of Coffey's still; the object
being to obtain the liquor freer from tar and more concentrated.]

The EVAPORATION of the crude saline solution is usually carried on in
large square or rectangular cast-iron vats, of very moderate depth, and
capable of holding from 1000 to 1500 gallons, or more. These are encased
in brickwork, and are heated by a furnace, of which the flues pass in a
sinuous course beneath the lining of brickwork on which the vats or pans
rest. During the concentration of the liquid, the tar, &c., which
separates and floats on the surface, and which thus seriously impedes
evaporation, is, from time to time, removed by skimming. As soon as the
sp. gr. reaches 1.25, any excess of acid in the solution is exactly
neutralised with a little fresh ammoniacal liquor; by which any waste of
acid is prevented, at the same time that any ferric salt present, and
which would contaminate the ultimate product, is precipitated as
sesquioxide. After settling for a short time, the hot liquor is ready to
be transferred to the crystallisers.

The vessels employed in the CRYSTALLISATION are pans or tubs, usually
circular and about 7 or 8 feet wide, by 2-1/2 to 3 feet deep; and are
generally set on the ground, or are embedded either partially or wholly in
it. The saline liquor being pumped or run into them at a little below the
boiling temperature, crystallises as it cools; the only interference being
occasional stirring or agitation, to prevent the formation of large
crystals, which would be inconvenient in the subsequent part of the
process. The time occupied in the crystallisation varies, according to the
size of the 'crystallisers,' and the weather, from 3 or 4 to 8 or even 10
days. The 'mother-liquor' of the 'crystallisers' is pumped back into the
evaporating pans for further concentration. The crude blackish salt
(hydrochlorate) thus obtained is contaminated with tarry and oleaginous
matter, free acid, water, &c.; from part of which it is freed by exposing
it in a layer about 4 inches deep, on a cast-iron plate gently heated by a
zigzag flue of a small furnace, until all the water is expelled; care
being taken that the heat never rises high enough to volatilise the salt.
This operation is generally performed under a dome, or the expanded throat
of a large chimney. The salt will now have become of a greyish-white
colour, and is ready for the next operation.

[Illustration]

The crude dried salt of the last process is finally purified by
sublimation. For this purpose cast-iron-pots lined with clay, and heated
from below and by flues round their sides, are employed. (See _engr._) The
crude grey salt is beaten down into these pots until they are about 2-3rds
filled, when the heads or capitols are fitted on, and heat applied. The
latter are very heavy, being usually made of lead (sometimes of iron), and
have the form of a dome, or a hemispherical cup, with a small tube or hole
at the apex, in which a plug is loosely placed, to permit the escape of
steam. These domes or heads are so made as to fit closely and firmly on
the flat rim or flange of the 'sublimers,' and are retained in their
places, during use, both by their weight, and by 2 or 3 clamps provided
for the purpose. They are also furnished with 3 rings, set at equal
distances, to allow of their being lifted off, or moved, by means of a
pulley and chains. The due application and regulation of the heat is here
of the utmost importance. If the temperature employed be too high, the
sublimed salt will be contaminated with empyreumatic matter, while some of
it will be carried beyond the dome and lost; and if it be extreme, the
head may be altogether blown off, and the contents of the pan scattered
about the building; whilst on the other hand, if the heat employed be too
low, the resulting cake of sal ammonia will be soft, spongy, and either
grey or yellowish. The proper temperature is said to be known by two or
three drops of water readily boiling, and being dissipated in vapour, when
placed on the head or cover of the sublimer; but it should not 'spit' or
'dance about,' or be raised by the heat out of contact with the metal. The
usual practice is to keep the fires "briskly up until the sublimers and
their surroundings attain a sufficient degree of heat; they are then
slackened, and maintained at a mean temperature." (Muspratt.) The
sublimation occupies from 5 to 9 days; but it is customary to raise the
heads once, or even twice a week, to ascertain the progress made; the
fires having been purposely neglected or checked for some hours
previously. The process is finally stopped before the whole of the crude
salt in the pots is volatilised; since the heat required for that purpose
would lead to the decomposition of the carbonaceous impurities, and cause
them to emit volatile hydrocarbons, which would materially lessen the
purity and beauty of the product. The unsublimed portion in the pots forms
a conical mass, which is technically called the 'yolk.' This is shown in
the second engr. (see _below_), in which the latest improvements in the
form of the subliming apparatus are also exhibited.

[Illustration]

The sublimation having been carried to a sufficient extent, the fires are
allowed to die out. The domes, after cooling, are lifted off, and the
attached hemispherical cakes or 'bells' of SAL AMMONIAC or HYDROCHLORATE
OF AMMONIA at once removed. These vary from 2 to 5 inches in thickness,
and from 45 or 50 _lbs._ to 1000 _lbs._, and upwards, in weight, according
to the size of the sublimers in which they have been produced. They are
generally nearly pure, except in the outer part which has been in contact
with the metal. From the subliming-house they are taken to the store or
packing-house, and after having been scraped, to remove the discoloured
portion before alluded to, are either preserved entire, or are broken up
into convenient pieces, which are then packed in casks or barrels, and in
either state are ready for the market.

When sulphuric acid[49] is used to neutralise the ammoniacal liquor, the
process is generally, for the most part, the same as when hydrochloric
acid is employed; but here the brown salt obtained by the crystallisation,
and subsequent desiccation, is crude SULPHATE OF AMMONIA, instead of the
hydrochlorate. It is intimately mixed with about an equal weight of
chloride of sodium (common salt) before being put into the sublimers.

[Footnote 49: Sp. gr. 1.33 to 1.38.]

In some cases, particularly where the ammoniacal liquor is rich in
carbonate of ammonia, gypsum is employed as a source of sulphuric acid.
(See _below_.)

Another method is to convert the solution of the crude sulphate into a
solution of the hydrochlorate, during the process, by the addition of
chloride of sodium. Both these last methods are described below.

2. From BONE-LIQUOR, &c.[50]--The ammoniacal liquor technically called
'bone-liquor' or 'bone-spirit,' and formerly known under the name of
'spirit of hartshorn,' is essentially a solution of carbonate of ammonia
more or less contaminated with volatile empyreumatic oil. Its conversion
into SAL AMMONIA may be easily effected by saturating it with hydrochloric
acid, evaporating the resulting neutral solution in lead or iron boilers
until a pellicle begins to form, then pumping or running off the hot
liquors into the crystallisers, and, lastly, draining and drying the
crystals. The salt thus obtained may be purified either by sublimation or
by recrystallisation. The whole series of processes closely resemble those
already described, except in being less troublesome, owing to the absence
of the tarry and other foreign matters which impede and complicate them
when gas-liquor is employed.

[Footnote 50: That employed in England is chiefly obtained, as already
mentioned, from the manufacturers of bone-black or animal charcoal; but,
on the Continent, the liquor obtained by a like destructive distillation
of various animal offals (blood, flesh, horn, hoofs, woollen rags and
waste, hair, scrapings of hides, leather cuttings, &c.) is employed for
the same purpose. The preparatory process by which this liquor is obtained
is essentially the same in each case; except that with animal offal the
temperature should not exceed a red-brown heat, in order that the
resulting charcoal may afterwards serve to make ferrocyanide of potassium
and Prussian blue. These liquors have usually a density ranging between 8 deg.
and 9 deg. Baume (Ure; = sp. gr. 1.056 to 1.063).]

Another method adopted, particularly on the Continent, and one equally
applicable to any crude ammoniacal liquor rich in free ammonia or its
carbonates, is to employ sulphate of lime instead of sulphuric acid to
neutralise the alkali. For this purpose the ammoniacal liquor is passed
through a series of three or four covered wooden filters lined with lead,
each containing a layer of crushed gypsum to the depth of 3 or 4 inches.
These filters are usually set on 'stages' one above another, and each
communicates with a cistern placed beneath it by means of a leaden pipe
furnished with a stop-cock. This last is not opened untill the liquor has
remained some little time in the filter; and a pump throws back once, or
oftener, upon each filter, what has already passed through it, before it
is allowed to run into the next lower one. The 'liquor' in each filter is
not allowed to stand higher than from 2 to 3 inches above the surface of
the gypsum; and the lowest or last filter is supplied with fresh gypsum at
each separate charge of fresh liquor. A little water is lastly passed
through the filters to wash out the portion of ammoniacal liquor absorbed
or retained by the filtering media. In this way the gypsum of the filters
is converted into carbonate of lime at the expense of the carbonate of
ammonia in the solution; whilst the ammonia of the latter decomposes the
gypsum, and becomes converted into sulphate of ammonia, which, with some
free ammonia, is found in the filtrate. Sulphuric acid is next added to
the filtered liquor to completely neutralise the free and carbonated
alkali still existing in it; after which it is evaporated in a leaden
boiler, with frequent skimming to remove floating oil, until of the sp.
gr. 1.160. Chloride of sodium (common salt), in sufficient quantity to
convert all the sulphate of ammonia in the liquid into hydrochlorate, by
double decomposition, is now added, with constant stirring; after which
the clear portion is either pumped or syphoned off into a somewhat deep
reservoir or tank, where it is allowed to settle. The liquid after
sufficient repose is pumped from the reservoir to the boilers, and
evaporated, with frequent agitation, so long as the sulphate of soda now
existing in it falls to the bottom in granular crystals. These crystals
are, at intervals, scraped to the cooler portion of the pan or boiler,
whence they are removed by copper rakes and shovels, into
draining-hoppers, placed near the edges of the pan. The liquor in the
boiler is now a strong solution of sal ammoniac, but still containing a
little sulphate of soda, from which it has to be freed by crystallisation.
With this object it is further concentrated, and then run or pumped into
the crystallisers. In 30 or 40 hours, or longer, the mother-liquor is run
or pumped off. The mass of newly-formed crystals is then drained, and
slightly washed, first with a little weak solution of sal ammoniac, and
next with a very little cold water; after which they are again well
drained. The crude HYDROCHLORATE OF AMMONIA, thus obtained, is converted
into the pure salts, by desiccation and sublimation, as before.

In France, where this method is very generally employed, the sublimation
is commonly conducted in stoneware or earthenware balloons or bottles
coated with loam, of about 18 to 20 inches in height in the body, and
either surmounted with inverted 'cups' or 'heads' 10 or 12 inches high, or
simply covered with a tile, when (in the latter case) the sublimate
collects in the upper part or neck of the balloon, which is above the
action of the fire. A number of these vessels are set on the dome of a
furnace, which is perforated with holes or slits, to allow the heat to
pass through; whilst their necks or heads are sheltered from the action of
the fire by plates of iron or earthenware, having semi-circular
indentations on their edges, so that when placed together they form a
level surface, through which the necks of the sublimers protrude, and fit
closely. The fire is nicely regulated, so as to cause the salts to
condense in the upper and cooler part of the vessels, or in the heads, as
the case may be; and great care is taken to occasionally clear the necks
with a skewer, to prevent choking, and consequent bursting.

In Scotland, where a similar process is also commonly pursued, the
sublimers, according to Dr Ure, are generally "cast-iron pots, lined with
fire-proof tiles; the condensation being effected in globular heads of
green glass, with which each of the iron pots are capped."[51]

[Footnote 51: Ure's 'Dict. of Arts, M., & M.,' 5th Edn., i, p. 143.]

_Ratio._ Gas-liquor contains carbonate of ammonium (chiefly), with
chloride, sulphate, hydrosulphate, cyanide, sulphocyanide, &c., of the
same radical. On neutralisation with hydrochloric acid, or sulphuric acid,
these are converted into chloride or sulphate of ammonium, according to
the acid used. By sublimation with chloride of sodium, the sulphate of
ammonium is converted, by double decomposition, into chloride of ammonium,
which sublimes; and sulphate of sodium, which remains in the subliming
pot. A similar change occurs when the solution of the sulphate, prior to
crystallisation, is decomposed by the addition of chloride of sodium, or
any other chloride. When the 'gas-liquor' is at once converted into
chloride of ammonium by the addition of hydrochloric acid, the sublimation
merely purifies the salt. Like changes occur when bone-spirit is employed.

_Comp._ Chemically considered, this salt consists of equal VOLUMES of
gaseous ammonia and hydrochloric acid gas condensed into the solid form;
or, by WEIGHT, according to the ammonia-theory, of--

                                        Atoms.  Equiv. wt.  Per cent.
  Ammonia (NH_{3})                        1        17.        31.78
  Hydrochloric acid (HCl)                 1        36.5       68.22
                                         ---      -----      ------
  Hydrochlorate of Ammonia (NH_{3}HCl)    1        53.5      100.

Or, according to the 'ammonium-theory,' of--

                                  Atoms.      Equiv. wt.   Per cent.
  Ammonium (NH_{4})                 1            18.         33.65
  Chloride (Cl)                     1            35.5        66.35
                                   ---          -----       ------
  Chloride of Ammonium (NH_{4}Cl)   1            53.5       100.

_Prop. &c._ The sal ammoniac of commerce is found under the form of large
white hemispherical, cup-like cakes or masses (or in large fragments which
are sections of them), possessing a tough, fibrous, semi-crystalline
texture, and very difficult to powder. It is odourless, has a saline taste
somewhat sharp or acrid, and sublimes without either fusion or
decomposition. It slightly reddens litmus; dissolves in rather less than 3
parts of cold water, and in about 1 part of boiling water; is soluble in
alcohol; and when crystallised from water, under favorable circumstances,
forms distinct octahedra, or cubes, usually small and aggregated together
in rays or feathery masses. By slowly evaporating its aqueous solution, it
may be sometimes obtained in cakes an inch in thickness. It is anhydrous.
Sp. gr. 1.450.

_Pur._ It should give a colourless solution with water; wholly sublime
with heat; and neither chloride of barium, nor sulphuretted hydrogen,
should affect its solution. A solution, to which a few drops of nitric
acid have been added, should not yield a blue precipitate with
ferrocyanide of potassium. It often contains sesquichloride of iron, and
sometimes lead; both of which may be readily detected by the above tests.
Its complete volatility may be easily determined by heating, in the flame
of a candle, a small fragment held on the point of a knife.

_Tests._--1. It is known to be a salt of ammonium by its cooling
ammoniacal fumes when triturated with lime, or when moistened with caustic
potassa or soda:--2. It is shown to be a chloride by its solution
yielding, with nitrate of silver, a white curdy precipitate, insoluble in
boiling nitric acid, soluble in ammonia.

_Uses, &c._ In the _arts_, chiefly in the coating and soldering of metals,
and the preparation of alloys; in dyeing; and in the manufacture of
ammonia-alum; also, in large quantities, to give a factitious pungency to
snuff. In _chemistry_, as a reagent; and, owing to the cold produced
during its solution, to form frigorific mixtures. In _medicine_ it is
chiefly used externally, as a stimulant and resolvent or discutient; and
occasionally, internally, as a diuretic, stimulant, resolvent, alterative,
tonic, &c., particularly in chronic inflammations of the mucous and serous
membranes, in chronic glandular and visceral enlargements and indurations,
and in amenorrh[oe]a. In rather large doses, frequently repeated, it is
said to prove often highly beneficial in chronic enlargement and
induration of the prostate gland (M. Rene Vanoye); and also in other like
cases.--_Dose_, 5 to 20 gr., 3 or 4 times daily, either in powder or
solution, mixed with some demulcent; as a discutient or resolvent lotion,
1 to 1-1/2 oz., to 1/2 pint of water, either with or without 4 or 5 fl.
oz. of spirits or strong vinegar (often serviceable in chilblains); as a
weak lotion, or a collyrium or injection, 1 to 4 dr., to water, 1 pint. In
very large doses it is poisonous; the treatment is emetics and
mucilaginous or demulcent drinks.

_Concluding remarks, Patents, &c._ The methods already described are those
by which commercial hydrochlorate of ammonia is usually if not almost
entirely obtained; the various improvements or modifications, from time to
time introduced, affecting chiefly the minor details, and the form or size
of the apparatus and machinery employed, and not the general principles on
which the processes are based. One of the most important of these has for
its object the entire removal of the iron present in the crude salt, some
of which, if it be not removed before sublimation, is volatilised and
contaminates the ultimate product. To obviate this evil, Mr Brewer passes
a few bubbles of chlorine through the hot concentrated solution of the
salt, previous to its crystallisation; by which the protochloride of iron
is converted into the perchloride, which, being acted on by the ammonia
always present in the liquor, is precipitated as ferric hydrate, with the
formation of a small additional quantity of sal ammoniac. The only
precaution necessary is to avoid employing more chlorine gas than is
necessary to peroxidise the iron; as beyond this a portion of the
ammonia-salt itself is decomposed, with the evolution of nitrogen. The
temperature of the liquor is kept up, after the action of the chlorine,
until the whole of the brown flocculent oxide of iron has subsided, when
it is at once decanted or filtered into the crystallisers.

Another modification which has been adopted in two or three places is to
effect neutralisation of the crude ammoniacal liquor by distilling it, and
passing the fumes in at the lower end of a hollow shaft or column filled
with coke, down which the acid trickles; the resulting solution of
sulphate or chloride of ammonium being received in proper cisterns,
conveniently situated near the base of the column.

In Mr Spence's method of obtaining ammonia-salts from gas-liquor or
bone-spirit, a series of (usually four) cylindrical boilers, or
reservoirs, so placed that the contents of each upper one may be drawn off
into the one next below it are employed. Each boiler has an exit-pipe
which carries the vapour generated in it to that next above it, whilst
that of the highest boiler passes off to a trunk containing the acid
necessary to form the salt. The top boiler is connected with the reservoir
of gas-liquor (which is already mixed with milk of lime) by a charging
pipe furnished with a stop-cock turned by a floating ball, so as to keep
the surface of the liquor constantly at the same height. High-pressure
steam enters the lower boiler, by which its ammonia is driven through the
connecting pipe into the next boiler, and so on in succession, until it
leaves the highest boiler in a concentrated state, and thus enters the
acid-tank. When this last contains moderately strong hydrochloric or
sulphuric acid, the resulting solution of CHLORIDE or SULPHATE OF AMMONIUM
(as the case may be) is sufficiently concentrated to be at once run off
into the crystallisers. As soon as the liquor in the lowest boiler is
exhausted of its ammonia, its contents are drawn off, and replaced by that
of the next boiler, which is followed by a like descent throughout the
whole series.

Among improvements having for their object the substitution of cheap
chlorides[52] for the more expensive commercial acids, may be mentioned
those of--

[Footnote 52: Particularly such chlorides as are the 'waste or bye
products' of other manufactures.]

1. Mr Laming (Patent dated 1843), who employs a strong solution of
CHLORIDE OF CALCIUM for converting the ammonia of gas-liquor into the
hydrochlorate.

2. Mr Hills (Patent dated 1846) employs CHLORIDE OF MAGNESIUM[53] in the
same way; and by a subsequent patent proposes to convert the ammonia
eliminated in the distillation of coal into the hydrochlorate, by mixing
CHLORIDE OF MAGNESIUM with the coal in the retorts, or by introducing the
chloride into a retort appropriated for the purpose. The heat dispels the
chlorine of the chloride, in the form of hydrochloric acid, and this,
uniting with the ammoniacal vapour, forms hydrochlorate of ammonia, which
is retained in the liquor of the condenser. From this liquor the salt is
obtained by evaporation, &c., in the usual way.

[Footnote 53: Of the Epsom-salt works, &c.]

3. Mr Croll (Patent dated 1849) converts the crude ammoniacal vapours that
issue with the gas from the common retorts into the hydrochlorate, and
obtains a solution of it by passing the gas through a solution of crude
CHLORIDE OF MANGANESE[54] (1 cwt. of the salt to about 40 galls. of
water), contained in one of the ordinary vessels used for purifying
coal-gas. The manganic solution absorbs the ammonia and its salts,
converting them into the hydrochlorate, whilst a corresponding proportion
of oxide of manganese is precipitated. As soon as the liquor in the
purifier is fully saturated, it is drawn off, and replaced by a fresh
quantity; whilst the saturated liquor containing the hydrochlorate, after
subsidence, or filtration, is evaporated, &c., as before. Crude CHLORIDE
OF IRON may be substituted for the chloride of manganese, in the above
process: as may also SULPHATE OF MANGANESE, but then the product, of
course, will be sulphate of ammonia, instead of the hydrochlorate.

[Footnote 54: Obtained from the chloride-of-lime works. The portion of the
precipitated oxide of manganese saved from the process may be reconverted
into the chloride, by mixing 3 parts of it with 4 parts of common salt,
and heating the mixture to low redness, scarcely perceptible in the dark,
for 2 to 3 hours. 140 _lbs._ of the calcined mass, with 40 galls. of
water, forms a solution that may be again pumped into the purifier.]

4. Mr Laming (Patent dated 1850) also proposes the use of various salts
and mixtures for retaining and condensing the ammoniacal vapour of
coal-gas as it passes from the retorts through the purifiers. Of these the
principal are CHLORIDE OF CALCIUM obtained by decomposing chloride of iron
by hydrate of lime; CHLORIDE OF IRON, obtained by decomposing sulphate of
iron with chloride of sodium; CHLORIDE OF MAGNESIUM; a mixture of SULPHATE
OF LIME and SULPHATE OF IRON; or of moist precipitated oxide of iron with
carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, or magnesian limestone; or one
containing sulphate of magnesia, or chloride of magnesium or calcium, or
one or more of them, in combination with oxide of copper, either with or
without lime or magnesia, or with both or either of them or their
carbonates. These salts, or compounds, are mingled with sawdust, or some
other porous substance not acted on by the gas, before being put into the
purifiers; and after they become saturated with the vapour, the
newly-formed hydrochlorate or sulphate (according to the salt or mixture
employed) is washed out of the mass with water.

Besides the usual sources of SAL AMMONIAC (and the other ammonia-salts of
commerce) it has been proposed to obtain it from guano, peat, shale, &c.,
as noticed under SESQUICARBONATE OF AMMONIA (_supra_); the substance
employed to effect the neutralisation or decomposition of the ammoniacal
liquor being, in this case either hydrochloric acid or a chloride.

In Young's Patent (1841) for 'obtaining AMMONIA and its SALTS,' a mixture
of 2 parts of guano, and 1 part of hydrate of lime, is distilled in a
retort placed vertically, at a moderate heat, gradually increased until
the bottom of the retort becomes red hot. The ammoniacal portion of the
fumes evolved are absorbed by the cold water contained in a suitable
condenser; whilst the other gases eliminated by the process pass off
uncondensed. By subsequently passing carbonic acid gas into the liquor of
the condenser, a solution of CARBONATE, BICARBONATE, or SESQUICARBONATE of
AMMONIA is formed. By nearly filling the condenser with diluted
hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, instead of with water, a solution of
HYDROCHLORATE or of SULPHATE OF AMMONIA is obtained.

Stale urine saturated with hydrochloric acid, or with sulphuric acid
diluted with about twice its weight of water, yields SAL AMMONIAC, or
SULPHATE OF AMMONIA (according to the acid used) on evaporation.

Hydrochlorate of ammonia is now wholly prepared on the large scale, and
never by the dealer or retailer, by whom it is only occasionally refined
or purified, in small quantities, for chemical and medical purposes. The
sal ammoniac of commerce is found to be sufficiently pure for all its
ordinary applications in the arts; but when wanted of greater purity, it
is broken into pieces, and resublimed from an earthenware vessel into a
large receiver of earthenware or glass. The product (REFINED SAL AMMONIAC,
DOUBLE-REFINED S. A.; AMMONIAE HYDROCHLO''RAS PU''RA, SAL AMMONI'ACUS
DEPURA'TUS[dagger], L.) is popularly known as FLOWERS OF SAL AMMONIAC
(flo'res sa'lis ammoni'aci, L.), from being in a finely divided
crystalline state.

The chemically pure chloride of ammonium may be prepared by bringing its
gaseous constituents--ammonia and hydrochloric acid--into contact. During
the combination much heat, and even light, is generated, and the anhydrous
solid salt is precipitated in a minutely divided state, which, under the
microscope, is seen to be crystalline. It may be also more easily and
conveniently prepared by saturating pure and moderately dilute
hydrochloric acid with ammonia or its carbonates, and evaporating the
solution until a pellicle forms, when crystals of the chloride separate as
the liquid cools. A similar but rather more violent reaction occurs when
gaseous chlorine is brought in contact with gaseous ammonia, or is passed
into a nearly saturated solution of ammonia or its carbonates; but in this
case nitrogen is evolved at the expense of the ammonia; moreover, the
process is attended with danger.

The manufacture of sal ammoniac is usually a distinct business, and is
carried on to a very great extent in the neighbourhood of London. Indeed,
the London makers now supply the chief portion of that used in England. A
large quantity is now, however, made at Manchester and Liverpool. A small
quantity is imported from Germany. That from Brunswick is in the form of
sugar-loaves. An inferior quality is also imported, in chests, from the
East Indies.

The red bands frequently seen in the sal ammoniac of commerce are said to
arise from the workmen falling asleep, and allowing the fire to go down,
and then suddenly raising the heat too high. (Muspratt.) They consist
chiefly of ammonio-chloride of iron.

=Ammonium, Citrate of.= (NH_{4})_{2}HC_{6}H_{6}O_{7}. _Syn._ DIAMMONIUM
CITRATE, CITRATE OF OXIDE OF AMMONIA; AMMON''NIAE CIT'RAS, L.

_Prep._ A concentrated solution of pure citric acid, gently heated, is
saturated with sesquicarbonate of ammonium, in fine powder (about 7 parts
to 6), and slightly in excess; and the resulting liquid is crystallised by
refrigeration in close vessels, or by evaporation in vacuo. If heat be
employed in the evaporation of the solution, an acid citrate will be
formed.

_Uses, &c._ Chiefly as a chemical test. An extemporaneous citrate, made
with lemon-juice and drunk effervescing, is employed as a saline draught,
and a mild aperient and diaphoretic, in fevers, &c.

=Ammonium, Ferrocyanide of.= (NH_{4})_{4} FeC_{6}N_{6} . 3Aq. _Syn._
FERROCYANATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr. _Prep._ 1. Saturate a solution of
hydroferrocyanic acid with sesquicarbonate of ammonium, in slight excess;
evaporate the solution at a heat below ebullition, and crystallise by
refrigeration.

2. Digest ferrocyanide of lead or of iron in a solution of sesquicarbonate
of ammonium, at a gentle heat, for some time; then filter, evaporate, and
crystallise.

_Prop., &c._ It is isomorphous with ferrocyanide of potassium; it is
easily crystallisable, very soluble in water, and is decomposed by
ebullition.

=Ammonium, Iodide of.= NH_{4}I. _Syn._ HYDRIODATE OF AMMONIA; AMMO''NII
IODI'DUM, L.; HYDRIODATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr. _Prep._ An aqueous solution of
hydriodic acid is neutralised with ammonia, or ammonium sesquicarbonate,
in slight excess; and the resulting liquid is either carefully, but
rapidly, evaporated to dryness over a water bath, or it is concentrated by
the same means, and then caused to deposit crystals by refrigeration; in
both cases care is taken to keep a slight excess of ammonia present during
the evaporation. The crystals are dried by pressure between folds of
bibulous paper; and the product, in either form, preserved in a stoppered
bottle.

Pure iodine is triturated with a little distilled water, and solution of
ammonium sulphydrate added, in small quantities at a time, with continued
trituration, until the red colour of the iodine has entirely disappeared.
The solution, after being gently boiled for a few seconds, to expel the
sulphuretted hydrogen present, is filtered, slightly alkalised, with
ammonia, and evaporated or crystallised, as before.

_Prop., &c._ Colourless; deliquescent; freely soluble in water, and in
spirit; air and light turn it yellowish or brownish, with partial
decomposition. It closely resembles iodide of potassium, than which it is
more active, and thought to be better suited to irritable and relaxed
habits.--_Dose_, 1 to 10 or 12 gr.

=Ammonium, Lac'tate of.= _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE LAC'TAS, L. An uncrystallisable
salt prepared by saturating ammonia, or its carbonate, with lactic acid.
It has been found useful in rickets, and in dyspepsia and worms, when
occurring in debilitated habits. For this purpose it is best taken
fresh-prepared, as a draught, flavoured with syrup of orange-peel, 3 or 4
times daily. See LACTATE and LACTIC ACID.

=Ammonium, Nitrate of.= NH_{4}NO_{3}. _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE NI'TRAS, L.;
NITRATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr. _Prep._ Saturate nitric acid (diluted with 3 or
4 times its weight of water) with sesquicarbonate of ammonium, evaporate
by a gentle heat, and crystallise. When not required in a crystalline
form, it is usually evaporated to dryness at about 212 deg. Fahr.; and the
heat being carefully raised to about 250 deg., the fused salt is poured out on
a polished slab of iron or stone, and when solidified broken up and put
into bottles.

_Prop._ When the evaporation of the solution is conducted at a heat under
100 deg. Fahr., the salt is obtained in beautiful hexagonal prisms; when at
212 deg., in long silky fibres; when by rapid evaporation and fusion, it forms
a white, compact, and usually foliated mass. It dissolves in about twice
its weight of water; is slightly deliquescent; melts at 230 deg., and is
decomposed into nitrous gas and water at 460 deg. Fahr. It deflagrates, like
nitre, on contact with heated combustible matter.

_Uses, &c._ Chiefly to prepare nitrous oxide or laughing gas (of which
nearly 4-1/2 cubic feet may be procured from every _lb._ avoir.); and with
water, to form freezing mixtures, for which purpose it may be used for any
number of times by simply evaporating the solution to dryness, when the
salt, obtained unaltered, is ready for another operation. Care, however,
should be taken not to expose it to too great a heat, as at a certain
temperature it deflagrates with violence. It is occasionally employed in
the laboratory to promote the combustion of organic bodies during
incineration; and sometimes, though seldom, in medicine, as a diuretic
and diaphoretic. It is said to reduce the frequency of the pulse, and the
animal heat, without affecting the head, chest, or stomach.
(Wibmer.)--_Dose_, 10 to 30 gr.

=Ammonium, Nitro-sulphate of.= _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE NITRO-SUL'PHAS, L.
Dissolve sulphite of ammonium, 1 part; in solution of ammonia, 5 parts;
and pass nitric oxide gas through the solution; rapidly wash the crystals
that form with solution of ammonia, dry in bibulous paper, without heat,
and preserve them in a well-stopped bottle.--_Dose_, 10 to 20 gr.; in
typhoid fevers, &c.

=Ammonium, Oxalate of.= (NH_{4})_{2}C_{2}O_{4}. _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE OX'ALIS,
L.; OXALATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr. Neutralise a hot solution of oxalic acid
with sesquicarbonate of ammonia; evaporate and crystallise.

_Prop._ It forms beautiful, colourless, long, rhombic prisms, which
effloresce in the air; slightly soluble in cold water; freely soluble in
hot water; heated in a retort, it yields ammonia, carbonate of ammonia,
cyanogen, and carbonic acid, together with oxamide, which sublimes.

_Uses, &c._ In _chemistry_, chiefly as a test for calcium (with which it
produces a white precipitate soluble in nitric acid), and to separate lime
from magnesium, solutions of the salt of which it does not precipitate. A
BINOX'ALATE may also be formed; but it possesses no practical interest.

=Ammonium, Phosphate of.= (NH_{4})_{3}PO_{4}. _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE PHOS'PHAS,
L. _Prep._ Saturate a solution of phosphoric acid with sesquicarbonate of
ammonium, in slight excess; gently evaporate and crystallise by
refrigeration. Diuretic, discutient, and antilithic.--_Dose_, 3 to 10 gr.,
or 20 to 30 drops of a saturated solution, 3 or 4 times a day; in gout,
rheumatism, and calculus, accompanied with the lithic-acid diathesis; also
in rickets and certain forms of dyspepsia.

=Ammonium Suc'cinate.= _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE SUC'CINAS, L. _Prep._ 1. Succinic
acid, 1 part; water, 4 parts; dissolve, neutralise with solution of
ammonia, or of ammonium carbonate, in slight excess, and evaporate, and
crystallise as directed under the 'benzoate' or 'phosphate,'--_Dose_, 2 to
10 gr.

=Ammonium, Sul'phate of.= (NH_{4})_{2}SO_{4}. _Syn._ SULPHATE OF OX'IDE OF
AMMONIA; AMMO''NIAE SUL'PHAS, L,; SULFATE D'AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; SCHWEFELSAUER
AMMONIUM SALZ, Ger.; Glauber's SECRET SALT[dagger], G. SECRET SAL
AMMONIAC[dagger], SAL AMMONI'ACUM SECRE'TUM GLAUBE''RI[dagger], &c. Crude
sulphate of ammonia exists in considerable quantity in the soot from
pit-coal; and it is obtained, as a secondary product, from the ammoniacal
liquor of gas-works and animal charcoal manufactories. These last are its
chief sources. It is also found native, associated with sal ammoniac, in
the neighbourhood of volcanoes, under the name of '_mascagnine_' or
'_massagnine_,'

_Prep._ 1. (Medicinal.) Saturate dilute sulphuric acid with
sesquicarbonate of ammonia, in slight excess; filter, gently evaporate,
and crystallise.

2. (Commercial.) From gas-liquor or bone-spirit, saturated with weak oil
of vitriol, and, the clear portion of the liquid, after repose decanted,
concentrated by rapid evaporation, and crystallised, in the manner noticed
under AMMONIUM, CHLORIDE OF.

_Prop._ Crystals, long, flattened, six-sided prisms; soluble in 2 parts of
cold, and 1 of boiling water; fuses, with loss of one atom of water, at
about 280 deg. Fahr.; and is volatilised, with entire decomposition, at about
535 deg.. Even its solution, by long boiling, becomes acid from loss of
ammonia. The anhydrous salt does not exist.

_Uses, &c._ Pure sulphate of ammonia is diuretic, aperient, resolvent, and
stimulant.--_Dose_, 10 to 30 gr. It is now seldom employed in medicine.
The crude sulphate is principally used in the preparation of sal ammoniac
and sesquicarbonate of ammonia, and for manure. "A mixture of 10% of this
sulphate with 20% of bone-dust, some gypsum, and farm-yard manure, forms a
very fertilising compost, applicable to a great variety of soils" (Ure);
and we may add--greatly superior to a very large portion of what is now so
commonly vended under the name of 'guano.'

_Concluding remarks, Patents, &c._ The manufacture of sulphate of ammonia,
on the large scale, has been unavoidably explained in treating on the
salts of that base already noticed. All that is necessary is to saturate
with sulphuric acid the solution of ammonia, crude or otherwise, and
obtained in any manner; and then to evaporate the solution until the salt
crystallises out. At other times, however, instead of adding the acid to
the ammoniacal liquor, the latter, either at once, or after treatment with
lime, is submitted to distillation, and the evolved alkaline vapour is
passed into the acid (previously somewhat diluted), contained in a large
receiver or cistern, or a series of them; the salt being obtained from the
resulting solution in the usual manner. By re-solution and a second
crystallisation the sulphate is generally obtained sufficiently pure for
all commercial purposes; but when the salt is intended for use as manure,
or (unless very rough) for conversion into sal ammoniac, this need not be
had recourse to.

Among modifications and improvements, not previously noticed, may be
mentioned--

1. That of Dr Richardson (Patent dated Jan., 1850), who mixes SULPHATE OF
MAGNESIA with the crude ammoniacal liquor, and thus forms a double
sulphate of magnesia and ammonia, from which he obtains the SULPHATE OF
AMMONIA by sublimation.

2. That of Michiel (Patent dated April, 1850), who prepares sulphate of
ammonia by means of OXYSULPHATE OF LEAD obtained by roasting galena
(sulphide of lead), by exposing it in a crushed state and thin layers for
2 or 3 hours, to the heat of a reverberatory furnace. The resulting
mixture of sulphate and oxide of lead is reduced to the state of coarse
powder, and well worked up with the ammoniacal liquor, when SULPHATE OF
AMMONIA and sulphide and carbonate of lead are produced by the mutual
reaction of the elements present. The first is removed by treatment with
water; and the residuum serves for the manufacture of lead compounds, or
may be reduced to the metallic state by fusion in the usual manner.

3. That of Mr Laming (Patent dated Aug., 1852), in which a stream of
SULPHUROUS ACID GAS is transmitted through the liquor containing the
ammonia, either in the free state or as carbonate, by which SULPHITE OF
AMMONIA is formed. This salt he oxidises, and thus converts into the
SULPHATE OF AMMONIA, by agitation and free exposure to the air.

Sulphate of ammonia, like the hydrochlorate, may also be obtained by
saturating stale urine with the acid, and subsequent evaporation and
crystallisation. See AMMONIA; AMMONIA, CARBONATES OF; AMMONIUM, CHLORIDE
OF, and MANURES, &c.

=Ammonium, Sulphide of (neutral).= (NH_{4})_{2}S. _Prep._ Saturate strong
solution of ammonia with pure sulphuretted hydrogen gas; then add a second
portion of solution of ammonia, equal to that first used, and preserve it
in a well-stoppered bottle.

=Ammonium, Sulphydrate of.= NH_{4}HS. _Syn._ SULPHIDE OF AMMONIUM,
HYDROSULPHIDE OF AMMONIUM, HYDROSULPHATE OF AMMONIA. _Prep._ By passing
sulphuretted hydrogen gas, to saturation, through a mixture composed of
strong solution of ammonia, 1 part, and distilled water, 4 parts.

_Props._ Prepared as above, it has a very f[oe]tid odour. When pure it is
wholly volatilised by heat, and does not disturb a solution of sulphate of
magnesium. Mineral acids decompose it, with the evolution of sulphuretted
hydrogen. By keeping, it decomposes and acquires a yellow colour. This
yellow coloration does not, however, render it unfit for use as a reagent;
but it must be borne in mind that it will now deposit sulphur when mixed
with acids. In this state it proves valuable as a reagent to detect
hydrocyanic acid, and as a solvent to separate metallic sulphides thrown
down by sulphuretted hydrogen.

_Uses, &c._ It is principally employed by chemists as a reagent to
precipitate metals, to separate metallic sulphides, &c.; and by the
perfumers as a mordant in dyeing hair. In _medicine_ it has been used by
Cruickshank, Rollo, and others, to check the morbid appetite, and to
increase the action of the stomach and general tone of the system in
diabetes mellitus. It has also been used by Brauw, Gruithuisen, and
others, in old pulmonary and vesical catarrhs. It is a powerful sedative,
lessening the action of the circulatory system, causing nausea, vomiting,
vertigo, drowsiness, &c.--_Dose_, 3 to 6 drops, three or four times daily,
mixed with pure water, and instantly swallowed. In large doses it is
poisonous.

_Ant._ Very dilute solution of chlorine, or of chloride of lime or soda,
followed by a powerful emetic, or the stomach-pump. When the vapour has
been respired, free exposure to fresh air, with the head a little
elevated, and copious affusions of cold water, with moderate draughts of
brandy-and-water, and the use of the smelling-bottle (ammoniacal) should
be adopted. If need be, artificial respiration should be attempted, and
the air around the patient should be slightly impregnated with the fumes
of chlorine or chloride of lime.

=Ammonium, Persulphide of.= _Syn._ BOYLE'S FUMING-LIQUOR, HOFFMAN'S
VOL'ATILE SPIRIT OF SULPHUR, &c.; AMMO''NIAE PERHYDROSUL'PHAS, A.
PERHYDROSULPHURE'TUM, &c. Authorities differ as to the constitution of
this liquid, which, since its introduction by Beguin in 1650, has passed
under more 'aliases' than perhaps any other preparation. Its precise
position amongst the ammonia-compounds is still undecided.

_Prep._ 1. (Beguin.) Sulphur, 1 lb; quick-lime, 1/2 lb; sal ammoniac, 4
oz.; mix and distil.

2. (Boyle.) Sulphur and sal ammoniac, of each, 5 oz.; quick-lime, 6 oz.;
as last.

3. (Liebig.) Agitate the common hydrosulphate of ammonia with pure
sulphur, until the latter ceases to be dissolved; and, after repose,
decant the clear liquid.

_Prop., &c._ An orange-yellow, fuming, f[oe]tid liquid, of an oily
consistence, having the characteristics of the common sulphydrate in a
remarkable degree. It may prove an excellent medicine. "Useful for wounds
and ulcers." (Beguin.) Diluted with three parts of spirit of wine, it
formed the LIQUOR ANTIPODAG'RICUS of F. Hoffman; of which we are told that
about 30 drops acted as a strong sudorific; and applied externally, mixed
with camphor, "it relieved pain like a charm." (Hoffman.) The sulphides of
ammonium are now scarcely ever employed as remedies.

=Ammonium, Sul'phite of.= (NH_{4})_{2}SO_{3}.7Aq. _Syn._ AMMONIAE SULPHIS,
L. Prepared by passing sulphurous acid gas into a solution of ammonia. It
is crystallisable and very soluble in water.

=Ammonium, Sulphocyanide of.= NH_{4}CNS. _Prep._ 1. Neutralise
hydrosulphocyanic acid with ammonia, and gently evaporate the solution to
dryness, by the heat of a water bath.

2. Digest hydrocyanic acid with yellow sulphydrate of ammonium, and, after
a time, evaporate as before.

A deliquescent, white, saline mass, very soluble in water, but seldom
employed out of the laboratory in a pure state. Of late it has been
obtained in quantity as a crude product of the gas-liquors.

=Ammonium, Tartrates of.= Of these there are two:--

=Ammonium, Neutral Tartrate of.= (NH_{4})_{2}C_{4}H_{4}O_{6}. _Syn._
AMMO''NIAE TAR'TRAS, L. _Prep._ Saturate a solution of crystallised
tartaric acid, 150 grs.; with sesquicarbonate of ammonium, 118 grs.; and
either evaporate the solution at a gentle heat, and crystallise; or
evaporate to dryness, and powder the residuum.

_Prop., &c._ Prismatic crystals, or a crystalline mass; soluble and
efflorescent. Its medicinal properties and doses resemble those of citrate
of ammonium.

=Ammonium, Bitartrate of.= NH_{4}HC_{4}H_{4}O_{6}. _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE
BITAR'TRAS, L. _Prep._ To a strong solution of tartaric acid add another
of sesquicarbonate of ammonium, or of tartrate of ammonium, as long as a
precipitate falls; which must be collected and dried.

_Prop., &c._ A crystalline powder, only slightly soluble in water, closely
resembling ordinary cream of tartar. It is diaphoretic, diuretic, and
deobstruent, and is frequently, though improperly, sold for the preceding
preparation.

=Ammonium, Valerianate of.= NH_{4}C_{5}H_{9}O_{2}. _Syn._ AMMO''NIAE
VALERIA'NAS, L. _Prep._ Saturate valerianic acid with strong solution of
ammonia, and evaporate the resulting liquid to a syrupy consistence at a
heat under 175 deg. Fahr.; then add twice its volume of alcohol, and, after
agitation, allow it to crystallise by spontaneous evaporation.--_Dose_, 2
to 8 or 10 gr.; in neuralgia, epilepsy, hypochondriasis, hysteria, low
fevers of an intermittent kind, &c.; also in dyspepsia and debility
complicated with these affections.

=AMMONI'ACAL.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AMMONIACA'LIS, L. Pertaining to, or
possessing the odour or properties of, ammonia. See AMMONIA, &c.

=AMMONI'ACUM.= _Syn._ GUM AMMONIACUM, G. AMMO''NIAC[dagger]; GOMME
AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; AMMONIAK, Ger. A gummy-resinous exudation from the stem
of _dorema ammoniacum_, in tears and masses, of a pale cinnamon colour,
brittle, and when broken has a white and shining surface. Collected in
Persia and the Punjaub. (B. P.)

Gum ammoniacum has an unpleasant odour, especially when heated, and a
nauseous and slightly bitter taste. It is a mild, stimulating
expectorant and emmenagogue; and its effects on the system resemble
those of assaf[oe]tida except in being weaker. Externally, it is
resolvent.--_Dose_, 10 to 30 gr. in pills or emulsion.

_Doses for Animals._ HORSE, 2 to 4 drachms. CATTLE, 2 to 4 drachms. SHEEP,
1/2 to 1-1/2 drachm. PIG, 1/2 to 1-1/2 drachm. DOG, 10 to 20 grains.
Either by bolus or emulsion.

=Ammoniacum, Strained'.= _Syn._ PREPARED AMMONIACUM; AMMONI'ACUM
PRAEPARA'TUM (Ph. L.), L. _Prep._ (Ph. L. 1851.) Boil ammoniacum in water
just sufficient to cover it; strain the mixture through a hair sieve, and
constantly stirring, evaporate in a water bath, until, on cooling, it
becomes hard. The product, owing to a loss of volatile oil, is much weaker
than the unprepared gum-resin. The process is only necessary with rough
lump ammoniacum.

=Ammo''niated.= _Syn._ AMMONIA'TUS, L. In _pharmacy_, _perfumery_, &c.,
applied to preparations containing ammonia.

=AMMO'NIO-, Ammon'ico-.= In _chemistry_, a common prefix to double salts
containing ammonia; as ammonio-citrate, a.-chloride, or a.-tartrate of
iron, &c. See the respective metals.

=AMONTILLADO.= [Sp.] See SHERRY and WINE.

=AMORPH'OUS= (-morf'-us). _Syn._ AMORPH'US, L.; AMORPHE, INFORME,
DIFFORME, Fr.; AMORPHISCH, MISGEBILDET, MISSGESTALTET, Ger. Shapeless. In
_chemistry_ and _mineralogy_, applied to substances devoid of regular or
crystalline form; as a lump of chalk, the majority of precipitates, &c.
The corresponding substantives are AMORPH'ISM, AMORPH'OUSNESS*
(_amorphis'mus_, L.; _amorphisme_, Fr.).

=AMPHIB'IA= (f[)i]b'-y'[)a]). [L. pl.; prim. Gr.] _Syn._ AMPHIB'IANS
(-y[)a]nz), AMPHIB'IALS (-y'[)a]lz). Animals that possess the faculty of
living both in water and on land. In _modern zoology_ it is restricted to
those animals which possess both gills and lungs; as the _batrach'ia_ or
frog tribe. The term is also often applied, colloquially, to otters,
seals, walruses, crocodiles, &c., none of which can breathe under water,
although, from the languid nature of their circulation, they are able to
remain a long time in it.

=AMPHIB'IOUS= (y'[)u]s). _Syn._ AMPHIB'IUS, L.; AMPHIBIE, Fr.; BEYDLEBIG,
Ger. In _botany_ and _zoology_, having the faculty of growing or living
both on land and in water. See AMPHIBIA.

=AM'PHITYPE= (-fe-). See PHOTOGRAPHY.

=AMYGDALIN.= C_{20}H_{27}NO_{11}.3Aq. This substance exists in bitter
almonds. It crystallises in pearly white plates, which are odourless and
almost tasteless. It is nearly insoluble in hot and cold water and in cold
alcohol, but soluble in boiling alcohol. To prepare amygdalin, boil
well-pressed cake of bitter almonds twice in strong alcohol; strain
through linen, and press the residue; remove any oil that may appear, heat
the liquid again, and filter. In a few days part of the amygdalin
crystallises out. Concentrate the residuary liquor to a sixth part, and
add ether, which will throw down the amygdalin. Press it between blotting
paper, wash it with ether, and set aside to crystallise.

=AMYG'DALOID= (-loyd). _Syn._ AMYGDALOID'AL; AMYGDALOI'DES (-d[=e]z), L.;
AMYGDALOIDE, Fr. Almond-shaped. In _mineralogy_, amygdaloid is
'toadstone.'

=AMYKOS= (Galen, Upsala). A cosmetic and mouth-wash. Claims to be prepared
according to an English patent. It is an aqueous extract of 420 grms.
cloves, boiled in a gallon of water, in which 420 grms. of pure glycerine
are dissolved, and to which 210 grms. of borax are added. (Hager.)

=AMYKOSASEPTIN= is linen saturated with a hot solution of borax.
(Nystroem.)

=AMYLA'CEOUS= ([)a]m-e-l[=a]'-sh'[)u]s). _Syn._ AMYLA'CEUS, L.; AMYLACE,
Fr. Of or like starch; consisting of or abounding in starch; starchy. See
FOOD, NUTRITION, STARCH, &c.

=AM'YL= (-[)i]l). C_{5}H_{11}. The radical of the fusel-oil compounds
(AMYL-SERIES).

=Amyl, Acetate of.= C_{5}H_{11}C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}. _Syn._ PEAR-OIL. _Prep._
From fusel-oil, 1 part; acetate of potassa (dry), 2 parts; concentrated
sulphuric acid, 1 part; distilled, with the usual precautions, from a
glass retort into a cool receiver. The distillate is purified by washing
it with very dilute solution of potassa, and redistilling it from fused
chloride of calcium. A little litharge added to the liquid in the retort,
before rectification, will remove any sulphurous odour, should it be
present.

_Prop., &c._ Liquid, limpid, colourless; insoluble in water; soluble in
alcohol; boils at 272 deg. Fahr.; alcoholic solution of potassa converts it
into an acetate of that base, with reproduction of fusel-oil.

_Obs._ The odour and flavour of this preparation are those of the
Jargonelle pear. It is now extensively manufactured, and, after dilution
with alcohol, is sold under the name of ESSENCE OF JARGONELLE PEAR, for
flavouring liqueurs and confectionery.

=Amyl, Vale'rianate of.= C_{5}H_{11}C_{5}H_{9}O_{2}. _Syn._ APPLE-OIL,
A.-ESSENCE, &c. This compound is abundantly formed during the preparation
of valerianic acid from potato oil, and is recognised by the offensive
odour of rotten apples evolved during the process. By treating the crude
product of the distillation with a weak solution of pure potassa, the
valerianic acid is removed, and the volatile oil obtained nearly pure.
Dissolved in rectified spirit it forms the 'APPLE-ESSENCE' now so much
employed as a flavouring ingredient for confectionery and liqueurs. See
FRUIT ESSENCES, VALERIANIC ACID, &c.

=AMYL NITRITE.= _Syn._ AMYL NITRIS, B. P. Produced by the action of nitric
or nitrous acid on amylic alcohol.--_Dose._ By inhalation, the vapour of 2
to 5 minims. To be used with caution. It may be produced by passing a
stream of nitrous acid gas through purified amylic alcohol at a
temperature of 132 deg. C.

For other methods of preparing it consult 'Wood and Bache's United States
Dispensatory, 1877.' Mr Umney ('Pharm. Journal') says that true nitrite of
amyl should be made by passing nitrous acid into amylic alcohol which has
been previously submitted to a fractional distillation, until the portion
retained for use has a boiling point of 132 deg. C. A nitrate so prepared,
when deprived of any excess of acid it may contain by rectification over
fused carbonate of potash, will have a boiling point of 98 deg.-99 deg. C.

=AM'YLENE= (-e-l[=e]ne). C_{5}H_{10}. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AM'ILENE*;
AMYLE'NA, AMYLE'NUM, L. A peculiar volatile, liquid hydrocarbon,
discovered by Cahours.

_Prep._ From fusel-oil repeatedly distilled along with either anhydrous
phosphoric acid, or a concentrated solution of chloride of zinc; the
product being repeatedly rectified at a low temperature, until the boiling
point sinks to 102 deg. Fahr.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ An ethereal liquid, lighter than water, having an
aromatic odour, slightly alliaceous. Sp. gr. of vapour, 2.68. Its vapour
was several times successfully employed, by the late Dr Snow, as a
substitute for ether and chloroform in producing anaesthesia, being, though
less agreeable, also less pungent, and consequently easier to breathe,
than either of them; but its use has since been given up owing to doubts
as to its safety, two or three deaths having followed its inhalation.

=ANADOLI= (Kreller, Nuremburg). An oriental tooth-powder. Powdered soap,
42 parts; starch powder, 44 parts; levantine soapwort, 12 parts; oil of
bergamot and lemon to flavour. (Wittstein.)

=ANAEMIA.= Deficiency of blood.

=ANAESTHE'SIA= ([)a]n-[=e]z-the'-zh'[)a]; -sh'[)a]; -th[=e]ze'y'[)a]r).
[L.; prim. Gr.] _Syn._ ANESTHESIE, Fr. In _pathology_, diminished or lost
sense of feeling.

In _surgery_ and _obstetrics_, the production of temporary anaesthesia, for
the purpose of rendering operations painless, relieving the pangs of
childbirth, &c., is effected by the use of--

=ANAESTHET'ICS.= _Syn._ ANAESTHET'ICA, L.; ANESTHETIQUES, Fr. In
_pharmacology_ and _surgery_, substances or agents which diminish or
destroy sensibility, or which relieve pain. In its full extent this term
includes both anodynes and narcotics; but it is now more generally
confined to those substances which greatly diminish common sensibility, or
entirely remove susceptibility to pain. Among the most useful, safe, and
powerful of this class are chloroform, ether, nitrous oxide, and intense
cold; besides several chlorinated compounds, such as the bichlorides of
ethylen, methylen, and carbon.

More than 1500 years ago the Chinese are said to have used a preparation
of hemp, or _ma-yo_, to annul the pain attendant upon cauterisation and
other surgical operations. Mandragora (mandrake) was employed for a
similar purpose by the Greeks and Romans; and we learn that as early as
the thirteenth century the vapour from a sponge filled with tinctures of
mandragora, opium, and other sedatives was used for a similar purpose.

Baptista Porta, in his work on natural magic printed in 1597, mentions a
quintessence extracted from medicines by somniferous menstrua, of the
nature of which he leaves us in ignorance. This quintessence was to be
preserved in leaden vessels very perfectly closed, lest the aura should
escape, for the medicine would vanish away. Furthermore, he adds, "when it
is used, the cover being removed, it is applied to the nostrils of the
sleeper, who draws in the most subtle power of the vapour by smelling, and
so blocks up the fortress of the senses, that he is plunged into the most
profound sleep, and cannot be roused without the greatest effort." Dr Iron
suggested that the volatile substance was sulphuric ether, which he says
had been described more than fifty years before Porta wrote his book. In
the year 1800 Sir Humphry Davy suggested the employment of nitrous oxide,
or laughing gas, as it was then termed, for minor operations in surgery,
and in 1828 Dr Hickman proposed carbonic acid as an anaesthetic. The vapour
of sulphuric ether had been used in his practice by Dr Pearson as early as
1795, for the relief of spasmodic asthma. The fact that sulphuric ether
was capable of producing insensibility was demonstrated by American
physicians; viz. by Godwin in 1822, Mitchell in 1832, Jackson in 1833, and
Wood and Bache in 1834; but the first practitioner to employ it to prevent
the pain of an operation was Dr Morton, a Boston dentist, who successfully
used it for this purpose in 1846. On the 19th of December of the same year
Mr Liston, of University Hospital, London, and Mr Robinson, a dentist,
operated upon patients who had been rendered insensible by means of the
inhalation of the vapour of ether.

Throughout the year 1847 ether was employed as an anaesthetic both in
England and France, but towards the end of that year the anaesthetic
properties of chloroform were pointed out by Flourens. The first, however,
to introduce this agent into surgical and obstetric practice was Dr I. T.
Simpson, of Edinburgh. In 1849 a work on the inhalation of ether was
published by Dr Snow, who afterwards introduced a new anaesthetic, viz.
amylene, which was capable of producing effects similar to those of
chloroform; but as two patients out of but a small number who inhaled the
vapour of amylene died, this latter soon fell into discredit, and
consequent disuse.

Except in dental practice, in which nitrous oxide gas is the anaesthetic
invariably employed, chloroform is almost universally used in surgical
operations, one advantage it possesses over ether being its much more
rapid action, although this latter property must be regarded as one which
constitutes the risk which, although very slight (when the exceedingly
small per-centage of deaths resulting from its administration is taken
into account), undoubtedly attends its inhalation.

Dr Sansom says of chloroform:--"The cause of its danger is its power of
paralysing the cardiac and other motor sources of circulation. This
property resides in large and sudden doses of its vapour." He strongly
recommends its dilution by air and alcohols. He further remarks that all
anaesthetics modify the endosmotic condition of the blood discs, and
contends that they affect the supply of arterial blood by altering the
calibre of the channels which convey it. He advocates the substitution of
one anaesthetic for another during the inhalation.

Methylene dichloride, introduced by Dr B. W. Richardson, is said to
possess the disadvantage of causing considerable depression.

The mode of administering these agents is by causing the patient to inhale
their vapour mixed with air.

Sometimes they are poured on to a sponge or a handkerchief, or piece of
lint, either of which is then applied to the mouth and nostrils of the
patient in such a manner that the air which passes into his lungs is
saturated with the vapour. Except in extemporised cases, however, this
method is pretty well abandoned, a proper apparatus having supplanted the
sponge or handkerchief, &c. Part of the apparatus consists of a graduated
bottle containing the anaesthetic, by means of which the operator is
enabled to tell how much of this latter is being consumed, and thus to
regulate the quantity inhaled.

The first effect that results from the administration of anaesthetics is a
form of intoxication, caused by the action of the anaesthetic agent on the
cerebral lobes, and as this action extends to the cerebellum, the patient
becomes incapable of directing his movements--an effect like that caused
by intoxication from alcohol.

In the next stage the spinal cord is attacked, unconsciousness supervenes,
and all powers of motion and sensation are lost. The individual is now
said to be in a state of anaesthesia; but the heart continues to beat,
respiration is not impeded, and the other essential functions of the body
go on as usual.

Should, however, the exhibition of the anaesthetic agent be incautiously
continued too long, the bodily temperature falls, the movements of
respiration and circulation become impaired, the heart ceases its action,
and death finally ensues. The introduction of anaesthetics into surgical
practice has been of great and invaluable service to the operator. The
patient being motionless and free from pain, the surgeon is enabled to
perform the operation at his ease, and consequently more efficiently;
moreover, in the reduction of dislocations and of hernia, the muscles
being flaccid, the obstacle produced by their contraction is removed. M.
Velpeau endeavoured to produce local anaesthesia, or insensibility of the
part of the body to be operated upon, by means of a freezing mixture
composed of ice and salt; this method, however, was found impracticable,
and was soon abandoned. Since then local anaesthesia as introduced by Dr
Richardson, when had recourse to, is effected by means of a spray of ether
directed on the part, the intense cold produced by the rapid evaporation
of the ether entirely depriving the part of sensation. It is said that
the pain resulting from the application of this method is a great barrier
to its use.

Amongst anaesthetics, nitrous oxide gas occupies an important place, its
use, as before stated, being almost wholly confined to operations in
dental surgery.[55] As in the case of ether, the American practitioners
were the first to employ nitrous oxide as an anaesthetic. Attention was
directed to its anaesthetic properties in 1844 by Mr Horace Wells, an
American dentist, but little interest seems to have been awakened by his
application of it, since it was not until 1863 that Dr Cotton, of New
York, drew attention to the subject by performing an operation on a
patient under its influence.

[Footnote 55: The 'British Medical Journal' for 1868 states it was used
successfully at the Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields.]

In March, 1868, Dr Evans, residing in Paris, after a visit from Dr Cotton,
directed the attention of medical men in England to the value of nitrous
oxide as an anaesthetic in dental surgery, and shortly afterwards it was
first employed to produce anaesthesia at the Dental Hospital. Nitrous oxide
is obtained from nitrate of ammonia, and the particulars of its
preparation may be found by referring to the article NITROUS OXIDE.

Immense quantities of the gas are used in dental operations. It has been
computed that in 1870 Messrs Coxeter and Barth could not have prepared
much less than 60,000 gallons in London alone. To fit it for transit it is
reduced by compression. Fifteen gallons may thus be diminished in volume
until it fills an iron bottle holding a quart. Five or six gallons of the
gas are, on an average, required for each patient. In the preparation of
nitrous oxide for surgical purposes Dr Evans advises it to be made at
least 24 hours before it is used, and further recommends its being
thoroughly washed. An apparatus for the preparation of the gas was devised
by Mr Porter, a description of which will be found in the 'Transactions of
the Odontological Society of Great Britain' for 1868, in which also
mention is made of a face-piece for its administration, the invention of
Mr Clover. By means of this latter instrument the desiderata that the
nitrous oxide should be inhaled without admixture with atmospheric air,
and contamination arising from the expired air given off by the patient,
are accomplished, for it has been found that when excitement and talking
attend the inhalation of the gas, these effects are due to the presence of
the carbonic acid thrown off by the lungs.

When inhaled in the ordinary way, nitrous oxide gas induces exhilaration
and narcotism, without asphyxia. When, however, the atmospheric air is
carefully excluded, it produces, as we have just seen, anaesthesia without
exhilaration. The time required to produce anaesthesia varies from 25 to
120 seconds, by from 10 to 60 inhalations. A patient has been subjected
for 10 minutes to its action without experiencing any unpleasant symptoms
or after effects. Mr Randle says it is perfectly safe in all short
operations, and possibly in long ones also, provided there is due
admission of air at proper intervals. It seems tolerably certain that
nitrous oxide is largely absorbed by the blood-corpuscles, and it is
probable that its presence in them may temporarily act to the exclusion of
oxygen, and thus prevent for a time that combination of oxygen with
haemoglobin upon which the red colour of the corpuscles depends. Chemistry,
however, has failed to show that nitrous oxide is decomposed in the blood,
or that it exerts any of the chemical properties of oxygen on the
constituent elements of the blood. Whenever the slightest anaesthetic
effect is communicated to the nervous system, a simultaneous effect is
produced upon the medulla oblongata, the spinal chord, as well as upon the
cerebrum and cerebellum.

The whole available force in the body is undoubtedly due to oxidation.
This oxidation is accomplished by means of the blood, and it is therefore
evident that a continuous flow of oxygenated blood to the nerve centres is
necessary as a source of power and of sensibility, as well as for the
reintegration of nerve tissue. Any deficiency of oxygen in the blood is
followed by a decreased arterialisation of the whole volume of the blood.
Under these conditions the exhalation of carbonic acid is relatively less
rapid than its formation, and life cannot continue if the blood in the
arteries becomes thoroughly venous, as well in colour as in character.
That nitrous oxide, when inhaled, changes the colour of the
blood-corpuscles is evidenced by the livid appearance of the face and
mucous surfaces; the latter, indeed, is a characteristic accompaniment of
its administration, and the darkened colour of the blood may be observed
as it flows from the severed vessels. This colour of the blood is probably
in part due to uneliminated carbonic acid; but that nitrous oxide
possesses in a high degree the property of darkening the blood-corpuscles
may be easily demonstrated by directing a jet of the gas for a few seconds
upon a little arterial blood in a test tube. Yet, from what has previously
been advanced on this point, this latter result may more strictly be due
to physical than to chemical causes. An interruption of the circulation in
any part of the organism is soon followed by local insensibility in the
tissues from which the blood supply may have been withdrawn; and it is
beyond dispute that, during the anaesthetic state, the circulation of the
blood through the capillary system becomes diminished in velocity. A
tendency to stasis begins to appear, accompanied at the same time by a
considerable reduction in the supply of arterial blood. These are facts
that admit of experimental demonstration, as does also another fact, viz.
that during the period of insensibility produced by the inhalation of
nitrous oxide the brain itself is in a state of comparative anaemia. In
short, it appears most probable that an arrest of the capillary
circulation through the brain, to which several writers have attributed a
potential influence as the cause of anaesthesia, is simply, so far as it
may exist, a result of it.

The anaesthesia produced by the inhalation of nitrous oxide would,
therefore, appear to be referable to an altered condition of the blood,
whereby the molecular dynamic changes are interfered with, this
interruption being probably due either to the retention of carbonic acid,
or to the presence of nitrous oxide; or, as the result of both conditions,
to the exclusion of oxygen.

For minor operations nitrous oxide possesses many advantages over other
anaesthetics. The principal of these is its safety. In America, in 200,000
cases in which it had been administered, there was only one case of death.
Furthermore its use is not contra-indicated in patients having any
constitutional derangement, nor for women who are either pregnant or
suckling.

Nitrogen, coal-gas, and carbonic acid have also been employed as
anaesthetics.

The 'British Medical Journal' for June 13th, 1868, contains an account of
some experiments performed by Dr Burdon Sanderson, at Middlesex Hospital,
with nitrogen. It seems to have been longer in producing insensibility
than nitrous oxide, but no lividity of countenance accompanied, nor
sickness or headache followed, its administration.

=ANALEP'TIC.= _Syn._ ANALEP'TICUS, L.; ANALEPTIQUE, Fr. Restorative; that
recruits the strength lost by sickness.

=Analep'tics.= _Syn._ ANALEP'TICA, L.; ANALEPTIQUES, Fr. In
_pharmacology_, &c., restorative medicines and agents.

=ANAL'YSIS= (-e-s[)i]s). [Eng. L., Gr.] _Syn._ ANALYSE, Fr.; AUSLOeSUNG,
ZERLEGUNG, Ger. In a gen. sense, the resolution of anything, whether an
object of the senses or of the intellect, into its elementary parts. In
_chemistry_, the resolution or separation of a compound body into its
constituent parts or elements, for the purpose of either determining their
nature, or, when this is known, their relative proportions. It is divided
into QUAL'ITATIVE ANALYSIS and QUAN'TITATIVE ANALYSIS; and these again
into PROX'IMATE ANALYSIS and UL'TIMATE ANALYSIS. The first consists in
finding the components of a compound, merely as respects their nature or
names; the second, in finding not merely the component parts, but also the
proportions of each of them; the third gives the results in the names of
the proximate or immediate principles or compounds which, by their union,
form the body under examination; whilst the fourth develops the chemical
elements of which it is composed.[56] An analysis may also be made to
determine whether a certain body is or is not contained in a compound (as
lead in wine); or it may be undertaken to ascertain all the constituents
present; the extent of an investigation being merely limited by the object
in view.

[Footnote 56: Thus, suet consists of olein, palmitin, and stearin. These
would form the 'terms' of the PROXIMATE ANALYSIS of this substance. But
olein, palmitin, and stearin consist of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The
ULTIMATE ANALYSIS of suet would, therefore, have reference to the elements
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.]

For success in chemical analysis a thorough acquaintance with the various
properties of bodies is required, as well as aptitude in applying this
knowledge in discriminating them, and separating them from each other.
Judgment and expertness in manipulation are, indeed, essential
qualifications. The method pursued must likewise be such as to attain the
object in view with unerring certainty, and in the most expeditious
manner. "The mere knowledge of the reagents, and of the reactions of other
bodies with them, will not suffice for the attainment of this end. This
requires the additional knowledge of a systematic and progressive course
of analysis, or, in other words, the knowledge of the order, and
succession, in which solvents, together with general and special reagents,
ought to be applied, both to effect the speedy and safe detection of every
individual component of a compound or mixture, and to prove with certainty
the absence of all other substances. If we do not possess this systematic
knowledge, or if in the hope of attaining an object more rapidly, we
adhere to no method in our investigations and experiments, analysing
becomes (at least in the hands of a novice) mere guesswork, and the
results obtained are no longer the fruits of scientific calculation, but
mere matters of accident, which sometimes may prove lucky hits, and at
others total failures." (Fresenius.)

=ANALYSIS, SPECTRUM.= More than half a century ago Sir John Herschel
employed the prism in the analysis of  flames, and in 1834 Fox
Talbot, by means of the same instrument, distinguished the difference
between the spectra given by strontium and lithium, notwithstanding the
similarity of the two in colour. But it was reserved for Messrs Kirchkoff
and Bunsen, as the inventors of the spectroscope, to devise the only
efficient method of analysing flame, and, at the same time, to furnish
chemists with a means whereby they may detect with unerring certainty the
presence of any known element by observing the spectrum it gives when such
element is submitted to a temperature sufficiently high for it to emit a
luminous vapour. That certain chemical substances when heated in the flame
of the spirit-lamp or the blow-pipe, or any other source of comparatively
white light, imparted characteristic colours to the flame, was a fact that
had long been known to chemists; for example, when a salt of sodium was so
treated, an intense yellow colour was imparted to the flame. A salt of
potassium produced under the same circumstances a violet, strontium, a
crimson colour, &c. These results could only be produced when the
substance under examination contained but one of the salts in question. If
more than one were present, this method of qualitative analysis was
comparatively, if not wholly, valueless, because the specific colour
communicated to the flame by the presence of one element would be masked,
and, consequently, destroyed by the colour developed by the vapour of
another or other elements. For instance, so much more vivid is the yellow
colour given to flame by sodium salts than the violet tint imparted by
those of potassium, that a very small trace of sodium prevents the unaided
eye from perceiving the violet, even when the potassium compound is
present in large quantity.

Very different optical effects, however, follow if the rays from the
various- flames are made to pass through a prism. As is well
known, if a ray of ordinary white light is made to traverse a prism, when
it issues from the prism it has become decomposed or dissected into seven
luminous rays of as many different colours, the  image thus
produced being called a prismatic spectrum, or simply a spectrum.

This phenomenon is owing to the prism refracting or bending out of its
course the beam of light sent through it, and to each  ray of
which the beam is made up being differently refracted.

"If, however, instead of the white flame  flames are examined by
means of a prism, the light being allowed to fall through a narrow slit
upon the prism, it is at once seen that the light thus refracted differs
essentially from white light, inasmuch as it consists of only a particular
set of rays, each flame giving a spectrum containing a few bright bands.
Thus, the spectrum of the yellow soda flame contains only one fine bright
yellow line, whilst the purple potash flame exhibits a spectrum in which
there are two bright lines, one lying at the extreme red, and the other at
the extreme violet end. These peculiar lines are always produced by the
same chemical element, and by no other known substance; and the position
of these lines always remains unaltered. When the spectrum of a flame
tinted by a mixture of sodium and potassium salts is examined, the yellow
ray of sodium is found to be confined to its own position, whilst the
potassium red and purple lines are as plainly seen as they would have been
had no sodium been present."[57]

[Footnote 57: Roscoe.]

Equally characteristic and well-defined spectra, the bands in which have
each an invariable and fixed position in the spectrum, are also produced
when the  flames arising from heating to the requisite point the
remaining salts of the alkalies and alkaline earths are examined by the
prism. On the opposite page the first spectrum shows some of the fixed
dark lines that are always observed when a solar beam is examined by the
spectroscope. These lines are compared with the position of some of the
more important bright lines furnished by the spectra of the metals of the
alkalies and alkaline earths, when their chlorides are heated upon a loop
of platinum wire introduced into the flame of a Bunsen gas-burner. The
characteristic bright lines given by each metal are denoted by the letters
of the Greek alphabet, the earliest letter indicating the most strongly
marked lines.

In the potassium spectrum the most characteristic bright lines are the red
line K [Greek: a], and violet line K [Greek: b]. In the case of sodium
nearly the whole of the light is concentrated on the intense yellow double
line Na [Greek: a]. In the lithium spectrum a crimson band, Li [Greek: a],
is the prominent line; Li [Greek: b] is seldom visible, but at the
elevated temperature of the voltaic arc an additional blue line becomes
very intense. In the spectrum of caesium two lines in the blue, Cs [Greek:
a] and Cs [Greek: b], are strongly marked. In rubidium the lines Rb
[Greek: a] and Rb [Greek: b] in the blue, and Rb [Greek: g] in the red are
almost equally specific. Thallium is recognised by the intense green line
Il [Greek: a]. The spectra of the metals of the alkaline earths are
equally definite, though more complicated.

By means of the spectroscope quantities so inconceivably minute as the
33,000th of a grain of chloride of rubidium, the 170,000th of a grain of
chloride of caesium, the 2,500,000th of a grain of sodium, and the
6,000,000th of a grain of lithium, have been detected, and have revealed
themselves to the sight by their characteristic bands in the spectrum.
Hence it is that in making use of this branch of analysis the chemist has
been enabled to show the universality of many elements hitherto regarded
as being very sparingly distributed throughout the globe.

Thus lithium, which until lately was supposed to be one of the rare
elements, has been found as a constituent of tea, tobacco, milk, blood,
and in almost all spring waters. Furthermore, the prodigiously sensitive
reactions afforded by the spectroscope have not only revealed the presence
of infinitesimal quantities of known elements, but have led to the
discovery of new ones which had escaped detection by the older and less
delicate processes of analysis. It was by means of spectrum analysis that
the two alkali metals, caesium and rubidium, were discovered by Bunsen and
Kirchkoff in 1860 in a mineral water at Durkheim, and that Mr Crookes in
1861 discovered the metal thallium in the deposit found in the flue of a
pyrites furnace; whilst still more recently Messrs Reich and Richter, in a
spectrum examination of a zinc ore from Freiberg, discovered the metal
indium.

[Illustration]

The most brilliant spectra are given by those salts which are the most
easily volatilised, such as the chlorides, iodides, and bromides of the
different metals. But it is only the metals of the alkalies and alkaline
earths that give spectra that are characteristic. When it is desired to
obtain the spectra of the other metals, they may be raised to the
requisite temperature by means of the electric spark, which in passing
through the two points of the metal operated upon volatilises a minute
quantity of it, and thus enables it to emit its particular light. The
electric sparks are best obtained by means of Ruhmkorff's coil. Thus each
metal may be made to yield a spectrum which specially belongs to it, and
to it alone. When the electric discharge is sent through a compound gas or
vapour, owing to the intense temperature generated separation of its
constituents must take place, since the spectra produced are those of the
elementary components of the gas. The permanent gases give each their
peculiar spectrum when they are strongly heated, by which they may be
recognised; thus the spectrum of hydrogen is composed of three bands, one
being bright red, one green, and the other blue. Nitrogen gives a very
complicated spectrum.

The accompanying figure exhibits a very complete form of the spectroscope
adapted to a single prism.

[Illustration]

P represents a flint-glass prism supported on the cast-iron tripod F, and
retained in its place by the spring _c_. At the end of the tube A nearest
the prism is a lens, placed at the distance of its focus for parallel rays
from a vertical slit at the other end of the tube. The width of the slit
can be regulated by means of the screw _e_. One half of this slit is
covered by a small rectangular prism designed to reflect the rays
proceeding from the source of light D, down the axis of the tube, whilst
the rays from the source of light E pass directly down the tube. By this
arrangement the observer stationed at the end of the telescope B is able
to compare the spectra of both lights, which are seen one above the other,
and he can at once decide whether their lines coincide or differ. _a_ and
_b_ are screws for adjusting the axis of the telescope so as to bring any
part of the slit at _e_ into the centre of the field of vision.

The telescope as well as the tube C is moveable in a horizontal plane
around the axis of the tripod. The tube C contains a lens at the end next
to the prism, and at the other end is a scale formed by transparent lines
on an opaque ground; it is provided with a levelling screw, _d_. When the
telescope has been properly adjusted to the examination of the spectrum,
the tube C is moved until it is placed at such an angle with the telescope
and the face of the prism, that when a light is transmitted through the
scale the image of this scale is reflected into the telescope from the
face of the prism nearest the observer. This image is rendered perfectly
distinct by pushing in the tube which holds the scale nearer to the lens
in C, or withdrawing it to a greater distance, as may be required. The
reflected lines of the scale can then be employed for reading off the
position of the dark or bright lines of the spectrum, as both will appear
simultaneously overlapping each other in the field of the telescope.

By turning the tube C round upon the axis of the tripod any particular
line of the scale can be brought to coincidence with any desired line of
the spectrum. Stray light is excluded by covering the stand, the prism,
and the ends of the tube adjoining it with a loose black cloth. The
dispersive power upon the spectrum may be much increased by using several
prisms instead of one. Kirchkoff used four prisms in his experiments upon
the solar spectrum. Great care must be observed in placing the prisms; the
refracting edge of each prism must be exactly vertical, and the position
of minimum deviation for the rays to be observed must be obtained.

The preceding remarks have reference to the spectra produced when the
vapours of certain elements are evolved in flame derived from artificial
sources. When, however, solar light is examined by the spectroscope,
results entirely the reverse follow.

If a beam of sunlight be sent through the slit of the spectroscope, the
prismatic image is seen to be intersected by a number of fine black lines,
varying in thickness and intensity, and invariably occupying the same
relative position in the solar spectrum. These lines were first noticed so
far back as 1815 by a German optician, Frauenhofer, after whom they were
named Frauenhofer's lines; but it was not until the invention of the
spectroscope that the origin of these lines could be accounted for. By so
arranging the instrument as to cause the spectrum from a solar beam, and
that from a metallic element, to fall upon the field of the telescope, so
that the solar spectrum shall be above the other, both being perfectly
parallel; the bright bands or lines of the metal are all seen to be
continued in the dark solar lines, for, as may be seen by consulting the
plate of the different spectra, several lines are sometimes produced by
one element alone. If, for instance, the sodium and solar spectra are thus
compared, the bright yellow sodium line will be found to agree exactly
not only in position, but also in intensity and breadth, with one of the
dark solar ones. And the same thing occurs when the comparison is made
with many of the other metals, the bright lines in the respective spectra
furnished by them are each coincident with a particular dark line in the
solar spectrum, and from every dark line in the latter a corresponding
bright one can be found amongst the spectra of the metals. From what has
just been stated, the inference seems irresistible that this coincidence
between the dark solar lines and the bright lines of the metals cannot be
accidental, but must be due to some intimate connection between them, and
that this is the case can be proved beyond refutation by a simple
experiment, in which the bright metallic lines can be changed into dark
ones, corresponding in every particular with those of the solar spectrum.
Thus the bright yellow soda lines coincident with Frauenhofer's lines can
be converted into dark ones by allowing the rays from a strong source of
white light to pass through a flame  with sodium, and then making
them fall upon the slit of the spectroscope. If we examine the spectrum
obtained by this means, instead of seeing the usual bright double band
upon a black ground, there will be presented to our sight a double dark
line, corresponding exactly with the position and width of the sodium
line, and instead of the black ground there will be a continuous spectrum
of white light, as in the solar spectrum.

The explanation of this remarkable phenomenon is due to Kirchkoff, and is
as follows:--When any substance is heated sufficiently to render it
luminous, rays of a certain and definite degree of refrangibility are
given out by it; whilst the same substance has also the power of absorbing
rays of this identical refrangibility. In the above experiment, therefore,
the yellow flame absorbed the same kind of light as it gave out, a
corresponding decrease of intensity in its own particular position in the
spectrum occurred, and a dark line showed itself in consequence.

In the same manner and under similar conditions the spectra of many other
substances have been reversed.

Reasoning on these facts, Kirchkoff has been able to account for the
presence in the solar spectrum of Frauenhofer's dark lines. He supposes
that in the luminous atmosphere surrounding the sun the vapours of various
metals are present, each of which would give its characteristic system of
bright lines; but behind this incandescent atmosphere containing metallic
vapour is the still more intensely heated solid or liquid nucleus of the
sun, which emits a brilliant continuous spectrum, containing rays of all
degrees of refrangibility.

When the light of this intensely heated nucleus is transmitted through the
incandescent photosphere of the sun, the bright lines which would be
produced by the photosphere are reversed, and Frauenhofer's dark lines are
only the reversed bright lines which would be visible if the intensely
heated nucleus were no longer there.

The correctness of this theory has been rigorously tested by Kirchkoff
himself, who submitted the solar spectrum to a most minute and searching
examination.

As a result of the knowledge thus obtained, the presence of certain metals
in the sun's atmosphere was an inevitable deduction. The metals hitherto
detected in the solar photosphere are--iron, sodium, magnesium, calcium,
chromium, nickel, barium, copper, zinc, strontium, cadmium, cobalt,
manganese, aluminium, and titanium. Hydrogen also exists in large quantity
as an incandescent gas, and gives rise to the red protuberances that may
be observed during a total eclipse.

During the total eclipse of 1869, M. Janssen, a French astronomer, was
enabled to obtain and figure the specimen of these red protuberances,
which, taken exclusively from that source of light, gave not dark lines,
but bright ones, corresponding in position with those of hydrogen,
magnesium, and sodium.

The fixed stars, unlike the moon and planets, which shine only by
reflected light, are not merely illuminated by self luminous bodies, and
yield spectra, which show them to contain many elements known to us; their
spectra are crossed by dark lines similar to, but not identical with those
given by the sun's light. The spectrum yielded by the star Aldebaran shows
it to contain hydrogen, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, tellurium,
antimony, bismuth, and mercury; in the spectrum of Sirius only sodium,
magnesium, and hydrogen have been found; whilst in that of Orionis there
is an absence of hydrogen. Most of the nebulae and comets give spectra in
which there are only bright lines. It is hence inferred that these
celestial bodies are composed of masses of glowing gas, and, unlike the
sun and stars, do not consist of a solid or liquid mass surrounded by a
gaseous atmosphere. In the nebulae hydrogen and nitrogen only have been
found; and in comets, principally carbon.

=ANANAS HEMP= (_Ananassa sativa_, _S. Brumelia ananas_, as well as other
species). This hemp comes from the West Indies and Central and South
America, where the common ananas is cultivated. It is rather inferior to
some varieties for spinning.

=ANASTATIC PRINTING.= See PRINTING and ZINCOGRAPHY.

=ANATHERIN BALSAM.= The following formula is published by the Netherlands
Society:--Tincture of myrrh, 160 grms.; tincture of catechu, 80 grms.;
tincture of guaiacum, 40 grms.; tincture of rhatany, 40 grms.; tincture of
cloves, 30 grms.; spirit of cochlearia, 20 grms.; oil of cassia, 20 drops;
otto of roses, 1 drop; proof spirit, 630 grms.

=ANATHERIN BALSAM= (J. G. Popp, Vienna). A mouth-wash. Red sandal wood, 20
parts; guaiacum wood, 10 parts; myrrh, 25 parts; cloves, 15 parts;
cinnamon, 5 parts; oils of cloves and cinnamon, of each, 2/3 part; spirit,
90 per cent., 1450 parts; rose water, 725 parts. Digest and filter.

Dr Hager, who gives the above, says that on the expiration of the patent
the following formula was published, but that a preparation made from that
process had only a distant resemblance to the actual compound. Myrrh, 1
part; guaiacum wood, 4 parts; saltpetre, 1 part; to be macerated for a
night with corn brandy, 120 parts; spirit of cochlearia, 180 parts. Then
distil of this 240 parts, in which are to be digested for 14 days garden
rue, cochlearia, rose leaves, black mustard, horseradish, pellitory root,
cinchona bark, club-moss, sage-vetiver, and alkanet root, of each 1 part.
Strain and filter, and to each 120 parts of the filtrate add 1 part of
spirit of nitrous ether. (Hager.)

=ANATOM'ICAL.= _Syn._ ANATOM'ICUS, L.; ANATOMIQUE, Fr.; ANATOMISCH, Ger.
Belonging to anatomy or dissection.

=Anatomical Prepara'tions.= Objects of interest in both surgical and
pathological anatomy, and specimens in natural history, preserved by
subjecting them to antiseptic processes, to which is also frequently added
injection with  fluids (which subsequently harden), amalgams, or
fusible metal, in order to display more fully the minute vessels, or the
microscopic anatomy of the several parts. See FUSIBLE ALLOY, INJECTIONS,
PREPARATIONS, PUTREFACTION, SKELETONS, SOLUTIONS, &c.

=ANCH'OVY= (-ch[=o]'-). _Syn._ ANCHOIS, Fr.; ANCHOVE, ANSCHOVE, Ger.;
ACCIUGHE, ANCHIOVE. It.; ANCHOVA, Port., Sp. The _clu'pea encrasic'olus_
(Linn.), a small fish of the herring tribe, closely resembling the English
sprat. It is common in the Mediterranean, and occurs in the greatest
abundance and of the finest quality about the island of Gorgona, near
Leghorn. It is taken in the night, during May, June, and July.

Anchovies are prepared for sale or exportation by salting or pickling
them--the heads, intestines and pectoral fins having been first removed,
but not the scales, and afterwards packing them, along with rock-salt, in
the small kegs in which they are imported into this country. The small
fish are valued more than the larger ones. For the table they are often
fried to a pale amber colour, in oil or butter; having previously been
scraped clean, soaked for an hour or two in water, wiped dry, opened
(without dividing the fish), and had the back-bones removed. Before being
put into the pan they are usually highly seasoned with cayenne; and after
being again closed, are dipped into a rich light batter. They are also
divided into fillets, and served as sandwiches, or in curried toasts.
Anchovies are also extensively potted (POTTED ANCHOVIES), and made into
butter (A.-BUTTER), and into sauce (A.-SAUCE), particularly the last.

The anchovy has a fine and peculiar flavour, and is eaten as a delicacy
all over Europe. It was known to the Greeks and Romans, who prepared from
it a kind of garum for the table. It is said to be aperitive, stimulant,
and stomachic.

The high price of genuine Gorgona anchovies has led the fraudulent dealer
to either substitute for them, or mix with them, fish of a less expensive
kind. The most frequent SUBSTITUTIONS are Dutch, French, and Sicilian fish
of allied species or varieties, sardines and even the common sprat. The
genuine Gorgona fish is about the length of one's finger; and may be known
by its silvery appearance; by the greater thickness of its head, which is
sharp-pointed, with the upper jaw considerably the longest, and the mouth
deeply divided; the dusky brown colour of its back,[58] and the pink
salmon colour of its flesh. When only 3 months old, its flesh is pale;
when of 6 months, rather pink; when of 10 to 12 months (or in its prime),
a beautiful deep pink colour; and when much older, darker, but less
lively. The fin-rays, varying in number with the age of the fish, are--

              Yarrell. Hassall.[59]
  Dorsal        14,      16 (?).
  Pectoral      15,      --
  Ventral        7,      --
  Anal          18,      19 (?).
  Caudal        19,      26 (?).

These fins are delicate in structure and greenish-white; and the membranes
connecting the rays almost transparent. "The length of the head, compared
with the length of the body alone, is as 1 to 3; the depth of the body but
2-3rds of the length of the head, and compared to the length of the whole
fish is as 1 to 7;" the tail is deeply forked, the gill covers are
elongated, and the scales of the body large and deciduous." "The breadth
of the eye is 1-5th of the length of the whole head."[60] Dutch fish may
be generally known by being deprived of the scales, and the French fish by
their larger size; and both by the paler or whiter colour of their flesh;
and sardines and sprats by the flesh being white. The genuine fish may
also be known by the pickle, after repose or filtration, being of a clear
pinkish colour, without any red sediment; whilst that from spurious kinds
is turbid and red only when agitated, and deposits a heavy red sediment
(Armenian bole, Venetian red, or red ochre) on repose. See BUTTER,
POTTING, POWDERS, SAUCES, &c.

[Footnote 58: The colour of the top of the head and back is, in the recent
fish, blue, with a tinge of green. (Yarrell.)]

[Footnote 59: Counted, by Dr A. H. Hassall, in fish in the preserved
state.]

[Footnote 60: Yarrell's 'British Fishes'.]

=Anchovies, Brit'ish.= See SPRATS.

=ANCHU'SIC ACID= (-k[=u]'z[)i]k). See ANCHUSINE.

=ANCHU'SINE.= (-k[=u]'z[)i]n). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ANCHU'SIC ACID*,
PSEU'DO-ALKANN'INE*, PSEUDO-ALKA''NIUM*; ANCHUSI'NA, L. The resinoid
constituting the colouring matter of alkanet-root (which _see_).

=ANCHYLO'SIS= ([)a]ngk-e-). [L.; prim. Gr.] _Syn._ ANKYLO'SIS, ANCYLO'SIS
([)a]n-se-), L.; ANKYLOSE, Fr., Ger. In _pathology_, stiffness or
immobility of a joint naturally moveable. Anchylosis is either true or
complete, as when the extremities of the bones forming a joint are
reunited and immovable; or false, or incomplete, where the affection
depends upon a contraction of the tendons and ligaments surrounding the
joints, which nevertheless admit of a small degree of motion. For the
first there is no available remedy; for the second gentle and progressive
flexion and extension of the part daily (carefully avoiding violence),
friction with oleaginous and stimulating liniments, and the use of the hot
bath, vapour bath, or hot-air or Turkish bath, and electricity, have been
strongly recommended, and have frequently proved successful.

=ANCYLO'SIS.= See ANCHYLOSIS.

=ANDITROPFEN= (Kirchner and Menge Arolsen), for weak digestion. Senna, 20
parts; rhubarb, 3 parts; jalap, 6 parts; zedoary root, 2 parts; ginger, 2
parts; galangal, 3 parts; soda, bicarbonate, 5 parts; sugar, 15 parts;
water, 300 parts; spirit, 65 parts. After digestion this is to be strained
and mixed with an infusion of 30 parts of yarrow (with the flowers) in 300
parts of hot water. After standing some time filter. (Hager.)

=ANDROGRAPHIS PANICULATA.= (Ind. Ph.) _Syn._ KARIYAT. _Habitat._ Commonly
in shady places all over India.--_Officinal part._ The dried stalks and
root (Andrographis Caules et Radix, Kariyat, Creyat). The stem, which is
usually met with, with the root attached, occurs in pieces of about a foot
or more in length, quadrangular, of a lightish-brown colour, and
persistent bitter taste.--_Properties._ Bitter tonic and stomachic, very
analogous to quassia in its action.--_Therapeutic uses._ In general
debility, in convalescence after fevers, and in the advanced stages of
dysentery.

_Preparations_:--

=Compound Infusion of Kariyat= (Infusum Andrographis compositum). Take of
Kariyat, bruised, 1/2 an ounce; orange-peel and coriander fruit, bruised,
of each, 60 grains; boiling water, 10 fluid ounces. Infuse in a covered
vessel for an hour and strain.--_Dose._ From 1-1/2 to 2 fluid ounces,
twice or thrice daily.

=Compound Tincture of Kariyat= (Tinctura Andrographis composita). Take of
kariyat root, cut small, 6 ounces; myrrh and aloes, in coarse powder, of
each 1 ounce; brandy, 2 pints. Macerate for seven days in a closed vessel,
with occasional agitation; strain, press, filter, and add sufficient
brandy to make two pints.--_Dose._ From 1 to 4 fluid drachms. Said to be
tonic, stimulant, and gently aperient, and to prove valuable in several
forms of dyspepsia, and in torpidity of the bowels.

=ANDROPOGON (CYMBOPOGON) CITRATUM.= Lemon Grass. (Ind. Ph.) _Habitat._
Commonly cultivated in gardens in India; also in Ceylon, upon a large
scale, for the sake of its volatile oil.--_Officinal part._ The volatile
oil (Oleum Andropogi Citrati, Lemon Grass Oil, Oil of Verbena), obtained
by distillation from the fresh plant; of a pale sherry colour,
transparent, extremely pungent taste, and a peculiar fragrant lemon-like
odour.--_Properties._ Stimulant, carminative, antispasmodic, and
diaphoretic; locally applied, rubefacient.--_Therapeutic use._ In
flatulent and spasmodic affections of the bowels, and in gastric
irritability. In cholera it proves serviceable by aiding the process of
reaction. Externally, as an embrocation in chronic rheumatism, neuralgia,
sprains, and other painful affections.

_Dose._ From 3 to 6 drops, on sugar or in emulsion. For external
application it should be diluted with twice its bulk of soap liniment or
any bland oil.

=ANDROPOGON (CYMBOPOGON) NARDUS.= CITRONELLE. (Ind. Ph.) _Habitat._ Madras
Peninsula and Ceylon. The volatile oil of this plant has similar
properties to _A. citratum_. and is used for the same purposes.

=ANDROPOGON PACHNODES.= (Ind. Ph.) The volatile oil of this plant
possesses similar properties to that of _A. citratum_, and is used for the
same purposes.

=ANELEC'TRIC= ([)a]n-e-). Non-electric; a non-electric.

=ANEMOM'ETER= ([)a]n-e-). _Syn._ ANEMOM'ETRUM, L.; ANEMOMETRE, Fr.;
WINDMESSER, Ger. An instrument or apparatus for measuring the force or
velocity of the wind, or of a current of air. Various contrivances have
been adopted for this purpose. The anemometer of Dr Lind being also
applicable to the determination of the draught of a chimney, and the
strength of air-current, in ventilation, may be usefully described here:--

[Illustration]

_Uses and Appl._ The open end (_a_) is kept, by means of a vane, presented
to the wind, which acting on the surface of the water, or other liquid in
_b_, raises the level of the fluid in the arm (_c_). The difference of the
level of the fluid in the two arms of the instrument is the measure of the
force of the wind. To estimate the draught of a flue or chimney, the arm
(_c_) is placed in the chimney, and the orifice (_a_) in the
apartment.[61]

[Footnote 61: The anemometers now generally used in meteorological
observations are those of Mr Follet Osler, Dr Robinson, and Dr Whewell.
For a description of these instruments, see Phillip's 'Report on
Anemometry,' the 'Trans. of the Brit. Assoc.,' 1846, 'Trans. Royal Irish
Acad.,' &c.]

=ANEMOM'ETRY.= _Syn._ ANEMOME'TRIA, L.; ANEMOMETRIE, Fr.; WINDMESSEN, Ger.
In _meteorology_, _physics_, &c., the art or act of measuring the velocity
or force of the wind, or of ascertaining its direction.

=ANEM'ONE= ([)a]-n[)e]m'-o-ne). _Syn._ ANEM'ONY; ANEM'ONE, L., Gr.;
ANEMONE, Fr. The wind-flower. In _botany_, a genus of beautiful flowering
herbaceous plants, of the nat. ord. Ranunculaceae. The double flowers of
some of the species are among the most elegant ornaments of our gardens.
Others are used in medicine. They are all acrid and stimulating.

=Anem'ones, Sea.= (-o-n[=e]z). _Syn._ AN'IMAL-FLOWERS[double-dagger], SEA
SUN'FLOWERS[double-dagger]. Animals of the genus _actin'ia_, so called
from the resemblance of their claws or tentacles, when expanded, to the
petals of a flower. They are of various colours, are generally fixed by
one end to rocks or stones in the sand, and are very voracious, being
accused of occasionally swallowing a mussel or a crab as large as a hen's
egg for a meal. They belong to the highly organised polypes of Cuvier.

=ANEMON'IC ACID.= See ANEMONINE.

=ANEMONIN.= A crystalline substance found in the leaves of several species
of anemone, viz. _A. pulsatilla_, _A. pretensis_, _A. nemorosa_. Water
distilled from these leaves, after some weeks, deposits a colourless
inodorous substance, which softens at 150 deg. C, giving off water and acrid
vapours. It is purified by repeated crystallisation from boiling alcohol.
Anemonin is a poisonous body. It causes slight irritation when applied to
the skin. By the action of alkalies anemonin is transferred into anemonic
acid.

=ANEM'OSCOPE= ([)a]n'-e--Brande, Mayne). _Syn._ ANEMOSCO'PIUM, L.;
ANEMOSCOPE, Fr.; ANEMOSKOP, Ger. An instrument to measure the force and
velocity of the wind. See ANEMOMETER.

=AN'EROID= (-royd)[62]. In _physics_, &c., not fluid, or not depending on
water or a fluid for its action; applied to a certain form of barometer
(which _see_)

[Footnote 62: That is--[Greek: a], _without_, [Greek: neros], (the)
_watery_, [Greek: eidos], _form_, as correctly given by Brande. By some
strange mistake, Dr Mayne, in his new 'Expository Lexicon,' gives "[Greek:
a], priv., [Greek: aer], air, terminal _-ides_," as the derivation of this
word; and marks it '_ane'roid_,']

=ANEURISM.= A tumour on an artery, produced by the rupture of the inner
coat of the vessel, and the blood getting between it and the outer coat.

=ANGEL'ICA= (-j[)e]l'-). [L., Port., Sp.; Ph. E. & D.] _Syn._ GARDEN
ANGELICA; ANGELIQUE, Fr.; ANGELIKA, A.-WURZEL, ANGELKRAUT, Ger. The
_angelica archangel'ica_ of Linnaeus, an aromatic herbaceous plant with a
biennial, fleshy root, indigenous to the north of Europe, but frequently
found wild in England, and largely cultivated in our gardens. Dried root
(ANGELICA, Ph. E.), aperient, carminative, diaphoretic, and tonic; much
esteemed by the Laplanders, both as food and medicine;--fruit or seed
(ANGELICA, Ph. D.) resembles the root, but is weaker. The whole plant has
been extolled as an aromatic tonic. As a masticatory, it leaves an
agreeable glowing heat in the mouth. The aromatic properties of this plant
depend on a peculiar volatile oil and resin.

_Uses, &c._ It has been recommended in diarrh[oe]a, dyspepsia, debility,
and some fevers; but is now seldom used in medicine. _Dose_, 30 gr. to 1
dr. The dried root and seeds are used by rectifiers to flavour gin and
liqueurs; and the fresh root, tender stems, stalks, &c., are made by the
confectioners into an aromatic candy. See CANDYING, LIQUEURS, &c.

=Angelica Atropurpu''rea.= [Linn.] _Syn._ AMER'ICAN ANGELICA; ANGELICA,
Ph. U. S. _Hab._ North America. Resembles garden angelica, but placed by
some botanists in a separate, though allied genus. It is a popular remedy
for flatulent colic, indigestion, and cardialgia, in the United States;
and is there regarded as tonic, cordial, and aphrodisiac.

=ANGEL'IC ACID. HC_{5}H_{7}O_{2}.= A volatile substance, noticed by L. A.
Buchner, jun., in angelica-root. It has a pungent sour smell, and a biting
acid taste; is sometimes fluid and oleaginous, and sometimes crystallised
in striated prisms.[63]

[Footnote 63: Schmidt's 'Jahrb.,' 1842.]

=ANGO'LA= _Syn._ ANGO'LA-WOOL, ANGO''RA-W., ANGO'NA-W., &c.; POIL DE
CHEVRON D'ANGORA, Fr.; (Engoor', Engour', or Engu'ri) TIFTIC, Tur. The
wool of 'ca'pra Angoren'sis' or the Angora-goat, of which the shawls of
Cashmere are made, and others in imitation of them. It is also used to
make plush, light cloths for paletots which are repellent of wet, &c.; and
is extensively employed in France in the manufacture of lace more
brilliant than that of Valenciennes and Chantilly, and at half the price.
See ALPACA, SHAWLS, WOOL, &c.

=ANGOSTU'RA, Angustu'ra.= (-t[=u]re'-[)a]). See CUSPARIA.

=Angostura, False.= See BRUCEA, CUSPARIA and STRYCHNOS.

=ANGOSTU''RINE=, =Angustu'rine= (-[)i]n). See CUSPARIN.

=ANHYDRIDE.= Most, if not all modern chemists, adopting GERHARDT'S
practice of limiting the title of acid to a particular class of substances
which contain hydrogen, now regard all true acids as salts of hydrogen.
Formerly many bodies, such as silica or white arsenic, were looked upon as
acids, though if we adopt the foregoing definition they are not really so
until they have combined with water. Such bodies, because they contain no
hydrogen, are now distinguished as anhydrides; the substances, for
example, familiarly known as carbonic, sulphurous, and phosphoric acids,
must, upon the above principle, be designated carbonic, sulphurous, and
phosphoric anhydrides. We may also define an anhydride to be an oxide
which forms an acid on treatment with water.

=ANHY'DROUS= (-dr[)u]s; _an'hydrous_, as marked by Brande, is less usual).
_Syn._ AN'HYDRUS, L.; ANHYDRE, Fr.; WASSERFREI, Ger. Free from water; dry.
In _chemistry_ and _mineralogy_, a term frequently applied to substances,
as acids, alcohol, gases, salts, minerals, &c., which do not contain
either free or combined water. GASES may generally be rendered anhydrous
by passing them through a tube containing fused chloride of calcium, or
(_e.g._ AMMONIA and two or three others) quick-lime, in coarse powder; and
some of them, by passing them through concentrated sulphuric acid. SALTS
may generally be dried by cautiously submitting them to the action of
heat, or by exposure to a very dry atmosphere; and alcohol, and many other
volatile fluids, by careful distillation from chloride of calcium, or some
other highly hygrometric substance.

=AN'IL.= [Fr., Sp., L.] The indigof'era anil of botanists--one of the
plants yielding 'indigo'--a native of America, but now largely cultivated
in the East Indies. See INDIGO (and _below_).

=AN'ILINE=[64] (-een). [Eng., Fr.] C_{6}H_{7}N. _Syn._ PHENYL'AMINE;
ANILI'NA, ANILI'NUM, &c., L. A peculiar volatile organic base first
noticed by Unverdorben in empyreumatic bone-oil, and afterwards obtained
by Runge from coal-tar, and by Fritzsche, Zinin, A. W. Hofmann, and
others, as a product of various reactions, processes, and decompositions,
particularly those attending the destructive distillation of organic
bodies.

[Footnote 64: For a detailed account of the methods of preparing aniline
commercially, and of the dyes obtained therefrom, _see_ 'Dictionnaire de
Chimie,' par A. Wurtz.]

PREP. Aniline is now almost invariably obtained, on the large scale,
either directly or indirectly from coal-tar or indigo; and chiefly from
the basic oil or naphtha, or the nitrobenzol, of which the former is the
principal source. The following are the leading commercial and
experimental processes:

1. From COAL-TAR or COAL-TAR NAPHTHA:--The basic oil or basic portion of
coal-tar or coal-tar naphtha, forming the latter, denser, and least
volatile products of the distillation or rectification of these
substances, is strongly agitated, for some time, along with hydrochloric
acid in slight excess, a glass globe, or, on the large scale, a suitable
vessel of lead, or of enamelled iron, being employed for the purpose; the
clear portion of the liquid (containing the hydrochlorates of the bases
present) is then decanted and carefully evaporated over an open fire until
acrid fumes begin to be disengaged, when it is again decanted or filtered;
the clear liquor, or filtrate is next treated with potash or milk of lime
in excess, by which the bases--chiefly aniline and chinoline--are
liberated under the form of a brownish oil; the whole of the resulting
mixture is now submitted to distillation, the portion which passes over at
or about 360 deg. Fahr., and which consists chiefly of crude aniline, being
collected separately; the product is purified by rectification and
recollection, once or oftener, at the same temperature, and, lastly, by
fresh treatment with hydrochloric acid and careful distillation with
excess of potash, or milk of lime, as before.

2. From NITROBENZOL:--_a._ (Zinin.) An alcoholic solution of nitrobenzol,
after saturation with ammonia, is treated with sulphuretted hydrogen,
until, after some hours, a precipitation of sulphur takes place; the brown
liquid is then repeatedly saturated with fresh sulphuretted hydrogen,
until no more sulphur separates, the reaction being aided by occasionally
heating or distilling the mixture; an excess of acid is next added, and,
after filtering the liquid, and the removal of the alcohol and unaltered
nitrobenzol by ebullition or distillation, the residuum is lastly
distilled with caustic potash, in excess. The ANILINE found in the
receiver may be rendered quite pure by forming it into oxalate of aniline,
repeatedly crystallising the salt from alcohol, and finally distilling it
with excess of caustic potassa, as before.

The following is a cheaper and more convenient process; and probably the
best, or one of the best, that has yet been invented for obtaining
aniline:--

_b._ (M. Bechamps.) From nitrobenzol distilled along with basic
protacetate of iron; or, what is better, by distilling a mixture of
iron-filings, 2 parts, and acetic acid, 1 part, with about an equal volume
of nitrobenzol, the reaction being assisted, whenever the effervescence
flags, by the application of a gentle heat. The liquor found in the
receiver consists of aniline and water, from which the first, forming the
lower portion, is obtained, after sufficient repose in a separator; or
more easily, by adding a very little ether, which by dissolving in the
aniline, causes it to rise to the surface, when it is at once decanted. A
very spacious glass or earthenware retort must be employed in the process,
as the mass swells up violently; and it must be connected with the
receiver, on the small scale, by means of a Liebig's condenser, and, on
the large scale, by an ordinary worm-pipe and tub, kept in good action by
a sufficient flow of cold water.

The apparatus for carrying out Bechamp's method was devised by Nicholson,
and is exhibited in the subjoined plate.

"It consists essentially of a cast-iron cylinder (A) of 10 hectolitres
(220 cubic gallons) capacity. A stout iron tube is fitted to this vessel,
reaching nearly to the bottom of the cylinder. The upper part of this tube
is connected with the machinery (G), while the surface of the tube is
fitted with steel projections. The tube serves to admit steam, as well as
acting as a stirring apparatus. Sometimes, instead of this tube, a solid
iron axle is employed, and in this case there is a separate steampipe (D).
Through the opening at K the materials for making aniline are put into the
apparatus, while the volatile products are carried off through E. H serves
for emptying and cleaning the apparatus. The S-shaped tube connected with
the vessel B acts as a safety valve. When it is intended to work with this
apparatus there is poured into it through K 10 parts of acetic acid at 8 deg.
B. (sp. gr. 1.060), previously diluted with six times its weight of water;
next there are added 30 parts of iron filings, or cast-iron borings, and
125 parts of nitrobenzol, and immediately after the stirring apparatus is
set in motion. The reaction ensues directly, and is attended by a
considerable evolution of heat and vapours. Gradually more iron is added
until the quantity amounts to 180 parts. The escaping vapours are
condensed in F, and the liquid condensed in R is from time to time poured
back into the cylinder A. The reduction is finished after a few hours."

[Illustration]

3. From INDIGO:--Powdered indigo is added to a boiling and highly
concentrated solution of caustic potash, as long as it dissolves and
hydrogen gas is liberated; the resulting brownish-red liquid is evaporated
to dryness, and the residuum is submitted to destructive distillation in a
retort, which, owing to the intumesence of the mass, should be strong and
spacious. The ANILINE is found in the receiver under the form of a
brownish oil mixed with ammoniacal liquor, and by separation from the
latter, and subsequent rectification, is obtained nearly colourless. It
may be further purified, as in the preceding processes.--_Prod._ 18 to 20%
of the indigo employed.

4. By fusing, with proper precautions, a mixture of isatine and hydrate of
potassium (both in powder); a retort connected with a well-cooled
receiver, being employed as the apparatus. Said by Profs A. W. Hofmann and
Muspratt to be "the most eligible process for isolating" aniline.[65]

[Footnote 65: Muspratt's 'Chemistry,' i, 599.]

5. From anthranilic acid mixed with powdered glass or sand, and rapidly
heated in a retort.

6. By treating an alcoholic solution of benzine with a little zinc and
hydrochloric acid.

7. By heating phenyl-alcohol with ammonia in sealed tubes.

In Zinin's process the nitrobenzol is dissolved in alcohol, and the
solution, after the addition of ammonia, is saturated with sulphuretted
hydrogen. After standing some time the solution deposits a large quantity
of sulphur, and the liquid yields aniline.

Many other reducing agents have been proposed for the conversion of
nitrobenzol into aniline, such as arsenite of sodium, powdered zinc, &c.,
but on the large scale they have all been found inferior to the process of
Bechamp. Kremer's process consists in heating one part of nitrobenzol in a
proper apparatus with five of water and two and a half of zinc dust. When
the reaction is completed the aniline, amounting to about 65% of the
weight of the benzol, is distilled off in a current of steam.

_Prop., &c._ A thin, oily, colourless liquid, with a faintly vinous odour,
and a hot and aromatic taste; very volatile in the air; miscible in all
proportions with alcohol and ether; very slightly soluble in water;
neutral to ordinary test-paper, but exhibiting an alkaline reaction to
dahlia-petal infusion and paper; dissolves camphor, sulphur, and
phosphorus, and coagulates albumen; possesses a high refractive power; and
precipitates the oxides of iron, zinc, and alumina, from solutions of
their salts, and neutralises the acids, like ammonia. With the acids it
forms numerous crystallisable compounds of great beauty, and which are
easily formed, and are precisely analogous to the corresponding salts of
ammonia. These, on exposure to the air, acquired a rose colour, in many
cases gradually passing into brown. Its boiling-point is 359 deg. to 360 deg.
Fahr.; sp. gr. 1.028.

_Tests._--1. Chromic acid gives a deep greenish or bluish-black
precipitate with aniline and its salts:--2. Hypochlorite of lime strikes
an extremely beautiful violet colour, which is soon destroyed:--3. The
addition of two or three drops of nitric acid to anhydrous aniline
produces a fine blue colour, which, on the application of heat, passes
into yellow, and a violent reaction ensues, sometimes followed by
explosion:--4. With bichloride of platinum it yields a double salt
(platino-chloride of aniline) analogous to the like salt of ammonia.
These reactions distinguish it from all other substances.

Commercial aniline is a mixture consisting in great part of aniline,
paratoluidine (solid), and orthotoluidine in variable proportions. In
addition it contains small amounts of metatoluidine, nitrobenzol, odorine,
&c., but for all practical purposes it may be regarded as a mixture of
aniline and toluidine. These anilines are obtained from a portion of the
light coal-tar naphtha boiling between certain temperatures, by treating
it first with nitric acid to convert it into the nitro-compounds, and then
reducing these with iron and acetic acid, as already described under
Bechamp's process. It is very plain that as the coal-tar naphtha contains
variable proportions of benzol and toluidine, the resulting product must
also vary in the quantities of aniline and toluidine it will contain. In
order to distinguish between various samples of commercial aniline,
Reimann submits them to fractional distillation and compares the results.
He places 100 c. c. of the sample to be tested in a retort fitted with a
thermometer and heated by means of an oil bath. The liquid as it distils
is received in a narrow graduated cylinder, and the amount that passes
over between every 5 deg. C. (9 deg. F.) is noted.

In order to obtain standards for comparison he first distilled a sample of
light aniline, or kuphaniline, as he terms it, then one of heavy aniline
or baraniline; afterwards mixtures of the two in varying proportions. In
the accompanying table the results are given.

  -------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Centigrade {|K. 100    90     85       80       75     60      50       25       0
              {|B.   0    10     15       20       25     40      50       75     100
  -------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Below 180 deg.  |  8-1/2    7    2-1/2    5-1/2    7       ...    7        5-1/2    ...
   180 deg.--185 deg.  | 54       50   29-1/2   22        5-1/2    7     4-1/2    2-1/2    2
   185 deg.--190 deg.  | 34       34   56-1/2   55-1/2   55-1/2   37     7-1/2    4-1/2    1-1/2
   190 deg.--195 deg.  |  ...      5    7-1/2    8-1/2   15       33    42       17        8
   195 deg.--200 deg.  |  ...     ...   ...      ...      9       ...   19       36       18
   200 deg.--205 deg.  |  ...     ...   ...      ...      4-1/2   16    10       16       39
   205 deg.--210 deg.  |  ...     ...   ...      ...      ...     ...    3-1/2    8       19
   210 deg.--215 deg.  |  ...     ...   ...      ...      ...     ...    ...      4-1/2    7
   Residue     |  3-1/2    4    4        8-1/2    3-1/2    7     6-1/2    5        5-1/2
  -------------+------------------------------------------------------------------------

To ascertain the quality of any sample it is only necessary to distil it
in the manner already described, and compare the results with those in the
above table.

(For further information consult Wagner's 'Chemical Technology,' Calvert's
'Dyeing and Calico Printing,' edited by Stenhouse and Groves; Crooke's
'Practical Handbook of Dyeing and Calico Printing,' Ure's Dictionary,
edited by Hunt.)

_Uses_, _&c_. Chiefly in dyeing, for the production of colouring matter of
various rich shades of purple and violet, some approaching pink, by the
action of chromic acid; and of a splendid crimson, by the action of
various oxidising agents. It forms the basis of the celebrated new dyes
for silks lately patented by Mr W. H. Perkin, and others, and which are
not only more delicate and gorgeous in tint, but also more permanent, than
any produced by other substances.

Besides numerous salts, various substitution compounds of aniline have
been formed, all of which possess vast scientific interest, and several
are likely to prove of importance in the arts. See DYEING, INDIGO, TAR
COLOURS, &c. (also _below_.)

=Aniline, Chro'mates of=. _Prep_. 1. (NEUTRAL CHROMATE.) From sulphate or
oxalate of aniline and chromate of potash, by double decomposition.

2. (BICHRO'MATE:--Mr W. H. Perkin.) Sulphate of aniline and bichromate of
potash, in equivalent quantities, are separately dissolved in water, and
the solutions, after being mixed, are allowed to stand for several hours.
The whole is then thrown upon a filter, and the black precipitate which
forms is washed and dried. It is next digested in coal-tar naphtha (--?
benzol), to extract a brown resinous substance; after which it is digested
in alcohol, to dissolve out the colouring matter (BICHROMATE OF ANILINE),
which is left behind on distilling off the spirit, as a coppery friable
mass. Patented.

=Aniline, Cy'anide of=. Benzonitrile.

=Aniline, Ox'alate of=. (C_{6}H_{7}N)_{2}C_{2}O_{4}. Obtained by
saturating an alcoholic solution of oxalic acid with aniline; the salt
separating as a crystalline mass. It is very soluble in hot water; much
less so in cold water; only slightly soluble in alcohol; and insoluble in
ether. It may be crystallised from hot water or boiling alcohol. Used
chiefly to form other salts.

=Aniline, Sul'phate of=. (C_{6}H_{7}N)_{2}SO_{4}. Prepared by saturating
aniline with dilute sulphuric acid, and gently evaporating the liquid
until the salt separates. By re-solution in boiling alcohol, it
crystallises out, as the liquor cools, under the form of very beautiful
colourless plates, of a silvery lustre. It is freely soluble in water, and
in hot alcohol; scarcely soluble in cold alcohol; and insoluble in ether.
It is chiefly employed in the preparation of the new aniline dyes.

=ANIMAL'CULE= (-k[=u]le). [Eng., Fr.; pl. animal'cules.] _Syn._
ANIMAL'CULUM (pl., animal'cula[66]), L.; THIERCHEN, Ger. In _zoology_ and
_physiology_, a microscopic animal, or one so extremely small, that it is
either invisible, or not distinctly discernible, without the aid of a lens
or microscope; more especially one that is not perceptible to the naked
eye. "A mite was anciently thought the limit of littleness; but there are
animals 27,000,000 of times smaller than a mite." A thousand millions of
some of the animalcula found in common water are said to be collectively
of less bulk than a single grain of sand; yet their numbers are so
prodigious as sometimes to give the fluid they inhabit a pale red or
yellow tinge. The milt of a single codfish is said to contain more of
these minute animals than there are people in the whole earth. Animalcula
were first scientifically observed by Leuwenhoek about the year 1677.
Assisted by the microscope he unveiled, as it were, he created a new world
for future naturalists and microscopists to explore.

[Footnote 66: Animalculae for the plural, sometimes heard and met with, is
a barbarism; yet one not wholly confined to the vulgar, for we find it in
Vincent's edition of Haydn's admirable 'Dict. of Dates,' not merely twice,
or oftener, in the text, but as a 'title-word,' and also in some other
works where we might least expect it.]

"Take any drop of water," says Professor Rymer Jones, "from our rivers,
from our lakes, or from the vast ocean itself, and place it under the
microscope; you will find therein countless living beings moving therein
in all directions with considerable swiftness, apparently gifted with
sagacity, for they readily elude each other in the active dance they keep
up.... Increase the power of your glasses, and you will soon perceive
inhabiting the same drop, other animals compared to which the former were
elephantine in their dimensions, equally vivacious and equally gifted.
Exhaust the art of the optician, strain your eyes to the utmost, until the
aching sense refuses to perceive the little quivering movement that
indicates the presence of life, and you will find that you have not
exhausted nature in the descending scale."

Amongst the most remarkable discoveries of modern science must be reckoned
that of fossil animalcules in such abundance as to form the principal part
of extensive strata. This discovery is due to Ehrenberg, who found the
Polierschiefer (the polishing slate or tripoli) of Bilin to be almost
entirely made up of the siliceous shields of a minute fossil animalcule,
the length of one of which is about 1/288th of a line, so that about
23,000,000 of animalcules must have gone to form a cubic line, and
41,000,000,000 to form a cubic inch of the rock. Ehrenberg succeeded in
discovering the formation of similar strata in deposits of mud at the
bottom of lakes and marshes, the mud swarming with living animalcules,
probably in their turn to be fossilised. The bergmehl, or mountain meal of
Sweden and other parts of Europe, which is sometimes used as an article of
food, is entirely composed of the remains of animalcules; not merely,
however, of their siliceous shields, for it contains a considerable
per-centage of dry animal matter. Some animalcules prefer waters
impregnated with iron, and their death gives rise to an ochreous substance
in which iron is a principal ingredient.

=AN'IME= ([)a]n'-[)i]m-e). [Eng., L., Sp.] _Syn._ GUM-AN'IME, A.-RES'IN;
ANIME, Fr.; ANIMEHARZ, KOURBARILLHARZ, Ger.; COURBARIL, JUTAIBA, Nat. A
pale brownish-yellow, transparent, brittle resin, which exudes from the
_hymenaea courbaril_ (Linn.) or locust-tree, the _h. martiana_, and other
species of hymenaea growing in tropical America. It contains about .2% of
volatile oil, which gives it an agreeable odour; melts without
decomposition; is (nearly) insoluble in alcohol and in caoutchoucine, but
forms a gelatinous mass in a mixture of the two. (Ure.) It burns readily,
emitting a very fragrant smell. Sp. gr. 1.054 to 1.057.

_Uses, &c._ As a fumigation in spasmodic asthma; in solution as an
embrocation; and in powder as a substitute for gum guaiacum. In this
country it is chiefly employed to make varnishes and pastilles (which
_see_).

=AN'ION= (-y'[)u]n--Br., We.; [)a]-n[=i]'-[)u]n--Smart). Literally,
'upward going,' in _electro-chemistry_, a substance which is evolved from
the surface where the electrical current is supposed to enter the
electrolyte; an electro-negative body, or one which passes to the positive
pole, or anode, in electrolysis, as opposed to a CATION. See ANODE, IONS,
&c.

=AN'ISATED.= _Syn._ ANISA'TUS, L.; ANISE, Fr. In _pharmacy_, the art of
the liqueuriste, confectioner, &c., applied to articles or preparations
impregnated or flavoured with aniseed.

=AN'ISE= (-[)i]s). _Syn._ ANI'SUM, PIMPINEL'LA A. (Linn.), A. OFFICINA'LE,
L.; ANIS, Fr.; ANIS, GEMEINER ANIS, Ger. An annual plant of the nat. ord.
Umbelliferae (DC.). _Hab._, Egypt, Scio, and the Levant; but largely
cultivated in Malta, Spain, Germany, and various other parts of Asia and
Europe. "A considerable quantity is cultivated at Mitcham, in Surrey,
chiefly for the use of the rectifiers of British spirits." (Stephenson.)
Fruit, aniseed. (See _below_.)

=AN'ISEED.= _Syn._ AN'ISE, AN'ISE-SEED; SEM'INA ANI'SI, FRUC'TUS A., L.;
ANIS, A. VRAI, GRAINES D'ANIS, SEMENCE D'ANIS, Fr.; ANIS, ANISAMEN, Ger.;
ANIS, Sp.; ANICE, It. The aromatic fruit or seed of the _pimpinella
anisum_ just noticed.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Its aromatic properties depend on the presence of
volatile oil. The seed and oil, and a spirit and a water prepared from
them, are officinal in the pharmacop[oe]ias. Both the seed and its
preparations are reputed stimulant, stomachic, carminative, pectoral,
diuretic, and emmenagogue. They are commonly used to relieve flatulence
and colicky pains, and to prevent the griping effects of certain
cathartics; and they have long been popular remedies for coughs, colds,
and other breath ailments. They are esteemed especially useful in warming
the stomach and expelling wind, particularly during infancy and childhood;
the distilled or flavoured water being usually employed. Nurses also take
the latter to promote the secretion of milk, to which it at length imparts
its peculiar odour and flavour. In _veterinary practice_ the powdered seed
is used as a carminative, pectoral, and corroborant. The essential
oil is said to be poisonous to pigeons. (Vogel; Hillefield.)
Aniseed is principally used to flavour liqueurs, sweetmeats, and
confectionery.--_Dose_ (of the powder), 10 gr. to 1 or 2 dr.; for a horse,
1/2 to 1 oz.; cattle, 3/4 to 2 oz.

_Pur., &c._ Powdered aniseed is nearly always adulterated, the adulterant
being generally linseed meal. Sometimes, as for the horse, the latter is
entirely substituted for it, a few drops of oil of aniseed being added to
give it smell. The adulteration is not readily detected by the
uninitiated, owing to the strong odour of aniseed; but readily by the
microscope. The fruit of _myrrhis odorata_ (sweet cicily), and of
_illicium anisatum_ (star-anise), also possess the odour and flavour of
common aniseed; indeed, most of the essential oil now sold as 'oil of
aniseed' is star-anise oil. See LIQUEURS, OILS, SPIRITS, WATERS, &c.

=Anise, Star'.= The fruit or seed of _illi''cium anisa'tum_ (Linn.), an
evergreen tree growing in Japan and China. The odour and properties of
both the seed and oil greatly resemble those of common anise. They are
both employed by the liqueuriste. See ANISEED (_above_), &c.

=ANISETTE'= ([)a]n-[)i]z-[)e]t'). [Fr.] Aniseed cordial. See LIQUEURS.

=ANISOCHILUS CARNOSUM.= Nat. order LABIATAE. An Indian plant. It is
stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant; is used in quinsy, and by the
native doctors of Travancore in catarrhal affections. Dr Bidie, an Indian
practitioner, characterises it as a mild stimulating expectorant, and as
such particularly useful in the coughs of childhood. Its properties depend
upon a volatile oil.

=ANISOMELES MALABARICA.= An Indian plant. Nat. order Labiatae. Few plants
are held in higher esteem, or more frequently employed in native practice
in Southern India, than this. An infusion made of the leaves is very
generally used in affections of the stomach and bowels, catarrhal
complaints, and intermittent fevers.

Dr Wright says that in addition to its internal use in the case of fevers,
patients are made to inhale the vapour of a hot infusion, so as to induce
copious diaphoresis. An infusion of the leaves is reported to be
powerfully diaphoretic, and to have been found very useful in the low
continuous fevers of the natives. An oil obtained by distillation from the
leaves is likewise stated to be an effectual external application in
rheumatism.

=ANI'SUM.= Aniseed.

=ANNEAL'ING.= _Syn._ NEALING[dagger]Sec.; LE RECUIT, Fr.; DAS ANLASSEN, Ger.
The art of tempering by heat: appropriately, the process by which glass,
porcelain, &c., are rendered less frangible, and metals which have become
brittle by fusion, or long-continued hammering, again rendered tough and
malleable.

Glass vessels, and other articles of glass, are annealed by being placed
in an oven or apartment near the furnaces at which they are formed, called
the 'leer,' where they are allowed to cool very slowly, the process being
prolonged in proportion to their bulk.

Steel, iron, and other metals are annealed by heating them and allowing
them to cool slowly on the hearth of the furnace, or in any other suitable
place, unexposed to the cold. Steel is also annealed by being made
red-hot, and in that state is placed in a heap of dry saw-dust till cold,
when it will be found quite soft.

Cast-iron is rendered tough and malleable, without 'puddling,' by
embedding it in ground charcoal or haematite, and thus protected, keeping
it exposed at a high temperature for several hours, after which the whole
is allowed to cool very slowly.

Prince Rupert's drop may be mentioned as an example of unannealed glass,
and common cast-iron of unannealed metals, to which heads the reader is
referred.

=ANNOT'TA.= _Syn._ ANOT'TO, ANNAT'TO, ANNAT'TA; ARNAT'TO, ARNOT'TO, &C.;
ORLEA'NA, TER'RA O.*, &c., L.; ROUCOL, ROCOU, ROUCOU, Fr.; ORLEANS, Ger. A
colouring matter forming the outer pellicle of the seeds of the _bix'a
orella'na_ (Linn.), an exogenous evergreen tree, common in Cayenne and
some other parts of tropical America, and now extensively cultivated in
both the E. and W. Indies. It is usually obtained by macerating the
crushed seeds or seed-pods in water for several weeks, ultimately allowing
the pulp to subside, which is then boiled in coppers to a stiff paste, and
dried in the shade. Sometimes a little oil is added in making it up into
cakes or lumps. A better method is that proposed by Leblond, in which the
crushed seeds are simply exhausted by washing them in water (--?
alkalised), from which the colouring matter is then precipitated by means
of vinegar or lemon-juice; the precipitate being subsequently collected,
and either boiled up in the ordinary manner, or drained in bags and dried,
as is practised with indigo. Annotta so prepared is said to be four times
as valuable as made by the old process.

_Prop._ Good annotta is of a brilliant red colour; brighter in the middle
than on the outside; feels soft and smooth to the touch; has a good
consistence, and a strongly characteristic but not a putrid smell. It is
scarcely soluble in water; freely soluble in alcohol, ether, oils, and
fats, to each of which it imparts a beautiful orange colour, and in
alkaline solutions which darken it; acids precipitate it of an orange red
hue; strong sulphuric acid turns it blue. Its most important property is
the affinity of its colouring matter for the fibres of silk, wool, and
cotton.

_Pur._ Annotta is very frequently adulterated; indeed, nearly always so.
To what extent the sophistication of annotta is carried may be judged from
the statement of Mr Blyth, who says that on examination of thirty-four
samples of various kinds, as imported and obtained from English makers and
as purchased from dealers, he found only two that were genuine. As annotta
is often used to give colour to different articles of diet, it is
important that it should be as pure as possible; otherwise injurious
effects detrimental to health may be caused by partaking of any food to
which it is added. Now, amongst the list of adulterants given below are
three, at least, unmistakeable poisons, viz. red lead, orange chrome, and
sulphate of copper. It is but right to state of the first of these
substances (red lead) that Mr Blyth says it is extremely doubtful whether
it is now employed to the extent it formerly was. He also ascribes its
presence in annotta to the impure Venetian red which is used, the
employment of this colour being a necessity because of the large
quantities of flour and lime which are mixed with the annotta, which
thereby becomes so reduced in colour that it is essential to have recourse
to salt, alkalies, and the red earths to restore it to its original
standard. The adulterants are generally meal, flour, or farina, and often
chalk or gypsum, with some pearlash and oil, or even soap, to give it an
unctuous character; turmeric, Venetian red, red ochre, orange chrome, or
even red lead, to give it 'colour,' and common salt, and sometimes even
sulphate of copper, to prevent decomposition--the last two being
poisonous. Sometimes a little carbonate of ammonia is also added to it to
improve the colour. When quite pure it contains about 28% of resinous
colouring matter, and 20% of colouring extractive matter (Dr John), and
should leave only a small quantity of insoluble residuum after digestion
in alcohol, whilst the ash resulting from its incineration should not
exceed 1-1/2 to 2%. The quantity, colour, &c., of the ash will give an
easy clue to the inorganic adulterants, if any are present, which may be
then followed up by a chemical examination. The presence of red lead may
be detected by heating it on a piece of charcoal in the reducing flame of
the blowpipe, by which a small bead of metallic lead will be obtained. If
it contains chalk, ochre, gypsum, &c., the undissolved residuum of the
washed ash gives the amount of the adulteration (nearly).

_Microscopical Examination of Annotta._--When annotta is subjected to a
microscopical examination the outer red portion will be found to present
an almost homogeneous appearance, whilst the surface of the seed proper
will be seen to consist of narrow or elongated cells or fibres disposed in
a vertical direction, while the inner white portion will be seen to be
made up of cells filled with starch corpuscles, well defined, of medium
size, and resembling in the elongated and stellate hilum the starch
granules of the pea and bean.

When the annotta is manufactured, and an unadulterated sample is examined,
but little structure is met with. Portions of the outer cells may be seen;
and in those samples which in the course of their preparation have not
been subjected to the action of boiling water, a few starch granules may
be observed.

Since annotta, when manufactured, presents so few evidences of structure,
we are easily able, with the microscope at our command, to detect the
presence of most foreign vegetable substances. These consist of turmeric
powder, wheat, rye and barley starch, and sago flours. The salt and alkali
present in the fraudulent annotta generally greatly alter the appearance
of the turmeric. Most of the colouring matter of the cells is discharged,
so that the starch corpuscles contained within them become visible. Loose
starch granules of turmeric may also be frequently seen, and in a much
enlarged condition, owing to the action of the alkali upon them.

The following process for conducting the assay of annotta is given by Mr
Blyth:--

"In order to estimate the commercial value and detect adulteration in a
sample, the quickest and best way is the following: Weigh accurately a
gramme in a small platinum dish; dry in the water-bath for a couple of
hours, then weigh; the loss is the water. Finely powder, and digest it for
some hours in alcohol; then boil, filter and treat with successive
portions of alcohol until all the colouring-matter is dissolved; filter,
evaporate the filtrate down and weigh; the result is the resin. The
insoluble portion will in a good commercial specimen consist of woody
matter, extractive, gluten, &c. For the ash weigh another gramme in a
platinum dish; dry for a short time over the water-bath; then powder and
burn until it ceases to lose weight. It is prudent to fuse a little on
charcoal with carbonate of soda before the blow-pipe before burning it in
a platinum vessel, as there may be lead in the annotta. The ash should
then be submitted to the various reagents in order to detect lime,
alumina, &c. A correct determination of ash and resin is all that is
required to definitely pronounce upon the purity or impurity of the
samples."

The following is the analysis of a fair commercial sample:--

The sample was in the form of a paste, colour deep red, odour peculiar,
but not disagreeable.

  Water                         24.2
  Resinous colouring matter     28.8
  Ash                           22.5
  Starch and extractive matter  24.5
                                ----
                               100.0

The following is an analysis of an adulterated specimen. The sample was in
a hard cake of a brown colour, with the maker's name stamped upon it, and
marked "patent;" texture hard and leathery, odour disagreeable:

  Water                            13.4
  Resin                            11.0
  Ash, consisting of iron, chalk,
    salt, alumina, silica          48.3
  Extractive matter                27.3
                                   ----
                                  100.0

Thus, in the one the resin was 28%, the ash 22; in the other the resin was
only 11%, the ash no less than 48%.

_Uses, &c._ To colour varnishes and lacquers; as a pigment for painting
velvet and transparencies; as a colouring matter for cheese (1 _oz._ to 1
_cwt._ of curd), for which purpose it is not injurious, if pure; and as a
dye-stuff for cotton, silk, and wool, particularly the second, to which it
imparts a beautiful orange-yellow hue, the shade of which may be varied
from 'aurora' to deep orange by using different proportions of pearlash
with the water it is dissolved in, and by applying different mordants
before putting it into the dye-bath, or different rinsing liquids
afterwards. The hues thus imparted are, however, all more or less
fugitive.

=Annotta Cake.= _Syn._ FLAG ANNOTTA; ORLEA'NA IN FO'LIIS, L. From Cayenne;
bright yellow, firm and soft to the touch; in square cakes, weighing 2 or
3 _lbs._ each.

=Annotta Egg.= _Syn._ LUMP ANNOTTA; ORLEA'NA IN O'VULIS, L. Generally
inferior.

=Annotta, Eng'lish.= _Syn._ TRADE A., REDUCED' A.; ORLEA'NA REDUC'TA, L. A
fraudulent mess commonly prepared from egg or flag annotta, gum
tragacanth, flour, or farina, chalk, soap, train-oil, Venetian red, or
bole, common salt, water, mixed by heat in a copper pan, and formed into
rolls. Sold for genuine annotta, from which it is readily distinguished by
its inferior quality and its partial solubility in alcohol.

=Annotta, Liq'uid.= See SOLUTION OF ANNOTTA (_below_).

=Annotta, Pu''rified.= See ORELLINE.

=Annotta Roll.= _Syn._ Orlea'na in rot'ulis, O. IN BAC'ULIS, L. From the
Brazils; hard, dry, brown outside, yellow within. When pure, this is the
variety most esteemed, and the one preferred for colouring cheese.

=Annotta, Solu'tion of.= _Syn._ ESSENCE OF ANNOTTA, EXTRACT OF A.,
ANNOTTA-DYE, &c.; SOLU'TIO ORLEA'NAE, EXTRAC'TUM O., &c., L. A strong
aqueous solution of equal parts of annotta and pearlash, the whole being
heated or boiled together until the ingredients are dissolved. Sold in
bottles. See ANNOTTA (_above_), NANKEEN DYE, &c.

=ANNUALS.= Plants which bear flowers and fruit in the same year when
raised from seed.

=AN'O-.= [Gr.] In _composition_, upwards, &c.; as in anocathar'tic
(emetic).

=AN'ODE.= Literally, 'upward way,' in _electro-chemistry_, the 'way in,'
or that by which the electric current is supposed to enter substances
through which it passes, as opposed to the CATHODE, or that by which it
goes out; the positive pole of a voltaic battery.

=AN'ODYNE= (-d[=i]ne). _Syn._ ANO'DYNUS (-d[)i]n[)u]s-), L.; ANODIN, Fr.;
SCHMERZSTILLEND, Ger. That allays pain; soothing; atalgic.

=Anodynes.= _Syn._ ANO'DYNA (sing., ano'd[)y]num), L.; Anodins, REMEDES
A., Fr. In _medicine_ and _pharmacy_, substances and agents which allay
pain. Some (as the PAREGORICS) act by actually assuaging pain; others
(HYPNOTICS) by inducing sleep; whilst a third class (NARCOTICS) give ease
by stupefying the senses, or by lessening the susceptibility to pain.
Among the principal anodynes are opium, morphia, henbane, camphor ether,
chloroform, chloral hydrate, and other medicines of the like kind; to
which must be added spirituous liquors, wines, and the stronger varieties
of malt liquor. "The frequent use of anodynes begets the necessity of
their continuance." (W. Cooley.)

=Anodyne, In'fantile= (-[=i]le). _Syn._ ANO'DYNUM INFAN'TILE (-t[)i]l-e),
L. _Prep._ Take of syrup of poppies, 1 _oz._; aniseed-water, 3 _oz._;
French brandy, 3/4 _oz._ (or rectified spirit, 1/2 _oz._); calcined
magnesia, 1/4 _oz._; mix. An excellent anodyne and antacid for
infants.--_Dose._ A small teaspoonful as required.

=ANODYN= (Mueller, Berlin.) Chiefly for rheumatic pains, toothache, &c. Oil
of rosemary, 30 drops; oil of thyme, 10 drops; camphor, 5 grms.; spirit of
ammonia, 12 grms.; spirit, 60 grms. (Hager.)

=ANODYN'IA= (-d[)i]n'-y'[)a]). Freedom from pain; anaesthesia.

=AN'OREXY=. _Syn._ ANOREX'IA, L.; ANOREXIE, Fr., Ger. In _pathology_, want
of, or morbidly diminished appetite, without loathing of food. It is
usually symptomatic of other affections. See APPETITE, DYSPEPSIA, &c.

=ANOSMIN FOOT POWDER= (Dr Oscar Bernar, Vienna). "An unfailing remedy for
sweaty feet and bad odour of the feet." Powdered alum, 21 parts; maize
meal, 1 part. (Hager.)

=ANOSMIN FOOT WATER= (Koch), for a similar purpose. An aqueous solution of
tartaric acid.

=ANO ZABAGLIONE= (-b[)a]l-y'[=o]'-n[=a]). _Prep._ Put 2 eggs, 3
teaspoonfuls of sugar, and 2 small glassfuls of sherry or marsala, into a
chocolate cup, placed in boiling water, or over the fire, and keep the
mixture rapidly stirred until it begins to rise and thicken a little; then
add 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of orange-flower water or rose water, and serve
it up in wine-glasses. A pleasant Italian domestic remedy for a cold.

=ANT= ([)a]nt). _Syn._ EMM'ET, PIS'MIRE*[double-dagger] (p[)i]z'-);
FORMI'CA, L.; FOURMI, Fr.; AMEISE, Ger.; AEMET, Sax. This well-known little
insect belongs to the family formic''idae, and the order hymenop'tera. Like
the bee, it is a social animal, lives in communities which may be compared
to well-regulated republics, and is of three sexes--male, female, neuter.
Those belonging to the last alone labour and take care of the ova and
young. The red ant contains FORMIC ACID (acid of ants), and a peculiar
RESINOUS OIL. Both of these may be obtained by maceration in rectified
spirit. A tincture so prepared, and flavoured with aromatics, constitutes
Hoffman's EAU DE MAGNANIMITE, once greatly esteemed as an aphrodisiac. See
FORMICA, FORMIC ACID, FORMYLE, &c.

=ANTAC'ID= (-t[)a]s'-[)i]d). _Syn._ ANTAC'IDUS, L.; ANTACIDE, &c., Fr.;
SAeURETILGEND, &c., Ger. An agent which neutralises acids or removes
acidity. (See _below._)

=ANTAC'IDS= (-t[)a]s'-[)i]dz). _Syn._ ANTAC'IDA, L.; ANTACIDES, &c., Fr.
Antacid substances. In _medicine_, &c., substances which remove or prevent
acidity of the stomach, and thus tend to relieve heartburn, dyspepsia, and
diarrh[oe]a.

The principal antacids are potassa, soda, ammonia, lime, and magnesia,
with their carbonates and bicarbonates. AMMONIA is one of the most
powerful, and when the acidity is conjoined with nausea and faintness, or
is accompanied with symptoms of nervous derangement or hysteria, is
undoubtedly the best; when great irritability of the coats of the stomach
exist, POTASH is to be preferred; when the acidity is accompanied with
diarrh[oe]a, carbonate of lime (prepared chalk), lime-water, or
Carara-water; and when with costiveness, MAGNESIA. They may be
advantageously combined with some simple aromatic, as ginger, cinnamon, or
peppermint. Their preparation, doses, administration, &c., will be found
under each in its alphabetical place; and formulae containing them, under
DRAUGHTS, LOZENGES, MIXTURES, &c.

=ANTAL'GICS= (-t[)a]l'-). _Syn._ ANTAL'GICA, L. Medicines which relieve
pain; anodynes.

=ANTAL'KALINES= ([)a]nt-[)a]l'-k[)a]-l[)i]nz). _Syn._ ANTALKALI'NA, L.
Agents or medicines which correct alkalinity. All the acids except the
carbonic are antalkaline.

=AN'TE-.= In _composition_, before, contrary, opposite; generally in the
first sense. See ANTI-.

=ANTEPIDEMICUM UNIVERSALE= (H. Mueller, Copenhagen). "A valuable universal
remedy for all sorts of contagious diseases in man or domestic animals." A
fluid like water, with a weak, almost imperceptible, odour of acetic
ether. Is composed of spring water, in which perhaps two or three drops of
pure carbolic acid are dissolved, and a few drops of acetic ether added to
disguise it. (Hager.)

=ANTHELMIN'TICS, Anthelmin'thics= (-th[)e]l-). See VERMIFUGES and WORMS.

=AN'THIARINE= (-[)i]n). See ANTHIRINE.

=ANTHOK'YAN=. _Syn._ SUCC'US VI'OLAE PREPARA'TUS, L. The expressed juice of
the sweet or purple violet (vi'ola odora'ta--Linn.), defecated, gently
heated in glass or earthenware to 192 deg. Fahr., then skimmed, cooled, and
filtered; a little rectified spirit is next added, and the following day
the whole is again filtered. It must be kept well corked, and in a cool
situation.

_Uses, &c._ Chiefly to make syrup of violets, to colour and flavour
liqueurs, and as a chemical test. The London druggists obtain it
principally from Lincolnshire.

=AN'THONY'S FIRE=, Saint (-to-n[)i]z). See ERYSIPELAS.

=ANTHOSENZ= (Dr Hess, Berlin). General tonic and anodyne balsam. Oil of
cloves, 4 parts; oil of geranium, 2 parts; pine-apple essence, 1 part;
spirit, 50 parts;  with alkanet root. (Hager.)

=AN'THOTYPE.= See PHOTOGRAPHY.

=ANTHRACENE.= C_{14}H_{10}. Anthracene is one of the last products passing
over in the dry distillation of coal-tar. Dr Calvert says it is "found
most abundantly in the ten or fifteen per cent. which comes over between
the temperature at which soft pitch is produced and that at which hard
pitch is formed."

Coal-tar contains very variable quantities of anthracene, those tars
procured from coals which are richest in naphtha yielding it most
abundantly. The coals of South Staffordshire give the largest yield,
whilst the Newcastle coals give very little. In consequence of the
solubility of anthracene in the oily hydrocarbons which accompany it,
owing to "slight elevation of temperature, its extraction can only be
carried on advantageously in cold weather."

Gessert prepares anthracene from coal-tar as follows: He places the last
pasty portions (the 'green grease') of the coal-tar distillation (which
must not be carried beyond the point at which white pitch is formed) first
in a centrifugal machine, and then in a hydraulic press at 40 deg., or
subjects the mass heated to 30 deg.-40 deg. directly to pressure in a filter
press. The pressed mass consists of about 60% of anthracene; for further
purification it is boiled with light tar-oil or petroleum naphtha, and
finally heated till it melts. The residue contains 95% of anthracene.

The following method for the purification of crude anthracene contaminated
with oily matters is by Schuller:--The crude anthracene is carefully
heated to commencing ebullition in a capacious retort connected with a
tubulated receiver of glass or earthenware, the lower aperture of which is
closed with a fine wire sieve. A strong current of air is then blown into
the retort with a pair of bellows, whereby the anthracene is driven over
in a very short time nearly pure and dry, and condenses in the receiver as
a faintly yellowish showy mass. By this method a quantity of anthracene,
the purification of which by re-crystallisation or sublimation would take
several days, may be purified in as many hours; moreover it is obtained in
a pulverulent form, in which it is very readily acted on by oxidising
agents. Anthraquinone prepared from crude anthracene may also be obtained
by this method in the form of a light yellow powder, resembling flowers of
sulphur.

Fritzsche obtained anthracene in crystals exhibiting a beautiful violet
colour by exposing a solution of anthracene in coal-tar naphtha to
sunshine, until the solution became colourless.

Pure anthracene assumes the form of fluorescent transparent crystals,
consisting of four- or six-sided plates, which when seen by transmitted
light are of a very pale blue colour, but of a pale violet by reflected
light.

The process for obtaining pure anthracene is a very troublesome one. Mr
Crookes says:--"A trustworthy method for determining the amount of pure
anthracene either in commercial anthracene or in crude green grease is the
following:--The melting-point of the sample in question is first
determined. 5 to 10 grammes are sufficient for the operation. It is put
between thick folds of blotting paper, and placed under a press, between
plates which have been previously warmed. The anthracene remaining upon
the paper after pressure is weighed. The residue after it has been boiled
with a certain quantity of alcohol, filtered, washed with cold alcohol and
dried, is weighed as pure anthracene. It is now advisable to determine the
melting-point of the purified product, which will generally be 210 deg. C."
Anthracene is only slightly soluble in alcohol, but rather more so in
ether and bisulphide of carbon. It is more soluble in hot, but less so in
cold benzene. Petroleum boiling between 160 deg. and 195 deg. F. dissolves less
than benzene.

"Anthracene dissolves in concentrated sulphuric acid with a green colour,
and forms conjugated monsulpho or bisulpho-anthracene acid, according to
the temperature employed. Chlorine and bromine give rise to substitution
products. Nitric acid acts on it with great violence, with formation of
anthraquinone, nitro-anthraquinone, and other compounds according to the
temperature and proportion of the substances taken. With picric acid
anthracene forms a compound crystallising in very bright ruby-red needles,
which by the aid of the microscope are seen to be prisms. To prepare it a
saturated solution of picric acid in water at 80 deg. F. is mixed with a
saturated solution of anthracene in boiling alcohol; on cooling the
compound is deposited in the crystalline state. It is rapidly decomposed
by an excess of alcohol into picric acid and anthracene, the solution
assuming a yellow tint. This reaction can be employed to distinguish
anthracene from naphthalene and other hydrocarbons, naphthalin under
similar circumstances forming a compound which crystallises in fine golden
yellow needles, whilst chrysene gives rise to clusters of very small
yellow needles." (Calvert's 'Dyeing and Calico Printing,' edited by
Stenhouse and Groves). Another characteristic of anthracene, noticed by
Fritzsche, is its deportment under the microscope with a solution of
binitro-anthraquinone in benzene. In this reaction fine rhomboidal scales
of a beautiful pink colour are formed, the purity and brilliancy of the
colour depending on the purity of the anthracene.

In the 'Bul. Soc. Chim.,' vii, 274, several reactions by which anthracene
is formed are described by Berthelot, as by the action of heat on other
hydrocarbons, or by passing the vapours of ethylene, styrolene, and
benzene through a porcelain tube heated to bright redness.

A great number of products are procured from anthracene, by far the most
important of these being artificial alizarin.

See ALIZARIN, ARTIFICIAL.

=AN'THRACITE= (s[=i]te). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ANTHRAC'OLITE, GLANCE'-COAL,
STONE'-COAL[double-dagger], MINERAL CHAR'COAL*; ANTHRACI'TES, L.;
GLANZKOHLE, Ger. A species of coal found in the transition-rock formation,
consisting chiefly of dense carbon. It has a conchoidal fracture, a
semi-metallic lustre, and a sp. gr. usually varying from 1.4 to 1.6. It
burns without either flame or smoke, emits an intense heat, and leaves
scarcely any ash; but it is difficult to kindle, and requires a lively
draught for its combustion. It is the common fuel in the United States of
America, although, until recently, scarcely employed in Europe, and that
chiefly in a few iron works and steam furnaces. Its adoption in this
country would not merely at once remove the smoke nuisance, but would
produce a vast annual saving to the community. By contracting the throat
of the chimney a little, and avoiding the use of the poker, it may be
burnt in a common grate. The Americans use a little charcoal as kindle,
and seldom supply fresh coal to the fire oftener than once or twice a day.

The inferior varieties of anthracite are technically and provincially
called culm; as is also the small and waste of the better kinds.

For the analysis, geology, calorific value, &c., of anthracite, see COAL,
CULM, EVAPORATION, FUEL, HEAT, &c.

De la Beche describes Anthracite as "a variety of coal containing a larger
proportion of carbon, and less bituminous matter, than common coal."

In the 'Memoirs of the Geological Survey' we read:--"We see the same
series of coal beds becoming so altered in their horizontal range that a
set of beds _bituminous_ in one locality is observed gradually to change
into anthracitic in another. Taking the coal measures of South Wales and
Monmouthshire, we have a series of accumulations in which the coal-beds
become not only more anthracitic toward the west, but also exhibit this
change in a plane which may be considered as dipping south-south-east, at
a moderate angle, the amount of which is not yet clearly ascertained, so
that in the natural sections afforded, we have bituminous coals in the
high grounds and anthracite coals beneath. This fact is readily observed
either in the Neath or Swansea valleys, where we have bituminous coals on
the south and anthracite on the north; and more bituminous coal-beds on
the heights than beneath, some distance up these valleys, those of the
Nedd and Tawe. Though the terms bituminous coal and anthracite, have been
applied to marked differences, the changes are that there is no sudden
modification to be seen. To some of the intermediate kinds the term "free
burning" has been given, and thus three chief differences have been
recognised."

The term _Culm_ is applied both to an inferior kind of anthracite only
worked for lime-making and mixing with clay and to the small pieces of
anthracite obtained in working the beds of true anthracite. It is also
known under the names of _Blind-coal_, _Glance-coal_, and _Kilkenny-coal_.

There are three distinct trades in anthracite. The first one is that where
the coal is sold just as it is brought from the pit. This is termed
_Through Culm_, and is used for lime-burning. This coal is inferior in
quality to that from which the large coal has been removed, and is
sometimes called _Bastard Stone-coal_. The trade in the Neath district is
exclusively of this kind. In Swansea and Llanelly it is partly of this
kind and partly of the kind where the large coal is picked out and sold as
_stone-coal_ for the various purposes to which that coal is put, the small
pieces being left for shipment to places where it is required for
lime-burning, under the name of _stone-coal culm_. No "through culm" is
shipped from Pembrokeshire. Four thousand tons almost in the condition of
dust are annually shipped from Swansea, under the name of _Lambskin_,
being sent to Cardiganshire, where it is used solely for mixing with clay.
This mixture, which is known under the name of _Fireballs_, is used for
household purposes. This mixture, made of the ordinary _stone-coal culm_,
is also in very general use throughout parts of Pembrokeshire and
Carmarthenshire.

Anthracite coal is found in this country at Bideford in Devonshire, at
Walsall in Staffordshire, in the western divisions of the South Wales
coalfield, in Ireland, and near Edinburgh. It is very abundant in America.
In the 'Transactions of the American Geologists' it is stated by Professor
Roger that in the great Apalachian coal-field, 720 miles in extent, with a
chief breadth of 180 miles, the coal is bituminous towards the western
limit, where it is level and unbroken, becoming anthracite towards the
south-west, where it becomes disturbed. Anthracite coal is also found in
the coal-measures of France, more particularly in the departments of
Isere, the high Alps, Gard, Mayenne, and of Sarth. About 42,271,000
kilogrammes (of 22,046 avoirdupois pounds each) form the annual yield.
Anthracite is also obtained in Belgium. "Anthracite is not an original
variety of coal, but a modification of the same beds which remain
bituminous in other parts of the region. Anthracite beds, therefore, are
not separate deposits in another sea, nor coal-measures in another area,
nor interpolations among bituminous coal; but the bituminous beds
themselves altered into a natural coke, from which the volatile bituminous
oils and gases have been driven off."--_Lesley on Coal_.

  ------------------------+-------------------+-------+--------+------
         Locality.        |    Name of Coal.  |Carbon.|Volatile|Ashes.
                          |                   |       |matter. |
  ------------------------+-------------------+-------+--------+------
                          |   _Bituminous_.   |       |        |
                          |                   |       |        |
   Birtley Works,         |                   |       |        |
     Newcastle-on-Tyne    |                   | 60.50 | 35.50  | 4.00
   Alfreton, Derbyshire   |                   | 52.46 | 42.50  | 2.04
                          |                   |       |        |
                          |   _Anthracite_.   |       |        |
                          |                   |       |        |
   Neath Abbey            |Pwlferon Vein,     | 91.08 |  8.00  | 0.92
                          |  5th bed          |       |        |
   Swansea                |Peacock Coal       | 89.00 |  7.50  | 3.50
   Ystalyfera             |Brass Vein         | 92.46 |  6.04  | 1.50
   Cwm Neath              |Nine-feet Vein     | 93.12 |  5.22  | 1.50
   France                 |Anthracite, common | 79.15 |  7.35  |13.25
     "                    |Cote-d'Or          | 82.60 |  8.60  | 8.80
     "                    |Mais Saize         | 83.80 |  7.50  | 9.50
   Pennsylvania           |Beaver Meadow      | 92.30 |  6.42  | 1.28
        "                 |Shenoweth Vein     | 94.10 |  1.40  | 4.50
        "                 |Black Spring Gap   | 80.57 |  7.15  | 3.28
        "                 |Nealey's Tunnel    | 89.20 |  5.40  | 5.40
   Massachusetts          |Mansfield Mine     | 97.00 | 10.50  | 3.00
   Rhode Island           |Portsmouth Mine    | 85.84 | 10.50  | 3.66
   Westphalia             |Shafberg,          | 82.02 |  8.69  | 9.29
                          |  Alexander Seam   |       |        |
  ------------------------+-------------------+-------+--------+------

Anthracite, the exclusive employment of which is for iron-making, steam
engines, and for domestic uses in the United States, was some 60 years
since regarded as incombustible refuse, and as such looked upon as rubbish
and thrown away.

The foregoing analyses of bituminous and anthracite coals will
sufficiently show the difference between the two.

        _Principal Localities of Anthracite and
        Anthracitous Coal._
                                     Weight
                           Specific  of a
  EUROPE.         Gravity.  cubic yard
                                     in lbs.
  South Wales--Swansea       1.263     2131
               Cyfarthfa     1.337     2256
               Ynscedwin     1.354     2284
               Average       1.445     2278
  Ireland--Mean              1.445     2376
  France--Allier             1.380     2207
          Tantal             1.390     2283
          Brassac            1.430     2413
  Belgium--Mons              1.307     2105
  Westphalia                 1.305     2278
  Prussian Saxony            1.466     2474
  Saxony                     1.300     2193

  Average of Europe                    2281

  AMERICA.

  Pennsylvania--
    Lyken's Valley          1.327     2240
    Lebanon Co., Grey Vein  1.379     2327
    Schuylkin Co., Lorberry
      Creek                 1.472     2484
    Pottsville, Sharp Mount 1.412     2382
      Peach                 1.446     2440
      Salem Vein            1.574     2649
    Tamaqua, North Vein     1.600     2700
    Maunch Chunk            1.550     2615
    Nesquehoning            1.558     2646
    Wilkesbarre, best       1.472     2884
    West Mahoney            1.371     2313
      Beaver Meadow         1.600     2700
      Girardville           1.600     2700
      Hazelton              1.550     2615
      Broad Mountain        1.700     2869
      Lackawanna            1.609     2715
  Massachusetts--Mansfield  1.710     2882
  Rhode Island--Portsmouth  1.810     3054

  Average in United States            2601

The calorific value of anthracite coal is well shown by the following
results from Dr Fyfe's experiments, to compare Scotch and English
bituminous coals with anthracite, in regard to their evaporative power, in
a high-pressure boiler of a 4-horse engine having a grate with 8.15 square
feet of surface; also in a waggon-shaped copper boiler, open to the air,
surface 18 feet, grate 1.55:--

  KEY:
  A - Pounds burnt per hour on the Grate.
  B - Duration of the Trial in hours.
  C - Temperature of the Water.
  D - Pounds of Water evaporated from the initial Temperature by 1 lb. of
      coal.
  E - Pounds of Water at 212 deg. from a lb. of Coal.
  F - Coal per hour on one sq. ft. of Grate.
  G - Time in seconds of consuming 1 lb. of Coal.
  H - Pounds evaporated per hour from each sq. ft. of surface.

  -------------------+--------+-------+------+------+-------+-------+--------+------+----------------
     Kind of Fuel    |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      |
      employed.      |    A   |   B   |   C  |  D   |   E   |   F   |    G   |  H   |   Remarks.
  -------------------+--------+-------+------+------+-------+-------+--------+------+----------------
  Middlerig Scotch   |  81.33 | 9     |  45 deg. | 6.66 |  7.74 | 10.00 |  44.27 | ...  |Pressure 17 lbs.
    coal             |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      | per square in.
  Scotch coal,       | 108    | 5     | 170 deg. | 6.62 |  6.89 | 13.25 |  33.33 | ...  |Ditto.
   different variety |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      |
   from preceding    |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      |
  ANTHRACITE         |  47.94 | 8-1/2 |  45 deg. | 8.73 | 10.10 |  5.88 |  75.09 | ...  |Ditto.
  Scotch coal, from  |   8.24 | 8-1/2 |  50 deg. | 5.38 |  6.90 |  5.31 | 436.89 | 3.15 |Lower pressure,
   near Edinburgh    |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      | open copper
                     |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      | boiler.
  English bituminous |   6.07 | 8.4   |  50 deg. | 7.84 |  9.07 |  3.91 | 503.08 | 3.06 |Ditto.
   coal              |        |       |      |      |       |       |        |      |
  -------------------+--------+-------+------+------+-------+-------+--------+------+---------------

Space will not admit of our entering fully into the question of the
evaporative power of anthracite, but its advantages under certain
conditions are fully established.

=AN'THRACOKA'LI=. [Eng., L.] _Syn_. ANTHRAKOKA'LI, ANTHRAK'ALI;
AN'THRACOKA'LI, Hamb. C. 1845. _Prep_. 1. (Polya.) Carbonate of potassa, 6
oz.; quick-lime, 3-1/2 oz.; water, 4 pints; proceed as directed for
solution of potassa, then evaporate the clear liquid, in an iron capsule,
to about 6 fl. oz., add of finely powdered mineral coal 5 oz., boil, with
constant stirring, to dryness, and continue the stirring at a reduced
heat, until the whole is converted into a homogeneous black powder, which
must be at once placed in small, dry, and well-stoppered phials.

2. (Hamb. C. 1845; Ph. Baden, 1841.) Hydrate of potassa, 7 dr.; melt, add
of cannel coal, 5 dr., and then proceed as before.

_Prop. &c._ A deliquescent black powder, with a caustic taste, and
empyreumatic smell; 10 gr. with 1 fl. oz. of water, after filtration,
forms a clear, dark brown solution, giving a precipitate with acids,
without effervescence.--_Dose_, 1 to 3 gr., twice or thrice daily; and
externally, made into a pomade or ointment (1/2 to 1 dr., to lard, 1 oz.);
in skin diseases (particularly herpetic eruptions), scrofula, chronic
rheumatism, &c. It has been highly extolled by Dr Gilbert, and by its
inventor, Dr Polya; but apparently undeservedly.

=Anthracokali Sulphuretted.= _Syn._ ANTHRACOKALI SULPHURETUM, L. _Prep._
(Polya.) As formula 1 (_above_), but adding sulphur, 4 dr., immediately
after stirring in the powdered coal.--_Dose_, _use_, &c., as the last. See
FULIGOKALI.

=ANTHRACOM'ETER.= _Syn._ ANTRACOM'ETRUM, L.; ANTHRACOMETRE, Fr.;
KOHLENSAeUREMESSER, Ger. An apparatus used to determine the heating power
or commercial value of coal, or other fuel; also an instrument for finding
the proportion of carbonic acid in any gaseous mixture.

=ANTHRAPURPURIN.= C_{14}H_{8}O_{5}.--A colouring matter obtained as a
secondary product in the preparation of alizarin from anthracen. It may be
prepared by dissolving the crude colouring matter in a dilute solution of
carbonate of soda, and shaking up the resulting solution with freshly
precipitated alumina, which combines with the alizarin, leaving the
anthrapurpurin in solution. This is filtered off from the alizarin lake,
heated to boiling, and acidified with hydrochloric acid. The colouring
matter which is precipitated is thrown on to a filter, washed and dried.

Anthrapurpurin has about the same affinity for mordants as alizarin. It
forms red with alumina, and purple and black with iron mordants. The reds
are much purer and less blue in colour than those of the alizarin, whilst
the purples are bluer and the blacks more intense. The anthrapurpurin
colours resist soap and light quite as effectively as those produced with
alizarin. When employed to dye Turkey-red, anthrapurpurin gives a very
brilliant scarlet shade of colour, which is of remarkable durability.

=ANTHYPNOTICS= (-th[)i]p-). _Syn._ ANTIHYPNOT'ICS (-h[)i]p-), &c. See
AGRIPNOTICS.

=AN'TI-.= [Gr., [Greek: anti], against.] In _composition_, before,
against, contrary to, corrective of, &c., more especially representing
antagonism or opposition; whilst the Latin _ante-_ is generally used in
the sense of before, having reference to precedence either of place or
time.

_Anti-_ is a common prefix in English words derived from the Greek and
Latin, especially those connected with pharmacology and medicine, the
final _i_ being either dropped or retained (but generally the first)
before a, e, and h; as in antacid, antibilious, anti-emetic, anthelmintic,
anti-corbutic, antiseptic, &c., whether used as adjectives or
substantives. These compounds, which are very numerous, are in general
self-explanatory.

=AN'TIARINE= (-[)i]n; -ti'--Brande). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AN'THIARINE, Eng.,
Fr.; ANTIARI'NA, ANTHIARI'NA, ANTIA''RIA, UPA'SIA (-zh'[)a]), L. The
active principle of the upas poison of Java. It is extracted from the
partially inspissated juice (upas poison) of the upas tree by alcohol, and
may be obtained under the form of small pearly crystalline scales by
careful evaporation.--_Prod._ About 3-1/2% (Mulder).

_Prop., &c._ Soluble in 27 parts of boiling water; freely soluble in
alcohol; scarcely so in ether; heat decomposes it. It is a frightful
poison, to which no antidote is known. Even a minute quantity introduced
into a wound rapidly brings on vomiting, convulsions, and death. "It
renders the heart insensible to the stimulus of the blood." (Sir B.
Brodie.)

=ANTI-ATTRI''TION= (-tr[)i]sh'-) [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ANTIFRICTION GREASE,
AXLE-GREASE, FRICTION COMPO', LU'BRICATING COMPOUND, &c. _Prep._ 1. Good
plumbago (black lead), finely powdered and sifted, so as to be perfectly
free from grit, is gradually added, through a sieve, to 5 times its weight
of good lard contained in an iron pan and rendered semi-fluid, but _not_
liquid, by a gentle heat; the mass being vigorously stirred with a strong
wooden spatula, after each addition, until the mixture is complete, and
the composition smooth and uniform. The heat is then gradually raised
until the whole liquefies, when the vessel is removed from the fire to a
cool situation, and the stirring, which should have been unremitted,
continued until the mixture is quite cold. It is applied in the cold
state, with a brush, about once a day, according to the velocity of the
parts; and is said to be fully 3-4ths cheaper in use than oil, tallow,
tar, or any of the ordinary compo's. When intended for uses in which it
will be exposed to warmth, and consequent waste by dripping, a part, or
even the whole of the lard is replaced by hard strained grease or tallow,
or a little bees' wax is added during its manufacture.

2. Black lead, 1 part; tallow or grease, 4 parts; ground together until
perfectly smooth, either with or without camphor, 3 to 5 _lbs._ per cwt.
Expired patent.

3. Scotch soda, 60 _lbs._; water, 30 _galls._; dissolve in a capacious
boiler, and palm oil and hard tallow, of each 1-1/4 _cwt._, and having
withdrawn the heat, stir vigorously as before, until the mass is
homogeneous and nearly solidified. In hot weather the proportion of tallow
is increased, and that of the palm oil diminished; in winter, the reverse.
Used for the axles of railway carriages and other coarse purposes. For
express trains all tallow is usually employed, irrespective of the
weather or season.

4. Melt, but avoid boiling, 16 _lbs._ tallow, and dissolve in it 2-1/4
_lbs._ of sugar of lead; then add 3 _lbs._ of black antimony. The mixture
must be constantly stirred till cold. This composition is for cooling the
necks of shafts, and may be of service where the shafts are not of the
proper length, or the bearings are at fault.

5. Lard, 2-1/2 _lbs._; camphor, 1 _oz._; black lead, 1/2 _lb._ Rub the
camphor in a mortar, into a paste with a small portion of the lard; then
add the remainder of the lard and the black lead, and thoroughly mix.

6. (_Railway Grease._)--For summer use, tallow, 1 _cwt._ 3 _qrs._; palm
oil, 1 _cwt._ 1 _qr._ For autumn or spring, tallow, 1 _cwt._ 2 _qrs._;
palm oil, 1 _cwt._ 2 _qrs._ For winter, tallow, 1 _cwt._ 1 _qr._; palm
oil, 1 _cwt._ 3 _qrs._ Melt the tallow in a boiler, then add to it the
palm oil as soon as the mixture boils, and put out the fire. When the
mixture, which should now be frequently stirred, has cooled down to blood
heat (98 deg. to 100 deg. F.), it should be run through a sieve into a solution of
from 56 to 60 _lbs._ of soda in about 3 _galls._ of water. Thoroughly mix
by stirring.

7. Bean or rye flour, 1 _cwt._; water, 6 _cwt._; mix to a smooth paste,
raise the heat until the mixture boils, and stir in first of milk of lime
(of about the consistence of cream), 7 _cwt._; resin-oil, 10 _cwt._; and
stir vigorously until cold. Inferior.

8. (Booth's.)--_a._ From Scotch soda, 1/2 _lb._; boiling water, 1 _gall._;
palm oil or tallow, or any mixture of them, 10 _lbs._; as before,
observing to continue the stirring until the mixture has cooled down to
60 deg. or 70 deg. Fahr.

_b._ Soda, 1/2 _lb._; water and rape-oil, of each 1 _gall._; tallow or
palm-oil, 1/2 _lb._; as last. Expired patent.

9. (Mankettrick's.) From caoutchouc (dissolved in oil of turpentine), 4
_lbs._; Scotch soda, 10 _lbs._; glue, 1 _lb._; (dissolved in) water, 10
_galls._; oil, 10 _galls._; thoroughly incorporated by assiduous stirring,
adding the caoutchouc last.

10. (LIARD, Fr.). Finest rape-oil, 1 _gall._; caoutchouc (cut small), 3
_oz._; dissolve with heat.

_Uses, &c._ To lessen friction in machinery, prevent the bearings rusting,
&c. The simplest are perhaps the best. Of late years several different
liquid hydrocarbons obtained from coal, and particularly paraffin oil,
have been extensively employed in this way. See FRICTION, LUBRICATION, &c.

=ANTIBIL'IOUS= (-y[)u]s). _Syn._ ANTIBILIO'SUS, L.; ANTIBILIEUX, Fr. An
epithet of medicines that are supposed to remove ailments depending on
disordered action of the liver. Aperients, mercurials, and aloetic
purgatives generally, belong to this class. See ABERNETHY MEDICINES, BILE,
PILLS, &c.

=ANTICAR'DIUM.= See REVIVER (Black).

=ANTI-CHOLERA ACID= (H. Ludwig, Vienna; also an American preparation). "A
proved cure and preventive of cholera." Diluted sulphuric acid, 1 part;
wine, 5 parts; water, 10 parts. (Hager, Buchner, and Wittstein.)

=ANTI-CHOLERA WATER= (Eau Anticholerique de Duboc, Paris), for lead colic
and a preventive of cholera. Composed of water with some brandy and 1/2
per cent. of sulphuric acid. (Gmelin.)

=AN'TICHLORE= (-kl[=o]re). Among _bleachers_, any substance, agent, or
means, by which the pernicious after-affects of chlorine are prevented.
Washing with a weak solution of sulphite of soda (which converts any
adhering 'bleaching salt' into sulphate, sulphide, or chloride) is
commonly adopted for this purpose. Recently chloride of tin, used in the
same way, has been recommended. A cheap sulphite of lime, prepared by
agitating milk of lime with the fumes of burning sulphur, and draining and
air-drying the product, has been lately patented in England and America,
by Prof. Horsford, under the name of 'ANTICHLORIDE OF LIME,' See
BLEACHING, &c.

=AN'TIDOTE= (-d[=o]te). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ANTID'OTUM, ANTID'OTUS, L.;
ANTIDOT, GEGENGIFT, Ger. In _medicine_, _toxicology_, &c., a substance
administered to counteract or lessen the effects of poison.

The principal poisons, with their antidotes, are noticed under their
respective heads. Also see POISONS, TOXICOLOGY, &c.

=ANTI-EPILEPTICUM= (Wepler, Berlin), known as Wepler's Krampfpulver.
Magnesia alba, 5 parts; rad. dictamni, 15 parts; rad. zedoar, 12 parts;
rad. artemis, 8 parts; soot, 1/2 part; ol. valerian, 1/2 part; ol.
cajeputi, 1/4 part.

Dr Hager is the authority for the above, and he adds that formerly the
same proprietor sold a remedy which consisted of a black powder made by
carbonising hempen thread.

=ANTIFER'MENT= (pop. and more us., in this sense, _an'tiferment'_). [Eng.,
Fr.] _Syn._ ANTIFERMEN'TUM, L. Any substance which prevents or arrests
fermentation. Several nostrums are sold under this name in the
cider-districts. The following are tried and useful formulae:--

_Prep._ 1. Sulphite (not sulph_ate_) of lime, in fine powder, 1 part;
marble-dust, ground oyster-shells, or chalk, 7 parts; mix, and pack tight,
so as to exclude the air.

2. Sulphite (not sulph_ate_) of potassa, 1 part; new black-mustard seed
(ground in a pepper-mill), 7 parts; mix, and pack so as to perfectly
exclude air and moisture. _Dose_ (of either), 1/2 _oz._ to 1-1/2 _oz._ per
_hhd._

3. Mustard-seed, 14 _lbs._; cloves and capsicum, of each 1-1/4 _lb._; mix,
and grind them to powder in a pepper-mill. _Dose_, 1/4 to 1/2 _lb._ per
_hhd._

_Uses, &c._ The above formulae are infinitely superior to those commonly
met with in trade; and are quite harmless. A portion of any one of them
added to cider, or perry, soon allays fermentation, when excessive, or
when it has been renewed. The first formula is preferred when there is a
tendency to acidity. The second and third may be advantageously used for
wine and beer, as well as for cider. That of the third formula greatly
improves the flavour and the apparent strength of the liquor, and also
improves its keeping qualities. See CELLAR-MANAGEMENT, FERMENTATION, &c.

=ANTI-FRIC'TION METAL.= _Prep._ 1. From tin, 16 to 20 parts; antimony, 2
parts; lead, 1 part; fused together, and then blended with copper, 80
parts. Used where there is much friction or high velocity.

2. Zinc, 6 parts; tin, 1 part; copper, 20 parts. Used when the metal is
exposed to violent shocks.

3. Lead, 1 part; tin, 2 parts; zinc, 4 parts; copper, 68 parts. Used when
the metal is exposed to heat.

4. (Babbet's.) Tin, 48 to 50 parts; antimony, 5 parts; copper, 1 part.

5. (Fenton's.) Tin with some zinc, and a little copper.

6. (Ordinary.) Tin, or hard pewter, with or without a small portion of
antimony or copper. Without the last it is apt to spread out under the
weight of heavy machinery. Used for the bearings of locomotive engines,
&c.

_Obs._ These alloys are usually supported by bearings of brass, into which
it is poured after they have been tinned, and heated and put together with
an exact model of the axle, or other working piece, plastic clay being
previously applied, in the usual manner, as a lute or outer mould. Soft
gun-metal is also excellent, and is much used for bearings. They all
become less heated in working than the harder metals, and less grease or
oil is consequently required when they are used. See ALLOYS, FRICTION, &c.

=ANTIGUG'GLER.= A small bent tube of glass or metal inserted into casks
and carboys, to admit air over the liquor whilst it is being poured out or
drawn off, so that the sediment may not be disturbed.

=ANTIHECTICUM POTERII.= Fuse together 4 parts of regulus of antimony, and
5-1/2 of fine tin; pour it on a metal plate, reduce it to powder, and
deflagrate it in a red-hot crucible with 15 parts of nitre; keep it hot
for some time, then wash it, and dry it with a gentle heat.--_Dose_, two
to ten grains in hectic fevers.

=ANTILITHIC.= See LITHONTRYPTICS.

=ANTIMO''NIAL= (-m[=o]ne'y-'[)a]l).[67] [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ANTIMONIA'LIS,
L. Pertaining to, composed of, or containing antimony. In _medicine_ and
_pharmacy_, applied to preparations or remedies (ANTIMO''NIALS;
ANTIMONIA''LIA, L.) in which antimony, or one of its compounds, is the
leading or characteristic ingredient.

[Footnote 67: Antimon'ial (--Mayne) is a barbarism.]

=ANTIMO'NIATED.= _Syn._ ANTIMONIA'TUS, L. Mixed or impregnated with
antimony; antimonial.

=ANTIMON'IC ACID.= _Syn._ ACIDUM ANTIMON'ICUM, L.; ACIDE ANTIMONIQUE, Fr.;
ANTIMONSAeURE, Ger.

_Prep._ 1. Pure metallic antimony, in coarse powder, or small fragments,
is digested in excess of concentrated nitric acid, until the oxidation and
conversion is complete; the excess of nitric acid is then removed by
evaporation nearly to dryness, and the residuum thrown into cold distilled
water; after which the powder (ANTIMONIC ACID) is collected on a calico
filter, washed with distilled water, and dried by a gentle heat. Pure.

2. Metallic antimony (in powder), 1 part; powdered nitre, 6 or 8 parts;
are mixed and ignited or deflagrated in a silver crucible; the mass, when
cold, is powdered; the excess of alkali washed out with hot water, and the
residuum (ANTIMONIATE OF POTASSIUM) decomposed with hydrochloric acid;
lastly, the precipitate (ANTIMONIC ACID) is washed and dried as before.

That obtained by the first process is dibasic, and has the formula
H_{2}Sb_{2}O_{6}, while that produced by the second process is tetrabasic,
and has the formula H_{4}Sb_{2}O_{7}; the former is called simply
antimonic acid, the latter metantimonic acid.

_Prop._ Antimonic acid is a soft white powder, sparingly soluble in water,
reddens litmus, and is dissolved, even in the cold, by strong hydrochloric
acid and by potash. The hydrochloric solution, mixed with a small quantity

of water, yields, after a while, a precipitate of antimonic acid; but if
diluted with a large quantity of water, it remains clear. Ammonia does not
dissolve it in the cold. By heating with a large excess of caustic potash
it is converted into metantimonic acid.

Metantimonic acid is more readily dissolved by acids than antimonic acid,
and is dissolved by ammonia, after a while, even at ordinary temperatures.
It is also perfectly soluble in a large quantity of water, and is
precipitated therefrom by acids. It is very unstable, and easily changes
into antimonic acid, even in water.

=ANTIMONIC ANHYDRIDE= (Sb_{2}O_{5}). _Syn._ ANTIMONIC OXIDE, ANHYDROUS
ANTIMONIC ACID, PENTOXIDE OF ANTIMONY. Antimonic or metantimonic acid,
heated to a temperature below redness, loses water and yields the
anhydride, Sb_{2}O_{5}. Antimonic anhydride is a yellowish-white powder,
tasteless and insoluble in water and acids. Boiled with a solution of
caustic potash, it is dissolved. If fused with carbonate of potassium,
carbonic anhydride is expelled, and a salt is produced from which
antimonic acid is precipitated by acids.

=ANTIMONIOUS ACID.= See ANTIMONY, TETROXIDE of.

=AN'TIMONETTED.= _Syn._ ANTIMO''NIURETTED; ANTIMONIA'TUS, L. Combined with
or containing antimony. See HYDROGEN, &c.

=AN'TIMONY= (-te-m[)u]n-e). _Syn._ METAL'LIC ANTIMONY*, REG'ULUS OF
A.[dagger]; ANTIMO''NIUM, A. METAL'LICUM, STIB'IUM, METAL'LUM
ANTIMO''NII[dagger], A. REG'ULUS[dagger], &c., L.; ANTIMOINE, Fr.;
ANTIMON, SPIESSGLANZ, SPIESSGLAS, SPIESSGLANZMETALL, Ger.; ANTIMONIO, It.,
Sp. The term formerly applied to the native sulphide or greyish-black
semi-crystalline ore of antimony; but now solely appropriated to the pure
metal.

_Sources._ Metallic antimony, in combination with silver and iron (NATIVE
ANTIMONY), with sulphur (GREY SULPHIDE OF A.), or with nickel
(NICKELIF'EROUS SULPHIDE OF A.) is found in Bohemia, Hungary, Germany,
Sweden, France, England, Borneo, and America; and oxidised, combined with
oxide of iron, &c. (ANTIMO''NIAL, O'CHRE, RED ANTIMONY, WHITE A.[68]),
forming ores, either small in quantity or of little value, in various
parts of the world. Of these the only one in sufficient abundance for
smelting is the common sulphide known as 'grey antimony' or 'stibnite.'

[Footnote 68: White A. occurs in considerable quantities in Borneo, and is
used after roasting as a white pigment for iron and other surfaces.]

[Illustration:

  _a_, _b_, Grate and fire-place.
  _c_, Bridge.
  _d_, Air-channel.
  _e_, Concave space for ore, resting on a solid bed _f_, formed of
      sand and clay.
  _g_, Door for introducing the ore, and abstracting residuary slag.
  _h_, Pipe to convey away the liquid metal.
  _i_, Chimney.]

_Prep._ Native antimony is freed from impurities by fusion. The sulphide,
after being melted from the gangue, is commonly oxidised by exposure on
the concave hearth of a reverberatory furnace, and is then reduced to the
metallic state by fusion in crucibles with coal-dust, crude tartar, or
some other deoxidising agent. To free the product from iron, it is
generally fused, or re-fused, with a little antimonic oxide; and when the
ore contains arsenic, iron, or its oxide, and an alkaline carbonate or
sulphate, are used in the same way. It is seldom prepared on the small
scale. The following formulae are in use, or are recommended:--

1. On the SMALL SCALE:--

_a._ From tersulphide of antimony, in coarse powder, 2 parts; iron
filings, 1 part; fused together in a covered crucible, at a heat gradually
raised to dull redness.

_b._ From the teroxide or the oxychloride of antimony, fused together, as
before, with twice its weight of crude tartar.

_c._ (Ph. Castr. Ru. 1840.) Sulphide of antimony, 16 parts; cream of
tartar, 6 parts; both in powder; throw the mixture, in small quantities at
a time, into a vessel (an earthen crucible) heated to redness; when the
reaction is over (having closely covered the vessel), fuse the mass, and
after a quarter of an hour pour it out, and separate the metal from the
slag.

_d._ From sulphide of antimony, 8 parts; crude tartar, 6 parts; nitre, 3
parts; as last.

_e._ (Woehler.) Sulphide of antimony, 10 parts; nitre, 12 parts; dry
carbonate of soda, 15 parts; deflagrate together; powder the resulting
mass, and wash it thoroughly with boiling water; lastly, smelt the dried
residuum with black flux. All the preceding are nearly pure; the impurity,
if any, being traces of copper, lead, or iron.

_f._ (Berzelius.) From metallic antimony, in fine powder, 2 parts;
teroxide of antimony, 1 part; fused together. The product will be pure
provided the antimony employed is free from lead.

_g._ (Muspratt.) From antimony, 9 parts; peroxide of manganese, 1 part;
fused together; the resulting metal being re-fused with 1-10th of its
weight of carbonate of soda.

2. On the LARGE SCALE--commercial:--

_a._ See _above_ (before 1 _a_.).

_b._ From sulphide of antimony, 100 parts; iron (in very small scraps), 40
parts; dry crude sulphate of soda, 10 parts; powdered charcoal, 2-1/2
parts; fused together.--_Prod._ 60 to 65 parts of antimony, besides the
scoriae or ash, which is also valuable.

_c._ (Berthier.) Sulphide of antimony, 100 parts; hammerschlag (rough
oxide or iron from the shingling or rolling mills), 60 parts; crude
carbonate or sulphate of soda, 45 to 50 parts; charcoal powder, 10 parts;
as last.--_Prod._ 65 to 70 parts.

_Prop., &c._ Bluish-white, lustrous, with a lamellar texture, and a
crystalline or semi-crystalline fracture, with fern-leaf markings on the
surface, when pure (star antimony); extremely brittle (may be powdered);
imparts brittleness to its alloys (even 1-1000th part added to gold
renders it unfit for the purposes of coinage and the arts); melts at
809-810 deg. Fahr., or just under redness; fumes, boils, and volatilises at a
white heat, and, when suddenly exposed to the air, inflames with
conversion into the teroxide, which is deposited in beautiful flowers or
crystals; when perfectly pure and fused without contact with air or
foreign matter, it bears an intense heat without subliming (Thenard);
allowed to cool slowly from a state of perfect fusion, it crystallises in
octahedrons or dodecahedrons; tarnishes, but does not rust by exposure to
air or moisture at common temperatures; hot hydrochloric acid dissolves
it, with the formation of TRICHLORIDE OF ANTIMONY; nitric acid, when
concentrated, converts it into ANTIMONIC ACID; and when dilute, into
TRIOXIDE OF ANTIMONY. Sp. gr. 6.7 to 6.8.[69]

[Footnote 69: When perfectly pure, 6715--Ure.]

_Tests._ Metallic antimony may be recognised by the above properties; its
oxide, salts, &c., by the following reactions:--1. Sulphuretted hydrogen
gives, with acid solutions, an orange-red precipitate, which is sparingly
soluble in ammonia,[70] and insoluble in dilute acids; but readily soluble
in pure potassa and alkaline sulphides, and in hot hydrochloric acid with
the evolution of sulphuretted hydrogen gas:--2. Sulphydrate of ammonium
gives an orange-red precipitate, readily soluble in excess of the
precipitant, if this latter contains sulphur in excess; and the liquor
containing the re-dissolved precipitate gives a yellow or orange-yellow
precipitate on the addition of an acid:--3. Ammonia and potassa, and their
carbonates, give (except in solutions of tartar emetic) a bulky white
precipitate; that with ammonia and its carbonate being insoluble in excess
of the precipitant; that with potassa, readily so; whilst that with
carbonate of potassium is only soluble on the application of heat:--4. A
rod of zinc throws down metallic antimony, as a black powder, from all its
solutions not containing free nitric acid. If the experiment be made with
a few drops of a solution of antimony containing a little free
hydrochloric acid, and a small platinum dish or capsule be employed, the
part covered by the liquid is soon stained brown or blackish, and the
stain is irremovable by cold hydrochloric acid, but may be easily removed
by warm nitric acid:--5. By ebullition of the acidulated liquid along with
copper gauze, foil, or wire, as noticed under 'Reinsch's Test.'[71] The
peculiar violet-grey of the deposit is characteristic, and may easily be
distinguished from that given by arsenical solutions:--6. Mixed with
dilute sulphuric acid and poured on some metallic zinc in a gas-generating
flask, provided with a small bent tube (see _engr._), it yields
ANTIMONETTED HYDROGEN (Marsh's test), recognised by burning with a
bluish-green flame, and furnishing dense white fumes which adhere readily
to any cold substance (as a porcelain plate) held over it; or, if the
plate be depressed upon the flame, a deep black, and almost lustreless
spot of metallic antimony; the fumes and spots in both cases being
insoluble in water, and in dilute solution of chloride (crude
hypochlorite) of soda. On heating the centre of the tube to redness with a
spirit lamp, the bluish-green colour of the flame lessens in intensity,
and a mirror of metallic antimony, of silvery lustre, forms inside the
tube at the ignited part. On passing dry sulphuretted hydrogen through the
tube, still heated by a spirit lamp, this mirror assumes a reddish-yellow
colour, approaching black in its thicker parts; and by exposure to a
feeble stream of hydrochloric acid gas, almost immediately, or in a few
seconds, disappears, being carried off by the gas, which, if passed into a
little distilled water, yields a solution of chloride of antimony, which
may be further submitted to any of the usual tests.[71] If the substance
be in the solid state, it must be reduced to powder and dissolved in
water; or if insoluble in that menstruum, a solution must be obtained by
digestion in either hot hydrochloric or nitrohydrochloric acid, before
proceeding to examine it by this method.

[Footnote 70: The like precipitate from a solution of antimonic acid in
hydrochloric acid, dissolves readily in ammonia, particularly when
heated.]

[Footnote 71: See ARSENIOUS ACID.]

[Illustration:

  _a_, Flask containing the suspected fluid, dilute sulphuric acid,
      and zinc.
  _b_, Small tube, at the one end having an almost capillary
      orifice, where the gas is inflamed.
  _c_, Spirit-lamp.
  _d_, Support.]

_Estim._ Antimony is generally WEIGHED under the form of tersulphide; but
sometimes as antimonious anhydride, and--though more seldom--as pure
metal:--

1. A solution being obtained as above, if necessary, it is strongly
acidulated with tartaric acid, and the antimony thrown down as a sulphide
by a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen. After warming the solution and
allowing it to cool, the precipitate (TERSULPHIDE) is collected on a
filter, dried, and weighed. A small portion digested in strong
hydrochloric acid will completely dissolve if it be the pure sulphide; in
which case the quantity of ANTIMONY sought will be equal to 71-1/2%
(71.5%) of the weight of the sulphide found (very nearly).[72] Should only
part of the precipitate be soluble, a known weight of it may be introduced
into a flask, and a considerable quantity of fuming nitric acid added,
drop by drop, and afterwards, a little hydrochloric acid, the mixture
being digested, at a gentle heat, until the reaction is complete, and the
whole of the sulphur is dissolved. The resulting solution diluted with
water, strongly acidulated with tartaric acid, and solution of chloride of
barium added as long as it disturbs the liquid, yields a precipitate, of
which the weight, after it has been thoroughly washed, dried, and gently
ignited, multiplied by 136, gives the quantity of SULPHUR in the sample;
and which, deducted from the weight of the sulphide first found, gives the
quantity of pure ANTIMONY, as before.

[Footnote 72: Tersulphide of antimony dried at 212 deg. Fahr. still retains
traces of water, which is not wholly expelled until the heat reaches
390-392 deg., when it acquires a black colour and a crystalline appearance.]

2. The quantity of PURE ANTIMONY in commercial samples may be determined
by treating them (in powder) with nitric acid, which oxidises the antimony
and leaves it in an insoluble state, whilst it dissolves the other metals.
The resulting oxide is collected on a filter, washed, dried, ignited in an
open porcelain crucible, and weighed--its weight multiplied by .7898 gives
the quantity of pure metal sought.

3. Dissolve a known weight of the sample in hydrochloric acid, immerse a
blade of pure metallic tin in the solution, and keep the liquor acidulous,
and in a state of gentle ebullition by the heat of a sand bath, when the
whole of the ANTIMONY will be precipitated under the form of a black
powder, and may be collected, washed, dried, and weighed. This is
particularly adapted to alloys of antimony and tin. See _Tests_ (above)
and _Pur._ (below).

_Pur._ The antimony of commerce generally contains a little arsenic, with
variable quantities of iron, lead, sulphur, and tin. These impurities may
be thus detected:--

1. (Arsenic.) By fusing the sample, in powder, mixed with about an equal
weight of tartrate or bitartrate of potassium, in a covered crucible, for
2 or 3 hours, and placing the resulting button, which is an alloy of
antimony and potassium, in a 'Marsh's apparatus' along with a little
water, when the disengagement of hydrogen gas will commence, and may be
tested in the usual manner. See ARSENIC.

2. (Iron.) Dissolve the powdered sample in nitrohydrochloric acid, dilute
the solution with a large quantity of cold water, filter, and pass a
current of sulphuretted hydrogen through the filtrate as long as it
produces a precipitate; again filter, boil the filtered liquor for a few
minutes to drive off the sulphuretted hydrogen, and then test it with
ferrocyanide of potassium, which will give a blue precipitate if iron be
present; or supersaturate the last filtrate with ammonia, and then add
hydrosulphydrate of ammonium, when, under like conditions, a black
precipitate will be formed.

3. (Lead.) Digest the powdered sample in hot nitric acid, which will
dissolve out the LEAD but leave the antimony behind. The whitish powdery
residuum may be washed, dried, ignited, and weighed, as above; the clear
decanted liquor may now be mixed with the first washings, evaporated to
dryness, the residuum re-dissolved in water, and the solution submitted to
reagents (see LEAD). If lead is found to be present, a solution of
sulphate of sodium may be added until it ceases to disturb the liquid, and
the resulting precipitate (sulphate of lead) washed, dried, and gently
ignited (alone) in a porcelain crucible; the weight of the ignited
residuum furnishes a number which, multiplied by .683, gives the weight of
the LEAD sought.

4. (Sulphur.) The solution in nitrohydrochloric acid, when tested with
either nitrate or chloride of barium, gives a white precipitate of
sulphate of barium, insoluble in both water and acids, which when dried,
ignited, and weighed, and the weight multiplied by .136, gives the
quantity of SULPHUR as before. In this case, as with the sulphides (see
_above_), free sulphur maybe removed by digesting and washing the powdered
sample in bisulphide of carbon, previous to its solution in the acid, by
which the violence of the subsequent reaction will be lessened.

5. (Tin.) Two samples of equal weight are taken; the one is tested for
ANTIMONY, as described above; the other is dissolved in a mixture of equal
parts of hydrochloric and nitrohydrochloric acid, and a blade of zinc
immersed in the solution (see _above_); the mixed precipitate of tin and
antimony which forms is collected on a weighed filter, washed, dried, and
weighed. The weight of antimony in the first sample subtracted from that
now obtained, leaves a remainder which indicates the quantity of TIN in
the original sample.

_Phys. eff., &c._ Nearly all the salts and preparations of antimony are
emetic and cathartic, and in large doses poisonous--occasioning vomiting,
profuse alvine dejections, acute colic, and inflammation of the stomach
and bowels, often serious, though rarely resulting in death. TARTAR EMETIC
and BUTTER OF ANTIMONY are those from which accidents have principally
occurred.--_Ant., &c._ Copious vomiting, if it has not already occurred,
should be promoted, and the recently prepared hydrated sulphide of iron
administered in considerable doses, followed or accompanied by
mucilaginous drinks and diuretics. If much prostration follows, wine and
stimulants may be had recourse to. In the absence of hydrated sulphide of
iron, a solution of tannin, or decoction of galls; cinchona, or oak bark,
or even powdered cinchona, mixed with tepid water, may be administered.

_Uses._ In the _arts_, antimony enters into the composition of several
useful alloys, as TYPE-METAL, PEWTER, BRITANNIA-METAL, MUSIC-PLATE METAL,
&c. It is added to the alloy for concave mirrors, to give them a finer
texture; to bell metal, to render it more sonorous; and to various other
metals to increase their hardness and fusibility; for the latter purpose
it is employed in the casting of cannon balls.

_Concluding Remarks._ In 'roasting' or oxidising the native sulphide of
antimony on the bed of the reverberatory furnace, as in the common method
before referred to, care must be taken to regulate and gradually raise the
heat, which, until towards the end of the process, need not be extreme,
and then only should it approach dull redness. Without this precaution
much of the undecomposed sulphide will be lost by volatilisation. During
the whole time the 'charge' should also be well stirred with an iron
spatula, to ensure the constant exposure of every part of it to the
atmosphere. The process is complete when the whole mass assumes a
greyish-white appearance. Earthen crucibles are commonly employed for the
subsequent reduction, and after being charged and covered over with ground
charcoal, are heated in a reverberatory furnace. The product is the crude
metallic antimony of commerce. It is generally REFINED by smelting it with
about 1-8th of its weight of the refined sulphide, and about 1-4th of its
weight of carbonate or sulphate of soda; but if there be much iron
present, more of the sulphide--even 1-4th--may be required; for unless
there be sufficient sulphur to combine with the whole of the iron, the
arsenic will not be oxidised, but remain as a contamination. When cold,
the metal is carefully separated from the slag, and is frequently re-fused
with a little fresh carbonate of soda (1 to 1-1/2 part); after which it is
cast into pigs, lumps, or ingots. The crude metal, thus treated, commonly
yields 94% of REFINED METAL of tolerable purity.

Should lead have been present in the sulphide or ore, it remains after a
second, or even a third fusion, although proportionately reduced in
quantity; and it can only be completely separated in the humid way. It is,
therefore, always desirable to select an ore free from lead.

=Antimony, Ash of.= _Syn._ ANTIMONY-ASH, CALCINED' ANTIMONY*; CI'NIS
ANTIMO''NII, ANTIMO''NIUM CALCINA'TUM*, L. Prepared by roasting the common
grey sulphide of antimony on an iron plate set under a chimney, to carry
off the fumes. The product is a mixture of teroxide of antimony, with some
unburnt sulphide, and a little antimonious acid.

_Prop., &c._ Ash-grey; emetic in small doses. Used chiefly as a cheap
substitute for teroxide of antimony by the manufacturers of tartar emetic;
also to make metallic antimony.

=Antimony, Butt'er of.= See ANTIMONY, TRICHLORIDE OF.

=Antimony, Calx of.= _Syn._ CALX ANTIMO''NII, L. Sometimes applied to
antimony-ash, but more commonly to crude, unwashed diaphoretic antimony.

=Antimony, Calx of= (Sul'phurated). _Syn._ ANTIMO''NII CALX SULPHURA'TA,
L. _Prep._ (Hufeland.) Calcined oyster-shells, 10 parts; sulphur, 4 parts;
crude antimony, 3 parts; powder, mix, and calcine in a luted crucible for
an hour. Emetic, resolvent, and alterative.--_Dose_, 1 to 6 gr.; in gout,
rheumatism, scrofula, &c.

=Antimony, Ce'ruse of.= _Syn._ ANTIMO''NII CERUS'SA, L. _Prep._ (Bate.) As
diaphoretic antimony (over which it possesses no advantage), merely using
the metal instead of the sulphide.

An old preparation made by igniting antimony in the sun's rays, by means
of a lens, was called ANTIMONII CERUSSA SOLA''RIS.

=Antimony, Chlo''rides of= (kl[=o]re'-[=i]dz):--

=1. Antimony, Trichloride of.= SbCl_{2}. _Syn._ TERCHLORIDE OF ANTIMONY,
ANTIMONIOUS CHLORIDE, CHLO''RIDE OF ANTIMONY, SESQUICHLORIDE OF A., BUTTER
OF A., CAU'STIC ANTIMONY[dagger], &c.; ANTIMO''NII CHLORI'DUM, A.
TERCHLORI'DUM, A. BU'TYRUM*, &c., L.; CHLORURE D'ANTIMOINE, BEURRE
D'ANTIMOINE, &c., Fr.; ANTIMON-CHLORID, SPIESSGLANZ-BUTTER, Ger. This is
the substance of which common chloride, or butter of antimony, of the
shops, is an impure concentrated solution containing free acid.

_Prep._ 1. SOLID, ANHYDROUS:--

_a._ Pure commercial tersulphide of antimony, in coarse powder, 1 part;
concentrated hydrochloric acid, 5 parts; are mixed in a capacious
stoneware or glass vessel set under a chimney with a quick draught, to
convey away the fumes, the whole being constantly stirred, and, as the
effervescence slackens, a gradually increasing gentle heat applied until
solution is complete; the resulting liquid is put into a retort, and
distilled, until each drop of the distillate, as it falls into the aqueous
liquid which has previously passed over into the receiver, produces a
copious white precipitate; the receiver is then changed, and the
distillation continued, when pure TRICHLORIDE OF ANTIMONY passes over, and
solidifies on cooling to a white and highly crystalline mass, which must
be carefully excluded from the air.

_b._ From pure metallic antimony, 2 parts; bichloride of mercury, 5 parts;
both in fine powder; mixed and distilled in a retort with a large neck, by
a gentle sand-heat, into a suitable receiver. Chemically pure.

2. LIQUID:--

_a._ (LIQUOR ANTIMONII CHLORIDI, B. P.) _Syn._ SOLUTION OF CHLORIDE OF
ANTIMONY.

_Prep._ Take of black antimony, 1 _lb._; hydrochloric acid, 4 pints; place
the black antimony in a porcelain vessel; pour upon it the hydrochloric
acid, and, constantly stirring, apply to the mixture, beneath a flue with
a good draught, a gentle heat, which must be gradually augmented as the
evolution of gas begins to slacken, until the liquid boils. Maintain it at
this temperature for fifteen minutes; then remove the vessel from the
fire, and filter the liquid through calico into another vessel, returning
what passes through first, that a perfectly clear solution may be
obtained. Boil this down to the bulk of two pints, and preserve it in a
stoppered bottle.

_Characters and Tests._ A heavy liquid, usually of a yellowish-red colour.
A little of it dropped into water gives a white precipitate, and the
filtered solution lets fall a copious deposit on the addition of nitrate
of silver. If the white precipitate formed by water be treated with
sulphuretted hydrogen it becomes orange-. The specific gravity of
the solution is 1.47. One fluid drachm of it mixed with a solution of a
quarter of an ounce of tartaric acid in four fluid ounces of water, forms
a clear solution, which, if treated with sulphuretted hydrogen, gives an
orange precipitate, weighing, when washed and dried at 212 deg., at least 22
grains.

_b._ (Commercial.)--_a._ Take of ash or calx of antimony, 3-1/4 _lbs._;
common salt, 2 _lbs._; oil of vitriol, 1-1/2 _lb._; water, 1 _lb._;
proceed as before. <DW8>., 2-1/2 _lbs._

_c._ From roasted sulphide or glass of antimony, 7 _lbs._; salt, 28
_lbs._; oil of vitriol, 21 _lbs._; water, 14 _lbs._; as before.

_d._ From crude sulphide of antimony (powdered), 25 _lbs._; strongest
commercial hydrochloric acid, 1 _cwt._; nitric acid, 3-1/2 _lbs._; as
before; the product being  with a little pernitrate of iron, and
made up to the sp. gr. 1.4. The quality is improved, and the process more
easily conducted, if the crude antimony is roasted before dissolving it in
the acid. The same applies to the other formulae.

_Prop., &c._--_a._ SOLID. When pure, and nearly free from water, it
somewhat resembles butter, melts with a gentle heat, and partially
crystallises on cooling; is very deliquescent, and quickly passes into an
oily liquid when exposed to damp air; very soluble in strong hydrochloric
acid; water, according to its quantity, more or less decomposes it. When
perfectly pure and anhydrous, it forms a white and highly crystalline
mass, rapidly decomposed by air and moisture.--_b._ SOLUTION. The sp. gr.
of the solution of the shops varies from 1.25 to 1.4, in which state it is
a transparent fuming yellow liquid (unless when artificially ),
and extremely acid and caustic. Submitted to distillation, it at first
parts with its water and excess of acid, after which the salt itself is
volatilised. By changing the receiver as soon as the distillate concretes
on cooling, or produces a copious white precipitate on falling into the
liquid already passed over, the pure ANHYDROUS TRICHLORIDE may be readily
obtained.

_Phys. eff., Ant., Lesions, &c._ See ANTIMONY.

_Uses._ In _medicine_, only externally, and chiefly as a caustic or
escharotic to the wounds caused by rabid and venomous animals, and to
repress excessive granulations in ulcers. In _pharmacy_, as a source of
both oxychloride and oxide of antimony. The residuum in the retort when
corrosive sublimate is used, is sulphide of mercury, and was formerly
called CINNABAR OF ANTIMONY.

=2. Antimony, Pentachlo''ride of.= Sb_{2}Cl_{5}. _Syn._ PERCHLO''RIDE OF
ANTIMONY; ANTIMO''NII PENTACHLORI'DUM, L. Prepared by passing a stream of
chlorine gas over metallic antimony in fine powder, and gently heated. A
mixture of TRICHLORIDE and PENTACHLORIDE OF ANTIMONY is found in the
receiver, from which the latter may be separated by careful distillation.
It is a colourless volatile liquid, forming a crystalline compound with a
small quantity of water, but decomposed by a larger quantity.

=Antimony, Cro'cus of.= _Syn._ SAFF'RON OF ANTIMONY, LIV'ER OF A.; CRO'CUS
ANTIMO''NII C. METALLO''RUM, HE'PAR ANTIMONII, L.; CROCUS D'ANTIMOINE,
SAFFRAN D'A., Fr. _Prep._ 1. From black sulphide of antimony, and
saltpetre, equal parts, deflagrated together by small portions at a time,
and the fused mass (separated from the scoriae) reduced to fine powder.

2. (ANT. CROCUS, Ph. L. 1788,) Sulphide of antimony, 1 lb.; nitre, 1 lb.;
common salt, 1 oz.; as before.

_Prop., &c._ Its medicinal properties closely resemble those of
diaphoretic antimony. It is a mixture of sulphate of potassium,
antimoniate of potassium, teroxide of antimony, oxysulphide of antimony,
sulphide of potassium, and undecomposed trisulphide of antimony, in
variable and undetermined proportions. When repeatedly washed or boiled in
water, and dried, it forms the WASHED SAFFRON OF ANTIMONY (C. A. LO'TUS,
L.) of old pharmacy, and has then lost its sulphate of potassium, caustic
potash, and sulphide of potassium. Formerly used to make tartar emetic.
See ANTIMONY, LIVER OF.

=Antimony, Crude.= Native sulphide of antimony melted from the gangue.

=Antimony, Diaphoret'ic.= _Syn._ CALX OF ANTIMONY, CALCINED' A.,
ANTIMO''NIATE OF POT'ASH, STIB'IATED KA'LI[dagger], DIAPHORETIC
MIN'ERAL[dagger], &c.; ANTIMO''NIUM DIAPHORET'ICUM, A. CALCINA'TUM, CALX
ANTIMO''NII, C. A. ANGLO''RUM[dagger], POTAS'SAE ANTIMO''NIAS, KALI
STIB'ICUM[dagger], &c., L. var.; ANTIMOINE DIAPHORETIQUE, BIANTIMONIATE DE
POTASSE, Fr. An old preparation with numerous synonyms, of which the first
two of the above are those which are now chiefly in use.

_Prep._ 1. Sulphide of antimony, 1 part; nitre, 3 parts; powder, mix, and
deflagrate by spoonfuls in a red-hot crucible, then calcine for half an
hour, and when cold powder the residuum.

2. WASHED DIAPHORETIC A., W. CALX OF A.; ANTIMONIUM DIAPHORETICUM LO'TUM,
A. D. ABLU'TUM (Ph. Bor. 1847), A. CALCINA'TUM (Ph. L. 1788); ANTIMOINE
DIAPHORETIQUE LAVE, &c., Fr.:--_a._ (Ph. L. 1788.) As the last, but the
powder is subsequently deprived of soluble matter by repeated washings
with water, after which it is collected and dried.

_b._ (Ph. Bor. 1847.) Metallic antimony, 1 part; nitre, 2 parts; as above,
but drying the washed powder at a heat not exceeding 104 deg. F.

_Prop., &c._ A white or greyish-white powder, without either smell or
taste; gently diaphoretic and laxative; its activity greatly depending on
the quantity of acid in the stomach.--_Dose_, 1 to 6 gr., or even 10 gr.;
for _horses_, 1 to 3 or 4 _dr._ It was formerly in high repute; but is now
almost superseded by the present pharmacop[oe]ial preparations.

=Antimony, E'thiops of.= _Syn._ AE'THIOPS ANTIMONIA'LIS, L. _Prep._ 1. From
metallic mercury, 1 part; sulphide of antimony, 2 parts; triturated
together until the globules of the former entirely disappear.--2. Sulphide
of antimony, 3 parts; black sulphide of mercury, 2 parts; triturated
together for some time. An old remedy in certain skin diseases, still
highly esteemed by some provincial practitioners.--_Dose_, 3 to 5 gr.,
gradually increased to 20 or 30 gr.

=Antimony, Flow'ers of.= _Syn._ FLO''RES ANTIMO''NII, L.; FLEURS
D'ANTIMOINE, Fr. _Prep._ Throw powdered sulphide of antimony, by spoonfuls
at a time, into an ignited tubulated retort with a short and very wide
neck, until as many 'flowers' collect in the receiver as are required. An
impure oxysulphide of antimony, with variable portions of trioxide, and
undecomposed tersulphide. Emetic in doses of 1 to 3 grains.

=Antimony, Flowers of (Ar'gentine).= [-[)i]n.] _Syn._ WHITE OX'IDE OF
ANTIMONY, SNOW OF A.[dagger]; ANTIMO''NII FLO''RES ARGENTI'NI, A.
NIX[dagger], L.; FLEURS ARGENTINE D'ANTIMOINE, OXYDE BLANC D'ANTIMOINE,
Fr. _Prep._ Melt metallic antimony in a vessel freely exposed to the air,
and furnished with a cool place for the 'flowers' to rest on, and collect
them as deposited; or, and what is better, heat the metal to a full red or
white heat in a covered crucible, and then suddenly expose it to the air,
when it will inflame, and the oxidised vapour condense as 'flowers' on any
cool surface (as a partially inverted wide-mouthed flask) held at a little
distance over it. The product is TRIOXIDE OF ANTIMONY in a crystalline
form, and received the name of argentine flowers from its silvery
whiteness and beauty.

=Antimony, Flowers of (Helmont's).= _Syn._ FLO''RES ANTIMO''NII
HELMON'TII. An old preparation formed by dissolving sulphide of antimony
in aqua regia, expelling the free water and acid by heat, and subliming
the residuum with an equal weight of sal ammoniac. Violently emetic, even
in small doses, and unfit for internal use.

=Antimony, Flowers of (Red).= _Syn._ FLO''RES ANTIMO''NII RU'BRI, L. From
sulphide of antimony, and sal ammoniac, both in fine powder, mixed and
sublimed together. Resembles the last.

=Antimony, Ful'minating.= See FULMINATING COMPOUNDS.

=Antimony, Glass of.= _Syn._ VIT'RIFIED ANTIMONY*, V. OX'IDE OF A.*, GREY
O. OF A.*; ANTIMO''NII VIT'RUM, ANTIMO''NIUM VITRIFICA'TUM, A.
VITRIFAC'TUM (Ph. L. 1788), OX'YDUM ANTIMONII VITRIFICATUM, &c., L.; VERRE
D'ANTIMOINE, OXYSULFURE D'ANTIMOINE SILICATE, Fr. _Prep._ (Ph. L. 1788.)
Roast sulphide of antimony in a shallow earthen vessel, over a moderate
fire, stirring it constantly with an iron rod, until it turns whitish-grey
and ceases to emit fumes at a red heat; put the residuum into a covered
crucible which it shall only two thirds fill, and expose it to an intense
heat (gradually raised), until it fuses, then pour it out on an iron
plate. If calcined too much, a little more crude antimony may be added to
make it run well.

_Comp., Prop., &c._ A mixture of sulphide and oxide of antimony
contaminated with a little silica and iron. In fine powder it is emetic,
in doses of 1 to 3 gr.; but owing to the uncertainty and violence of its
operation, is now seldom employed. It has been used as a cheap source of
the TEROXIDE by the manufacturers of tartar emetic.

=Antimony, Glass of (Cera''ted).= _Syn._ ANTIMO''NII VIT'RUM CERA'TUM, L.
_Prep._ (Dr Young & Ph. L. 1746.) Glass of antimony, in very fine powder,
1 oz.; yellow wax, 1 dr.; melt together in an iron ladle, and keep it over
a gentle fire free from flame (constantly stirring) for about half an
hour, or until it acquires a snuff colour, then pour it out on a piece of
white paper (or a plate), and when cold, powder it.--_Dose_, 2 to 10 gr.,
in dysentery, &c.

=Antimony, Li'ver of.= _Syn._ HE'PAR ANTIMO''NII, L.; HEPAR D'ANTIMOINE,
OXYSULFURE D'ANTIMOINE SILICATE, Fr. _Prep._ From sulphide of antimony, 1
part; and dry carbonate of sodium or potassium, 2 parts; melted together,
and heated until it acquires the proper colour, and then cooled and
powdered.

_Comp., Uses, &c._ A mixture of trioxide of antimony, sulphide of
potassium, carbonate of potassium, and undecomposed trisulphide of
antimony. It is chiefly used by farriers, in doses of 1 to 2 dr., as an
alterative purge for horses, in greasy heels, &c.; and sometimes by
chemists, as a source of the crude oxide. Crocus of antimony, before
noticed, sometimes passes under the name, and is sold for it.

=Antimony, Ore of.= _Syn._ ANTIMONY-ORE. Native sulphide of antimony.

=Antimony, Oxide of.= The B. P. name for Antimony, Trioxide of (which
_see_).

=Antimony, Oxides of.= Antimony forms with oxygen three definite
compounds, viz the--

  Trioxide or antimonious
  oxide                              Sb_{2}O_{3}

  Tetroxide or antimonoso-antimonic               { or
  oxide                              Sb_{2}O_{4}  {Sb_{2}O_{3}.
                                                  {Sb_{2}O_{5}

  Pentoxide or antimonic
  oxide                              Sb_{2}O_{5}

=Antimony, Trioxide of.= Sb_{2}O_{3}. _Syn._ TEROXIDE OF ANTIMONY,
ANTIMONIOUS OXIDE (B. P. OXIDE OF ANTIMONY, Eng.; ANTIMONII OXIDUM, L.).
_Prep._ (B. P.) Take of solution of chloride of antimony, 16 fluid _oz._;
carbonate of soda, 6 _oz._; water, 2 _galls._; distilled water, a
sufficiency. Pour the antimonial solution into the water, mix thoroughly,
let the precipitate settle, remove the supernatant liquid by a siphon, add
one gallon of distilled water, agitate well, let the precipitate subside,
again withdraw the fluid, and repeat the processes of affusion of
distilled water, agitation, and subsidence. Add now the carbonate of soda
previously dissolved in two pints of distilled water, leave them in
contact for half an hour, stirring frequently, collect the deposit on
a calico filter, and wash with boiling distilled water until the washings
cease to give a precipitate with a solution of nitrate of silver
acidulated by nitric acid. Lastly, dry the product at a heat not exceeding
212 deg..

_Char. and Tests._ A greyish-white powder, fusible at a low red heat,
insoluble in water, but readily dissolved by hydrochloric acid. The
solution, dropped into distilled water, gives a white deposit, at once
changed to orange by sulphuretted hydrogen. It dissolves entirely when
boiled with an excess of the acid tartrate of potash.

_Uses._ Chiefly in making tartar emetic and some other salts of antimony;
also in the preparation of pulvis antimonialis. Therapeutically, it is a
diaphoretic and febrifuge.--_Dose_, 1 to 4 grains.

=Antimony, Pentoxide of.= See ANTIMONIC ANHYDRIDE.

=Antimony, Tetroxide of.= Sb_{2}O_{4} or Sb_{2}O_{3}.Sb_{2}O_{5}. _Syn._
ANTIMONOSO-ANTIMONIC OXIDE, ANTIMONIOUS ACID. Found natural as Cervantite
or Antimony ochre. Prepared by heating antimonic anhydride, by roasting
the trioxide or trisulphide, or by the action of excess of nitric acid on
finely powdered metallic antimony. Thus prepared, it is a white solid,
unalterable by heat; slightly soluble in water, more so in hydrochloric
acid.

=Antimony, Oxychloride of.= SbOCl. _Syn._ POWDER OF ALGAROTH. Thrown down
as a white precipitate when trichloride of antimony is poured into water.
Continued washing with water deprives it of nearly the whole of its
chlorine, and converts it into the trioxide, a change which is more
completely effected by aqueous solutions of the alkalies or their
carbonates.

=Antimony, Oxysulphide of.= The compound Sb_{2}O_{3}.2Sb_{2}S_{3} occurs
native as red antimony. Antimony blende, Kermesome, Rothspiessglanzerz,
Crocus of antimony, Glass of antimony, and similar preparations, are
believed by some authorities to be crude oxysulphides of antimony. See
ANTIMONY, SULPHURATED.

=Antimony, Red.= See OXYSULPHIDE OF ANTIMONY, before noticed.

=Antimony, Reg'ulus of.= _Syn._ REG'ULUS ANTIMO''NII, L. Metallic antimony
obtained by fusion. Alloys formed by fusing antimony with iron, tin, lead,
or copper, and a little tartar, were respectively called MAR'TIAL REGULUS
OF ANTIMONY (_r. antimo''nii martia'lis_, L.), R. A. JOVIA'LIS (L.), R. A.
SATURNI'NUS (L.), R. A. VEN'ERIS (L.), &c. (See _below_.)

=Antimony, Ru'by of.= _Syn._ MEDIC'INAL (-d[)i]s'-) REG'ULUS OF ANTIMONY;
ANTIMO''NII RUBI'NUS, REG'ULUS MEDICINA'LIS, R. A. M., &c., L. From crude
sulphide of antimony, 5 parts; fused with carbonate of potassa, 1 part;
and the purified portion separated from the scoriae. See LIVER OF ANTIMONY.

=Antimony, Saff'ron of.= See CROCUS OF ANTIMONY.

=Antimony, Smelt'ed.= _Syn._ ANTIMO''NIUM PURIFICA'TUM, L. Crude antimony
melted and poured into small conical moulds.--_Uses, &c._ Same as the
ordinary tersulphide.

=Antimony, Snow of.= See ANTIMONY, FLOWERS OF.

=Antimony, Sulphurated.= B. P. _Syn._ OXYSULPHURET, or PRECIPITATED
SULPHIDE OF ANTIMONY, GOLDEN SULPHIDE OF ANTIMONY. Mix black antimony 10
_oz._ with solution of soda 4-1/2 pints, and boil for two hours, with
frequent stirring, adding distilled water occasionally to maintain the
same volume. Strain the liquor through calico, and before it cools add to
it by degrees dilute sulphuric acid till the latter is in slight excess.
Collect the precipitate on a calico filter, wash with distilled water till
the washings no longer precipitate with chloride of barium, and dry at a
temperature not exceeding 212 deg. F.--_Dose_, 1 to 5 grains.

=Antimony, Sulphantimonate.= _Syn._ SCHLIPPE'S ANTIMONIAL SALT. Mix eight
parts of effloresced sulphate of soda, six of black antimony, and three of
charcoal, and expose to a red-heat in a covered Hessian crucible till the
fused mass ceases to throw up a scum. Boil the residue in a porcelain
vessel with one part of sulphur and sufficient distilled water, and set
the filtered liquor aside for crystallisation.

=Antimony, Pentasulphide of= (Sb_{2}S_{5}), is a yellowish-red powder,
obtained (1) by passing hydrosulphuric acid gas through a mixture of
pentachloride of antimony, water, and tartaric acid; or (2) through
antimonic anhydride suspended in water. It is insoluble in water; hot
hydrochloric acid decomposes it, producing trichloride of antimony,
sulphur, and hydrosulphuric acid. With the more basic metallic sulphides
it unites to form a class of salts called sulphantimonates.

=Antimony, Trisulphide of.= Sb_{2}S_{3}. _Syn._ TERSUL'PHIDE OF ANTIMONY,
SUL'PHIDE OF A., SUL'PHURET OF A., BLACK S. OF A., SESQUISUL'PHURET OF A.,
&c.; L'ANTIMOINE SULFURE, SULFURE D'ANTIMOINE, &c., Fr.;
SCHWEFEL-SPIESSGLANZ, ANDERTHALB, &c., Ger. This is the grey or
greyish-black substance commonly known as crude antimony, black antimony,
or sulphide of antimony, in commerce, and from which the other compounds
of antimony are chiefly obtained.

_Nat. hist., Sources, &c._ See ANTIMONY.

The crude ore is freed from earthy impurities in the following
manner:--The crushed ore is submitted to 'eliquation' in order to separate
the SULPHIDE from the gangue or earthy matter with which it is
contaminated; after which it is remelted and run into 'loaves' or large
cakes, in which form it is sent to market. Formerly the operation was
performed by introducing the ore into large pots or crucibles having a
hole in the bottom, and which, after being closely covered, were set in a
circle around a suitable furnace, by which they were heated. At the
present time the process is commonly conducted in a 'reverberatory
furnace,' similar to that figured in the _engraving_.

[Illustration:

  _a_, _b_, Grate and fire-place.
  _c_, Bridge.
  _e_, Concave space for ore formed by a solid bed (_f_) of clay and
      sand, and having a 'hole' near the bottom extending nearly
      horizontally through the wall of the furnace to 'run off' the
      fused sulphide.
  _g_, Door for introducing ore, and removing residuum.
  _h_, Chimney.
  _i_, Damper, chain, and lever.]

Native trisulphide of antimony treated in this way and ground to powder
constitutes the BLACK ANTIMONY (ANTIMONIUM NIGRUM), B. P.

=Antimony, Trisulphide of= (artificially prepared). Saturate an aqueous
solution of tartar emetic with hydrosulphuric acid; an orange precipitate
will be thrown down. This precipitate, when collected on a filter, washed,
and dried, is the pure trisulphide.

_Prop., &c._ (_Native._) Anhydrous, inodorous, insipid, opaque, brittle,
easily pulverisable, and of a dark leaden-grey or steel colour; it has a
striated crystalline texture, and breaks with a rough spicular fracture;
is insoluble in both water and alcohol; soluble, with decomposition, in
hot strong acids and alkaline solutions; melts at a red heat, and is
partly dissipated in white fumes, leaving an impure grey- oxide
mixed with some undecomposed tersulphide (ANTIMONY-ASH). Its powder is
black, of peculiar richness, and stains the fingers. Sp. gr. 4.6 to 4.62.
The pure precipitated (amorphous) tersulphide is of orange colour; is
darkened by a gentle heat, with loss of water, and at a higher temperature
passes from the amorphous to the crystalline condition, at the same time
that it assumes the colour and appearance of the native sulphide. It
dissolves in hot hydrochloric acid, evolving hydrosulphuric acid, and
producing a solution of trichloride of antimony.

_Pur._ The crude commercial sulphide frequently contains lead, iron,
copper, and arsenic, and sometimes manganese. Its goodness is commonly
estimated by its compactness and weight, the largeness and distinctness of
the striae, and the volatility of its sulphide.

_Uses, &c._ Chiefly as a source of metallic antimony, and of the oxide in
the preparation of other antimonials. Exhibited alone, it possesses little
activity unless it meets with acid in the primae viae, when it occasionally
acts with considerable violence both as an emetic and cathartic.--_Dose_,
10 to 30 gr., in powder; as an alterative and diaphoretic in rheumatism,
gout, scrofula, and glandular affections, and in lepra, scabies, and some
other skin diseases. It is a favourite alterative in _veterinary
medicine_, particularly in skin diseases. Farriers and grooms frequently
mix a little of it with the food of horses to improve their coat and
promote their 'condition,'--_Dose._ For a HORSE, 1 to 4 _dr._, in fine
powder, often combined with nitre and sulphur; for CATTLE, 1/2 to 1 _oz._,
or even 1-1/2 _oz._; DOGS, 5 or 6 to 20 or 30 gr.; HOGS, 20 to 30 gr.,
twice or thrice daily. According to Dr Paris, it is one of the ingredients
in Spilsbury's Drops. It is also an ingredient in Tisane de Feltz.

=Antimony, Tartarated.= KSbOC_{4}H_{4}O_{6}.Aq. _Syn._ TARTARIZED
ANTIMONY, TARTAR EMETIC, EMETIC TARTAR, POTASSIO-TARTRATE OF ANTIMONY,
Eng.; ANTIMONIUM TARTARATUM, B. P. _Prep._ Various methods have been
devised for the preparation of this compound, but the following, which is
taken from the 'British Pharmacop[oe]ia,' is to be preferred:--

Take of oxide of antimony 5 _oz._, acid tartrate of potash in fine powder
6 _oz._, distilled water, 2 pints. Mix the oxide of antimony and acid
tartrate of potash with sufficient distilled water to form a paste, and
set aside for 24 hours. Then add the remainder of the water, and boil for
a quarter of an hour, stirring frequently. Filter, and set aside the clear
filtrate to crystallise. Pour off the mother-liquor, evaporate to one
third, and set aside, that more crystals may form. Dry the crystals on
filtering paper at the temperature of the air.

_Char. and Tests._ In colourless transparent crystals exhibiting
triangular facets, soluble in water, and less so in proof spirit. It
decrepitates and blackens upon the application of heat. Its solution in
water gives with hydrochloric acid a white precipitate, soluble in excess,
and which is not formed if tartaric acid be previously added. Twenty
grains dissolve without residue in a fluid ounce of distilled water at
60 deg., and the solution gives with sulphuretted hydrogen an orange
precipitate which, when washed and dried at 212 deg., weighs 9.91 grains.

_Phys. eff., Doses, &c._ Externally tartar emetic acts as a powerful local
irritant, causing a pustular eruption, which permanently marks the skin;
for this purpose it is used in the form of solution, ointment, or plaster.
Internally, in small doses (1/16 to 1/8, or even 1/6 gr.), it acts as a
diaphoretic and expectorant; in somewhat larger doses (1/6 to 1/2 gr.) it
excites nausea, and sometimes vomiting, occasioning depression and
relaxation, especially of the muscular fibre; in larger doses (1 to 2 or 3
gr.) it acts as an emetic and sudorific (and often as a purge), depressing
the nervous functions, and producing a feeling of feebleness, exhaustion,
and relaxation, greater than that caused by other emetics; in certain
doses (1/2 to 3, or even 4 gr.), it is used as a sedative and
antiphlogistic, to reduce the force of the circulation, _&c._; in
excessive doses it acts as an irritant poison, and has in some instances
caused death; and even small doses, frequently administered and long
continued, have brought on a state of weakness, prostration, and distaste
for food, which has led to a fatal termination. It is usually exhibited
dissolved in distilled water, either with or without the addition of a
little simple syrup. In acute rheumatism, inflammation of the lungs or
pleura, chorea, hydrocephalus, and apoplexy, it is said to have been given
in doses of 2 to 4, or even 6 gr., with advantage, by Laennec, Rasori, and
others; but these extreme doses are not always safe, and cannot be
commendable when smaller ones (1/4 to 1/2 gr., repeated every two hours)
appear equally beneficial, and distress the patient less.[73] In doses of
1/2 gr. to 3/4 gr. each, combined with calomel, it is a powerful and
excellent alterative in acute rheumatism and many skin diseases. Of all
our sudorifics it is perhaps the most valuable, and the one most generally
available. Triturated with 16 to 20 times its weight of sulphate of
potassa, it forms an excellent substitute for antimonial powder and
James's powder, as a diaphoretic, in doses of 2 to 4 gr.

[Footnote 73: "In consequence of the violent vomiting" (and it might be
added--prostration) "which (even) 1 gr. has sometimes produced, I have
found patients positively refuse to continue the use of the medicine."
Pereira 'Th. & M. M.,' 4th ed., i, 752.]

Whenever much gastric or intestinal irritation is present, tartar emetic
should be avoided, or very cautiously administered, and then combined with
an opiate, or some other sedative. It should also be given with caution to
children; as, according to Messrs Goodlad and Noble, even in small doses
it sometimes acts as a poison on them.

In _veterinary medicine_ it is employed to promote diaphoresis and
expectoration, and to reduce arterial action, particularly in fevers, and
catarrhal affections, the dose for HORSES being 20 gr. to 1 dr., or even
occasionally _1-1/2_ dr., in gruel, thrice daily; also sometimes as a
diuretic and vermifuge, in doses of 1 to 2 dr., combined with tin-filings,
for 2 or 3 successive days, followed by a purge of aloes. The usual dose
for CATTLE is 20 gr. to 1 dr.; SHEEP, 5 or 6 to 20 gr.; SWINE (chiefly as
an emetic), 2 to 5 or 6 gr.; DOGS (chiefly as an emetic), 1 to 3 gr. It is
sometimes, though seldom, used externally, as a counter-irritant, in chest
affections, &c.; but its employment thus requires caution.

_Pois., &c._ That from large doses has been already noticed under ANTIMONY
(which _see_). In poisoning the treatment is the entire disuse of all
antimonials, followed by tonics, a light nutritious diet, the use of
lemon-juice or ripe fruit, a little wine, warm baths, and mild
restoratives generally.

=Antimony, Tar'tarised.= See ANTIMONY, TARTARATED.

=Antimony, Vit'rified.= See ANTIMONY, GLASS OF.

=ANTI-MIASMATICUM.= A disinfecting powder, manufactured first in Berlin in
1866, and described as "prepared by steam." Quicklime slaked with a
solution of sulphate of iron and mixed with turf ashes, also probably
containing some carbolic acid. Fluid anti-miasmaticum is a solution of
sulphate of iron in impure acetic acid. (Hager.)

=ANTIPHLOGIS'TIC= (-flo-j[)i]s'-). _Syn._ ANTIPHLOGIS'TICUS, L.;
ANTIPHLOGISTIQUE, Fr.; ANTIPHLOGISTISCH, Ger. In _medicine_, the common
epithet of remedies, agents, and treatment (ANTIPHLOGIS'TICS;
ANTIPHLOGISTICA, L.), which lessen inflammatory action, or allay the
excited state of the system which accompanies it. Of these the principal
are bleeding, purging, a low diet, cooling beverages (as water and
acidulous drinks), and sedatives generally.

=ANTIPSILOTHRON=, for preventing loss of hair (Hegewald, Berlin). A
brownish-yellow, clear, pleasant-smelling liquid, which consists of a
filtered extract of 2.5 grms. of nutgalls, with 50 grms. strong spirit and
30 grms. water; perfumed with several ethereal oils. The liquid is not
made turbid by dilution with water. Sold in square bottles containing
about 80 grms. The directions strongly recommend the supplementary use of
a Swiss "vegetable oil," which probably Switzerland has never seen.
(Hager.)

=ANTI-RHEUMATIC DROPS= (Roll, Amsterdam). A turbid, dark-brown liquid,
which consists of a solution of spirituous extract of aconite in a
decoction of couch-grass root, and to which some tincture of opium with
saffron and oil of valerian have been added.

=ANTI-RHEUMATIC SALVE, Mrs HUNGERFORD'S= (Wedecke, Berlin). Recommended
for acute and chronic rheumatism, gout, and nervous pains. Camphor, 1
grm.; carbolic acid, 1 grm.; simple cerate, 12 grms. (Schaedler.)

=ANTISCORBU'TIC= (-skor-b[=u]'-). _Syn._ ANTISCORBU'TICUS, L.;
ANTISCORBUTIQUE, Fr.; ANTISCORBUTISCH, GUT WIDER DEN SCHARBOCK, Ger. Good
against scurvy. In _medicine_, an epithet of remedies, agents, &c.
(ANTISCORBU'TICS; ANTISCORBU'TICA, L.), used in scurvy. Lemon-juice, ripe
fruit, milk, the salts of potassa, green vegetables, potatoes, meal-bread,
fresh meat, and raw or lightly boiled eggs, belong to this class.

=ANTISEP'TIC.= _Syn._ ANTISEP'TICUS, L.; ANTISEPTIQUE, Fr.; ANTISEPTISCH,
FAeULNISSWIDRIG, Ger. An epithet of substances, agents, &c. (ANTISEP'TICS;
ANTISEP'TICA, L.), that impede, arrest, or prevent putrefaction. The
principal antiseptics in common use are culinary salt, saltpetre, spices,
sugar, vinegar, carbolic acid, creasote, and alcohol; to which may be
added intense cold, desiccation, and the exclusion of air. Among
ANTISEPTIC MEDICINES, bark, dilute acids, quinine, wine, spirits, camphor,
charcoal, and yeast, take the first rank. See PUTREFACTION, SOLUTIONS
(Antiseptic), &c.

=ANTISPASMOD'IC= (-sp[)a]z-). _Syn._ ANTISPAS'TIC; ANTISPASMOD'ICUS, L.;
ANTISPASMODIQUE, Fr.; KRAMPESTILLEND, Ger. In _medicine_, an epithet of
substances and agents (ANTISPASMOD'ICS; ANTISPASMOD'ICA, L.) which allay
spasms and convulsions. It is frequently incorrectly applied to anodynes
and narcotics, which soothe pain, but do not repress muscular spasm.
Ammonia, assaf[oe]tida, bark, camphor, castor, chalybeates, chloral
hydrate, chloroform, ether, Indian hemp and cannabine, musk, opium,
saffron, and valerian, with many other similar substances, are regarded as
antispasmodics.

=ANTI-SPASMODIC SYRUP=, for hooping-cough (Dessaga, Strasburg). A pleasant
syrup, leaving a slightly sharp taste, containing a little carbonate of
potash, and faintly  with rosaniline. (Hager.)

=ANTISUDIN=, a remedy for sweaty feet (Mandowski, Annaberg). Powdered
alum. (Hager.)

=ANTS= ([)a]nts). See ANT, FORMIC ACID, GARDENING, INSECTS, &c.

=AORT'A= [L., Ger.] _Syn._ AORTE, Fr. In _anatomy_, the main trunk of the
arterial system, arising immediately from the left ventricle of the heart,
and giving origin to all the other arteries of the body, except the
pulmonary artery and its ramifications, which permeate the air-vesicles of
the lungs.

=AP'ATITE= (-t[=i]te). In _mineralogy_, native tricalcium phosphate
(phosphate of lime). It is found in Devonshire and Cornwall, and
abundantly in Spain, whence it is imported for use as manure, and recently
particularly for the manufacture of ARTIFICIAL GUANO. Its powder
phosphoresces on burning coals. It differs from phosphorite in not
containing fluorine.

Apatite (phosphate of lime of similar constitution to bone-earth,
Ca_{3}(PO_{4})_{2}) is found in every fertile soil, and of which it is an
essential ingredient.

=APE''RIENT= ([)a]-p[=e]re'-[)e]-[)e]nt; -p[)e]r'-, as marked by Mayne and
Smart, though etym. correct, is less usual). _Syn._ APER'ITIVE (-t[)i]v);
APER'IENS, L.; APERITIF, Fr.; ABFUeHREND, OeFFNEND, Ger. In _medicine_,
opening, laxative, gently purgative; usually applied as an epithet to
substances and agents (APE'RIENTS; APERIEN'TIA, APERITI'VA, L.) which, in
moderate doses, and under ordinary circumstances, gently, but completely,
open the bowels; and in this respect rank between the simple laxatives on
the one hand, and the stronger purgatives and cathartics on the other.
Among these may be named as examples--Aloes (when combined with soap or
aromatics), Castile soap, castor oil, compound extract of colocynth (in
small doses), compound rhubarb pill, confection of senna, cream of tartar,
Epsom salts, Glauber's salt, phosphate of soda (tasteless purging salt),
pil. rufi, seidlitz powders, cold-water compress over the abdomen, &c.
Several of these, in larger doses, become active purgatives or cathartics.
See PURGATIVES, also DRAUGHTS, MIXTURES, PILLS, &c.

=A'PIOL= (-pe-[=o]le; or -[)o]l). _Prep._ The soft alcoholic extract of
parsley-seed is either digested or agitated for some time with ether;
after sufficient repose in a cool place, the ethereal solution is
decanted, and the ether removed by distillation; the residuum is purified
by solution in rectified spirit, and agitation first with a little
litharge, and next with animal charcoal; after which the spirit is removed
by distillation from the filtered solution.

_Prop., &c._ A yellow, oily, non-volatile liquid, having a peculiar smell,
and a highly disagreeable taste; soluble in alcohol, ether, and
chloroform; insoluble in water; and  red by strong sulphuric acid.
Sp. gr. 1.078. In small doses it excites the pulse and nervous system; and
in larger ones it causes headache, giddiness, vertigo, &c. It is said to
be powerfully febrifuge, and has been highly extolled by MM. Joret and
Homalle as a substitute for quinine in intermittents.[74] It has also been
found useful in intermittent neuralgias and the nocturnal sweats of
phthisis. _Dose_, 5 to 15 drops, in capsules.

[Footnote 74: According to Drs G. O. Rees and A. S. Taylor, 66 out of 116
cases were cured by it in their practice; but according to the French
Commission, the cures are only 42%, and in many of these only temporary.]

=A'PIS.= [L.] The bee. In _entomology_, a genus of hymenopterous insects
of the family _anthoph'ila_ or _mellif'era_, section _apia''riae_.
(Latreille.) The mouth has two jaws, and a proboscis infolded in a double
sheath; the wings are four; the two foremost covering the hinder ones when
at rest. The sexes are three--prolific females or queens, unprolific
females or workers commonly (termed neuters), and males or drones. The
females and working bees have a sting. The honey or hive bee is
distinguished from the other species of this genus by having the femora of
the posterior pair of legs furnished with a smooth and concave plate on
the outer side, and fringed with hair, forming a basket or pocket for the
reception and conveyance of the pollen of plants; and also in being
destitute of spines at the extremity. The Linnaean genus includes nearly 60
species. See BEE.

=Apis Mellif'ica.= [Linn.] The honey bee.

=APLANAT'IC.= In _optics_, applied as an epithet to lenses, of which the
figure, as well as the materials of which they are composed, are such
that, with a given index of refraction, the amount of aberration, both
chromatic and spherical, is insignificant, or the least that can be
possibly obtained. See ABERRATION, ACHROMATISM, LENS, &c.

=APLOTAXIS AURICULATA.= Nat. ord., COMPOSITAE. A plant growing in the North
Western Himalayas. It was first shown by the late Dr Hugh Falconer to be
the source of the _Costus Arabicus_ of the ancients, which Dr Royle had
previously identified with the _Patchuck_ or _Koot_ root met with in the
Indian bazaars. Dr Irvine states that formerly, when opium was not
produced in Rajwarra, this root was extensively smoked as a stimulant. He
adds, that it is said to be a narcotic when thus used, and that formerly
great quantities went to China for smoking purposes. It is chiefly used as
a perfume, as for protection of bales of cloth against insects.

=APO-.= [Gr.] In _composition_, from; denoting derivation, separation,
opposition, or departure. It is a common prefix in words from the Greek,
and is etymologically the same as the latin _ab-_.

=APOC'NYINE= (-p[)o]s'-e-n[)i]n). _Syn._ APOCYNI'NA, L. A bitter,
crystallisable substance, found in _ap[)o]''cynum cannabi'num_ (Linn.), or
the Indian hemp of North America. See ALKALOID.

=APOMORPHINE.= _Syn._ APOMORPHIA. C_{17}H_{17}NO_{2}. A remarkable base,
obtained from morphia by Matthiessen and Wright. It is possessed of
powerful emetic properties. Introduce into a strong glass tube, closed at
one end, 1 part of pure morphia, and 20 parts of pure hydrochloric acid;
these should not occupy more than one fifteenth of the tube. Seal the open
end, and place the glass tube in another of cast iron, closed with a
screw, and heat the whole in an oil-bath at a temperature between 140 deg. and
150 deg. C., during three hours. After cooling, the morphine has been
converted into apomorphine, which can be purified as follows:

The tube is opened, and the liquid it contains diluted with water and
neutralised by bicarbonate of soda; then an excess of this salt being
added, the apomorphine is precipitated with any morphia that may remain.
The liquid is decanted, and the precipitate is exhausted with ether or
chloroform, which dissolves the apomorphine only. To the ethereal or
chloroformic liquor are afterwards added a few drops of hydrochloric acid
to saturate the base. Crystallised apomorphine then separates
spontaneously, and is deposited on the sides of the vessel. These crystals
are washed rapidly with cold water, and purified by crystallisation from
boiling water. The apomorphine can be obtained by precipitating a
concentrated solution of this hydrochlorate by bicarbonate of soda; the
precipitate is white, but turns green rapidly in the air. It should be
washed with a little cold water, and promptly dried to avoid this
alteration.

=AP'OPLEXY= (-pl[)e]ks-e). _Syn._ APOPLEX'IA, APOPLEX'IS, L. (from [Greek:
apo-plesso], I astound, or strike down, Gr.); APOPLEXIE, Fr.; SCHLAGFLUSS,
Ger. A disease so named on account of the suddenness and violence of its
attacks.

_Symp._ Sudden suspension or loss of the powers of sense and motion; the
heart continuing to beat and the lungs to act, but generally with
difficulty. During the fit the patient usually lies in a state resembling
sleep, or the stupor induced by drunkenness. In some cases there is
paralysis of one side of the body, and convulsions of the other. In the
sanguineous or sthenic variety, or the one which is most common, the pulse
is hard and full, the countenance flushed and bloated, and the breathing
stertorous; in the serous or asthenic variety, the pulse is feeble, the
skin cold, and the countenance pale. "The presence of convulsions is
indicative of great danger." (Dr Cheyne.) In both cases the patient is
generally found lying on his back, in a state of complete insensibility,
which defies every effort to arouse him; the eyelids almost cover the
eyes, which are fixed and devoid of intelligence, whilst the pupils
scarcely change their dimensions under the varying influence of light and
darkness; the lips are usually purple or very dark; and both the lips and
nostrils have generally a slight trembling movement communicated to them
by the deep and laborious breathing of the patient.

_Treat._ In this disease, more than perhaps any other, medical aid should
be immediately sought. In the mean time the patient should be placed in an
easy posture, in a well-ventilated apartment, and in the sanguineous or
sthenic variety, in as erect a position as possible; but in the asthenic
variety, when the face is pale, with the head and shoulders only
moderately elevated. The neckcloth should be removed, and the clothes
loosened, and the head and neck laid bare. Crowding round the patient
should be particularly avoided, and a free exposure to fresh air secured
in every possible way. When medical aid cannot be immediately procured,
blood should be freely taken (say 15 to 20 fl. oz., or more) from the arm,
by any person competent to do so; unless the face be pale, and the pulse
feeble, when cupping at the back of the neck, or leeches behind the ears,
should be substituted for ordinary bleeding. Cold water should be dashed
on the head, the legs placed in pretty warm water, and blisters or mustard
poultices applied between the shoulders. In the mean time 8 or 10 gr. of
calomel may be administered, and its action subsequently promoted by the
use of saline purgatives and stimulating clysters. When there is a
difficulty of swallowing, a couple of drops of croton oil may be applied
to the tongue; or it may be poured on sugar, before placing it in the
mouth. Indeed, this mode of relieving the bowels should be adopted in all
extreme cases, as soon as possible. Emetics should be carefully avoided.
The only exception to this rule is, when the stomach is distended by a
heavy undigested meal; when an emetic is hazarded as the less of two
evils. Nasal stimulants, as smelling salts or aromatic vinegar, should
also be avoided. If the bleeding has not afforded some relief, it may be
repeated in from 3 to 5 hours. When these means prove successful, the
remainder of the treatment may consist in the administration of mild
purgatives and diaphoretics, and the avoidance of stimulating food or
drinks, and of other like exciting agents.

_Prev., &c._ The premonitory symptoms of apoplexy are giddiness, pain and
swimming in the head, loss of memory, faltering in speech or using one
word for another, diminished sensibility either of body or mind, or both,
drowsiness, noises in the ears, specks floating before the eyes,
nightmare, frightful dreams, laborious respiration, heavy yet unrefreshing
sleep, an inclination to sigh without any moral cause, cramp in the legs
at night when there is no irritation of the bowels to account for them,
&c. &c. When any of these symptoms occur (especially in "free livers")
aperient medicines and a light diet should be at once had recourse to, and
wine, beer, and spirits avoided as the most dangerous poisons. If the
symptoms increase or continue, active purgation, a still lower diet, and
even bleeding may be had recourse to. Pure air, early rising, regular
habits, gentle muscular exercise, and loose, easy clothing, are powerful
preventives of apoplexy. By attending to the admonitions of nature, and
adopting the simple means which are within the reach of all, it is
indisputable that many fatal cases of apoplexy might have been avoided,
and a still larger number lessened in severity.

Robust, plethoric persons, with short thick necks, are universally
accounted the most liable to apoplexy. In them the fit generally comes on
without warning; and when once attacked with this malady they are
especially liable to its recurrence. But it must be recollected that the
possessor of no particular constitution or temperaments, to whatever class
it may belong, enjoys immunity from the attacks of apoplexy--a disease
more fatal among Englishmen than the natives of other countries.

_Obs._ A loss of consciousness exists alike in apoplexy, epilepsy,
narcotism from opium and opiates, complete intoxication, and common
fainting. These may be distinguished by observing that--in EPILEPSY there
are almost always convulsions, and more or less rigidity of the limbs,
with (generally) foaming at the mouth and gnashing or grinding of the
teeth, and frequently, the utterance of noises often not unlike the
barking of a dog; whilst stertor and laborious breathing, as a rule, are
absent:--in the stupor produced by OPIUM, MORPHIA, &c., the face is pale,
calm, and perspiring, and the respiration is tranquil and without stertor;
whilst the patient can, in almost all cases, be temporarily aroused to
consciousness and kept awake by being made to walk between two attendants;
the odour of opium or laudanum is also frequently perceptible in the
breath or ejected matter:--in the insensibility of INTOXICATION the pulse
is usually feeble, and the patient may be temporarily roused by violent
shouting in the ear, or by the application of nasal stimulants,
particularly the common smelling-bottle (if strong); and the breath, and
ejected matter (if any), smells of liquor:--in ordinary FAINTING the face
and lips are pale, the breathing quiet, the pulse scarcely perceptible,
the limbs mobile, and the fit lasts only a few minutes.

_Treatment for Horses._ Give in the first place a strong stimulant
internally, and apply mustard embrocations to the belly and spine. Bleed,
should the pulse be small and indistinct.--_In the parturient apoplexy of
cows._ Bleed in the very earliest stage; give salts and croton; diluents;
no solid food; let the body and legs be rubbed and clothed; use catheter;
apply ice and refrigerants to head and neck; give frequent clysters of
linseed gruel; remove milk every hour, and apply rubefacients to the
spine.

=APOSEP'EDIN= (-d[)i]n). A substance found in putrid cheese, and supposed
to be a product of the fermentation of caseine. Mulder and others have
shown that it is merely impure leucine.

=AP'OSTEME=[dagger] (-t[=e]me or -t[)e]m). _Syn._ AP'OSTEM[dagger];
APOSTE'MA[dagger], L. An abscess or collection of purulent matter in any
part of the body.

=APPARA'TUS.= [L., Eng.; class. pl., appara'tus; Eng. pl.,
appara'tuses--Webster.] _Syn._ APPAREIL, Fr.; APPARAT, GERAeTHSCHAFT, Ger.
In technical language, the instruments, utensils, and mechanical
arrangements, employed in any operation, experiment, or observation, or in
any art or trade.

=Apparatus.= In _anatomy_ and _physiology_, a catenation of organs all
ministering to one general purpose or function; as the digestive
apparatus, respiratory a., &c.

=APP'ETITE.= _Syn._ APPETI'TUS, L.; APETIT, Fr.; APETIT, BEGIERDE,
ESSLUST, Ger. The natural desire of gratification, whether corporeal or
mental. In _physiology_, the instinctive inclination to perform certain
natural functions, as those of digestion and generation; but appr., the
natural desire for food. In _psychology_ and _philosophy_, the APPETITES
(pl.) are affections of the mind directed to general objects, as fame,
glory, or riches; these when subsequently turned to particular objects,
constitute the PASSIONS, as envy, gratitude, revenge, or love. In its
common and unqualified sense, the word appetite is confined to the desire
for food; and in that sense chiefly concerns us here.

The sensations of hunger and thirst are seated in the stomach, and their
recurrence at proper intervals is a necessary consequence of vital action,
and is essential to the existence of the body in a state of vigour and
health. Any alteration from their normal condition indicates diseased
action of the stomach, or of the nervous system or circulation; or it may
result from vicious habits. A healthy appetite for food is usually a most
certain indication that nature requires a supply; but in the indulgence of
this appetite certain regulations should be observed, and a boundary
should be put to mere animal gratification. By slowly eating and
thoroughly masticating the food, the stomach becomes gradually and equally
distended, and the individual feels himself satisfied only after he has
taken a quantity sufficient for the nourishment of his body; but, on the
contrary, if the food be swallowed rapidly, and without proper
mastication, it presses heavily and roughly against the sides of the
stomach, and induces a sensation of fulness before a sufficient meal has
been made. The consequences are, that hunger soon returns, and the party
must either have recourse to food between the usual time of meals, or
suffer the consequences of imperfect nutrition. Exercise and labour,
within certain limits, promote the healthy functions of the stomach and
bowels, through the action of the muscles of the abdomen increasing the
peristaltic motion of these viscera. An inordinate appetite in persons
leading a sedentary life is generally indicative of the food passing off
imperfectly digested, or of the coats of the stomach being relaxed, or
even diseased. More food is required in winter than in summer, in
consequence of the greater radiation of the heat of the body; and hence
the increased appetite which is usually an accompaniment of that season.
In persons who lead a more sedentary life in winter than in summer, either
no change of this kind occurs, or the reverse is the case; the want of
exercise producing a diminution of appetite corresponding to the increase
of it that would otherwise result from the seasonal change of atmospheric
temperature, or even greater. Deviations of the appetite from the healthy
standard, or the normal condition, constitutes DEFECTIVE or DISEASED
APPETITE.

Deficiency or loss of appetite (AN'OREXY; ANOREX'IA, L.) generally arises
from disordered stomach; but is also frequently symptomatic of other
affections, particularly dyspepsia, biliousness, feverishness, and organic
diseases of the lungs, stomach, and primae viae. It is a common consequence
of sedentary life, and of extreme mental anxiety, excitement, or
exhaustion. The _treatment_ will necessarily vary with the cause. In
simple spontaneous cases the appetite may generally be improved by outdoor
exercise, and the occasional use of mild aperients, especially salines and
aloetics. When the affection arises from the stomach being loaded with
bile and crudities, an emetic in the evening, followed by a stomachic
purgative the next morning, with an occasional aperient afterwards, will
seldom fail to effect a cure. With heavy drinkers a gradual reduction of
the quantity of the strong liquors usually consumed is generally followed
by a restoration of the appetite and digestive powers. The change thus
gradually effected in the course of 8 or 10 days is often almost magical.
The excessive use of liquors--especially of spirits, wine, or beer, or
even of warm weak ones, as tea, coffee, soup, &c.--is always prejudicial.
Hence drunkards are particularly subject to defective appetite; and
teetotallers and water-drinkers to a heartiness often almost approaching
voracity. See BILE, DYSPEPSIA, &c.

Depraved appetite (PI'CA, L.), or a desire for unnatural food, as chalk,
cinders, dirt, soap, tallow, &c., when an idiopathic affection or when
depending on vicious tastes or habits (as is often the case in childhood),
it may be treated by admixing very small doses of tartar emetic or
ipecacuanha with the objectionable food or articles. When symptomatic of
pregnancy, a plentiful and nutritious diet, including the red meats, with
a little good malt liquor or wine, may be adopted with advantage. When
symptomatic of chlorosis, to this diet may be added the use of chalybeate
tonics, and sea or tepid bathing; when of dyspepsia, a light diet, bitter
tonics, free exercise, fresh air, and cold bathing, will generally effect
a cure.

Insatiable appetite (CANINE APPETITE, VORACITY; BULIM'IA, L.) is generally
symptomatic of pregnancy, or worms, or diseases of the stomach or the
viscera immediately connected with it; but sometimes exists as a separate
disease, and is even said to be occasionally hereditary. When it occurs in
childhood, worms may be suspected, and vermifuges administered. In adults,
a common cause is imperfect digestion, arising from stomach complaints or
gluttony, when the languor and gnawing pains of disease are mistaken for
hunger. In this case the diet should be regulated and the bowels kept
gently relaxed with mild aperients, and tonics (as bark and steel), or
bitters (as orange-peel and gentian), may be administered. When pregnancy
or vicious habits are the cause, the treatment indicated under DEPRAVED
APPETITE may be adopted. When the affection is occasioned by acidity in
the stomach, an emetic, followed by the moderate use of absorbents or
antacids, will generally effect a cure. In those cases depending on a
highly increased power of the stomach in effecting rapid and complete
digestion, its contractile force and morbid activity may be often allayed
by the copious use of salad oil, fat meat, &c., by the cautious use of
opiates, or by the use, or freer use, of tobacco (either smoked or chewed,
or both). A cathartic daily, with a dose of blue-pill, or mercurial
powder, every second or third day, is also often advantageous. 25 or 30
drops of solution of potassa, in broth, twice or thrice daily, has also
been recommended. See BILE, DYSPEPSIA, WORMS, &c.

=APP'LE= ([)a]p'l). _Syn._ MA'LUM, PO'MUM, L.; POMME, Fr.; APFEL, Ger.;
APPEL, Dut.; APLE, Swed. This well-known fruit is the product of the
cultivated varieties of _pyrus malus_ (Linn.), or the crab-apple of our
hedges; a tree of the nat. ord. Rosaceae. The date of its amelioration from
the wild state is probably very remote, as several kinds are noticed by
Pliny in a manner that would lead to the inference of a high antiquity.
Pippins, or 'seedling improved apples,' are said to have been introduced
into this country from the South of Europe towards the end of the 16th
century. Don enumerated 1400 varieties of the cultivated apple; there are
now probably above 1650. Rennet apples (POMA RENETTIA) are those ordered
in the P. Cod. to be used in pharmacy. In _botany_ and _composition_, the
term apple (POMUM) is used to designate any large, round, fleshy fruit,
consisting of a 'pericarp,' enclosing a tough 'capsule' containing several
seeds; as love-apple, pine-apple, &c.

The wood of the apple-tree is much used in turnery; that of the crab-tree
is generally preferred by mill-wrights for the teeth of mortise-wheels.

The expressed juice of 1 _cwt._ of ripe apples, after the free acid has
been saturated with chalk, yields from 11 to 13 _lbs._ of a very sweet,
but uncrystallisable sugar.

Apples have been analysed by Fresenius, and were found to have the
following composition:--

  SOLUBLE MATTER--
  Sugar                             7.58
  Free acid (reduced to equivalent
  in malic acid)                    1.04
  Albuminous substance              0.22
  Pectous substances, &c.           2.72
  Ash                               0.44
  INSOLUBLE MATTER--
  Seeds                             0.38
  Skins                             1.44
  Pectose                           1.14
  [Ash from insoluble matter included
  in weights given]                [0.13]
  Water                            85.04
                               ----------
                                  100.00

=Love'-apple=[double-dagger]. The tomato.

=Mad'-apple=[double-dagger]. The larger Mecca or Bussorah gall. They are
also called DEAD-SEA APPLES, A. OF SODOM, &c. See GALLS.

=Acid of Apples.= Malic acid.

=A'PRICOT.= _Syn._ A'PRICOCK[dagger]; ARMENI'ACUM MA'LUM, PRAECO'TIUM, L.;
ABRICOT, Fr.; APRIKOSE, Ger. The fruit of _armeniaca vulgaris_ (Lamb.;
_prunus armeniaca_, Linn.), a rosaceous tree indigenous in Armenia,
Cachmere, &c., and now cultivated in every temperate region of the world.
Under the name of _praecox_ it was known in Italy in the time of
Dioscorides; but it was not introduced into England until the reign of
Henry VIII (A.D. 1540). Its cultivation has since been zealously attended
to by our gardeners, and it is now one of the choicest and most esteemed
of our wall-fruits, and is particularly valued for desserts. It is reputed
to be nutritious, easy of digestion, laxative, and stomachic. The seeds
are bitter and saponaceous.

Apricots are principally eaten as gathered; but are also dried, candied,
and made into jam. In _confectionery_, the Brussels and Breda varieties
are preferred to the larger and sweeter kinds. See FRUIT, PRESERVES, &c.

=Apricots, Briancon'.= The fruit of _armeniaca brigantiaca_ (Pers.).
Acidulous; seeds or kernels, by expression, yield HUILE DE MARMOTE.

=A'QUA= (-kw[)a]). [L.] Water.--AQUA DESTILLA'TA or A. DISTILLA'TA, is
distilled water; A. FLUVIA'LIS or A. EX FLU'MINE (-[)i]n-e), river-water;
A. FONTA'NA, spring-water; A. MARI'NA or A. MA''RIS, sea-water; A.
MINERA'LIS, mineral water; A. NIVA'LIS or A. EX NI'VE, snow-water; A.
PLUVIA'LIS, A. PLU''VIA, or A. IM'BRIUM, rain-water, soft water; A.
PUTEA'NA or A. EX PU'TEO, well, pump, or hard water.

=Aqua.= In _chemistry_ and _pharmacy_, this word was formerly applied to
numerous preparations and articles now included under other heads. See
EAU, ESPRITS, HAIR-DYES, LIQUORS, SOLUTIONS, WATERS, &c.

=Aquafor'tis.= [L.] Literally, 'strong water,' the name given by the
alchemists to the acid obtained by distilling a mixture of nitre and
sulphate of iron. The word is still commonly employed by mechanics and
artists to designate the impure fuming nitric acid of commerce, and is
thus also retained in trade. By these parties concentrated nitric acid is
called 'spirit of nitre.' 'Double aquafortis' merely differs from the
other in strength. See NITRIC ACID.

=Aqua Amarella.= A compound for hair-dyeing; is prepared with sugar of
lead, common salt, and water.

=Aqua Grae'ca, A. Orienta'lis.= See HAIR-DYES.

=Aqua Mari'na.= [L.] The beryl[dagger].

=Aqua Mirab'ilis=[dagger]. [L.] Literally, 'wonderful water,' a cordial
and carminative spirit distilled from aromatics, and formerly reputed to
possess many virtues.

=Aqua Re'gia.= [L.] Nitrohydrochloric acid, originally so called, by the
alchemists, from its power of dissolving gold.

=Aqua Toffa'nia.= [L.] See ACQUETTA.

=Aqua Vi'tae=[dagger]. [L.] Literally, 'water of life,' a name familiarly
applied to the leading native distilled spirit. Thus, it is whiskey in
Scotland, usquebaugh in Ireland, geneva in Holland, and eau de vie or
brandy in France. When the term is employed in England, French brandy is
understood to be referred to. See ALCOHOL, &c.

=Aqua Vitae Aromatico-Amara.= (F. Bolle, formerly J. B. Claude, Berlin).
Galangal ginger, [=a][=a], 2 parts; orange berries, European centaury,
gentian, cinnamon, angelica, [=a][=a], 1 part; alcohol, 30 parts; water,
26 parts. Digest and filter. (Hager.)

=AQUARIUM.= A tank or vessel made of glass, containing either salt or
fresh water, and in which either marine or fresh-water plants and animals
are kept in a living state. In principle, the aquarium depends upon the
interdependence of animal and vegetable life. The carbonic acid evolved by
the animals is decomposed under the influence of solar light by the
plants, and the oxygen necessary for the maintenance of the life of the
animals is thus eliminated, whilst the carbonic acid essential to the
existence of the plants is supplied by the animals. The aquarium,
therefore, must be stocked both with plants and animals, and for the
welfare of both, something like a proper proportion should exist between
them. But even under these conditions the water should be frequently
aerated, whether the aquarium contains fresh or salt-water. This may be
done by simply blowing through a glass tube which reaches to near the
bottom, or, still better, in the following manner:--Take a glass syringe
which can be easily worked. Having filled it with water, hold it with the
nozzle about two inches from the surface of the water in the aquarium,
into which the contents are to be discharged quickly and with a sort of
jerk. By this means a multitude of small bubbles are forced down into the
fluid. This operation should be several times repeated. A simpler method
is to take out a portion of the water from the aquarium and to pour it
back again from a height. When, as not infrequently happens, the aquarium
is provided with a fountain, this of course ensures a continual change of
water; but even where this is the case the joint presence both of plants
and animals is advantageous to the health of both. When sea-water cannot
be procured for the marine aquarium a substitute for it may be made as
follows:--Mix with 970,000 grains of rain-water 27,000 grains of chloride
of sodium, 3600 of chloride of magnesium, 750 of chloride of potassium, 29
of bromide of magnesium, 2300 of sulphate of magnesia, 1400 of sulphate of
lime, 35 of carbonate of lime, and 5 of iodide of sodium. These all being
finely powdered and mixed first, are to be stirred into the water, from
which a stream of air may be caused to pass from the bottom until the
whole is dissolved. On no account is the water to be boiled, or even to be
heated. Into this water, when clear, the rocks and seaweed may be
introduced. As soon as the latter are in a flourishing state the animals
may follow. Care must be taken not to have too many of these, and to
remove immediately any dead ones. The loss that takes place from
evaporation is to be made up by adding clear rain-water. The presence of a
number of molluscous animals, such as the common periwinkle, is necessary
for the consumption of the vegetable matter continually given off by the
growing plants, and of the multitudinous spores, particularly of the
confervae, which would otherwise soon fill the water, rendering it greenish
or brownish, and turbid. In a fresh-water aquarium the bottom should be
covered with a layer of fine sand and shingle, and in this the weeds
should be planted. The best for this purpose are _valesneria spiralis_,
_anacharis_, and _chara vulgaris_. A few water-snails should also be put
in; the best are _planorbis_, _paludina_, and _amphibia glutinosa_. One
plant and two or three snails should be used for each gallon of water put
into the aquarium.

=AQUATINT'A.= [L., Fr.] _Syn._ A'QUATINT, Eng.; ACQUATINTA, It. A species
of etching on copper, producing an effect resembling a drawing in Indian
ink.

=A'QUEOUS= (-kwe-). _Syn._ AQUOSE'*; A'QUEUS, AQUO'SUS, L.; AQUEUX, Fr.;
_Waesserig_, _Waesserhaltig_, Ger. Watery; made with, containing, or
resembling water. In _chemistry_ and _pharmacy_, applied to solutions,
extracts, &c., prepared with water.

=AR'ABESQUE= (-b[)e]sk). [Fr.] In the Arabian manner; more particularly
applied to a species of capricious, fantastic, and imaginative
ornamentation, consisting of foliage, stalks, plants, &c., to the entire
exclusion of the figures of animals. The designs of this class, now so
much employed in cloth and leather binding, are produced by the pressure
of hot plates or rollers having the pattern engraved on them. See
MORESQUE.

=AR'ABIN= (-b[)i]n). C_{12}H_{22}O_{11}. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ SOLUBLE GUM;
ARABI'NA, L. The pure soluble principle of gum acacia.

_Prep._ Dissolve white gum arabic in pure water, filter the solution, and
add alcohol as long as it produces curdiness; collect the precipitate, and
dry it by a gentle heat.

_Prop. &c._ Very soluble in water; basic acetate of lead, alcohol, and
ether, precipitate it from its solutions. It is isomeric with crystallised
cane sugar. It possesses no practical superiority over the best gum
arabic, except its paler colour.

=AR'ABLE= ([)a]bl). _Syn._ ARAB'ILIS, L.; ARABILE, LABOURABLE, Fr.;
PFLUeGBAR, Ger. In _agriculture_, fit for or under tillage or aeration;
ploughed.

=Arable Land.= In _agriculture_, land which is chiefly or wholly
cultivated by the plough, as distinguished from grass-land, wood-land,
common pasture, and waste. See LAND, SOILS, &c.

=ARACHIS HYPOGAEA.= _Syn._ GROUND NUT PLANT. _Hab._ Cultivated throughout
the tropics of the Old and New World. _Officinal part._ The oil of the
seeds (Oleum Arachis, Ground Nut Oil). Obtained by expression. Limpid,
clear, light yellow, almost inodorous, or with a faint smell and bland
taste. Sp. gr. 0.916.--_Prop. and Uses._ This oil affords a cheap and
excellent substitute for olive oil for pharmaceutical and other purposes.

The following notice, by the Editor of this work, appeared in 'The
Veterinarian' for October, 1876:--

"Having in the course of my analytical practice had occasion to examine
some samples of Marseilles earth-nut cake, I take the opportunity of
communicating the results obtained, in the hope of furnishing interesting
information respecting a material which is chiefly employed in the
sophistication of the more expensive feeding cakes, but which I think
might in some instances be with advantage substituted for them.

"Arachis seeds constitute one of the varieties of food termed pulse, and
the oil which exists in them to the extent of from 40 to 50 per cent., is
rapidly being introduced in the making of soap in this and other
countries. It is an article also of the Indian Pharmacop[oe]ia.

"By pressure the seeds yield all but about 7 per cent. of their oil, and
the material which remains after the expression of the greater part of the
oil is sent into commerce as earth-nut or ground-nut cake.

"Sometimes the husks of the seeds are first removed and only the kernels
subjected to pressure for the sake of the oil; the cake so produced is
called 'decorticated earth-nut cake,' at other times the entire seeds are
subjected to this treatment, and then the resulting cake is known as
'undecorticated earth-nut cake.'

"The following table shows the composition in 100 parts of both
descriptions of cake, as well as that of linseed cake of first-rate
quality; the last analysis being added for the sake of comparison:--

        _Table showing the Centesimal Composition of
        Decorticated and Undecorticated Earth-nut Cake and
        Linseed Cake._

                                  Decorticated   Undecorticated  Linseed
                                 Earth-nut Cake. Earth-nut Cake.  Cake.
  Moisture                            9.58            9.28        11.72
  Fat and heat producers
    Oil                               7.40            6.99        12.00
    Starch digestible fibre, &c.     27.63           23.66        25.29
  Flesh-formers (albumenoids)        42.81[75]       32.81[76]    32.64
  Indigestible fibre                  7.87           23.80        11.79
  Ash                                 4.71            3.45         6.47
                                    ------          ------       ------
                                    100.00          100.00       100.00

[Footnote 75: Containing 6.85 of nitrogen.]

[Footnote 76: Containing 5.25 of nitrogen.]

"From the foregoing analyses it will be seen that both descriptions of
earth nut are exceedingly rich in flesh-formers, and that they contain a
moderately large amount of oil. They also possess a sweet agreeable
flavour, and are, I believe, very digestible. As these may, I am informed,
be bought at from L6 to L8 per ton, it is evident that farmers would do
well to give earth-nut cakes a trial in the feeding of their stock.

"Pure linseed cake does not contain starch, but in its stead mucilage. The
feeding qualities of starch and mucilage are, however, very similar."

=ARAROBA.= _Syn._ ARAROBA POWDER. BAHIA POWDER. GOA POWDER. The pith or
medulla of the stem and branches of a leguminous tree (a species of
_Centrolobium_) growing in Brazil. It is in extensive use amongst the
natives of India, who employ it in affections of the skin. It has been
applied with success in shingles and ring-worm, in the form of ointment
made as follows:--

  Araroba in powder      20 grains.
  Acetic acid            10 drops.
  Benzoated lard          1 ounce.

Dr Attfield found the powder to contain from 80 to 84 per cent. of
chrysophanic acid, to which substance its remedial powers are doubtless
due. It is now the chief source of this acid.

=ARA'TION*.= In _agriculture_, ploughing; culture by ploughing; tillage.
Lands in a state of aration' are those under tillage.

=AR'BOR.= [L.] A tree. The seventh family of vegetables in Linnaeus's
system. In _anatomy_ and _chemistry_, a term formerly applied to membranes
and substances having some real or fancied resemblance to a tree or
vegetation. An ar'boret is a little tree; an arborist, or
ar'bor[=a]tor[dagger], is one who studies or cultivates trees.

=ARBUTIN.= C_{12}H_{16}O_{7}. A substance obtained by KAWALIER from the
leaves of the red bearberry _Arctostophylos uva ursi_, and by ZWENGER and
HIMMELMANN from the leaves of a species of winter-green, _Pyrola
Umbellata_. It is prepared by precipitating the aqueous decoction of the
leaves of either of these plants, with basic acetate of lead, filtering,
removing the excess of lead with sulphuretted hydrogen, and either
treating the filtrate with animal charcoal and leaving it to crystallise
or evaporating and digesting the residue with a mixture of eight parts of
ether and one part of alcohol, which dissolves out the arbutin, and
deposits it on evaporation in the crystalline state.

=ARCA'NUM= [L.] _Syn._ ARCANE, Fr.; GEHEIMNIS, Ger. A secret. In
_alchemy_, a term applied to various preparations without any precise
meaning. "Arcanum is a thing secret, incorporeal, and immortal, which can
only be known to man by experience; for it is the virtue of each thing,
which operates a thousand times more than the thing itself." (Ruland) In
_ancient medicine_ and _pharmacy_; a nostrum. The word is still
occasionally used in the plural (ARCA'NA, secrets, mysteries), in the
titles of books; as, 'Arcana of Chemistry,' a book professing to contain a
full exposition of the mysteries of that art.

Among the old chemists, ARCANUM AL'BUM was 'pulvis Viennensis albus
virgineus' (see POWDERS); A. BEC'CHICUM, a sweetened aqueous solution of
liver of sulphur; A. CORALLI'NUM, red oxide of mercury that had been
digested in a solution of potash, washed with water, and then had spirit
of wine burnt on it (once a favourite mercurial and escharotic); A.
DUPLICA'TUM, sulphate of potash; A. D. CATHOL'ICUM, roots of colchicum and
plantain (worn as an amulet against fevers and pestilential diseases); A.
LUDEMAN'NI, oxide of zinc; A. TAR'TARI, acetate of potassa; A. VI'TAE,
elixir vitae; &c.

=ARCHE'US= (-k[=e]'-[)u]s; [)a]r'*--Mayne). [L.] _Syn._ ARCHAE'US, L. A
term invented by Paracelsus, and employed by the alchemists and older
physicians, to imply the occult cause of phenomena, as well as the
sub-causes or agents by which the effects were accomplished. Van Helmont
and Stahl ascribe certain vital functions to the influence and
superintendence of a 'spiritus archaeus' or intelligent vital principle.
According to others, the powers of 'Archaeus' were indefinitely extended.
He or it was an occult power of nature, the artificer of all things,
physician-general to the universe, &c. &c., to the utmost bounds of
absurdity and confusion.

From this word comes the adj. ARCHE'AL or ARCHAE'AL, hidden, operative.

=ARCH'IL= (artsh'-[)i]l). _Syn._ ARCH'EL*, OR'CHIL; ARCHIL'LA, ORCHIL'LA
(ch as k), L.; ORSEILLE, Fr., Ger.; ORICELLO, It. A violet-red, purple or
blue colouring matter or dye-stuff, obtained from several species of
lichens, but of the finest quality from roccella tinctoria (DC.), and next
from r. fuciformis (DC.).

The archil of commerce is met with as a liquid paste, or as a thin liquid
dye or stain of more or less intensity. The ordinary archil or orchil of
the shops (ORCHIL-LIQUOR) is under the last form; and is known as either
BLUE OR RED ARCHIL--distinctions which arise as follows:--

_Prep._ 1. BLUE ARCHIL:--The bruised or coarsely ground lichen is steeped
for some time in a mixture of stale urine, or bone-spirit, and lime or
milk of lime, or in any similar ammoniacal solution, contained in covered
wooden vessels in the cold; the process being repeated until all the
colour is extracted.

2. RED OR CRIMSON ARCHIL:--The materials are the same as for the last
variety, but rather less milk of lime is used, and the 'steep' is
generally made in earthen jars placed in a room heated by steam,
technically called a stove. The two kinds merely differ in the degree of
their red or violet tint--the addition of a small quantity of lime or
alkali to the one, or of an acid to the other, immediately bringing them
both to the same shade of colour.

_Prop._ Archil has a disagreeable putrid ammoniacal odour. Its colouring
matter is soluble in water, alcohol, urine, ammoniacal and alkaline lyes,
and weak acid liquors; alkalies turn it blue, acids red; alum gives with
it a brownish-red precipitate, and solution of tin a red one; the
alcoholic solution gradually loses its colour when excluded from the air.
Its colouring matter consists chiefly of orcein.

_Pur._ Archil is frequently adulterated with extract of logwood, or of
Lima or Sapan-wood. It may be tested as follows:--1. A solution of 50 or
60 drops of pure archil in about 3 fl. oz. of water slightly acidulated
with acetic acid, almost entirely loses its colour, or presents only a
yellowish tinge, when heated to ebullition in a flask along with 50 drops
of a fresh solution of protochloride of tin made with 1 part of the salt
to 2 parts of water:--2. A drop of fluid extract of logwood treated in the
same way, gives a distinct violet tint, which resists several hours'
boiling; but when only 3 or 4 per cent. of logwood is present, the boiled
liquid has a permanent grey tint:--3. If the boiled liquid retains its red
hue, extract of Sapan-wood is present:--4. The boiled liquor, when the
archil is pure, re-acquires its colour by exposure to the air, and the
addition of an alkali, particularly ammonia; whilst the colour produced by
logwood is destroyed only by an alkaline solution of tin, and is restored
by acids.

_Uses, &c._ It is employed to tinge the spirit used to fill the tubes of
thermometers, and to stain paper, wood, &c. The aqueous solution stains
MARBLE, in the cold, of a beautiful violet colour, of considerable
permanence when not exposed to a vivid light. "Marble thus tinged
preserves its colour unchanged at the end of two years." (Dufay.) Its
principal use is, however, in dyeing. By proper management it may be made
to produce every shade of pink and crimson to blue and purple.
Unfortunately, although the hues it imparts to silk and wool possess an
exquisite bloom or lustre, they are far from permanent, and unless well
managed, soon decay. It is hence generally employed in combination with
other dye-stuffs, or as a finishing bath to impart a bloom to silk or
woollens already dyed of permanent colours. In using it as a dye it is
added to hot water in the required quantity, and the bath being raised to
nearly the boiling-point, the materials are put in and passed through it,
until the desired shade is produced. A mordant of alum and tartar is
sometimes used, but does not add to the permanence of the colour. Solution
of tin added to the bath increases the durability, but turns the colour
more on the scarlet. (Hellot.) Milk of lime or salt of tartar is added to
darken it; acids or solution of tin to redden it. A beautiful crimson-red
is obtained by first passing the stuff through a mordant of tin and
tartar, and then through a bath of archil mixed with a very little
solution of tin. By the proper management of this dye, lilacs, violets,
mallows, rosemary flower, soupes au vin, agates, and many other shades may
be produced on silk or cloth, either alone or in conjunction with other
dyes to modify it. 1/2 _lb._ of solid archil, or its equivalent in a
liquid form, will dye 1 to 2 _lb._ of cloth. HERB-ARCHIL, it is asserted,
will bear boiling, and gives a more durable tint than the other lichens,
especially with solution of tin. (Hellot.) Recently Mr Lightfoot has
patented a process for dyeing with archil with the aid of oil, after the
manner followed for producing Turkey-red on cottons.

Archil, Facti''tious:--1. From a mixture of onions (in a state of
incipient putrefaction) with about 1-10th to 1-12th their weight of
carbonate of potash and some ammonia, fermented together; and adding,
after some days, 1-7th to 1-8th of the weight of the potash used in a salt
of lead. The details of the process essential to success are, however, now
unknown, the secret having died with a relative of the writer of this
article.

2. Extract of logwood dissolved in juice of elderberries and putrid urine,
with the addition of a little pearlash for the BLUE, and a very little
oxalic acid or oil of vitriol for the RED variety. Used to stain wood.

=Arch'il, Herb.= Roccella tinctoria. See ARCHIL (_above_), LICHENS, and
MOSSES.

=ARE= ([)a]r; [=a]re--Eng.). [Fr.] See MEASURES.

=ARE'CA.= [L.] In _botany_ a genus of East Indian trees, of the nat. ord.
Palmae (DC.).

=Areca Cate'chu.= [L.; Linn.] _Syn._ ARE'CA, A. IN'DICA, A. FAUFEL,
BE'TEL-NUT TREE. _Hab._ East Indies. Fruit (BETEL-NUT), astringent and
narcotic; husk of fruit (PENANG or PINANG), sialagogue and stomachic; both
are used as masticatories; wood and nut yield an inferior or bastard sort
of catechu; charcoal of the nut highly esteemed as tooth-powder; also
given in tape-worm in doses of 1/4 _oz._ and 1/2 _oz._; said to be more
efficacious in coarse than in fine powder.--_Doses for Animals_. HORSE, 4
to 6 drachms; CATTLE, 4 to 8 drachms; DOG, 30 grains to 2 drachms.

=Areca Globulif'era.= [L.] Properties similar to the last.

=Areca Olera'cea.= [L.; Willd.] Cabbage-palm.

=ARENA'CEOUS= ([)a]r-e-). _Syn._ ARENA'CEUS, L.; ARENACE, SABLONNEUX, Fr.;
SANDIG, SANDARTIG, Ger. In agriculture, mineralogy, &c., sandy; resembling
sand; friable.

=ARENA''RIOUS= (-nare'-). _Syn._ ARENA''RIUS, L.; ARENAIRE, Fr. Sandy,
arenaceous. In _agriculture_ and _botany_ applied to soils (ARENARIOUS
SOILS) in which sand is the prevailing and characteristic ingredient; also
to plants that grow in sandy or arid soils.

=ARENA'TION.= _Syn._ SABURRA'TION; ARENA'TIO, L.; ARENATION, Fr.; SANDBAD,
Ger. In _medicine_ sandbathing; a practice formerly prevalent, in dropsy,
of applying hot sand, either by immersion or otherwise, to the feet, legs,
or even the whole body.

=ARENOSE'= ([)a]r-e-n[=o]se'). _Syn._ AR'ENOUS*; ARENO'SUS, L.; ARENEUX,
Fr. Sandy; arenaceous (which _see_).

=AREOM'ETER= ([)a]-re- or [)a]r-re-; [=a]re-e--Smart). _Syn._ AREOM'ETRUM,
L.; AREOMETRE, Fr. Literally, a 'measure of lightness' or 'rarity,'
originally applied to any instrument for determining the specific gravity
of alcoholic and ethereal liquids; but since applied, like the word
'hydrometer,' to instruments adjusted to the densities of all liquids. In
this country the term is principally confined to the areometres of Baume,
on account of their general use by Continental chemists. The relations and
equivalents of Baume's scales, as now adopted in France, are shown in the
first two of the following _Tables_:--

I.--_Corresponding_ DEGREES of BAUME'S AREOMETERS and REAL SPECIFIC
GRAVITIES:--

        1. _Areometer for liquids_ LIGHTER _than_ WATER, or
        _Pese-esprit_.[77]

  -------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------
  Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific
  Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.
  -------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------
   10    | 1.0000 | 21    | 0.9300 | 32    | 0.8690 | 42    | 0.8202 | 52    | 0.7766
   11    | 0.9932 | 22    | 0.9241 | 33    | 0.8639 | 43    | 0.8156 | 53    | 0.7725
   12    | 0.9865 | 23    | 0.9183 | 34    | 0.8588 | 44    | 0.8111 | 54    | 0.7684
   13    | 0.9799 | 24    | 0.9125 | 35    | 0.8538 | 45    | 0.8066 | 55    | 0.7643
   14    | 0.9733 | 25    | 0.9068 | 36    | 0.8488 | 46    | 0.8022 | 56    | 0.7604
   15    | 0.9669 | 26    | 0.9012 | 37    | 0.8439 | 47    | 0.7978 | 57    | 0.7556
   16    | 0.9605 | 27    | 0.8957 | 38    | 0.8391 | 48    | 0.7935 | 58    | 0.7526
   17    | 0.9542 | 28    | 0.8902 | 39    | 0.8343 | 49    | 0.7892 | 59    | 0.7487
   18    | 0.9480 | 29    | 0.8848 | 40    | 0.8295 | 50    | 0.7849 | 60    | 0.7449
   19    | 0.9420 | 30    | 0.8795 | 41    | 0.8249 | 51    | 0.7807 | 61    | 0.7411
   20    | 0.9359 | 31    | 0.8742 |       |        |       |        |       |
  -------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+---------

[Footnote 77: These instruments were originally adjusted at the
temperature of 12-1/2 deg. Cent., or 54-1/2 deg. Fahr. Those now made in France
are adjusted at 15 deg. C., or 59 deg. F.; and those made in England, at either
59 deg. or (more usually) 60 deg. Fahr. The standard temperature of the instrument
must be known for its correct application.]

        2. _Areometer for liquids_ HEAVIER _than_ WATER;
        _Pese-acide_, or _Pese-sirop_.[78]

  +-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
  |Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|
  |Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|
  +-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
  |  0    | 1.0000 | 16    | 1.1176 | 32    | 1.2667 | 47    | 1.4476 | 62    | 1.6889 |
  |  1    | 1.0066 | 17    | 1.1259 | 33    | 1.2773 | 48    | 1.4615 | 63    | 1.7079 |
  |  2    | 1.0133 | 18    | 1.1343 | 34    | 1.2881 | 49    | 1.4758 | 64    | 1.7273 |
  |  3    | 1.0201 | 19    | 1.1428 | 35    | 1.2992 | 50    | 1.4902 | 65    | 1.7471 |
  |  4    | 1.0270 | 20    | 1.1515 | 36    | 1.3103 | 51    | 1.5051 | 66    | 1.7674 |
  |  5    | 1.0340 | 21    | 1.1603 | 37    | 1.3217 | 52    | 1.5200 | 67    | 1.7882 |
  |  6    | 1.0411 | 22    | 1.1692 | 38    | 1.3333 | 53    | 1.5353 | 68    | 1.8095 |
  |  7    | 1.0483 | 23    | 1.1783 | 39    | 1.3451 | 54    | 1.5510 | 69    | 1.8313 |
  |  8    | 1.0556 | 24    | 1.1875 | 40    | 1.3571 | 55    | 1.5671 | 70    | 1.8537 |
  |  9    | 1.0630 | 25    | 1.1968 | 41    | 1.3694 | 56    | 1.5833 | 71    | 1.8765 |
  | 10    | 1.0704 | 26    | 1.2063 | 42    | 1.3818 | 57    | 1.6000 | 72    | 1.9000 |
  | 11    | 1.0780 | 27    | 1.2160 | 43    | 1.3945 | 58    | 1.6170 | 73    | 1.9241 |
  | 12    | 1.0857 | 28    | 1.2258 | 44    | 1.4074 | 59    | 1.6344 | 74    | 1.9487 |
  | 13    | 1.0935 | 29    | 1.2358 | 45    | 1.4206 | 60    | 1.6522 | 75    | 1.9740 |
  | 14    | 1.1014 | 30    | 1.2459 | 46    | 1.4339 | 61    | 1.6705 | 76    | 2.0000 |
  | 15    | 1.1095 | 31    | 1.2562 |       |        |       |        |       |        |
  +-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+

II.--_Corresponding_ SPECIFIC GRAVITIES _and_ DEGREES _of_ BAUME'S
AREOMETER _for heavy liquids_.[78] From the Batavian Pharmacop[oe]ia.

[Footnote 78: See footnote on previous page.]

  +-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
  |Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|
  |Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|Baume. |Gravity.|
  +-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+
  |  0    | 1000   | 16    | 1125   | 32    | 1286   | 47    | 1485   | 62    | 1758   |
  |  1    | 1007   | 17    | 1134   | 33    | 1298   | 48    | 1501   | 63    | 1779   |
  |  2    | 1014   | 18    | 1143   | 34    | 1309   | 49    | 1516   | 64    | 1801   |
  |  3    | 1022   | 19    | 1152   | 35    | 1321   | 50    | 1532   | 65    | 1823   |
  |  4    | 1029   | 20    | 1161   | 36    | 1334   | 51    | 1549   | 66    | 1847   |
  |  5    | 1036   | 21    | 1171   | 37    | 1346   | 52    | 1566   | 67    | 1872   |
  |  6    | 1044   | 22    | 1180   | 38    | 1359   | 53    | 1583   | 68    | 1897   |
  |  7    | 1052   | 23    | 1190   | 39    | 1372   | 54    | 1601   | 69    | 1921   |
  |  8    | 1060   | 24    | 1199   | 40    | 1384   | 55    | 1618   | 70    | 1946   |
  |  9    | 1067   | 25    | 1210   | 41    | 1398   | 56    | 1637   | 71    | 1974   |
  | 10    | 1075   | 26    | 1221   | 42    | 1412   | 57    | 1656   | 72    | 2000   |
  | 11    | 1083   | 27    | 1231   | 43    | 1426   | 58    | 1676   | 73    | 2031   |
  | 12    | 1091   | 28    | 1242   | 44    | 1440   | 59    | 1695   | 74    | 2059   |
  | 13    | 1100   | 29    | 1252   | 45    | 1454   | 60    | 1715   | 75    | 2087   |
  | 14    | 1108   | 30    | 1261   | 46    | 1470   | 61    | 1738   | 76    | 2116   |
  | 15    | 1116   | 31    | 1275   |       |        |       |        |       |        |
  +-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+

=AREOM'ETRY.= _Syn._ AREOME'TRIA, L.; AREOMETRIE, Fr. The art or operation
of ascertaining the specific gravity of liquids, and hence also their
strength or commercial value; hydrometry. See AREOMETER (_above_),
HYDROMETRY, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, &c.

=ARE'CINA.= C_{23}H_{26}N_{2}O_{4}. An alkaloid discovered by Pelletier
and Comol, in white cinchona bark from Areca. It is extracted from the
bark by the same process as Quinine, viz., by boiling the bark with
acidulated water, treating the liquor with lime, and digesting the
lime-precipitate in alcohol. The solution filtered at the boiling heat
yields a very dark- liquid, which, after a time, deposits the
greater part of the aricine in crystals. An additional quantity may be
obtained from the mother-liquor by expelling the alcohol by distillation,
treating the residue with a slight excess of hydrochloric acid, separating
the greater part of the colouring matter by means of a saturated solution
of common salts, then throwing down the aricine by ammonia, dissolving the
precipitate in alcohol, decolourising with animal charcoal and
crystallising.

=ARGAMONE MEXICANA= (nat. order PAPAVERACEAE). A tropical American plant,
now a common weed growing in almost every part of India. A fixed oil is
obtained from the seeds by expression, which has long been employed as an
aperient in the West Indies. In half-drachm doses it is said to act as a
gentle aperient, and at the same time it allays, apparently by its
sedative qualities, the pain in colic. The smallness of the dose, and the
mildness of its operation, commend it to the notice of the medical
practitioner. Its efficiency is impaired by keeping, the freshly prepared
oil proving more active and uniform in its action than that which has been
long on hand. It is reported to exercise a well-marked and soothing
influence when applied to herpetic eruptions and other forms of skin
disease. By the natives of India the expressed yellow glutinous juice of
the plant is held in high repute as a local application to indolent and
foul ulcers.

=ARGENT'INE= (-[)i]n). _Syn._ ARGENTI'NUS, L.; ARGENTIN, Fr.;
SILBERFARBEN, &c., Ger. Silver-like; pertaining to, resembling, or
sounding like silver; argental.

=Ar'gentine.= (-t[)i]n). [Eng., Fr.] German silver*. In _mineralogy_,
nacreous carbonate of lime, from its whiteness and silvery lustre.

=ARGENT'UM.= [L.] Silver. In _old chemistry_ and _pharmacy_, ARGENTUM,
FUGITI''VUM[dagger], A. MO'BILE[dagger] (-[)i]l-e), was quicksilver; A.
MOR'TUUM[dagger], dead silver, grain-s; A. MUSI'VUM[dagger], mosaic s.,
silver-bronze; A. NITRA'TUM[dagger], lunar caustic; A. VI'VUM[dagger],
quicksilver; A. ZOOeTIN'ICUM[dagger], cyanide of silver; &c.

=AR'GIL=[dagger] (j[)i]l). _Syn._ ARGIL'LA, L.; ARGILE, Fr. Clay or
potter's earth.

=ARGILLA'CEOUS= (-j[)i]l-). _Syn._ ARGILLA'CEUS, L.; ARGILLEUX, Fr.;
THONIG, THONARTIG, Ger. Clayey; pertaining to, containing, or of the
nature of clay or argil. In _agriculture_, an epithet of soils
(ARGILLACEOUS SOILS) of which clay is the principal or characteristic
ingredient.

=Argil'lo-arena'ceous= (-j[)i]l-). In _agr._, consisting chiefly of clay
and sand.

=Argillo-calca''reous.= In _agr._, consisting chiefly of clay and chalk.

=AR'GOL.= _Syn._ ARGAL*; TAR'TARUS CRU'DUS, L.; TARTRE BRUT, Fr.;
WEINSTEIN, Ger. Crude bitartrate of potash, as deposited by wine. That
from red wine is RED ARGOL; that from white wine, WHITE ARGOL. See TARTAR.

=ARM'ATURE= (-[)a]-t[=u]re). _Syn._ ARMATU''RA, L. In _magnetism_, a piece
of soft iron used to connect the poles of a horseshoe magnet, for the
purpose of preventing loss of power.

=AR'NICA.= [L., Fr., Eng.] _Syn._ ARNIQUE, Fr.; ARNIKA, WOLVERLEI, Ger. In
_botany_, a genus of plants of the nat. ord. Compositae (DC.). In the Ph.
U. S., arnica montana (see _below_).

=Arnica Monta'na.= [L.; Linn.] _Syn._ ARNICA, MOUN'TAIN A., M. TOBAC'CO,
GERMAN LEOP'ARD'S BANE; PANACE'A LAPSO''RUM*, L. ARNIQUE, A. DES
MONTAGNES, TABAC DES SAVOYARDS ET DES VOSGES, Fr.; ARNIKA, FALKRAUT, &c.,
Ger. _Hab._ Meadows of the cooler parts of Europe, North America, and
Siberia. It is now cultivated in our gardens. Flowers (ARNICA, Ph. U. S.,
Castr. Ruth., and Bor.) and leaves, diaphoretic, diuretic, stimulant, and
narcotic; in large doses emetic and purgative; root discutient; whole herb
diaphoretic, stimulant, and nervine.

_Prop., &c._ Arnica acts as an energetic stimulant on the cerebro-spinal
system, and as an irritant on the stomach and bowels. It is much employed
on the Continent, and is given in a great variety of diseases--amaurosis,
chlorosis, convulsions, diarrh[oe]a, dysentery, gout, paralysis,
rheumatism, &c. It is much used in Germany, instead of bark, in
intermittents, putrid fevers, and gangrene. In France it is commonly
employed as an excito-tonic in paralysis. It has been greatly extolled, as
a restorative, and in bruises and injuries from falls. The Savoyards and
inhabitants of the Vosges both smoke and 'snuff' the leaves. In England it
is little used except by hom[oe]opaths. It is said that no animal but the
goat will eat this plant. (Thomson.) Its noxious properties chiefly depend
on the presence of cytisine.--_Dose._ Flowers, 5 to 10 gr., in powder,
with syrup or honey; root, 10 to 20 gr. It is most conveniently
administered under the form of infusion or tincture. Severe abdominal
pains and vertigo, and even tetanus and death, have followed excessive
doses.

_Obs._ According to Dupuytren, the emetic action of infusion of arnica
depends on minute particles of the down of the plant which remain
suspended in it, and which may be removed by filtration. See INFUSIONS,
TINCTURES, &c.

=ARNATT'O, Arnott'o.= See ANNOTTA.

=AR'NICINE= (seen). This name has been applied to two substances--the one
discovered by Pfaff; the other by Bastick:--

=Arnicine= (of Pfaff). The resinous matter extracted by alcohol from the
roots and flowers of mountain arnica, and in which their acridity appears
to reside.

=Arnicine= (of Bastick). _Syn._ ARNICI'NA, ARNICI''A (n[=i]sh'-y'[)a]), L.
_Prep._ 1. (Bastick.) From the flowers, by a similar process to that by
which he obtains lobelina. 2. From the flowers (or root), as directed
under ARICINA.

_Prop., &c._ Bitter; acrid; crystallisable scarcely soluble in water;
soluble in alcohol and ether; forms salts with the acids, the
hydrochlorate and one or two others being crystallisable. Its
physiological properties and dose have not as yet been accurately
determined.

=ARO'MA.= [L.] _Syn._ AROME, Fr.; AROM, GERUCHSTOFF, Ger. The
characteristic odour of substances, particularly the peculiar quality of
plants, and of substances derived from them, which constitutes their
fragrance.

=AROMA'TA.= [L.] See AROMATIC.

=AROMAT'IC.= _Syn._ AROMAT'ICUS, L.; AROMATIQUE, Fr.; GEWUeRZHAFT, Ger.
Fragrant; odoriferous; spicy; applied chiefly to plants and their products
(AROMATICS, A. PLANTS; AROMAT'A, AROMAT'ICA, L.; AROMATIQUES, EPICES, Fr.;
GEWURZ, Ger.) characterised by their spicy odour or aroma, and warm
pungent flavour, and of which allspice, cinnamon, cloves, lavender,
pepper, rosemary, sage, &c., are well-known examples. They are all
stimulant, carminative, and antiseptic; and from remote antiquity have
been regarded as prophylactic and disinfectant.

=Aromatic.= In _medicine_, _pharmacy_, _perfumery_, &c., applied to
substances, simple or compound, characterised by an agreeable odour or
carminative properties, or both; as aromatic confection, a. pastilles, a.
vinegar, a. bark (CORTEX AROMATICUS, white canella), &c.

=AROMATIC SULPHUR-SOAP= (Ed. Heger). For cleansing the teeth and mouth. A
hard sulphur- soap externally; on cutting, greyish-brown. Composed
of soap with 10 per cent. of hyposulphite of soda, perfumed with a scent
resembling oil of balm. (Hager.)

=AROMATIQUE= (Albin Mueller, Bruenn). Spirit (90 per cent.), 50 grms.;
sugar, 45 grms.; extractive matter, 4 grms. (composed of cinnamon, cloves,
galangal, zedoary, angelica, anise); water, 81 grms. Sold in
wine-bottle-shaped bottles, and recommended for all derangements of the
digestive organs. (Hager.)

=ARQUEBUSADE'= (ar-ke-b[)o][)o]-zade'). [Fr.] Primarily, the shot of an
arquebuse; but afterwards applied to an aromatic spirit (EAU
D'ARQUEBUSADE, Fr.), originally employed as an application to gunshot
(arquebuse) wounds.

=AR'RACK= (_Syn._ RACK) (arrack'--Brande). [Ind.] _Syn._ ARAC, ARACK,
RACK[double-dagger]Sec.; PALM-SPIRIT; AR'AC'CA, SPIR'ITUS PAL'MAE, S. SUC'CI
P., S. ORY'ZAE*, L.; ARACK, Fr.; Arak, Ger. A spirituous liquor imported
from the East Indies. The finer qualities are distilled from the fermented
juice (toddy, palm-wine) of the cocoa-nut tree, palmyra tree, and other
palms; and the other kinds, from the infusion of unhusked rice
(rice-beer), fermented with cocoa-nut or palm-juice, either with or
without the addition of coarse sugar or jaggery.

_Prop., &c._ It is colourless or nearly so, but like other spirit, when
long kept in wood, gradually acquires a slight tinge, similar to that of
old Hollands. The best kinds, when of sufficient age, are pleasant
flavoured, and are probably as wholesome as the other spirits of commerce;
but common arrack has a strong and somewhat nauseous flavour and odour,
depending on the presence of volatile oil derived from the rice, and
corresponding to that of corn-spirit. The inferior qualities are hence
more heating and apt to disagree with the stomach than the other
commercial spirits. In this country it is chiefly used to make punch. When
sliced pine-apples are put into good arrack, and the spirit kept for some
time, it mellows down and acquires a most delicious flavour, and is
thought by many to be then unrivalled for making 'nectarial punch' or
'rack-punch.'

_Obs._ Batavian arrack is most esteemed; then that of Madras; and next
that of China. Others are regarded as inferior. The common par'iah arrack
is generally narcotic, very intoxicating, and unwholesome; being commonly
prepared from coarse jaggery, spoilt toddy, refuse rice, &c., and rendered
more intoxicating by the addition of hemp-leaves, poppy-heads, juice of
stramonium, and other deleterious substances.

=Arrack, Facti''tious.= _Syn._ MOCK AR'RACK, BRIT'ISH A.;
VAUXHALL'NEC'TAR; &c. _Prep._ Good old Jamaica rum (uncoloured), rectified
spirit (54 to 56 o. p.; clean flavoured), and water, of each 1 quart;
flowers of benzoin, 1 dr.; sliced pine-apple, 1/4 oz. (or essence of
pine-apple, 1/2 teaspoonful); digest, with occasional agitation, for a
fortnight; then add of skimmed milk 1 wine-glassful; agitate well for 15
minutes, and in a few days decant the clear portion.

The crude Indian arrack, when subjected to distillation until it has a sp.
gr. .920, is employed in India, as proof spirit, in the preparation of
official tinctures, and for other pharmaceutical purposes. A very useful
stimulating application, known in India as toddy poultice, and intended as
a substitute for yeast poultice, is prepared by adding freshly drawn toddy
to rice flour, till it has the consistence of a soft poultice, and
subjecting this to heat over a gentle fire, stirring constantly till
fermentation commences.

The light brown cotton-like substance from the outside of the base of the
fronds belonging to the Palmyra palm is employed by the Cyngalese doctors
as a styptic for stopping the haemorrhage of superficial wounds.

=AR'ROW-ROOT.= The common name of _maran'ta arundina'cea_ (Linn.; _m.
Indi'ca_--Tuss.); a plant of the nat. ord. Marantaceae (Lindl.;
Cannaceae--Endl.). It was originally brought from the island of Dominica to
Barbadoes, by Col. James Walker. It has since been extensively cultivated
in the West Indies.

_Tubers_ yield true ARROW-ROOT; when fresh and good they contain about 26%
of starch, of which 23% may be obtained as arrow-root, and the rest by
boiling.

=Arrow-root.= _Syn._ MARAN'TA, AM'YLUM MARAN'TAE, FAEC'ULA M., L.; RACINE
FLECHIERE, PIVOT, Fr.; PFEILWURZ, P.-SATZMEHL, Ger. The starch or fecula
obtained from the rhizoma or tubers of _maran'ta arundina'cea_ (Linn.; see
_above_), and which forms the true 'arrow-root' of commerce.

_Prep._ The fecula is extracted from the tubers when they are about 10 or
12 months old, by a process similar to that by which the farina is
obtained from potatoes. In Bermuda the tubers, after being washed, are
deprived of their paper-like scales and every discoloured and defective
part by hand; they are then again washed and drained, and next subjected
to the action of a wheel-rasp, the starch being washed from the comminuted
tubers with rain-water; the milky liquid is passed through a hair sieve,
or a coarse cloth, and allowed to deposit its fecula. This is then allowed
to drain, after which it is again carefully washed with clean water, again
drained, and, after being thoroughly dried in the air or sun, is at once
packed for market. (Cogswell.) In St. Vincent (on the Hopewell Estate), a
cylindrical crushing-mill, tinned-copper washing machines, and
German-silver palettes and shovels are employed; whilst the drying is
effected in extensive sheds, under white gauze, to exclude insects. In
Jamaica the washed tubers are generally pulped in deep wooden mortars;
machinery being seldom employed in any part of the process.

_Prop., &c._ A light, dull, dead-white, tasteless, inodorous powder or
small pulverulent masses, feeling firm to the fingers, and crackling when
pressed or rubbed; viewed by a pocket lens it appears to consist of
glistening particles, which are shown by a microscope to be convex,
irregular, ovoid or truncated granules, most of them, according to Mr
Jackson, being .0010 of an inch in length, and .0008 of an inch in
breadth; mixed with others varying from about double to only half that
size. In its action with boiling water, and its general properties it
resembles the other starches; than which, however, it is freer from any
peculiar taste and flavour; and thus agrees better with the delicate
stomachs of invalids and infants than the ordinary farinas.

[Illustration: West Indian Arrowroot (_Maranta Arundinacaea_). Scale
1-1000th of an inch.]

_Comp._ Similar to that of the other starches.

_Pur._ A large portion of the arrow-root of the shops consists either
wholly or in part of the fecula or farina of potatoes or of inferior
starches such as _cacuma_, or East Indian arrow-root, _jatropha_, or
Brazilian arrow-root, _canna_, or _tous les mois_; or is more or less
mixed with sago-meal or rice-meal: such materials can be readily detected
by the microscope. Potato starch is known in commerce as 'FARINA' or
'BRITISH ARROW-ROOT,' or simply 'arrow-root,' whereas genuine arrow-root
is always described as 'Bermuda,' 'St. Vincent,' 'St. Kitts,' or, at
least, as 'West Indian arrow-root.' The substitution of the inferior
farinas for genuine arrow-root is not only fraudulent on account of their
inferior value, but is reprehensible in a hygienic point of view; as some
of them are offensive to a delicate stomach, and exert of themselves, and
still more when carelessly manufactured, a laxative action on the bowels;
whereas the effect of true arrow-root is that of a slight and soothing
tonic.

_Uses, &c._ As an agreeable, non-irritable article of diet for invalids
and children, in the form of cakes, biscuits or puddings, or boiled with
milk or water and flavoured with sugar, spices, lemon-juice, or wine, at
pleasure. For young children a little caraway or cinnamon water is to be
preferred. It is especially useful in irritation or debility of the
stomach, bowels, or urinary organs, and in all cases in which a demulcent
or emollient is indicated. It must not, however, be employed to the entire
exclusion of other food, as, being destitute of the nitrogenous elements
of nutrition, it is incapable alone of supporting life. Arrow-root jelly
is prepared by first rubbing the powder up with a very small quantity of
cold water, and then gradually adding the remainder boiling, stirring well
all the time. Beef tea, veal broth, or milk may be used instead of water.
Some persons boil it for a few minutes. This jelly, flavoured with a
little genuine port wine and nutmeg, is almost a specific in cases of
simple diarrh[oe]a arising from habit or debility.

_Obs._ Arrow-root is imported in tins, barrels, and boxes, from all the
West India Islands; and from Calcutta and Sierra Leone. The best quality
was, until recently, solely obtained from Bermuda; but of late equally
fine samples have been produced on the Hopewell Estate, St Vincent, and,
according to Dr Ure, with the advantage of being prepared with the purest
spring water, in profusion, instead of rain water.

In _commerce_, the word arrow-root is now often loosely used as a generic
term to indicate any white, tasteless, and edible starch or fecula.

=Arrow-root, Brazil'ian.= Cassava-starch or tapioca-meal.

=Arrow-root, East In'dian.= Curcuma starch; from the tubers of the
_curcuma angustifolia_ or narrow-leaved turmeric. The _maranta
arundinacea_ is now also extensively cultivated in India under the name of
maranta Indica, and the fecula therefrom extensively exported, which
might, with equal propriety, be called East Indian arrow-root; but this is
not the case in commerce, the whole passing as W. I. arrow-root
irrespective of the place of its production.

=Arrow-root, Eng'lish.= Potato-starch.

=Arrow-root, Portland.= From the underground tubers of _arum maculatum_
(Linn.) or wake-robin.

=Arrow-root, Tahi'ti.= Tacca starch or Otaheite salep; from the tubers of
_tacca oceanica_.

[Illustration: Rio, or Manihot Arrow Root. Scale 1-1000th of an inch.]

=ARSE''NIATE.= _Syn._ AR'SENATE; ARSE''NIAS, AR'SENAS, L.; ARSENIATE, Fr.;
ARSE''NIKSAURE SALZE, Ger. A salt consisting of AsO_{4} and a metal or
other basic radical; _e.g._, ammonio-magnesium arseniate,
NH_{4}Mg_{9}AsO_{4}.

=AR'SENIC= (-se-n[)i]k). As. _Syn._ ARSENIUM; ARSEN'ICUM, ARSE'NIUM, L.;
ARSENIK, A.-METALL, Ger. ARSENICO, Sp., It. The brittle, grey-
metal, or metalloid, which forms the base of the white arsenic and
orpiment of commerce. Discovered by Geber in the eighth century, but first
accurately described by Brandt (A.D. 1773). The poisonous properties of
arsenious acid were not generally known for some centuries after its
discovery. As a medicine it was first employed in intermittents in
Hungary.

_Sources._ Arsenic is peculiar to the mineral kingdom. The metallic
arsenic of commerce is obtained by roasting arsenical pyrites (MISPICKEL),
in earthen tubes, or in tubular earthen retorts; the arsenic sublimes, and
sulphuret of iron remains behind. On the small scale it is prepared by
sublimation from a mixture of arsenious acid and charcoal or black flux.
Combined with oxygen it frequently exists in mineral waters; and, in a
larger quantity, in certain rivulets and streams.

_Prep._ A mixture of arsenious acid, 1 part; and black flux, 2 or 3 parts;
is exposed to a low red heat in a Hessian crucible over which is luted a
deep empty crucible, or an earthen tube, to receive the metal; the latter
being kept as cool as possible. Charcoal or even oil may be substituted
for black flux, and a retort of hard glass may be used, with the same
result. Or the following method may be used:--White oxide of arsenic, of
commerce, 2 dr.; is placed at the sealed end of a hard German-glass tube
(1/2 x 18 inches), and covered with about 8 inches of dry and coarsely
powdered charcoal; the portion of the tube containing the latter is then
raised to a red heat, whilst a few ignited coals are placed beneath the
oxide to effect its slow sublimation. The sublimed metal gradually
attaches itself to the inside of the tube at its cool extremity. A small
charcoal furnace similar to that used for organic analysis should be
employed, and the process conducted under a flue to carry off any fumes
that may escape. The open end of the tube should be loosely closed with a
cork.

_Prop._ Very brittle, so much so that it may be easily powdered in a
mortar; lustre highly metallic; colour steel-grey or bluish-white; texture
crystalline; crystals rhombohedrons; sublimes, without fusion, at 356 to
360 deg. Fahr., (and slowly at lower temperatures), in close vessels
unaltered, but when exposed to the air with conversion into arsenious
acid; at a higher temperature, in open vessels, it burns with a pale-blue
flame. Its vapour or fumes have a characteristic alliaceous odour; it is
slowly oxidised and dissolved by boiling water; but may be preserved
unchanged in pure cold water; it rapidly tarnishes in the air,
particularly when moist, a black film, consisting of metallic arsenic and
arsenious acid forming on its surface; with chlorine, iodine, sulphur, and
hydrogen, it unites to form definite compounds. With oxygen it forms
acids, but no basic oxide. It combines with the metals in a similar manner
to sulphur and phosphorus, the latter of which it resembles in many
respects. These compounds are termed AR'SENIDES, formerly ARSENIURETS. Sp.
gr. 5.7 to 5.9; sp. gr. of vapour, 1.0362.

_Uses, &c._ With copper it forms a white alloy (PACKFONG); and it is added
to some other alloys to increase their whiteness, hardness, and
fusibility. In _medicine_ it is only used in combination. In the metallic
state it is inert; but, from its great affinity for oxygen, it rapidly
becomes oxidised and poisonous; and hence acts as a powerful poison when
swallowed, or when rubbed on the skin. Its fumes are also highly
poisonous. See ARSENIOUS ACID (and _below_).

=Arsenic, Tribro'mide of.= AsBr_{3}. _Syn._ TERBRO'MIDE OF ARSENIC,
SESQUIBRO'MIDE OF A.; ARSEN'ICI BROMI'DUM, L. _Prep._ Add metallic
arsenic, in powder, cautiously and in a very small quantity at a time, to
pure bromine, contained in a vessel set in ice or a freezing mixture,
until light ceases to be emitted; then cautiously distil into a
well-cooled receiver.

_Prop., &c._ Solid below 68 deg. Fahr.; above it, a yellowish fuming liquid,
which boils at 428 deg. Fahr.

=Arsenic, Trichlo''ride of.= AsCl_{3}. _Syn._ CHLO''RIDE OF A., ARSEN'ICI
TERCHLORI'DUM, &c., L. _Prep._ 1. From a mixture of white arsenic, 1 part;
and bichloride of mercury, 6 parts; both in powder, carefully distilled
into a well-cooled receiver.

2. Gently boil powdered white arsenic for some time in hydrochloric acid
to which a little nitric acid has been added; then concentrate cautiously
by evaporation, and distil as before. It is also produced, with the
disengagement of heat and light, when powdered metallic arsenic is thrown
into gaseous chlorine.

_Prop., &c._ A colourless, volatile, highly poisonous liquid, decomposed
by water into arsenious acid and hydrochloric acid. It has been employed
as a caustic in cancer and venereal warts; but its use requires the
greatest caution.

=Arsenic, Flu'oride of.= AsF_{3}. _Syn._ ARSENIC TRIFLUORIDE, TERFLU'ORIDE
OF ARSENIC. A fuming volatile liquid, prepared as the bromide.

=Arsenic, Trii'odide of.= AsI_{3}. _Syn._ TERIODIDE OF ARSENIC, IODIDE OF
ARSENIC; ARSEN'ICI IODI'DUM, A. TERIODI'DUM, L.; ARSENIC IODURE, &c., Fr.
_Prep._ 1. From finely-pulverised metallic arsenic, 2 parts; iodide, 11
parts; mixed and gently heated in a bent glass tube, or a suitable retort,
until combination is complete; the heat being then raised, and the
sublimed iodide collected, and at once put into a well-stopped phial.

2. Arsenic, in fine powder, 1 part; iodine, 5 parts; triturate them
together, place the mixture in a small flask or retort just large enough
to contain it, and apply a gentle heat until liquefaction is complete,
avoiding the formation of iodine vapour; when the odour of iodine is no
longer perceptible, and the mass assumes a reddish-yellow colour and
crystallises on the sides of the vessel, the operation is complete,
without having recourse to sublimation. A very easy and excellent process.

_Prop., &c._ A deep orange-red, crystallisable solid; soluble in water,
and highly volatile and poisonous. Its aqueous solution yields the iodine
unchanged by rapid evaporation, but when slowly concentrated and set
aside, white pearly plates are obtained, consisting of arsenious acid and
the teriodide. As a medicine it combines the properties of both arsenious
acid and iodine, but its use requires great caution. It has been
successfully employed by Dr A. T. Thomson, Biett, and others, in obstinate
skin diseases (lepra, impetigo, herpes, lupus, psoriasis, &c.), and in
real or stimulated cancer.--_Dose_, 1/16 to 1/12 gr. (in pills or
solution), gradually increased to 1/6 or even 1/3 gr. (A. T. Thomson.)
Externally, 2-1/2 gr., to lard 1 oz.; of which 1 dr. may be used at a
time. (Biett.)

=Arsenic, Disulphide of.= As_{2}S_{2}. _Syn._ ARSENIC BISULPHIDE,
BISUL'PHIDE OF A., RED SUL'PHIDE OF A., &c., REALGAR; REALGAL, ARSENIC
ROUGE SULFURE, ORPIN ROUGE, &c., Fr.; ROTHES SCHWEFELARSENIK, &c., Ger.
This substance is found native at Solfaterra, near Naples, and in several
other volcanic districts; but that of commerce is often prepared by
distilling arsenical pyrites, or a mixture of sulphur and white arsenic,
&c., in the proper proportions, as noticed under REAeLGAR and RED PIGMENTS.

_Prop., &c._ A fusible, volatile substance; scarlet or ruby-red in mass,
but orange-red in powder, by which it is distinguished from cinnabar;
crystals, oblique rhombic prisms. Sp. gr. 3.3 to 3.6. Its chief use is as
a pigment and in pyrotechny to make white fire. The factitious sulphide
has not the rich colour of the native mineral, whilst it is much more
poisonous. It is improved by re-sublimation.

=Arsenic, Trisul'phide of.= As_{2}S_{3}. _Syn._ TERSUL'PHIDE OF ARSENIC,
YELLOW SUL'PHIDE OF A., SESQUISUL'PHIDE OF A., OR'PIMENT; A.
SESQUISULPHURE'TUM, ORPIMEN'TUM, L.; ORPIMENT, SULFURE JAUNE D'ARSENIC,
&c., Fr.; AURIPIGMENT, OPERMENT, RAUSCHGELB, Ger. This sulphide, like the
last, is found ready formed in nature; and is prepared artificially, by
sublimation, from a mixture of arsenious acid and sulphur, as noticed
under ORPIMENT and YELLOW PIGMENTS. It also falls as a precipitate when a
stream of sulphuretted hydrogen gas is passed through an acid solution of
arsenious acid or of an arsenite.

_Prop., &c._ Golden-yellow crystalline lumps, or a fine golden-yellow
powder; crystals, right rhombic prisms; volatile; fusible; very soluble in
pure alkalies, by which it is distinguished from sulphide of cadmium; and
from trisulphide of antimony by being soluble in hydrochloric acid. The
factitious sulphide (KING'S YELLOW) of the shops often contains 80 to 90%
of white arsenic; and is, therefore, much more poisonous than the native
trisulphide. Sp. gr. (native) 3.44 to 3.60.

_Use, &c._ As a dye, as a pigment, and as an ingredient in fireworks, and
in some depilatories. Silk, woollen, or cotton goods soaked in a solution
of pure orpiment in ammonia, and then suspended in a warm apartment or
stove-room, rapidly lose their ammonia, and become permanently dyed of a
superb yellow colour. The native sulphides (both red and yellow) are much
less soluble, and hence less poisonous, than those prepared artificially.
They also possess the richest colour; and are, therefore, preferred by
artists and dyers. In former times, orpiment, like realgar, was employed
in medicine. See ARSENIC.

=Arsenic, Pentasul'phide of.= As_{2}S_{5}. _Syn._ SULPHARSEN'IC ACID, &c.;
ARSEN'ICI PENTASULPHURE'TUM, &c., L. When a stream of sulphuretted
hydrogen is transmitted for some time through a solution of arsenic acid,
a precipitate of the PENTASULPHIDE is deposited after some hours' repose.
Its formation is accelerated by boiling the liquid.

_Prop., &c._ It greatly resembles the tersulphide in its appearance and
general properties.

=Arsenic, White[double-dagger].= See ARSENIOUS ANHYDRIDE.

=Arsenic, Yell'ow.= Trisulphide of arsenic.

=ARSENIC ACID.= H_{3}AsO_{4}. _Syn._ ACIDUM ARSEN'ICUM, L.; ACIDE
ARSENIQUE, Fr.; ARSENICSAeURE, Ger.

_Prep._ 1. Arsenious acid, in fine powder, 2 parts; concentrated nitric
acid, 6 parts; hydrochloric acid, 1 part; mix in a flask or tubulated
retort, and digest, with heat, until solution is complete; after repose,
decant the clear portion and evaporate, to the consistence of a thick
syrup.

2. Dissolve arsenious acid in hot hydrochloric acid, and when the solution
is cold add concentrated nitric acid, in small quantities at a time, until
red vapours cease to be evolved, then proceed as before.

_Prop._ Thick syrup, occasionally forming clear transparent crystals, very
deliquescent, readily soluble in water, and converted by heat into the
anhydrous acid. Extremely poisonous.

=Arseniates.= _Prep._ Most of the metallic arseniates may be formed by
adding a solution of a soluble salt of the metal to another of an alkaline
arseniate, as long as a precipitate falls; which must be collected,
washed, and dried. The alkaline arseniates may be prepared by adding the
base or its carbonate to a solution of the acid, to alkaline reaction, and
then evaporating and crystallising the liquid.

_Prop., &c._ The arseniates of the alkalies are soluble in water; those of
the earths and metals insoluble, except in acids. They are isomorphous
with the corresponding phosphates.

_Tests._ Nitrate of silver added to the solution of an arseniate gives a
highly characteristic reddish-brown precipitate, which distinguishes it
from arsenious acid. Nitrate of lead gives a white precipitate, and the
salts of copper greenish-blue ones. Pure lump-sugar dissolved in an
aqueous solution of this acid becomes, in a few hours, of a reddish
colour, and afterwards of a magnificent purple. Heated with charcoal it
evolves a garlic-like odour, and is reduced to the metallic state. The
suspected liquid being treated with sulphurous acid and boiled for a short
time, the arsenic acid loses oxygen and is converted into arsenious acid,
which may be tested for as such. Sulphuretted hydrogen does not
precipitate a solution of arsenic acid, or an acidified arseniate, until
after the lapse of several hours; and alkaline and neutral solutions not
at all.

=ARSENIC ANHYDRIDE.= As_{2}O_{5}. _Syn._ ANHYDROUS ARSENIC ACID, ARSENIC
ACID; ACIDUM ARSENICUM, L.; ACIDE ARSENIQUE, Fr.; ARSENIKSAeURE, Ger. Best
prepared by igniting the arsenic acid, in a platinum crucible, at a low
red heat, as long as water is given off.

_Prop._ White deliquescent substance, and violent poison, readily soluble
in water to the acid.

=ARSENIOUS ACID.= See ARSENIOUS ANHYDRIDE.

=ARSE''NIOUS ANHYDRIDE.= As_{2}O_{3}. _Syn._ AR'SENIOUS ACID, AR'SENIC,
WHITE A.; ACIDE ARSENIEUX, ARSENIC BLANC, OXYDE, Fr.; ARSENIGSAeURE,
ARSENICHSTE S., Ger.; ARSENICO BIANCO, It.; A. BLANCO, Sp. The arsenic, or
white arsenic, of the shops.

_Sources._ The white arsenic of commerce is principally imported from
Germany, where it is obtained in the process of roasting arseniuretted
cobalt ores, in making zaffre. At Altenburgh it is procured from arsenical
iron pyrites (mispickel); and at Reichenstein from native arsenide of
iron. About 900 to 1000 tons are also annually collected at Cornwall,
being principally a secondary product of the process of roasting grey
copper ore and white mundic. The British arsenic works in that county are
perhaps the finest in the world. The usual plan is to roast the powdered
ore in muffle-furnaces; by which its arsenic is converted into arsenious
anhydride, which escapes as vapour (smelting-house smoke), and passing
into the condensing-chambers, is deposited in a pulverulent state, forming
the flowers of arsenic, or rough white arsenic, of the smelters, (the
giftmehl or poison-flour of the Germans). The crude article obtained in
this way is purified by re-sublimation in suitable iron pots or other iron
vessels, before it is fit for sale. It then forms a semi-transparent
vitreous cake, which gradually becomes opaque, and of snowy whiteness, by
exposure to the air, and at length acquires a more or less pulverulent
state on the surface.

[Illustration]

In Silesia the crude arsenious anhydride obtained from arsenical pyrites
is refined by sublimation as follows:--For this purpose the cast-iron
vessels (_a_) are employed. Upon these are placed iron rings or collars
(_b_, _c_, _d_) and a hood (_e_), communicating by means of tubes with a
series of chambers, of which the first only is shown in _i_. The flanges
of the cast-iron collars and all other joints having been thoroughly
luted, the fire is lighted and the heat so increased as to cause the
semi-fusion of the arsenious anhydride, which, after cooling, exhibits a
peculiarly porcelain-like appearance, at first being as transparent as
glass.

_Prop._ Crystals (obtained by careful sublimation, or by cooling a boiling
aqueous solution), usually transparent, regular octahedrons (fig. 1), but
sometimes, though rarely, assume the form of tetrahedrons (see 2). When
prepared on the large scale it forms large, glassy, colourless or
yellowish-white, transparent or semi-transparent cakes or porcelain-like
masses (vitreous arsenious anhydride, glacial a. a.), which soon becomes
opaque on their exterior, and often friable and pulverulent; odourless;
volatilises at 380 deg. Fahr.; fumes odourless, unless carbonaceous organic
matter be present, when they smell strongly like garlic; heated under
pressure it liquefies and forms a transparent glass; taste faintly
sweetish, with a slight acidity and astringency, not perceived until some
minutes after being swallowed. The opaque variety is soluble in 80 parts
of water at 59 deg. Fahr., and 7.72 parts of boiling water; but on cooling to
60 deg., only about one third of this quantity continues in solution. The
transparent variety is soluble in 103 parts of water at 59 deg., and 9.3 parts
of boiling water. Both soluble in alcohol, syrups, oils, and spirits, and
freely so in alkaline lyes and hydrochloric acid; organic matter generally
impedes its solution; solutions redden litmus; heated with organic matter
it is reduced to the metallic state. Sp. gr. 3.5 (lowest opaque var.) to
3.8 (highest transp. var.).

[Illustration]

=Arsenites.= True arsenious acid (HAsO_{2}) has never been obtained in a
satisfactory condition, but its salts are readily obtained by dissolving
arsenious anhydride in a solution of the base, or by double decomposition.
They are generally white, nearly all insoluble, except those of the
alkalies, and all soluble in acids.

_Tests, Detec., &c._ Owing to the importance of the subject, and for
convenience and facility of reference, the leading tests for the arsenites
and arsenious anhydride are noticed alphabetically below; to which a few
general remarks on their application, under the various circumstances that
occur to the chemist and toxicologist, are appended. When not otherwise
stated, it is to be understood that they are to be applied to pure, or
nearly pure and colourless solutions of arsenious acid or the arsenites.
_Ammonio-nitrate of silver_ gives a well-marked yellow precipitate of
arsenite of silver in an aqueous or arsenious anhydride solution which is
soluble in ammonia and in dilute nitric acid.

_Crystallisation Test._--A very minute quantity of arsenious acid placed
in a small tube (arsenic-tube), and heated in the flame of a spirit lamp,
gives a crystalline sublimate, which collects on the cooler portion of the
tube, and which, when examined by a pocket lens, is found to consist of
sparkling octahedral crystals (see _engr._)

[Illustration: (Magnified.)]

_Ellis's Test._--This is a modification of the 'nascent hydrogen test,' in
which the suspected gas is passed through a tube containing slips of
copper leaf or riband, or still better pure oxide of copper, gently
heated; the end of the tube communicating with the atmosphere being drawn
to a capillary size, at which the gas may be inflamed and tested, as in
'Marsh's Apparatus.' (See _engr._) If arsenic be abundant in the gas, the
copper will be almost instantly covered over with a coating of metallic
arsenic; and after continuing the heat for a few minutes it will present a
beautiful silvery surface, and may then be submitted to further
examination.

[Illustration:

  _a_, Flask containing the suspected fluid, dilute sulphuric acid,
      and zinc.
  _b_, Funnel.
  _c_, Tube containing the copper-leaf or c.-riband, and heated by
      the lamp _d_.
  _e_, Support.
  _f_, Capillary end of tube _c_, with the gas inflamed.]

_Lassaigne's Test._ (Adopted by the French Academy.) This consists in
passing the gas generated in the suspected liquid, through a solution of
nitrate of silver. (See _engr._) When arsenic is present black flocculi of
metallic silver are deposited, and arsenious acid remains in solution
mixed with nitric acid and some arsenide of silver. The filtered liquor,
treated with ammonia, will now give a characteristic yellow precipitate of
arsenite of silver; or a little dilute hydrochloric acid may be cautiously
added to precipitate any remaining nitrate of silver, and the liquid,
after filtration, tested for arsenic either in a Marsh's apparatus, or
with any of the liquid tests; or it may be evaporated to dryness, when its
arsenious acid will be converted into arsenic acid by the nitric acid
present, and will then be found to give the usual brick-red precipitate of
arseniate of silver with a solution of the nitrate of that metal. See
MARSH'S TEST.

[Illustration:

  _a_, Bottle containing dilute sulphuric acid, zinc, and suspected
      fluid.
  _b_, Funnel for supplying the bottle with acid.
  _c_, _c_, Supports.
  _d_, Tube filled with asbestos.
  _e_, Bent tube to convey the liberated gas.
  _f_, Glass vessel containing a solution of nitrate of silver.]

_Marsh's Test._ Some of the suspected liquid is mixed with dilute
sulphuric acid until strongly acid, and is then poured upon some pure
granulated zinc, or clippings or other small pieces of zinc, previously
placed in the apparatus; hydrogen gas is immediately evolved, and, if
arsenic be present, unites with it, forming arseniuretted hydrogen gas,
which escapes by the aperture _b_ (see _engr._), and may be recognised as
follows:--

It possesses a garlic-like odour.

It burns with a bluish-white flame and emits a whitish smoke.

[Illustration:

  _a_, _a_, Bent glass tube, containing dilute sulphuric acid, zinc,
      and suspected liquid.
  _b_, Stop-cock and jet.
  _c_, Plate of glass to receive the stain.
  _d_, Support.
  _e_, _e_, Bands to keep the tube upright.]

If a piece of window-glass, or a white porcelain plate or saucer, be held
a short distance above the flame, a fine pulverulent film of arsenious
acid is deposited on it. See (fig.) _above_.

If the cold plate be held in the flame, so as to slightly impede the
combustion of the gas, a blackish-brown deposit of metallic arsenic is
obtained, more or less deep, brilliant, and glistening. Both these
deposits may be obtained simultaneously by holding nearly vertically over
the flame a glass tube about 8 or 10 inches long and 3/8ths of an inch in
diameter. See (fig.) _above_.

A solution of arsenious acid may be obtained by letting the flame play
upon 3 or 4 drops of water placed on the under side of the piece of glass
or china, to which the liquid tests may be then applied. Another plan is
to apply drops of the liquid tests to the plate as above, and to let the
flame play on them successively.

The true arsenical spot or film is of a blackish-brown colour, and
generally of a very deep hair-brown, usually surrounded at the
circumference, with a white film of arsenious acid; whilst that of
antimony, which in some points is similar, is of a deep black colour, and
but feebly lustrous, and, when viewed by transmitted light, appears smoky
black; whereas an arsenical spot viewed in the same way appears brown. It
is further distinguished from others by--Treated with concentrated nitric
acid, it instantly disappears, leaving upon the surface of the liquid
traces of the metal, which only dissolve on the application of heat. This
solution, gently and carefully heated, leaves a white residuum, which,
when cold, gives with a concentrated solution of nitrate of silver a
dull-red precipitate of arseniate of silver.--The nitric solution treated
with a few drops of sulphurous acid, and subsequently with sulphuretted
hydrogen, gives a canary-yellow precipitate of trisulphide of arsenic,
which readily redissolves, forming a colourless solution with
ammonia.--The arsenical spot, when heated, is turned bright yellow by
sulphuretted hydrogen, and is then readily dissolved, as before, by
ammonia, and by its bicarbonate; whereas one of antimony is turned of a
deep orange-red, or reddish-brown, by sulphuretted hydrogen, is not
readily dissolved by ammonia, and is scarcely or not at all affected by
bicarbonate of ammonia.--It is freely soluble in and removed by
hypochlorite of soda; a reagent which does not affect antimonial spots.
Heated by a flame of pure hydrogen an arsenical stain rapidly disappears.
A mixed stain of antimony and arsenic does not disappear by the action of
the last two reagents, and is shown to contain arsenic by the two first
tests above. When hydrochloric acid is present zinc stains are sometimes
formed, but they do not resemble those from arsenic. The flame which
produces it is very pale blue or bluish-white; whereas antimoniuretted
hydrogen burns with a pale green or greenish-yellow flame, and a white
smoke, both of which are characteristic.

[Illustration]

_Obs._ Marsh's test is admirable for its simplicity, delicacy, and
trustworthiness, as well as for the ease of its application. It is adapted
to all liquids, whether colourless or , which are not so glutinous
as to inconveniently froth during the extrication of the hydrogen.[79]
Various modifications of the original apparatus have been proposed to
obviate this difficulty; among which the one chiefly deserving notice is
figured in the margin. It consists of a bent tube having two large bulbs
blown in it, and fitted with a stop-cock and jet in the usual manner. In
this case the grains or fragments of zinc are put into the lower bulb
(_a_). It is, however, worthy of remark, that, with ordinary care and
skill, a simple wide-mouthed bottle, furnished with a tube and cock, will
often be found to answer quite as well as more costly apparatus; as the
fluid is less liable to froth than in a narrow tube. Even a common
quinine-phial, or a 4-_oz._ or 6-_oz._ medicine phial, fitted with a piece
of glass tube of very small bore, or even with a piece of a common
tobacco-pipe, for a burner (see _engr._), may be used when no more
convenient instrument is at hand.

[Footnote 79: Animal tissues and liquids containing organic matter are
best prepared for testing for arsenic by Marsh's test, in the following
manner proposed by Odling:--The tissue, or the residue obtained by the
evaporation of a liquid over a water-bath, is to be thoroughly dried at a
temperature of about 212 deg. F., then ground to powder or cut up into small
pieces, next drenched with the strongest hydrochloric acid and allowed to
stand twenty-four hours in a warm place, and finally distilled. The
distillate will contain arsenic (if it existed in the material under
examination) comparatively free from organic matter, and is, therefore, in
a fit state to be introduced into Marsh's apparatus, as the organic
matter, which is the cause of frothing, has been removed.]

[Illustration]

A film of oil placed on the surface of the liquid tends considerably to
lessen the frothing.

_Objec., precau., &c._ Objections have been raised to this mode of
testing, from the great frothing which often occurs with organic mixtures,
and from antimony and imperfectly charred organic matter also forming
crusts somewhat resembling, to the inexperienced eye, those produced by
arsenic. But these objections are invalid, because there are easy means of
purifying the liquid before testing it, and of discriminating between true
arsenical spots or deposits and false ones. Another objection is, that
both zinc and sulphuric acid sometimes contain arsenic; but to obviate
this difficulty, we have only to use them when perfectly pure; and to test
them by means of the apparatus before pouring the suspected liquid into
it. Indeed, these objections apply with equal force to all those tests
which depend on the production of nascent hydrogen. The precaution
necessary to success, and to reliable results, is to set the apparatus
with simple zinc, acid, and water, and after it has worked a short time to
test the evolved gas for arsenic (as above); when, if no trace of that
substance is detected, the suspected fluid, in which the organic matter
(if necessary) has been destroyed by any one of the methods hereinafter
pointed out, may be added, and the operation continued. Care should also
be taken not to light the jet of gas before all the atmospheric air is
expelled from the apparatus, as without this precaution an explosion may
take place.

_Modification of Marsh's Test._--_Davy._ This process consists in the use
of sodium amalgam instead of zinc and sulphuric acid, both of which are
liable to be contaminated with arsenic. Sodium, on the other hand, has
never been found to contain arsenic, and mercury only very rarely; but
should it exist in that metal, it can be easily removed by digesting the
mercury in dilute nitric acid, and afterwards well washing it with water.

One part by weight of sodium to 8 or 10 parts of mercury forms a very good
amalgam. The mercury is placed in a test-tube, and the sodium gradually
added in small portions; the metals readily combine, forming an alloy,
liquid whilst hot, but hard and brittle when cold.

The author uses this amalgam by placing the suspected solution, or solid
substance, along with a little water in a test-tube, then adding a small
piece of amalgam about the size of a grain of wheat, and quickly covering
it with a piece of white filtering paper or the lid of a porcelain
crucible moistened with a dilute solution of silver nitrate slightly
acidified with nitric acid. If arsenic is present, a dull black or deep
brown stain on the paper or porcelain will be developed on the moistened
part, owing to the silver being reduced to the metallic state by the
arseniuretted hydrogen. The solution may be made by dissolving 20 gr. of
nitrate of silver in an ounce of distilled water acidulated with 2 drops
of strong nitric acid.

It is advisable to place between the moistened paper or lid and the tube a
small disc of bibulous paper, to prevent any particles of the liquid
producing minute black spots, and thus interfering with the results.
1/1000th part of a grain of arsenious acid in 1 c. c. of distilled
water gives a very decided effect in a few moments, but much smaller
quantities may be detected, _e.g._, the 1/100000th or even 1/1000000th
part of a grain in 1 c. c.

This method is applicable not only to arsenic as arsenious acid, but also
to other compounds of arsenic, soluble or insoluble in water, _e.g._,
orpiment and realgar, the alkaline arsenates, and even the metal itself if
in powder. Organic matter interferes but very little with this method.
Antimony, as in Marsh's process, will produce, with the sodium amalgam,
results similar to those of arsenic; this, when brought into contact with
the nitrate of silver, forms a black antimonide of that metal.

Fleitmann, however, pointed out that antimoniuretted hydrogen is not
evolved from strongly alkaline solution, and, as in this case, the action
of the sodium amalgam is to render the mixture quickly alkaline, only a
very small quantity of antimony present will be evolved, and by previously
rendering the mixture strongly alkaline the evolution of that gas may be
almost entirely prevented.

It may be occasionally necessary to determine whether the stains on the
paper moistened by the silver solution are due to arsenic or antimony. It
is then best to digest the paper-stain in sulphide of ammonium, the metal
present being converted into a sulphide, and dissolving in the excess of
the alkaline salt, leaving the silver sulphide undissolved; the alkaline
solution when evaporated will, in the case of arsenic, leave a bright
yellow residue, almost insoluble in hydrochloric acid; whereas in the case
of antimony an orange- residue will remain soluble in that acid.
Dr Russell observes that hydrogen alone is capable of reducing silver
solution to the metallic state, but acknowledges that this action is
exceedingly slow. Pellet, on the other hand, maintains that pure hydrogen
when passed through solutions of soda and nitrate of silver has no action
at the ordinary temperature; but he states that the silver salt which has
been fused possesses an alkaline reaction in solution, and hydrogen thus
produces a slight precipitate, which can be prevented by adding a drop or
two of nitric acid.

Davy, however, found in his experiments only the faintest possible effect
of the reducing action of pure hydrogen in solutions of caustic soda and
nitrate of silver.

Finally, the author mentions that where paper is used with the silver
solution we must not forget that the silver alone will after some time
blacken the paper, especially if exposed to light; but this gradual change
is very unlike the quick effect produced by arseniuretted or
antimoniuretted hydrogen. ('Chem. News,' xxxiii, 58-63.)

_Nascent Hydrogen Test._ The apparatus used may be similar to that figured
in the _engr._ The plan followed in the laboratory of Giessen is to heat
the long tube through which the gas passes to redness in several parts, to
produce distinct metallic mirrors; and then to remove the tube from the
hydrogen apparatus and transmit a very feeble stream of dry sulphuretted
hydrogen through it, the metallic mirrors being at the same time heated by
means of a common spirit lamp from the outer towards the inner border or
extremity. If arsenic alone is present, yellow trisulphide of arsenic is
formed within the tube; if antimony alone is present, an orange-red or
black trisulphide of antimony is produced; and if the mirror consists of
both metals, the two sulphides appear side by side, the sulphide of
arsenic, as the more volatile, lying invariably before the sulphide of
antimony. If dry hydrochloric acid gas be now transmitted through the
tube, without application of heat, no alteration will take place if
sulphide of arsenic alone is present, even though the gas be transmitted
through the tube for a considerable time. If sulphide of antimony alone is
present, this will entirely disappear; and if both sulphides are present,
the sulphide of antimony will immediately volatilise, whilst the yellow
sulphide of arsenic will remain. If a small quantity of ammonia be now
introduced into the tube, the sulphide of arsenic is dissolved, and may
thus be readily distinguished from sulphur, which perhaps may have
separated.

[Illustration:

  _a_, Flask containing the suspected fluid, dilute sulphuric acid
      and zinc.
  _b_, Small tube, at the one end having an almost capillary
      orifice, where the gas is inflamed.
  _c_, Spirit-lamp.
  _d_, Support.]

_Reduction Test._ A small quantity of the suspected sample, in the state
of powder, is mixed with twice its weight, or more, of some reducing agent
or flux, and the mixture is placed at the bottom of a very small glass
tube, and heated in the flame of a spirit lamp for some time, when the
arsenic gradually sublimes, and condenses in the cooler portion of the
tube, under the form of a metallic crust, mirror, or ring. A common
test-tube, if of very small diameter, may be employed; but those known as
the reduction tubes of Liebig, Rose, or Berzelius are undoubtedly the most
convenient and efficient. (See _engr._)

Liebig's method is by using a mixture of equal parts of dry carbonate of
sodium and cyanide of potassium. The suspected substance, perfectly
dry and in powder, being first introduced into a Berzelius' tube, is then
covered with 6 times the quantity of this mixture, and so that the whole
will not more than half fill the bulb. A very gentle heat is next applied,
to expel any adhering moisture from the powder and the tube, after which a
strong heat is applied to the bulb, and continued for some time, to effect
the entire reduction and sublimation of the arsenical compound.

[Illustration:

  _a_, The arsenical mixture.
  _b_, Arsenical ring.]

The best fluxes to use are ferrocyanide of potassium dried at 212 deg. F.,
calcined bitartrate of potassium, cyanide of potassium, and powdered
charcoal.

The metallic ring is proved to be arsenical by the properties and tests
previously noticed. Should it be imperfectly formed, or masked by
decomposed organic matter, the portion of the tube which contains it may
be cut off with a file, next coarsely powdered, then reintroduced into
another arsenic tube, and the exposure to heat repeated.

The characteristics most simple and well-marked are--

The volatility of the deposit when heated, shown by its escaping from the
hotter portion of the tube and condensing on the cooler part higher up or
further on.

Its conversion into minute octahedral crystals of arsenious anhydride,
when repeatedly chased up and down the tube by the cautious application of
the flame of a spirit lamp first to one part, and then to another. The
character of these crystals with respect to volatility, lustre,
transparency, and form, is so exceedingly well marked that a practised eye
may safely identify them, though their weight should not exceed the
1/100th or even the 1/250th part of a grain. A pocket lens is here
serviceable. The form of the crystals is very evident with a microscope of
4 powers. Oxide of antimony never forms octahedrons, but only prisms.

In employing this test, particular care must be taken to avoid soiling the
sides of the tube in inserting the mixture, and that the substances
operated on are perfectly dry; as unless this is attended to, the
experiment does not succeed. The common plan is to introduce the mixture
through a small paper funnel or tube extemporised for the purpose. The
heat at first should be gentle, and merely sufficient to expel any
adhering moisture from the mixture and the inner surface of the tube;
after which (except where otherwise ordered) the upper portion of the
mixture should be strongly heated, and then the bulb or bottom of the tube
exposed to the full flame. After the operation is complete the bulb or
lower portion of the tube is usually removed by a file, and the portion
containing the deposit hermetically sealed, when it may be preserved,
unaltered, for any length of time, ready to be produced as evidence if
required.

This test is usually regarded as decisive; as we here actually obtain the
arsenic in a solid form, recognisable by the most unequivocal characters.

_Reinsch's Test; Cupro-arsenical Test._ The suspected solution is strongly
acidulated with hydrochloric acid (1 to 6 or 8), and after being raised to
ebullition in a porcelain or glass vessel, a piece of bright and clean
metallic copper about 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide in the form of gauze
or foil, but preferably the first, is added, and the whole boiled
together. The time required for the ebullition varies according to the
strength of the solution; when weak it should be continued for at least a
quarter of an hour. When the quantity of arsenic in the suspected liquid
is very small, at least half an hour should elapse before the removal of
the copper. In solutions containing a notable quantity of arsenic, a few
seconds is often sufficient to obtain a coating; but which, for safety
sake, may be extended to two or three minutes, or even longer. Liquids
rich in organic matter also require longer boiling than those nearly free
from it. The coated copper, which has now acquired a characteristic
iron-grey colour, is then taken from the liquid, carefully washed in
distilled water, in alcohol, and (if greasy) in ether, next dried on
blotting-paper, and then either cut into small pieces, or rolled into a
small coil or cylinder. It is then heated in a reduction-tube over a
spirit lamp, when the metallic arsenic forming the coating is volatilised,
and yields a sublimate of minute octahedral crystals of arsenious
anhydride; or, if the tube be very small, or any reducing agent be added,
a bright metallic ring. When the coating on the copper is sufficiently
thick, it may be scraped off with a knife, and heated separately in an
arsenic-tube.

This test is invaluable as affording a certain and ready means of
abstracting arsenic from its solution, whether pure or mixed with organic
matter. The contents of the stomach or other viscera may thus be at once
examined, without any tedious preliminary operations. In this way Dr
Christison discovered the presence of arsenic upwards of four months after
interment; and we have ourselves found it two years and eight months after
interment. The coated copper may be preserved unharmed for years. Dr
Taylor found that the 1-8th of an inch in one of these deposits that had
been kept in paper nearly fourteen years gave a well-marked ring of
octahedral crystals when heated.

[Illustration]

_Sulphuretted Hydrogen Test; Sulphur Test._ This produces a bright yellow
precipitate of trisulphide of arsenic (orpiment) in solutions containing a
free acid; but acts slowly and imperfectly on pure and neutral solutions,
and does not disturb those that possess an alkaline reaction. The
suspected liquid should therefore be slightly acidulated with hydrochloric
or acetic acid before applying this test, unless it be already acid, when
it is better first to neutralise it with an alkali, and then to add the
acid. The transmission of the gas through the liquid (see _engr._) should
be continued for at least half an hour; when the end of the conducting
tube, after being well rinsed in the liquid, is removed, and the glass,
lightly covered with a piece of porous paper, set aside in a temperature
of about 100 deg. Fahr., until the odour of sulphuretted hydrogen is
completely lost. The precipitate is now collected on a small filter,
washed with pure water, and dried by a gentle heat. It is then placed in a
watch-glass or small capsule, and redissolved in a little liquor of
ammonia, which is then again expelled by heat; or it may be at once
submitted to confirmatory tests. It is shown to contain arsenic by its
ready and perfect solubility in ammonia, and in solutions of the fixed
alkalies, their carbonates and bicarbonates, and in alkaline sulphides; by
being nearly insoluble in hydrochloric acid, even when concentrated and
boiling; and by yielding a metallic mirror when mixed with a flux and
submitted to the reduction-test (which _see_).

Sulphuretted-hydrogen water and sulphydrate of ammonium act in a similar
way to gaseous sulphuretted hydrogen; but much less effectively.

[Illustration]

For accuracy, the sulphuretted hydrogen should be washed by passing it
through a small bottle containing a little pure water, or dilute sulphuric
acid, before allowing it to enter the arsenical liquor. The reduction of
the newly precipitated sulphide is generally regarded as the most
important part of the investigation, and requires great care and
attention. An extremely elegant and sensitive method of effecting this is
by heating the mixture in a stream of dry carbonic acid gas. This method
has been followed by Drs Babo and Fresenius with the most satisfactory
results, and is thus performed:--(_A_) is a capacious flask for the
evolution of carbonic acid, half filled with rather large pieces of solid
limestone or marble (not chalk). To one aperture of the doubly perforated
cork, a funnel-tube (_a_) is adapted, which nearly reaches to the bottom
of the vessel; to the other aperture a tube (_b_), by means of which the
gas evolved is conducted into a flask of smaller size (_B_), in which it
is washed and dried by concentrated sulphuric acid. The tube (_c_)
conducts the carbonic acid into the reduction-tube (_C_), which is
shortened in the _engr._, and must be made of difficultly fusible glass.
When the apparatus is prepared, the sulphide of arsenic intended for
reduction is rubbed in a small basin, previously heated in a water-bath,
with about twelve parts of a well-dried mixture consisting of 3 parts of
dry carbonate of sodium and 1 part of cyanide of potassium (prepared by
Liebig's method). The mixed powder is then placed on a small strip of
card-paper beat into the shape of a gutter, which is next pushed into the
reduction-tube up to the point (_f_), and the tube is turned half round.
In this manner the mixture is deposited without soiling any other part of
the tube; after which the strip of card-paper is cautiously withdrawn.
The reduction-tube is then, by means of the cork (_e_), fixed in its
place; a moderate stream of carbonic acid gas is evolved by pouring
hydrochloric acid into the funnel-tube (_a_), and the mixture carefully
dried, by very moderately heating the tube along its whole length, by
means of a small spirit lamp. When the gas-stream has become so low that
the bubbles pass through the sulphuric acid at intervals of about a
second, the spot (_k_) is heated to redness by means of a spirit lamp.
When this point is attained another strong spirit-flame is applied to the
mixture, progressing from (_d_) to (_f_), until all the arsenic is reduced
and volatilised (the first flame at the same time continuing in action at
(_k_)).

The reduced arsenic recondenses at the spot (_g_), forming a mirror,
whilst an exceedingly small portion escapes at the capillary orifice
(_h_), and fills the air with its garlic-like odour. The second spirit
lamp is at last slowly advanced towards the other lamp, or the spot (_k_),
so as to drive towards (_g_) all the arsenic which has adhered to the
walls of the wider part of the tube. Both lamps are then removed, the tube
closed at the point (_h_) by fusion, and heat applied, progressing from
the point (_h_) towards (_g_), to contract the mirror on that side also,
which increases its beauty and distinctness. The tube is then cut off at
(_f_), and hermetically closed and sealed. In this state it becomes a
permanent evidence which may be referred to in any future proceedings.
Neither sulphide of antimony nor any other compound of antimony yields a
metallic mirror or ring when treated in this way. Less than 1/300 gr. of
trisulphide of arsenic thus gives a very distinct and beautiful mirror;
and even 1/500 gr. a clearly perceptible one.

_Voltaic Test._ The wires from the opposite poles of a voltaic battery are
immersed or brought in contact with a little of the arsenious solution
placed in a capsule or on a piece of window glass. If arsenic be present
it is developed at the negative pole; and if this be formed of copper
wire, it becomes whitened and assumes the appearance of polished steel or
silver, in consequence of the formation of arsenide of copper.

_Detection of Arsenic in Organic Mixtures._ Of the tests those which act
by producing  precipitates are only applicable, with any degree of
certainty, to perfectly limpid and colourless liquors. Those depending on
the extrication of arseniuretted hydrogen are partially free from this
inconvenience; but even here, if the suspected liquid be more than
slightly charged with organic matter, so much frothing ensues, as to
render the process nearly unmanageable. In this respect Reinsch's Test
possesses advantages over all others, as it may be applied even to
 liquids containing a considerable quantity of organic matter,
without these being subjected to any preliminary process, and without
danger of failure. In some cases also, as with liquids possessing only a
slight degree of consistency or colour, the arsenic may be separated,
after simple filtration and acidulation with hydrochloric acid, by a
stream of sulphuretted hydrogen, in the usual manner. The reduction-test
is only applicable to solid arsenious acid, or to compounds of arsenic
obtained by means of other tests or processes. In toxicological
examinations the poison is almost always to be sought for in mixtures
loaded with organic matter, and under other conditions even more
embarrassing. Soon after arsenic is swallowed it enters the circulation,
contaminates the various tissues, localises itself in certain viscera, and
is eliminated in the excretions. Hence it becomes necessary not only to
examine the solids and liquids in which it is suspected the poison has
been administered, the vomited matter, and the contents of the stomach and
primae viae, but also, in fatal cases, the stomach itself, the liver, blood,
muscles, and more especially the urine.[80] In such cases the stomach is
the part first laid open, and a careful examination is made of its
contents and coats in order to detect any undissolved particles of the
poison, a pocket lens being employed, if necessary, in the search. If any
particles, however minute, are found they are carefully collected and
submitted to the reduction-test. If the reverse be the case, the stomach
(cut into small pieces), together with its contents, is submitted to some
further process, to obtain a solution suitable for the application of the
usual tests. The liver, also some muscle, and any other portion of the
body that may be selected, are likewise separately treated in the same
manner. We have here both solid and liquid organic matter to operate on,
and the problem for solution is the abstraction of their arsenic in the
simplest and most certain manner, and in a form in which its presence may
be demonstrated by tests. This subject has long engaged the attention of
the most eminent chemists and toxicologists, and various plans have been
proposed for the purpose, among which the following appear to be the most
valuable and that usually adopted:--

[Footnote 80: Absorbed arsenic more particularly localises itself in the
liver, in which it may generally be found in from 12 to 15 hours after
administration. The liver also generally retains traces of arsenic long
after it has been eliminated from the other viscera and the muscular
tissues.]

(Reinsch.) Solids (as the stomach, liver, &c.) are cut into small
fragments and boiled in a glass vessel with water acidulated with about
1-4th of its volume of hydrochloric acid, until the tissues or fragments
are entirely broken down into flakes or grains, when the whole, after
filtration, is again heated to the boiling-point, and tested as described
under Reinsch's test (see ANTIMONY). Liquids do not require this
preparation.

Reinsch's test is inapplicable when, as sometimes happens, the arsenic
sought after may be in the state of one of the sulphides--either as
orpiment or realgar--a not improbable contingency, when it is remembered
that, although arsenious anhydride or white arsenic is the form most
generally used for criminal or suicidal purposes, the yellow and the red
varieties being largely employed in workshops where fireworks are
manufactured, have not unfrequently been had recourse to. Again, when the
examination of a corpse long buried and disinterred takes place, it must
be borne in mind that the arsenious anhydride taken by the deceased has,
by the decomposition of the body, become converted into sulphide. In these
cases the hydrochloric acid necessary for the performance of Reinsch's
test fails to effect the solution of the sulphide.

Mr Blyth says: "It is found that the post-mortem change into orpiment is
never quite complete, so that for the detection of arsenic in solid
organic substances, such as the tissues of the body, the best general
method is most decidedly to convert the arsenic, if present, into the
volatile chloride; and according to Dr Taylor, there is always sufficient
arsenic (if present at all) unchanged into sulphide to ensure success. The
only necessary caution is that the substance be thoroughly dried, and that
the reagents be pure. After drying it is placed in a retort with fuming
hydrochloric acid, and slowly distilled by the heat of a sand-bath. The
distillate contains chloride of arsenic (if arsenic was present), and may
be submitted to further tests."

_Estim._ This may be effected in various ways:--

1. GRAVIMETRICALLY:--Arsenic is usually WEIGHED under the form of arsenate
of lead, arsenate of sesquioxide of iron, tersulphide of arsenic,
(metallic) arsenic, or (directly) as arsenious anhydride. The last three
only, as the more simple and convenient, will be noticed here:--

As trisulphide:--The whole of the arsenic being precipitated by a stream
of sulphuretted hydrogen, with the necessary precautions, in the manner
already noticed, the precipitate, after being carefully collected, washed,
and dried, is purified by redissolving it in pure ammonia water, and
evaporating the resulting solution in a weighed watch glass or capsule by
the heat of a water-bath. It is then dried at a temperature not above 212 deg.
Fahr., and finally weighed. Each grain of the tersulphide so found
corresponds to .80487 gr. of arsenious acid, or .61 gr. of metallic
arsenic.

As (metallic) Arsenic:--Obtained by one of the processes already given.
Each gr. represents 1.32 gr. arsenious acid.

As Arsenious anhydride:--Obtained in a weighed capsule or tube, either by
the crystallisation or sublimation test. The weight is the answer sought
for arsenious anhydride. Each gr. of this is equiv. to .75758 gr. of
metallic arsenic.

VOLUMETRICALLY. (Method of F. Mohr.) This depends on the fact that an
aqueous solution of arsenious acid, or of an alkaline arsenite, when mixed
with an excess of saturated solution of pure bicarbonate of soda and a
little starch-paste, has its arsenious acid converted into arsenic acid by
a solution of iodine. A standard solution of iodine is, therefore, an
appropriate arsenim'eter for the above mixture. The solution of iodine is
added until the blue starch-reaction just begins to appear, the arsenious
solution having been previously exactly neutralised with pure carbonate of
soda if acid, or with pure hydrochloric acid if alkaline. The results are
accurate when no substance capable of oxidising or decomposing iodine is
present in the liquid tested.

_Phys. eff., &c._ Arsenious anhydride or white arsenic is alike
destructive to vegetable and animal life. Seeds soaked in any but a very
weak solution of it lose their power of germination, and buds plunged in
it become incapable of expanding into flowers. When applied to the leaves,
roots, or stems, absorption takes place, and the plant soon perishes. On
combustion it evolves the characteristic garlic-like odour of arsenic, and
arsenic may be discovered in its substance by chemical tests. According to
Jaeger, Gilgenkrantz, and Pereira, a few of the lower order of the algae are
occasionally developed in solutions of arsenious acid. To all animals,
from the infusoria up to man, arsenic proves deleterious, although in
different degrees, the highest susceptibility of its effects existing in
man on account of the superiority of his development. In all of them death
is preceded by inordinate actions and increased evacuations, especially
from the mucous surfaces. Difficult respiration, thirst, vomiting, and
convulsions are the leading symptoms which gradually develope themselves
as we approach the higher grades of the system. (Jaeger.) In very small or
therapeutical doses, properly administered, it is a valuable medicine, and
acts as a tonic, alterative, and antispasmodic attenuant, and externally
as an escharotic. In slightly increased medicinal doses, or long-continued
small doses, nausea, vomiting, purging, griping, debility, emaciation, and
all the effects of slow-poisoning, occur in succession--a gradual sinking
of the powers of life, without any violent symptom; a nameless feeling of
illness, failure of the strength, an aversion to food and drink, and to
all the enjoyments of life. Redness of the conjunctiva and eyelids,
headache and giddiness, spasms, eczematous eruptions, numbness and
paralysis of the limbs, and ptyalism, are also frequent and well-marked
symptoms of slow poisoning by arsenic. In an excessive or poisonous dose
the symptoms are rapid and violent, usually indicating extreme
gastro-intestinal inflammation and disorder of the cerebro-spinal system,
and often occasioning death in from one to three days. The smallest fatal
dose found recorded by Christison is 4-1/2 gr., taken in solution. The
subject was a child 4 years old, and death occurred in six hours. 2-1/2
gr. destroyed a robust girl in 36 hours. (Letheby.) 2 gr., in solution,
are suspected to have caused the death of a full-grown woman. 2 or 3 gr.
may be a fatal dose. (Dr A. Taylor.) Notwithstanding these facts much
larger quantities have been taken, under peculiar circumstances, with
comparative impunity; and cases are not wanting in which even enormous
quantities have produced very trifling effects.

_The dose for animals is_--CATTLE, 5 to 10 grains. HORSE, 5 to 10 grains.
SHEEP, 1 to 2 grains. PIG, 1/2 to 2 grains. DOG, 1/15th to 1/10th of a
grain.

Under all circumstances arsenious anhydride is, undoubtedly, one of the
most powerful of the mineral poisons; and in whatever form or way it is
introduced into the system it exerts the same deleterious influence. In
all cases, in sufficient doses, its action is to increase the secretions,
diminish the contractility of the voluntary muscles, and to produce
convulsions, prostration and death.

Arsenic is a non-accumulative, irritant poison, and exerts no decided
chemical or corrosive action on the tissues. (Taylor.)

_Pois., &c.--Symp._ These sometimes begin to appear within half an hour
after the poison has been taken, or even sooner; but much more generally,
not until after the lapse of some hours. They usually commence with nausea
and distress at the stomach, followed by thirst, often intense, and a
sense of burning heat in the bowels; then come on constriction of the
[oe]sophagus, violent vomiting, severe colic pains, tenesmus, and
excessive and painful purging, the stools being occasionally bloody; but
pain, vomiting, &c., do not invariably occur. The pulse is generally
quick, small, feeble, and irregular--sometimes scarcely perceptible, and
the heart's action is irregular and tumultuous. The tongue is dry and
furred; the respiration difficult and panting; the urino-genital apparatus
is often affected; there is pain and difficult micturition, and sometimes
entire suppression of urine; faintings, coldness of the limbs, and cold
sweats, with other signs of debility, intervene. Itching, and eczematous
eruptions of the skin, trembling, painful cramps, and contractions of the
extremities, and violent convulsions often follow; and after these, a
greater or less prostration of strength, which induces a deceitful calm.
At length the heart's action abates, the skin becomes suffused with a cold
clammy sweat, and the sufferer dies from exhaustion. The progress,
succession, and precise character of the symptoms are modified by the
idiosyncrasy of the individual, the quantity of the poison, and the manner
in which it has been taken; and are seldom all present in the same person.

_Treatm._ If vomiting has commenced it should be promoted by tickling the
throat, and administering a large quantity of gelatinous hydrated peroxide
of iron, or other appropriate antidote, in divided doses, mixed with a
large quantity of warm or tepid water, strongly sweetened with sugar. If
vomiting has not commenced, which is rare, it must be excited by
administering 15 to 20 gr. of sulphate of zinc, or ipecacuanha (or in the
absence of these, a teaspoonful of flour of mustard) in a tumbler of tepid
water, and tickling the throat as before. If these means fail in rapidly
inducing copious vomiting, the dose must be repeated, or the stomach-pump
had recourse to. Altogether as much as 16 to 18 _oz._ of the hydrated
peroxide of iron may be administered. If the poison has been swallowed
several hours previously, and hence may have passed the pylorus, a strong
dose of castor oil or a purgative clyster may be administered, and, after
its action, another clyster containing the antidote. As soon as the
stomach and bowels are cleared, diuretics and sudorifics should be given
in abundance. Lastly, any remaining irritation must be relieved by
demulcent and soothing remedies; or if urgent, by slight general or local
bleeding, which cannot be earlier practised without danger; and opium,
camphor, and ether, followed by tonics, may be had recourse to, to recruit
the system.

_Lesions._ Redness and inflammation of the whole primae viae; and sometimes
of the mouth, fauces, and [oe]sophagus, but more usually the contrary.
Sometimes also, though seldom, there is no marked appearance of
inflammation in the stomach and intestines. The stomach is usually highly
injected, and frequently marked with extravasations; lungs gorged with
blood; mucous lining of trachea reddened; heart generally flabby, and
exhibiting deep red or blackish stains, and the right cavities more or
less loaded with blood; the conjunctiva is sometimes very vascular; and
redness, extravasation of blood, and effusion of serum is occasionally
seen in the brain. The blood is frequently, though not invariably, fluid
after death, and dark . Under certain circumstances, the mucous
membrane of the stomach and intestines is lined with a multitude of
brilliant points or grains, which have been mistaken for arsenious
anhydride; but which, according to Orfila, are composed of fat and
albumen. Placed on burning coals, they decrepitate on drying, and produce
a species of explosion or detonation. These grains are also met with in
the stomach of persons who have not been poisoned. Digested in water, the
liquid obtained from them does _not_ show the presence of arsenic when
submitted to reagents.

_Ant._ In the order of their assumed efficiency:--MOIST PEROXIDE OF
IRON.--See under the preparations of IRON (Arsenici Antidotum, G.).
Hydrated or gelatinous sesquioxide or peroxide of iron (for an adult--a
tablespoonful, in water, every 8 or 10 minutes until 12 or 16 oz., or
more, have been taken). Hydrated sulphide of iron (as the last).
Gelatinous hydrate of magnesia (as the last). Calcined magnesia (taken as
the first). Salad or olive oil, or almond oil, and oil or fats generally
(ad libitum), are all highly effective in lessening, if not destroying the
action of arsenious anhydride.[81] Albumen (white of egg), or liquids
containing it (in cold water, ad libitum). Milk, wheat-flour, oatmeal
gruel (with water, ad libitum). Lime water, with milk (as the last).
Chalk, with milk and water (as the last). Infusion or decoction of bark,
or better, of nut-galls (as the last). Sugar or syrup (ad libitum). See
_Treatm._ (above); also the above substances under their respective heads.

[Footnote 81: Dr Blondlot, in a paper communicated to the Paris Academy of
Sciences, has come to the conclusion that the slightest quantity of greasy
matter in contact with arsenious anhydride reduces its solubility to about
1-20th of what it was before. This explains at once why, in certain
judicial investigations, arsenic has been sought for in vain in the liquid
contents of the stomach, when the food consisted partly of fatty
substances, such as broth, milk, &c. It likewise explains how arsenious
anhydride, taken in powder, may sometimes remain a long time in the
stomach before it produces any deleterious effect; since, in such cases,
its action is hindered by the presence of fatty matter. Jugglers often
swallow arsenic with impunity, because, according to Dr Blondlot, they
previously take the precaution to drink milk and eat fat bacon. Hence, in
cases of poisoning by arsenic, oils and fatty substances may be
administered as real antidotes, capable of suspending the action of the
poison for a considerable time, until more radical means of effecting a
cure can be applied. The people engaged in some of the arsenic-works
regard salad oil as almost a certain antidote to this poison.]

_Uses, &c._ Arsenious anhydride and its compounds are extensively employed
in the arts and medicine. It is used by the dyer, it furnishes the artist
with several of his most beautiful pigments, and the glass-maker and
enameller with a flux or material to whiten and decolour their wares. In
_agriculture_, it is used (in solution) as an anti-smut for seed-wheat;
and as an anti-vermin lotion or dipping for sheep and cattle. In small
(therapeutical) doses it is a valuable remedy in intermittent fevers,
chronic skin diseases (especially lepra and psoriasis), and in several
nervous affections (as neuralgia, epilepsy, chorea, tetanus, &c.). It is
the active ingredient of the tasteless ague-drop; of Fowler's and
Pearson's solutions; and in the Tanjore pills, long celebrated in India
for the cure of the bite of the cobra di capello and other venomous
serpents, as well as of hydrophobia. It has been given in syphilis,
chronic rheumatism, typhus, and several other diseases, with more or less
advantage. Cautiously administered in phthisis, it frequently restores the
appetite and strength and greatly <DW44>s, and in some cases arrests, the
progress of the disease. It has been recently used to relieve toothache
arising from caries. Externally, it is employed in the form of powder,
lotion, and ointment, for the cure of cancer. Plunkett's ointment, Pate
arsenicale, Davidson's Remedy for Cancer, and several other like
preparations, owe their activity to arsenious anhydride. Water in which
white arsenic has been steeped has become a favorite cosmetic wash with
many ladies, since its assumed property of softening the skin was
announced in a certain popular periodical. It is also the prime ingredient
in the papier moure, a popular fly paper. Its use, whether internal or
external, is, however, attended with considerable danger in unskilful
hands, and should, therefore, never be adopted but under proper
advice.--_Dose_, 1/20 to 1/8 gr., made into pills with crum of bread and
lump sugar; or in solution, 3 to 5 or 6 drops, twice or thrice daily,
gradually and cautiously increased to 12, or even 15 drops. As a rule,
arsenical preparations should be taken soon after a meal, and by no means
on an empty stomach. (Dr A. T. Thomson.) The dose should be suspended, or
greatly reduced, as soon as the conjunctiva is affected (Hunt); or if
dryness of the mouth or throat, or irritation of the stomach or bowels,
ensues. Mr Maculloch found the pills more efficacious than the solution;
they act differently, and cannot be substituted for one another.

Arsenic is a favorite tonic and alterative with farriers, who often
administer it very carelessly to horses, to the serious injury of these
animals. It is also a favorite with grooms, who have imbibed the notion
that small doses of it contribute to improve the condition of the skin.
The best-informed veterinarians, however, either wholly avoid it, or use
it with very great caution.[82]--_Dose_ (for a HORSE), 2 to 5 or 6 gr.,
twice or thrice daily; in farcy or glanders, 10 to 12 gr. In solution it
is often employed as a wash or dipping to destroy vermin in cattle and
sheep; but its use is not free from danger, particularly to the shepherds
or dippers.

[Footnote 82: "As a therapeutic agent for horses, arsenious acid can be
well dispensed with. It is, however, employed by some as a tonic, in doses
of from 10 to 20 gr. daily; and by others as a vermifuge. When
injudiciously administered death has been the result. By those of the old
school it is extolled as a caustic, and a very powerful one doubtlessly it
is; but there is this disadvantage attending its use--we cannot control
its action, and, oftentimes, a most extensive and painful wound is caused
by it. Occasionally it is resorted to for the eradication of warts;
although a better plan is to extirpate them at once with the knife. When,
however, this is inadmissible, 1 part of arsenious acid, in very fine
powder, may be mixed with 4 parts of lard, and a (small) portion of the
compound applied, with friction, over and around the excrescence every
other day, for three or four times. This will excite such a powerful
sloughing action, that in about 10 days the warts will be thrown off."
(Prof. Morton.)]

_Gen. commentary._ The necessary length of the preceding article, owing to
the great importance of the subject in its relations to toxicology and
medical jurisprudence, has left us little space for further remark here.
In addition to what has been said on arsenical testing, it may be useful
to caution the reader of the absolute necessity of only employing tests
and reagents which are themselves absolutely pure; and in which the
operator has, by personal examination, failed to detect the slightest
trace of arsenic. Commercial sulphuric, nitric, and hydrochloric acids,
potash, soda, nitre, iron, and zinc, frequently contain arsenic; from
which, however, they may be freed by chemical processes; or they may be
purchased in the pure state from respectable dealers in chemicals. But no
assurance of the vender should be regarded as a proof of their purity. In
all judicial investigations the absence of arsenic in the several tests
and reagents, and the apparatus employed, must be demonstrated and sworn
to. We may further add, that the results afforded by no single test can be
depended on. In matters of such vast importance, the most ample
confirmatory evidence must be sought.

Marsh's, Reinsch's, Lassaigne's, the sulphur, and the Reduction Tests, and
their modifications, are those now generally preferred by toxicological
chemists; each of which, with its confirmatory tests, are amply sufficient
for the indisputable identification of arsenic.

Modern toxicologists have abandoned most of the old processes for the
detection of arsenic, and have adopted one of two, which have been found
more expeditious as well as more certain. These are the tests of Marsh and
Reinsch, preferably the latter.

HERAPATH'S METHOD is to obtain deposits by Reinsch's Test on 4 or 5 pieces
of No. 13 copper wire; each piece being about 2-1/2 inches long, and
previously flattened and planished with a polished hammer for about one
half its length. The deposit, with some of the adhering copper, scraped
from one of these coated pieces, is sealed up hermetically in a tube for
future production. The scrapings from three pieces of wire are separately
submitted to the sublimation test in tubes bent in the form of an obtuse V
capillary at one end, and about 3/10ths of an inch in diameter at the
other; the capillary leg being about three times as long as the larger
one. The scrapings are placed in the bent part of the tube; and the flame
of a small spirit lamp is so applied as to slowly drive the sublimate into
the narrower portion of the tube, which is held rather higher than the
other. If the deposit so obtained be mercury, it condenses in white
shining globules;--if lead or bismuth, it does not rise but melts into a
yellowish glass, which adheres to the copper; if tellurium, it falls as a
white amorphous powder; if antimony, it does not rise at that low
temperature; but if it be arsenic, it sublimes as arsenious anhydride,
which condenses as minute octahedral crystals, looking, with the
microscope, like very transparent grains of sand. One of these tubes
containing the sublimed arsenious anhydride is then sealed up, like the
first one, for future production. The capillary part of another tube
containing the sublimate is then cut off, and carefully boiled in a few
drops (10 to 15) of distilled water; and, when cold, 3 or 4 drops of the
resulting solution is poured on a plate of white porcelain, and to this,
by means of a glass rod, one drop of solution of ammoniacal sulphate of
copper is added. The mixture is then carefully conducted on to a piece of
white filtering-paper set on the surface of a smooth, clean, and dry
chalk-stone, by which the moisture is absorbed, and the smallest portion
of Scheele's green produced by the test rendered more conspicuous. The
ammonio-nitrate of silver test is then applied, in a similar manner, to 3
or 4 drops of the remaining solution; after which the pieces of paper with
the spots are dried, and sealed up in separate tubes, as before, observing
to exclude the light from that containing the yellow precipitate of
arsenite of silver. A stream of sulphuretted hydrogen is then passed
through the remaining tube containing the arsenical sublimate, by which
the latter is converted into the yellow tersulphide--this too is sealed
up. Here are now five tests--the metal, the acid, arsenite of copper,
arsenite of silver, and yellow tersulphide of arsenic.

It is now well known that certain soils contain arsenic, either as
arsenite of lime or sulphide of arsenic; and which, under favorable
circumstances, may permeate or be absorbed by a body, after interment. In
judicial investigations following disinterment it is, therefore, necessary
to examine portions of the cemetery-earth taken from the grave, as well as
from parts more or less distant from it. For this purpose the earth should
be thoroughly dried in a water-bath, drenched with pure and concentrated
hydrochloric acid, and allowed to stand for twenty-four hours. The mixture
is then distilled, and the distillate tested for arsenic by Reinsch's or
Marsh's test. Should the product of one distillation yield no evidence of
arsenic, it should be returned to the retort, if necessary, a second or
even a third time, and the distillation repeated.

The practice of employing an alkaline solution of white arsenic as an
anti-smut steep for wheat, has lately arrested the attention of chemists.
M. Audouard states that he has detected traces of arsenic in the crops
raised from seed-wheat thus treated. But that which appears to be likely
to prove much more dangerous is the introduction of arsenic into crops by
the employment of crude superphosphate of lime as manure--a substance
often rich in this poison. Dr Edmund Davy positively states that arsenic,
as it exists in artificial manures, is taken up by plants growing where
those manures have been applied! He found cabbages and turnips taken from
fields manured with superphosphate give unmistakeable evidence of being
'arseniated.' These facts have some important bearings; for though the
quantity of arsenic which occurs in such manures is not large when
compared with their other constituents, and the proportion of that
substance which is thus added to the soil must be necessarily small, still
plants during their growth, as in the case of the alkaline and earthy
salts, take up a considerable quantity of this substance. Further, as
arsenic is well known to accumulate in soils, though not an accumulative
poison in the animal system, the effects after some time will probably
be, that vegetables raised on those continuously so manured will
ultimately be found to contain such a proportion of arsenic as will
exercise an injurious effect on the health of man and animals. The
statement of M. Audouard has been disputed by M. Girardin, because he
failed to detect arsenic in corn under the circumstances; and it is also
denied by Dr A. S. Taylor, and others; but our own experiments, very
carefully performed, confirm the assertions of both Audouard and Davy. The
ultimate consequences of pouring into the Thames such enormous quantities
of disinfectants contaminated with arsenic, as has been done during the
last three or four years, is another matter deserving consideration, and
one which has been ably pointed out by Dr Letheby, in his reports as
Officer of Health to the City of London.

Dr Lois has found arsenic, often in large quantities, in ordinary brass,
and brass utensils; and we have ourselves repeatedly found arsenic in the
Britannia-metal, German-silver, and other cheap white alloys at present in
such general use.

The preceding facts are recommended to the careful attention of medical
jurists.

By an Act of Parliament[83] it is provided--1. That every vender of
arsenic shall, before the delivery of the same to the customer, enter in a
book or books kept for the purpose, the date of sale, name, and residence
of the purchaser, in full, his or her condition or occupation, the
quantity so sold, and the purpose or purposes for which it is required, in
a form set forth in the schedule to the Act; which form or schedule shall
be signed by the vender, and by the said purchaser, unless he be unable to
write, when such fact shall be recorded in the said schedule by the
vender; and this schedule, when a witness is required to the sale, shall
also bear his signature, together with his place of abode:--2. Arsenic is
not to be sold to a stranger, unless in the presence of a witness
acquainted with both vender and purchaser:--3. No person to sell arsenic
unless it be previously mixed with at least 1 _oz._ of soot or 1/2 _oz._
of indigo to the pound; unless such admixture would be injurious to the
object for which it is intended, when not less than 10 _lbs._ is to be
sold at any one time:--4. Penalty for evading the Act, either as vender,
purchaser, or witness, L20:--5. Act not to extend to arsenic used in
compounding prescriptions nor to the wholesale trade:--6. The word
'arsenic' to include 'arsenious anhydride,' and the arsenites, arsenic
acid and the arseniates, and all other colourless poisonous preparations
of arsenic. See ARSENIC, ARSENIC ACID, LOTIONS, PILLS, SHEEP-DIPPING,
SOAPS, SOLUTIONS, WHEAT-STEEPS, IRON, POTASSA, SODA, and other Bases, &c.
&c. (also _below_).

[Footnote 83: 16{?} Vict., c. xiii, 1851.]

=Self-detect'ing Arsenious Anhydride.= _Prep._ (Dr Cattell.)--1. Ordinary
white arsenic to which is added a small quantity of a mixture of dry
calomel and quick-lime; or of dried sulphate of iron and powdered
gall-nuts. The product is white, but immediately turns black when mixed
with liquids:--2. As the last, but adding a mixture of thoroughly dried
sulphate of iron and ferrocyanide of potassium. Strikes a blue:--3. As
last, but using dried phosphate of sodium and dried sulphate of iron.
Strikes a green. Proposed as a method of preventing arsenic being used as
a poison.

=ARSENICAL PIGMENTS, EFFECTS OF.= The composition of those substances
which are compounds of copper with arsenious, very frequently combined
with acetic acid, will be found under GREEN PIGMENTS, under their
respective commercial names of SCHEELE'S GREEN, MINERAL GREEN, EMERALD
GREEN, and SCHWEINFURT GREEN. The purity of tint and durability of these
arsenical salts have, not unnaturally, caused them to be employed in many
branches of industry, the products of which are everywhere around us, and
as the colouring material of these, they are placed in conditions very
favorable to their being taken into the stomach or lungs. This will be
apparent when we name a few of the materials in which they are
employed:--wafers, candles, wall-papers, window curtains, confectionery.

A curious illustration of the risks attending their use may be cited from
the 'Medical Times and Gazette' of April, 1854, which states that some
loaves found to contain arsenic were discovered on inquiry to have got the
dangerous intruder from having been allowed to stand on shelves freshly
painted a bright green colour. Arsenical- wafers may be pronounced
free from danger, so long as they are kept out of the reach of children;
and although the arsenical vapours given off by burning a green wax taper
would not be sufficient to induce toxic results, the fact of the extreme
sensibility of some people to the action of this poison, when taken in by
the lungs, renders the use of these tapers a very objectionable one,
particularly if they are generally employed in a household. The burning of
wax candles,  with arsenical green, is, of course, still more
strongly to be condemned, because from its superior mass, when compared
with the taper, the candle gives off a greater amount of the poisonous
fumes. An arsenical taper weighing 17.69 grains was found upon analysis by
Mr Bolas, late of Charing Cross Hospital, to contain 0.276 grains of
arsenious acid. "A Christmas tree," says Mr Blyth, "brilliantly
illuminated with Christmas candles, may be taken as an extreme instance of
the danger likely to arise from this source." That the employment of
arsenical green in the manufacture of sweetmeats was not abandoned in 1873
may be evidenced from a circumstance quoted by Mr Blyth in his interesting
work on 'Hygiene.' "During the Christmas of 1873 a large cake in which was
imbedded a green card labelled "for the bairnies," was seized in a
baker's shop at Greenock. The card was coated with sugar, and on being
submitted to analysis, was found to contain 7.04 grains of arsenious acid.

A curious case, illustrating the effect of arsenical wall-papers, is
furnished by Dr Dalzell, of Malvern. He was attending a lady ill with
scarlet fever, and during the attack her husband occupied a small bedroom.
The first night he slept in it his slumbers were most unrefreshing and
disturbed by horrible dreams, and on rising in the morning he felt languid
and weak, had lost his appetite, and had a dull headache. Towards the
evening these unpleasant symptoms had nearly vanished. On the second night
(when he occupied the same dormitory) and on the day following the same
disagreeable symptoms returned. He then changed his bedroom, and forthwith
they troubled him no more. A servant, who next occupied the chamber, was
affected as her master had been. Dr Dalzell suspecting the wall-paper as
the cause, examined it, and found it to contain a large quantity of
arsenic.

Some little time since Mr Bolas examined a sample of wall-paper containing
27.53 grains of arsenious acid in the square foot, and in this case the
pigment was so loosely fixed that the slightest friction was sufficient to
detach a portion and diffuse it through the air. Nor is this surprising
when we consider how slightly the arsenical colour is attached to the
surface of the paper, as well as how easily it may become liberated from
it by the desiccation of the air of the room when heated by a fire. This
may be exemplified by drawing the sleeve of a black or dark- coat
over an arsenical wall-paper, and observing the green deposit that is left
on the garment.

After this we shall be prepared for the following statement: "Hamberg
drew, by means of aspirators, the air of a room, the walls of which were
papered with a very old green paper, through various tubes containing
cotton wool and silver nitrate. On examination scarcely any solid
particles could be discovered. The cotton-wool was fused with sodium
nitrate and carbonate, and gave a little ferric oxide and a trace of
arsenic, but the solution of nitrate of silver gave decided evidence of
arsenic, as well as of sulphide of silver." ('Phar. Jour.')

Not many years since Professor Fleck showed that the arsenious acid in the
Schweinfurt green, when in contact with moist organic substances, and
especially starch-sizing, forms arseniuretted hydrogen, which diffuses in
the room, and which is no doubt the cause of some of the cases of
arsenical poisoning from green papers. So that a contrary condition to a
dry atmosphere, viz. a moist or damp one, may also lead to results nearly,
if not quite as objectionable, when rooms are papered with arsenical
papers. We have Mr Blyth's word for the assertion, that the most dangerous
of the arsenical papers, viz. those covered with a thick, unvarnished,
loosely coherent layer of Seheele's green are most frequently to be met
with in our nurseries, where the beds are placed next the wall, and where
the attrition of the bedclothes frequently removes portions of the
poisonous colouring matter. The fine cupro-arsenical dust which thus
becomes diffused through the room, now and then produces in children
symptoms resembling those of violent catarrh. Some of the wall-papers of
these nurseries have been found to yield 18 grains of arsenious acid in a
square foot. It would appear that the use of arsenical pigments is by no
means restricted to green wall-papers. Very recently an analytical chemist
examined a great number of samples of wall-papers of different colours,
and was surprised to find arsenic in most of them. Within the last year
the writer examined the pigment which he could disengage without much
difficulty from a very small piece of green muslin window curtain, and
found it yield a large quantity of arsenic. In Paris alone there are more
than 15,000 people who earn their living by making artificial flowers, a
quarter at least of these workers being engaged in that branch of the
manufacture in which Schweinfurt green is used. From the instances already
adduced of the ill effects caused, although in a mild degree, by
occasional and accidental exposure to arsenical pigments, we shall be
prepared to learn that the danger and the damage to health is very much
more intensified when, as in the case of these poor artisans, the workman
is constantly handling the deadly material, and incessantly inhaling an
atmosphere laden with its particles. Dr Vernois has published a most
interesting description, which we subjoin, of the artificial flower-maker
at work. He says:--"These greens are formed either from arsenite of copper
alone, or mixed in variable proportions with acetate of copper (English
green). Arsenical greens are employed to colour different herbs, to tint
the fabric destined to prepare the leaves of artificial flowers, as they
are painted directly on the leaves or petals of flowers worked on cloths
of various textures. For these various purposes they buy the Schweinfurt
or the English green (vert Anglaise), either in powder or in aqueous
solution, and add to it, according to the effect desired, a certain
quantity of Flanders glue, starch, gum, honey, or turpentine. Sometimes it
is applied in the dry state, in order to sprinkle it over the things
already  by the arsenical green. They frequently also, in order to
modify the colour, mix with it a certain quantity of chromate of lead or
picric acid.

_The preparation of herbs_ is carried on as follows:--The workman plunges
into a shallow vessel, containing a sufficiently liquid solution of
Schweinfurt green, one or several stalks of natural plants, perfectly
dried, and agitates them quickly, seizing them by their roots with a pair
of forceps. This operation, which is termed 'steeping,' stains the
fingers, the arms, the person, and the clothes of the workman, and the
surrounding objects are covered with traces of this kind of paint. The
plants thus prepared are hung on a line, and there allowed to dry for
thirty-four or forty-eight hours. At the end of that time all the stalks
are gathered and formed into bundles, which are used finally for bouquets.
Often enough, to satisfy some freak of fashion, they are sprinkled with
powdered arsenite of copper. This is the powdering. The bouquet-work
constitutes one of the principal dangers; for the colouring matter not
having been fixed by any mordant, detaches itself in the form of a fine
dust, which penetrates the skin of the hands, and which the workman
breathes constantly. This danger is still more increased when he handles
bouquets covered with arsenical powder. At other times, however, in the
manufacture of the plants, the Schweinfurt green is diluted with a
sufficient quantity of turpentine. In this way the colour takes a smooth
appearance, not altered by contact with water, and does not escape
immediately in the form of powder by gentle handling; but when it is
thoroughly dry it falls to the ground in little flakes, and may again rise
in the air with ordinary dust. Thus the danger is modified, a little
retarded, but always exists. There are then in this speciality of the
florist the operations of steeping, drying, powdering, and arranging the
flowers for bouquets, which in their details place the workman or the
purchaser under the more or less direct, and more or less active influence
of arsenical salt. This particular industry is exercised under conditions
which render it still more injurious; for it is freely practised by a
number of poor workpeople, by households living in one or two rooms,
ill-ventilated, ill-lighted, and which they never sweep, and of which the
floor like the furniture, and like the clothing of the workpeople, is
continually impregnated by pigment and covered with arsenical dust. The
preparers of the cloth destined for the manufacture of the artificial
leaves by the aid of arsenical greens, comprehend the portion of the work
most exposed to deleterious action. They use arsenite of copper alone,
mixed principally with starch, and in rare instances associated with
acetate of copper in variable proportions. Some use _eublee_, a mixture of
picric acid and of greenish indigo, in which they steep their stuffs.
Other manufacturers use fabrics prepared with hot solutions by ordinary
dyers. According to the hue which the Schweinfurt dyer wishes to obtain,
the workman commences by giving the stuff a yellow shade, by plunging it
into a solution of picric acid and pure alcohol. He squeezes it between
his fingers, in order to completely impregnate it and dries it. It is this
preliminary operation which stains the workman's fingers yellow.
Frequently the latter mixes picric acid by grinding it with the
Schweinfurt green, and applies this paste immediately to the fabric. The
paste is prepared by kneading the Schweinfurt green, already treated with
water, with a solution of starch thick enough, yet sufficiently liquid, to
be easily spread on the cloth. During this working up the paste the
fingers, arms, and hands of the workman are covered with arsenical
solution. This being ready, the workman lays out his stuff, distributes
the paste over it, then beats it between his hands, in order to make the
colouring matter thoroughly penetrate the cloth. The longer it is beaten
the better is the quality of the article. During this operation the skin
of the hands and arms is completely impregnated with the solution.
Sometimes the cloth, having been touched here and there with arsenical
paste, is attached to a hook in the wall, and twisted different
ways--wrung as it were. In this way a very uniform colouring is obtained.
This process is as bad to the workman as the former. Lastly, a process
which is generally practised consists in placing the fabric, stained or
not with picric acid, on a wooden table, and distributing on both sides
the arsenical preparation with a brush, and then beating the stuff with a
thick rubber. In this way the hands and arms of the workman are much less
exposed to the paste than in the preceding processes. After the brushing
and beating of the fabric comes the drying, to which operation attention
must next be directed. Once impregnated with the green colour by whatever
process, the pieces in squares of about 1 metre 50 cent. are hung on
wooden frames, furnished with teeth, on which the borders of the cloth are
transfixed. During this simple operation the workmen stain themselves
much. When the stuffs are detached from the squares they are folded, and
from every crease falls a fine dust, which may then be carried into the
mucous membranes. The workmen then are liable to all the accidents of the
manufacturers of flowers, especially in the operations of kneading the
paste, or during the beating, brushing, drying, and folding of the cloths.
From the hands of the fabricator the fabrics are very often immediately
consigned to the manufacturers of artificial flowers, who press them,
figure them (that is to say, make the nerves), arm them with a wire, and
mount them with flowers. It may be at once understood how much all the
manipulations I have just mentioned are liable to develop the arsenical
dust. The paste has not been fixed on the stuffs by any mordant; the
starch with which it is mixed has given it a very brittle consistence, and
has predisposed it to be easily detached from the cloth.

The stamping is effected by putting a certain number of folded pieces one
above the other, and submitting them to the pressure of a stamping
instrument. Repeated blows of this instrument detach the paste in scales,
and cover with dust the fingers and person of the workman. A series of
small packets are taken from the stamping press, which contain, strongly
pressed together, from twelve to twenty-four leaves. They are passed on to
another workman, who is charged with the folding. This operation is
performed by holding the little bundle of leaves between the thumb and
index finger of the left hand.

The thumb of the right hand presses the edges quickly and sharply so as to
separate the leaves one from another, as you separate the leaves of a book
recently bound. During this process still more dust escapes. Then comes
the figuring, which by reason of successive blows applied to each leaf
covers the body of the operator with the same pulverulent material. Fixing
a wire to the leaves at their lowest part by the aid of gum follows that
operation.

Then the leaves are arranged together in dozens, and passed to the bouquet
manufacturers, who mount them. From thence they go to the milliners, who
adapt them to different articles of dress, and sell them to the public.
Through all this series of transformations there are the same
manipulations, the same production of dust, the same action on the skin
and mucous membrane, only in a decreasing degree, from the first preparer
to the milliner. There is, however, a process of preparing the cloth which
diminishes notably the severity and frequency of the evils of the
Schweinfurt green. It is that which immediately after the drying of the
stuffs submits them at once to the "calendrage." This operation causes the
arsenical paste to penetrate mechanically into the fibres of the stuff,
and gives it a smooth and glazed aspect, which only permits imperfectly
the production of the arsenical dust. This process renders the successive
workings of the cloth less injurious, but it would be an error to consider
it as inoffensive. During the action of the press, and especially during
the separating and the fixing of the flowers, a notable quantity of the
toxic dust is still produced. However well prepared the fabrics may be,
you have only to tear it, to detach the coating under the form of a
palpable powder.

It is only necessary to add that the waxing of the leaves, after they have
been separated and figured, and before putting them into bouquets,
constitutes a protecting envelope against the effects of the powdered
coating for workmen who then handle them, as well as for women who wear
them; but this film of wax is only applied, comparatively speaking, to a
small number of leaves, for it alters the green and vivacity of its
colour.

In the preparing of the stuffs in the process of drying, Dr Vernois
says:--A new condition and serious results appear. The multiplicity of
sharp points fixed in the wooden squares inevitably pricks and scratches
the skin of the workmen. An inoculation of the arsenical salt immediately
takes place, as if it had been practised experimentally. The skin
irritates and inflames, a vesicle first, then a large pustule covers the
orifice of the prick, and undergoes all the stages of inflammation, which
produces suppuration and often gangrene, below which a deep and painful
ulceration is developed--all the more tedious to heal as the inoculation
is renewed from day to day.

The action of picric acid mixed with the paste can only augment and
aggravate the irritation of the wounds. If the ulcerations are numerous
the workmen may absorb the arsenious acid and be liable to serious
results. I have seen a certain number of workmen with glandular
enlargements under the armpits, and the hands in such a state that they
were obliged to come to the hospital, where they were only cured after one
or several months of treatment. The aspect of the hand was then
characteristic to the greenish-yellow tint of all the skin, and especially
of the palmar aspect of the hands. To the greenish crust under the nails
was nearly always added a yellow colour of the nails, produced by the
repeated contact with picric acid.

When we add a generally diffused erythema, then a series of black points,
or of inflamed pustules, and sometimes a whitlow, we shall have a faithful
representation of the evils which most frequently present themselves in
the preparers of stuffs, for artificial flowers tinted with Schweinfurt
green.

Amongst the endeavours to counteract the evils entailed upon the workers
in this branch of industry may be mentioned the attempt to substitute
chrome for Schweinfurt green, as the less poisonous of the two substances,
and the ingenious process of M. Berard-Zenzilin, which consists in
directly incorporating the arsenical colouring matter with a specially
prepared collodion.

=AR'SENIDE.= _Syn._ ARSEN'IURET; ARSENIURE'TUM (-i-[=u]-), L.; ARSENIURE,
Fr. A combination of arsenicum with a metal (including hydrogen), in
definite proportion.

=AR'SENITE= (-n[=i]te). _Syn._ AR'SENIS, L.; ARSENITE, Fr.; ARSENIGSAeURE
SALZ, Ger. A salt of arsenious acid.

=ART.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ARS (gen., ar'tis; pl., ar'tes), L.;
[Greek:¬techne], (tech'ne), Gr.; KUNST, Ger. Primarily, strength, power,
and hence also mental strength, skill; the application of knowledge or
power to effect a desired purpose; the power or ability of doing something
not taught by nature or instinct; practical skill guided by rules. SCIENCE
is knowledge--ART, practical skill in applying this knowledge. ART is
applied science; whilst SCIENCE is knowledge obtained by observation,
experience, and ratiocination. This distinction is nowhere more fully
seen than within the domain of chemistry, where knowledge, deduction,
great power of generalisation, and great expertness are necessary elements
of success. Art has filled the world with luxuries, conveniences, and
comforts; and art--the ARTS--useful or fine--are the safest and surest
civilisers of our race. See SCIENCE.

=ARTESIAN WELL.= A cylindrical perforation bored vertically down through
one or more strata of the earth till it reaches a porous bed of gravel
containing water, this fluid being placed under such incumbent pressure
that it rises up the perforation either to the surface, or to a convenient
height for the operation of a pump. When they rise to the surface these
wells are called spouting or flowing. The name of these wells is taken
from Artois, a province in the Departement du pays de Calais, where their
use was revived. They have been in use for a long time in Italy and in the
East. The accompanying drawing represents the manner in which rain may be
supposed to distribute itself when it falls upon a portion of the surface
of our globe. The figure represents a geological section, showing the
succession of the different strata.

[Illustration]

The figure is supposed to represent two beds, A, B, more porous, and
consequently more absorbent than the rocks by which they are
interstratified. The condensed dews and rains falling upon the distant
hills pass rapidly by the outcrops of the strata to the lower levels,
until the entire mass becomes thoroughly saturated with water. Supposing
two such beds as are represented in the section to exist, fully charged
with water, it is evident that if we bored down into them through the
rocks as represented at C, D, the water would rise through those wells or
borings, and spring out in the form of a jet to such a height above the
surface as is due to the height of the hills from which the water has been
obtained. The fountain derived from B would necessarily flow as much
higher as that derived from the bed A, as is the height of B above A.

For particulars as to the modes of constructing artesian wells, the reader
is referred to 'Traite sur les puits Artesiens,' by M Gamier, and to
'Considerations Geologiques et physiques sur la theorie des puits forces,
ou fontaines Artesiennes,' by M. le Vicomte Hericart de Thury, and to
'Rudimentary Treatise on Well-digging, Boring, &c.,' by J. G. Swindell,
and also to Ure's 'Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines,' edited by
Mr Robert Hunt.

=ARTHANI'TINE= (-t[)i]n). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ARTANITI'NE; ARTHANITI'NA, L.
A peculiar substance first obtained by M. Saladin, by the action of
alcohol on the tuberous stems of the herb _arthrani'ta_, or sow-bread. It
is acrid, colourless, and crystalline, and imparts its acridity to the
plant.

=AR'TICHOKE.= _Syn._ CIN'ARA, CYN'ARA; SCOL'YMUS, L.; ARTICHAUT, Fr.;
ARTISCHOCKE, Ger. The _cynara scol[)y]mus_ (Linn.), a thistle-like
perennial plant of the _nat. ord._ Compositae (DC.). _Hab._ Southern
Europe; but now extensively cultivated in our gardens, for its 'bottom,'
or the sweet fleshy receptacle of its flowers, which is eaten as a pot
herb. These are soaked in brisk boiling in water, stalk-ends uppermost,
until tender; and take 1/2 to 1 hour according to their age. Sometimes
they are preserved in brine (PICKLED ARTICHOKES); and also after depriving
them of the 'choke' and spiny hairs and blanching them by immersion in
boiling water, by drying in the sun (DRIED ARTICHOKES; CULS D'ARTICHAUT,
Fr.), by which they retain their flavour for some time. Infusion of the
flowers, used with rennet.

As an esculent the artichoke resembles asparagus in its general
properties; but it is said to be more nutritious, and even more diuretic.

=Artichokes, Jeru'salem.= The _helianthus tuberosus_ (Linn.), a perennial
plant of the sun-flower family, and quite distinct from the preceding.
_Hab._ The Brazils. The appellation "Jerusalem" is believed to be a
corruption of the Italian word _girasole_--"a sunflower," to which
botanical family the plant belongs. It is cultivated in England for
culinary purposes. Roots (tubers) resemble the artichoke in flavour; but
are considered far from wholesome, being apt to produce flatulence and
dyspepsia. They are diuretic, and impart the odour of turpentine to the
urine. They are cooked by boiling (15 to 25 minutes, according to size),
or frying; in the former case served with melted butter. They are also
served mashed, like turnips. The flowers yield a volatile oil resembling
that of turpentine.

Composition of the Jerusalem artichoke from an analysis by Payen, Poisot,
and Fevry:--

  Nitrogenous matter    3.1
  Sugar                14.7
  Inulin                1.9
  Pectic Acid           0.9
  Pectin                0.4
  Cellulose             1.5
  Fatty matter          0.2
  Mineral matter        1.3
  Water                76.0
                      -----
                      100.0

From the above it will be seen that this esculent contains no nitrogen.

=ARTIFICIAL FOODS.= See FARINA.

=ASARABAC'CA= ([)a]s-[)a]-). _Syn._ AS'ARUM, A. EUROPAE'UM: (Linn.),
NAR'DUS MONTA'NA*, &c., L.; ASARET, A. D'EUROPE, CABARET, AZARUM C., NARD
SAUVAGE, OREILLE D'HOMME, &c., Fr.; HAZELWURTZEL, Ger. The [Greek: asaron]
of Dioscorides, a small round, hard, stemless, hardy herbaceous plant,
bearing chocolate- flowers; and of the nat. ord. Aristolochieae
(DC.). It grows freely in central France, and is found in woods and shady
places in Lancashire, Westmoreland, and other parts of England. _Hab._
Europe, between 37 deg. and 60 deg. latitude.--Root & rhizome (AS'ARI RA'DIX) has
a pepper-like odour and an acrid taste:--Leaves (A. FO'LIA) less odorous,
though bitter-tasted, acrid, and aromatic; formerly officinal in the
pharmacop[oe]ias:--Whole plant (ASARABACCA of the shops) nauseant, emetic,
and purgative. Before the introduction of ipecacuanha it was the common
emetic (6 to 9 of the green leaves in whey); but, owing to the violence of
its action, it has long fallen into disuse. Its common name in France
(CABARET, or public-house plant) is said to have arisen from its frequent
employment to relieve the stomach of those who had drunk too hard. It is
now almost solely used as a sternutatory or errhine, and is probably one
of the best.

According to Graeger[84], asarabacca contains three volatile, oily
principles, which may be obtained by distillation with water:--VOLATILE
OIL (o'leum as'ari):--AS'ARITE, an odourless, tasteless, and crystalline
solid; fusible and volatilisable, yielding white and very irritating
fumes:--AS'ARUM-CAM'PHOR, differing chiefly from the last in being
precipitated, by water, from its alcoholic solution in cubes or six-sided
prisms, instead of delicate flexible needles. Also a brownish, bitter,
crystallisable principle (AS'ARINE, AS'ARUM-BIT'TER), which is soluble in
alcohol.

[Footnote 84: Gobel and Kemze, 'Pharm. Waarenk,' 1830-1.]

_Uses, Dose, &c._ Dried leaves, 20 to 30 gr., or root, 10 to 12 gr.; as a
purge or emetic. As an errhine--leaves, 3 to 5 gr.; root, 1 to 3 gr.; in
powder, snuffed up the nose every day, or every other day, at bedtime. It
excites irritation and a copious watery discharge, more or less muculent,
which frequently continues to flow for several days, and occasionally
proves highly useful in certain affections of the brain, eyes, mouth,
nose, ear, and throat, on the principle of counter-irritation. It has been
found "particularly serviceable in cephalalgia (headache), obstinate
headache, chronic ophthalmia (inflammation of the eyes), and some other
lethargic affections." (Dr A. T. Thomson.) In dimness of sight (especially
that arising from fatigue or congestion), deafness, and slight paralytic
affections of the mouth, tongue, lips, or eyelids, not of a serious
organic character, and particularly in chronic earache, it also sometimes
affords relief after other remedies have failed. It constitutes the basis
of several CEPHALIC SNUFFS, ASARABACCA-SNUFF, BARON MCKINSEY'S MEDICINAL
POWDER (or SNUFF), and several other like nostrums, which are much
extolled by their venders, and sold at marvellously high prices. See
PATENT MEDICINES, POWDERS, SNUFFS, &c. (also _below_).

=AS'ARIN= (-r[)i]n). C_{20}H_{26}O_{5}. _Syn._ ASARONE. A species of
stearopten, discovered by Goertz, in asarabacca. It has an aromatic taste
and an odour resembling camphor, and is said to be emetic. It is probably
a mixture of asarum-camphor and some partially oxidised volatile oil. (See
_above_.)

=As'arine= (of Graeger). _Syn._ ASARI'NA, L. The crystallisable bitter
principle of asarabacca, noticed above. It is said to greatly resemble
cytisine.

=AS'ARITE= (-r[=i]te). See ASARABACCA.

=ASBES'TOS.= _Syn._ ASBES'TUS ([Greek: asbestos], incombustible,
unconsumable, Gr.), AMIANTH'US, LA'PIS A., &c., L.; ASBESTE, AMIANTE, Fr.;
ASBEST, STEINFLACHS, Ger. In _mineralogy_, a soft, fibrous substance,
composed of flexible or elastic filaments which, in their most highly
developed form, greatly resemble those of flax or silk, and which bear
exposure to a very considerable degree of heat without suffering
decomposition. It has been proposed to clothe our firemen in dresses of
asbestos; but without freedom of respiration could be insured in a heated
and poisonous atmosphere, this envelope would be of little service. Gloves
are sometimes made of it, for holding red-hot crucibles. It is also used
as a filtering medium for corrosive liquids. A kind of felt made of
asbestos is now used as a substitute for wire gauze to support beakers,
retorts, &c., over lamps.

_Var._ Of these there are several; as AM'IANTH or ELAS'TIC ASBESTOS,
LIG'NIFORM A., MOUNTAIN-CORK, M.-LEATHER, M.-WOOD, &c.; varying from a
grey, brown, or green colour, to pure white, and from extreme flexibility
and softness, to rigidity and hardness, as indicated by the respective
names.

=ASCARIS LUMBRICOIDES.= A parasite belonging to the genus _entozoa_,
commonly known as the round worm, and found in the intestines of man, the
horse, the ox, the pig, and some other of the lower animals. It is of a
greyish-red colour and in size and general appearance like the common
earthworm.

Children are very frequently infested by them. Their usual habitat is the
small intestines. But they are occasionally found in the stomach, and
have been known to transport themselves into the gall-ducts, frontal
sinuses, nostrils, and mouth. The males are smaller than the females and
much more rare. The females produce eggs in great numbers, but it is
doubtful if the young are ever developed in the intestine in which the
parent worm dwells.

It is probable that the ova gain access to the intestines of the animals
of which they eventually become the pests from various outer sources. They
are said to be very frequent in persons who partake much of raw leaves and
roots. Dr Paterson, of Leith, noticed that families who drank certain
water from a well supplied from a dirty pool, which contained various
vermiform animalcules, were much infested with this particular species of
intestinal worm; whilst others in the same street, who had recourse to a
different water supply, entirely escaped. For medicinal treatment, see
WORMS.

=ASCARIS MYSTAX.= A parasitic round worm infesting the cat. It has been
also occasionally found in man.

=ASH.= _Syn._ FRAX'INUS, L.; FRENE, Fr.; ESCHE, Ger. The popular name of
several species of valuable hardy trees bearing apetalous flowers (except
in the 'flowering ash'), belonging to the nat. ord. Oleaceae (DC.), and
gen. Fraxinus; but appropriately the--

=Ash.= _Syn._ COMM'ON ASH; FRAX'INUS, F. EXCEL'SIOR (Linn.), F. APET'ALA
(Lamb.), F. OR'NUS (Scop.), L.; FRENE, F. COMMUN, Fr.; GEMEINE ESCHE, Ger.
A large tree common to our woods and hedges; timber (ASH or ASH-WOOD) used
by carpenters, cabinet-makers, and machinists, and much esteemed for its
great toughness and elasticity; bark febrifuge, diuretic, resolvent, and
tonic; has been successfully exhibited in agues; seeds acrid, bitter, and
diuretic; leaves purgative, diuretic, and febrifuge; sometimes used
instead of senna. In southern Europe it exudes an inferior kind of MANNA,
and its medicinal properties are much greater than in our
climate.--_Dose._ (Leaves) 1/4 _oz._ to 1-1/2 _oz._ (made into an
infusion), as a purge; seeds, 1 dr., as a diuretic, &c.

=Ash, Flow'ering.= _Syn._ MAN'NA-ASH; FRAX'INUS OR'NUS (Linn.), L. A small
tree of southern Europe. Yields MANNA. The 'round'-leaved flowering-ash'
(CALA'BRIAN-ASH; FRAX'INUS ROTUNDIFO''LIA, Lamarck) is a smaller variety
of the preceding, and a native of Calabria and the Levant. Said to yield
the best MANNA. The 'small'-leaved flowering-ash' (FRAX'INUS PARVIFO''LIA,
Lam.) is another manna-yielding species, indigenous to Asia Minor.

=ASH.= Ashes (which _see_).

=ASH-BALLS.= The ashes of land-plants, especially ferns, damped and made
into balls. Used as a substitute for soap in washing, and in cleaning
paint.

=ASH'ERY.= [Amer.] A place where potash or pearlash is made or kept.

=ASH'ES.= (-[)i]z). [Eng. pl.] _Syn._ ASH; CI'NIS, L.; CENDRES (_pl._),
Fr.; ASCHE, Ger. The remains of anything burned. In _antiquity_, the
remains of a body consumed on the funeral pyre; and hence, figuratively,
the remains of the dead. The word, in English, has properly no singular;
although 'ash' is very commonly heard; and is now almost exclusively used
in composition, as in pearlash, potash, soda-ash, &c.

=Ashes.= In _commerce_, the residuum of the combustion of vegetable
substances containing either carbonate of potassium ('land-plants'), or
carbonate of sodium ('marine plants'), and from which the commercial
alkalies are obtained. Their value depends upon their richness in
'alkali,' which is determined in the manner explained under ALKALIMETRY.
The word is also commonly employed as a general term for the crude
carbonates of potash of commerce (which _see_).

=Ashes of Plants.= See following page, on which will be found a table
giving the chemical composition of the ashes of a few well-known plants
used as food for men and animals. See also MANURES, PLANTS, VEGETATION,
&c.

A careful determination of the ash of different substances is of great use
to the analyst, by enabling him to detect adulteration; for instance,
almost every plant on being burnt yields a very constant amount of ash,
and not alone the quantity is constant, but the different proportions of
the various components are also, within certain limits, tolerably
unvarying. Many plants have the power of extracting from the soil certain
elements; for instance, the ash of the tobacco contains lithium; tea,
manganese; seaweed, iodine. It seems by no means improbable that by the
examination of the ashes of plants by means of the spectroscope new
elements may be discovered. Appended is a short list of the amount of ash,
contained in a few important substances:--

                       Total Ash.
  Cayenne pepper, from 5 to 6 per cent.
  Chicory           "  5          "
  Cocoa             "  3 to 4     "
  Coffee            "  4          "
  Flour             "   .7 to 1.5 "
  Mustard           "  3 to 4.5   "
  Pepper            "  4.3 to 5   "
  Rice              "  5          "
  Tea               "  5.6        "
  Turmeric          "  5 to 6     "

The ashes of plants are employed by the agriculturist according as the
nature and proportion of the different salts they contain is suited to the
soil and to the crops it is desired to raise. M. SOULANGE BODIN says that
ashes hold the middle place between stable-dung and pasture manure. They
act mechanically by dividing soils that are too compact, hygroscopically
by absorbing moisture, and they appear to have an action similar to lime
in accelerating the decomposition of the mould. They also probably
exercise a stimulating effect on the soil. In the case of low-lying lands
they are particularly suited for very damp clayey soils. In Picardy the
ashes of turf are made use of; in England, the low countries and the north
of France, coal ashes are employed.

  -----------+------+------+-------+---------+------+------+-------+-----+--------
             |      |      |  Red  |         |Wheat |      |       |     |Turnip
             | Peas.|Beans.|Clover.|Sainfoin.|Grain.|Straw.|Barley.|Oats.| Root.
  -----------+------+------+-------+---------+------+------+-------+-----+--------
  Potassa    | 42.43| 36.72|  18.44|  31.90  | 29.76| 10.51| 20.07 |17.70| 23.70
  Soda       |  3.27|  0.14|   2.79|   ...   |  5.26|  1.03|  4.56 | 3.84| 14.75
  Lime       |  5.73| 12.06|  35.02|  24.30  |  2.88|  5.91|  1.48 | 3.54| 11.82
  Magnesia   |  5.92|  6.00|  11.91|   5.03  | 11.06|  1.25|  7.45 | 7.33|  3.28
  Sesquioxide|      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    of Iron  |  0.44|  0.65|   0.98|   0.61  |  0.23|  0.07|  0.51 | 0.49|  0.47
  Sulphuric  |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    acid     |  6.23|  4.28|   3.91|   3.28  |  0.11|  2.14|  0.79 | 1.10| 16.13
  Silica     |  1.74|  1.52|   4.03|   3.22  |  2.23| 73.57| 32.73 |38.48|  2.69
  Carbonic   |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    acid     |  4.38|  1.63|  12.92|  15.20  |  0.22|  ... |  ...  | ... | 10.47
  Phosphoric |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    acid     | 29.92| 33.74|   5.82|   9.35  | 48.21|  5.51| 31.69 |26.46|  9.31
  Chloride of|      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    potassium|  ... |  ... |   ... |   6.24  |  ... |  ... |  ...  | 0.92|  ...
  Chloride of|      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    sodium   |  ... |  3.26|   4.13|   0.78  |  ... |  ... |  ...  | ... |  7.05
  -----------+------+------+-------+---------+------+------+-------+-----+--------
  Total      |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
    amount   | 99.96|100.00|  99.95|  99.96  | 99.96| 99.99| 99.98 |99.96| 99.93
  Per-centage|      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
   of dry ash|      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
   in dry    |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
   substance |  2.60|  2.90|   7.87|   6.37  |  2.05|  ... |  2.50 | 2.50|  6.00
  Per-centage|      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
   of ash in |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
   the fresh |      |      |       |         |      |      |       |     |
   substance |  2.24|  2.54|   6.77|   5.65  |  1.81|  ... |  2.25 | 2.27|  0.75
  -----------+------+------+-------+---------+------+------+-------+-----+--------
  -----------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+------+-------
             |       |      |      |      |Lettuce |       |       |      |
             |       |      |      |      |Leaves  |Olive- |       |      |
             |Turnip | Beet |Carrot|Pota- | and    | tree  |       |      |Clupea
             |Leaves.| Root.| Root.|toes. |Stalks. |Wood.  |Hops.  |Hay.  |Sprouts.
             |       |      |      | [85] |  [86]  | [87]  | [88]  | [89] | [90]
  -----------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+------+-------
  Potassa    | 11.56 | 21.68| 37.55| 25.41|  22.37 | 20.60 | 24.88 | 11.93| 17.23
  Soda       | 12.43 |  3.13| 12.63|  ... |  18.50 |  ...  |  ...  |  1.07|  1.19
  Lime       | 28.49 |  1.90|  9.76|  2.34|  10.43 | 63.02 | 21.59 | 14.76| 23.57
  Magnesia   |  2.62 |  1.79|  3.78|  4.17|   5.68 |  2.31 |  4.69 |  5.30|  3.01
  Sesquioxide|       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    of Iron  |  3.02 |  0.52|  6.74|  0.50|   2.82 |   ... |  1.75 |  2.75|  0.28
  Sulphuric  |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    acid     | 10.36 |  3.14|  6.34|  4.71|   3.85 |  3.09 |  7.27 |  0.20|  ...
  Silica     |  8.04 |  1.40|  0.76|  3.64|  11.86 |  3.82 | 19.71 | 53.43|  ...
  Carbonic   |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    acid     |  6.18 | 15.23| 15.15|  ... |   ...  |   ... |  2.17 |  ... |  ...
  Phosphoric |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    acid     |  4.85 |  1.65|  8.37| 10.38|   9.38 |  4.77 | 14.47 |  6.34| 43.52
  Chloride of|       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    potassium|  ...  |  ... |  ... | 12.40|   ...  |  1.09 |  ...  |  ... |  ...
  Chloride of|       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    sodium   | 12.41 | 49.51|  4.91| Trace|  15.09 |   ... |  3.42 |  2.27| 11.19
  -----------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+------+--------
  Total      |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
    amount   | 99.96 | 99.96| 99.99|100.00|  99.99 |100.00 | 99.95 |100.00|100.00
  Per-centage|       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
   of dry ash|       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
   in dry    |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
   substance | 16.40 | 11.32|  5.12| 4.86 |   ...  |  0.58 |  5.95 |  6.97|  ...
  Per-centage|       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
   of ash in |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
   the fresh |       |      |      |      |        |       |       |      |
   substance |  1.97 |  1.02|  0.77|  ... |   ...  |  ...  |  ...  |  6.15|  ...
  -----------+-------+------+------+------+--------+-------+-------+------+-------

[Footnote 85: Griepenkerl.]

[Footnote 86: Griepenkerl.]

[Footnote 87: A. Mueller.]

[Footnote 88: Way.]

[Footnote 89: Hubert.]

[Footnote 90: Way.]

Coal ashes, when mixed with excrement, besides disinfecting the latter,
make an excellent manure.

=ASPAR'AGIN= (-[)a]-j[)i]n). C_{4}H_{8}N_{2}O_{3}. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._
ALTHE'INE, ASPAR'AMIDE, MAL'AMIDE*; ASPARAGI'NA, ASPARAGI'NUM, L.;
AGEDOILE, Fr.; SPARGELSTOFF, Ger. A peculiar azotised principle discovered
by Vauquelin and Robiquet in asparagus, and since found in the potato,
marsh-mallow, liquorice, climbing vetch, and several other plants. Many
plants which do not naturally contain it may be made to yield it by
growing them in dark damp cellars; whilst many which only normally contain
it in very small quantities are found to yield much more when allowed to
vegetate in the same manner.

_Prep._ 1. From ASPARAGUS-SPROUTS:--The expressed juice, after being
heated to the boiling-point (to coagulate albumen) and carefully skimmed
and filtered, is evaporated, at a gentle heat, to a syrupy consistence,
and then abandoned to spontaneous evaporation in a warm dry atmosphere for
several days; the resulting crystals being purified by cautious washing
with very cold water or very strong alcohol, re-solution, and
re-crystallisation.

The following are cheaper and more convenient processes.

2. From MARSHMALLOW-ROOT:--_a._ The root (chopped small, or grated) is
macerated for several days in milk of lime, in the cold; the filtered
liquid precipitated with carbonate of ammonium, and the clear solution
evaporated in a water-bath, and otherwise treated as before.

_b._ From the expressed juice, 2 parts; milk of lime, 1 part; agitated
well together; the liquid portion, after some hours, being decanted,
filtered, and evaporated, &c., as before.

3. From the ETIOLATED SHOOTS OF VETCHES:--The expressed juice of the young
shoots when from 2 or 3 to even 12 or 15 inches long, is gently simmered
for 8 or 10 minutes, to coagulate the albumen; and, after straining or
clarification, the clear liquid is gently evaporated to the consistence of
a thin syrup, and set aside to crystallise, as before. The resulting brown
crystals are purified by washing with very cold water, re-solution in
boiling water, and re-crystallisation, as in No. 1; or, and what is
better, the hot liquid, before evaporation to a syrup, is digested for a
short time with a little pure animal charcoal in coarse powder, and then
filtered, when large and beautifully white crystals are obtained by the
first operation.[91] An excellent and very economical process.

[Footnote 91: This use of animal charcoal may also be advantageously
extended to the other formulae. Mr C. G. Williams, in Ure's 'Dict. of Arts,
M., & M.,' 4th ed., directs the shoots to be used when of "a length of 2
inches;" but some authorities recommend them to be of 9, 12, or even 15
inches. The selection must, however, in many cases, depend upon
circumstances and convenience.]

_Prop., &c._ Crystals brilliant, transparent, colourless, right rhombic
prisms; neutral to test-paper; non-basic; having a faint, cooling, and
scarcely nauseous taste; scarcely soluble in cold water; freely soluble in
hot water; insoluble in strong alcohol and ether; solution unaffected by
alkaline sulphurets, oxalate of ammonia, acetate of lead, or infusion of
galls; triturated with quick-lime, ammonia is evolved; heated to 212 deg.
Fahr. the crystals lose two equiv. or 12% of water; heated with water
under pressure in a closed vessel, or boiled along with an acid or an
alkali, or dissolved in a saccharine liquid and then submitted to
fermentation it is converted into ammonium and aspartic acid; aqueous
solutions of asparagin and aspartic acid treated with a current of nitrous
acid evolve pure nitrogen, with the formation of malic acid which remains
in solution. It was called asparamide under the impression that it is
aspartite of ammonia minus 1 atom of water; and malamide, for similar
theoretical reasons.

_Uses._ It is sedative and diuretic.--_Dose_, 1 to 6 gr.; in dropsies,
heart-affections, &c.

=ASPAR'AGUS.= [L., Eng.] In _botany_, a genus of low, spiny plants, with
scale-like leaves, many of which are shrubs and climbers, of the nat. ord.
Asparageae (DC.).; Liliaceae (Lindl.). The following species, which is that
best known in England, is, however, an exception to this description, as
it is neither climbing nor spinose.

=Asparagus Officina'lis.= [Linn.; L.] _Syn._ ASPAR'AGUS, COMM'ON A.,
GARD'EN A.; SPAR'AGUSSec., SPAR'ROW-GRASSSec., SPER'AGE[dagger]Sec.; ASPERGE, Fr.;
SPARGEL, Ger. A well-known perennial plant, and one of the oldest and most
delicate of our culinary vegetables.--Young shoots, from the underground
eyes (TURIO'NES ASPAR'AGI, L.), the asparagus of our tables; diuretic;
communicate a peculiar f[oe]tid odour to the urine, and, when eaten in
excess, occasion bloody urine and accelerate fits of gout; formerly
esteemed emmenagogue and aphrodisiac.--_Root_ (RA'DIX ASPAR'AGI, L.),
properties resemble those of the young shoots, but stronger; one of the
five 'greater aperient roots' (RAD'ICES APERIEN'TES QUIN''QUE MAJO''RES,
L.) of old pharmacy. The tops and roots, though no longer officinal in the
British Pharmacop[oe]ias, are both occasionally employed as popular
remedies in dropsy and stone--the first being eaten in the usual way at
table; and the second made into an infusion or decoction (1/2 _oz._ to the
pint), taken ad libitum.

As an article of food, asparagus, in moderation, is both wholesome and
nutritious. It is cooked by simply boiling it rather quickly until tender,
like the other soft green vegetables; and is either served up plain, or
on toast with melted butter or sauce Hollandaise in a boat (Soyer;
Rundell.) When very small and green, it is frequently dressed and served
like green-peas, the tender portion of each shoot being cut into bits of
equal size, and about 1-3rd of an inch long. (Miss Acton.)

_Choice, &c._ "The large grass is generally preferred; although the
smaller has the fullest flavour for a dish." (Soyer.) Unlike other plants,
the asparagus officinalis has not produced a single well-marked permanent
variety by cultivation.[92]

[Footnote 92: "The young shoots of polygona'tum (Solomon's Seal), and
others, have been substituted for asparagus." (Lindley's 'Veg. King.,' 3rd
ed., 203.)]

=Asparagus Petrae'a.= [L.] _Syn._ ROCK'-ASPAR'AGUS; CORRUDA; ASPAR'AGUS
ACUTIFO''LIA, L,; CORRUDE, Fr. Resembles the last in its general
qualities; but is said to contain more asparagin.

=ASPAR'AMIDE= (-m[)i]d). See ASPARAGIN.

=ASPAR'TIC ACID.= HC_{4}H_{6}NO_{4}. _Syn._ MALAM'IC ACID; ACIDUM
ASPAR'TICUM, L.; ACIDE ASPARTIQUE, Fr. An acid first obtained, by Plisson,
from asparagin, by boiling it along with hydrate of lead or of magnesia.
Its salts are called ASPAR'TATES (Eng., Fr.; ASPAR'TAS, L. sing.) See
ASPARAGIN.

=AS'PEN= (-p[)e]n). _Syn._ ASP*, TREM'BLING POP'LAR[double-dagger];
POP'ULUS TREM'ULA (Linn.), L.; TREMBLE, Fr.; AESPE (aespe), &c. Ger. A
large tree, of the nat. ord. Amentaceae; (DC.), not uncommon in the moist
woodlands of England, and found native on many of the Scottish mountains.
It derives its name from the trembling motion of its leaves, which, owing
to the peculiar flattening of the leafstalks, are agitated by the
slightest impulse of the air. Bark and leaves contain POP'ULIN associated
with SAL'ICIN. Both bark and leaves have been used with advantage in
strangury and intermittents.

=ASPHALT'= (-f[)a]lt'). Asphaltum.

=ASPHALT'UM.= [L., prim. Gr.] _Syn._ ASPHALT', COMPACT BITUMEN, MINERAL
PITCH, JEW'S PITCH, FOSS'IL BITU'MEN, VIT'REUS B., &c.; ASPHAL'TUS,
BITUMEN FOS'SILE (-e-le), B. JUDA'ICUM, B. SOL'IDUM, B. VIT'REUM,
MU'MIA[dagger], M. MINERA'LIS*, &c., L.; ASPHALTE, BITUME MASSIF, B.
SOLIDE, POIX JUIVE, &c., Fr.; ASPHALT, ERDPECH, JUDENPECH, &c., Ger. A
black, hard, brittle, and glossy variety of bitumen found on the shores of
the Dead Sea (hence called _La'cus Asphalti'tes_), on and near the shores
of the Great Pitch Lake of Trinidad, and as a mineral product in various
other parts of the world.

_Prop., &c._ Melts without decomposition, and, when pure, burns without
residue. It is distinguished from other varieties of bitumen by its more
difficult fusibility, and by its fracture being clean, conchoidal, and
vitreous. Distilled by itself it yields about 36% of a peculiar bituminous
oil (crude PETROLENE), together with combustible gases, traces of ammonia
and water. To anhydrous alcohol it yields 5% of a yellow resin, soluble in
rectified spirit and ether; by digesting the residuum in ether, a further
70% of a brownish-black resin is obtained, which is freely soluble in the
volatile oils and in about 5 times its weight of mineral naphtha. The
portion (25%) left undissolved by ether is very soluble in the oils of
turpentine and petroleum. These three resinous principles dissolve
altogether, when digested, in the oils of anise, rosemary, and turpentine,
and in the fixed oils. (John.) According to others, asphaltum consists
almost entirely of asphaltene. (Boussingault.) Paranaphthaline has been
found in some varieties. (M. Laurent.) Average sp. gr. 1 to 1.68. By
friction it affords negative electricity. It is soluble in oil of
turpentine, benzole, mineral and coal-tar naphtha, the fixed oils,
solutions of the caustic alkalies, and several other liquids, by the aid
of heat.

_Sources._ That of commerce is chiefly obtained from the shores of the
Dead Sea; but much of that of the shops is a spurious article of the most
worthless character. A short time since some specimens of the purest and
most beautiful description, from the Great Bitumen Lake of Trinidad, were
given us by our respected and venerable friend, the late Earl of
Dundonald, who stated that the supply of both liquid and indurated
bitumens, of every grade of quality, was unlimited from that source; but
that owing to injudicious importations of inferior kinds (those most
easily shipped), a prejudice had been created against them in the London
market. Our personal investigations have since confirmed the accuracy of
these statements.

_Uses._ The finer varieties are chiefly used as a 'glazing colour' by
artists, and in the manufacture of black varnishes and japans. The
inferior kinds are applied to the same purposes as ordinary solid bitumen.
The Egyptians used it in embalming under the name of MU'MIA; and the
Babylonian builders are said to have employed it, as a cement, in lieu of
mortar. It is, however, doubtful whether the hard semi-vitreous variety of
bitumen, properly termed 'asphaltum,' was that which was thus employed;
its present hardness being probably due to time. As a _medicine_ it is
stimulant; and it was formerly used as an ingredient in certain plasters
and ointments. See BITUMEN, PITCH, &c. A mixture of asphalt, chalk, sand,
ground sandstone, &c., is used as a pavement for making water-tight tanks
and covers, as a coating for gas and water pipes, and for various other
similar purposes. Sometimes the pitchy residue obtained by distilling off
the more volatile portions of gas tar is employed to replace the asphalt
in the foregoing mixture; the product is called artificial or gas-tar
asphalt.

=Asphaltum, Facti''tious= (-t[)i]sh-'[)u]s). _Syn._ ASPHAL'TUM
FACTI''TIUM, L. That of the shops, when not an inferior kind of true
asphaltum, is commonly made from the bottoms of Barbadoes tar, and other
mineral bitumens, by heating them until quite hard. Sometimes a little
Scio turpentine, balsam of copaiba, or even common resin, is added.
Colour, hardness, &c., inferior to those of native asphaltum.

=Asphaltum, Liq'uid.= _Syn._ PREPARED' ASPHALTUM; ASPHAL'TUM LIQ'UIDUM, L.
_Prep._ 1. Scio turpentine, 2 _oz._; melt; add asphaltum (in powder), 1
_oz._; mix, cool a little, and reduce with hot oil of turpentine.

2. (Wilson's.) Asphaltum, 1/2 _lb._; melt; add of hot balsam of copaiba, 1
_lb._; and, when mixed, thin it with hot oil of turpentine. Both are used
as 'black japan' or 'varnish,' and as a 'glazing colour' by artists.

=ASPHYX'IA= (-f[)i]k'-sh'[)a]; -f[)i]ks'-e-[)a][double-dagger]). [L., Gr.]
_Syn._ ASPHYX'Y[double-dagger] (-e), Eng.; ASPHYXIE, Fr.; PULSLOSIGKEIT,
SCHEINTOD, Gr. Literally, absence of pulse; hence, a fainting fit;
apparent lifelessness. Its use is now generally confined to a suspension
of vitality from some cause interrupting respiration, but in which life is
not actually extinct, and may, under favorable circumstances, be revived.

Asphyxia is commonly divided into four varieties by nosologists:--

1. ASPHYXIA ALGIDA:--_Cause._ Exposure to intense cold.--_Symp._
Countenance pale, livid, and shrivelled; limbs rigid.

2. ASPHYXIA ELEC'TRICA:--_Cause._ Stroke of lightning or
electricity.--_Symp._ Countenance pale, limbs flexible, blood
incoagulable.

3. ASPHYXIA MEPHIT'ICA:--_Cause._ Inhalation of irrespirable gases or
fumes.--_Symp._ Countenance pallid, lips wan, &c.

4. ASPHYXIA SUFFOCATIO'NIS:--_Cause._ Suffocation or strangulation, as
from drowning, hanging, &c.--_Symp._ Countenance turgid and livid.

_Treatm., &c._ No general rules can be given exactly suitable to each
variety. Whenever it is possible to procure medical aid, it should, of
course, be immediately sought, as the delay of even a single minute may
render it unavailing. In the _treatment_ of suspended animation the
principal object is to effect a restoration of the respiratory and
circulatory functions; the former of which has been arrested by the
external condition of the patient; the latter by the contact of morbidly
carbonised blood with the capillary vessels of the lungs. The first thing
to be attempted is the restoration of warmth by active friction with the
warm hands, flannels, &c.; the second, the re-establishment of natural
respiration by an available means, of which, perhaps, none is simpler or
better than alternate pressure and its relaxation, applied to the thorax
and abdomen, so as to induce expiration first, and inspiration immediately
afterwards, by the natural action and elasticity of the ribs and
diaphragm. Cold water may also be suddenly dashed on the face and general
surface previously warmed by the frictions, in the hope of inducing a more
decided inspiration. If these measures fail, artificial respiration should
be promptly had recourse to. (Dr Marshall Hall.) The warm bath, and slight
electrical shocks, or continued streaming electricity, may also be
applied.

See CHARCOAL, COLD, DROWNING, HANGING, RESPIRATION (Artificial),
SEWERS-GAS, STRANGULATION, SUFFOCATION, &c.

=ASPHYX'IATED.= _Syn._ ASPHYXIA'TUS, L.; ASPHYXIE, Fr.; ASPHYKTISCH,
SCHEINTODT, &c., Ger. Affected with or labouring under asphyxia. (See
_above_.)

=ASP'IC=[dagger]. Spike lavender or French lavender; also the male
lavender, spica nardi, or pseudo-nardus of old writers.

=Aspic.= In _cookery_, "savory jelly extracted from the succulence of
meat." (Soyer.)

_Prep._ (Miss Acton.) Calf's feet, 2 in no.; veal, 4 _lbs._; ham, 3 _lb._;
onions, 2 (large); carrots, 3; water, 1 gall.; boil 5 or 6 hours, or until
reduced to less than one half, strain, and when cold, put the jelly into a
stew-pan with the whites of 4 eggs well beaten, a large bunch of savoury
herbs, 3 blades of mace (in shreds), a teaspoonful of white peppercorns,
and salt, q. s.; keep it well stirred until pretty hot, then let it gently
simmer for about 15 minutes, and, after settling, pass it through a
jelly-bag till quite clear. After cooling a little, it is fit for use; or
it may be allowed to cool and be at any time remelted. French cooks
commonly flavour it with tarragon-vinegar, added after clarification.

_Uses, &c._ "Cold poultry, game, fish, plovers' eggs, truffles, and
various dressed vegetables, with many other things often elaborately
prepared, and highly ornamental, are moulded, and served in it, especially
at large dejeuners and similar repasts. It is also much used to decorate
raised pies and hams, and for many other purposes."[93]

[Footnote 93: Miss Acton's 'Modern Cookery,' Longmans, 1860{?}, p. 104.]

=ASPIRATOR.= An apparatus for drawing a stream of air through a tube or
other vessel. There are several forms of aspirator; that invented by
Brunner is perhaps one of the most convenient. It consists of two equal
cylindrical vessels placed one above the other, and communicating by tubes
which can be opened or closed, so that when the water has run from the
upper to the lower vessel, the apparatus turning for the purpose on a
horizontal axis may be inverted so as to bring the empty vessel to the
bottom and the full one to the top; the water may then again be made to
flow without the trouble of refilling. See AIR, ANALYSIS OF.

=ASS= ([)a]ss). _Syn._ AS'INUS, L.; ANE (ane), Fr.; ESEL, Ger. The _e'quus
as'inus_ (Linn.), a well-known animal found almost everywhere.

=ASSAF[OE]TIDA.= [L. and Eng.] _Syn._ ASSAFETIDA, DEVIL'S DUNG, Eng.;
ASSAF[OE]TIDA GUMMI, L.; STINKASAND, STINKENDER ASAND, TEUFELS-DRECK, Ger.
A gum resin exuded from the excised root of _narthex assaf[oe]tida_ (B.
P.); from _ferula assaf[oe]fida_, and probably from _ferula Persica_. It
yields its virtues to alcohol, and forms a clear tincture, which becomes
milky on the addition of water. It is imported into Europe from Persia,
via Bombay, in cases, mats, and casks.

_Comp._ Assaf[oe]tida contains from 4 to 5% of a peculiar volatile oil,
and from 50 to 60% of resin of a whitish colour, turning rose-red and
reddish-brown by exposure to the air, and giving a greenish solution with
concentrated sulphuric acid. Brande resolved this resin into two
others--one soluble in ether; the other insoluble in that menstruum.

_Pur._ The assaf[oe]tida of the shops is generally in masses of a whitish,
reddish, or violet hue, formed principally of adhering tears or grains,
possesses a peculiar f[oe]tid, alliaceous odour, and forms an emulsion
with water in all proportions. Hot sulphuric acid blackens it and forms a
dark blood-red liquid, sulphurous fumes being evolved. This solution
diluted with water, and then saturated with potassa, has a blue colour,
which is most visible by reflected light. Digested first in alcohol, and
afterwards in weak spirit-and-water, the residuum should not exceed 16%.
Sp. gr. 1.325 to 1.330. It is frequently adulterated with inferior gums,
and with chalk, clay, sand, &c. The purest and best is that which is
clear, of a more or less pale-red colour, full of white tears, and very
f[oe]tid.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Assaf[oe]tida is stimulant, antispasmodic, emmenagogue,
expectorant, aphrodisiac, and anthelmintic, and is the most powerful of
all the f[oe]tid gum-resins. It is administered with advantage in several
uterine diseases, hysteria, chorea, flatulent colic, hooping-cough,
infantile convulsions, spasmodic asthma, and some other affections of a
spasmodic and convulsive character.--_Dose_, 5 or 6 to 30 gr.; in pills,
or preferably made into an emulsion; as an enema, 2 dr., with warm water,
q. s.--_Dose for Animals._ Similar to Assaf[oe]tida. Some oriental nations
esteem it highly as a condiment. The Brahmins use it against flatulence,
and to correct the coldness of their vegetable food. In Persia the leaves
of the plant are eaten as salad; and the root, after being roasted. In
_cookery_ it is now frequently employed as a substitute for garlic. "I am
assured by an experienced gastronome that the finest relish which a
beef-steak can possess may be communicated by" (slightly) "rubbing the
gridiron on which the steak is to be cooked with assaf[oe]tida."[94]

[Footnote 94: Pereira, 'Mat. Med. & Therap.,' 4th ed., iii, 177.]

=ASSAF[OE]TIDA, PREPARED.= As AMMONIACUM, PREPARED.

=ASSAMAR.= A substance described by Reichenbach, and found by him in the
crust of bread. It possesses the faculty of retarding tissue
metamorphosis.

=ASSAY'= (-s[=a]). _Syn._ ESSAI (_anc._, asaie), Fr. PRUeFUNG, &c., Ger.
Literally, a 'trial' or examination. In _chemistry_, the determination, by
any chemical means, of the richness of a substance in its essential
material or more valuable ingredient; more particularly applied to
quantitative analyses of the commercial alkalies, bleaching-powder, oxide
of manganese, ores, and other like articles that are employed on the large
scale. In _docimacy_ and _metallurgy_ the determination of the quantity of
metal in any ore, alloy, or other metallic compound, particularly in the
'dry way,' or by the process of cupellation; and more especially of the
quantity of pure gold, or pure silver, contained in coin, bullion, and the
commercial alloys and ores of these metals. The substance assayed*. See
ASSAYING, &c.

=ASSAY'ING.= _Syn._ ASSAY', DOC'IMACY (d[)o]os'-) DOCIMAS'TIC ART;
COUPELLATION, Fr.; ABTREIBEN AUF DER CAPELLE, Ger. The art of assay, or of
determining the quantity of gold and silver in ores and alloys of these
metals, in the 'dry way,' or by cupellation. It differs from chemical
analysis in merely furnishing the quantity of the precious metal contained
in the sample examined; instead of the nature and proportions of all, or
any, of the ingredients in the compound, at the will of the operator.

[Illustration:

  _a, a_, Rollers on which the furnace rests.
  _b_, Ash-pit.
  _c_, One of the ash-pit dampers.
  _d_, Grate supporting the muffle-plate.
  _e_, Muffle containing the cupels.
  _f_, The mouth-plate, upon which, during use, is piled ignited
      pieces of charcoal, by which the mouth of the furnace is
      closed, and heated air made to pass over the cupels.
  _h_, Interior of furnace containing charcoal.
  _i, i_, Walls of the furnace.
  _k_, Moveable chimney for regulating the draught.]

_Materials, Appar., &c._ These are--furnace, muffle, cupels, charcoal,
&c., all of which must be provided and properly arranged for use before an
assay can be made:--

The FUR'NACE employed at the Royal Mint and at Goldsmiths' Hall, London,
is figured in section in the above _fig._, and has the following
dimensions:--Total height, 2-1/2 feet; from the bottom to the grate, 6
inches; grate, muffle-plate, and bed of loam that covers it, 3 inches;
space between the grate and the bottom of the funnel or chimney, 21-1/2
inches; funnel, 6 inches. A furnace of any other shape and size may be
employed, provided it affords a sufficient heat, and allows of the easy
introduction of the muffle.

The MUFF'LE (m[)u]f'l) is a vessel made of clay (see _engr._), and
furnished with an opening to admit of the introduction of the cupels, and
the complete inspection of the process. It is placed on the muffle-plate
(see _above_), by which it is introduced into the furnace.

[Illustration]

The CU'PEL (k[=u]'-p[)e]l) is a small, porous, shallow crucible, usually
made of bone ashes or burnt horn. The powder (slightly moistened with
water) is placed in a circular steel mould, and after being pressed down
tight, is finished off with a rammer having a convex face of polished
steel, which is forcibly struck with a mallet, until the mass becomes
sufficiently hard and adherent. The newly formed cupel is then carefully
removed and exposed in the air for a fortnight or three weeks to dry. Fig.
1 represents a cupel in section, and fig. 2 the tongs used for charging
it. The best weight for cupels ranges between 180 and 200 gr. Those used
at the Royal Mint are made of the calcined cores of ox-horns.

[Illustration]

_Proc. of Ass._ The muffle, with the cupels properly arranged on the
'muffle-plate,' is placed in the furnace, and the charcoal added and
lighted at the top by means of a few ignited pieces thrown on last. After
the cupels have been exposed for about half an hour, and have become
white-hot, the lead (see _below_) is put into them by means of the tongs.
As soon as this becomes bright red and 'circulating,' as it is called, the
specimen for assay, wrapped in a small piece of paper or lead-foil, is
added. The fire is now kept up strongly until the metal enters the lead
and circulates well, when the heat, slightly diminished, is so regulated
that the assay appears convex and more glowing than the cupel itself,
whilst the 'undulations' circulate in all directions, and the middle of
the metal appears smooth, with a margin of litharge which is freely
absorbed by the cupel. When the metal becomes bright and shining, or, in
technical language, begins to 'lighten,' and prismatic hues suddenly flash
across the globules, and undulate and cross each other, followed by the
metal becoming very brilliant and clear, and at length fixed and solid
(called the 'brightening'), the separation is ended and the process
complete. The cupels are then drawn to the mouth of the muffle, and
allowed to cool slowly. When quite cold, the resulting 'button,' if of
silver, is removed by the pliers or tongs from the cupel, and after being
flattened on a small anvil of polished steel, with a polished steel
hammer, to detach adhering oxide of lead, and cleaned with a small hard
brush, is very accurately weighed. The weight is that of the pure silver;
and the difference between the weight of the alloy before cupellation, and
that of the button of pure metal, represents the proportion of alloy in
the sample examined. (See _below_.) In the case of gold, the 'button' has
to undergo the subsequent operations of quartation, parting, and
annealing, before it is weighed, as described under that metal.

_Assayer's weights, &c._ The materials used in assaying are accurately
weighed in a balance of the most susceptible description; and the weights
are given in terms of the 'notation' employed by assayers. The 'fineness,'
'richness,' or 'degree of purity' of gold is expressed in carats. Pure
gold is spoken of as 24 carats fine; and any other sample containing in 24
parts only 12, 18, 22, &c., parts of pure gold, is said to be of as many
carats fine. Every carat is nominally divided into 4 'assay-grains,' each
assay-grain into 'quarters,' and each quarter into 'eighths' (= 1/32
carat), giving 768 "reports" for gold. On this system fractional alloys
are commonly spoken of as of so many 'carats and thirty-seconds fine.' The
real quantity taken for assay, technically termed the 'assay-pound,' is,
however, very small, generally either 12 gr. or 6 gr., which makes each
assayer's eighth-grain, or "report," equal to either the 1/64 or 1/128 gr.
Troy, as the case may be. The nominal assayer's gold carat is 12 gr. The
"journey-weight of gold" is 15 lbs. Troy (= 701 sovereigns = 1402
half-sovereigns).

The 'fineness,' 'richness,' or 'purity' of silver was formerly expressed
in pennyweights; but is now generally reckoned in 1000ths, which admits of
greater accuracy. Pure silver was said to be silver of 12 pennyweights."
If it contained 1, 2, or 3 parts of alloy, it was termed "silver of 11,
10, or 9 pennyweights," as the case might be. Every assayer's pennyweight
was nominally divided into 24 gr., and hence gave 288 fine grains, or
'reports,' for silver. The fineness of specimens containing odd grains was
given in pennyweights and fine grains. The 'assay-pound' for silver, on
this system, may be 24 Troy gr., when 2 real grains are equal to 1 'fine
pennyweight,' and 1/12 real gr. equal to 1 'fine-grain.' In the decimal
method pure silver is = 1000. The usual weight of silver taken for the
'assay-pound,' when the fineness is reckoned in 1000ths, is 20 Troy gr.,
every real grain of which represents 50/1000th of fineness; and so on of
smaller divisions. The mint "journeyweight of silver" is 60 lbs. Troy
(=3920 shillings, or a like value in other denominations).

_Ratio._ Cupellation, which is the distinctive and most important
operation in assaying gold and silver, is founded upon the feeble affinity
which these metals have for oxygen, in comparison with copper, tin, and
other cheaper metals; and on the tendency which these latter metals have
to oxidise rapidly in contact with lead at a high temperature, and to sink
with it into any porous earthen vessel, in a thin, glassy or vitriform
state. The conditions essential to the success of the process, and which
are found in the precious metals, are--that "the metal from which we wish
to part the oxides must not be volatile;" and that "it should also melt
and form a button at the heat of cupellation; for otherwise it would
continue disseminated, attached to the portion of oxide spread over the
cupel, and incapable of being collected."[95]

[Footnote 95: Ure's 'Dict. of Arts, M., & M.,' 5th ed., i, 214.]

_Concluding Remarks._ The art of assaying requires very great care, skill,
and experience, for its due exercise; and from the costliness of the
precious metals, and their general employment for coin, jewelry, plate,
&c., is of the utmost importance both to individuals and governments. Such
is the extreme delicacy of the operation of cupellation that, without the
requisites alluded to, it is more likely to fail than to give reliable
results. An assay is thought to be good when the 'button' or 'bead'
separates readily from the cupel, has a round form, with a brilliant upper
surface, and the lower one granular and of a dead metallic lustre. When
the upper surface is 'dead' and 'flat,' too much heat has been employed;
and in the case of silver, some of the metal may have been lost by fuming
or absorption. When the bead adheres to the cupel, or is spongy,
variegated, or has scales of litharge still adhering to it, either too
little heat has been used, or the process has been stopped before the
assay was complete. The remedy is re-exposure to heat in the cupel, adding
a little powdered charcoal or a few small pieces of paper, and continuing
the heat until the metal 'brightens' and 'circulates' freely. The lead
employed must be absolutely pure, or that technically called 'poor lead,'
and, for this purpose, is commonly prepared by the reduction of refined
litharge mixed with some carbonaceous matter, by heat; but, according to
the late T. H. Henry, "lead reduced from the litharge of commerce usually
contains from 10 to 15 _dwt._ of silver per ton." These remarks apply
equally to gold and silver.

The process of assaying by the cupel, however skilfully conducted, gives
much less accurate results, especially with silver, than the method of
chemical analysis, often termed 'humid' or 'volumetrical assay,' whilst it
is, in all cases, much more troublesome and expensive, and with compounds
containing only small quantities of the precious metals, is not to be
depended on. See GOLD, SILVER; also CARAT, CUPELLATION, PARTING,
LIQUATION, QUARTATION, REFINING, &c. (and _below_).[96]

[Footnote 96: Those desirous of further information on the subject than
that contained in this work, are referred to Mitchell's 'Manual of
Assaying,' and to the various memoirs of Gay-Lussac, Chaudet, D'Arcet,
Tillet, Brande, Ure, Henry, and others.]

=Assay of the Touch.= The fineness of JEWELRY, and of small quantities of
GOLD which it is either impossible or inconvenient to assay according to
the usual method, is generally determined by means of touch-needles and
touch-stones. The former are made in sets, containing gold of different
degrees of fineness, and differently alloyed with copper and silver. The
latter are usually of black basalt; but pieces of good black pottery
answer the purpose very well. The mode of using them is to mark the stone
with the sample under examination, and to compare its appearance,
hardness, colour, &c., with that produced by one or more of the needles.
When the two are similar, the quality or 'fineness' is considered to be
the same. The marks are then further examined by heating the 'touch-stone'
to redness, and moistening the strokes with aquafortis, when the
appearance resulting from oxidation, &c., differ according to the nature
and quantity of the alloy. A nearly similar method is sometimes adopted
with SILVER; but the characteristics are scarcely so distinct with the
metal. (See _above_.)

=Hu'mid Assaying, Humid Assay.= Terms applied to the estimation of the
quantity of gold and silver in ores and alloys in the moist way, more
especially by the method known as volumetrical analysis. See GOLD
(ESTIM.), SILVER (Estim.), VOLUMETRICAL ANALYSIS, &c.

=ASSIMILA'TION.= [Eng. Fr.] _Syn._ ASSIMILA'TIO, L.; ANEIGUNG,
VERAeHNLICHUNG, &c., Ger. In _physiology_, the conversion of food into
nutriment, and finally into the substances which compose the bodies of
animals and plants; the function of nutrition.

=ASTHEN'IC.= _Syn._ ASTHEN'ICUS, L.; ASTHENIQUE, DEBILE, Fr.; SCHWACH,
Ger. Weak; debilitated. In _pathology_, an epithet of diseases (ASTHEN'IC
DISEASES) accompanied by great and well-marked debility.

=ASTHEN'OPY.= _Syn._ ASTHENO'PIA, L. In _pathology_, incapacity to keep
the eyes fixed on near or small objects for any length of time without
confusion of vision. The common causes are over-exertion of the eyes,
particularly by artificial light, or by a very brilliant one, or during
convalescence; congestion of the ocular vessels; debilitating discharges
or indulgences; and general nervous debility, however produced. It
"appears to consist in weakness of the apparatus by which the eye is
adjusted for the vision of near objects;" and along with this "there is
an irritable state of the retina, connected in some manner with a tendency
to internal congestion of the eyes."[97] The _treatment_ may consist of
rest to the eyes, and ablution of them in cold water, with such other
efforts to restore their tone and the general health as are noticed under
AMAUROSIS. The prospect of complete cure, when the cause is not removable,
is unfavorable; but even when confirmed the disease is not likely to end
in blindness. The use of convex spectacles of very low power will
generally be found serviceable. See EYE, SPECTACLES, VISION, &c.

[Footnote 97: T. W. Jones, 'Defects of Sight,' Lond., 1856; p. 82.]

=ASTH'MA= ([)a]st'm[)a][98]). [Eng., Ger., L., Gr.] _Syn._ ASTHME, Fr.;
ENGBRUeSTIGKEIT, Ger. In _pathology_, a well-known disease coming on by
fits, and characterised by shortness and difficulty of breathing,
accompanied by a wheezing sound, cough, stricture and tightness of the
chest, with other like symptoms. These gradually increase until the
patient can no longer remain in a recumbent position, being, as it were,
threatened with immediate suffocation; and they generally terminate, after
the lapse of a few hours, in copious expectoration. The attack usually
commences towards evening, and the symptoms increase in urgency during the
night--often occurring suddenly after the first sleep--until at length, on
the approach of morning, a remission takes place, and, in all probability,
the patient, worn out and exhausted, falls into a sound sleep. On awaking
in the morning he still feels the 'tightness' at the chest, breathes with
some difficulty, which is increased by moving, and cannot lie in bed
unless his head and shoulders are greatly raised. After a repetition of
the fits for some nights, they at length moderate, and after more
considerable remissions, pass off at last, leaving the patient in his
usual state of health for a time, or until fresh exciting causes produce a
return of the disease. For an evening or two previous to the fit the
patient generally feels drowsy, indolent, and low-spirited, and
experiences a sensation of fulness about the stomach, with headache,
general uneasiness, and indigestion--these are the premonitory symptoms.

[Footnote 98: Asth'ma (with th fully sounded), as given by Knowles, is
difficultly pronounceable, and is now obsolete.]

Asthma is principally confined to the later periods of life, and appears
in many cases to be hereditary. It is generally severest in the heat of
summer, or in the foggy or damp or windy weather of winter. The fits vary
in duration from two to several hours. Sometimes copious expectoration
commences early, which has led to the division of asthma, by nosologists,
into two kinds--dry, nervous, or spasmodic asthma (ASTHMA SIC'CUM, L.) and
humid a. (A. HU'MIDUM, L.).

The exciting causes of asthma are exposure to sudden changes of
temperature, particularly from heat to cold; unwholesome effluvia, hard
drinking, heavy meals, indigestion, violent exercise, and cold, damp,
foggy, and sometimes windy weather.

_Treatm._ A dry, warm, and airy situation as a residence should, if
possible, be sought. The use of flannel next the skin, and tepid or warm
bathing is also advantageous. The bowels should be kept regular by mild
aperients, and the stomach preserved in order by the adoption of a light
and wholesome diet; particularly avoiding excess in either eating or
drinking. The severity of the paroxysm may be generally lessened by
adopting the sitting posture, and inhaling the vapour of hot water or of
an infusion of chamomile. Small doses of camphor, ether, and opium,
frequently repeated, may also be tried. The inhalation of the vapour of a
little tar liquefied by heat is said to often produce considerable relief.
The fumes arising from the slow combustion of porous paper dipped in a
solution of nitre, and dried, have also been recommended. "The fumes of a
piece as big as one's hand being placed on an earthenware plate, and
ignited, presently become sensible throughout the room; and within a
quarter of an hour their influence in many cases is rendered evident, in
clearing the passages and gradually opening the air tubes." "Of calming
vapours that of chloroform is, however, the one likely, in respect of its
soothing power, to supersede all others. Inspired in moderate quantity,
far less than is requisite to produce general insensibility, it has been
found of singular efficacy in allaying, at once, the spasmodic distress of
an asthma-fit. But it is a remedy too potent and subtle to be entrusted to
the discretion of the patient himself." (Dr Watson); unless, indeed, he
well understands its properties and nature, and has some friend near him
to restrain his using it too freely--a thing he is, unfortunately, often
tempted, by the urgency of the symptoms, to do. "Bleeding is an imprudent
operation in every species of asthma" (Dr Bree); and has often proved
highly injurious, especially in elderly persons. It is only in full
plethoric habits, or when the paroxysms are very severe, and attended with
signs of congestion of the lungs and brain, indicated by lividity of the
countenance, stupor, extreme dyspn[oe]a, &c., that blood should be taken;
and then only by 'cupping' between the shoulders, or by leeches to the
chest. Emetics and active purgatives must also be avoided during the
paroxysm; at which time costiveness may be best removed by an aperient
clyster containing assaf[oe]tida. At other times, emetics (of ipecacuanha)
and diaphoretics, followed by mild purgatives, may be administered with
advantage; indeed, an emetic, taken a few hours before an impending fit,
will frequently prevent its accession. Dyspeptic symptoms must be treated
in the usual manner. "Chalk and opium will astonish the asthmatic, by the
excellence of their effects when the irritation proceeds from dyspepsia
of the first passages only." (Dr Bree.) The same authority also states
that vinegar, separately administered, counteracts the flatulence and
distension of the stomach.

Various other remedies have been recommended for asthma; among which are
the smoking of tobacco and stramonium. In using the latter herb, the root
and lower parts of the stem are chopped up and placed in the bowl of a
common tobacco-pipe, and a few whiffs are occasionally taken. Drinking at
the same time should be avoided. Lately _lobelia inflata_ (Indian tobacco)
has been highly extolled in asthma, in doses of--tincture, 20 or 30 drops,
to 2 teaspoonfuls--powder, 5 to 15 or 20 gr.; taken at the commencement or
shortly before the accession of the fit, and repeated after the interval
of an hour, if nausea or expectoration does not intervene. Sir John Floyer
is said to have been cured of an asthma of 60 years' standing, at the age
of 80, by the constant use of very strong coffee. Sir John Pringle adopted
the same remedy with great success. He remarks, "One quality occurred to
me which I have observed of that liquor (coffee), confirming what you have
said of its sedative powers. It is the best abater of periodic asthma
which I have seen. The coffee used ought to be the best Mocha, newly
burnt, and made very strong immediately after grinding it. I commonly
order an ounce for one dish, which is to be repeated with fresh coffee
after the interval of a quarter or half an hour; and which I direct to be
taken without milk or sugar."[99]

[Footnote 99: 'Letter to Dr Percival.']

Very recently cigars and cigarettes of _datura tatula_, Linn.--a peculiar
species of stramonium--have been prepared by Messrs Savory and Moore; and
are strongly recommended by Drs Watson, Latham, Fergusson, and many other
physicians of eminence, as the very best remedy yet introduced for asthma.

A change of diet and habits, and particularly a change of residence, will
often produce a marked improvement in asthmatic patients, and even effect
a cure, when medicines have failed. The use of bark and bitters, or mild
chalybeate tonics (when not contra-indicated), tends to improve the tone
of the system, and may be adopted, in nearly all cases, with perfect
safety. See BATH, AIR (Compressed), CIGARS, DATURA, &c.

_Treatment for Horses._ Ether and belladonna; chlorodyne; inhalation of
chloroform; or amyl nitrite; subcutaneous injection of morphine or
atropine; arsenic; and regular digestible diet.

=Asthma, Grind'er's.= See MELANOSIS.

=ASTHMA CURE.= 1. (Dr Aubree, Ferte Vidame, Eure et Loire, France.)
Decoction of senega (10 parts of the root), 250 parts; iodide of
potassium, 50 parts; extract of opium, 4 parts; simple syrup, 500 parts;
weak spirit, 200 parts.  with some cochineal tincture. (Hager.)

According to a later analysis by Schroeppel, this remedy is thus
composed:--Iodide of potassium, 9 parts; French lactucarium, 1 part;
water, 288 parts; simple syrup, 48 parts; chloric ether, 1-1/2 part.

2. (Kubale, Klitschdorf, near Bunzlau.) This is a solution of iodide of
potassium, bromide of potassium, and sugar in water, strongly
with a cochineal tincture containing alum. It is supplied in six bottles,
numbered 1 to 6, No. 1 being the weakest, and No. 6 the strongest in the
iodide and bromide. In No. 3, for example, we found:--Iodide of potassium,
5 grms.; sugar, 2-1/2 grms.; alum, 1/3 grm.; cochineal colouring matter,
1/2 grm.; water, 200 grms. (Hager.)

=ASTHMA TEA= (Dr Orlein). Recommended for difficulty of breathing, dry
coughs, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, &c. Liquorice, 8 parts;
marshmallow root, 6 parts; Iceland moss, 5 parts; a sort of buckbean, 2
parts; horehound, 2 parts. (Schaedler and Selle.)

=ASTHMATIC PASTILLES= (S. Kittel's, now Daniel White & Co., New York). Set
fire to the pastilles and inhale the smoke. An analysis found in 100
parts:--Nitrate of potash, 20.1 parts; impure resin of scammony, 3.5
parts; gum and sugar, 35. parts; charcoal, plant-stems, and leaves, 40.7
parts. (Dr Fleck.)

=ASTRIN'GENT= (-tr[)i]nje'-). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ASTRIN'GENS, L.;
ZUSAMMENZIEHEND, Ger. That straitens or causes wrinkling or constriction.
In _pharmacology_, an epithet of substances or agents (ASTRIN'GENTS;
ASTRINGEN'TIA, L.) which constrict animal fibre and coagulate albuminous
fluids, and thereby obviate relaxation and check excessive secretion or
discharges. In modern use, the word, both as an adj. and subst., is
chiefly applied to internal remedies, those of a like character, employed
externally, being usually termed 'styptics,' 'desiccants,' &c.

The principal astringents are--alcohol, alum, chalybeates (generally),
sulphate of copper, sulphate and perchloride of iron, acetate and
diacetate of lead, lime, bichloride of mercury, nitrate of silver,
vegetable astringents (see _below_), acetate, carbonate, chloride, oxide,
and sulphate of zinc, &c. See DESICCANTS, STYPTICS, TONICS, &c.

=Astringents, Min'eral.= See ASTRINGENT (_above_).

=Astringents, Veg'etable.= Of these the principal are--alkanet, bistort,
catechu, the cinchona barks and their alkaloids, dragon's blood, French or
red rose, galls, kino, logwood, mastiche, oak-bark, red sanders wood,
rhatany, tormentil, tannic acid, gallic acid, and areca nut. (See
_above_.)

=Astringent Prin'ciple.= A term formerly restricted to tannin; but now
commonly applied to the astringent matter of any vegetable.

=ATMOM'ETER.= _Syn._ ATMIDOM'ETER; ATMOM'ETRUM, &c., L.; ATMOMETRE, &c.,
Fr. In _chemistry_ and _meteorology_, an instrument for measuring the rate
of evaporation from a humid surface. It is of very simple construction,
and possesses some practical value. It consists of a long glass graduated
tube divided into inches, having attached to the bottom a hollow ball made
of porous earthenware, similar to that used in water bottles. When used,
water is poured in at the top until it rises to the zero point of the
scale. The outside of the porous ball being always covered with dew, the
more rapidly the evaporation takes place, the more quickly will the water
fall in the tube.

=AT'MOSPHERE= (-f[=e]re). _Syn._ ATMOSPHE''RA, L.; ATMOSPHERE, Fr.;
ATMOSPHAeRE, DUNSTKREIS, Ger. Primarily, a 'vapour-sphere,' appr., the
assemblage of respirable gas and aeriform vapours which surround the
earth; fig., any surrounding medium or influence.

_Comp., Chem. prop., Pur., Uses, &c._ See AIR (Atmospheric).

_Mechanical properties_ of the atmosphere:--

COLOUR:--The prevailing colour of the atmosphere is blue; at considerable
elevations this blue tint is lost, and the sky appears deep black. The
prevalence of blue is referred to the greater facility with which the blue
and violet rays are reflected, whilst the glowing tints of morning and
evening are conceived to arise from the red rays possessing greater
momentum than the other rays of the spectrum.

DENSITY:--The density of the atmosphere diminishes with the distance from
the earth's surface, and this is the duplicate ratio of the altitude.
Thus, if at a given altitude the density of the air is only one half what
it is at the level of the sea, at twice that elevation it possesses only
one fourth that density. On this fact depends the application of the
barometer to the determination of the elevation or depression of any point
above or below the level of the sea, taken as a standard.

        _Density of the Atmosphere at Different
        Elevations._ By Prof. GRAHAM.

  +----------------------+-------+-------------+
  |Height above the level|Volume |Height of the|
  | of the Sea in miles. |of Air.| Barometer.  |
  +----------------------+-------+-------------+
  |          0.          |   1   |     30      |
  |          2.705       |   2   |     15      |
  |          5.41        |   4   |      7.5    |
  |          8.115       |   8   |      3.75   |
  |         10.82        |  16   |      1.875  |
  |         13.525       |  32   |       .9375 |
  |         16.23        |  64   |       .46875|
  +----------------------+-------+-------------+

HEIGHT, &c.:--If the density of the air were uniform throughout its whole
extent, the height of the atmosphere, measured by a corresponding column
of mercury, would be barely 5-1/4 miles. As, however, its density
decreases with the distance from the earth's surface, its real height must
be considerably greater. Kepler found that the reflection and refraction
of the sun's rays by the atmosphere, producing twilight, ceases when that
luminary descends 18 degrees below the horizon, whence it is calculated
that the atmosphere cannot have a greater altitude than 45 miles. On the
other hand, there is reason to believe that it cannot be much less than
this sum. "With a good air-pump air may be rarefied 300 times; supposing
this to be the utmost limit to which rarefaction can be carried, the
atmosphere would still extend to an altitude of above 40 miles." Whether,
in a state of extreme tenuity in which its grosser properties are lost, it
extends indefinitely into space, was formerly a subject of controversy.
That its boundaries are limited, and that it belongs exclusively to our
earth appears almost certain. "We are warranted in concluding that the
atoms of air are not infinitely divisible, and consequently that the
atmosphere has a limit; and the limit must be situated at that height
above the earth where the gravitation of the atoms is just equal to the
force of their repulsion."[100] Under ordinary circumstances the mercury
of the barometer falls about one inch for every 1000 feet of elevation.

[Footnote 100: Brande's 'Dict. of Lit., Sci., & Art.']

PRESSURE:--The weight or pressure of the atmosphere is shown by the rise
of water in the barrel of the common 'lifting pump' and the suspension of
the mercurial column in the tube of the barometer. The last affords a
ready means of determining the actual pressure of the air, the column of
mercury, and the column of air by which it is suspended, resembling two
weights in equilibrio, at the opposite extremities of the same balance.
The mean height of the barometer at the level of the sea, in England, is
28.6 inches (= about 33-1/2 feet of water); and as a cubic inch of mercury
weighs 3425.92 gr., or .48956 _lb._, it follows that the weight of a
column of mercury whose base is a square inch is 14.6 _lbs._ avoirdupois.
The pressure of the atmosphere is not merely downwards, but is equally
diffused in all directions, and exerts a most powerful effect in the
economy of organic beings. On the surface of the body of an adult of
ordinary size (say = 15 sq. feet, or 2160 inches), it amounts to the
enormous weight of 31,536 _lbs._, which is not sensible, only because it
is balanced by the force of the elastic fluids in the interior of the
body. Were this equilibrium to be suddenly destroyed, the consequence
would be, either that the body would be instantly torn to pieces with
explosive violence, or that it would be crushed under the overwhelming
weight that would suddenly fall upon it. Even the comparatively slight
variations of atmospheric pressure which occur with changes of wind,
weather, and season, exercise a perceptible effect on the functions of
life.

        _Mean pressure of the Atmosphere at the level of the
        Sea, in different latitudes, at 32 deg. Fahr., expressed in
        inches of mercury_.

  -----+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+------------
  Lat. |   Height   |  Lat.    |  Height   |   Lat.    |   Height
       |  (inches). |          | (inches). |           |  (inches).
  -----+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+------------
   0 deg.  |  29.930    |   40 deg.    |   30.019  |   54-1/2 deg. |   29.926
  10   |  29.975    |   45     |   30.000  |   60      |   29.803
  20   |  30.064    |   49     |   29.978  |   64      |   29.606
  30   |  30.108    |   51-1/2 |   29.551  |   67      |   29.673
  -----+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+------------

TEMPERATURE:--The temperature of the atmosphere, independently of changes
arising from variations of latitude and season, diminishes, like its
density, with its elevation. In general, every 100 yards of ascent causes
the temperature to fall 1 deg. Fahr. See AIR (Atmospheric), EPIDEMICS,
VENTILATION, &c.

=Atmosphere=. In _engineering_ and _pneumatics_, the pressure of a column
of mercury at 0 deg. Cent. or 32 deg. Fahr., which is 76 centimetres or 29.9218
inches high, at the mean level of the sea in latitude 45 deg., taken as a
standard of that exerted by other elastic fluids. In practice this is
assumed to be 15 _lbs_. to the square inch, under a barometrical pressure
of 30 inches. Thus, steam or air condensed so as to exert a pressure of 30
_lbs_. per sq. inch is said to be of two atmospheres; at 45 _lbs_., of
three atmospheres, &c.

=AT'OM (-[)u]m). Atomic Weight, Atomic Theory=. _Syn_. AT'OMUS, L.; ATOME,
Fr.; ATOM, UNTHEILBARE THEILCHEN, Ger.

ATOMIC WEIGHT. When the elements unite chemically, they invariably do so
in the proportions by weight represented by the numbers attached to them
in the following table, or in multiples of these proportions. Dalton
accounted for this law by supposing that the constituent particles of
matter are indivisible, and believed that, if it were possible to place
such particles in the balance, their relative weights would be found to
correspond with the numbers given in the table.[101] In other words, the
term _atom_, which is derived from the Greek [Greek: atomos], indivisible,
is applied in modern chemistry to the smallest quantity by weight of an
element which is capable of existing in a chemical compound, hydrogen
being taken as unity.

[Footnote 101: Strictly speaking, Dalton, the inventor of the Atomic
Theory, did not adopt the precise numbers given in the table, but others,
which, however, bear a very simple relation to them.]

  --------------------+------------+-----------+------------
        Name.         |   Symbol.  |  Atomic   |   Atomic
                      |            |  weight.  |   volume.
  --------------------+------------+-----------+------------
  =ALUMINUM=          |     Al     |    27.5   |
  ANTIMONY            |     Sb     |   122     |
  ARSENIC             |     As     |    75     |    1/4
  BARIUM              |     Ba     |   137     |
  BISMUTH             |     Bi     |   208     |
  BORON               |     B      |    11     |
  =BROMINE=           |     Br     |    80     |     1
  Cadmium             |     Cd     |   112     |     2
  Caesium              |     Cs     |   133     |
  =CALCIUM=           |     Ca     |    40     |
  =CARBON=            |     C      |    12     |
  Cerium              |     Ce     |    92     |
  =CHLORINE=          |     Cl     |    35.5   |     1
  CHROMIUM            |     Cr     |    52.5   |
  COBALT              |     Co     |    58.8   |
  =COPPER=            |     Cu     |    63.5   |
  Didymium            |     D      |    96     |
  =FLUORINE=          |     F      |    19     |     1
  Glucinum            |     G      |    14     |
  GOLD                |     Au     |   196.7   |
  =HYDROGEN=          |     H      |    1      |     1
  Indium              |     In     |    74     |
  =IODINE=            |     I      |   127     |     1
  IRIDIUM             |     Ir     |   198     |
  =IRON=              |     Fe     |    56     |
  Lanthanum           |     L      |    92     |
  =LEAD=              |     Pb     |   207     |
  Lithium             |     Li     |     7     |
  MAGNESIUM           |     Mg     |    24     |
  =MANGANESE=         |     Mn     |    55     |
  =MERCURY=           |     Hg     |   200     |     2
  Molybdenum          |     Mo     |    92     |
  NICKEL              |     Ni     |    58.8   |
  Niobium             |     Nb     |    97.6   |
  =NITROGEN=          |     N      |    14     |     1
  Osmium              |     Os     |   199     |
  =OXYGEN=            |     O      |    16     |     1
  PALLADIUM           |     Pd     |   106.5   |
  =PHOSPHORUS=        |     P      |    31     |    1/4
  PLATINUM            |     Pt     |   197.4   |
  =POTASSIUM=         |     K      |    39     |
  RHODIUM             |     Rh     |   104     |
  Rubidium            |     Rb     |    85.5   |
  Ruthenium           |     Ru     |   104     |
  Selenium            |     Se     |    79     |     1
  =SILICON=           |     Si     |    28.5   |
  =SILVER=            |     Ag     |   108     |
  =SODIUM=            |     Na     |    23     |
  STRONTIUM           |     Sr     |    87.5   |
  =SULPHUR=           |     S      |    32     |     1
  Tantalum            |     Ta     |   137.5   |
  Tellurium           |     Te     |   128     |
  Thallium            |     Tl     |   204     |
  Thorium             |     Th     |   231.5   |
  TIN                 |     Sn     |   118     |
  TITANIUM            |     Ti     |    50     |
  TUNGSTEN            |     W      |   184     |
  URANIUM             |     U      |   120     |
  Vanadium            |     V      |    51.2   |
  Yttrium             |     Y      |    68     |
  =ZINC=              |     Zn     |    65     |     2
  Zirconium           |     Zr     |    90     |
  --------------------+------------+-----------+------------

ATOMIC VOLUME. The volume or space occupied by the atomic weights of gases
at a temperature of 60 deg. F., and under a pressure of 30 inches of the
barometer, compared with that occupied by one part by weight of hydrogen
under the same conditions.

In the same table the most important elements are distinguished by the
largest type, those next in importance by medium type, and those of rare
occurrence, or of which we know but little, by the smallest type.

=ATOMIC WEIGHTS.= See ATOM.

=ATON'IC.= _Syn._ ATON'ICUS, L.; ATONIQUE, Fr.; ATONISCH, SCHLAFF, Ger.
Weak; debilitated; deficient in tone or strength. In _pathology_, applied
to diseases or conditions of the body (ATONIC DISEASES; ATONY) in which
debility is the leading feature. In _pharmacology_, ATONICS are agents
which relax or lower the tone of the system.

=AT'ONY.= _Syn._ ATO'NIA, L.; ATONIE, &c., Fr., Ger. In _pathology_, loss
of tone, relaxation, morbid diminution of vital energy or power; commonly
applied to debility of any kind.

=AT'ROPHY= (-fe). _Syn._ ATRO'PHIA, L.; ATROPHIE, &c., Fr.; ATROPHIE, Ger.
In _pathology_, wasting or emaciation, with loss of strength, and
unaccompanied by fever or other sensible cause; defective nutrition;
decline.

_Classif., Causes, &c._ It is either local, as in the case of a limb which
is small, imperfectly developed, or withered; or general, affecting the
whole body. GEN'ERAL ATROPHY appears to depend on deficient nutrition,
arising from a want of due balance between the functions of assimilation
and absorption, or from profuse evacuations draining off the materials
necessary for the support of the body. In the former case only may it be
regarded as an independent disease. LO'CAL ATROPHY commonly arises from
some cause which lessens the normal circulation of blood in the part; or
from a diminution of the nervous influence, as in paralysis. General
atrophy is most frequent in infancy, childhood, and old age. In the first
two it may be often traced to bad nursing, worms, or a scrofulous taint;
and not unfrequently to continually inhaling impure or damp air. In
adults, the causes are impaired digestion and imperfect action of the
chyliferous organs, and sometimes diseased action of the liver. In many
cases it results from the use of tobacco.

_Treatm._ This consists in a close attention to diet (which should be
liberal and nutritious), exercise, clothing, ventilation, warmth, &c.,
with gentle stimulants, and chalybeate tonics where not contra-indicated;
and, in the case of adults, the moderate use of pure generous wine or
malt-liquor. Among special remedies, both in this disease and anaemia, may
be mentioned pure sweet cod-liver oil, which seldom fails to arrest or
greatly <DW44> the progress of the disease, and in very many cases effect
an entire cure. When this affection is symptomatic of any other disease,
as worms, stomach or liver complaints, &c., the removal of the latter must
of course be first attempted. See ANAEMIA, CHLOROSIS, TABES, &c.

=ATRO''PIA= (tr[=o]pe'y'[)a]). C_{34}H_{23}NO_{6}. [L.; B. P.] _Syn._
AT'ROPINE (-pin; sometimes atro'p[)i]ne[double-dagger]), Eng., Fr.;
ATROPI'NA, ATRO''PIUM*, L. An alkaloid discovered by Brandes in _at'ropa
belladon'na_ or deadly nightshade.

_Prep._ 1. (B. P. Process.) Take of belladonna-root, recently dried, and
in coarse powder, 2 _lbs._; rectified spirit, 10 _pints_; slaked lime, 1
_oz._; diluted sulphuric acid, carbonate of potash, of each a sufficiency;
chloroform, 3 _fl. oz._; purified animal charcoal, a sufficiency;
distilled water, 10 _fl. oz._ Macerate the root in 4 pints of the spirit,
for 24 hours, with frequent stirring. Transfer to a displacement
apparatus, and exhaust the root with the remainder of the spirit by slow
percolation. Add the lime to the tincture placed in a bottle, and shake
them occasionally several times. Filter, add the diluted sulphuric acid in
very feeble excess to the filtrate, and filter again. Distil off three
fourths of the spirit, add to the residue the distilled water, evaporate
at a gentle heat, but as rapidly as possible, until the liquor is reduced
to one third of its volume and no longer smells of alcohol; then let it
cool. Add very cautiously, with constant stirring, a solution of carbonate
of potash so as nearly to neutralise the acid, care, however, being taken
that an excess is not used. Set to rest for six hours, then filter, and
add carbonate of potash in such quantity that the liquid shall acquire a
decided alkaline reaction. Place in a bottle with the chloroform; mix well
by frequently repeated brisk agitation, and pour the mixed liquids into a
funnel furnished with a glass stop-cock. When the chloroform has subsided,
draw it off by the stop-cock, and distil it on a water-bath from a retort
connected with a condenser. Dissolve the residue in warm rectified spirit;
digest the solution with a little animal charcoal: filter, evaporate, and
cool until colourless crystals are obtained.

2. Expressed juice of belladonna is evaporated over a water-bath to the
consistence of an extract, and then triturated in a marble or porcelain
mortar with a strong solution of caustic potassa; the resulting mass is
digested and well agitated for some time, at the temperature of 75 deg. to 80 deg.
Fahr., with benzole, q. s.; and, after repose, the benzole-solution is
carefully separated, and its volatile hydrocarbon is distilled off by the
heat of a water-bath; the residuum in the retort is now exhausted with
water acidulated with sulphuric acid, and the resulting 'acid-solution,'
after filtration, precipitated with carbonate of soda; the precipitate is
crude ATROPIA, which is collected on a filter, pressed between folds of
bibulous paper, and dried; after which it is purified by one or more
re-solutions, in alcohol, and crystallisations, which may or may not be
modified in the manner noticed. The proportion of potassa should be about
1 dr. to every quart of the expressed juice. An excellent and economical
process. The product is 0.3 to 4% of the weight of the plant from which
the juice has been obtained.

3. (Mein and Liebig.) Belladonna-root (fresh-dried and coarsely powdered)
is exhausted by alcohol (sp. gr. 0.822); slaked lime (1 part for every 24
of the dried root employed) is then added to the tincture, and the whole
digested, with agitation, for 24 hours; sulphuric acid is next added, drop
by drop, to slight excess, and, after filtration, rather more than one
half the spirit is removed by distillation; a little water is now added to
the residue, and the remainder of the alcohol evaporated as quickly as
possible by a gentle heat; after again filtering, the liquid is reduced by
further evaporation to the 1/12th part of the weight of the root employed,
and a concentrated solution of potassa dropped into the cold liquid (to
throw down a dark greyish-brown matter), carefully avoiding excess or
rendering the liquid in the slightest degree alkaline; in a few hours the
liquid is again filtered, and carbonate of potassa added as long as a
precipitate (ATROPIA) falls; after a further interval of from 12 to 24
hours, this precipitate is collected and drained in a filter, and after
pressure between folds of blotting-paper, dried by a very gentle heat. It
is purified by making it into a paste with water, again squeezing it
between the folds of blotting-paper, drying it, re-dissolving it in 5
times its weight of alcohol, decolouring it with pure animal charcoal,
distilling off greater part of the alcohol, and evaporation and
crystallisation by a very gentle heat; or only about one half the spirit
is distilled off, and 3 or 4 times its volume of water gradually agitated
with it, the resulting milky liquid being then heated to boiling, and
allowed to cool very slowly, when nearly the whole of the ATROPIA
crystallises out after a few hours. The same may be effected by at once
agitating 6 or 8 volumes of water with the alcoholic solution, and setting
aside the mixture for 12 to 24 hours, by which time the crystallisation
will be completed. This process originated with Soubeiran, was improved by
Mein, and subsequently, with slight modifications, adopted by Liebig. The
product is about 0.3% of the weight of root operated on.

4. (Bouchardat and Cooper.) The filtered tincture is precipitated with
iodine dissolved in an aqueous solution of iodide of potassium, the
resulting ioduretted hydriodate of atropia, decomposed by zinc-and-water,
the metallic oxide separated by means of carbonate of potassa, and the
alkaloid thus obtained dissolved in alcohol and crystallised.

5. (Mr Luxton.) The dry leaves of belladonna are gently boiled for 2 hours
in distilled water just sufficient to cover them, and the resulting
decoction is strained through a coarse cloth into a large precipitating
jar; this process is repeated with a second quantity of distilled water,
and the two decoctions mixed; concentrated sulphuric acid is now added in
the proportion of 2 dr. to every pound of leaves operated on, by which the
vegetable albumen of the decoction is precipitated, and the liquid becomes
clear and sherry-; the clear liquor is now decanted or syphoned
off, and, if necessary, filtered; the filtrate is now decomposed by either
passing a stream of gaseous ammonia through it, or by suspending in it a
lump of carbonate of ammonia. The effect is that the liquid turns black,
and crystals of ATROPIA are slowly formed and deposited. At the expiration
of a day or two, the supernatant mother-liquid is removed with a syphon,
and the crystals thrown on a filter to drain and dry.[102] It may be
purified by re-solution and crystallisation. 1 lb. of leaves yields 40
gr.; or at the rate of fully .57%.

[Footnote 102: 'Pharm. Journ.,' 1854-5, p. 209{?}.]

6. (Rabourdin.) To the crystallised juice of the plant (previously heated
to coagulate its albumen, filtered, and allowed to cool), 1 quart, is
added of caustic potassa 1 dr., and afterwards of chloroform 1 oz.; the
whole is then agitated well, and after half an hour's repose, the
supernatant liquor is poured from the discoloured chloroform, which, after
being washed with distilled water as long as it gives any colour to that
liquid, is placed in a small retort, and the chloroform distilled off by
the heat of a water-bath; the residuum is dissolved in a little water
acidulated with sulphuric acid, and precipitated with carbonate of
potassa, in slight excess; the precipitate is redissolved in alcohol, and
the solution, by spontaneous evaporation, yields crystals of ATROPIA.

7. (Ure.) From the expressed juice of the fresh, or the watery extract of
the dry plant, by treating it with caustic soda, in slight excess, and
then agitating the mixture with 1-1/2 times its volume of ether; the
ATROPIA taken up by the ether is again deposited after repose for some
time, and is then purified by repeating the treatment with fresh ether as
often as necessary.

8. Freshly precipitated hydrate of magnesia is added to the coagulated and
filtered expressed juice, and the mixture evaporated to dryness, as
quickly as possible, in a water-bath; the residuum is pulverised and
digested in strong alcohol, and the clear liquid allowed to evaporate
spontaneously. The crystals may be purified by repeated re-solutions in
alcohol.

_Prop., Tests, &c._ The crystals obtained from hot concentrated solutions,
colourless, transparent, silky prisms; from solutions in dilute spirit,
silky needles, like those of disulphate of quinine. It is colourless; has
a bitter, acrid, and somewhat metallic taste; dissolves in 200 parts (300
parts--Thomson) of cold and 50 to 54 parts of boiling water, in 1-1/2
parts of cold alcohol, and in 25 parts of cold, and 6 parts of boiling
ether; it has an alkaline reaction, fuses at about 194 deg. Fahr., is slightly
volatile at common temperatures, and freely rises in vapour at 212 deg. Fahr.;
at higher temperatures it volatilises with partial decomposition; with the
acids it forms salts, of which several are crystallisable.

_Tests._--1. Nitric acid forms with it a yellow solution:--2. With cold
sulphuric acid it gives a colourless solution, which becomes red only when
heated:--3. Aqueous solutions of atropia and its salts are--_a_, turned
red by tincture of iodine--_b_, gives a citron-yellow precipitate with
terchloride of gold--_c_, a flocculent whitish precipitate with tincture
of galls, and--_d_, a yellowish-white one with bichloride of platinum:--4.
Heated with caustic potassa or soda, it suffers decomposition, and ammonia
is evolved:--5. A weak solution cautiously applied to the eyelid or
conjunctiva, produces dilation of the pupil lasting for several hours.

_Pur., &c._ Alkaloid prepared from the root of atropa belladonna.
Crystals; white, in the form of prisms; soluble in water and rectified
spirit. It leaves no ash when burned with free access of air (B. P.).

_Phys. eff._ It is a very powerful narcotico-acrid poison.[103] Its
effects are similar to those of belladonna, but considerably more
powerful. "A very minute (imponderable) quantity applied to the eye is
sufficient to dilate the pupil." (Pereira.) The 1/12 to 1/10 gr. often
causes very serious effects in the human subject. The 1/6th of a grain
accelerates the pulse, affects the brain, causes dryness of the throat,
difficulty of deglutition, dilation of the pupil, dimness of sight,
giddiness, strangury, numbness of limbs, sense of formication in the arms,
rigidity of thighs, depression of pulse, and sometimes feebleness or loss
of voice. These symptoms continue for from 12 to 24 hours. In larger doses
death ensues.

[Footnote 103: A "cerebro-spinal poison."--Taylor.]

_Ant., &c._ These may be similar to those described under BELLADONNA and
ALKALOID.

_Uses._ Chiefly as an external agent, as a substitute for belladonna, to
cause dilation of the pupil; and as a local anaesthetic or anodyne,
especially in facial neuralgia. Internally, it has been occasionally given
in hooping-cough, chorea, and a few other nervous diseases.--_Dose_, 1/30
gr., gradually increased to 1/20, or, occasionally, even 1/15 gr. in
solution, or made into a pill with liquorice powder and honey, or syrup,
or used endermically; for a collyrium, 1 gr. to water 1 oz., a few drops
only being applied to the eye at a time, the greatest caution in each case
being observed. It is also employed to make the sulphate. In dispensing it
a single drop of acetic acid, or dilute sulphuric acid, will be found to
facilitate and ensure its perfect solution. See BELLADONNA and
BELLADONINE.

=Atropia, Sul'phate of.= _Syn._ ATRO'PIA SUL'PHAS, L. _Prep._ (B. P.) Take
of atropia, 120 _gr._; distilled water, 4 _fl. dr._; diluted sulphuric
acid, a sufficiency.

Mix the atropia with the water and add the acid gradually, stirring them
together until the alkaloid is dissolved and the solution is neutral.
Evaporate it to dryness at a temperature not exceeding 100 deg..

_Characters and Tests._--A colourless powder, soluble in water, forming a
solution which is neutral to test-paper, and when applied to the eye
dilates the pupil as the solution of atropia does. It leaves no ash when
burned with free access of air.

Intended for external application. It is a powerful poison.

_Uses, &c._ The same as those of the pure alkaloid.--_Dose_, 1/25 to 1/20
gr., either in solution or pills; 1 to 3 gr. to water 1 fl. oz., as a
collyrium, of which a few drops seldom fail to produce full dilation of
the pupil in about a quarter of an hour; 1 to 2 gr. to lard 1 dr. forms an
excellent ointment in neuralgic affections.

_Obs._ Sulphate of atropia (which is intended for external use only) is
rather difficult to crystallise, as it has a tendency to assume an
amorphous or gum-like condition. It is more soluble than the pure
alkaloid; and, like it, is a terrific poison.

=ATROPIA, VALERIANATE.= The Paris Codex directs this salt to be prepared
as follows:--Dissolve valerianic acid in ether, and add atropia just
sufficient to saturate the acid. Let the ether evaporate.

=ATROP'IC ACID.= _Syn._ ACIDUM ATROP'ICUM, L. The name given by Richter to
a volatile crystallisable substance, possessing acid properties, found in
atropa belladonna or deadly nightshade. In many respects it resembles
benzoic acid, from which, however it is distinguished by not precipitating
the salts of iron.

=ATROPI'NA, At'ropine.= See ATROPIA.

=AT'TAR.= See OTTO and VOLATILE OILS.

=ATTELETTES= (-l[)e]ts'). [Fr.] In _cookery_, small skewers, generally of
silver, with ornamental heads. The term is also applied to small dishes
(ENTREES, &c.) in which the articles are mounted on attelettes. Small
fish, as smelts, are often served in this way. See AIGUILLETTE.

=ATTEN'UANT= (-[=u]-[)a]nt). _Syn._ ATTEN'UANS, L.; ATTENUANT, Fr.;
VERDUeNNEND, Ger. That makes thin, or less dense or viscid; diluting. In
_medicine_, applied to remedies (ATTEN'UANTS, SPANAEM'ICS) which are
supposed to act by thinning, diluting, or impoverishing the blood.

=ATTENUA'TION.= _Syn._ ATTENUA'TIO, L.; ATTENUATION, Fr.; VERDUeNNUNG, Ger.
A thinning or diminishing; a reducing in consistence. In _medicine_, see
the adj. (_above_); in _brewing_, the decrease of the density of worts
during fermentation, arising from the gradual conversion of their
'saccharine' (sugar) into alcohol. See BREWING, DISTILLATION, WORTS, &c.

=ATTRAC'TION.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ATTRAC'TIO, L.; ANZIEHUNG, Ger. The
power that draws together matter and resists its separation. That force
which attracts bodies towards the centre of the earth, and which keeps on
its surface those that are movable, is called GRAVITY, or the attraction
of gravitation. It is exerted at sensible, often at immense, distances,
and determines the figure and motions of the planets and comets, and
causes the descent of heavy bodies to the ground. This force it is which
confers the property of weight upon matter.

That force which unites particles of the same kind of matter, so as to
cause them to assume the condition of solid or liquid masses, _e.g._
particles of chalk to form a mass of chalk, particles of water to form a
mass of water, is called COHESION, or the ATTRACTION OF COHESION. That
force which binds together different substances without changing their
properties, as when paint sticks to wood, ink to paper, &c., is called
ADHESION, or the ATTRACTION OF ADHESION. CAPILLARY ATTRACTION is a
modification of adhesion, and is characterised by being exerted between
liquids and the internal surfaces of tubes and pervious bodies. The
absorption of water by a sponge, the ascent of oil in the wick of a lamp,
are examples of this power. The CHEMICAL FORCE or AFFINITY differs from
all other kinds of attraction in being exerted between definite and
constant quantities (atoms) of matter, usually of dissimilar natures, and
producing combinations possessing properties different from those of their
components. (See AFFINITY.) This force, as well as cohesion and adhesion,
is exerted at distances so small as to be immeasurable.

The terms ELEC'TRIC ATTRACTION and MAGNET'IC ATTRACTION are employed in
_physics_ to denote phenomena which we imperfectly understand, and which
operate between bodies at sensible distances, and simulate those of the
attraction of gravitation.

=ATTRI''TION= (tr[)i]sh'-[)u]n). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ ATTRI''TIO, L.;
ABREIBUNG, AUFREIBUNG, Ger. In _mechanics_, the wearing away of parts by
friction. In _medicine_, a graze, abrasion, or solution of continuity of
the cuticle, or the act which causes it. In _surgery_, the crushing or
tearing away of any exterior portion of the body by violence. See
ABRASION, ANTI-ATTRITION, FRICTION, &c.

=AURANTIA'CEAE= (-she-[=e]). [Lat.; DC.] The orange tribe. In _botany_, an
extensive and important natural order of exogenous trees and shrubs, found
exclusively in the temperate and tropical parts of the Old World, and
unknown in a wild state in America. The fruit is pulpy, succulent,
sub-acid, and eatable, and separated into cells by membranous partitions,
and is covered with a leathery aromatic skin or rind. Some of the genera
embrace plants of great beauty and utility. A few of the Indian species
are climbers. The genus CIT'RUS, which includes the orange, lemon, citron,
lime, bergamot, and shaddock, is that best known in Europe.

=AURAN''TIIN= (-she-[)i]n). _Syn._ HESPERIDIN; AURAN'TINE* (-t[)i]n),
Eng., Fr.; AURANTII'NA, &c., L. The bitter principle of the peel of
oranges and lemons.

_Prep._ The exterior or yellow peel of the Seville orange (carefully
separated from the white matter, and air-dried) is steeped in hot water,
and the filtered liquor gently evaporated to dryness.

_Prop._, _&c._ It possesses the bitter properties of the peel without any
of its glutinosity or fragrance, and is said to agree better with delicate
stomachs. It may be taken in water either with or without the addition of
a little sugar or capillaire, or dissolved in wine.

=AU''RIC= (aw'- or awr'-). _Syn._ AURI'CUS, L. Of or relating to gold, or
containing it, or formed from it.

=AURIF'EROUS.= _Syn._ AU''RIFER, AURIF'ERUS, L.; AURIFERE, Fr.;
GOLDHALTIG, Ger. In, _mineralogy_, that yields or contains gold; as
auriferous sand, a. quartz, &c.

=AURIPIGMEN'TUM[dagger].= [L.] Literally, paint of gold; appr., native
orpiment. See ARSENIC.

=AURO-CHLO''RIDES= (kl[=o]re'-[=i]dz). Compounds of terchloride of gold
with chlorides of other bases. They may be prepared by mixing the
terchloride of gold with the chloride of the base, in atomic proportions,
and setting aside the solution to crystallise.

_Prop._, _&c._ Most of the auro-chlorides crystallise in prisms, dissolve
in both alcohol and water, have an orange or yellow colour, and are
decomposed at a red heat.

=AURO-CY'ANIDES= ([)i]dz). In _chemistry_, compounds of cyanide of gold
with cyanides of other bases. They may be formed in a similar manner to
the auro-chlorides. Auro-cyanide of potassium is much used in
electro-gilding.

=AURORA BOREALIS.= This luminous phenomenon, which is occasionally seen in
our own country on clear frosty nights, and much more frequently and
vividly by the dwellers in more northern latitudes, has been supposed to
have an electrical origin, and to be occasioned by the passage of
electricity through the rarefied strata of the upper regions of the
atmosphere from the poles towards the equator. But physicists look upon
this explanation as unsatisfactory, and inadequate to account for the
effects produced. The hypothesis, however, seems to derive some support
from the following fact:--

If one of Gassiot's vacuum tubes be brought near to a powerful electrical
machine, both while the machine is in motion and for some time after,
flashes of light may be seen passing from the wire at one end of the tube
to the other extremity, which flashes bear a great resemblance to the
auroral rays. The great doubt, however, is whether the conditions
necessary to the production of the aurora are similar to those prevailing
during this experiment, a doubt not lessened by the difficulty of
satisfactorily accounting for the rarefied state of the atmosphere which
is assumed to exist.

The forms which the aurora assumes are very varied and of great beauty;
there appears, however, to be some general similarity in its aspect at the
same locality. Its appearance is briefly as follows:--A dingy aspect in
the heavens in a northernly direction is usually the precursor of the
aurora; and this gradually becomes darker in colour, and assumes the form
of a circular segment surrounded by a luminous arch, and resting at each
end on the horizon. This dark segment presents the appearance of a thick
cloud, and is frequently seen as such in the fading twilight, before the
auroral light manifests itself. The density of this segment must, however,
be very inconsiderable, as stars may sometimes be seen shining brightly
through it.

This dark segment is bounded by a luminous arch of a blueish-white colour,
which varies in breadth from 1 to 6 diameters of the moon, having the
lower edge sharply defined, and the upper edge only when the breadth of
the arch is small. This arch may be considered to be a part of a luminous
ring, elevated at a considerable distance above the earth's surface and
having its centre corresponding with some point near the north pole. The
preceding description indicates the general features of the appearance of
the aurora borealis; but several auroras have been described which
presented striking peculiarities. Sometimes the phenomenon assumed the
form of one or more curtains of light, depending from dingy clouds whose
folds were agitated to and fro as if by the wind. Sometimes this curtain
appeared to consist of separate ribbons of light, arranged side by side in
groups of different lengths, and attaining their greatest brilliancy at
the lower edges. In this country the aurora borealis seldom assumes the
distinctness and brilliancy which characterise its appearance in northern
latitudes, but the description thus given indicates the type to which such
appearance of the meteor more or less approaches. During the winter that
prevails in the northern hemispheres the inhabitants of the arctic zone
are deprived for months together of the sun's light, and their long dreary
night is relieved by the light emanating from this beautiful meteor, which
shines with great frequency and brilliancy in those regions.

A remarkable connection has been observed between the aurora and the
earth's magnetism, the magnetic needle showing great disturbance during a
display of the aurora. The arches of the aurora most commonly traverse the
sky at right angles to the magnetic meridian, though deviations from this
direction are not rare. Sir J. Franklin found that the disturbance of the
needle was not always proportionate to the agitation of the aurora, but
was always greater when the quick motion and vivid light were observed to
take place in a hazy atmosphere. The aurora is most frequent and vivid in
high latitudes, towards either pole, but the meteor is not confined to
these parts, as Dr Hooker states that one of the most brilliant displays
he ever witnessed was under the tropical sky of India; and other observers
have recorded instances of its appearance in the equatorial districts of
the globe.

The attitude of the aurora varies considerably; there appears to be little
doubt, however, that it frequently occurs at small elevations. Both
Franklin and Parry record instances where it appeared below the level of
the clouds, which they describe as having been hidden behind the masses of
its light, and as reappearing when the meteor vanished. It would seem that
there are two distinct kinds of aurora one dependent upon local causes, as
in the cases last given, while in the other causes are probably cosmical,
and the auroral effects are seen at very distant points of the earth's
surface.

=AURORA POMADE.= For promoting the action of the skin. Cocoa butter with
orris.

=AUTOG'ENOUS= (t[)o]j'-). _Syn._ AUTOGE''NEAL; AUTOG'ENUS (t[)o]j'). L.
Self-generating or affecting; acting without the aid of foreign matter. In
_anatomy_, &c., developed from distinct and independent centres; as parts
or processes. Among _metallists_, it denotes a method of joining metals by
fusing the parts in contact, by means of a flame of hydrogen, or of a
mixture of hydrogen and common air, without the intervention of a fusible
alloy or solder. Lead, and even ordinary hard solders, are, however,
sometimes so employed, and the name, though improperly, retained.

=AUTOMAT'IC.= _Syn._ AUTOMATI'CUS, AUTOM'ATUS, L.; AUTOMATIQUE, Fr.;
AUTOMATISCHE, Ger. Self-acting or self-moving, or that seems to be so;
mechanical; of or resembling an automaton. In _physiology_, involuntary,
applied to functions which are performed without the operation of the
will; as the movements in respiration, the contractions and dilations of
the heart, the persistent contraction of the sphincters, &c. In
_mechanics_, &c., moving and acting from concealed machinery; also, as
applied to _machinery_, self-regulating and directing, within the limits
prescribed by its author, though moved by external power. To the last
class belongs the self-acting machinery of our flax and cotton mills, our
engineering establishments, &c.; in which the elemental powers are made to
animate, as it were, millions of complex organs, infusing into forms of
wood, iron, and brass, an agency resembling that of intelligent beings.
The manufactures in which such machinery is employed are termed the
AUTOMATIC ARTS.

=AUTOPSY.= Literally, personal observation or examination; ocular view.
The term, however, is now applied, rather loosely, to a post-mortem
investigation. A post-mortem may be performed with the object of
endeavouring to ascertain the cause of death in a medico-legal inquiry, or
in the furtherance of the study of pathology. It is also a preliminary to
embalmment, and is sometimes had recourse to as a means of saving the
child when a woman dies in full pregnancy.

In France no post-mortem examination is permitted to take place until at
least 24 hours after death, this delay being enforced as a safeguard
against the possibility of the body operated upon being still alive. In
England no post-mortem can be made without the consent of the friends of
the deceased, unless by warrant from a coroner; although in many public
institutions this consent is dispensed with. Whenever, however, a prisoner
dies in gaol an inquest and post-mortem are held on the body.

An autopsy is to be discouraged in cases where a person has died from
infectious disease; but should the law require it to be undertaken,
disinfectants both during and after the operation should be liberally had
recourse to.

=AUTUMNAL FEVER.= This term is chiefly employed by American medical
writers to designate typhoid fever, because of its prevalence in the
autumn.

=AUXILION.= A packet of small plasters for the painless and radical cure
of corns. Each plaster is to be worn for about a week, and then the horny
pustule is to be removed with a sharp knife. The plaster is a compound of
1 part of resin plaster and 2 parts of lead plaster, and is likely to
promote the removal and solution of the thick skin of the corns. (Hager.)

=AVA.= _Syn._ KAVA-KAVA. The native names of the root, a species of piper,
the _piper methysticum_, cultivated in Tahiti, Hawaii, the Society and
Tongan Islands, the natives of which make it into an intoxicating drink.
It is said to have been used in France with excellent effect in
gonorrh[oe]a; and a tincture of it has been strongly recommended both for
external and internal administration in gout. "For medicinal purposes it
is used in the form of infusion," a drachm of the scraped root being
macerated in a quart of water for five minutes. Its action appears to vary
with the amount taken; in small doses it is generally stated to act as a
stimulant and tonic, but when taken in large doses it produces an
intoxication which differs from that caused by alcohol, in being of a
silent and drowsy nature accompanied by incoherent dreams"
('Pharmaceutical Journal,' August 19th, 1876, which consult for further
information.')

=AVE'NA.= [L.] The oat; oats.

=AVE'NIN= (-n[)i]n). _Syn._ AVENA'INE* ([)a]v-e-) AVENI'NA, &c., L.;
AVENINE, &c., Fr. A nitrogenous compound, analogous to, and probably
identical with, casein, obtained from oats, and on which its nutritiveness
chiefly depends.

_Prep._ The grain, reduced to the state of powder or meal, is washed on a
sieve, and the milky liquid, after being allowed to deposit its starch, is
heated to about 200 deg. Fahr., to coagulate the albumen; when cold, acetic
acid is added as long as a white powder falls, which is AVENIN; this is
collected on a filter, drained, and dried by a gentle heat.

=AVEN'TURIN, Avant'urin= (-[=u]-r[)i]n; -v[)o]_ng_-t[=o][=o]--Knowles and
Smart). [Eng. Fr.] A beautiful iridescent variety of rock crystal,
minutely spangled throughout with yellow scales of mica (AVENTURIN, A.
QUARTZ). A variety of felspar (A. FELSPAR) of somewhat similar appearance
is found in the Continent and the Peninsula, of which the finer kinds are
called A. ORIENTALE and PIERRE DE SOLEIL by the lapidaries. Both varieties
are now imitated by the glass and porcelain manufacturers. See GLASS,
GLAZE, PASTE, &c.

=A'VIARY= (-ve-). _Syn._ AVIA''RIUM, L.; VOLIERE, Fr.; VOGELHAUS,
VOGELHECKE, Ger. A place for keeping birds; generally applied to an
enclosed space or building in which birds are kept, or bred, on account of
their rarity, plumage, or song; and not for food.

_Situa., &c._ For exotic birds, a place should be selected where the
temperature can be maintained at a proper degree throughout the year, and
which is well protected from the weather. This is commonly done by
choosing a space attached to the summerhouse or hot-house. When the aviary
is only intended for birds of climates similar to our own, any part of the
open garden may be chosen, and a portion closed in, either with
trellis-work or wire-work, or netting; care being taken to provide, in
some easily accessible portion of it, full protection from vicissitudes of
weather and season. Nor must cleanliness, and due ventilation and
protection from foul air or noxious fumes, be left unattended to.

=AVIGNON' BERRIES= ([)a]v-veen-yo_ng_). French berries.

=AV'OIRDUPOIS'= ([)a]v-[)e]r-du-pois'). The common weight of 16 oz. or
7000 gr. to the lb., used in these realms for all kinds of goods, except
jewelry and the precious metals, and medicines in dispensing, or as
ordered in the 'British Pharmacop[oe]ia' of 1867.

=AX'IS.= [L., Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AXE, Fr.; ACHSE, Ger. Primarily, that on
or around which anything acts or performs; an axle or axle-tree. In
_anatomy_, that on or around which any organ or part rests, gravitates, or
centres. In _astronomy_, the diameter on or about which a celestial body
revolves. In _botany_, part or parts about which particular organs are
arranged; an imaginary line passing from the base to the apex of a
pericarp &c. In _crystallography_, imaginary lines passing through the
central points of a crystal, and about which the molecules or particles of
matter composing it may be conceived to be symmetrically built up. In
_geology_, the centre of a mountain-group. In _mechanics_, the straight
line, real or imaginary, about which any body oscillates or revolves. See
CRYSTAL, &c.

=AX'LE, Ax'le-tree= ([)a]ks'l). _Syn._ ESSIEU, Fr.; AXE (am rade), &c.,
Ger. In _mechanics_, the pin, rod, or material line, on which a wheel,
&c., turns. See ANTI-ATTRITION, FRICTION, &c.

=AX'UNGE= (-[)u]nje). _Syn._ AXUN'GIA, L. _Primarily_, 'wheel-grease,' the
lard or fat of an animal; restricted in _pharmacy_ to hog's lard.--AXUNGIA
CURA'TA, A. PREPARA'TA, is prepared or washed hog's lard (which _see_).

=AYER'S PILLS.= Sold in long wooden boxes, each containing 25 pills,
covered with sugar and starch, and composed of pepper, colocynth, gamboge,
and aloes. (Hager.)

=AZADIRACHTA INDICA.= (Ind. Ph.) Nim or Margosa Tree. (Ind. Ph.)
_Habitat._ Common throughout India; often cultivated in gardens.
_Officinal parts._--1. The bark (_Azadirachtae cortex_, Nim bark). It
varies much in appearance, according to the size and age of the tree
producing it. The bark from the trunk of a tree above three or four years
of age is covered with a thick scaly epidermis, and varies in thickness
from 1/4 to 1/2 inch. That from the smaller branches is smooth, of a
dullish purple colour, marked by longitudinal lines of ash-
epidermis, from 1/8th to 1/12th of an inch apart. The inner layer of the
bark, of a whitish colour in the fresh state, is powerfully bitter, far
more so than the outer dark- layer, which, however, possesses a
greater amount of astringency. It contains a crystallisable principle
(margosine) and an astringent principle (catechin).--2. The fresh leaves
(_Azadirachtae folia_, Nim leaves).--_Properties._ Bark astringent tonic
and antiperiodic; leaves stimulant.--_Therapeutic uses._ In intermittent
and other paroxysmal fevers, in general debility, and convalescence after
febrile and other diseases, the bark has been employed with success. The
leaves form a useful application to ulcers and skin diseases when a mild
stimulant is required.--_Dose._ Of the powdered bark, a drachm three or
four times a day.

_Preparations._ DECOCTION OF NIM BARK (Decoctum Azadirachtae). Take of the
inner layer of nim bark, bruised, 2 _oz._; water, a pint and a half. Boil
for 15 minutes, and strain whilst hot.--_Dose._ As an antiperiodic, from
1-1/2 to 3 _fl. oz._, every second hour previous to an expected paroxysm.
As a tonic, 1 or 2 _fl. oz._ twice or thrice daily. As this decoction soon
decomposes in hot weather, it should be prepared fresh for use when
required.

TINCTURE OF NIM BARK (_Tinctura Azadirachtae_). Take of the inner layer of
nim bark, bruised, 2-1/2 _oz._; proof spirit, 1 pint. Macerate for seven
days in a closed vessel, with occasional agitation; strain, press, filter,
and add sufficient proof spirit to make 1 pint. It may also be prepared by
percolation in the same manner as Tincture of Calumba, q. v.--_Dose._ From
1/2 to 2 _fl. dr._ as a tonic.

POLTICE OF NIM LEAVES (Cataplasma Azadirachtae). Take of fresh nim leaves a
sufficiency; bruise and moisten with tepid water. A good stimulant
application to indolent and ill-conditioned ulcers. Should it cause pain
and irritation, as it sometimes does, equal parts of rice-flour and
linseed-meal may be added. The bitter oil of the seeds is held in high
repute by the natives as an anthelmintic, and as an external application
in rheumatism. It is also said to be an insecticide.

=AZOERYTH'RYN= (-r[)i]th'-r[)i]n). A substance obtained, by Kane, from
archil. It is insoluble in alcohol, ether, and water; but is very soluble
in alkaline lyes, to which it imparts a port-wine colour.

=AZO'IC.= _Syn._ AZOeOT'IC; AZO'ICUS, AZOeOT'ICUS, &c., L. Lifeless; wholly
destitute of organic life. In _geology_, &c., applied to strata which do
not contain organic remains.

=AZOLIT'MIN= ([)a]z-o-l[)i]t'-m[)i]n). A dark-red substance obtained, by
Kane, from litmus, of which it forms a large portion of the colouring
matter. It is insoluble in alcohol, and in water unless alkalised.

=AZ'OTE*= ([)a]z'[=o]te; a'-z[=o]te). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ AZO'TUM*, L.;
AZOT*, Ger. Nitrogen (because it is unfit for respiration, _i.e._ destroys
life).

=AZOT'IC.= _Syn._ AZOT'ICUM, L.; AZOTIQUE, Fr.; AZOTISCH, Ger. Of or like
azote, or containing it or formed from it; irrespirable; destructive to
life.--AZOTIC ACID[dagger] is nitric acid; A. GAS[dagger],
nitrogen.--AZO'TOUS ACID[dagger] was nitrous acid.

=AZ'OTISED= (-t[=i]zd). _Syn._ NITROGENISED, Containing azote or nitrogen;
a common epithet of nitrogenous substances used as food.

=AZ'URE= ([)a]zh'-[=u]re; [=a]'zhure--Knowles, Smart, Walker). _Syn._
CAERU'LEUM, L.; AZUR, Fr.; HELLBLAU, HIMMELBLAU, Ger. In _dyeing_ and
_painting_, sky-blue; also the name of one or more pigments which possess
this colour. See BLUE DYES, BLUE PIGMENTS, SMALTS, ULTRAMARINE, &c.

=AZ'URE-STONE.= Lapis lazuli.

=AZ'URITE= (-[=i]te). In _mineralogy_, lazulite; blue malachite;
sometimes, lapis lazuli (the name being, unfortunately, very loosely
applied by different writers).

=AZ'YMOUS[dagger]= (-e-m[)u]s). _Syn._ AZ'YMUS, L. Unleavened;
unfermented; as sea-biscuit. Unleavened bread was formerly termed
AZ'YME[dagger] (-e-me) and AZ'YMUS[dagger] by theologists.

=BAB'LAH.= The rind or shell of the fruit of _mimosa cineraria_. According
to Dr Ure, it contains a considerable quantity of gallic acid, some
tannin, a red colouring principle, and an azotised substance, and is the
article imported from the East Indies and Senegal under the name of
NEB-NEB.--Used as a cheap dye-stuff for various shades of drab and grey.

=BAC'CA= (b[)a]k'-[)a]). [L.; pl., bac'cae, b[)a]k'-s[=e].] A berry.

=BACK.= [D., bak, a bowl or cistern.] _Syn._ BAC. In _brewing_, a large,
open, flat reservoir or cistern; commonly that in which wort is cooled. In
_distillation_, the vessel into which the wort is pumped from the coolers,
in order to be 'worked' with yeast. The LIQUOR-BACK in a brewery,
distillery, or rectifying house is the water reservoir or cistern.

=BACKS.= In the _leather trade_, the thickest and stoutest portion of the
hide, used for sole-leather.

=BACON= (b[=a]'-kn). [W., baccun, prob. from Ger., bache, a wild sow; "old
Fr., for dried flesh or pork"--Craig.] The flesh of swine salted and
dried, and subsequently either smoked or not. The term is usually
restricted to the sides and belly so prepared; the other parts of the
animal having distinctive names. Sometimes, though rarely, the term is
extended to the flesh of bears, and of other like animals, cured in a
similar manner.

_Qual., &c._ When bacon has been properly prepared from young and well-fed
animals, and is neither 'stale' nor 'rusty,' it forms a very wholesome and
excellent article of food, especially adapted for a light or hasty meal,
or as a relish for bread or vegetables. For persons with a weak stomach,
and for invalids, great care should be taken to cook it without injuring
its flavour, or rendering it indigestible. This is best effected by
cutting it into slices of moderate thickness, and carefully broiling or
toasting it; avoiding dressing it too hastily, too slowly, or too much.
The common practice of cooking it in almost wafer-like slices, until it
becomes brown and crisp, renders it not merely indigestible, but also a
most fertile source of heartburn and dyspepsia. Fried bacon is remarkably
strong, and is hence more likely to offend the stomach than when it is
broiled, or preferably toasted before the fire; the last being, of all
others, the best way of dressing it so as to preserve its delicacy and
flavour. Gourmands, however, often esteem, as 'une bonne bouche,' bacon
dressed in the flame arising from the dropping of its own fat.

_Choice._ Good bacon has a thin rind, and an agreeable odour, the fat has
a firm consistence and a slightly reddish tinge; the lean is of a pleasing
red colour, is tender, and adheres, whilst raw, strongly to the bone. When
the fat is yellow, it is either 'rusty' or becoming so, and should be
avoided. The streaky parts are not only those which are most esteemed, but
are the most wholesome.

Bacon should be broiled or toasted in front of the fire. The rashers
should be in thin slices, and the rind should be removed. The melted fat
from the bacon should never be wasted. To partake of all broiled meats in
perfection they should be served up as soon as they are taken off the
gridiron.

=BACTERIUM= (BACTERION, a little rod). Since the publication of the
researches of Professor Cohn, of Breslau, upon the nature of this
organism, the idea previously entertained by Ehrenberg and others as to
its animal origin has been long abandoned, and microscopists now very
generally regard it as belonging to the vegetable kingdom. It is probably
one of the lowest and most simple forms of vegetable or animal life, and
consists of an envelope more or less enclosing protoplasm--the nitrogenous
substance from which the cell nucleus is formed. Dr Lionel Beale very
carefully crushed a very large bacterium while under observation by the
microscope, and when the external membrane was ruptured the protoplasm was
seen to escape, and to exhibit what Dr Beale regards as vital movement. In
form, bacteria may be either globular, rod-shaped, egg-shaped, or
filamentous. Cohn has described a variety presenting the appearance of
beaded chains, or aggregations.

Bacteria vary considerably in size, some being as much as 1/3000th of an
inch in length, whilst others are less than 1/10000th, and are only
visible by the aid of a glass of very high power, such as the 1/50th of an
inch objective. Dr Beale says, "The germs from which the little particles
spring are far more minute and more difficult to identify. They appear as
minute specks, the largest of them exhibiting a circular outline, and
probably being spherical. The smallest are too minute to be discerned with
the highest magnifying powers at our command. If a specimen of fluid in
which these particles are rapidly growing and multiplying be carefully
examined, many points will be observed to appear from time to time. After
watching with great care for a considerable time a given spot I have
assured myself that new particles actually come into existence; and that
one does not, after intently watching for a time and concentrating the
attention upon a certain space, merely see one coming into view one after
another, as star after star. The material in which the minute germs of
bacteria are imbedded, and which, at least in part, consists of formed
material produced by the bacteria, is much softer than the matter of which
the capsule of fungi consists. It is, perhaps, almost as soft as mucus. I
believe that even the most minute bacterium germ is surrounded by a layer
of such soft formed matter, in which very minute particles of bioplasm
(protoplasm) divide and subdivide before they attain even the 1/100000th
of an inch in diameter. When, therefore, bacteria in an early stage of
development dry, it is not possible to identify them. When moistened, the
dry mass swells up, and the bioplasm in the soft mucus-like matter grows,
each particle producing a fresh investment of formed material, and then if
the conditions are favorable, the germs either at once divide and
subdivide for a time, or grow into perfect bacteria, which move freely and
grow and multiply in this more advanced stage of development."

Bacteria increase by bisection, and when the surrounding conditions are
favorable their rate of production is marvellous. It has been computed
that an individual bacterium will generate nearly 17,000,000 of its
fellows within twenty-four hours. The very probable vegetable origin and
nature of bacteria insisted upon by Professor Cohn not only appears to
derive great support from his researches into the metamorphoses they
undergo during development, &c., but also from their behaviour with
certain chemical reagents. For instance, it was found that boiling them in
solution of potash had no effect, and also when treated with sulphuric
acid and iodine they deported themselves somewhat as cellulin does under
like circumstances; although from their extreme minuteness any changes
that take place in their tissue are very difficult to observe. Another
remarkable analogy presented between bacteria and plants is the manner in
which they both assimilate the elements of which they are built up; for
they derive their nitrogen not from previously existing albuminous
compounds, but from ammonia.

They may be made to develop themselves in any fluid if the fluid contains
an organic substance in which carbon is present, a nitrogenous substance
which need not be organic, and a phosphate. They appear to derive their
carbon by the decomposition of almost any substance, containing this
element except carbonic acid, and they will obtain their nitrogen from a
nitrate, the nitrate becoming reduced to the state of a nitrite. A
knowledge of these facts will of course indicate the method to be followed
if we wish to obtain bacteria. All that we have to do is to prepare a
liquid that fulfils the conditions just stated. Dr J. Burdon Sanderson
gives the following formula for one:--Phosphate of potassium 1/2 per
cent., sulphate of magnesium, 1/2 per cent., dissolve in water having a
trace of phosphate of calcium in suspension, and then add a per cent. of
tartrate of ammonium, and boil the mixture. If properly boiled the liquid
will be free from bacteria; but the contact of almost any organic
substance, for example, a drop of water, a pinch of hay, a morsel of meal,
&c., will cause their appearance.

The tenacity of life exhibited by the bacteria is extremely great. Dr
Beale says, "Extreme dryness does not destroy them, and they withstand a
temperature far below the freezing point; and that under adverse
circumstances they remain dormant, and are not destroyed by a degree of
heat which is fatal probably to every other living organism." Bastian says
that the germs of bacteria are destroyed at a temperature of 160 deg. F., but
others are of opinion that under certain circumstances these germs are not
killed at 212 deg., and that they may increase and multiply after having been
exposed to this degree of heat. Professor Tyndall indeed has shown that in
one experiment heating for a quarter of an hour at a temperature of 230 deg.
F. was insufficient to destroy them, whilst in another the five minutes'
exposure of an atmosphere containing them to the incandescence of the
voltaic current failed to kill them.

Cohn relates that manufacturers of pots of preserved peas at Lubek have
since 1858 been obliged to cook them in a solution of 28 per cent. of
salt, at a temperature of 226 deg. F., to prevent the putrefaction of their
contents, as in warm years nearly half the pots were found to be spoiled.
In experiments made in conjunction with Dr Hare, Cohn found that in
infusions boiled for less than fifteen minutes organisms were, without
exceptions, developed. Somewhat lower temperature proved fatal to the
great majority of bacteria. Those that survived were all found to belong
to the genus _Bacillus_, and among _bacilli_ to the species _Bacillus
subtilis_.

The experiments of Drs Ferrier and Burdon Sanderson would seem to show
that bacteria do not nominally exist in the fluids and tissues of the
body, but that their presence in the animal fluids may be traced to
external surface contamination with ordinary water, the extent of their
development being in proportion to the amount of the contamination. They
contend that different varieties of water possess different degrees of
what they term the 'zymotic power.' They examined the waters supplied by
the several London water companies, and they found them to consist of
varying degrees of bacterian impurity. They assert that all except freshly
distilled water teems with invisible germs of bacteria. Writing of the
universality of the presence of bacteria and bacterian germs, Dr Beale
remarks:--"It would be difficult to say where bacterium germs do not
exist. In air, in water, in the soil adhering to tiny particles of every
kind, in every region of the earth, from the poles to the equator, they
are found. In the substance of the tissues--nay, in the cells of almost
all plants, and in the interstices of the tissues of many
animals--bacteria germs exist. I know not what part of the body of man and
the higher animals is entirely destitute of particles which under
favorable circumstances develop into bacteria. Upon the skin and the
surface of the mucous membranes they exist in profusion, and they abound
in the mouth and in the follicles and glands."

Dr Eberth, of Zurich, states that he has found on ordinary sweat small
oval-shaped bacteria which are frequently united in strings of two or
three, and endowed with rather active movements. The author thinks that
they very likely conduce to produce certain chemical modifications of
sweat.

Drs Ferrier and Sanderson appear to have satisfactorily proved that fungi
are not developed from microzymes, and that their apparent association is
one of juxtaposition only. They give the following reasons for adopting
this conclusion:--(1) The quick appearance of _torula_ cells in Pasteur's
solution whenever it is exposed to the air, and the rapid development and
luxuriant fructification of the higher form (_penicillium_) show that so
far as the chemical composition of the liquid is concerned, there exist in
it all the conditions favorable to the process. (2) When precautions are
taken to prevent contamination by impure surfaces or liquids, the
development which ends in _penicillium_ goes on from first to last without
the appearance of microzymes. (3) Whenever it is possible to impregnate
the test-liquid with microzymes, without at the same time introducing
torula cells or germs, the development of the former begins and continues
by itself without any transformation into the latter. Thus _fungi_ are not
developed, notwithstanding the presence of microzymes in the same liquid
in which, microzymes being absent, but air having access, they appear with
the greatest readiness. As we have already seen the germs of bacteria
exist largely in air; the experiments of Hiller, of Berlin, would seem to
negative the theory of Ferrier and Sanderson, as they tend to show that
bacteria have little influence on putrefaction.

We are indebted to Dr Lionel Beale for these illustrations, which are
taken from his very interesting work on 'Disease Germs.'

[Illustration]

Hiller's experiments tend to show that putrefaction is independent of the
presence of bacteria, that bacteria can develop in liquids such as urine
without producing its decomposition, and that the degree of their
development and the rate of their multiplication depend upon the amount of
assimilable material.

The following is the definition given to the word 'microzyme' (which
occurs above) by its originator, Dr Sanderson: "I proposed the word
'microzyme' as a convenient general term for the first organic forms which
present themselves in organic nitrogenous liquids when about to undergo
spontaneous decomposition."

From the experiments of Bechamp it appears that under some circumstances
the mother of vinegar, a conglomeration of microzymes, can be transformed
into bacteria, and under other circumstances into a cellular ferment which
can excite normal alcoholic fermentation in cane sugar. Subsequent
researches have shown that the converse of this is also true, and that the
cellular ferment may be transformed into microzymes and bacteria.

A mixture of starch and yeast kept at a temperature of 24 deg. to 35 deg. soon
liquefies, and the yeast undergoes remarkable changes. The cells swell,
become transparent, and gradually disappear. Myriads of microzymes of
great agility spring into existence, then vibrios appear, and as these
increase the microzymes diminish. The vibrios in their turn are succeeded
by myriads of bacteria, and finally the bacteria disappear, leaving
nothing but microzymes, single or coupled together. During these changes a
small quantity of gas is disengaged, no butyric acid is formed, and but
little acetic or lactic acids.

As then the mother of vinegar when changed into bacteria becomes lactic or
butyric ferment, and when transformed into cellular matter becomes
alcoholic ferment, and as beer yeast becomes lactic or butyric ferment
when reduced to microzymes, vibrios, or bacteria, it is evident that the
property of being a ferment of any particular nature does not depend
essentially upon the nature of the ferment, but upon its organisation or
structure.

A contributor to the 'Medical Times and Gazette' of February 2nd, 1878,
advances the opinion that many of the bacteria are only parts of a plant
which has other forms and other modes of growth and propagation when not
confined to the living organism or to fluids, and regards the bacterium as
a transitional or provisional and not as a permanent form, but an abnormal
phase of life thrust upon the plant by accident.

=BACTERIA AS ORIGINATORS OF DISEASE.=--The researches of many eminent
microscopists and physiologists afford abundant evidence of the presence
of bacteria in the blood of persons affected with various infectious
diseases. For instance, Core and Feltz, of Strasbourg, found a linked
bacterium in the blood of those attacked with septicaemia, typhoid, and
puerperal fevers. The same investigators also discovered bacteria in the
blood of patients suffering from scarlet fever; this blood when injected
into the veins of rabbits set up a feverish disease that proved fatal.

Again, in the blood of man and the sheep attacked with smallpox, a
bacterium of the globular or sphere-shaped variety was found by Keber,
Hallier, and Zurn.

Bacteria have also been found in the blood during measles, and in the
splenic apoplexy of sheep and cattle. They have likewise been identified
in diphtheritical exudations both from the kidneys and womb, as well as in
the blood during an attack of rheumatic fever, and they are undoubtedly
present in the same fluid during many feverish disorders. Drs Lewis and
Cunningham failed to discover them in the blood of cholera patients.
Professors Cohn and Koch stand prominently forward as the advocates of the
germ theory of disease by bacteria. Professor Cohn divides the bacteria
into groups, genera, and species, and assigns to each species a different
function.

For instance, he considers the ferment of contagion to be due to the
presence of a variety of the sphere-shaped bacterium--one of his groups.
He divides the whole group into three--the chromogen, zymogen, and
pathogen, the bacteria of pigmentation, of fermentation, and of contagion,
respectively. He says those organisms are exceedingly minute, darkish or
 granules, so small as to be immeasurable. They frequently present
the appearance of beaded chains or the form of aggregations. They are
motionless and are occasionally found with the _Bacterium termo_ in
putrefying organic liquids.

Messrs Chauveau and Sanderson have discovered a bacterium in vaccine lymph
which believers in the germ theory class among the pathogen bacteria, and
which they have named the _Micrococcus vaccinae_. Amongst the pathogen
bacteria they also include the _Micrococcus dipthericus_ and _Micrococcus
septicus_, the former found in the epithelium of certain organs during
certain forms of pyaemia, and the latter in the miliary eruption of typhus,
pyaemia, and other diseases. The chromogen or pigmentary bacteria have
occasionally been the means of working miracles. Several instances of
bread exuding blood, under supernatural circumstances, are related by
Rivola. Ehrenberg found this colour on some bread in the house of a
patient who had died of cholera, and he ascertained the pigment to be due
to the presence of the _Monas prodigiosa_, small round bodies which
Professor Cohn classes with the micrococci, a variety of the sphere-shaped
bacterium.

The recent investigations of Koch were directed to the cause of splenic
fever, and Cohn on examining his specimens found that they were examples
of Bacteria of the species called _Bacillus anthracis_, which seems to
present little or no difference to the _Bacillus subtilis_ of hay
infusions. Koch found that _bacilli_ increase with enormous rapidity in
the blood, and in the fluid of tissues of living animals, by developing in
length and dividing transversely. The animals employed were chiefly mice,
and a small incision being made at the root of the tail, as minute a drop
as possible of the fluid containing the _bacilli_ was injected into the
system. The spleen invariably became enormously swollen, and filled with a
large number of crystalline-looking rods of varying size, never exhibiting
movement or spore formation; they increased in numbers solely by division.
The number of _bacilli_ found in the blood varies in different animals;
thus in the guinea-pig it was enormous, sometimes exceeding that of the
blood-corpuscles; in the rabbit much smaller, so that sometimes several
drops had to be examined before any were found, in the mouse often _nil_.
In the blood of dead animals or other suitable fluids the _bacilli_ grow
to very long straight leptothorax-like filaments (within certain limits of
temperature, and with the presence of air), while the formation of
numerous spores goes on at the same time.

Kohl believes that it is to the presence of the spores that the occurrence
of splenetic fever appears to be referable. When living, inoculation with
them always produced the disease; but if killed, as by drying, or a high
temperature, inoculation failed; it was necessary either that living
spores should be present, or that the filaments should be capable of
generating spores, in order that the disease should be propagated by
inoculation.

Koch tried whether the poisonous bacilli spores could gain entrance
through the digestive organs, but found that mice and rabbits could eat
them with impunity. Koch draws attention to the similarity of splenic
fever to typhus and cholera. He says it presents analogies to typhus in
its dependence on soil-water, its preference for low grounds, its sporadic
occurrence throughout the year, and its development into an epidemic in
the late summer and autumn. Like cholera, again, he says, it is connected
with soil-water, and it also agrees with cholera in the point which has
been so well made out by Pettenkofer, that on board ship an interval of
three or four weeks is sufficient to prevent its further development.

Hence Koch is disposed to hope that the contagium of typhus and cholera
may still be discovered in the form of some _Schizophyte_ or spheroidal
bacterium, though practical observers have hitherto sought for them in
vain.

Many pathologists, however, refuse to accept the accuracy of these
deductions, and regard the presence of bacteria in the blood and tissues
during disease as of no significance; whilst they deny that it is
satisfactorily proved that they are the cause of disease.

Dr Lionel Beale says:--"Changes in the processes of digestion are soon
followed by the multiplication of bacteria in every part of the alimentary
canal, and within a few hours countless millions may be developed. They
multiply in the secretions under certain circumstances, almost as soon as
these are formed, and I have adduced evidence to show that bacteria germs
exist even in healthy blood. In the very substance of some cells I have
seen them, and in many cases in which little granules have been discerned
in connection with bioplasts. There is reason to believe that some of them
are really bacteria germs, passive as long as the higher life is
maintained in its integrity, but ready to grow and multiply the instant a
change favorable to them, and adverse to us, shall occur."

And again he remarks:--"Bacteria prey upon morbid structure, and upon the
substances resulting from the death of bioplasm (protoplasm). We ought
not, therefore, to be surprised at their existence in disease. They are
found in great numbers amongst pus-corpuscles which have ceased to live,
and they grow and multiply with great rapidity in fluids which contain
disease germs, as soon as these begin to lose their specific powers and to
undergo decomposition." See GERMS.

=BAD''GER= (b[)a]j'-[)e]r). _Syn._ ME'LES, L.; BLAIREAU, Fr.; DACHS, Ger.
The _ur'sus me'les_ (Linn.), one of the plantigrade carnivora, a burrowing
nocturnal animal, common in Europe, Asia, and North America. Since the
extirpation of the bear, the badger is the sole representative of the
ursine family in our indigenous zoology. Its habits are "nocturnal,
inoffensive, and slothful; its food consists of roots, earth-nuts, fruits,
the eggs of birds, insects, reptiles, and the smaller quadrupeds; its
noxious qualities are consequently few and of slight moment, and by no
means justify the exterminating war unintermittently waged against it."
(Brande.) Its "muscular strength is great, its bite proverbially powerful;
and a dog must be trained and encouraged to enter willingly into combat"
with it. (Id.)

_Uses, &c._ The flesh of the badger is prized as food; the skin used for
pistol furniture; the hair made into brushes. The American badger is
commonly called the GROUND-HOG. The Cape badger produces HYRACEUM (which
_see_).

=BAD'IANE= (-e-[)a]hn). [Fr.] _Syn._ BAD'IAN, B.-SEED. Star-anise seed.

=BADI''GEON= (b[)a]-d[)i]zh'[=o]ne; b[)a]d'-e-zh[)u]n[double-dagger], or
b[)a]-d[)i]j'[)u]n[double-dagger]--Smart). Among operatives and artists,
any cement used to fill up holes and to cover defects in their work. Among
statuaries, a mixture of plaster and free-stone is commonly used for this
purpose; among joiners and carpenters, a mixture of sawdust and glue, or
of whiting and glue; and among coopers, one of tallow and chalk. The name
is also given to a stone- mixture used for the fronts of houses,
and said to be composed of wood-dust and lime, slaked together, stone
powder, and a little ochre, umber, or sienna; the whole being mixed up
with weak alum water to the consistence of paint, and laid on in dry
weather.

=BAEL.= [Nat.] _Syn._ INDIAN BAEL, BEL*; BAEL, B. IN'DICUS, BE'LA, B.
IN'DICA, L. The _[oe]g'le marmelos_ (Correa; _crataeva m._, Linn.) one of
the Aurantiaceae (DC.). Dried half-ripe fruit imported from the E. Indies,
under the name of INDIAN BAEL. Astringent and refrigerant; highly extolled
in chronic dysentery, diarrh[oe]a, English cholera, and relaxations
generally. It is also used in bilious fevers, hypochondriasis,
melancholia, &c. Root-bark, stem-bark, and expressed juice of the leaves,
particularly the first, also used in the same cases in India. Ripe fruit
fragrant and delicious; used, in the E. I., as a warm cathartic, and
regarded as a certain cure for habitual costiveness. Mucus of the seeds
used by painters as size; also as a cement. Unripe fruit used to dye
yellow. It is generally administered under the form of DECOCTION or
EXTRACT (which _see_).

=BAGASSE'= (-g[)a]s'). [Fr.] The dry refuse stalks of the sugar cane as
they leave the crushing-mill.--Used as fuel in the colonial sugar-houses.

=BAGG'ING.= The cloth or materials of which bags or sacks are made. In
_agriculture_, applied to a method of reaping corn by a chopping, instead
of a drawing cut. See RATS, &c.

=BAHIA POWDER.= See ARAROBA.

=BAHR'S NON-POISONOUS MEDICAL SNUFF.= A snuff largely advertised in the
Berlin journals, composed chiefly of powdered galls. (Hager.)

=BAIN-MARIE.= [Fr.] In _old chemistry_, a water bath; also, sometimes, a
sand bath. In _cookery_, a shallow vessel containing heated water, in
which saucepans, &c., are placed, when it is necessary either to make them
hot, or to keep them so, without allowing them to boil. It is extremely
useful in making sauces, warming soups and small dishes, and when dinners
are delayed after they are ready to be served.

=BA''KING= (b[=a]ke'-). _Syn._ ACTION DE CUIRE AU FOUR, Fr. The
process of cooking, or of heating, drying, and hardening any
substance in an oven or kiln, or by the rays of the sun; the art or
trade of a baker[double-dagger]; also technically, a batch or
ovenful, or the quantity baked at once (= FOURNEE, Fr.).

In _cookery_, baking is, perhaps, of all others, the cheapest, most
convenient, and best way of dressing dinners for small families, where a
good domestic oven is at hand. Though the flavour of baked meat is
generally considered barely equal to that of the same parts roasted, there
are some joints and dishes to which it appears particularly suitable.
Among these may be mentioned legs and loins of pork, legs and shoulders of
mutton, fillets of veal, &c. A baked pig, if it has been occasionally
basted, and the heat has not been too great, eats equal to a roast one.
Geese and ducks treated in the same way are also excellent. A baked hare
which has been basted with raw milk and butter also eats well; and so do
various pieces of beef, especially the buttock. Cooks tell us that this
last should be sprinkled with a little salt for a day or two before
dressing it, and after being washed is preferably baked, along with about
a pint of water, in a glazed earthen pan tied over with writing paper,
'three or four times thick.' A baked ham is said to be preferable to a
boiled one; to be tenderer, fuller of gravy, and finer flavoured. It
should be soaked in water for about an hour, wiped dry, and covered with a
coarse thin paste or batter. Ordinary dishes require similar treatment in
baking to that given them when roasted.

For domestic use, where the kitchen-range does not include a really good
oven, the portable articles known as a 'DUTCH-OVEN,' and an 'American
oven,' form an excellent substitute, admirably adapted for small joints,
poultry, &c., all of which, when these utensils are skilfully employed,
possess a delicacy and flavour fully equal to the same when roasted;
whilst not more than one half the fire is required for the purpose.
According to Miss Acton they also "answer excellently for delicate sweet
puddings, and for cakes." See BREAD, CAKES, ROASTING, &c.

=Baking Pow'der.= See POWDERS.

=Baking Powder, American.= For making light pastry. Tartaric acid and
chalk. (Reichardt.)

=Baking Powder, Borwick's German=, is an artificial fermentation powder,
compounded with coarse maize-flour. (Gaedike.)

=Baking Powder, Goodall's=, is a compound of 2 parts of rice flour with 1
part of a mixture of tartaric acid and bicarbonate of soda. (K. Boschan.)

=Baking Powder or Yeast Powder, Professor Horsford's= (Cambridge, U.S.).
This is a powder supplied in two packets. The one contains an acid
phosphate of lime and magnesia made up with a certain quantity of flour,
and the other is bicarbonate of soda, with a little chloride of potassium.

=BAL'ANCE.= As in the process of what is termed gravimetric analysis the
chemist has to determine the weights of the different substances employed
as well as found, it will be self-evident that for his results to be
trustworthy the balance he employs must be perfectly accurate and
reliable.

The accompanying drawing, from Roscoe, represents a common form of
chemical balance.

[Illustration]

The apparatus consists of a perforated brass beam (AA), vibrating about
its centre, at which is fixed a triangular knife-edge of agate (C); this
rests upon a horizontal agate plane attached to the upright brass pillar.
To each end of the beam light brass pans (BB) are hung, each pan being
suspended by an agate plane, upon an agate knife-edge fixed on the end of
the beam at DD. This arrangement is rendered necessary in order to reduce
as much as possible the friction of the edges on their supports, which
friction, if unchecked, would seriously impair the sensibility of the
balance.

In order to prevent the agate edges being worn away by constantly rubbing
on the agate planes, the beam and the ends (DD) are supported by the brass
arm (EE), when the balance is not in use, so that the agate surfaces are
not in contact. The beam and pans are released when required by turning
the handle (F). The movement of the brass arm (EE) is accompanied by means
of a rod descending through the upright brass pillar, and resting on a
simple eccentric, by the turning of which by the handle (F) it may be
gradually raised or lowered. The substance to be weighed (held by a tube,
watch glass, &c.) is placed in one of the pans, and weights added one by
one in the other, until the beam is in equilibrium: this is ascertained by
the long pointer(G) oscillating to an equal distance on each side of the
central mark or index, this latter being subdivided into equal spaces, so
that the oscillations can be measured. A spirit level is also a necessary
appendage to the instrument, since it enables the operator to place the
beam on an exactly horizontal level.

The beam of the balance is generally graduated into decimals. This saves
the trouble of placing a weight on the scale, since it enables the
operator to weigh the milligramme and its fractions by suspending a
centigramme rider or hook on or between the indicated points of a
graduated line.

The balance is enclosed in a glass case, which serves not only to protect
it from dust, but to allow of the weighing being carried on away from the
outer air, in which the prevalence of draughts proves a source of
considerable annoyance to the weigher. The front of the scale case
generally consists of three parts, viz. a fixed centre piece and two
lateral frames or doors, all of course of glass. It is of importance that
the air inside the balance case should be perfectly dry, since a humid
atmosphere would not only affect the weight of many hygroscopic substances
when placed in the pans, but likewise be liable to attack the instrument
itself. To guard against these casualties a small beaker containing oil of
vitriol, or chloride of calcium, or freshly-burnt lime, should be kept in
the case. A balance capable of weighing 70 or 80 grammes in each scale
will be found to meet the needs of most chemists.

Fresenius says, "The ACCURACY of a balance depends upon the following
conditions:

"_a._ The fulcrum must be placed above the centre of gravity of the beam.

"_b._ The suspension points of the scales must be on an exact level with
the fulcrum.

"_c._ The beam must be sufficiently strong and inflexible to bear without
bending the greatest weight that the construction of the balance admits
of.

"_d._ The arms of the balance must be of equal length; _i.e._ the points
of suspension must be equidistant from the fulcrum or point of support.

"The SENSIBILITY or DELICACY of a balance depends upon the following
conditions:

"_a._ The friction of the edges upon their supports must be as slight as
possible.

"_b._ The centre of gravity must be as near as possible to the fulcrum.

"_c._ The beam must be as light as possible."

The following are the tests given by the same authority for the accuracy
and sensibility of a balance:

"1. The balance is in the first place accurately adjusted, if necessary,
either by the regulating screws, or by means of tinfoil, and a milligramme
weight is then placed in one of the scales. A good and practically useful
balance must turn distinctly with this weight; a delicate chemical balance
should indicate the one tenth of a milligramme with perfect distinctness.

"2. Both scales are loaded with the maximum weight the construction of the
balance will admit of; the balance is then _accurately_ adjusted, and a
milligramme added to the weight in one scale. This ought to cause the
balance to turn to the same extent as in 1. In most balances, however, it
shows somewhat less on the index.

"3. The balance is accurately adjusted should it be necessary to establish
a perfect equilibrium between the scales by loading the one with a minute
portion of tinfoil (this tinfoil must be left remaining upon the scale
during the experiment); both scales are then equally loaded, say with
about fifty grammes each, and if necessary the balance is again adjusted
(by the addition of small weights, &c.). The load of the two scales is
then interchanged, so as to transfer that of the right scale to the left,
and _vice versa_. A balance with perfectly equal arms must maintain its
absolute equilibrium upon the interchange of the weights of the two
scales.

"4. The balance is accurately adjusted; it is then arrested, subsequently
set in motion, and again allowed to recover its equilibrium; the same
process should be repeated several times. A good balance must invariably
reassume its original equilibrium.

"A balance of which the end edges afford too much play to the hook resting
upon them, so as to allow the latter slightly to alter its position, will
show perceptible differences in different trials. This fault, however, is
possible only with balances of defective construction.

"A balance to be perfectly useful for the purposes of quantitative
analysis _must_ stand the first, second, and last of these tests. A slight
inequality of the arms is of no great consequence, since this may be
readily and completely remedied by the manner of weighing." See WEIGHTS.

=Balance, Hydrostat'ic.= See SPECIFIC GRAVITY.

=Balance, Tor'sion.= A delicate instrument, invented by Coulomb, for
measuring the intensities of the electrical and magnetic forces.

=BALD'NESS= (bawld'-). _Syn._ CAL'VITAS, CALVI''TIES (v[)i]sh'-e-[=e]z),
L.; CALVITIE, CHAUVETE, Fr.; KAHLHEIT, KAHLKOPF, KAHLKOePFIGHEIT, Ger.
Primarily, absence or loss of any natural covering; appr., destitution or
loss of hair, more especially of that of the top and fore-part of the
head. In _botany_, absence of beard or awn.

Grey hair and baldness dependent on old age are natural consequences of
man's infirmity, and must be regarded as evidence of failing vigour,
rather than in the light of a disease. Premature loss of hair may be
induced by various causes. It is common after severe fevers, and is
frequently caused by external pressure, friction, or violence, and by such
other local actions and conditions which, when long continued, interrupt
the normal functions of the skin. Persons with a consumptive, scorbutic,
scrofulous, or syphilitic taint, or of a general bad habit of body,
frequently lose their hair early. In these cases it probably arises from
debility or paralysis of the cutaneous vessels, and the consequent
insufficient nutrition of the hair-bulbs. When it occurs in persons under
the middle age, and apparently enjoying good health, it may be often
traced to the pernicious practice of constantly wearing a hard
non-ventilating hat, or to disordered stomach, habitual smoking or hard
drinking, irregular habits, or late hours. Excessive anxiety or grief, and
intense study and thoughtfulness, also tend to promote the early decay of
the hair. The natural baldness of the aged, and frequently the premature
baldness of earlier years, arises from the gradual attenuation of the
scalp, which ultimately becomes too thin to afford room for the
performance of the functions of the hair-producing organs, and too
scantily supplied with blood for their due nutrition and support.[104]

[Footnote 104: In such cases it will be found that, owing to this
attenuation, the scalp covers a larger portion of the skull than
previously; and that its sides have somewhat receded from the top of the
head, so that the roots of the remaining hair descend lower towards the
forehead, temples, and back of the neck, than when the parts were in
vigorous health. This may be perceived by applying the open hand to the
part, and then gently closing the fingers, when the scalp may be drawn
into its original position, and will then appear loose and wrinkled over
the occiput, &c.; and this in a manner very different to what occurs when
the top of the head is covered, or well-covered, with hair.]

_Treatm._ The baldness of senility and that arising from the permanent
injury or destruction of the hair-bulbs, admit of no cure, notwithstanding
the daily assurances of advertising impostors to the contrary. In other
cases, when a disposition to baldness exists, shown by the hair falling
off in large quantities, or ceasing to grow with its usual vigour and
rapidity, the frequent but gentle use of the hair-brush, and of any bland
stimulating oil, pomade, or wash, if adopted in time, will generally prove
sufficient to arrest the progress of decay, and, very frequently, to
restore the hair to its pristine condition. The head may be advantageously
washed in cold water, at least once a day; or what is better, a shower
bath may be taken on rising in the morning. Should this plan not succeed,
the head, or the upper part of it, may be shaved, and a wig, or a scalp,
adopted for a time. The effect of keeping the hair closely cropped or
shaved is to make it grow thicker, stiffer, and stronger, and this often
when all other means fail.

Among more active and less common remedies for baldness may be
mentioned--mild streaming electricity, stimulant fomentations,
cantharidised, ioduretted, phosphoretted, &c., oils and lotions, a
night-cap that, without pressing injuriously on the head, lifts, as it
were, the scalp into its natural position, &c., all of which are noticed
elsewhere.

The celebrated John Wesley recommended rubbing the part morning and
evening with a raw onion until it became red, and then applying a little
honey. The vendors of Rowland's 'Macassar Oil' recommend the head to be
rubbed with a towel (or hair-brush), until somewhat red, each time before
applying their nostrum; and the advice is certainly good, as independent
of the stimulus thus given to the skin, and the increased flow of blood
through the minute vessels of the scalp, it is rendered more absorbent and
sensitive to the action of medicaments. At the same time the reader must
be cautioned against placing any reliance on external applications, unless
he assists their action by due attention to diet, exercise, ventilation,
and such other matters as tend to promote the general health and vigour of
the body.

The substances usually employed to medicate hair-cosmetics, the general
management of the hair, and the formulae for various applications to
promote its growth, preservation, and beauty, are noticed in the articles
HAIR, HAIR-COSMETICS, POMADES, OILS, WASHES, &c., to which the reader is
referred.

=BALEEN'= (-l[=e]ne'). [Fr. _baleine._] The fisher's name for whalebone.

=BALL= (bawl). [Eng., Ger., Swed.] _Syn._ BALLE, BOULE, Fr.; BAL, BOL,
Dau.; GLOB-U-LUS, PI'LA, L. In _commerce_, _veterinary medicine_,
_perfumery_, &c., applied to various substances made up into a globular,
spheroidal, or even a cylindrical form, as ash-balls, horse-balls,
soap-balls, &c.

=BALLOON'= (-l[=o][=o]n'). _Syn._ BALLON, Fr., Ger. Any hollow spherical
body of which the sides are extremely thin or attenuated in comparison
with its diameter or bulk. In _aerostatics_, a machine or apparatus for
elevating and sustaining bodies in the air. In _chemistry_, a globular
glass-receiver, with either one or two necks (= GROS RECIEIENT, FR.;
GROSSE R., Ger.). In _pyrotechny_, a hollow case or ball of pasteboard
filled with fire-works or combustibles, which explodes in the air on being
fired from a mortar.

=Balloon.= In _aerostation_, a bag or hollow pear-shaped vessel, made of
varnished silk or other light material, and inflated with some gas or
vapour lighter than the air, as hydrogen, carburetted hydrogen, heated
air, &c., so as to rise and float in the atmosphere. When filled with gas
it is called by way of distinction an AIR-BALLOON (_aerostat_, &c., Fr.,
_lufball_, _luft-schiff_, &c., Ger.); when with heated air, a FIRE-BALLOON
or MONTGOLFIER B. (_ballon a feu_, &c., Fr.).

In the early days of aerostation, and indeed for some years afterwards,
balloons were inflated with hydrogen gas, obtained by the action of
sulphuric acid and water on iron filings or small fragments of iron; but
this method of filing them ultimately gave place to the cheaper and more
convenient supply afforded by the gas-light companies. Of late years, the
coal-gas furnished by the gas-works has been generally, if not solely,
used for the inflation of balloons.

The principles of ballooning may be referred to the well-known difference
in the specific gravity of bodies, and to the physical properties of the
atmosphere. Pure hydrogen, weighed at the level of the sea, is about 16
times lighter than common air; but when prepared on the large scale, and
containing water, and other impurities, it is only from 7 to 11 times
lighter than the atmosphere. A globe of atmospheric air of 1 foot in
diameter, under like circumstances, weighs 1/25 _lb._; a similar globe of
hydrogen (reckoning it only as 6 times lighter than common air, will,
therefore, have an ascensional force of 1/30 _lb._). Now, the weight of
the body of air which a balloon displaces must exceed the gross weight of
the balloon and all its appendages, in order for the latter to ascend in
the atmosphere. The difference of the two weights expresses the
ascensional force. The aerostatic power of balloons is proportional to
their dimensions, in the ratio of the cubes of their diameters. Thus, it
appears that a balloon of 60 feet diameter filled with common hydrogen
will ascend with a weight of nearly 7000 _lbs._, besides the gas case;
whilst one of only 1-1/2 foot in diameter will barely float, owing to the
less proportionate volume of gas to the weight of the case containing it.
In round numbers the buoyancy of a balloon may be reckoned as equal to 1
_oz._ for every cubic foot of hydrogen it contains, _less_ the weight of
the case and appendages. The carburetted hydrogen supplied by the
gas-works is much heavier than hydrogen gas, and consequently much less
buoyant, for which due allowance must be made. That which possesses the
least illuminating power is the lightest, and consequently the best
adapted for aerostation.

The fabric of which the cases of air-balloons are made is strong thin
silk, covered with an elastic varnish of drying oil or india rubber, or,
what is better, a solution of india rubber in either chloroform or
bisulphide of carbon; the netting is of strong light silk or flaxen cord;
and the car of basket-work. Fire-balloons, on the small scale, are
generally made of silver-paper, and are inflated with the fumes of burning
spirit of wine, by means of a sponge dipped in that liquid, and suspended
just within the mouth of the apparatus.

Owing to the increasing rarity of the atmosphere as we ascend from the
earth's surface, balloon cases are made very much larger than is required
to contain the necessary quantity of gas, to allow for its expansion as it
rises into a rarer medium. A cubical foot of gas measured at the level of
the sea occupies a space of two feet at an elevation of 3-1/2 miles.

The following _Table_ will prove useful to the amateur aeronaut or
balloonist:--

        TABLE _showing the relations between the diameters,
        surfaces, and capacities of spheres_.

  ---------------------------------------------
  | Diameters. | Surfaces. | Cubical contents.|
  ---------------------------------------------
  |      1     |    3.141  |         .523     |
  |      2     |   12.567  |        4.188     |
  |      3     |   28.274  |       14.137     |
  |      4     |   50.265  |       33.51      |
  |      5     |   78.54   |       65.45      |
  |     10     |  314.159  |      523.6       |
  |     15     |  706.9    |     1767.1       |
  |     20     | 1256.6    |     4189.        |
  |     25     | 1963.5    |     8181.        |
  |     30     | 2827.     |    14137.        |
  |     40     | 5026.     |    33510.        |
  ---------------------------------------------

See ATMOSPHERE, GAS, HYDROGEN, PARACHUTE, VARNISH, &c.

=BALLOON'ING[double-dagger].= _Syn._ BALLOON'RY[dagger]*. The act, art, or
practice of ascending or travelling in balloons; aerostation. A
BALLOON'IST[double-dagger] is an aeronaut (particularly an amateur or
enthusiastic one).

=BALLS.= The application of this term in _commerce_, _perfumery_,
_veterinary medicine_, &c., has been already noticed. (See BALL.) The
following may be inserted here:--

=Balls, Al'mond= (ah'-m[)u]nd). _Syn._ BOULES D'AMANDE, Fr. _Prep._ 1.
Spermaceti, 4 _oz._; white wax (pure) 8 _oz._; oil of almonds, 1 pint;
melt them together in a glazed earthenware-vessel, by the heat of a water
bath, and when the mixture has cooled a little, add essential oil of
almonds, and expressed oil of mace, of each 2 _dr._; stir assiduously
until it begins to cool, and then pour it into the moulds, which may be
ounce-gallipots with smooth bottoms (very slightly warmed), when it will
form beautiful hemispherical cakes. Very fine.

2. Hard clarified suet, 1-1/4 _lb._; white wax, 1/4 _lb._; ess. oil of
almonds, 1-1/2 _dr._; oil of cloves (or of pimento), 1/2 _dr._; as before.

_Uses, &c._ To soften the skin, and in winter to prevent chaps and
chilblains. Sometimes these balls are , which is done whilst the
mixture is in the liquid state. A rich pink or red may be given by a
little alkanet-root or dragon's blood; a yellow, by palm oil or annotta; a
blue, by a little finely powdered indigo; and a green, with spinage
(steeped in the oil before use), or a few grains of verdigris. The most
appropriate tint for them is a pale yellow or amber.

=Balls, Bareges= (-r[=a]zhe'). _Syn._ BOULES DE BAREGES, Fr. _Prep._ 1.
Extract of soap-wort, 3 _oz._; good glue or gelatin, 1-1/2 _oz._; water, 4
_oz._; dissolve with heat, and add of sulphide of calcium, 6 _oz._; common
salt, 1 _oz._ (both in powder); mix thoroughly, and form the mass into
balls weighing 2-1/2 _oz._ each, adding a little powdered gum, if
required, to thicken it, and using powdered starch to roll them in.

2. Gelatin, 8 _oz._; sulphide of calcium, 12 _oz._; common salt, 2 _oz._;
water, q. s.; after solution and admixture, add carbonate of soda and
Castile soap, of each (in powder), 2-1/2 _oz._ One ball is added to the
water of a bath for an adult, to be used as a substitute for that of
Bareges.

=Balls, Bitter.= _Prep._ 1. Powdered gentian, 2 _lbs._; extract of
gentian, 1 _lb._; grains of paradise (ground), 1/2 _lb._ syrup, q. s.; mix
with heat, and divide into half-pound rolls. For ALE.

2. To the above add of Spanish-juice, 1-1/2 _lb._; previously softened
with a little boiling water For PORTER and STOUT. Both are used by
fraudulent brewers; and by publicans in reducing their beer.

=Balls, Black'ing.= _Prep._ 1 (Bailey's). Gum-tragacanth, 1 _oz._; water,
4 _oz._; dissolve, add of sugar candy, 4 _oz._; and afterwards,
ivory-black and Prussian blue (in very fine powder), of each 2 _oz._;
neat's foot oil, 2 _fl. oz._; thoroughly incorporate, and evaporate by a
gentle heat, constantly stirring, until of a proper consistence, then pour
it into oiled moulds.

2. Gum-arabic, moist sugar, and ivory-black, of each 1/2 _lb._;
lamp-black, 1/4 _lb._; glue (melted with a little water), 2 _oz._; water,
1 quart, or q. s.; neat's foot oil, 1/4 pint; as before.--Used by the
shoemakers, harness-makers, &c., to blacken and polish leather. See BALLS,
HEEL.

=Balls, Breech'es.= See BALLS, SCOURING.

=Balls, Bronze.= See BALLS, COPYING.

=Balls, Cam'phor.= _Syn._ CAM'PHOR-CAKES, CHAP'-BALLS[double-dagger],
CHIL'BLAIN B.[double-dagger], &c.; GLOB'ULI CAMPHORA'TI, PLACEN'TAE
CAMPHORA'TAE, &c., L. _Prep._ 1. Spermaceti and white wax, of each 2
_oz._; almond or olive oil, 1/4 pint; melt together by a gentle heat, add
of camphor (in small pieces), 1 _oz._; when dissolved, stir until partly
cold, and then pour it into moulds, as directed under ALMOND-CAKES
(_above_).

2. Clarified suet, 1 _lb._; spermaceti and white wax, of each, 3 _oz._;
camphor, 2 _oz._; as before.

3. Spermaceti cerate (Ph. L.), 1 _lb._; spermaceti, 2 _oz._; camphor,
1-1/2 _oz._; as before.

4. To either of the above add of balsam of Peru, 1/4 to 1/2 _oz._; and,
after solution, either strain the mixture through muslin, or allow it to
settle, and decant the clear portion from the dregs.

_Use, &c._ A popular preventive of chapping and chilblains. A little is
well rubbed into the skin, previously washed clean and wiped dry. Some
persons add colour and scent; but they are generally sold without either.
The only suitable colours are amber, pink, or yellow. The best perfumes
are allspice, ambergris, cassia, cloves, mush, nutmeg, rondoletia,
vanilla, and violets. See BALLS, ALMOND (_ante_).

=Balls, Clothes.= See BALLS, SCOURING.

=Balls, Contrayer'va.= _Syn._ LA'PIS CONTRAYER'VAE, GLOB'ULI C., L.
Compound contrayerva-powder made into balls with gum-water. An obsolete
preparation, once in great repute as a stimulant, tonic, diaphoretic, and
absorbent.

=Balls, Cop'ying.= These have a similar composition to 'heel-balls' (see
_below_). For BLACK, the best colouring matter is lamp-black or plumbago
with about half its weight of indigo; for a BRONZE-COLOUR, bronze-powder
is substituted; and for a mellow BROWN, burnt terra di Sienna. These
should be all in very fine powder. The semi-fluid mass is poured into
small flat cylindrical moulds--paper pill-boxes answer the purpose
well.--Used by artists and amateurs to copy inscriptions, monumental
brasses, and other slightly raised or sunken patterns; the ball being
rubbed over the paper previously laid flat on the design, and held
securely in its place. They are sometimes rendered more permanent by
damping the wrong side with a sponge dipped in water, strong spirit, or
oil of turpentine; or by passing the wrong side over a hot iron held with
the face upwards.

=Balls, Cosmet'ic.= See SAVONETTES, &c. (also _above_).

=Balls, Cream.= See SAVONETTES, SOAP BALLS, &c.

=Balls, Dog.= See DOGS.

=Balls, Gas'coign's.= _Syn._ GLOB'ULI GASCOIG'NII, L. Gascoign's powder
made up into small balls with thin mucilage. See POWDERS.

=Balls, Heel.= _Prep._ 1. (Ullathorne's.) Bees' wax, 1 _lb._; suet, 4
_oz._; melt together, and stir in of ivory-black (very finely powdered), 4
_oz._; lamp-black (sifted), 3 _oz._; gum arabic and sugar-candy, of each
(in very fine powder) 2 _oz._; and, when thoroughly mixed and partly cold,
pour the composition into tin or leaden moulds.

2. To the last add of resin, 3 _oz._; oil of turpentine, 2 _oz._

3. Hard suet and bees' wax, of each 4 _oz._; powdered gum, sugar candy,
and Venice turpentine, of each 1 _oz._; ivory-black and lamp-black, of
each 2 _oz._; as before.

4. Suet and bees' wax, of each 4 _oz._; lamp-black and brown sugar, of
each 8 _oz._; common size, 5 _oz._; melt together and stir until
incorporated.

_Uses, &c._ Employed to black leather, and more especially by shoemakers
for the edges of the soles; the ball being first rubbed on, and the part
afterwards smoothed over with a burnisher or polished iron tool gently
heated. Also used by artists to copy inscriptions, basso relievos, &c. To
produce a good article, the gum, colouring matter, and sugar, must be in
the state of extremely fine powder, and the mixture very carefully made;
no lumps being left. Some persons dissolve the gum in a little water, and
then stir the mixture over the fire until it acquires the proper
consistence for moulding (as in No. 4, _above_); but the first is
accounted the best method.

=Balls, Horse.= See VETERINARY MEDICINE, &c.

=Balls, Martial.= _Syn._ GLOB'ULI MARTIA'LES, L. _Prep._ 1. Those of the
P. Cod. consist of tartarised iron mixed with aromatics, and made up into
small globular masses.

2. (BOULES DE NANCY.) Equal parts of iron filings and red tartar, in fine
powder, made into balls with proof spirit or brandy. Both are used as
chalybeate tonics, either in the form of pills or dissolved in hot water.
Seldom employed in England.

=Balls, Physic.= (Vet. Med.) See MASSES.

=Balls, Poultry.= See POULTRY.

=Balls, Scent.= See PASTILS (Toilet), PERFUMERY, POMAMBRA, SCENTS, &c.

=Balls, Scouring.= _Syn._ BREECH'ES BALLS, CLOTHES B., CARPET B., &c.
_Prep._ 1. Curd soap (sliced), 1 _lb._; water, 2 _oz._; melt in a water
bath, or a glue-pot, and when cooled a little, add ox-gall and oil of
turpentine, of each, 5-1/2 _oz._; mix well and roll or mould the mass into
balls or cakes.

2. Fuller's earth, 2 _lbs._; curd-soap, 1 _lb._; beat to a stiff paste
with ox-gall, q. s.

3. Soft soap and fuller's earth, equal parts, beat up with a little oil of
turpentine, and either with or without a little essence of lemons.--_Obs._
The above are used to remove paint, grease, and dirt from cloth, carpets,
&c. The spot, first moistened with hot water, is rubbed with the cake, and
allowed to soak a few minutes, or to become nearly dry, when it is well
rubbed with a little warm water and a brush or piece of woollen cloth, and
afterwards rinsed in clean water, and finally rubbed dry and smoothed off
with a piece of dry cloth or a dry brush. The last formula produces the
composition so commonly vended about the streets of London in penny cakes.

4. Whiting and pipe-clay, equal parts; water, q. s. Used for soldiers'
belts, trousers, &c.

5. Pipe-clay, 2 _lbs._; fuller's earth, 1 _lb._; whiting, 1/2 _lb._;
water, q. s.

6. Bath brick, 1 _lb._; pipe-clay, 2 _lbs._; soft soap, 1/4 _lb._;
ox-gall, 1/2 pint.

7. To the last add of pumice-stone, in very fine powder, 6 _oz._--_Obs._
The last four are used for cloth and leather, especially for drab and
light- coats, trousers, leather breeches, belts, and gloves. Rose
pink, yellow ochre, umber, Irish slate, or other like colouring matter,
may be added to produce any desired tint. White pepper, cloves, &c., are
also occasionally added to drive away moths and insects; and orris root,
or essence of bergamot or of lemon-grass, as perfume.

=Balls, Sweet.= See BALLS, SCENT (_ante_).

=Balls, Tan.= The muddy sediment of tan-pits made into balls or
lumps.--Used by the poor for summer fuel.

=Balls, Wash.= See SAVONETTES, SOAP, &c.

=BALM= (bahm). _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM, L.; BAUME, Fr.; BALSAM, Ger. Primarily,
balsam (of which it is a contraction); formerly and still popularly
applied to anything assumed to be soothing, healing, or genial in its
action, particularly if also aromatic or fragrant; but chiefly to
medicines and liqueurs, supposed to possess these properties. See BALSAMS,
LIQUEURS, QUACK MEDICINES, &c.

=Balm.= _Syn._ COM'MON BALM, GAR'DEN B.; MELIS'SA, L.; BAUME, MELISSE, Fr.
The _melis'sa officina'lis_ (Linn.), an aromatic perennial herb, a native
of the south of Europe, but commonly cultivated in our gardens. It is
reputed to be diaphoretic, diuretic, emmenagogue, exhilarating, nervine,
and stomachic; and under the form of infusion (BALM-TEA) has long been a
popular remedy in hypochondriacal, hysterical, and nervous affections, and
in amenorrh[oe]a and chlorosis. It is still sometimes ordered as a drink
in fevers and in hypochondriasis.

=Balm of a Thousand Flowers.= Chandler says this is a thick yellow
emulsion, free from injurious metallic ingredients.

=Balm of White Lilies=, for preserving and beautifying the skin (H. A.
Hoadley, New York). This, also according to Chandler, is a red-
water containing a large quantity of chalk in suspension, but with no
injurious metallic ingredient.

=BAL'SAM= (bawl'-s[)a]m; -s[)u]m[double-dagger]Sec.--Knowles, Walker). [Eng.,
Ger.] _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM (b[)a]l'-), L.; BAUME, Fr. Originally, any
strong-scented oleo-resinous vegetable juice or exudation, of about the
fluidity of treacle, and supposed to possess medicinal virtues. In _modern
chemistry_ and _pharmacy_, any vegetable production which is either
semi-liquid, or which naturally becomes concrete, and which contains
either benzoic acid, or cinnamic acid, combined with resin and aromatic
essential oil. Several of the substances popularly termed balsams contain
no benzoic acid, and are consequently now classed with the turpentines.
This distinction, however, is far from being universally adopted, and a
late high authority defines balsams to be "Exudations from plants, which
are liquid or soft solid, and consist of a substance resembling a resin,
either combined with benzoic acid, or with an essential oil, or both."
(Brande.)

The leading properties of the true natural balsams are--Insolubility in
water, almost entire solubility in alcohol, and partial solubility in
ether and in the volatile and fixed oils; the possession of a powerful,
and generally, an agreeable odour, a hot, resinous or terebinthinate
taste, and the usual stimulant and tonic properties of the milder
turpentines. Distilled with water, ethereal oil and some acid pass over,
and the residuum consists chiefly or entirely of acid-resin.

The TRUE BALSAMS, as those of benzoin Peru, styrax, and tolu, and the
celebrated Chinese varnish-balsam, contain either benzoic or cinnamic
acid. Among those falsely termed balsams, are copaiba, opobalsam, Japan
lac-varnish, and some of the turpentines.

The following list includes most of the substances, natural and
artificial, which pass, or have passed, under the name of balsams:[105]--

[Footnote 105: For articles and preparations often called 'balsams', and
not found under this head, see ELIXIRS, OILS, PATENT MEDICINES, PERFUMERY,
TINCTURES, &c. &c.]

=Balsam, Acous'tic.= See DROPS.

=Balsam, Amer'ican[dagger].= Balsam of Peru.

=Balsam, An'odyne.= _Syn._ SOOTH'ING BALSAM; BAL'SAMUM ANO'DYNUM
(-d[)i]n-), B. TRANQUIL'LANS, L.; BAUME ANODIN, B. TRANQUILLE, B.
TRANQUILLISANT, &c., Fr. _Prep._ 1. (Bate's.) See PATENT MEDICINES.

2. (Guy's.) A vulnerary balsam invented by Guy, of Caliac, once in great
repute, but now obsolete. It consisted of aloes, amber, ammoniacum, balsam
of Peru, bdellium, caranna, castor, galbanum, labdanum, myrrh, olibanum,
storax, tacamahaca, and Venice turpentine, digested in alcohol.

3. (B. TRANQUILLANS, P. Cod.) Fresh leaves of belladonna, henbane,
night-shade, tobacco, poppy, stramonium, of each two ounces; dried leaves
of costermary, rosemary, rue, and sage, of each half an ounce; dried tops
of wormwood, hyssop, sweet marjoram, peppermint, buckbean, and thyme, of
each half an ounce; flowers of lavender and elder, of each half an ounce;
olive oil, fifty ounces. Heat the green plants in the oil gently until all
their water is dissipated; keep on the fire until the oil becomes of a
green colour, and whilst still hot, mix in the other plants, carefully
dried, and cut up. Digest for twelve hours on a water bath, strain, and
filter.

4. (BAUME TRANQUILLE DE CHOMEL.) Henbane, hound's tongue, and tobacco, of
each 1 lb.; white wine, 3 pints; boil down to a quart; press, strain, and
add to the hot 'strained liquor' of olive oil, 1 quart, and again boil.

=Balsam, Ap'oplexy.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM APOPLEC'TICUM, B. AD APOPLEC'TICOS
(Ph. E. 1744), L. _Prep._ 1. Amber, civet, musk, Peruvian balsam, and some
volatile oils, made into a balsam.

2. (Ph. E. 1744) Expressed oil of nutmeg, 1 oz.; liquefy by a gentle heat,
and stir in of the oils of cloves, lavender, and rosemary, of each, 1/2
dr.; oil of amber, 10 drops; balsam of Peru, 1 dr. Both were formerly used
to anoint the head and nostrils of apoplectic patients, and were believed
to be of great efficacy.

=Balsam, Asiat'ic[dagger].= Balm of Gilead.

=Balsam, Bate's.= See BALSAM, ANODYNE.

=Balsam, Berlin=, for burns, cuts, bruises, and wounds of every kind,
sores and ulcers, frost-bites, &c. Chloride of lime with impure glycerine.

=Balsam Bilfinger=, for rheumatism and gout. Black soap, 25 grms.; water,
40 grms.; spirit of wine, 10 grms.; camphorated spirit, 10 grms.; liquor
ammoniae caustic, 20 grms.; tinct. capsici, 5 grms. (Schaedler.)

=Balsam, Brazilian.= Balsam of copaiba.

=Balsam, Calaba'.= _Syn._ TACAMAHA'CA. A fragrant resinous substance
produced by _calophyl'lum cal'aba_, or Santa Maria tree.

=Balsam, Cam'phor.= _Syn._ CAM'PHORATED BALSAM; BAL'SAMUM CAMPHORA'TUM,
&c., L. _Prep._ 1. As camphor-liniment, Ph. L.

2. (B. ACE'TICUM C., Sanchez's GOUT-B.:--Pelletier.) Curd-soap and
camphor, of each 5 drs.; oil of thyme, 2 scru.; acetic ether, 5 oz.;
digest together in a stoppered bottle until the solids are dissolved.
Recommended as an efficacious anodyne liniment in certain forms of
rheumatism and gout.

=Balsam, Can'ada.= See TURPENTINES.

=Balsam, Cana'ry.= A volatile oleaginous substance obtained by
distillation from _draco-ceph'alum Moldavi'cum_.

=Balsam, Carpa'thian.= Riga Balsam.

=Balsam, Cephal'ic.= (Saxon.) _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM CEPHALI'CUM SAXON'ICUM, L.
A liquid preparation obtained from the essential oils of amber, lavender,
marjoram, nutmeg, pennyroyal, rue, sage, &c., distilled together. Once in
high repute; but long disused in England.

=Balsam, Chil'blain.= See LINIMENTS.

=Balsam, Chi'na Varnish.= The aromatic varnish-like exudation of _au'gia
sinen'sis_, used by the Chinese as a varnish or lacquer, for which purpose
it is, perhaps, unequalled. It is highly fragrant, and abounds in benzoic
acid.

=Balsam, Command'er's[dagger].= Compound tincture of benzoin.

=Balsam, Copalm'.= Liquid-ambar.

=Balsam Egyp'tian.= Balm of Mecca.

=Balsam, Eye, Augsburg.= Red oxide of mercury, .75 grm.; extract of
belladonna, .5 grm.; tincture of opium, .5 grm.; fatty substance, 7 grms.
(Hager.)

=Balsam, Eye= (Mueller, Berlin). Red oxide of mercury, 5 parts; opium, 3
parts; unsalted butter, 100 parts.

=Balsam, Eye=, (Mueller's Widow, Berlin). Red oxide of mercury, .2 grm.;
unsalted, unusually rancid, butter, 10 grms.

=Balsam, Fe'male.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM EMBRYO'NUM, A'QUA E., L. An obsolete
preparation made by digesting misletoe, civet, musk, and several other
aromatics, in a mixture of wine and various medicated waters, and
submitting the whole to distillation. Formerly taken both internally and
externally, as a tonic for both f[oe]tus and mother; and particularly to
prevent abortion, &c.

=Balsam, Fri'ar's.= Compound tincture of benzoin.

=Balsam, Gen'oa.= Locatelle's balsam.

=Balsam, Glyc'erin= (gl[)i]s'-). _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM GL[)Y]CERI'NAE, L.
_Prep._ To white wax and spermaceti, of each, 1 _oz._; almond oil, 1/2
_lb._; melted together, add of glycerin, 2 _oz._; balsam of Peru, 1/2
_oz._; and stir or agitate until nearly cold. 12 or 15 drops of otto of
roses may be substituted for the balsam.--Used to soften and whiten the
skin, and to prevent chaps and chilblains.

=Balsam, God'bold's Vegetable.= See PATENT MEDICINES.

=Balsam, Goulard's'.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM GOULAR'DII, B. SATUR'NI, L.; BAUME
DE GOULARD, Fr. _Prep._ (Van Mons.) Acetate of lead (in fine powder, and
quite dry) is triturated, for some time, with hot oil of turpentine, in a
heated mortar, or until no more will dissolve; after repose, and whilst
still hot, the clear portion is decanted. Recommended as a useful
application to foul and painful ulcers, and to scalds and burns.

=Balsam, Green.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM VIR'IDE, &c., L.; BAUME VERT, Fr.
_Prep._ 1. Linseed-oil, 6 lbs.; gum-elemi, 1 lb.; heat them together; add
of powdered verdigris, 3 oz., or q. s. to impart a rich green colour, and,
after repose, decant the clear portion.

2. Linseed oil strongly  with verdigris. Both were formerly much
used by surgeons as detergents. 'Green-oil' or 'oil of elder-leaves' is
now commonly sold for it.

A natural balsam, brought from Peru, and produced by _chlorox'ylon
verticilla'tum_, is also popularly called GREEN BALSAM (of Peru).

=Balsam, Guaiacum.= (Ph. Lond. 1745.) Guaiac, 1 lb.; balsam of Peru, 3
dr.; rect. spirit, 2 pints.

=Balsam, Gurgun'= (-g[=o][=o]n') _Syn._ GURGI'NA BALSAM, WOOD-OIL (of
India). From _dipterocar'pus tri'nervis_, and other species, by applying a
slow fire to a notch or wound made in the trunk. Has a mixed smell of
copaiba and naphtha. _Properties_ and _dose_ similar to those of balsam of
copaiba. Sp. gr. .962 to .964. See COPAIBA and WOOD-OIL.

=Balsam, Hill's, of Honey.= See PATENT MEDICINES.

=Balsam, Hungarian.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM HUNGAR'ICUM, L. A terebinthinate
exudation from the extremities of the branches of _pi'nus pumil'io_
(Willd.) or mountain-pine. It is also obtained by pressure from the
'cones' of the same tree.

=Balsam, Ioduretted.= See LINIMENTS.

=Balsam, Japan Varnish.= _Syn._ JAPAN LACQ'UER. Exudes from incisions made
in the trunk of _melanorrh[oe]'a usitatis'sima_, according to Wallich; or
_stagma''ria, avernicif'lua_ according to Lindley. It constitutes the
celebrated lac-varnish of the Japanese. It differs from that of China, and
from the true balsams, in not containing benzoic acid. It is extremely
acrid and irritant; and even its fumes affect the eyes and respiration.

=Balsam[dagger], Jews'.= Balm of Gilead.

=Balsam of Life, Professor Cook's.= Recommended especially for toothache
and skin diseases. Borax, 20 parts; boiling water, 250 parts; camphor,
1-1/2 part. (Hager.)

=Balsam, Locatelle's'.= _Syn._ LOCATEL'LI'S BALSAM; BAL'SAMUM LOCATEL'LI,
B. LUCATEL'LI, B. ITAL'ICUM, B. GENOFE'VAE, &c., L. var. _Prep._ 1.
(Original Formula.) Olive oil, 6 oz.; yellow wax, 4 oz.; sherry wine, 5
fl. oz.; red sanders (in very fine powder), 4 dr.; simmer them together
until the moisture is nearly evaporated, then add of Strasburgh
turpentine, 6 oz.; balsam of Peru, 2 dr.; strain through linen, and stir
until nearly cold.

2. (Ph. E. 1744.) Olive oil, 24 fl. oz.; yellow wax, 1 lb.; melt, and add
of Venice turpentine, 1-1/2 lb.; and, when cooled a little, further add,
powdered dragon's blood, 1 oz.; balsam of Peru, 2 oz.; and stir until
cold.

3. (Ph. L. 1746.) Olive oil, 16 fl. oz.; Venice turpentine and yellow wax,
of each 1/2 lb.; red sanders, 6 dr.

_Uses, &c._ A once highly esteemed pectoral, and still occasionally used,
by the lower classes, in phthisis and chronic coughs (mixed with an equal
weight of conserve of roses), and as a mild stimulating ointment.--_Dose_,
1/2 dr. or more.

=Balsam, Mercu''rial[dagger].= Ointment of nitrate of mercury.

=Balsam, Metz's.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM VIR'IDE METEN'SIUM, L.; BAUME VERT DE
METZ, Fr. _Prep._ (Guibourt.) Linseed oil and olive oil, of each 6 oz.;
oil of laurel-berries, 1 oz.; common turpentine, 2 oz.; melt by a gentle
heat, and add of verdigris 3 dr.; aloes, 2 dr.; sulphate of zinc, 1-1/2
dr. (all in powder); mix well, strain or pour the liquid into a bottle,
and add oil of juniper, 4 dr.; oil of cloves, 1 dr. Used on the Continent
as a common detergent dressing to wounds and ulcers.

=Balsam, Mex'ican[dagger].= Balsam of Peru.

=Balsam, Nat'ural[dagger].= That which exudes from plants, as opposed to
those formed by art.

=Balsam, Ner'vine.= See OINTMENTS.

=Balsam, Odontal'gic.= See DROPS.

=Balsam, Opodel'doc.= See OPODELDOC (French).

=Balsam, Pec'toral.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM PECTORA'LE, L.; BAUME PECTORAL, Fr.
_Prep._ 1. Tincture of tolu and compound tincture of benzoin, of each, 2
oz.; rectified spirit, 4 oz.; mix. _Dose_, 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful, night and
morning; in chronic coughs, hoarseness, &c.

2, 3. See BALSAM OF HONEY, B. OF HOREHOUND, &c.

=Balsam, Persian[dagger].= Friar's Balsam.

=Balsam, Peru''vian.= See BALSAM OF PERU.

=Balsam, Poly'chrest.= _Syn._ ELIXIR POLYCHRESTON. (E. 1745.) Guaiacum, 6
oz.; balsam of Peru, 1/2 oz.; rectified spirit, 32 oz. Digest in a sand
bath for 4 days, and add oil of sassafras, 2 dr.

=Balsam, Poser's= (E. Gross, Breslau), for chronic and local rheumatism. A
yellow liquid, composed of:--Oil of rosemary, 4 grms.; camphor, 10 grms.;
tincture of ants, 15 grms.; tincture of cantharides, 5 grms.; spirit of
wine, 90 grms.; tincture of saffron, 10 drops. (Hager.)

=Balsam, Potsdam= (aromatic balsamic perfume). Liquid storax, 4 grms.;
cloves, 2 grms.; oil of cloves, 3 grms.; oil of cassia, 1 grm.; oils of
bergamot, lemon, and lavender, [=a][=a], 2 grms.; oil of curled mint, 1/4
grm.; rectified spirit, 200 grms.; macerate and filter. (Hager.)

=Balsam, Riga.= (r[=e]'-). _Syn._ CARPA'THINA BALSAM; BAL'SAMUM
CARPATH'ICUM, B. LIB'ANI, &c., L.; BAUME DE CARPATHES, Fr. A pellucid
white fluid obtained by careful distillation from the young shoots of
_pi'nus cem'bra_ (Linn.) or Siberian stone-pine. It much resembles oil of
juniper; and, like that article, is powerfully diuretic. It is regarded as
vulnerary, and is highly esteemed by some in sprains and bruises. The
bottoms of oil of juniper are commonly sold for it in the shops. The
spirit distilled from pine-tops (_spiritus turionum pini_) is also
frequently, although incorrectly, called BIGA BALSAM.

=Balsam, Sanchez's Gout.= See BALSAM, CAMPHORATED.

=Balsam, Sooth'ing.= See BALSAM, ANODYNE.

=Balsam, St. Genevieve.= Thick turpentine, 5 parts; olive oil, 30 parts;
bees' wax, 25 parts; spermaceti, 5 parts; camphor, 1 part; red sanders, 4
parts.

=Balsam, St. John Long's= (liniment), used for application to the chest in
cases of phthisis, is a thick emulsion composed of:--Turpentine, 25 parts;
yolk of eggs, 50 parts; concentrated vinegar, 5 parts; rose water, 15
parts; and a few drops of essence of lemon.

=Balsam, Stomach'ic= (-m[)a]k'-). _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM STOMACH'ICUM, L.; BAUME
STOMACHIQUE, Fr. _Prep._ (Ph. Slesv.-Hols. 1831.) Oils of cloves, mace,
wormwood, and peppermint, of each 1 dr.; balsam of Peru, 2 dr.; oil of
nutmeg, 2 oz.; mix. 1 to 5 or 6 drops, on sugar, or dissolved in spirit.

=Balsam, Syr'ian.= Balsam of Mecca.

=Balsam, Thibaut's.= See PATENT MEDICINES.

=Balsam, Tooth'ache.= See DROPS, &c.

=Balsam, Traumat'ic.= Compound tincture of benzoin.

=Balsam, Tur'key.= _Syn._ TUR'KEY BALM. The distilled oil of the
dracocephalum moldavicum.

=Balsam, Tur'lington's.= See PATENT MEDICINES.

=Balsam, Univer'sal.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM UNIVERSA'LE, L. _Prep._ (Ph.
Slesv.-Hols. 1831.) Rape oil (recent), 1-1/2 lb.; yellow wax, 1/2 lb.;
acetate of lead (in fine powder), 3 oz.; powdered camphor, 1/2 oz.; melted
together; observing to triturate the acetate with a small portion of the
oil before adding it to the mixture, and not to add the camphor until the
heat is reduced a little.--_Obs._ This name has also been given to
'compound cerate of lead,' and even to 'cerate of acetate of lead.'

=Balsam, Vervain's[dagger].= Compound tincture of benzoin.

=Balsam, Wound.= Several vulnerary preparations have been so called; but
FRIAR'S BALSAM (comp. tinct. of benzoin) is that usually intended.

=Balsam of Acou'chi.= A yellowish aromatic liquid, of a terebinthinous
nature and consistence, obtained from the wounded branches and shoots of
the _icica heterophylla_ (DC.). It is highly esteemed as vulnerary by the
Caribs of Guiana. (Lindley.)

=Balsam of Alpi'nus.= Balm of Gilead; because Prosper Alpinus wrote a
learned (?) treatise on it.

=Balsam of Am'ber.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM SUCCINI, L.; BAUME D'AMBRE, Fr. The
article to which this term is usually applied has been already noticed.
Oil of amber was also formerly so called; and the same name has been given
to the following and other like preparations by their inventors:--

1. (Radius.) Oil of amber, 4 fl. oz.; oil of myrrh, 2 fl. oz; oil of
turpentine, 1 fl. oz.; mix with a gentle heat.

2. (Bate.) See BALSAM ANODYNE. They are all stimulant and antispasmodic,
and are used either internally or as a friction, like oil of amber.

=Balsam of Arcae'us.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM ARCAE'I, L.; BAUME D'ARCAEUS, Fr. A
digestive ointment formerly in great repute, and still much employed on
the Continent. It is now superseded in England by the comp. elemi ointment
of the Pharmacop[oe]ias. In the original formula, boiling water, 4 parts,
were ordered to be stirred in.

=Balsam of Can'ada.= See TURPENTINES.

=Balsam of Cloves.= _Syn._ AROMAT'IC BALSAM OF CLOVES; BAL'SAMUM
CARYOPHYL'LI, L. _Prep._ (Bories.) Oil of cloves and oil of nutmeg, of
each 1/2 dr.; spirit of juniper berries, 3 oz.; mix. Rubefacient and
diuretic.--Used chiefly as a stimulating friction. _Internally_, 1/2 to 1
teaspoonful.

=Balsam of Copai'ba.= See COPAIBA.

=Balsam of Fern.= Oil of male fern.

=Balsam of Fiovaren'ti.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM FIOVAREN'TI, L. _Prep._ (P.
Cod.) Venice turpentine, 16 oz.; amber, elemi, galbanum, myrrh, styrax,
and tacamahaca, of each 3 oz.; aloes, 1 oz.; bay-berries, 4 oz.; cinnamon,
cloves, galangal, ginger, nutmegs, and zedoary, of each 1-1/2 oz.; dittany
of Crete, 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 8 lbs.; macerate a week and distil off
7 lbs. The distilled spirit constitutes this notable preparation of,
professedly, many virtues. It is reputed aromatic, diuretic,
antispasmodic, and stimulant. One of its applications is as a collyrium--a
drop or two being rubbed on the palm of the hands, which are then held to
the eyes, so as to cover, without touching them--in chronic ophthalmia,
conjunctivitis, &c.

=Balsam of Gil'ead.= See BALSAM OF MECCA.

=Balsam of Gua'iacum= (gw[=a]-y[)a]-). _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM GUAI'ACI, B.
GUAIACI'NUM, L. _Prep._ (Ph. L. 1745.) Gum-guaiacum, 1 lb.; balsam of
Peru, 3 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; digest 10 days and filter.
Diaphoretic, arthrodynic, and anodyne.--_Dose_, 30 to 60 drops, in milk or
water; in agues, rheumatism, &c. _Externally_, reputed also
anti-suppurative.

=Balsam of Honey.= _Syn._ PEC'TORAL BALSAM, P. B. OF HONEY; BAL'SAMUM
MEL'LIS, B. PECTORA'LE, B. P. MELLIS, L.; BAUME DE MIEL, &c., Fr. _Prep._
1. Balsam of tolu, 1 lb.; honey (finest), 2-1/2 lbs.; rectified spirit, 1
gall.; turmeric, 1 oz.; make a tincture.

2. To the last, before maceration, add of powdered opium, 2 oz.

3. (Hill's.) See PATENT MEDICINES. _Uses, &c._ A good pectoral in colds,
tickling chronic coughs, hoarseness, &c., when unaccompanied with
fever.--_Dose._ For an adult, 1/2 to 1 teaspoonful, twice or thrice a day;
an occasional dose of some mild aperient being also taken. Tincture of
balsam of tolu, or a mixture of the tinctures of tolu and benzoin, is
frequently sold in the shops under the name of 'balsam of honey.' See
PECTORAL BALSAM, &c.

=Balsam of Hore'hound.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM MARRU'BII, L. _Prep._ 1. Extracts
of horehound and liquorice, of each 2 oz.; hot water, 1/2 pint; dissolve,
and when cold, add of paregoric, 3/4 pint; oxymel of squills, 6 oz.;
tincture of benzoin, 2 oz.; honey, 10 oz.; and, after thorough admixture,
strain through flannel.

2. (Ford's.) See PATENT MEDICINES.

_Uses, &c._ A popular pectoral.--_Dose, &c._, same as of BALSAM OF HONEY
(_above_).

=Balsam of Houmi''ri.= [Nat.] From humir'ia balsamif'era, or the
houmiri-tree of Guiana. It resembles 'balsam of umiri' produced by
another tree of the same genus. (See _below_.)

=Balsam of Lead.= See BALSAM, GOULARD'S.

=Balsam of Life.= _Syn._ BALM OF LIFE; BAL'SAMUM VI'TAE, L.; BAUME DE VIE,
ELIX'IR DE VIE, &c., Fr. Several compound medicines have been called by
this name. Those of Gabius, Hoffman, and Turlington, are noticed under
PATENT MEDICINES (which _see_). The following are distinct preparations:--

1. BAUME DE VIE EXTERNE:--Soap liniment, 2 parts; oil of turpentine, 1
part; mix. Stimulant and rubefacient. Used with friction.

2. BAUME DE VIE PURGATIF; Elixir de vie:--_a._ (Briett.) Socotrine aloes
and saffron, of each, 2 drs.; rhubarb, 6 drs.; liquorice-root, 1 oz.;
proof spirit or brandy, 1/2 pint; digest a week, and filter.

_b._ (Original Swedish formula.) Aloes, 9 drs.; agaric, gentian, rhubarb,
saffron, theriaca, and zedoary, of each 1 dr.; proof spirit or brandy, 1
quart. A mild stomachic purge.--_Dose._ 1 to 6 drs. Tincture of
rhubarb-and-aloes (Ph. E.) is commonly substituted for it. See ELIXIRS.

=Balsam of Liq'uorice.= See PATENT MEDICINES.

=Balsam of Mec'ca.= _Syn._ BALM OF GIL'EAD, B. OF MEC'CA, OPOBAL'SAM
(-bawl'-), JEWS' BALSAM[dagger], OIL OF B.[dagger], &c., Eng.; BAL'SAMUM
(b[)a]l'-) GILEADEN'SE, B. E MEC'CA, OPOBAL'SAMUM (-b[)a]l'-) &c., L.;
BAUME DE LA MECQUE, B. DE MECCA*, B. DE JUDEE, OPOBALSAMUM, &c., Fr.
BAL'SAMUM AEGYPTI'ACUM[dagger], B. ALPI'NI[dagger], B. ANTIQUO''RUM
GENUI'NUM[dagger], B. ASIAT'ICUM[dagger], B. SYRI'ACUM[dagger], O'LEUM
BAL'SAMI[dagger], &c., L. A fragrant oleo-resinous substance, obtained
from _balsamoden'dron gileaden'se_ (Kunth.; _amy'ris gileaden'sis_, Linn.;
_a. opobal'samum_, Forsk), a middle-sized tree of the nat. ord.
Terebinthacae (DC.), growing in Arabia Felix, Asia Minor, and Egypt. It is
the BALM of the Old Testament, and the [Greek: balsamon] of Theophrastus
and Dioscorides. It is chemically classed with the turpentines.

_Prop., &c._ When fresh it is turbid and whitish, but becomes by degrees
transparent, of a rich golden colour, and slightly thicker; and by
exposure, eventually solid. It possesses a penetrating and delicate
fragrance; tastes sharp, bitter, spicy, and somewhat astringent; is not
entirely soluble in rectified spirit, but dissolves more or less
completely in both the fixed and volatile oils, which then assume the
fragrance of the balsam. A drop let fall on hot water spreads itself over
the whole surface, like a film of oil, and again contracts on the water
cooling. This, with its fragrance, is the common test of its genuineness
in Turkey. The inferior qualities, or those of commerce, are generally
opaque and thick, rapidly resinifying and turning of a dull yellow by age.
When applied to the skin it causes redness and swelling. It was formerly
regarded as possessing the most varied and exalted virtues, particularly
as an antiseptic, stimulant, vulnerary, and nervine; and its fumes were
supposed to prevent barrenness. It is still highly prized in the East as a
cosmetic and perfume; and is said to be unequalled for giving a healthy
glow to the complexion and promoting the growth of the hair. Its medicinal
qualities are intermediate to those of the aromatic turpentines and balsam
of tolu.--_Dose._ From 3 to 6, or even 10 or 12 drops.

_Obs._ According to Bruce, and others, the best balm of Gilead is a
spontaneous exudation from the tree; a second quality is obtained by
cutting the bark with an axe, and receiving the juice which exudes in a
small earthen bottle. A large branch is said to produce not more than 3 or
4 drops a day; and even the most resinous trees seldom yield more than 60
drops daily. Hence its scarcity and costliness. Both varieties are held in
such high estimation by the Turks and Egyptians, that none of them are
exported as an article of commerce. That which is sent to England is
obtained by boiling the leaves and young twigs of the balsam tree in
water, and is rejected by the Orientals as worthless. Most of that sold in
the shops of England is entirely spurious (see _below_).

The cosmetics recently so much advertised as 'BALM OF MECCA' do not
contain even a trace of this article; nor do we believe that there is a
single drop of the genuine balm to be purchased in London.

The following formulae are current in the trade for =Fac''titious Balm of
Mecca=:--

1. Gum-benzoin (bright, coarsely powdered), 4 _oz._; liquid styrax
(finest), 3 _oz._; balsam of tolu, 2 _oz._; Canadian balsam, 1-1/2 pint;
are mixed together in a flask, and exposed (closed) to the heat of a water
bath, with frequent agitation, until the liquid is saturated; when cold,
the clear portion is decanted, and a sufficient quantity of the oils of
lemon, cassia, rosemary, nutmeg, and vanilla, added to give it a strong
aromatic odour.

2. From gum-benzoin and balsam of Peru, of each 1 _oz._; vanilla and
nutmeg, of each (cut small) 1 _dr._; Canadian balsam, 1/2 pint; digested
as before, and some essential oils added to the decanted liquid.

=Balsam of Nut'meg.= _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM MYRIS'TICAE, B. NUCIS'TAE. L. _Prep._
(Ph. Bor. 1847.) Expressed oil of nutmeg (--? mace), 3 _oz._; olive oil, 1
_oz._; yellow wax, 1/2 _oz._; melt them together by a gentle heat, pour
the mixture into paper moulds, and, when cold, cut the mass up into cakes.

=Balsam of Peru'= (r[=o][=o]'). _Syn._ PERU'VIAN BALSAM; BAL'SAMUM
PERUVIA'NUM (Ph. L., E., and D.), L.; BAUME DU PEROU, B. PERUVIEN, Fr.;
PERUVIANISCHER BALSAM, Ger. A balsam obtained from _Myroxylon Pereirae_
(_Myrospermum of Sonsonate_). It exudes from the trunk of the tree after
it has been scorched and removed. From Salvador, in Central America. B.
P.

_Prop., &c._ A chocolate- or a reddish-brown liquid, of the
consistence of treacle, possessing a bitterish, rather pungent taste, and
an agreeable aromatic odour somewhat similar to that of a mixture of
vanilla and benzoin. It is reputed stimulant, tonic, and expectorant, and
has long been a popular remedy in chronic asthma, catarrh, and other
pulmonary affections, debility, &c. It is now, however, principally used
as an ingredient in pomades, hair-oils, lip-salves, and other cosmetics,
in which it is only inferior to 'balm of Mecca,' and in compound
perfumery. It is also used to scent lozenges, pastils, and chocolate and
liqueurs; for these last, chiefly as a substitute for 'vanilla' when it is
scarce and dear.--_Dose_, 10 or 12 to 30 gr. (even 1 dr. is sometimes
given), either on sugar, or made into a bolus with liquorice powder, or
into an emulsion with honey, mucilage, or yolk of egg.

_Pur., Tests, &c._--1. The sp. gr. should not be lower than 1.15; nor
higher than 1.16:--2. Ether dissolves it readily and completely:--3.
Soluble in 5 parts of rectified spirit:--4. It should undergo no
diminution in volume when agitated with water:--5. 100 gr., by its benzoic
or cinnamic acid, should saturate not less than 7-1/2 gr. of pure
crystallised carbonate of soda:--6. Sulphuric acid converts it into resin,
artificial tannin, or charcoal, according to the quantity employed; if, on
adding water, a brittle resin is not formed, some fixed oil (probably
castor oil) is present:--7. Treated with nitric acid, some hydrocyanic
acid is formed, benzoic acid sublimes, and the residual matter is
artificial tannin:--8. The alkalies and their carbonates form with it a
thickish semi-crystalline mass, which, on being treated with sulphuric
acid, deposits a peculiar resinous matter, with crystals of benzoic and
cinnamic acid:--9. If a few drops are distilled, and, when iodine is added
to the distillate, an explosion results, it has been adulterated with
'copaiba':--10. The genuine balsam contains about 6-1/2% of benzoic
(cinnamic) acid:--11. (Hager). If two or three cubic centimetres of balsam
of Peru be shaken with five or six cubic centimetres of petroleum spirit,
the mixture separates upon being allowed to stand into a black-brown
layer, and a limpid and colourless or slightly yellowish layer, and is
easily decanted. If the balsam be adulterated, this latter layer is turbid
and , while the viscous residue which separates is more fluid,
which renders decantation more difficult. Sometimes the brown residue is
pulverulent.

_Obs._ Balsam of Peru was formerly very generally adulterated, and often
entirely factitious; but, owing to its present reduced price, this is now
only confined to a few of the most unprincipled venders. The following
formulae for this purpose are still extant in the trade:--

=Balsam of Peru, Facti''tious:=--From gum-benzoin (in coarse powder), 3
_lbs._; dissolved in the least possible quantity of rectified spirit, and
then mixed with balsam of tolu, 1 _lb._; and liquid styrax, 2 _oz._;
subsequently adding of rectified spirit, q. s.

=Balsam, Reduced Peruvian:=--1. Balsam of Peru, 3 _lbs._; balsam of tolu,
2 _lbs._; rectified spirit, q. s. to reduce it to a proper
consistence:--2. Balsam of Peru, 3 _lbs._; gum-benzoin (dissolved in a
little rectified spirit), 1 _lb._; as before. It is occasionally met with
largely adulterated with liquid styrax.

=Balsam of Rackasi'ri.= _Syn._ BALSAM OF RAKASI'RA; BAL'SAMUM RACKASIRI,
B. RACAZZI'RAE, B. RHADASI'RI. A species of balsamic turpentine, said to be
obtained from the _bursera balsamifera_ (Pers.), an Indian tree of the
natural order Terebinthaceae. It has a slightly bitter taste, adheres to
the teeth when chewed, and, when heated, smells like balsam of tolu. It
has been extolled as possessing the virtues of copaiba in an exalted
degree. The nostrum vended under the name of BALM OF RACKASIRI by certain
quacks, simply consists of English gin, , sweetened, and
aromatised.

=Balsam, Saturnine.= (Bate.) Acetate of lead 40 _oz._; oil of turpentine
12 _oz._ Digest for some days.

=Balsam of Soap.= Soap-liniment.

=Balsam of Soap= (Ethe''real). _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM SAPO'NIS AETHE''REUM, L.
_Prep._ (Cottereau.) Castile soap (powdered) and camphor, of each 1 dr.;
oil of thyme, 10 drops; acetic ether, 1 oz.; dissolve in a close vessel
with the aid of a gentle heat, and decant the clear portion. Used as an
embrocation or liniment in gout, rheumatism, &c.

=Balsam of St. John's Wort.= See OILS.

=Balsam of Sto''rax.= Liquid-ambar or styrax.

=Balsam of Sul'phur.= See OILS.

=Balsam of Sul'phur, Anisated.= (Ph. Edin. 1722). Originally made by
digesting one part of sulphur; three of turpentine; and four of oil of
aniseed. A mixture of one part of oil of aniseed with three or four of
balsam of sulphur is usually sold for it.

=Balsam of Sul'phur with Turpentine.= Digest one part of sulphur with
three of oil of turpentine till dissolved. Similar compounds were formerly
made with sulphur and Barbadoes tar, and with the empyreumatic oils of
amber, benzoin, &c.

=Balsam of Syri'acum.= See BALSAM OF MECCA.

=Balsam of Tolu'= (-l'[=o][=o]). _Syn._ TOLU' BAL'SAM*; BAL'SAMUM
TOLUTA'NUM (Ph. L., E., & D.), B. DE TO'LU, L.; BAUME DE TOLU, Fr.;
TOLUTANISCHER BALSAM, B. VON TOLU, &c., Ger. Balsam flowing from the
incised trunk of "_myrosper'mum toluif'erum_." (B. P.) The tree which
produces it is a native of the mountains of Tolu, Turbaco, &c., in South
America.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ When first brought over it is soft and tenacious, but
by age and careless keeping becomes hard, and even brittle, somewhat
similar to resin. It is perfectly soluble in alcohol and in ether, and
gives out its acid (benzoic or cinnamic) to water. Its odour is fragrant,
though less powerful than that of either styrax or balsam of Peru; and it
has a pleasant sweetish taste. It softens under the teeth, melts readily,
and burns with an agreeable odour. As a medicine it is a stimulating
expectorant, and, as such, is employed in chronic bronchial affections
unaccompanied with inflammatory action. It has long been a popular
pectoral. Syrup of Tolu is an agreeable and common adjunct to pectoral
mixtures, and, with Tolu lozenges, is often serviceable in tickling
coughs. It is also used by confectioners, perfumers, &c., and in
fumigating pastils.--_Dose_, 5 to 20, or even 30 gr., dissolved in spirit,
or made into an emulsion.

_Pur._ This is shown by its perfect solubility in rectified spirit,
forming a transparent tincture, and by its odour. When adulterated it has
a weaker smell, is only partially soluble in alcohol, and the tincture
formed with that fluid is opaque. The presence of colophony (or lac),
according to Ulex, may be detected by the balsam, instead of dissolving in
sulphuric acid, swelling up, blackening, and disengaging sulphurous
fumes.[106] Castor oil may be detected in the way noticed under BALSAM OF
PERU.

[Footnote 106: 'Archiv der Pharm.,' 1855.]

=Balsam of Tolu, a Factitious=, was formerly met with in trade, made of
equal parts of orange-lac and white sugar, reduced to a proper consistence
with rectified spirit, and 'brought up' with some tincture of benzoin, and
a few drops of the oils of cassia and nutmeg dissolved in a little essence
of vanilla.

=Balsam of Tur'pentine= (-t[=i]ne). _Syn._ BAL'SAMUM TEREBIN'THINAE, L. A
name formerly given to Strasburgh, Venice, and other like turpentines.

=Balsam of Tur'pentine= (Emollient). _Syn._ B. TEREBINTHINA'TUM, L.
_Prep._ Olive oil, 6 oz.; oil of turpentine, 2 oz.; yellow wax, 1 oz.;
balsam of Peru, oil of nutmeg, and camphor, of each 2 dr. A stimulant
emollient; in contusions, ulcerations, engorgements, nephritic pains, &c.

=Balsam of Umi''ri.= [Nat.] By incision, from the _humir'ia floribun'dum_
(Mart.), or the _umiri-plant_ of Para. It is fragrant, limpid, of a
palish-yellow colour, and in its medicinal properties is said to combine
those of the balsams of copaiba and Peru.

=BALSAM'IC= (b[)a]l-). _Syn._ BALSAM'ICUS, BALSA'MEUS, BALSAM'INUS, L.;
BALSAMIQUE, Fr.; BALSAMISCH, Ger. Of the nature of balsam, or containing
or resembling it; bland, soothing, healing; balmy.

=BAMBOO'= (-b[=o][=o]'). [Nat.] _Syn._ BAMBU'SA, L.; BAMBON, Fr.; BAMBUS,
BAMBUSROHR, INDIANISCHER ROHR, Ger. The name of several species of the
genus '_bambusa_,' but appr. of _b. arundina'cea_ or 'common bamboo.' See
BAMBUSA.

=Bamboo'-habit= (-h[)a]b-). A species of 'life-preserver,' or 'float,'
used in China and the Indian Archipelago, consisting of four pieces of
bamboo tied together so as to form a square.

=BAMBU'SA.= [Endl.] The bamboo. In _botany_, a genus of magnificent
arborescent grasses, of the nat. order Gramineae (DC.), having hollow
jointed stems, of a hard woody texture, externally coated with siliceous
matter, and sometimes secreting a similar siliceous substance (TABASHEER')
in their internal cavities. They are all of rapid growth, and vary in
height from 6 to 150 feet.

There, is, perhaps, scarcely any other plant besides the palm which serves
for so many purposes useful to man, as the various species of bamboo. Its
grain is used for bread; the young shoots are eaten like asparagus, and
are also pickled; the smaller stalks are made into walking canes, umbrella
and parasol sticks, flutes, &c.; whilst its fibres are manufactured into
cloth, and even paper. It is employed extensively in the construction of
houses, bridges, masts for boats, domestic furniture, boxes, mats,
baskets, utensils of various kinds, fences, water pipes and vessels,
quicksilver bottles, &c., and for numerous other purposes connected with
everyday life. In localities where ordinary surgical appliances are not at
hand, splints, of any required length or size, can be made with very
little delay, from the stems of the bamboo. The older and drier stems are
to be preferred for this purpose. The genus is confined to the East and
West Indies and tropical America. See CANE, PICKLES, TABASHEER, &c.

=BANA'NA= (n[=a]'- or -nah'-). [Nat.] The _mu'sa sapien'tum_ (Linn.), a
species of plantain; also its fruit. The Banana contains about 27 per
cent. of solid matter, and has nearly the same nutritive value as rice. It
is largely consumed in the tropics, where the common allowance for a
labourer is 6-1/2 lbs. of the fresh fruit or 2 lbs. of the dry meal, with
a quarter of a pound of salt meat or fish. It is sometimes fried in slices
and often made into preserves.

        _Composition of the Pulp of Ripe Bananas_
                 (CORENWINDER).

  Nitrogenous matter                 4.820
  Sugar, pectose, organic acid, and
  traces of starch                  19.657
  Fatty matter                       0.632
  Cellulose                          0.200
  Saline matter                      0.791
  Water                             73.900
                                   -------
                                   100.000

See PLANTAIN.

=BANCOUL, NUTS OF.= This nut is the seed of a tree belonging to the
_Euphorbiaciae_, of which two or three species occur in Ceylon,
Cochin-China, New Caledonia, Bourbon, &c. It is composed of a hard and
woody endocarp, and of an oily kernel, containing:--

  Water                   5.000
  Oil                    62.175
  Nitrogenous matter     22.653
  Non-nitrogenous matter  6.827
  Mineral matter          3.345
                        -------
                        100.000
  Nitrogen                3.625%

This cake, after expression of the oil, contains 9 per cent. of nitrogen,
and 4 per cent. of phosphoric acid, and is consequently of high value as a
manure. The expressed oil is purgative, but as a lamp-oil it is superior
to colza. Unfortunately the kernel forms only 33 per cent. of the entire
weight of the nut. Hence, before it can become an article of commerce, it
must be decorticated at the place of its birth. (Corenwinder.)

=BAND'AGE= ([=a]je). _Syn._ DELIGA'TIO, FAS''CIA, LIGA'MEN, LIGATU''RA,
VINCTU''RA, L.; BANDAGE, BANDE, Fr.; BINDE, VERBAND, Ger. In _surgery_,
the fillet, roller, or cloths, used to support parts, to exert pressure on
them, or to retain dressings in their proper places.

Bandages are usually formed of long narrow slips of calico or linen, and,
occasionally, of flannel, which are generally made into a roll (ROLLER) of
moderate size, so as to be the more conveniently handled and applied. They
are either SIMPLE, as the cir'cular, the sp[=i]ral, or the un[=i]t'ing
bandage; or COMPOUND, as the T-bandage, suspen'sory b., &c.

The application of bandages, as in the dressing of wounds, ulcers, &c.,
though of such frequent occurrence, is often very carelessly and badly
done. The form and nature of the part, and the object in view, should
always receive consideration; as should also the condition of the patient
after their application--whether of repose, exercise, or labour. Ordinary
ingenuity will supply the rest. The safest, simplest, and most effective
means of fastening them is, in most cases, furnished by a common needle
and thread or cotton.

=Bandage, Mus'tard.= A woollen roller soaked in a mixture of the best
flour of mustard and warm water, of the consistence of fresh cream, the
excess of moisture being expelled by gentle pressure.--Used to envelope
the body, or a limb, by repeatedly folding it round the part; in the cold
stages of cholera, and in other cases requiring an energetic stimulant.
Other medicaments, particularly those of a stimulating and anodyne
character, are sometimes applied in the same manner. See EMBROCATIONS,
LOTIONS, POULTICES, &c.

=BANDAN'A.= [Ind.] _Syn._ BANDAN'NA. A handkerchief, originally from the
East Indies, having white spots on a red, blue, or other dark ground. In
_calico-printing_, a 'discharge style' in imitation of the Indian
bandanas. The fabric, many folds thick, is placed between leaden plates
having the pattern cut out of them; hydraulic pressure is then applied,
and a clear solution of chloride of lime forced through, followed by a
stream of pure water.

=BAND'OLINE= (-l[)i]n; -l[=e]ne[double-dagger]). See FIXATURE.

=BANE.= Poison; anything deleterious or destructive; a word often found
joined to another, in the popular and vulgar names of plants and disease,
to denote their character; as BANE'-BERRY, the herb Christopher;
BANE'-WORT, deadly-nightshade; SHEEP'S BANE, the rot; &c.

=BANG, Bangue= (b[)a]ng'). [Nat.] See HEMP, INDIAN.

=BAN'IAN= (b[)a]n'-y[)a]n). The _fi'cus In'dicus_ (Linn.), or Indian fig.
The fruit and young branches yield one species of gum-lac; and both the
juice and bark are used medicinally.

Among sailors, BANIAN' DAYS are those on which butcher's meat is not
served up at dinner.

=BANN'OCK= (-[)u]k). In Scotland and the northern counties of England, a
flat round cake made of oat, rye, or barley meal, baked on an iron plate
over the fire, or on the hot hearth.

=BARBS.= _Syn._ LAMPAS, SKEW. This occurs in horses from two to four years
old, and arises from a little inflammation of the ridges that pass along
the palate, above and behind the incisor teeth, occasionally preventing
the animal from eating and setting up slight fever. The best treatment is
to scarify the enlarged ridges freely with a lancet or penknife, and to
give for a time bran mashes, soaked grain, and other soft food.

=BAR'BERRY.= _Syn._ PEP'PERIDGE-BUSH[double-dagger], THORNY BOX'-TREE*;
BER'BERIS, B. VULGA''RIS (Linn.), L.; EPINE-VINETTE, VINETTIER, Fr.;
BERBERITZE, Ger. A perennial bush or shrub common in woods and hedges.
Berries (BAR'BERRIES, PEP'PERIDGES), gratefully acid, cooling, and
astringent; used in pastry, but require, according to their degree of
ripeness, from one half their weight to an equal weight of sugar. Both
bark and berries were formerly esteemed in jaundice, biliary flukes, &c.
The crushed berries with water form a refreshing fever-drink. The root
dyes a fugitive yellow. See BERBERINE, JAMS, PRESERVES, &c.

=BAREGE= (barege, b[)a]r-r[=a]zhe'). [Fr.] A light woollen fabric so named
from having been first made in the valley of Bareges. Of late years Paris
has become celebrated for its bareges; but these are generally woven with
the 'warp' of silk, and the 'woof' of wool. In the common imitations of
the shops, the 'warp' is generally of cotton.

=BAREGINE= (baregine). See GLAIRINE.

=BARIL'LA.= [Eng., Ger., L., Sp.] _Syn._ SO'DAE CAR'BONAS VENA'LE, L.;
BARIG''LIA, BARIL'LOR, Sp., Lev.; BARILLE, SOUDE, Fr. The alkaline
residuum of the combustion of salsola, salicornia, chenopodium, and other
species of the order Chenopodiaceae. These plants, which are cultivated on
the sea-coast for the purpose, are cut down when ripe, dried, and burned
in heaps, on iron bars laid across pits dug in the earth. The alkali and
saline matter contained in them is thus fused, and flows into the cavity
below, forming, when cold, a hard grey or bluish porous mass which is
BARILLA.

_Comp._ Carbonate, sulphate, chloride, and sulphide of sodium, carbonate
and sulphate of calcium, alumina, silica, oxide of iron, and imperfectly
consumed carbonaceous matter, with a little iodine and bromine. The
proportion of soda varies in different varieties:--

ALICANT' BARILLA; obtained chiefly from several species of _salso'la_ and
from _chenopo'dium setig'erum_ (-t[)i]j'-), &c.; contains from 25% to 40%
of carbonate of soda. (Guibourt.)

CANA''RY B.; from _salso'la ka'li_. (Loudon.) _French barillas_:--

_a._ NARBONNE' B., SALICOR; from _salicor'nia ann'ua_ or _herba'cea_;
contains 14% to 15% of carbonate of soda.

_b._ B. OF AIGUEMORTES, BLANQUETTE; from mixed plants; contains 3% to 8%
of carbonate of soda. (Guibourt.)

_c._ NOR'MANDY B., N. SODA; from _fuci_.

SIC'ILY BARILLA (s[)i]s'-). Principally from _salso'la sati'va_; furnishes
55% of carbonate of soda. (Fee.)

Good barilla, on the average, contains about 20% of real or available
alkali, chiefly under the form of carbonate, besides sulphates, muriates,
&c.

_Assay._ See ALKALIMETRY.

_Uses, &c._ Barilla is chiefly used in the manufacture of soap and glass;
but the gross quantity imported, though annually increasing, only reached
54,608 _cwt._ in 1856; whilst the exports of soda in the same year reached
to about 1,500,000 _cwt._, and in 1859 to above 2,000,000 _cwt._ This
enormous quantity was chiefly furnished by our home manufactories.

Barilla is chiefly imported from Spain, Sicily, Teneriffe, and the Levant;
but since the introduction of Le Blanc's process for obtaining soda from
common salt, its importance and value has considerably lessened. See KELP,
SODA, &c.

=BARIUM.= Ba. A metallic radical or element, of which baryta is the chief
oxide, and somewhat extensively distributed. First obtained in 1808 by Sir
H. Davy. Prepared from baryta by strongly heating it in an iron tube,
through which the vapour of potassium is conveyed; the reduced barium
being subsequently extracted from the mixed residuum by quicksilver, which
is afterwards driven off in a small green-glass retort, in a vapour of
mineral naphtha.

_Prop., &c._ Greyish-white, approaching silver in colour and lustre;
decomposes water, and gradually oxidises in the air, with the formation of
the ordinary oxide (BARYTA). It is malleable, fusible under a red heat;
burns in contact with air with a deep red light, and has the sp. gr. 4.70.

_Salts._ Barium forms numerous salts, which are all either colourless or
white, except a few, whose acids are , as the chromate, manganate,
&c. Some of them are soluble in water; one or two only are soluble in
alcohol, and that very sparingly; and (with the exception of the sulphate)
they are all extremely poisonous. They may be prepared by saturating
solutions of the acids with either baryta-water, or carbonate of barium;
and some of them may be prepared by double decomposition.

The various soluble barium salts are known by the following reactions, and
they are all (except the sulphate) soluble either in water or in dilute
hydrochloric acid, except the nitrate and chloride, which are not soluble
in aqueous solutions of their respective acids. Their solutions give an
immediate heavy white precipitate with dilute sulphuric acid, and with
solutions of the sulphates, which is insoluble in dilute acids and
solutions of the alkalies and of the salts of ammonia, that
with a solution of sulphate of lime being very sensitive, and
characteristic:--Hydrofluosilicic acid gives a very characteristic
colourless crystalline and quickly subsiding precipitate, only slightly
soluble in hydrochloric acid and nitric acid; alcohol, in equal volume,
being added, so hastens and completes the reaction, that the filtrate is
unaffected by sulphuric acid:--Chromate of potassium gives a bright yellow
precipitate in neutral solutions, soluble in hydrochloric acid and in
nitric acid, but insoluble in acetic acid:--Caustic potassa or soda (when
quite free from carbonate), and caustic ammonia, cause no precipitate,
except in highly concentrated solutions:--Alkaline carbonates give a heavy
white precipitate with baryta-water or a solution of baryta, and which is
all but insoluble in water, and freely soluble in dilute hydrochloric
acid:--Heated with proof spirit, or pyroxilic spirit, the barium salts
give a greenish-yellow tinge to the flame:--The barium salts, and
particularly the chloride, when exposed on a platinum wire to the inner
flame of the blowpipe, colour the outer flame yellowish-green:--Insoluble
sulphate of barium may be mixed with powdered charcoal, and exposed for a
short time to a full red heat, when sulphide of barium will be formed,
which is freely soluble in water, and which, after being neutralised with
hydrochloric acid, or acetic acid, will yield a solution suitable to the
application of the usual tests. The carbonate, and the salts of barium
with the organic acids, are all convertible into pure baryta by exposure
to a bright red heat.

Baryta is distinguished from lime and from magnesia by its great
solubility in hot water, and by the entire insolubility of its sulphate;
from strontia, by being precipitated by hydrofluosilicic acid, and by not
giving a red colour to the flame of alcohol; from alumina, by its
causticity and alkaline reaction, and by not being precipitated from its
solution in water by ammonium sulphydrate.

_Pois., &c._ The sulphate, owing to its insolubility, is the only salt of
barium which is not poisonous.--_Symp._ Nausea, vomiting, pains in the
head, ringing in the ears, vertigo, and intermitting cramps and
convulsions; the respiration is frequently suspended for several moments,
and the pupil is generally dilated. The symptoms, however, often vary, and
are not very distinctive.--_Treatm., Ant., &c._ Vomiting, followed by
copious draughts of water soured with sulphuric acid, or sulphate of soda
(Glauber-salt) or sulphate of magnesia (Epsom-salt), dissolved in a large
quantity of water. When carbonate of barium has been swallowed, a mixture
of one of the above sulphates and weak vinegar should be taken after the
vomiting, in order that a soluble barium salt may be first formed, on
which the alkaline sulphate will act more readily. Subsequent irritation
may be soothed by opium or morphia, and antiphlogistics.

=Barium, Ac'etate of.= Ba(C_{2}H_{3}O_{2}). _Syn._ BARY'TAE ACE'TAS, L.
_Prep._ From dilute sulphuric acid, neutralised with carbonate of barium,
and the solution evaporated and crystallised. Very soluble in water;
insoluble, or nearly so, in rectified spirit.--_Uses, Dose, &c._ Same as
the chloride. It is seldom employed.

=Barium, Arse''niate of.= Ba_{3}(PO_{4})_{2}. _Syn._ BARY'TAE ARSE''NIAS,
L. _Prep._ A solution of chloride of barium is added to another of
arseniate of potassium or sodium, and the precipitate collected, washed,
and dried. By dissolving this salt in a solution of arsenic acid, and
crystallising, BINARSE''NIATE OF BARIUM is obtained. Has been recommended
in certain skin diseases, and in phthisis complicated with
scrofula.--_Dose_, 1/16 to 1/4 gr.

=Barium, Ar'senite of.= Ba(AsO_{2})_{2}. _Syn._ BARY'TAE AR'SENIS, L. Very
slightly soluble.--_Use, &c._ As the last.

=Barium, Bromide of.= BaBr_{2}. _Syn._ BA''RII BROMI'DUM, L.; BROMURE DE
BARYUM, &c., Fr. _Prep._ Boil a solution of protobromide of iron with
moist carbonate of barium, in slight excess; filter, evaporate to dryness,
and heat the residuum to redness. By careful evaporation of its aqueous
solution it may be obtained in crystals. It is soluble in both alcohol and
water, and its physiological properties resemble those of iodide of
barium.

=Barium, Carbonate of.= BaCO_{3}. _Syn._ CARBONATE OF BARY'TA; BARY'TAE
CAR'BONAS, L.; CARBONATE DE BARYTE, &c., Fr.; KOHLENSAURES, BARYT, &c.,
Ger. A heavy white mass or powder, very nearly insoluble in water, and
decomposed by nearly all the acids. It is found in the crude state
abundantly in nature, but can only be obtained absolutely pure by adding
an alkaline carbonate to a solution of chloride of barium, or by
saturating the hydrate with carbonic anhydride, and in either case washing
and drying the precipitate. Native carbonate of barium (_witherite_) is
ordered in the pharmacop[oe]ias, and is sufficiently pure for making the
barium salts, the only purpose to which it is therein applied.

_Uses._ In _pharmacy_, &c., chiefly to prepare barium salts. In
_chemistry_, to separate certain metallic oxides when occurring together
in solutions. In the _arts_, as a base for certain delicate colours, as an
ingredient in plate-glass, in the manufacture of beet sugar, &c. It is not
used in medicine. It is extremely poisonous.

=Barium, Bisulphide.= This substance may be obtained as a fine
yellow- product by shaking a solution of barium chloride with a
mixture of ammonium sulphide and carbon disulphide. It is insoluble in
alcohol, soluble in water, and rapidly dissolved by slightly acidulated
water.

=Barium, Chloride of.= BaCl_{2}.2Aq. _Syn._ CHLORIDE OF BARIUM; BARII
CHLORIDUM, L.; CHLORURE DE BARYUM, CHLORHYDRATE DE BARYTE, &c., Fr.;
SALZSAeURE SCHWERERDE, CHLORBARIUM, Ger. Neutralise a hot dilute solution
of hydrochloric acid with carbonate of barium, evaporate down, and
crystallise. Sulphide of barium can be substituted for the carbonate. If
required chemically pure, gaseous hydrochloric acid is transmitted through
a concentrated solution of common or impure chloride of barium, as long as
a precipitate forms; the resulting crystalline powder, which is nearly the
whole of the chloride of barium present, is collected on a filter, and,
after draining, is washed repeatedly with small quantities of pure
hydrochloric acid, until the washings, diluted with water, and
precipitated with sulphuric acid, give a filtrate which, upon evaporation
in a platinum capsule or a watch-glass, leaves no residue; the last traces
of acid having been removed by a little alcohol applied in a like manner,
the powder is at once dried, and then carefully preserved from the
air.--Used in analysis.

_Prop., &c._ Crystals, flat, four-sided tables, colourless and
transparent; sometimes double eight-sided pyramids; slightly efflorescent
in dry warm air, but otherwise permanent; decrepitate when heated, and
lose their water of crystallisation; fuse at a red heat; volatilise at a
white heat; insoluble in hydrochloric acid and in alcohol, slightly
soluble in rectified spirit, and very soluble in water; water at 60 deg.
dissolves 43-1/2% of the crystals, and nearly 37% of the dry salt; and
when boiling 75% of the former, and about 66% of the latter; a saturated
boiling solution (223 deg. Fahr.) contains 100 parts of water, and 78 parts of
the crystallised salt.

The crystals contain 2 atoms of water; and a formula of BaCl_{2} + 2Aq.

_Uses, Phys. eff., &c._ In _chemistry_, it is employed as a test for
sulphuric acid and the soluble sulphates. In _medicine_, it has been
employed, both internally and externally, as an alterative, resolvent, and
deobstruent, in scrofula, glandular swellings, and enlargements,
scirrhous cancer, skin diseases, &c.; and more particularly in the first
with marked benefit. In large doses it is poisonous. According to Sir B.
Brodie, its action on animals is analogous to that of arsenic. Locally, it
acts as an irritant. A very weak solution, used as a lotion, often proves
serviceable in herpetic eruptions, and as a collyrium in scrofulous
ophthalmia. _Dose_, 1/2 gr. thrice a day, in water, gradually increased to
2 or 3 gr.

=Barium, Chlorate of.= Ba(ClO_{3})_{2}. _Syn._ CHLORATE OF BARY'TA;
BARY'TAE CHLO''RAS, L. _Prep._ From a solution of chloric acid neutralised
with freshly precipitated carbonate of barium; the resulting solution,
after filtration, being crystallised by evaporation.

By passing chlorine through strong milk of hydrate or of carbonate of
barium, in the same way as in making chlorate of potassium.

_Prop., &c._ Soluble in 4 parts of cold water. Used in pyrotechny, and to
make chloric acid.

=Barium, Ferrocy'anide of.= Ba_{2}FeC_{6}N_{6}. _Syn._ BA''RII
FERROCYANI'DUM, L. From pure ferrocyanide of iron digested in baryta
water. By careful evaporation, efflorescent prismatic crystals may be
obtained, soluble in 4-1/2 parts of water.

=Barium, Fluoride of.= BaF_{2}. _Syn._ BA''RII FLUORI'DUM, &c., L. A white
powder, formed by digesting freshly precipitated carbonate of barium in
hydrofluoric acid, in excess.

=Barium, Hydrate of.= Ba(HO)_{2}. _Syn._ HYDRATE OF BARYTA; BARYTAE HYDRAS,
L. _Prep._ By digesting caustic baryta, or barium oxide, with a little
water, or igniting gently the crystallised hydrate. It can be obtained
crystallised as follows:

1. From a concentrated solution of either nitrate or chloride of barium,
precipitated with a rather strong solution of pure potassa, or of pure
soda, perfectly free from carbonic acid.

2. A strong solution of sulphide of barium is boiled with successive
portions of black oxide of copper, until it ceases to give a black
precipitate with a salt of lead; the liquid, after filtration, yields
crystals of the hydrate on cooling.

=Prop., Uses, &c.= Forms a bulky white powder, containing 10-1/2% of water
of hydration, which it retains even after ignition. In this state it is
soluble in 20 parts of cold water, and in 2 parts of boiling water. The
hot saturated solution, as it cools, deposits abundantly columnar crystals
(CRYS'TALLISED HYDRATE OF B.), which contain 51-1/2% of water, of which
they lose, by drying and ignition, 88-3/4% (= 4-3/4% of their weight),
being reduced to the state of the common or amorphous hydrate. Of all the
bases it has the strongest affinity for both sulphuric and carbonic acid,
and hence its solution (BARY'TA-WATER) and those of its neutral salts
(nitrate or chloride) form our most sensitive tests for these substances.
Sp. gr. 4.3 to 4.7. The crystallised hydrate is converted into the
ordinary hydrate at a gentle heat, and this last fuses at a low red heat
without losing its water of hydration, which it only slowly and with
difficulty begins to part with at higher temperatures. In _chemistry_, its
uses are, for the most part, similar to those of BARIUM, OXIDE OF.

=Barium, Iodide of.= Ba_{2}I. _Syn._ BA''RII IODI'DUM, L.; IODURE DE
BARYUM, &c., Fr.

_Prep._ 1. Dissolve sulphide of barium in water, and add iodine
(gradually) in excess; after the reaction is complete, filter, and either
evaporate to dryness, or crystallise.

2. Digest freshly precipitated carbonate of barium, in excess, in a hot
solution of protiodide of iron; filter and evaporate to dryness; then
re-dissolve and crystallise.

3. By saturating hydriodic acid with oxide or carbonate of barium.

_Prop., &c._ A white or greyish-white mass, or acicular crystals
(according to the mode of its preparation); very soluble in water and in
alcohol; and decomposed by exposure to the air. It has been highly
recommended as an alterative, resolvent, and liquefacient, particularly in
scrofula, glandular swellings, chronic inflammations, and the other
affections in which chloride of barium and iodine are given.--_Dose_,
1/12th to 1/8th gr. (gradually and cautiously increased to 1 gr.), in
distilled water, 2 or 3 times a day. Externally, as an ointment (3 or 4
gr., to lard, 1 oz.), as an application to scrofulous swellings. (Biett.)
It possesses all the irritant, corrosive, and poisonous properties of the
chloride, but in a much more violent degree.

=Barium, Nitrate of.= Ba(NO_{3})_{2}. _Syn._ NITRATE OF BARYTA; BARY'TAE
NI'TRAS, L. _Prep._ As the acetate or chloride of barium, substituting
pure nitric acid for acetic or hydrochloric acid.

_Prop., &c._ Transparent, colourless octahedrons, which are anhydrous,
insoluble in alcohol, and require about 8 parts of cold water, and about 3
parts of boiling water, for solution.

_Uses._ In _chemistry_, to prepare baryta, and as a test for sulphuric
acid and the soluble sulphates; and in _pyrotechny_, to give a green tinge
to flame.

=Barium, Oxalate of.= BaC_{2}O_{4}. _Syn._ OX'ALATE OF BARYTA; BARY'TAE
OX'ALAS, L. _Prep._ By precipitating a barium salt with oxalate of
ammonium. Very nearly insoluble.

=Barium, Oxide of.= BaO. _Syn._ BARYTA, BARY'TES, CAU'STIC BARYTA*, OX'IDE
OF BA''RIUM, PROTOX'IDE OF B., HEAV'Y EARTH; BARYTE, OXIDE DE BARIUM,
TERRE PESANTE[dagger], &c., Fr.; BARYT, BARYTERDE, SCHWERERDE, &c., Ger.
One of the earths discovered by Scheele in 1774.

_Sources._ Sulphate and carbonate of barium are abundant minerals, forming
the 'vein-stone' of many lead mines. It is from the latter that baryta
and the barium salts are almost exclusively obtained.

_Prep._ 1. A mixture of carbonate of barium and charcoal (both in fine
powder and moistened) is strongly ignited, for some time, in a porcelain,
Hessian, or black-lead crucible, and then allowed to cool out of contact
with the air, from which it must also be subsequently carefully preserved.

2. (Pure.) Crystallised nitrate of barium is calcined in a capacious
covered porcelain or Hessian crucible, at a bright red heat, until red
(nitrous) vapours are no longer disengaged, even on raising the
temperature; and the residuum, as soon as the temperature has fallen
sufficiently, but whilst still warm, is at once transferred to a bottle,
as before.

3. M. Rosenthiel's process is founded upon the decomposition of sulphide
of barium dissolved in boiling water by oxide of zinc. Caustic baryta and
sulphate of zinc are formed.

_Prop._ A greyish-white, spongy, earthy-looking mass, fusible only before
the oxyhydrogen blowpipe; highly caustic, corrosive, and alkaline, and
slaking, like quick-lime, on the addition of water, but with the evolution
of more heat.

=Barium, Peroxide of.= BaO_{2}. _Syn._ DEUTOX'IDE OF BARIUM; BA''RII
BINOX'YDUM, &c. L.; BINOXIDE DE BARYUM, &c., Fr. _Prep._ Pure baryta is
heated to full redness in a porcelain tube, and a stream of pure dry
oxygen passed over it as long as the gas is absorbed.

Baryta, 4 parts, is heated as above in a platinum crucible, and chlorate
of potassium, 1 part, gradually added to it; the chloride of potassium
formed along with the binoxide being afterwards washed away with cold
water.

_Prop., &c._ Grey or greyish-white; with water it forms a hydrate, which
is slightly soluble in water, and undecomposed by it in the cold. It is
interesting chiefly in its relations with peroxide of hydrogen and the
oxygenised acids of M. Thenard.

=Barium, Phosphate of.= Ba(PO_{4})_{2}. _Prep._ In a similar manner to the
oxalate, which it resembles in being an almost insoluble white powder.

=Barium, Sulphate of.= BaSO_{4}. _Syn._ SULPHATE OF BARYTA, HEAV'Y SPAR,
BOLO''GNIAN S., CAWK (mi); BARY'TAE SUL'PHAS (Ph. E. & D.), SPA'THIUM
PONDERO'SUM, &c., L.; SULFATE DE BARYTE, SPATH PESANT, &c., Fr.;
SCHWEFELSAURES BARYT, SCHWERSPATH, &c., Ger. This salt is found native,
often in beautiful tabular crystals, but more frequently in white or
reddish-white masses. It is also occasionally prepared artificially, as a
pigment and chemical, by decomposing a solution of chloride of barium with
dilute sulphuric acid, or with a solution of sulphate of sodium; the
resulting precipitate being collected, well washed, and dried.

=Prop., &c.= When pure, or free from iron, its powder is white. It is
insoluble in water, and nearly insoluble in all other menstrua; before the
blowpipe it decrepitates, fuses with great difficulty (by which it is
distinguished from the sulphates of strontium and calcium), and ultimately
melts into a hard, white enamel. Mixed with charcoal, and heated to
redness in a covered crucible, it is reduced to sulphide of barium. It is
readily decomposed by fusion with alkaline carbonates; also very slightly
so by their cold solutions; but ultimately completely, though slowly, by
their boiling solutions. Sp. gr. 4.3 to 4.75.

_Uses._ Chiefly as a pigment (PER'MANENT WHITE), and to adulterate
white-lead; for which purposes the native sulphate is commonly well
washed, first in very dilute sulphuric acid, and afterwards in pure water,
to remove any iron which may contaminate it, and impair its whiteness. It
is also used to form sulphide of barium; and, in _pyrotechny_, instead of
the more expensive nitrate.

=Barium, Sulphide of.= BaS. _Syn._ SUL'PHIDE OF BARIUM, SUL'PHURET OF
BARYTA; BA''RII SULPHURE'TUM, &c., L.; SULFURE DE BARYUM, &c., Fr. _Prep._
Sulphate of barium, well dried and in fine powder, 3 parts; powdered
charcoal or powdered coal, 1 part; the mixture is pressed tightly into an
earthen crucible, and the cover being fitted on, it is exposed for 1-1/2
to 2 hours, to a bright red heat; after it has cooled, the black mass thus
obtained is powdered, and boiled in water, and the resulting solution
allowed to crystallise. Some authorities recommend forming the mixed
powders into a stiff paste with oil, or oil of turpentine, before
calcination; but this is not at all necessary.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Crystals, thin and nearly colourless plates, containing
combined water; very soluble in hot water, less so in cold water; and
rapidly decomposed by exposure to the air. It is principally used to form
the BARIUM SALTS, and in organic analysis. Care should be taken in its
preparation to expose the solution to the air as little as possible.
SULPHIDES of a higher grade may be formed by boiling this compound with
sulphur; but they possess little practical interest.

=Barium, Sulphite of.= BaSO_{3}. _Syn._ SUL'PHITE OF BARYTA. _Prep._ By
testing a soluble barium salt with sodium sulphite, and washing the
precipitate. Insoluble.

=Barium, Tartrate of.= BaC_{4}H_{4}O_{6}. _Syn._ TAR'TRATE OF BARYTA.
_Prep._ Like that of oxalate of barium. White powder. Slightly soluble.

=BARK.= [Eng., Dan.] _Syn._ COR'TEX, L.; ECORCE, Fr.; BAUMRINDE, RINDE,
Ger. The rind or exterior covering of vegetables, corresponding to the
skin of animals. It consists of the--cu'ticle or epiderm'is--cellular
substance, containing colouring matter, &c., and--li'ber, the inner or
true bark. The last is formed of woody fibre in great quantity, intermixed
with cellular tissue. At the commencement of the annual growth of a tree,
the bark separates spontaneously from the wood, in order to make room for
the new matter forming beneath. It thus increases by yearly layers, and
gradually perishes on the outside, owing to distension, from the growth of
the interior portion. Its physiological uses are numerous and important.
It is the depository of many of the secretions of plants, and it acts as a
living filter, separating secretions from each other, and allowing a part
of them to pass off horizontally through the medullary processes on their
way to the centre of the tree. But its principal offices appear to be to
act as a protection to the tender wood, and as a channel for the sap in
its descent from the leaves. "True bark only exists in exogens and
gymnosperms; in endogens its place is supplied by cortical integuments,
which cannot be separated from the adjacent wood, without violence."
(Lindley.)

According to Liebig, the characteristic ingredients found in bark are
excrementitious--"substances evidently expelled by the living organism."
True wood yields only .25% to 2% of ash; whilst the bark of some trees
give 6, 10, to 15 times more; and these, like the organic constituents,
differ materially in their composition and characters.

The uses of different species of bark in medicine and the arts are well
known. CINCHONA-BARK is invaluable in fevers; OAK-BARK furnishes the
tanner with one of the most important materials of his trade; and the
tenacious fibres of other varieties are manufactured into cordage and
textile fabrics.

Barks should be collected at that season in which they can be most easily
separated from the wood, which, with a few exceptions, is late in the
spring; because at this time the active principles deposited in their
cells are most abundant. OAK-BARK, collected in spring, contains four
times as much astringent matter as that collected in winter.

=Bark.= (In _medicine_.) See CINCHONA.

=Bark.= (In _tanning_.) See OAK.

=Bark, Jes'uit's.= Cinchona-bark.

=Bark, Salt of= (Essential). See EXTRACTS and SALTS.

=BAR'LEY.= _Syn._ HOR'DEUM, L.; ORGE, Fr.; GERSTE, Ger., Anglo-S. A
well-known grain, the produce of several species of the genus _hordeum_.

_Var., Cult., &c._ Those principally cultivated in England
are--TWO'-ROWED, LONG'-EARED, or COMM'ON BARLEY (_hor'deum dis'tichon_,
Linn.); SPRING'-BARLEY, SQUARE'-B., or BERE (_h. vulga''re_, Linn.); and
SIX'-ROWED BARLEY, WINTER B., Scotch BERE or BIGG (_h. hexas'tichon_,
Linn.). PUT'NEY, SPRAT, or BATT'LEDORE B. (_h. zeocriton_, Linn.), is
another species less frequently met with. Of each of the above there are
several varieties. In Spain and Sicily, two crops of barley are obtained
in a year; but, in countries so far north as Britain, it produces only
one, and is a delicate species of grain. In England it is generally
adopted as a succession crop on light lands, following turnips or green
crops. (Loudon.) The 'yield' per acre varies from 28 to 64 bushels, and is
usually from 28 to 40 bushels. The average weight per bushel is 50 to 51
_lbs._; but the best Norfolk and Essex samples weigh 53 to 54 _lbs._ per
bushel.

_Comp._ The leading constituents of barley are nearly similar to those of
wheat, but it is scarcely so rich in nitrogenised matter. According to
Einhof, the ripe SEEDS or GRAINS are composed of--

  Meal            70.05
  Husk            18.75
  Moisture        11.20
                 ------
                 100.

According to Johnston, average fine BARLEY-MEAL contains--

  Starch                      68.
  Albumen, gluten, &c.        14.
  Fatty matter                 2.
  Ash or saline matter         2.
  Water                       14.
                             ----
                             100.

According to Payen, dried barley possesses the following composition--

  Nitrogenous matter        12.96
  Starch                    66.43
  Dextrin                   10.00
  Fatty matter               2.76
  Cellulose                  4.75
  Mineral matter             3.10
                           ------
                           100.00

According to Dr Ure, the sp. gr. of ENGLISH BARLEY is 1.25 to 1.33
(average, 1.235), and the weight of the husk is about 1-6th; that of BIGG,
1.227 to 1.265, and weight of husk, 2-9ths.

The analyses of the following varieties of barley, gave as the composition
of the ashes of the grains:--

  ---------------------------------------------------
               |Unknown |Chevalier|  From  |Chevalier
               |        | Barley  |Moldavia| Barley
  -------------+--------+---------+--------+---------
  Potash       | 21.14  |  20.77  | 37.55  |   7.70
  Soda         |        |   4.56  |  1.06  |   0.36
  Lime         |  1.65  |   1.48  |  1.21  |  10.36
  Magnesia     |  7.26  |   7.45  | 10.17  |   1.26
  Sesquioxide  |        |         |        |
    of iron    |  2.13  |   0.51  |  1.02  |   1.46
  Sulphuric    |        |         |        |
    acid       |  1.91  |   0.79  |  0.27  |   2.99
  Silica       | 30.68  |  32.73  | 24.56  |  70.77
  Phosphoric   |        |         |        |
    acid       | 28.53  |  31.69  | 38.64  |   1.99
  Chloride of  |        |         |        |
    Sodium     |  1.10  |         |  1.47  |   1.10
  ---------------------------------------------------

In the 'Journal of the Agricultural Society' for 1873 is a report by
Messrs Lawes and Gilbert of twenty years' experiments with barley. The
soil of a field at Rothampstead, in which the barley had been grown for
twenty years, consisted of heavy loam, with a subsoil of clay resting on
chalk, and was previous to the barley being planted almost exhausted by
cropping. The produce was found to be greatest during the absence of
drought and sudden alterations of temperature, the rather cool but uniform
season of 1854 giving the heaviest crops. The yield from farm-yard manure
and nitrate of soda was found in dry seasons to be rather larger than that
from ammonia salts. Barley manured with phosphates was found to ripen one
to two weeks earlier than when the phosphate was omitted.

The average produce per acre of a few of the principal plots is given
below. The "ammonium salts" are stated to be a mixture of equal parts of
sulphate and chloride; the "alkali salts" consist of the sulphates of
potassium, sodium, and magnesium; the "cinerials" consist of alkali salts,
plus superphosphate:

  KEY:
  A: Dressed Corn.
  B: Straw and Chaff.
  C: Total Produce.
  D: Corn to 100 Straw.
  E: Weight per Bushel of Dressed Corn.
  F: Produce of second 10 yrs. over or under first 10 yrs.

  -----------------------------+--------+------+----+----+----+--------
        Manures per Acre.      |   A    |   B  |  C | D  | E  |   F
  -----------------------------+--------+------+----+----+----+--------
                               |bushels.| cwts.|lbs.|    |lbs.|per cwt.
                               |        |      |    |    |    |
  Unmanured                    | 20     |11-3/4|2454|86.6|52.3|- 23.6
  Mixed cinerials              | 27-1/2 |14-3/8|3162|96.4|53.4|- 20.2
  Ammonium salts, 200 lbs.     | 32-1/2 |18-1/2|3919|89.2|52.1|-  9.7
  Ammonium salts, 200 lbs., and|        |      |    |    |    |
    alkali salts               | 35     |20-3/4|4317|86.3|52.8|-  5.3
  Ammonium salts, 200 lbs., and|        |      |    |    |    |
    superphosphate             | 47     |27-5/8|5760|86.8|53.5|+  2.7
  Ammonium salts, 200 lbs., and|        |      |    |    |    |
    cinerials                  | 46-1/4 |28-1/2|5817|83.2|54.0|-   .3
  Rape cake (mean 1300 lbs.)   | 45-1/4 |26-7/8|5571|87.3|53.8|
  Farmyard manure, 14 tons     | 48-1/4 |28-1/4|5933|88.5|54.3|+ 14.8
  -----------------------------+--------+------+----+----+----+--------

The authors direct attention to the results obtained by using the cinerial
manure alone, as illustrating the unsoundness of the old "mineral theory,"
according to which plants were supposed to possess a sufficient source of
nitrogen in the atmosphere. They found a greater crop yielded by barley
than wheat, when no manures were employed, as well as when cinerials were
employed, a fact which they attribute to barley being better able than
wheat to supply itself with nitrogen, notwithstanding the deeper roots of
the latter. They state that with both wheat and barley the produce is
slowly falling off under these circumstances. With ammonium salts alone,
and with nitrate of sodium alone, there is much less falling off than when
no nitrogenous manure is used. The falling off was least with the nitrate.
The nitrate gives a rather larger crop for the same amount of nitrogen
supplied, and they found this to hold when both nitrate and ammonia are
applied with cinerials. The addition of superphosphate to ammonium salts
or sodium nitrate greatly increases the produce; the further addition of
potassium, sodium, and magnesium salts they found almost without effect.

The inference was that the barley had obtained an ample supply of potash
from the natural soil, but an insufficient supply of phosphoric acid.

When ammonium salts are used alone, and the quantity of ammonia does not
exceed 50 lbs. per acre, 3.68 lbs. of ammonia will yield an average
increase of 1 bushel of corn and 63 _lbs._ of straw--total, 115 _lbs._;
the extremes in 20 years were 2.25-18.05 _lbs._ When ammonium salts are
applied with superphosphate, 2.21 _lbs._ of ammonia will produce the same
result; the extremes were 1.47-5.36 _lbs._

Silicate of sodium had been applied for eight years and a half to half the
barley plots receiving ammonia; no increase has resulted where ammonia and
superphosphate are employed; but on the other three plots an increase had
taken place, which, in the case of the plot receiving only ammonia and
alkali salts, is very considerable.

The authors think this irregular reaction seems to show that the silicate
has not produced its effect by furnishing silica to the crop, but by some
reaction upon the plant-food of the soil. The rape cake supplied much more
nitrogen than the ammonium salts, and also some phosphates and potash.
Rape cake alone gives a better return than either ammonium salts or sodium
nitrate applied alone; but when the three manures are mixed with
superphosphate, the results for equal amounts of nitrogen show the rape
cake to be decidedly inferior. From the above experiments it is inferred
that a supply of carbonaceous matter does not increase the crop of barley.

A farm-yard manure containing about 0.64 per cent. of nitrogen supplied
far more plant food than any of the other manures. On an average of
twenty years it was found that about 8 lbs. of ammonia in the form of dung
would produce a bushel of barley, with its equivalent of straw.

In all cases which were comparable it was found that barley appropriates
more of the nitrogenous manure than wheat, save with farmyard manure. A
large amount of nitrogen applied by manure is not taken up by the crop.
Experiments in the barley field proved that large residues from ammonium
salts and sodium nitrate show a small but distinct effect upon succeeding
crops, the influence extending over many years. From an examination of the
drainage waters from lands dressed with the nitrates of ammonium and
sodium, the authors conclude that ammonium salts, as well as sodium
nitrate, will be more economically applied in the spring than in the
winter. Manures containing organic nitrogen are clearly not so liable to
loss from drainage.

Experiments were made on the growth of barley after turnips, and also in
an ordinary four-course rotation. After growing turnips ten years
consecutively with purely cinerial manures, and carting off the produce,
the yield of barley was much smaller than in the experimental field, where
barley was grown after barley. The turnips, though very small crops, had
exhausted the soil of nitrogen to a greater extent than corn crops would
have done. On one plot where rape cake had been applied to the turnips,
the produce of barley was 8-1/4 bushels more than when none had been used.
In the rotation experiments barley was grown after turnips (carted off),
and was followed by beans and wheat. In one series all the crops were
unmanured; in another the turnips received superphosphate; in a third the
turnips received an abundant cinerial and nitrogenous manure.

The mean produce of the six crops of barley obtained in twenty-four years
of rotation was as follows:

  ------------------------------------------------
                            |Dressed  | Straw and
    Character of Rotation.  | Corn.   |   Chaff.
  --------------------------+---------+-----------
                            | bushels.|    cwt.
  Unmanured continuously    |  38-3/8 |   21-3/4
  Superphosphate for turnips|         |
    only                    |  29-3/8 |   16-1/2
  Mixed manure for turnips  |         |
    only                    |  44-3/8 |   25-1/4
  --------------------------+---------+-----------
  Mean produce of unmanured |}        |
    barley in barley        |} 21-1/2 |   12-1/8
    field during the same   |}        |
    season                  |}        |
  ------------------------------------------------

The unmanured turnips were so very small in quantity, that the barley in
the first series was practically grown after a fallow; this barley,
however, was a much larger crop than that grown after turnips manured with
superphosphate only, the available nitrogen of the soil in this case being
exhausted by the turnips.

In the last series the residue of the abundant manure applied to the
turnip crop suffices to produce a good crop of barley.

_Qual., Uses, &c._ Its employment and value as food, and in the
manufacture of malt, are well known. It forms good wholesome bread well
adapted for persons who live luxuriously; but which, for the abstemious
and the delicate, is inferior to that made of wheat, as it is rather less
nutritious, and less easy of digestion, and commonly proves laxative to
those unaccustomed to its use. Barley-flour and barley-meal are also more
perishable than wheat-flour; being very apt to acquire a hot nauseous
taste, which even the heat of the oven does not remove. In a medical point
of view, barley is regarded as the mildest and least irritating of the
cereals. It has always been in high estimation as a demulcent and
emollient. The decoction (BAR'LEY-WATER), made with pearl barley, is a
common and useful drink in inflammatory diseases, particularly in those of
the chest and urinary organs. Among the Ancients, decoctions of barley
([Greek: krathe]) were the principal aliments and medicines employed in
acute diseases.

Barley was extensively cultivated by the Romans and many other nations of
antiquity, as well as by the ancient inhabitants of Gaul. The Greeks are
said to have trained their athletes on it.

The best tests of the genuineness of barley are its colour, freedom from
dust, grit, and insects. The microscope will lead to the detection of any
cheaper grains if mixed with it. It is rarely adulterated, although it is
said to be extensively used for the purpose of sophisticating wheat,
annatto, and roll liquorice.

[Illustration: Barley Starch.]

=Barley, Cau'stic.= Sabadilla.

=Barley, Pat'ent.= _Syn._ FARI'NA HOR'DEI, L. Pearl barley reduced to fine
powder by grinding in a mill.

=Barley, Pearl.= _Syn._ PEARL'ED BARLEY*; HOR'DEUM DECORTICATUM (B. P.),
L.; ORGE PERLE, Fr.; PERLENGRAUPEN, Ger. The seeds of _hordeum distichon_
deprived of the husks. That of commerce is usually made by steaming
spring-barley, to soften the skin, then drying it, and grinding it in a
mill with the stones set wide apart, so as to round and polish the grains,
and to separate the whole of the husk except that left in the furrow of
the seed. SCOTCH PEARL-BARLEY and FRENCH BARLEY resemble the last, but are
smaller, being generally made from winter-barley or bigg. FARO DE ORZO is
another variety made from sprat-barley. See BARLEY (_above_).

=Barley, Scotch.= _Syn._ HULLED BARLEY[double-dagger],
POT-B.[double-dagger]; HOR'DEUM MUNDA'TUM, L.; ORGE MONDE, Fr.;
GERSTENGRAUPEN, GRAUPEN, Ger. The grains deprived of the husk by a mill,
as noticed above, but less completely, and without rounding them.

=BAR'LEY SUGAR.= See CONFECTIONERY, and SUGAR.

=BARM.= See YEAST.

=BAROM'ETER= (_baros_, weight; _metron_, measure). _Syn._
WEATHER-GLASS[double-dagger]; BAROM'ETRUM, L.; BAROMETRE, Fr.; BAROMETER,
WETTERGLAS, Ger. An instrument for measuring the weight or pressure of the
atmosphere. It was invented by Torricelli, of Florence, A.D. 1643.

The barometer is made of several forms, but the principle of its
construction, with the exception of the aneroid barometer, is the same in
each, and essentially consists of a column of fluid (usually mercury)
supported in vacuo, in a glass tube, by the pressure of the atmosphere on
its surface. The annexed figures exhibit the principal varieties at
present known; several of which have been proposed with the view of
improving the original instrument, either by increasing its range, or its
portability. None, however, equal in simplicity, cheapness, and
usefulness, the old forms proposed by Torricelli, and represented by the
figs. 1 & 2. To avoid confusion, the graduated scales and cases of the
instruments are not shown.

[Illustration:

  1. Torricelli's cistern barometer.
  2.    "      syphon        "
  3. Huygen's barometer.
  4.    "        "     modified.
  5. Wheel barometer.
  6. Bernoulli's syphon barometer.
  7. Aminton's   conical   "
  8. Gay Lussac's   "
  9.  "     "       "   modified by M. Bunten.
  _a_, Tube containing a column of mercury.
  _b_, Mercurial cistern.
  _c_, A column of mercury supporting another of water, _d_.
  _e_, _e_, Weights, one of which floats on the surface of the mercury,
      and by means of the cord _f_ moves the index _g_.
  _h_, Graduated dial.
  _k_, Capillary hole drilled laterally to admit air.]

The construction of a barometer requires the utmost skill and care of a
practised artist, and will therefore be seldom undertaken by the amateur
or experimentalist--a fact which renders it unnecessary for us to enter
into the details here. In the choice of his instrument the purchaser must
greatly depend on the known experience and integrity of the manufacturer;
as nothing but lengthened use, and frequent comparisons with other
instruments, can possibly prove its excellence. An ordinary barometer,
however carefully made, is found to suffer gradual deterioration, from the
external air insinuating itself between the mercury and the glass tube, by
which the perfection of the vacuum is destroyed. Various plans have been
proposed to remedy this inconvenience and source of error. Prof. Daniell
forms the bottom part of the tube, to the extent of about 1/3rd of an
inch, of solid platinum, welded to the glass. This plan has proved
completely satisfactory. Dr Ure proposes the use of platinum-foil for the
same purpose. Before purchasing an instrument it is as well to ascertain
that this has been done. In those called 'STANDARD BAROMETERS' the scale
is movable and adjustable by a delicate screw, so as to enable the
observer to bring the lower point or zero (0) of the scale coincident with
the surface of the mercury in the cistern. Exact contact is readily
effected by making the point, and its image as seen by reflection from the
surface of the mercury, to coincide. In this case the cistern is made of
glass. Provided the ivory scale be connected with the zero-point with a
strip of brass, correction as to temperature is very nearly effected by
this simple adjustment. The WHEEL-BAROMETER is chiefly serviceable as a
domestic or land weather-glass.

Of the many forms of mercurial barometer, that perhaps known as Fortin's
is the best. In this instrument the cistern and the lower portion of the
tubes is shown in the annexed figure.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

"The cistern is made of boxwood, with a movable leather bottom _b b_, and
a glass cylinder, _b_, is inserted into it above, all except the glass
being encased in brass. In the bottom of the brass box a screw, C, works
on the upper end of which the leather rests, so that by elevating or
depressing this screw, the bottom of the cistern, and with it the cistern
level of the mercury, can also be raised or depressed at pleasure. A small
ivory pin, _p_, ending in a point is fixed to the upper frame of the
cistern, and when an observation is made, the surface of the mercury is
made to coincide with the point of the pin as the standard level from
which the barometric column is to be measured. The tube of the barometer,
the upper part of which is shown in the lower figure, is enclosed in one
of brass, which has two directly opposite slits in it for showing the
height of the column, and on the sides of these the graduation is marked.
A brass collar, _d, d_, slides upon the tube with a vernier, _v, v_,
marked on it for reading the height with the greatest exactness and in
which two oblong holes are cut, a little wider than the slits in the brass
tube. When a reading is taken the collar is so placed that the last streak
of light is cut off by the two upper edges of the holes or until they form
a tangent to the convex mercurial curve. By this means the observer is
sure that his eye is on a level with the top of the column and that the
reading is taken exactly for this point. Fortin's barometer is generally
arranged so as to be portable, in which case the screw, _c_, is sent in
until the mercury fills the whole cistern, by which the air is kept from
entering the tube during transport, the leather yielding sufficiently at
the same time to allow for expansion for increase of temperature. It packs
in a case which serves as a tripod when the instrument is mounted for use.
On this tripod it is suspended about the middle, swinging upon two axles
at right angles to each other, so that the cistern may act the part of a
plummet, in keeping the tube vertical--the position essential to all
measurements."[107]

[Footnote 107: Chambers's 'Encyclopaedia.']

_How to Manage a Barometer._--It is of the first importance to have the
instrument hung perfectly perpendicular. This is best effected by means of
a plummet line. It should be placed in a good light, but protected from
direct sunlight and also from rain. If air should accidentally find its
way into a common cistern barometer, it may be got rid of by first fixing
the ivory piston, so as to prevent the escape of the mercury, then by
means of the screw raising the mercurial column nearly to the top of the
tube, then by slowly inverting the instrument and tapping the cistern
gently, the air may then perhaps ascend to the cistern and thus escape. In
transporting a barometer from place to place it is best to carry it by
hand; and if packed it is almost needless to say that the float must be
firmly fixed and the mercurial column raised by means of the screw, so as
to prevent any escape of the metal.

_Reading the Barometer._--The mercury in the cistern must first be brought
by means of the screw to the 'zero,' and then the vernier must be screwed
up so that its horizontal edge forms a tangent to the mercurial curve. The
vernier is an instrument for reading off the graduated scale of the
barometer correctly to 1/100th or 1/500th of an inch.

Buchan gives the following description of the vernier and of the method of
using it: "It consists (see figures _a_ and _b_) of a piece similar to the
scale of the barometer along which it slides. It will be observed from
figure _a_ that ten divisions of the vernier are exactly equal to eleven
divisions of the scale, that is, to eleven tenths of an inch. Hence each
division of the vernier is equal to a tenth of an inch, together with a
tenth of a tenth, or a hundredth, or to ten hundredths, and one hundredth,
that is, to eleven hundredths of an inch. Similarly two divisions of the
vernier are equal to twenty-two hundredths of an inch, which expressed as
a decimal fraction is 0.22 inch, three divisions of the vernier is 0.33
inch, &c. Suppose the vernier set as previously described--that is, having
the zero line of the vernier a tangent to the convex curve of the mercury
in the column. If the vernier and scale occupy the relative positions as
in figure _a_, then the height of the barometer is 30.00 inches, but if
they stand as in figure _b_, we set about reading it in this way: (1) The
zero of the vernier being between 29 and 30, the reading is more than 29
inches, but less than 30 inches, and we obtain the first figure 29 inches.
(2) Counting the tenths of an inch from 29 upwards we find that the
vernier indicates more than seven tenths and less than eight tenths,
giving the second figure seven tenths or 0.7 inch. (3) Casting the eye
down the scale to see the point at which a division of the scale and a
division of the vernier lie in one and the same straight line, we observe
this to take place at line 9 of the vernier; this gives this last figure
nine hundredths or 0.09 inch, and placing all these figures in one line we
find that the height of the barometer is 29.79 inches. This sort of
vernier gives readings true to the hundredth of an inch. If the inch be
divided into half tenths or twentieths, and twenty-five divisions of the
vernier equal twenty-four divisions of the scale, it follows that the
difference of these divisions is two thousandths of an inch."

[Illustration]

A still more divided vernier is always used with the best barometers, and
though a little troublesome to read at first, yet if the method of reading
the simpler one just described be understood, the difficulty will be
easily overcome.

_Uses, &c._ The barometer is employed for ascertaining the amount of
atmospherical refraction in astronomical calculations, for measuring
altitudes, and in prognosticating the weather. For the last purpose, on
land, it sometimes proves a false prophet; but at sea, its monitions are
highly trustworthy. As a mere weather-glass, the indications, as read off
from the scale of the instrument, are generally sufficiently accurate; but
in all observations connected with meteorology, altitudes, astronomy, &c.,
certain corrections must be made; the height of the mercury being
influenced both by the size of the tube and by the temperature of the air
by which it is surrounded, as well as by variations in the weight or
pressure of the atmosphere. (See _below_.)

_Barometrical Corrections_:--

1. As to CAPILLARITY:--This applies to all cistern-barometers formed of
tubes of very small diameters, owing to the mercury assuming a convex
surface in the tube. As the tube increases in diameter, so the depression
of the mercury lessens. Hence, the "interior diameter" of a barometer
"should, in every case, exceed one-fourth of an inch." (Brande.) Syphon
barometers that have each of their legs of equal size, require no
correction, as the depression is equal at both ends.

        TABLE _of Barometrical Corrections for_ CAPILLARITY,
        _from the_ 'Encycl. Brit.'

  --------------------+------------------
    Diam. of Tube.    |   Depression.
  --------------------+------------------
    .10 inch.         |   .1403 inch. +
    .15 "             |   .0863 "
    .20 "             |   .0581 "
    .25 "             |   .0407 "
    .30 "             |   .0292 "
    .35 "             |   .0211 "
    .40 "             |   .0153 "
    .45 "             |   .0112 "
    .50 "             |   .0083 "
    .60 "             |   .0044 "
    .70 "             |   .0023 "
    .80 "             |   .0012 "
  --------------------+------------------

2. As to TEMPERATURE:--These depend on the expansion of the mercury, and
of the scale on which the divisions are marked. The rule for reducing an
observed height to the corresponding height at the freezing-point, or 32 deg.
Fahr., the usual standard temperature, is--Subtract 1.10000th part of the
observed height of the barometer for every degree of Fahr. above 32 deg. at
the time of the observation. Or--

(obs. t. - 32) x obs. h. x .0001 = corr. req.

_Measurement of Heights by the Barometer._--When a barometer is at the
foot of a mountain, the pressure it sustains is greater than that to which
it is subjected at the top, by the weight of the column of air intervening
between the top and the bottom.

The height can be obtained from the following table by calculating the
number of feet which must have been ascended to cause the observed fall;
and then making a correction for temperature by multiplying the number
obtained from the table, which may be called A, by the following formula:
_t_ is the temperature of the lower and _t'_ of the upper station:--

  1 x ((_t_ + _t'_ - 64) / .900) x A.

  To lower the barometer from 31 in. to 30 =  857 feet must be ascended.
       "          "       "   30    "   29 =  886  "           "
       "          "       "   29    "   28 =  918  "           "
       "          "       "   28    "   27 =  951  "           "
       "          "       "   27    "   26 =  986  "           "
       "          "       "   26    "   25 = 1025  "           "
       "          "       "   25    "   24 = 1068  "           "
       "          "       "   24    "   23 = 1113  "           "
       "          "       "   23    "   22 = 1161  "           "
       "          "       "   22    "   21 = 1216  "           "
       "          "       "   21    "   20 = 1276  "           "
       "          "       "   20    "   19 = 1341  "           "
       "          "       "   19    "   18 = 1413  "           "

A very complex formula is given by mathematicians for finding very nearly
the true height of a mountain from barometrical and thermometrical
observations made at its base and summit. The following rule by Mr Ellis
will be found to give very nearly the same results:--Multiply the
difference of the barometric readings by 52,400, and divide by the sum of
the barometric readings. If the result be 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, or 5000,
add 0, 0.2, 6, 14, respectively. Subtract 2-1/3rd times the difference of
the temperature of the mercury. Multiply the remainder by a number
obtained by adding 836 to the sum of the temperatures of the air and
dividing by 900. A correction must also be given for latitude, which can
be done by the annexed table.

  ---------+--------++---------+---------
  Latitude.| Factor.||Latitude.| Factor.
  ---------+--------++--------+----------
      80   | 0.99751||   35    | 1.00090
      75   | 0.99770||   30    | 1.00265
      70   | 0.99797||   25    | 1.00170
      65   | 0.99830||   20    | 1.00203
      60   | 0.99868||   15    | 1.00230
      55   | 0.99910||   10    | 1.00249
      50   | 0.99954||    5    | 1.00261
      45   | 1.00000||    0    | 1.00265
      40   | 1.00046||         |
  ---------+--------++---------+---------

Fortin's and Gay-Lussac's barometers are employed for measuring heights.
The aneroid can be used for altitudes reaching to 5000 feet. A delicate
instrument will register for as small an ascent as 4 feet.

_The Barometer as a Weather-glass._--Generally speaking when the mercurial
column in the barometer falls, 'rain' is indicated, and 'fair weather'
when it rises. When it continues steady, a continuance of the weather at
the time is regarded as the forecast; when low, the weather is generally
broken or bad; and when high, it is fair and settled. A storm is usually
preceded by a sudden fall in the mercurial column, the violence of the
storm being in proportion to the suddenness of the fall. An unsteady
barometer indicates an unsettled condition of weather, whilst a gradual
change in it indicates the approach of some permanent condition of it. The
state and direction of the wind has also to be taken into consideration
when studying the changes of the barometer, and forms an important element
in the calculations of the meteorologist, each different wind indicating
variations of weather. The connection between changes of weather and the
pressure of the atmosphere does not seem to have been satisfactorily
established.

One of the reasons assigned for the mercurial column in the barometer
being lower in wet than in fine weather is that so long as aqueous matter
remains in the air in the form of elastic vapour, its tension assists in
supporting the barometric column, but that when this aqueous vapour is
precipitated in the form of rain, this tension is lost or removed, and the
column therefore falls.

The correspondence between wet and fine weather and an elevation and
depression of the barometer seems, however, equally, if not more,
dependent on the nature of the winds than on the preceding cause. "In
western Europe, the south and south-western winds, which are the
rain-bringing winds, are warm winds. Now, a column of warm air to be of
the same weight as one of cold air must necessarily be higher, but this
cannot well be the case in the atmosphere, for no sooner does the warm
column rise by its lightness above the surrounding level of the upper
surface of the aerial ocean, than it flows over and becomes nearly of the
same height as the cold air around it. The interchange taking place less
interruptedly, and consequently less slowly, in the higher strata than in
those near the ground, it is some time before the equilibrium, thus
disturbed, is restored; and meanwhile the barometer keeps low under the
pressure of a rarer atmospheric column. On the other hand, the northerly
and easterly winds, being comparatively cold and dry, are accompanied by
fair weather and a high barometer. It is thus to the warmth, and not to
the moisture of these winds, that the pressure is to be ascribed."[108]

[Footnote 108: Chambers's 'Encyclopaedia.']

=Barometer, An'eroid.= An instrument invented, or at least perfected, by
M. Vidi, of Paris, in which the pressure of the atmosphere is measured
without the employment of a fluid, as in the ordinary barometer.[109]
Externally, it somewhat resembles in appearance a carriage clock or a
ship's chronometer; internally, it consists of a small air-tight
cylindrical box, formed of thin corrugated copper plates, and partially
exhausted of air, the sides of which yield to the pressure of the
atmosphere; the effect being regulated by a spring, multiplied by a system
of levers, and ultimately recorded by the index on a graduated dial.
Compensation for changes of temperature are self-effected, with almost
perfect accuracy, by the elastic force of the spring being so adjusted to
that of the air in the cylinder, that the loss of force in the one and the
increased expansive force of the other shall, independently of changes of
atmospheric pressure, preserve the lever in equilibrio.

[Footnote 109: An instrument founded on the same principle, and of nearly
similar construction was described by M. Conte, in 1798, in the 'Bull. des
Sci. Nat.,' t. i, No. xiii, p. 106.]

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

The indications of the aneroid barometer closely correspond to those of
the mercurial barometer at ordinary ranges; the differences never
exceeding .01 of an inch. It is so extremely sensitive that an ascent or
descent of only a few feet is distinctly indicated by it; whilst its
portability adapts it for service in situations for which an ordinary
barometer is unfitted. On the other hand, it is liable to move by jerks,
and the elasticity of the spring, and consequently the zero-point of the
scale, has been found to be sometimes affected by time and a rough
journey. On this account it is necessary to compare it occasionally with
some standard mercurial barometer, to determine its amount or rate of
variation, if any.

[Illustration]

=Barometer, Phi'al.= This amusing philosophic toy is made by cutting off
the rim and part of the neck of a common glass-phial with a file. The
phial is then nearly filled with water, either pure or tinged blue or red;
and the finger being placed on its mouth, it is inverted, and suspended in
a vertical position by means of a piece of twine or wire, when the finger
is withdrawn. (See _engr._) In dry weather the under surface of the water
remains level with the neck of the bottle, or even concave; in damp
weather, on the contrary, a drop appears at the mouth and continues
enlarging until it falls, and is then followed by another in the same way.

=Barometer, Fitzroy.= This, which is a very cheap instrument, is made on
the syphon principle, but the cistern is formed by the lower limit, which
is blown into a bulb.

=Barometer, Port'able.= The most accurate are those of Gay-Lussac and
Bunten, and after them the aneroid. They should be set on universal
joints, and well balanced. The common instrument made with a box and
leather cistern seldom continues long correct.

=Barometer, Wheel.= The common form of the instrument having a dial-face
and hands.

[For further information in connection with the above subject the reader
is referred to the 'articles' ANEROID, ATMOSPHERE, GAS, HEIGHTS, STEAM,
STORM-GLASS, VAPOUR, WEATHER, &c.]

=BAR'OSCOPE=[dagger] (-sk[=o]pe). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BAROSCO'PIUM, L. A
barometer; sometimes applied to the wheel-barometer of Hooke.

=BAR'RAS.= The concrete resinous exudation from the bark of fir-trees.
That from _pi'nus marit'ima_ is called GALIPOT.

=BARSE.= [Provincial.] The common perch.

=BAR'WOOD.= A red dye-wood imported from Angola and other parts of Africa.
It closely resembles cam-wood and sanders-wood in its colouring matter
being of a resinous nature, and scarcely soluble in water. In _dyeing_
this difficulty is obviated by taking advantage of the strong affinity
existing between it and the proto-salts of tin and iron. Thus, by strongly
impregnating the goods with protochloride of tin, either with or without
the addition of sumach, according to the shade of red desired, and then
putting them into a boiling bath containing the rasped wood, the colour is
rapidly given out and taken up, until the whole of the tin in the fibres
of the cloth is saturated, and the goods become of a rich bright hue. In
like manner the dark red of bandana handkerchiefs is commonly given by a
mordant of acetate of iron followed by a boiling bath of this dye-stuff.
See DYEING, MORDANTS, &c.

=BASALT'= (b[)a]-s[)o]lt'). [Eng., Ger.] _Syn._ BASAL'TES
(-s[)a]l'-t[=e]z), L.; BASALTE, Fr. In _geology_, &c., a species of
trap-rock, essentially composed of the minerals felspar and augite. It is
of a fine compact texture, of a dark-green, grey, or black colour, and
usually occurs in regular columns, of which the Giants' Causeway and the
Island of Staffa furnish magnificent examples. It is fusible; and when
rapidly cooled forms a dark brittle glass; but when slowly cooled retains
its original beauty and hardness almost unimpaired. Messrs Chance,
Brothers, of Birmingham, have availed themselves of this property to apply
it to decorative and ornamental purposes. Their process is to melt the
material[110] in a reverberatory furnace, and, when sufficiently fluid,
to pour it into red-hot moulds of sand encased in iron boxes. The
corresponding adj. is BASALT'IC (-s[=o]lt'-; BASAL'TICUS, -s[)a]l'-, L.;
BASALTIQUE, Fr.).

[Footnote 110: Rowley-rag is used by the Messrs C.; as beside ordinary
basalt, greenstone, whinstone, and other similar minerals, possess the
same property.]

=BASE.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BA'SIS (pl., ba'ses), L., Gr.; GRUND,
GRUNDFLAeCHE, Ger. In _chemistry_ it was formerly, and is now occasionally,
applied to metallic oxides which possess the property of forming salts
with acids. The alkaloids are also designated organic bases. In
_pharmacy_, the characteristic or principal ingredient in any medicine or
compound preparation; or that on which its qualities or efficacy depends.

=BAS'IL= (-b[)a]z'-). _Syn._ SWEET BAS'IL, CIT'RON B.; BASIL'ICUM, L.;
BASILIC, Fr.; BASILIKUM, Ger. The _oc'ymum_ ([)o]s'-) _basil'icum_
(Linn.), an annual aromatic herbaceous plant, of the nat. ord. Labiatae
(DC.). It is a native of India, but is largely cultivated in every part of
Europe as a pot-herb. Leaves strong-scented; popularly reputed
emmenagogue; much used to flavour salads, soups, &c., especially in French
cookery. Mock-turtle soup derives its peculiar flavour from this herb; as
also did the original Fetter-lane sausages, once so highly esteemed by
cockney gourmands. In India it is commonly employed as an anodyne in
childbirth.

=Bas'il= (b[)a]z'-). _Syn._ BAS'AN; BASANE, Fr. A sheep-skin, tanned;
particularly one dressed on the grain side, for book-binding.

=BASIL'ICON.= See CERATES and OINTMENTS.

=BAS'KET= (b[)a]s'-). _Syn._ COPH'INUS (k[)o]f'-), L.; PANIER, CORBEILLE,
&c., Fr.; KORB, Ger. BASKETS are generally STAINED or  with the
simple liquid dyes used for straw or wood; and that, for variegated work,
the twigs, after being carefully peeled, washed, and wiped dry or slightly
air-dried, are stained before being woven. See OSIERS, &c.

=BASS[double-dagger].= [Provin.] The linden-tree; also a hassock or mat
made of its inner bark. See BAST.

=Bassia butyracea.= A tree growing in the sub-tropical Himalayas. The
seeds yield by expression a concrete oil, known by the name of _Fulwa
Butter_, which does not become rancid by keeping. It is held in high
esteem in India as an external application in rheumatic and other painful
maladies.

=BAS'SORIN= (-r[)i]n). _Syn._ BASSORI'NA, L. A substance first noticed, by
Vauquelin, in _Bas'sora-gum_. See GUM, INSOLUBLE, TRAGACANTHINE, &c.

=BAST= (b[)a]st). _Syn._ BASS (which _see_). The inner bark of the linden
tree or tiel tree; also matting, &c., made of it.

=BAS'TARDS= (-t[)a]rdz). _Syn._ BAS'TARD SUG'AR (sh[)o][)o]g'-), PIECES,
&c. In _sugar-refining_, impure or damaged sugar resulting from the heat
and chemicals used in the process of manufacture, and which will not pay
for purifying.

=BA''SYL= (b[=a]se'[)i]l). In _chemistry_, any simple or compound body,
acting as a basic radical.

=BATATA= [_Convolvulus batatas_, or SWEET POTATO]. This is a native of the
East Indies, but is now cultivated in all tropical and sub-tropical
countries for the sake of its tubers, which are highly esteemed as an
article of food. They are eaten either roasted or boiled, and are sweet,
wholesome, and nutritious, although somewhat laxative.

In some parts of America the Batata, next to maize, forms the principal
diet of the poorer classes. The plant was introduced into England by Sir
Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins; but they do not bear the cold of our
winters, and if grown here are raised in hot-houses, where they may be
obtained without difficulty varying from 1 lb. to 2 lbs. in weight. They
thrive better in the south of Europe. The tubers contain about 32 per
cent. of solid matter, 16 of which is starch, 10 sugar, 1.5 albumen, 1.1
gum, 0.3 fat, 2.9 mineral matter. The leaves are used as a boiled
vegetable.

=BATH= (bahth). _Syn._ BAL'NEUM, L.; BAIN, Fr.; BAD, Ger., Sax. A place
for bathing; a vessel or receptacle, natural or artificial, containing or
adapted to contain water, and used to bathe in. In _architecture_ and
_hygiene_, a building fitted up for and appropriated to bathing.

_Constr., &c._ Here one of the first subjects which must engage our
attention is the selection of the material of which the bath is to be
formed. For FIXED BATHS polished white marble has always been in favour,
owing to its cleanliness and beauty. For this purpose, slabs of sufficient
thickness and free from flaws or cracks should be chosen; and they should
be securely and properly bedded in good water-tight cement, in a
well-seasoned wooden case. The objections to marble, independent of its
costliness, are, that it is apt to get yellow or discoloured, and to lose
its polish, by frequent and careless use; and that the restoration of its
surface to its original purity, is a matter of considerable expense and
difficulty. It is also only fitted to contain water with, at the most,
soap, weak alkalies or alkaline carbonates, aromatics, or neutral organic
principles; and cannot be employed with water medicated, however slightly,
with acids, sulphurets, iodine, chlorine, salines (others than those just
named), or calorific substances. As a cheaper material thick slabs of
Welsh slate are often substituted for marble; but even this substance is
attacked by chemicals, though much more slowly. A lining of large Dutch
tiles is sometimes used: but here the joints are very apt to leak. For
baths adapted to all the requirements of health and disease, and which are
at the same time durable and comparatively inexpensive, we must,
therefore, seek further. Porcelain, glass, and hard glazed stone-ware have
been proposed, and are even sometimes used for baths; but they possess the
disadvantages of being fragile, and very liable to crack when filled with
hot water in cold weather. Wedgewood-ware is very beautiful and durable;
but is expensive, and baths formed of it can only be obtained on special
order. Stourbridge-ware, as produced of late years, is the only product of
the potter's art that appears entirely to meet the case; but even this
yields in durability to enamelled iron as a material for baths adapted to
all liquids and temperatures, and to rough or careless usage. (See _engr._
1.) The better qualities of PORT'ABLE BATHS (see _engr._ 2) are generally
made of copper. Stout tinned or galvanised iron, and even stout block-tin
thickly covered with waterproof paint or japan, are also employed; but
though less expensive than copper, they have the disadvantage of being
much less durable. All these substances are, however, readily acted on by
chemicals. A durable and cheap portable bath, adapted to all purposes,
must, therefore, like a fixed one, be made of one or other of the
materials already noticed. For MED'ICATED BATHS large wooden troughs are
frequently employed, particularly for acidulated, ioduretted, and
sulphuretted baths.

[Illustration: 1.]

[Illustration: 2.]

The arrangements for supplying cold and hot water must necessarily greatly
depend on circumstances, and the quantity required. For a single fixed
bath, or even for two or three of them, the common circulating
water-heater or boiler, placed in some apartment on a rather lower level
than the bath, is, perhaps, the most convenient; but where this is not
attainable the water may be run, by means of a pipe, from a boiler
situated on a somewhat higher level. In either case a supply of cold water
must also be at hand, and conveyed in a like manner, to enable the bath to
be reduced to any required temperature. On the large scale, as in our
public baths, where numerous baths are in constant use during the day, the
hot water is best supplied from a large cistern somewhere above the level
of the bath-rooms, and which is heated by a coil of pipe supplied with
high-pressure steam from a boiler situated on a lower level, as the ground
floor or basement. The hot and the cold water, conveyed by separate pipes
of about 1-1/2 inch diameter, unite in a two-way cock close to the bath,
so as to enter it together, by which only _one_ aperture in the end of the
bath is required for the purpose. The bath is emptied, and excess of water
removed, by a grated aperture in the bottom, also stopped by a cock which,
like the former, has handles or keys so placed as to be accessible to the
attendant outside the bath-room, as well as to the bather, whilst the
danger of overflowing is obviated by a two-inch waste-pipe, opening into
the bath at about two inches from the top.

For heating portable baths, so many plans are in use, and have been
suggested, and even patented, that the reader cannot possibly be at a loss
for one to suit his particular case. A small grate for burning charcoal is
the one most commonly adopted; but where attainable, a ring or cross of
small inflamed gas-jets, is more cleanly and manageable.

When the bath consists of a wooden tub, or any other deep vessel, a simple
and inexpensive apparatus brought out in America, under the title of the
'ITAL'IAN BATH'-WARMER' (see _engr._ 3), and made of thin sheet-iron, will
occasionally be found useful.[111]

[Footnote 111: A small cast-iron 'horse' with three legs (not shown in the
engr.) to support the 'warmer' about 2 inches above the bottom of the
bath-tub, and to keep it steady and upright, is usually sold with it.]

[Illustration: 3.

_a_, Bath-tub.

_b_, The larger arm of the warming-tube by which the charcoal is
introduced, and by which the fumes fly off.

_c_, The smaller arm to admit air to support the combustion.

_d_, The fire grate, to support the burning charcoal.]

This situation and the minor details connected with the comfort and
convenience of the bath, must greatly depend on the character of the
building, and the sum to be devoted to the purpose. When possible, the
bath-room should always be on the same floor as the bedrooms, of easy
access to them, and so situated and arranged, that a plentiful and
constant supply of pure water can be ensured, and the waste water removed
without trouble or inconvenience. The basement story should always be
avoided; for, as observed by Dr Ure, there is a coldness and dampness
belonging to it, in almost all weathers, which is neither agreeable nor
salubrious.

The ranges of the temperature of water appropriate to the respective
baths, according to the common nomenclature, are shown in the following
Table:--

  ------------------------------------
  Name.           | Temperature. Fahr.
  ------------------------------------
  Cold bath       | 33 deg. to 75 deg.
  Temperate bath  | 75  "  82
  Tepid bath      | 82  "  90
  Warm bath       | 90  "  98
  Hot bath        | 98  " 112
  ------------------------------------

_Concluding Remarks._ The importance, and indeed the absolute necessity of
frequent personal ablution, has been already insisted on and explained.
But however important and beneficial the use of water in this way may be,
the effects arising from the immersion of the body in that liquid, as in
the practice of bathing, are far more extensive and complete. What the one
does usefully but not completely, the other accomplishes readily,
satisfactorily, and perfectly. There is no absolute succedaneum for the
entire bath. Its physiological effects are peculiar to itself, and of the
utmost importance in pathology and hygiene. The practice of wearing
flannel, the daily use of clean linen, the mere washing of the more
exposed parts of the body, are but poor attempts at cleanliness, without
the occasional, if not frequent, entire submersion of the body in water.
Nor should the action of judicious bathing in the promotion of personal
comfort and personal beauty be forgotten. Intellectual and moral vigour
are also gradually, but materially, influenced and promoted by the
beneficial action of bathing on the system; for mind and conscience being
linked to matter in the 'house we live in,' become perturbed, or
lethargic, in almost exact accordance with the fluctuations of our
physical health. The neglect of bathing in this country is, to us, an
absolute enigma. We are always talking about health, and continually
professing to be seeking it; but the practical applications of the
principles which we advocate, and the doctrines which we teach, are,
unfortunately, the exceptions and not the rule.

Our recommendation of bathing applies chiefly to the warm bath and the
tepid bath, which are alike adapted to the delicate and the robust, and to
every condition of climate and season. Cold bathing, in this climate, is
only suited to the most healthy and vigorous, and can only be safely
practised during the warmer months of the year, and in a mass of water
sufficient to permit of the heat of the body being maintained by swimming
or other active exercise. The plunge and shower baths are partial
exceptions to these remarks; whilst sea-bathing, for the reasons given
elsewhere, comes under another category. This last, "on account of its
stimulative and penetrating power, may be placed at the head of those
means which regard the care of the skin; and it certainly supplies one of
the first wants of the present generation, by opening the pores, and
thereby re-invigorating the whole nervous system." "Besides its great
power in cases of disease, it may be employed by those who are perfectly
well, as the means most agreeable to nature for strengthening the body and
preserving the health." Another important advantage which sea-bathing has
over bathing in fresh water is, that persons seldom take cold from
indulging in it.

For old people, or those of middle age, the cold bath is not to be
recommended, or if taken, considerable caution is required in using it. By
such persons, also, bathing in very hot weather, or in the sea, should
likewise be prudently practised. For these, the warm or tepid sponge-bath
will be found the much safer method.

It sometimes happens that, both with the old and young, the cold bath
gives rise to headache, palpitation, shortness of breath, loss of
appetite, or great languor. Whenever any of these effects are produced,
the bath should be at once given up.

The best time for taking a cold hath or for swimming is in the morning,
not too early, but when the sun is well up. Immersion is best practised
after a light meal, but not immediately following one. After breakfast,
from 10 a.m. to noon, are the preferable hours. Should the bather be
unable to swim, when going into the sea or into a river, he should keep
briskly moving all the time his body is immersed in the water. If in a
room bodily friction must be substituted for exercise. A desirable glow
may often be produced by rubbing the body with either a rough towel, a
flesh-brush, or a pair of horsehair gloves.

The above remarks are meant to apply only to persons in average health.

Weakly and delicate persons, even without any disease about them, would
always do well to consult their medical adviser before taking to cold
bathing.

We may add, that for bathing to produce its best effects the water should
be soft and pure, and good soap sparingly, but regularly, employed
whenever the skin requires it. See ABLUTION and WASH-HOUSES.

The medical and hygienic properties of baths are noticed below, under
their respective names:--

=Bath.= In _chemistry_, &c., a vessel or apparatus containing some medium
in which the vessel holding the substance to be heated is immersed,
instead of being exposed to the direct action of the fire; by which means
a limited and uniform temperature may be ensured.

The highest temperature that can be given to any substance contained in a
vessel placed in another of boiling water, is about 205 deg. or 206 deg. Fahr.;
but by adding 1/5th part of common salt to the bath, a heat of fully 212 deg.
may be obtained. Baths of fusible metal, saturated solutions of salt,
sand, and (on the large scale) steam, are also used for the same purpose.
A bath of oil may be safely heated to about 500 deg. Fahr. without suffering
decomposition, and will be found an exceedingly appropriate and convenient
source of heat in many processes. The simplest and most convenient form of
water bath is that afforded by raising water to the boiling point in a
copper basin placed over a gas lamp, and supporting the vessel to be
heated over the basin, by means of a circular hoop of copper resting on
the top of the basin. By this means the lower surface of the dish or
vessel to be heated is brought in contact with the steam. Copper basins,
fitted with a series of concentric copper rings, so as to render the basin
capable of supporting dishes of different sizes, are made for this
purpose.

[Illustration]

For drying many substances an air bath is required. The accompanying cut
represents a convenient form of air bath. It consists of a cylindrical
copper vessel (_A_), the cover of which is moveable, and has two
apertures, the middle one (_E_) serving for the escape of vapour, and the
lateral one (_C_) for the insertion of a thermometer. The vessel holding
the substance to be heated rests on a ring within the box, supported on a
tripod.

A larger air bath, by means of which several small vessels can be heated
at once, is seen below.

Air-baths are sometimes surrounded with a jacket, and may be converted
into water or oil baths, according as the jacket is filled with either of
the fluids. For a Table of Boiling-points, see EBULLITION.

An air-bath of constant temperature between 100 deg. and 200 deg. C. has been
contrived by Sprengel. It consists of an ordinary hot-water oven made of
sheet-lead autogenously soldered, and filled with dilute sulphuric acid
boiling at the required temperature.

In order that the temperature may remain constant, the water which distils
from the dilute sulphuric acid is condensed and allowed to flow back again
into the bath by means of a worm of lead cooled by the atmosphere, or a
long vertical metal or glass tube.

[Illustration]

=Bath.= In _medicine_, the medium in which the body, or a part of it, is
bathed or immersed, for some object beyond that of mere personal
cleanliness or enjoyment; the composition, use, or temperature of the
medium being generally indicated by some epithet, as in the instances
below. When only the last is pointed out, pure water is, of course,
intended to be used.

Baths are divided by medical writers into classes, and even minor
subdivisions, in a manner which is more ingenious than useful. They are
said to be SIMPLE when water or its vapour forms the bath; and COMPOUND
when the water or vapour is medicated by the addition of other substances
(COM'POUND BATHS; BAL'NEA COMPOS'ITA, L.). The latter class is also
subdivided into THERAPEU'TIC BATHS (MED'ICATED BATHS; BAL'NEA MEDICA'TA,
B. THERAPEU'TICA, L.); and NUTRIT'IVE BATHS (B. NUTRIEN'TIA, B.
NUTRI''TIA*, B. NUTRITO''RIA*, L.). Thus, besides the ordinary water and
vapour baths, the medical uses of which are hereafter noticed, we have
WINE'-BATHS, MILK'-BATHS, SOUP'-BATHS, &c. (used to convey nourishment, or
to sustain the body, as in occlusion of the [oe]sophagus, certain diseases
of the stomach, &c.); CHLO''RINE BATHS, SUL'PHUROUS B., MERCU''RIAL B.,
&c. (used in skin diseases, syphilis, &c.); AROMAT'IC and CHALYB'EATE
BATHS (employed as tonics); and ACID BATHS (sometimes used to remove the
effects of mercury).

On the Continent a variety of substances are employed to medicate baths,
which are seldom or never so used in this country.

The quantity of any medicinal substance used to medicate a bath, for an
adult, may be, in general, for each gallon of water employed, about the
same as that which is used to form a half-pint lotion of medium or rather
weak strength. Thus; taking the quantity of bichloride of mercury to form
the lotion at 5 _gr._, and that of sulphurated potash at 1/2 _dr._, the
quantity required for a bath of 30 to 40 _galls._ will be about 2-1/2
_dr._ of the first, and about 1-3/4 _oz._ of the second of these
substances. Much, however, depends on the nature of the case, the length
of the immersion, the periods of recurrence, and the intended number of
repetitions. In the case of very active remedies it will be safest and
best to begin with less than (say 1/4 to 1/3) the quantity thus indicated.

Medicated baths are, in nearly all cases, taken warm or fully tepid.

[asterism] In the following baths the quantity of the ingredients ordered,
when not otherwise indicated, is that proper for an ordinary full-sized
bath for an adult; viz., from 40 to 60 _galls._ Those which do not contain
volatile substances may be used more than once; and many of them several
times by adding a small quantity of fresh ingredients to keep up their
strength.

=Bath, Acid= ([)a]s'-). _Syn._ BAL'NEUM AC'IDUM ([)a]s'-), L. See
HYDROCHLORIC, NITRIC, NITRO-HYDROCHLORIC, and SULPHURIC ACID BATHS
(_below_). Enamelled, hard-glazed, or wooden vessels must be used with all
of them.

=Bath, Air.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM PNEUMAT'ICUM, L.:--_a._ (Cold.) Simple
exposure of the body, in a state of nudity, for a short time to the
atmosphere. Tonic, anodyne, and sedative; in febrile excitement, nervous
irritability, and restlessness accompanied by a quick or full pulse, &c.
Safe and often very effective. It will frequently induce sleep when all
other means fail.

_b._ (Hot:--ASSA, A. SUDA'TIO, L.) An apartment to which dry heated air is
admitted. Sometimes the arrangement is such that the air is _not_ inhaled.
Stimulant; sudorific; more so than even the vapour bath; produces copious
perspiration, being, indeed, the most powerful and certain diaphoretic
known. It has been advantageously employed in cholera (for which its
advocates state that it is almost a specific), congestive fevers, chronic
rheumatism, contractions, stiff joints, paralysis, scaly skin-diseases,
dropsical swellings, and most of the cases in which the vapour bath is
usually employed. The temperatures are--as a sudorific, 85 deg. to 105 deg. Fahr.;
as a stimulant, 100 deg. to 130 deg.. When not inhaled it may be often raised,
with advantage, 15 deg. to 25 deg. higher. See BATH, TURKISH.

_c._ (Compressed.) Recommended, by M. Tarberie, in aphonia, &c. It has
recently been employed in asthma, phthisis, and some other like diseases,
with extraordinary success, at Ben Rhydding.

_d._ (Rarefied.) Applied locally. Revulsive; resembles CUPPING, DRY (which
_see_).

=Bath, Al'kaline.= _Syn._ AL'KALISED BATH; BAL'NEUM ALKALI'NUM, B.
ALKALIZA'TUM, L. Carbonate of potash (salt of tartar), 3/4 _lb._ In itch,
prurigo and chronic skin diseases accompanied with dryness and irritation,
acute gout, lithic gravel, scurvy, diarrh[oe]a, &c. Scotch soda, 1 _lb._,
is sometimes substituted for the 'potash'; but is less effective, and is
theoretically objectionable.

=Bath, Al'um.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ALU'MINIS, L. Alum (in powder, or
previously dissolved in hot water), 3/4 _lb._ to 1-1/2 _lb._, or even 2
_lbs._ In troublesome excoriations, extensive burns, obstinate vesicular
eruptions, diarrh[oe]a, &c.; also in obstinate piles and prolapsus ani.
See BATH, ASTRINGENT.

=Bath, Ammoni'acal.= See HYDROCHLORATE OF AMMONIA BATH (_below_).

=Bath, Animal.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ANIMA'LE, L. The skin or any part of an
animal just killed, wrapped round the body or a limb. Once much esteemed;
now, happily, disused in this country.

=Bath, Antimo''nial.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ANTIMONIA'LE, L. Tartar-emetic, 1 to
2 _oz._ (Soubeiran.) In lumbago and certain skin diseases; also as a
counter-irritant.

=Bath, Antipso''ric.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ANTIPSO''RICUM, L. See BATH,
SULPHURETTED (also others).

=Bath, Aromat'ic.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM AROMAT'ICUM, L. Balm, chamomile,
lavender, mint, rosemary, sage, thyme, with any other like aromatic herbs
(at will), of each a handful, mixed together and steeped in a (covered)
pail of boiling or very hot water, for an hour, and then strained, with
pressure, into the bath. Sometimes 2 or 3 _oz._ of sal-ammonia, a 1/4
_lb._ of alum, or 1 _lb._ of common salt, is also added. Occasionally used
in cutaneous affections, chronic rheumatism, diarrh[oe]a, dyspepsia,
stiff-joints, &c.; also in debility arising from loss of blood,
spermatorrh[oe]a, suppressions, hysteria, hypochondriasis, &c.

The AROMATIC VAPOUR BATH is made by causing the vapour to pass through the
herbs.

=Baths, Aromatic Malt= (J. Hoff, Berlin). Wittstein says these consist of
coarsely crushed barley malt at six times its selling value.

=Bath, Astrin'gent.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ASTRIN'GENS, L. _Prep._ (Most.) Alum
(2 to) 4 _lbs._; dissolve in boiling water; and add, whey, 6 or 8
pailfuls, or q. s. In extensive burns, piles, prolapsus ani, &c. See BATH,
ALUM, BATH, OAKBARK, &c.

=Bath, Balsamic.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM BALSAM'INUM, L. Bordeaux turpentine and
tar, of each 2 _lbs._ (or of tar alone, 3 to 4 _lbs._); hot water, 6 or 7
_galls._; stir continuously until nearly cold, then add the clear portion
to water q. s. to form a bath. In mumps, pruriginous diseases of the skin,
eczema, impetigo, &c.

=Bath, Bareges= (Factitious). _Syn._ BAL'NEUM BARETGINEN'SE (Factitium),
L. _Prep._ 1. Crystallised sulphide of sodium, 3-1/2 _oz._; chloride of
sodium, 1-1/2 _oz._; gelatine (dissolved), 4 _oz._

2. (Trousseau & Reveil.) Dry sulphide of potassium, 4 _oz._; water, 16
_oz._; dissolve, and add the solution to the bath; then further add, of
sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, 1/2 _oz._, previously diluted with water,
8 _oz._ In itch, moist skin diseases, chronic diarrh[oe]a, chronic
rheumatism, lead colic, &c. See BALLS, WATERS, &c.

=Bath, Benzo'ic.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM BENZO'ICUM, L. 1. Benzoin (in powder),
1/2 _lb._; water (at 90 deg.) q. s. In irritations, hysteria, hypochondriasis,
&c. It is also reputed to be feebly aphrodisiac. 2. A common warm bath,
with a little powdered benzoin laid on a heated plate near the bather, so
that the fumes may be inhaled. Slightly soothing or anodyne; in chronic
laryngitis, relaxed uvula, &c.

=Bath, Bichlo''ride of Mer'cury.= See BATH, MERCURIAL.

=Bath, Bran.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM FUR'FURIS, L. Bran, 5 to 7 _lbs._; boiling
waters, 2 or 3 galls.; digested together for an hour, or boiled for 15
minutes; the strained liquid being added to the bath. Emollient; in dry
and scaly skin disease, and to allay itching and surfacial irritation;
also to promote suppuration, &c.

=Bath, Bromine.= The saline waters of Kreuznach contain bromides. The
salts derived from the evaporation of these waters are imported into this
country, and are employed in baths. Or the following substitute may be
used:--Artificial sea-salt, 11 _lbs._; bromide of potassium, 4 _oz._; mix,
and let the above be added to a bath containing sufficient water for
immersion. The bromine bath is more especially used for tumours of every
kind. It requires to be continued in for a long time. When the patient
does not possess the conveniences for taking the bath, flannels dipped in
a strong solution of the salt and wrung out may be applied wet to the
abdomen for some hours daily.

=Bath, Cam'phor.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM CAM'PHORAE, B. CAMPHORATUM, L. Camphor, 3
or 4 dr., coarsely powdered, and placed on a plate heated by boiling
water, in the bathroom. Anodyne, anaphrodisiac, and diaphoretic; in
spasmodic asthma, chronic cough, relaxation of the uvula, ardor urinae,
nervous irritability, &c.

=Bath, Carbon'ic.= _Syn._ CARBON'IC ACID BATH; BAL'NEUM CARBON'ICUM, B.
AC'IDUM CARBONICUM, L.

1. Carbonic acid gas applied, by means of a suitable apparatus, to prevent
its being respired. Antiseptic, diaphoretic, and excitant to the vascular
system; in amenorrh[oe]a, chlorosis, hysteria, scrofula, cancerous and
other ulcers (particularly foul ones), &c.

2. Water, at 50 deg. Fahr., charged with the gas. Powerfully antiseptic and
sedative; in foul ulcers, gangrene, &c.

=Bath, Chlo''ride of Ammo''nium.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM AMMO''NII CHLORI'DI, B.
AMMO''NIAE HYDROCHLORA'TIS, L. Sal-ammoniac, 2 to 3 _lbs._, or even 4
_lbs._ In chronic inflammations, glandular enlargements and indurations,
chronic rheumatism and affections of the joints, leucorrh[oe]a,
chilblains, frost-bites, &c.

=Bath, Chlo''ride of Soda.= Solution of chlorinated soda, 1-1/2 _lb._;
water, 30 _galls._

=Bath, Chlo''rine.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM CHLORIN'II, B. CHLORINA'TUM, L. Tepid
water to which a little chlorine has been added. Antiseptic, stimulant,
and subsequently sedative and antiphlogistic; in itch, foul and gangrenous
ulcers, chronic liver affections, &c. Chloride of lime is commonly
substituted for chlorine.

2. (Magendie; Wallace.) Chlorine gas (obtained from salt, 1-1/2 _oz._; oil
of vitriol and water, of each 1 _oz._; and black oxide of manganese, 1/2
_oz._ to 1 _oz._) diluted with air, at a temperature of 104 deg. to 150 deg.
Fahr., and applied, by means of a suitable apparatus, for 10 minutes to
1/2 an hour; every possible precaution being taken to prevent it being
inhaled. In chronic liver affections, gradually and cautiously increasing
the ingredients to three times the above quantity, and decreasing the
dilution with air until the gas is used nearly pure.[112]

[Footnote 112: A dangerous remedy in careless or unskilful hands; and even
with the experienced not always free from danger. The writer of this
article once nearly lost his life from a single inspiration of the gas
which accidentally escaped its proper limits. Terrific spasms of the
glottis and a convulsive cough immediately came on, and lasted, with more
or less severity, for nearly 14 hours.]

=Bath, Cold.= _Syn._ BALNEUM FRIG'IDUM (-fr[)i]j'-), FRIGIDA''RIUM, L.;
BAIN FROID, Fr. Water, fresh, saline, or mineral, at a temperature varying
from 33 deg. to about 75 deg.; but usually understood to apply to water between
50 deg. and 70 deg. Fahr. When below 50 deg. it is considered very cold. At a
temperature ranging from 60 deg. to about 75 deg. it is commonly used by the
healthy and vigorous as a luxury, and for cleanliness.

"The immediate effects of the cold bath are a sensation of cold (speedily
followed by one of warmth), contraction of the cutaneous vessels, paleness
of the skin, diminution of perspiration, and reduction of the volume of
the body. Shivering, and, as the water rises to the chest, a kind of
convulsive sobbing, are also experienced. Continued immersion renders the
pulse small, and ultimately imperceptible, and the respiration difficult
and irregular. A feeling of inactivity succeeds; the joints become rigid
and inflexible; pain in the head, drowsiness, and cramps, come on; the
temperature of the body falls rapidly; and faintness, followed by death,
ensues." "Its primary effects constitute the SHOCK--its secondary effects,
the REACTION or GLOW."[113] Hence it is that immersion of the body in
water below about 65 deg. Fahr. cannot be tolerated for any length of time
without such a loss of animal heat as frequently to induce highly sedative
and depressing effects, from which the constitution does not readily
recover. Water at a temperature of below about 50 deg. Fahr. can only be
safely used as a plunge-bath. The sedative effects of sea and mineral
waters is much than that of pure water, or of spring or river water.

[Footnote 113: Pereira, 'Mat. Med. and Therap.,' 4th ed., i, 29.]

The cold bath, medically considered, is tonic, stimulant, and restorative,
when judiciously taken, and when not too long continued or too often
repeated. When beneficial, the patient feels a pleasant glow on the
surface of the body immediately following it. If a sensation of coldness
or shivering ensues, it acts injuriously, and should not be repeated. The
duration of the immersion may vary from 2 to 15 minutes, the precise time
depending upon the temperature of the water and the feelings of the
bather; the longer period being only proper in fine weather, and when
accompanied by swimming or violent exercise.

As a remedial agent, the cold bath is principally recommended to increase
the tone and vigour of the system; and is contra-indicated when there is a
tendency to apoplexy, or to chronic affections, functional or organic, of
the heart, lungs, or kidneys. It should never be taken when the person
feels chilly, languid, or depressed; or if drowsiness and shivering follow
it.

The temperature of the water of the rivers and the coasts of England
ranges, in summer, from 55 deg. to 70 or 72 deg. Fahr.

=Bath, Creosote.= Creosote, 2 _dr._; glycerin, 2 _oz._; boiling water, one
_gall._ To be added to 29 _galls._ of water.

=Bath, Douche.= See BATH, SHOWER, DOUCHE, &c.

=Bath, Dry.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM SICCUM, L. The immersion of the body in any
dry material, as ashes, salt, sand, &c. EARTH-BATHING, as administered by
the once notorious quack, Dr Graham, was of this kind. In the sudatorium
or sweating room of the ancients the body was immersed in heated sand.

=Bath, Elec'tric.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ELEC'TRICUM, L. The patient, placed on
an insulated stool, is put in contact, by means of a metallic wire, with
the prime conductor of an electrical machine in action. The surface of the
body is thus rendered electro-positive, and the surrounding air, by
induction, electro-negative. It has been recommended in chronic
rheumatism, scirrhous tumours, &c.

=Bath, Electro-chemical= (of Dr Caplin). This is founded on the
supposition that all diseases arise from the presence of mineral, or other
extraneous morbific matter, in some organ, or the whole organism, and
which is capable of removal by electrolysis. The patient is placed in an
appropriately arranged voltaic bath, and there "saturated with the
electric fluid." This "decomposes everything which is foreign to the
organism, the vital parts being protected by the law of conservation
belonging to every organic production." These foreign substances are said
to be thus carried out of the system by the electric current, and to be
"fixed and plated on the copper in the same way, and according
to the same law and principle (only reversed), as in the process of
electro-plating."[114]

[Footnote 114: 'Hist. Records of the Electro-chem. Bath,' by Mons. J. F.
J. Caplin, M.D. Bailliere, 1860.]

=Bath, Fec'ula.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM AM'YLI, B. FAEC'ULAE, L. Potato-starch or
wheat-starch, 1 to 4 _lbs._; boiling water q. s. to dissolve. Resembles
the BRAN-BATH.

=Bath, Ferru'ginous.= _Syn._ CHALYB'EATE BATH; BAL'NEUM FERRUGIN'EUM, B.
CHALYBEATUM, L. 1. Green sulphate of iron, 1 to 2 _lbs._ A well-tinned
copper, wooden, or japanned bath may be used. In general debility when
chalybeates are indicated, and the stomach will not bear iron; also in
piles and prolapsus. The stains on the towels used to wipe the patient may
be removed by at once soaking them in water acidulated with hydrochloric
acid.

2. (Ioduretted.) See BATH OF IODIDE OF IRON.

=Bath, Foot.= _Syn._ PEDILU'VIUM, L. Warm (or hot). Revulsive,
counter-irritant; in colds, menstrual and haemorrhoidal suppressions,
rheumatism, stiffness of the ankles, tender feet, &c. A little common
salt, flour of mustard, or sal-ammoniac, is often added to render it more
stimulant, to prevent 'taking cold,' &c. See FEET, &c.

=Bath, Gelat'inous.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM GELATINO'SUM, B. GELATIN'II, L.
Gelatin or fine Salisbury glue, 3 or 4 _lbs._; dissolved in boiling water,
2 _galls._, or q. s.; and added to a warm bath. At the 'Hospital for
Cutaneous Diseases' 8 _lbs._ of patent size are used for a bath of 30 to
35 _galls._ Emollient; formerly, but erroneously, considered nutritive.
_Used_ in skin diseases; generally combined with sulphur. See BATH,
BAREGES.

=Bath, Glyc'erine= (gl[)i]s'). _Syn._ BAL'NEUM GLYCERIN'II, B. G.
COMPOS'ITUM, L. Glycerine, 2 _lbs._; gum arabic (dissolved), 1 _lb._ Used
as a soothing emollient, in itching, dryness, irritation, and hardness of
the skin, &c. Where expense is an object, 3 or 4 _lbs._ of good honey, and
1 _oz._ of salt of tartar, form an excellent substitute for the glycerine.

=Bath, Hem'lock.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM CO'NII, L. 1. Dried hemlock-leaves (or
herb), 4 to 6 handfuls; water, 1 _gall._; infuse 2 hours, and strain. The
part to be immersed in, or bathed with, the warm infusion, observing not
to apply it if the skin is unsound; or it may be added to the water of a
bath in the usual manner. In gout, cancer, chronic rheumatism, and certain
skin diseases.

2. (Cut. Hosp.) Extract of hemlock, 2 _oz._; starch, 1 _lb._; boiling
water, 1 _gall._; dissolve. For a bath of about 30 _galls._ As the last.

=Bath, Hip.= _Syn._ COXAELU'VIUM, L. Usually warm; sometimes fully warm, or
somewhat hot. In inflammatory, spasmodic, and chronic affections of the
abdominal and pelvic viscera; in suppressed and painful menstruation,
haemorrhoids, strangury, prolapsus, ischuria, &c.; also as a substitute for
a full bath, when this last is contra-indicated by some affection of the
lungs, heart, brain, or great vessels. Like full baths, it may be often
advantageously medicated. See BIDET.

[Illustration]

=Bath, Hot.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM CAL'IDUM, CALDA''RIUM, L.; BAIN CHAUD, Fr.
Usual temperature, 98 deg. to 106 deg. Fahr.

The hot bath has a remarkably tranquillising effect upon the nervous
system, producing a strong tendency to quietude and sleep. It also acts as
a powerful antispasmodic, and by determining the blood to the surface of
the body tends to relieve visceral inflammation and congestion. In chronic
affections arising from the action of cold and damp and from exhausted
energy, in stiff joints, rheumatism, neuralgia, diarrh[oe]a, and numerous
other affections, its effects are often rapid and remarkable. At high
temperatures it strongly stimulates the arterial system, and arouses
nervous energy and vital action, producing excessive excitement and
turgescence, followed by copious perspiration, which has been often found
successful in cholera, paralysis, &c. If the immersion be too long
continued, or the bath be injudiciously employed, lassitude, debility, and
somnolency ensue, and the good effect of the bath is more or less lost. In
these cases violent throbbing and painful distension of the vessels of the
head, with a distressing feeling of suffocation and anxiety, are
premonitory symptoms of impending apoplexy, an accident which sometimes,
though seldom, follows its improper use.

=Bath, Hydrochlo''rate of Ammonia.= See BATH, CHLORIDE OF AMMONIUM.

=Bath, Hydrochlo''ric Acid.= _Syn._ MURIAT'IC ACID BATH; BAL'NEUM
HYDROCHLO''RICUM, B. ACIDUM H., B. MURIAT'ICUM, &c., L. Commercial
hydrochloric acid, 1 to 3 _lbs._ (in chronic liver affections); or 3 to 6
fl. oz. (in prurigo and lichen).

=Bath, Hydrosul'phuretted.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM HYDROSULPHURE'TUM, L.--1. A
tepid sulphuretted bath, with the addition of hydrochloric acid, 2 or 3
fl. _dr._, immediately before immersion. In rheumatism, chronic skin
diseases, hooping-cough, and certain forms of paralysis:--2. A tepid bath
to which 3 to 6 fl. _oz._ of (liquid) hydrosulphate of ammonia is added
immediately before use. Used as the last. It often acts almost as a
specific in hooping-cough and certain breath ailments.

=Bath, I'odine of I'ron.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM FER'RI IODI'DI, L. _Prep._
(Pierquin.) Iodide of iron, 1/2 _oz._ to 2 _oz._ In amenorrh[oe]a,
leucorrh[oe]a, chlorosis, scrofula, &c.; gradually increasing the quantity
of the iodide until 4 _oz._, or more, is used for a bath.

=Bath, I'odine.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM IODIN'II, L.:--1. Iodine, 3 to 5 _dr._;
dry siliceous sand, 2 _oz._; triturated together until reduced to fine
powder, and then agitated with the water of a tepid bath for 10 or 15
minutes. 2. (Cutan. Hosp.) Iodine, 4 _dr._; liquor of potassa, 4 _oz._;
water, 2 _pints_; dissolve; for a bath of 30 _galls._ In skin diseases
complicated with scrofula, glandular enlargements, amenorrh[oe]a, &c.

=Bath, Io'duretted.= _Syn._ IO'DURATED BATH, I'ODISED B., COMPOUND
IODINE-B., &c.; BAL'NEUM IODURE'TUM, B. IODURA'TUM*, B. POTAS''SII
SUPERIODI'DI, &c., L. Lugol, the leading authority on this subject,
employs this bath of the different strengths, &c., shown in the following
tables:--

_a._ FOR ADULTS:--

  ---------+------------+------------+---------------
   Degree. |  Iodine.   | Iodide of  | Water for the
           |            | Potassium. |     bath.
  ---------+------------+------------+---------------
           |    dr.     |     dr.    |     gal.
  ---------+------------+------------+---------------
      1    | 2 to 2-1/2 |   4 to 5   |      50
  ---------+------------+------------+---------------
      2    | 2 "  3     |   4 "  6   |      60
  ---------+------------+------------+---------------
      3    | 3 "  3-1/2 |   6 "  7   |      75
  ---------+------------+------------+---------------

_b._ FOR CHILDREN:--

  ---------+----------+------------+----------
     Age.  |  Iodine. |  Iodide of |  Water.
           |          | Potassium. |
  ---------+----------+------------+----------
           |    gr.   |    gr.     |   gal.
  ---------+----------+------------+----------
    4 to 7 | 30 to 36 |  60 to 72  |     9
  ---------+----------+------------+----------
    7 " 11 | 48 "  72 |  96 " 144  |    18
  ---------+----------+------------+----------
   11 " 14 | 72 "  96 | 144 " 192  |    31
  ---------+----------+------------+----------

[asterism] The dry ingredients of the first Table are to be dissolved in a
pint of water, and of the second, in 1/2 pint of water, before adding them
to the bath.

In scrofulous affections and the other cases in which the external use of
iodine or the iodides is indicated. Enamelled ware, stoneware, or wooden
vessels must be employed.

=Bath, Lime.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM CUM CAL'CE, L. Lime, 3 _lbs._; slaked, and
added to the bath. In gout, lithic diathesis, itch, &c. See BATH, VAPOUR.

=Bath, Mercu''rial.= _Syn._ ANTISYPHILIT'IC BATH; BAL'NEUM MERCURIA'LE, B.
HYDRAR'GYRI BICHLORI'DI, B. ANTISYPHILIT'ICUM, &c., L.; BAIN MERCURIEL, B.
ANTISYPHILITIQUE, &c., Fr. Bichloride of mercury, in fine powder, 1 to 3
_dr._, hot water, 1 _pint_; agitate together until solution is complete,
before adding them to the bath, the 'water' of which (contained in an
enamelled or wooden vessel) must be soft (rain) and pure. At the 'Cutan.
Hosp.' hydrochloric acid (= 1/3rd the weight of the chloride) is commonly
added; and at the 'Fr. hospitals,' an equal, or rather more than an equal
weight, of sal-ammoniac. These additions facilitate the solution of the
chloride, and <DW44> its decomposition by any slight impurity in the water
forming the bath.

_Uses, &c._ In syphilitic affections, either with or without skin disease;
in chronic rheumatism, swelled joints, and chronic skin diseases
generally, where the use of mercury is indicated, and the remedy is
rejected by the stomach; especially in these affections in women and
children (for the last, proportionately reduced in strength and quantity).
Also used in it, and to destroy pediculi on the body.

=Bath, Met'al.= See BATH (in _Chemistry_), FUSIBLE METAL, &c.

=Bath, Mud.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM LU'TEUM, B. LU'TI, L. Mud-bathing
(ILLUTA'TION) was common among the ancients. The slime of rivers, and the
mud on the sea-shore, were especially prized for this purpose. The Tartars
and Egyptians still employ baths of this description in hypochondriasis,
scrofula, and scurvy. At Franzenbad, in Germany, an acidulous species of
black bog-earth found there, is beaten up with warm water to a semi-liquid
consistence, and used as a bath. This is said to render the skin
satin-like and soft; and to be useful in debility, and in paralytic
affections of a gouty origin. In France, hot dung (DUNG BATH) is
occasionally used in rheumatism; and in Poland, in syphilis. The husk of
grapes and the refuse of olives, after undergoing a partial fermentation,
have been successfully employed in France against acute rheumatism.[115]

[Footnote 115: Merat and De Lens, 'Dict. Univ. de Mat. Med.']

=Bath, Muriat'ic.= See BATH, HYDROCHLORIC ACID.

=Bath, Mus'tard.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM SINA'PIS, L.:--1. Flour of mustard, 2
_lbs._; warm water, 1 _gall._; make a thin soup; in fifteen minutes pour
it into a coarse linen bag or cloth, and press out the liquid, which is to
be stirred up with the bath. In cholera, diarrh[oe]a simulating cholera,
&c.; also to cause reaction; the patient remaining in the bath until a
somewhat painful sense of burning and irritation is experienced:--2. Flour
of mustard, 3 to 8 _oz._; as before. Used as a gentle stimulant to excite
the skin, and promote its healthy action, &c.

=Bath, Ni'tro-hydrochlo''ric.= _Syn._ AC'ID BATH[double-dagger] ([)a]s'-),
NITRO-MURIAT'IC B.*, N. A. B.*; BAL'NEUM NITRO-HYDROCHLO''RICUM. B. AC'IDI
([)a]s'-), B. A. NITRO-HYDROCHLO''RICI, B. A. NITRO-MURIAT'ICI*, &c.,
L.:--1. Water slightly acidulated with the acid, so that its sourness to
the taste is about that of common vinegar. According to Ainslie, 1 _oz._
of acid is sufficient for 1 gall. of water.[116] Other formulae in use
are--

[Footnote 116: 'Mat. Med. Indica,' ii, 340.]

2. (Cutan. Hosp.) Nitric acid, 1-1/2 lb.; hydrochloric acid, 1 _lb._; for
a bath of 60 to 70 _galls._

3. (Soubeiran.) Nitro-hydrochloric acid, 4 to 16 fl. oz.; according to the
case.

4. (Dr Scott.) Nitric acid, 2 fl. oz.; hydrochloric acid, 3 fl. oz.;
water, 5 fl. oz.; mix. 1-1/2 to 2 _fl. oz._ to each _gall._ of water for a
general bath; 3 _fl. oz._ to the _gall._ for a foot, knee, or sponge bath.

_Uses, &c._ In its weaker forms, in skin-diseases depending on disordered
liver; in others, chiefly in liver complaints, and to relieve the pain on
the passing of gall-stones. It must be contained in an enamelled or wooden
vessel, and may be used as a hip, knee, or foot-bath; a knee-bath being
the one generally adopted in England. Dr Scott, of Bombay, who first
brought this bath into notice, once plunged the Duke of Wellington up to
his chin in one, in India, and thus cured him of a severe hepatic
affection. In its stronger form it causes tingling and pricking of the
skin, and a peculiar taste in the mouth, and affects the gums and salivary
glands, often producing plentiful ptyalism, without which, indeed, its
advocates regard its action as incomplete. Time of application, 15 to 20
minutes daily, for a fortnight or three weeks; and afterwards, every
second or third day.

=Bath, Oak-Bark.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM QUER'CUS, B. QUER'CI, L. Oak-bark, 3 or
4 handfuls for a child; 10 to 15 for an adult; made into a decoction, and
strained with pressure into the bath. In haemorrhoids, prolapsus,
leucorrh[oe]a, hernia, diarrh[oe]a, ill-conditioned and bleeding
ulcerations, &c. Drs Elaesser, Eberle, and Fletcher have successfully
employed it in the intermittents of infancy and childhood, tabes
mesenterica or scrofula, &c. It has also proved useful in phthisis.

=Bath, Oil.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM OLEO'SUM, L. Olive or other oil (hot),
strongly aromatised with the oils of cassia, cloves, nutmegs, cedron, and
juniper; and digested for a week on ambergris and vanilla, of each
(bruised), about 10 gr. to the gallon. Used, in the East, to anoint the
body, as a preservative against the plague and other contagious diseases;
also as a full bath or hip-bath, the immersion being for 15 to 30 minutes.

=Bath, Pneumat'ic.= See BATH, AIR.

=Bath, Saline'= (Gelatinous). _Syn._ BAL'NEUM SALI'NO-GELATINO'SUM, L.;
BAIN DE PLOMBIERES, Fr. _Prep._ Common salt and Flanders glue, of each 2
_lbs._; water, 1 _gall._; dissolve separately, and add the solutions to
the bath. In scrofula, &c.

=Bath, Salt.= See BATH, SALINE, BATH, SEA, &c.

=Bath, Sand.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM ARE'NAE, L.; BAIN DE SABLE, Fr. See BATH (in
_Chemistry_), BATH, DRY, &c.

=Bath, Sea.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM MARI'NUM, L.; BAIN MARIN, Fr. Immersion in
the sea or in recent sea water (temperate, tepid, warm, or hot). Owing to
the saline matter which it contains, it possesses stimulant, alterative,
and resolvent properties, superadded to those of pure water at the
corresponding temperature. When taken, in summer, on our coasts, the
reaction and glow follow more speedily and certainly than after a common
water bath; and it may be taken with greater safety, and for a longer
period. It often proves very serviceable in diseases accompanied with
debility, in phthisis, scrofula, glandular enlargement, &c. A warm or hot
sea-water bath is one of the most restorative imaginable; often removing
the effects of fatigue and exposure--exhaustion, stiff joints, cramps,
rheumatism, &c.--like a charm. Unless under sanction of a medical man,
boys and girls should never be allowed to bath in the sea after the end of
September. See BATH (_above_), WATERS, &c.

=Bath, Sea.= (Factitious). _Syn._ BAL'NEUM MARI'NUM FACTI''TIUM, L.
Artificial sea-water, or rather a substitute for sea-water, for this
purpose, is commonly prepared by adding about 3% of common salt to
ordinary water.[117] The following are, however, more serviceable
imitations:--

[Footnote 117:

  Or (say) for small quantities--
      1-1/4 _oz._ to the quart;
      5 _oz._ to the gallon.
  And for large quantities, as a full bath--
      2 _lbs._ to every 7 gallons.]

1. As above, with the addition of 1 _dr._ of iodide of potassium to every
3 or 4 galls. of water.

2. (Cutan. Hosp.). Common salt, 8 _lbs._; sulphate of magnesia, 2 _lbs._;
chloride of calcium, 1 lb.; water, 50 to 60 _galls._

3. Salt, a handful; water, a pailful; flour of mustard, 1 _oz._ For a
foot-bath.

=Bath, Show'er.= _Syn._ IMPLU''VIUM, BAL'NEUM PEN'SILE, &c., L.; DOUCHE,
Fr. Similar in its effects to the cold bath or plunge-bath; but without
many of its advantages. It is less alarming to nervous persons, and less
liable to produce cramp, than immersion in cold water; whilst the reaction
or glow follows more speedily and certainly. It is considered the best and
safest mode of cold bathing, and is often highly serviceable in nervous
affections. A good plan is to allow the water to remain in the bedroom all
night, by which any undue degree of coldness is removed. Tepid water may
be commenced with; and at first, in extreme cases, the patient may stand
in hot or warm water at the time of taking the bath. The reaction
following its use is greatly promoted by friction of the surface with dry
rough towels.

[Illustration]

=Bath, Soap.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM SAPO'NIS, L. White soap, 2 to 3 _lbs._;
water, 3 _quarts_; dissolve by heat, and add it to a warm bath. Detergent,
lubricating, and discutient; in itch and other skin diseases, &c.

=Bath, Spon''ging= (sp[)u]nje'-). This title explains itself. In the
sponging bath exercise and ablution are combined, and its employment by
persons of sedentary habit is highly advantageous.

=Bath, Sulphur.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM SUL'PHURIS, L. 1. Flowers of sulphur, 1/2
to 1 _lb._; water, a pailful; mix, agitate occasionally for 12 to 24
hours, and then add the whole to an ordinary bath. Useful in various mild,
but obstinate, skin diseases. Its occasional employment, even in health,
seldom fails to render the skin soft, smooth, and delicate. Soap may be
used with it.

2. (Compound; B. S. COMPOS'ITUM, L.)--_a._ (Cutan. Hosp.) Precipitated
sulphur, 2 _lbs._; hyposulphite of soda, 1/2 _lb._; water, 1 _gall._;
dissolve, and add of sulphuric acid, 1 _dr._ One pint to every 30 _galls._
of water. In various skin diseases (see _below_).

_b._ See BATH, SULPHURETTED.

=Bath, Sul'phurous.= _Syn._ SUL'PHUROUS ACID BATH; BAL'NEUM SULPHURO'SUM,
B. SUL'PHURIS[double-dagger], L. From sulphur, 1/2 _oz._, sprinkled on a
hot plate placed under or near the patient; the proper precautions being
taken as directed under CHLORINE BATH. In itch, lepra, psoriasis, &c.
Cleanly, but seldom used, chiefly on account of the number of baths
required to prove serviceable. See BATH, SULPHURETTED.

=Bath, Sul'phuretted.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM SULPHURET'UM, B. SULPHURA'TUM, B.
SULPHU''REUM, &c., L.; BAIN SULFURE, &c., Fr. 1 Sulphurated potash, 1
_oz._; for every 10 or 12 _galls._ of water employed. Sometimes
sulphurated soda, or (in the Ger. hosp.) suphurated lime, is the
sulphur-salt employed. 1/2 _dr._ of sulphuric acid is also occasionally
added to the bath; but this increases its f[oe]tor, without adding much,
if anything, to its curative power; whilst, without care, the evolved gas
may impede respiration.

2. (Gelatinous; GELAT'INO-SUL'PHUROUS B.; B. S. GELATINO'SUM, L.) Flanders
glue, 1-1/2 to 2 _lbs._; dissolved and added to a 'sulphuretted bath.'
Recommended, by Dupuytren, as a substitute for the 'Bareges bath.'

_Obs._ The sulphur or sulphuretted bath, under any of its forms, is a
powerful remedy in almost every description of skin disease. Leprosy, the
most obstinate of all, has been completely cured by it; the common itch
requires only one or two applications to eradicate it entirely; all the
scurfy and moist skin affections, local irritation, pimples, inflammatory
patches, &c., speedily yield to its influence; scrofula, and, indeed,
_all_ those affections in which the warm or vapour bath is serviceable,
also derive powerful assistance from the sulphur bath.

=Bath, Tem'perate.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM TEMPERA'TUS*, L.

=Bath, Tep'id.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM TEP'IDUM, B. EGEL'IDUM, TEPIDA''RIUM, L.;
BAIN TIEDE &c., Fr. Approaches the warm bath in its hygienic and medical
properties; and is, perhaps the one best adapted for the mere purposes
of personal cleanliness. In the spacious public tepid baths of London,
swimming may be safely indulged in even in cold weather.

=Bath, Tum'ble.= An obsolete form of the shower bath.

=Bath, Turk'ish.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM TUR'CICUM, L. A hot vapour bath or
sweating bath, with massing or shampooing, ending with a warm bath or warm
ablutions and friction. The EGYPTIAN, PERSIAN, and RUSSIAN BATHS are
essentially similar. In the ANGLO-TURKISH BATH, recently introduced to
this country, hot dry air wholly takes the place of vapour. See BATH, AIR
(_ante_).

=Bath, Turpentine.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM TEREBINTHINA'TUM, L. _Prep._ (Dr T.
Smith.) Camphine (rectified oil of turpentine), 1/4 to 1/2 pint; Scotch
soda, 2 lbs.; oil of rosemary, 1/2 dr.; for an adult. It calms the pulse,
softens the skin, and renders the perspiration freer.

=Bath, Va'pour.= _Syn._ DEW'-BATH*; BAL'NEUM VA'PORIS, B. RO''RIS[dagger],
AS'SA SUDA'TIO, A. VAPORA'TIO, VAPORA''RIUM*, L.; BAIN DE VAPEURS, Fr. The
vapour of hot water, either pure or medicated.

The simplest form of vapour bath is, perhaps, produced by placing some wet
cloths, or sprinkling a little water on two or three heated bricks, laid
under a chair on which the patient is seated; both the patient and whole
apparatus being covered with a sheet or blanket, or, better still, a
spacious waterproof cloak, to keep in the heated vapour. A large lump of
quick-lime, set in a pan or an old iron pot and sprinkled with a little
water, or else wrapped up in a thick coarse towel which has been
previously soaked in water, may be substituted for the hot bricks; and
often advantageously so. The slaking of the lime and the consequent
evolution of vapour may be kept up or renewed, when necessary, by
sprinkling on a little more water. This forms the "POOR MAN'S VAPOUR BATH"
of the French. Dr Serres has suggested, as something apparently original,
that a lump of quick-lime, wrapped in a wet cloth and covered with a dry
one, be placed on each side of the patient;[118] and the whole being
covered up allowed to remain until copious perspiration is established. It
must, however, be recollected that by none of these minor contrivances can
the temperature of the vapour, and its supply, be regulated, as in a
perfect bath, even a portable one, such as is shown in the _engraving_.

[Footnote 118: "In bed" (!), says the Dr; but surely one who could only
afford such a bath would find it difficult to obtain a fresh, dry bed;
whilst it would be equally improper for him to lie in a wet or damp one.]

[Illustration]

The following are the temperatures, &c., of this bath:[119]--

[Footnote 119: The temperatures of baths given here, and previously are
those now generally adopted in the profession. See Dr Forbes's 'Cycl. of
Prac. Med.,' vol. i, 265; Pereira's 'Mat. Med.,' i, 17; &c.]

  -----------------+-----------------------------
                   |Temperature of Vapour, Fahr.
                   +-------------+---------------
                   |  Breathed.  | Not breathed.
  Tepid vapour bath|  90 deg. to 100 deg.|  96 deg. to 106 deg.
  Warm   "      "  | 100  "  110 | 106  "  120
  Hot    "      "  | 110  "  130 | 120  "  160
  -----------------+-------------+---------------

_Uses, &c._ It is one of the most powerful diaphoretics known, and is
almost specific in nearly all those cases wherein warm or hot bathing
proves advantageous. It is one of the most certain agents existing in
cases of chronic rheumatism, contracted muscles and tendons, stiffness of
joints, indurations, dysentery, diarrh[oe]a, suppressions, &c. Instances
are numerous in which the lame have thrown aside their crutches and the
bedridden have again mixed with the world after a few applications of this
bath. It is no uncommon thing to hear a patient start and shriek with
agony before entering the bath, and to receive his congratulations and
thanks on his coming out. They often exclaim--"It is wonderful. I could
not have believed it!"[120]

[Footnote 120: Culverwell 'On Baths and Bathing.']

=Bath, Warm.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM CAL'IDUM, B. CALID'ULUM, B. THERMA'LE,
THERM'A, &c. L., BAIN THERMAL, B. CHAUD, &c., Fr. A bath at a temperature
equal, or nearly equal, to that of the human body.

The sensations attendant upon immersion in a warm bath are most delicious.
Its first effect is to increase the circulation of the blood, and to
determine it to the skin. After a few minutes an agreeable and universal
increase of heat is experienced; the face and head are generally soon
bedewed with perspiration; a pleasing and prevailing calm, both mental and
physical, follows; and after remaining in it some 12 or 15 minutes the
effect is of the most refreshing and happy character.

The idea that the warm bath is relaxing is erroneous. It is only so where
persons remain in it too long, or take it too frequently. Nor are those
who indulge in it more liable to take cold than others. On the contrary,
they are less liable, unless they wilfully expose themselves,
insufficiently clad (particularly about the neck and chest), to draughts
of cold air.[121]

[Footnote 121: We have been for many years accustomed to take baths at 98 deg.
to 100 deg. Fahr., in all weathers and seasons, even during our severest
winter, and on leaving the bath have often been engaged, for hours, moving
about in the open air, even until midnight, without 'catching cold,' or
the slightest inconvenience. However, we do not recommend others to follow
our practice without due care.]

As a remedial agent, the warm bath is adapted to general torpor of the
system, liver and bowel complaints, hypochondriasis, hysterical
affections, morbid suppressions, dryness of the skin, nearly all cutaneous
and nervous diseases, chronic rheumatism, &c. As a tonic or stimulant
after excessive fatigue, great mental excitement, or physical exertion, it
is unequalled, and furnishes one of the most wholesome, and at the same
time luxurious sources of refreshment we are acquainted with. "To those
who are past the meridian of life, who have dry skins and begin to be
emaciated, the warm bath for half an hour, twice a week, I believe to be
eminently serviceable in retarding the advances of age." (Darwin.) The
healthy longevity of the late Duke of Wellington, after a period of
exposure and trials equal to the entire life of many individuals, has been
by some, and we think correctly, mainly attributed to the free and
constant use of the warm bath. A warm bath frequently gives great relief
to infants suffering from griping or flatulence. See BATH (_ante_), &c.

=Bath, Wa'ter.= _Syn._ BAL'NEUM A'QUAE, B. AQUO'SUM, B. MA''RIAE, B.
MA''RIS, L.; BAINMARIE, Fr. A water bath; in _chemistry_ and _cookery_,
applied to a bath of hot or boiling water. See BATH (in _chemistry_),
BAINMARIE, &c.

=BATH'ING= (b[=a]the-). See BATH.

=BATH METAL.= A species of brass having the following composition:--

1. Zinc, 3 _parts_; copper, 16 _parts_; melted together under charcoal.

2. Fine brass, 32 _parts_; spelter, 9 _parts_. See BRASS and ALLOYS.

=BATH PIPE.= See PIPES.

=BATH, VICHY= (ARTIFICIAL). Bicarbonate of soda, 17 _oz._; water, 60
_galls._

=BATHS= and =WASH'HOUSES=. See BATH.

=BATTER.= Ingredients beaten together so as to form a semi-fluid mass. In
_cookery_, a semi-fluid paste, which becomes hard in dressing, formed of
flour, and milk or water, or a mixture of them, enriched and flavoured
with eggs, butter, and (frequently) spices, currants, &c., at will. Used
for frying vegetables, fillets, &c., and as a material for fritters and
pancakes; also to form puddings, which are either baked alone, or under
meat; and to cover various articles during the operation of cooking them.
Miss Acton gives the following formulae:--1. (For the Frying-pan.) Butter,
2 _oz._; boiling water (nearly) 1/4 pint; mix, and stir in, gradually, of
cold water, 3/4 pint; when quite smooth, mix it by degrees, very smoothly
with fine dry flour, 3/4 _lb._; adding (for fruit) a small pinch of salt
(but more for meat or vegetables); just before use, stir in the whites of
two eggs (or the white and yelk of one), and fry until light and crisp. In
humble cookery the eggs may be omitted.

2. (For Puddings.) Eggs (yelk and white), about 4 in no.; flour, 1/2
_lb._; milk, q. s.

_Obs._ When fruit, &c., are added, the batter must be made thicker than
when none is used, to prevent it sinking. When sufficiently dressed it
should cut smoothly and not stick to the knife. Eggs increase its
firmness.

=BATT'ERY.= In _frictional electricity_, a series of Leyden jars so
arranged as to admit of being charged and discharged together. See
ELECTRICITY, &c.

=Battery.= In _electro-chemistry_, _galvanism_, &c., a pair, or series of
pairs, of 'excited' metallic plates, so arranged as to act in unison,
producing an electrical current by chemical decomposition.

=BAUME= (Baume). See AREOMETER.

=Baume Nerval.= See OINTMENTS.

=BAUXITE.= A ferruginous aluminic hydrate containing 55.4 per cent. of
alumina and 44.5 of ferric oxide. It is met with in roundish masses in the
crystalline limestone of Baux (hence its name) near Arles, in France.
Bauxite is one of the sources of alum.

=BAY.= See SWEET BAY.

=BAY ESSENCE.= BAY RUM. This compound, which is largely employed as a
perfume in America, and is one of the articles of the United States'
Pharmacop[oe]ia, is, when genuine, imported from the West Indies, where it
is said to be prepared by distilling rum, with the leaves of the bayberry
tree. More than three fourths, however, of the bay rum consumed is
undoubtedly an imitation of the imported essence, and is a mechanical
mixture of the volatile oil of the bayberry tree, rum, and spirit;
sometimes with the addition of aromatic spices and various colouring
matters. The volatile oil from which this last preparation is made is
frequently adulterated to a large extent.

Mr Rother, an American chemist, states that in one sample alone he found
about fifty per cent. of fixed oil. The imported rum is far superior in
point of fragrance to the artificial. When mixed with water the genuine
essence remains clear, whilst the imitation almost always becomes turbid
or milky.

Mr Rother finds the following formula to yield a satisfactory product, and
one much stronger in aroma than the imported perfume:

  Oil of bayberry tree  1 fl. oz. and m_{l} xx.
  Jamaica rum           1 pint   }
  Strong alcohol        4 pints  } o.m.
  Water                 3 "      }

Mix the rum, alcohol, and water, then add the oil; mix, and filter.

=Bay Rum.= One of the highly valued American head-washes, pleasant in use,
cooling and cleansing, and promoting the growth of the hair. It is
prepared by distilling rum from the leaves of _Myrica acris_ (called
"Bayberry" in America).

=BDEL'LIUM= (d[)e]l'-y[)u]m). The commercial name of two gum-resins:--

=Bdellium, Af'rican.= _Syn._ BDELLIUM, AFRICA'NUM, L. From the
_heudola'tia africa'na_ (Guillem.), a terebinthaceous tree, of Senegal.

=Bdellium, In'dian.= _Syn._ IN'DIAN MYRRH, FALSE M.; BDELLIUM (of
Scripture); BDELLIUM IN'DICUM, L. From _am'[)y]ris commiph'ora_ (Roxb.),
or _balsamoden'dron Roxbur'gii_, a terebinthaceous tree of India.

_Prop., &c._ Once considered slightly deobstruent; sometimes used as a
pectoral and emmenagogue, and, externally, as a stimulant and suppurative.
It is now seldom met with in this country.

=BDELLOM'ETER= (d[)e]l-). _Syn._ MECHAN'ICAL LEECH; BDELLOM'ETRUM, L.;
BDELLOMETRE, Fr. In _surgery_, a contrivance combining the principle of
the cupping-glass, scarificator, and exhausting-syringe in one small
instrument.

=BEACH'S (Dr) Specific against Hemorrhoids and Stomach Complaints of all
kinds.= A tin box containing about 160 grammes of a fine sulphur-yellow
powder, and imbedded in it a vial with 40 grammes of a brown clear fluid.
The powder is a mixture of 7 parts of washed flowers of sulphur, 2-1/2
parts cream of tartar, 1/6 part of an inferior kind of rhubarb, finely
powdered. The drops consist of a solution of brown sugar in strong spirit,
with traces of various ethers. (Hager.)

=BEAD= (b[=e]de). _Syn._ GLOB'ULUS, SPHAER'ULA, &c., L.; GRAIN (de
collier), &c., Fr.; BETHE, PERLE, &c., Ger. A little ball or spheroid
pierced for stringing; any very small globular body[double-dagger]; a
bubble ([double-dagger] or tech.). A number of the first mounted on a
thread or ribbon form a 'string of beads' or 'chaplet.'

_Materials, Manufac., &c._ Beads are often formed of coral, gems, jet,
pearls, porcelain, rock-crystal, &c.; but much more frequently of white
and  glass. The mode in which these last are produced is as
follows:--Glass tubes, appropriately ornamented by colour, reticulation,
&c., are drawn out in various sizes, and from 100 to 200 feet in length.
These tubes are cut into two-feet lengths, and then, by means of a steel
knife, divided into pieces having, as nearly as possible, the same length
as diameter. The resulting small fragments or cylinders are next well
stirred with a mixture of sand and wood ashes, in order to prevent the
closure of the perforations and their adhering together during the
subsequent part of the process. They are then placed in a revolving
cylinder and gradually heated until they become sufficiently spherical.
They are next sifted from the sand and ashes, sorted into sizes, first by
means of sieves, and afterwards by hand, and are lastly either put up in
weighed parcels or strung by women and children for the market.

The manufacture of coral, gems, jet, and minerals generally, into beads,
belongs to the lapidary.

_Uses._ Chiefly to form necklaces, bracelets, and other articles of
personal ornament; by milliners to decorate head-dresses, &c.; and for
other like purposes. They are also employed among Catholic and Mohammedan
nations for devotional purposes; and among savage tribes in lieu of money.
They are still sometimes worn as amulets. See BUGLE, CORAL, GLASS, PASTE,
PEARLS, &c.

=Beads, Jum'ble= (b[=e]dz). The dried seeds of _a'brus precat[=o]r'ius_
(Linn.) or Jamaica wild liquorice. Hard and indigestible; accounted
cephalic and ophthalmic by the vulgar.

=Beads, Lo'vi's.= _Syn._ SPECIF'IC-GRAV'ITY BEADS. Small hollow spheres of
glass carefully adjusted and numbered, in sets, intended to supersede the
hydrometer in determining the density of fluids. They are used by dropping
them into the liquid, in succession, until one is found that exhibits
indifference as to buoyancy, and will float under the surface at any point
at which it may be placed. The number on this ball indicates, in
thousandths, the sp. gr. sought. They are particularly serviceable in the
hurry of the commercial laboratory, and have the advantage of being
applicable to very small quantities of liquid; but their use, of course,
requires the same precautions, and the results obtained the same
corrections for deviations from the normal temperature, as with other
instruments. See HYDROMETER, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, &c.

=Bead.= _Syn._ BEAD'ING[double-dagger]. In _architecture_, _cabinet-work_,
&c., any small moulding or continued projection of which the vertical
section is semicircular.

=Bead= (of Liquors). [Tech.] The small bright iridescent bubbles,
possessing some slight degree of permanence, which form on the surface of
alcoholic liquors of sufficient strength, when agitated. See
ALCOHOLOMETRY, PROOF, &c. (also _below_).

=BEAD'ING.= In the _liquor-trade_, anything added to commercial spirits to
cause them to carry a 'bead' and to hang in pearly drops about the sides
of the glass or bottle when poured out or shaken. The popular notion being
that spirit is strong in proportion as it 'beads,' the object is to impart
this property to weak spirit, so that it may appear to the eye to be of
the proper strength. Various formulae are current among the 'knowing ones'
of the trade, most of which are unscientific, and many of them absolutely
ineffective. The following are those now usually employed:--

_Prep._ 1. Oil of sweet almonds and oil of vitriol, of each 1 _oz._; rub
them together in a glass, porcelain, or wedgewood-ware mortar or basin,
adding, by degrees, of crushed lump-sugar, 1 _oz._; continue the
trituration until the mixture becomes pasty, then add, gradually,
sufficient rectified spirit (strongest) to render the whole perfectly
liquid; pour it into a quart bottle, and wash out the mortar twice, or
oftener, with a little fresh spirit, until about 1 pint of rectified
spirit has been employed, adding the washings each time to the bottle;
lastly, cautiously shake the bottle (loosely corked) until admixture
appears complete, and then set it aside in a cool place. For use, this
compound (after agitation) is thrown into a two-gallon can or measure,
which is then filled, from a tap, with the spirit to be 'beaded,' when the
whole is thrown into the cask, and the measure washed out by refilling it
and returning it two or three times; after which the contents of the cask
are well 'rummaged up,' Gin is usually 'fined' a few hours afterwards; but
it is better not to add the 'finings' for two or three days. Other spirits
are allowed to become 'fine' by simple repose. According to Mr Hartley,
and others, this quantity is "sufficient for 100 _galls._ of any spirit;"
but it is more commonly used for a puncheon of 80 to 85 gallons.

2. Oil of vitriol, 2 to 3 _oz._; rectified spirit, (strongest), 1 pint;
cautiously agitate them together in a loosely corked quart bottle; in 2 or
3 hours add another pint of rectified spirit, and again agitate. It will
be fit for use in a week; as before.

3. Sulphuric ether, 1/2 _lb._; strongest rectified spirit, 1 quart; mix.
May be used at once, as before; but if otherwise, should be kept, like the
last, closely corked, and in a cool place.

4. Soapwort-root (saponaria officinalis), bruised or rasped small, 1
_lb._; rectified spirit and water, of each 1/2 _gall._; macerate in a
corked jar, with occasional agitation, for 8 or 10 days, strain with
pressure, and, after a few days' repose, decant the clear portion. Used as
before.

_Obs._ The above are not injurious when employed for 'beading,' since the
quantity employed is much too small to injure the wholesomeness of the
liquor. The fraud consists in their being used to disguise the presence of
10 to 12% of water, which is thus sold at the price of spirit. Beyond a
certain degree of dilution they fail, however, to produce the intended
effect, the bubbles becoming 'soapy,' and without the requisite
permanence. The addition of a little powdered white sugar (1/2 _oz._ to
1-1/2 _oz._ per _gall._) increases the efficacy of all of them. This may
be dissolved in the water, if any is added at the time; but its effect on
the hydrometer must be recollected. See ALCOHOLOMETRY, GIN, SPIRIT
(Management of), &c.

=BEAK'ER= (b[=e]ke'-). _Syn._ BEAK'ER-GLASS. In _chemistry_, a beaked cup
or glass, more or less of the tumbler-pattern, used to collect
precipitates and to heat liquids in.

[Illustration]

=BEAL*= (b[=e]le). _Syn._ BOUTON, PUSTULE, Fr. A pimple or pustule; a
small inflamed tumour.

=BEAM= (b[=e]me). See BALANCE, SCALES, &c.

=BEAM'-TREE.= _Syn._ WHITE BEAM-TREE. The '_pyrus aria_' or wild pear.
Wood, hard, compact, and tough; used for axle-trees, naves and cogs of
wheels, &c.

=BEAN= (b[=e]ne). [Sax., Eng.] _Syn._ FA'BA, L.; FEVE, Fr.; BOHNE, Ger.
The general name of leguminous seeds, as also of the plants which produce
them; appr., _fa'ba vulg[=a]r'is_ (Moench.[122] _v[)i]cia faba_, Linn.) or
common GAR'DEN-BEAN, _phase'olus multifl[=o]r'us_ (Willd.) or
SCARLET-RUNN'ER,[123] and _ph. vulgaris_ (Sav.), FRENCH BEAN, KID'NEY-B.,
or HAR'ICOT (-ko),[124] with their varieties, all of which are annuals
cultivated in our gardens--the first chiefly for its seeds--the others
both for their green pods and ripe seed. The name is also often popularly
applied, as an appellative, to the fruit or seeds of other plants which,
in size and appearance, resemble common beans, as noticed below.

[Footnote 122: Var. [Greek: b], HORSE'-BEAN (_fa'ba equi'na_, _f. mi'nor_,
&c., L.)]

[Footnote 123: Var. [Greek: a], _phase'olus coccin'eus_ (red-flowered);
[Greek: b], _ph. albiflor'us_ (white flowered).]

[Footnote 124: Var. [Greek: a], _ph. unic'olor_ (seeds of one
colour);--[Greek: b], _ph. fascia'tus_ (seeds striped) or ZE'BRA-STRIPED
BEAN;--[Greek: g], _ph. variega'tus_ or SPECK'LED BEAN:--[Greek: d], _ph.
na'nus_ or DWARF'-BEAN.]

Those principally cultivated in our gardens are the small LIS'BON,
SAND'WICH, SPAN'ISH, TOKAY', WIND'SOR, and MAZ'AGAN (from north Africa),
with almost innumerable sub-varieties of each. The exquisite perfume of
beans in blossom is referred to by the poet Thomson:--

      "Arabia cannot boast a sweeter gale."

Preparations including their fragrant principle are highly prized in
modern perfumery.

_Qual., &c._ The pods eaten in the green state, properly dressed, are
regarded as antiscorbutic and wholesome; but are apt to produce
flatulence, unless combined with spices. In the dried or ripe state they
are rather difficult of digestion, and very apt to distend the stomach and
intestines with wind. This objection does not exist, to the same extent,
to their use in the form of flour or meal. The amount of nutritious
nitrogenous matter in beans rather exceeds that in wheat, and
independently of a disposition to produce constipation in some habits, and
being rather less easy of digestion, they must be considered nearly as
wholesome as that cereal. The London millers and bakers use immense
quantities of bean flour to adulterate their flour and bread.

This sophisticant may be detected by the appearance it presents under the
microscope. The meshes of cellulin are very much larger than those of the
fourth coat of wheat, with which it has been sometimes confounded, and the
starch grains present a totally different appearance. They are oval or
reniform, or with one end slightly larger; they have no well-defined hilum
or rings, but many have a deep central longitudinal cleft running in the
longer axis, and occupying two thirds or three fourths the length, but
never reaching completely to the end; this cleft is sometimes a line,
sometimes a chasm, and occasionally secondary clefts abut upon it at
parts of its course; sometimes, instead of a cleft, there is an
irregular-shaped depression. If a little liquor potassae be added the
cellulin is seen more clearly. If the flour be added to a little boiling
water, the smell of bean becomes evident.

[Illustration]

Green beans (pods or legumes) are cooked by simply throwing them into
boiling water, and simmering them until quite tender, taking the
precaution of removing the lid of the saucepan, a 'pinch' of salt of
tartar, or a little common salt, being usually added to preserve their
green colour. Young and small ones take from 12 to 18 minutes--large or
older ones longer. The first are merely 'topped and tailed' with a knife
before being dressed; the others require also the 'side strings' to be
drawn off, and to be cut obliquely into pieces of a lozenge form, or else
to be split lengthwise into strips, and then divided once across. Old ones
never boil tender. Windsor beans, and other "shelled beans," take 15 to 30
minutes according to age. These last are sometimes skinned after being
dressed. All of them are commonly 'served up,' or eaten, with melted
butter. Beans, although rich in nitrogenous, are deficient in carbonaceous
constituents; hence it is curious to note how almost invariably they are
when eaten combined with some substance rich in carbon. The Hindoo, for
instance, mixes lentils with rice and ghee or a form of clarified butter.
In Yucatan and throughout the whole of central Africa, where a black bean
is extensively used as food, they are well boiled in water, and eaten with
pepper, salt, and pork. In this country, beans and bacon always appear at
table together, and have done so for centuries. See LEGUMINOSAE, PULSE, &c.
(also _below_).

=Bean, Algaro'ba.= See ALGAROBA.

=Bean, Earth.= American earth-nut.

=Bean, French=; Horse-bean; Kidney-bean; &c. See BEAN (_ante_).

_Composition._ (Einhof.)

  |---------------------------------------------|
  |                          | Kidney |  Field  |
  |                          | beans. |  beans. |
  |--------------------------|--------|---------|
  | Water                    |  23.0  |  15.6   |
  | Albumenoid bodies        |  23.6  |  11.7   |
  | Starch, sugar, gum, &c.  |  44.7  |  58.3   |
  | Oil and fat              |   0.7  |   2.    |
  | Husk                     |   7.0  |  10.0   |
  | Salts (ash)              |   1.0  |   4.4   |
  |--------------------------|--------|---------|
  |                          | 100.   | 100.    |
  |---------------------------------------------|

=Bean, St. Ignatius's.= The poisonous seed of the fruit of _Igna'tia
am[=a]r'a_, Linn.; _str[)y]ch'nos Igna'tii_, Berg.; a tree indigenous to
the Philippine Islands.--_Prop., Uses, &c._ Similar to those of nux
vomica. Contains Strychnine (which _see_).

=BEAR= (bare). _Syn._ UR'SUS, L.; OURS, Fr.; BAeR, Ger.; BERA, Sax. In
_zoology_, a Cuvierian genus of the 'plantigrade carnivora,' of several
species, found both in the Old and New World. Those generally known under
the name are omnivorous or frugivorous. The skin of the American black
bear (_ursus America'nus_, Pallas) was formerly highly prized, and fetched
an extravagant price. The brown bear (_u. arc'tos_, Linn.) supplies the
Kamschatkans, and some other northern races, with many of the necessaries,
and even the comforts of life. The fat or grease (BEAR'S GREASE; AD'EPS
UR'SI, L.) of all the common species has long been highly esteemed for
promoting the growth of the human hair; but apparently without sufficient
reason. The mass of that sold under the name in England is simply hog's
lard or veal fat, or a mixture of them, variously scented and slightly
. The quantity annually consumed in Great Britain, and exported,
is estimated at many tons; being a larger quantity than all the bears at
present procurable in Europe would supply, if slaughtered and stripped of
their fat.

=BEAR'BERRY, Bear's Bil'berry=, &c. See UVA URSI.

=BEAR'S GREASE.= See BEAR (_above_), HAIR COSMETICS, MARROW, POMADES, &c.

=BEARD= (b[=e]erd). [Sax., Eng.] _Syn._ BAR'BA, L.; BARBE, Fr.; BART,
Ger., Dan.; BAARD, Dut. The hair of the lips and chin; but appr., only the
last--that on each lip being distinguished, in toilet-nomenclature, by a
separate name. In popular _botany_ and _zoology_, any beard-like
appendage; the 'awn' of corn or grass; the 'gills' or breathing organs of
oysters and other bivalves, &c.

=Beard-cultivating Pomade, Royer's= (Royer & Co., Berlin). An ointment of
1 part pulv. cinchon. rub., and 1-1/2 parts of a hair pomade containing
wax. (Hager.)

=Beard-cultivating Tincture= (Bergmann, Rochlitz). A spirituous extract of
some agreeable bark, mixed with a little oil of rosemary and thyme.
(Wittstein.)

=Beard-cultivating Tincture, Royer's= (Royer, Berlin). 10 grammes kitchen
salt, 150 grammes French brandy, fictitious and fuselly, and 2 grammes
tincture of mace. (Schaedler.)

=Beard Tincture, American= (Teinture americaine pour la barbe), for dyeing
the beard black. Three fluids. No. 1, nitrate of silver solution; No. 2,
tincture of galls; No. 3, sodium sulphide solution.

=BEARD'ED.= _Syn._ BARBA'TUS, L.; BARBU, Fr.; BARTIG, Ger. In _anatomy_,
_botany_, and _zoology_, having a beard, or a beard-like appendage;
prickly, barbed, jagged; awned.

=BEA'VER=, (b[=e]'-) _Syn._ CAS'TOR, L.; CASTOR, BIEVRE, Fr.; BIBER, Ger.
The _fi'ber cas'tor_ (Linn.), an animal belonging to the _rodentia_ of
Cuvier, and remarkable for the great ingenuity which it exercises in the
construction of its lodges or habitations. _Hab._ Europe and America.
Those of the former are burrowers; those of the latter, builders. The fur
has long been employed in the manufacture of the best quality of hats
(BEAVER HATS). The fat was officinal in the Ph. L. 1618. Castor
(CASTO''REUM) is obtained from this animal.

=BE'BEERINE= (b[=e]be'-[)e]r-in[double-dagger]). C_{19}H_{21}NO_{3}.
[Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BI'BIRINE (b[=e]'-b[)e]r-[)i]n); BEBEERI'NA, BIBIRI'NA,
&c., L. A peculiar alkaloid, discovered by Dr Rodie, in the bark and seeds
of the beeberu, bibiri, or green-heart tree (_nectan'dra Rodiae'i_,
Schomb.), of British Guiana; and since minutely examined by Maclagan and
Tilley, and by Von Planta.

_Prep._ 1. That of commerce, which generally contains some sipirine (--?
altered bebeerine), and a little lime, is generally first obtained in the
form of sulphate, by a process analogous to that employed in the
preparation of sulphate of quinine; and from this salt it is precipitated
by the addition of ammonia or an alkali.

2. (Pure.) By precipitating the sulphate with ammonia, washing the
precipitate with very cold water, and triturating it, whilst still moist,
with fresh hydrated oxide of lead; next drying the mixture by a gentle
heat, exhausting the residuum with alcohol, distilling off the alcohol,
and treating the last residuum with ether; the ethereal solution on
evaporation leaves pure bebeerine, under the form of a white or
yellowish-white, resinous-looking substance, which is pure white when
powdered.

_Prop., &c._ Amorphous; uncrystallisable; non-volatile; bitter-tasted;
inodorous; unalterable in the air; very slightly soluble in water; very
soluble in alcohol; less so in ether; reaction alkaline; when quite pure,
melts at 355 deg. Fahr., and on cooling forms a vitreous or semi-vitreous mass
(Winckler); at a higher temperature it suffers decomposition; ignited on
platinum-foil, it burns without leaving any carbonaceous residue;
neutralises acids forming uncrystallisable salts, most of which are
soluble in water.--_Prod._ From the bark, 1.5 to 1.75%; dried seed, 2.5%
(nearly).

_Use, &c._ Bebeeru-bark has been proposed and occasionally employed as a
substitute for cinchona bark, and bebeerine for quinine, in the usual
cases; but whether as a tonic, febrifuge, or antiperiodic, they appear
less powerful and certain than these last.--_Dose_, 2 to 12 gr. or more.
(See _below_.)

=Sul'phates of Bebeerine.= Of these there are two, both of which are
obtained in a similar manner to the Ph. E. formula for sulphate of
quinine, and merely differ in the amount of acid finally left in
combination with the alkali:--

1. =Sulphate.= _Syn._ NEU'TRAL SULPHATE OF BEBEERINE; BIBIRI'NAE SUL'PHAS,
&c., L. Easily soluble in water. Contains 86.4% of bebeerine, and 13.6% of
sulphuric acid.

2. =Subsul'phate.= _Syn._ BAS'IC SULPHATE OF BEBEERINE, DISUL'PHATE OF B.;
BIBERI'NAE SUBSUL'PHAS, &c., L. Soluble in alcohol; sparingly soluble in
water unless acidulated. Contains 90.8% of bebeerine, and 9.2% of
sulphuric acid. This is the sulphate of bebeerine of commerce, and the one
usually employed in medicine. It is generally met with in thin
brownish-yellow scales, which are formed in a similar manner to those of
ammonio-citrate of iron.--_Dose._ As a tonic, 1 to 3 gr.; as a febrifuge
or antiperiodic, 5 to 20 gr.; in similar cases to those in which
disulphate of quinine is employed.

=BECH'AMEL= (b[)e]sh'-[)a]-m[)e]l[double-dagger][125]). _Syn._ BECHAMEL,
Fr. In _French cookery_, a fine white sauce, essentially consisting of
concentrated veal gravy or veal consomme and cream, with or without
flavouring. See SAUCES.

[Footnote 125: Thus as English.]

=BE'CHIC*= (-k[)i]k). _Syn._ BE'CHOUS[dagger]; BE'CHICUS
(b[)e]k'-[double-dagger]), L.; BECHIQUE, Fr.; HUSTEND, &c., Ger. In
_medicine_, &c., of or for a cough; pectoral; also subst., applied to
remedies (BE'CHICS; BE'CHICA, L.) used to relieve cough.

=BED.= [Eng., D., Sax.] _Syn._ LIT, COUCHE, Fr.; BETT, &c., Ger.; CUBI'LE,
LEC'TUS, LEC'TULUS, GRABA'TUS, &c., L. A couch; that in or on which we
sleep; that on which anything is generated, deposited, or rests.

Bed curtains and valances are both unnecessary and objectionable as bed
appendages, and as such should be discarded. Before making the bed in the
morning the blankets and sheets should be stripped off and allowed to
remain for an hour or two in a current of air, on the back of a chair or
some other convenient support. If it does not rain, or is not too damp,
they are best placed near the window. The night dress which has been slept
in should be exposed in the same manner; and on going to bed it would be
found a good plan, when removing the inner vest which has been worn
during the day, to turn it inside out, and to hang it over the footboard
of the bed. Under ordinary conditions the sheets should be changed every
week. When it is remembered that on an average a third of a human being's
existence may be said to be passed in bed, the importance of his dormitory
being kept scrupulously clean will be self evident. Every bedroom should
therefore be well swept out each day, and the floor diligently scrubbed
once a week. With the exception of a small strip beside the bed, the room
should contain no carpet; a piece of New Zealand matting, being less able
to retain dust, is preferable to carpeting. The door and windows of the
bed-chamber should be kept more or less open during the day, so as to
ensure a thorough draught of air through the room, and all slops and
contents of chamber utensils should be immediately removed. No plants
should be allowed in the bedroom.

There is no better form of mattress than one made of horsehair, both for
children and adults. The pillows should also be made of the same material.
Both pillows and mattress should be taken to pieces once a year, and their
contents well ventilated by exposure to the air. When a child is ricketty,
weak in the neck, inclined to stoop, or at all crooked, a pillow is best
dispensed with. Cotton sheets have two advantages over linen ones--they
are more absorbent, and feel less cold. In cases of sickness the
comfortable construction of the patient's bed, as well as the adoption of
such means as shall ensure as much as possible its efficient ventilation,
are matters of primary import. Hence because it permits of a more thorough
circulation of air than any other kind, the horsehair mattress calls even
more imperatively for adoption than in health. It may be placed upon the
feather or wool bed, and should it be found too rough, or causing any
discomfort, one or two blankets may be placed over it. The straw palliass
should at the same time be removed. Both sheets and pillow cases should be
frequently changed, more especially in fevers. If the patient perspire
very profusely, fresh sheets and pillow cases should be supplied every
twenty-four hours. If soiled by evacuation of any kind, it is most
important that they should be changed at once, and so with the night
dress. In all cases of eruptive and other fevers, and contagious diseases,
all articles of wearing apparel (underclothing, as well as sheets, pillow
cases, handkerchiefs, &c.) should when removed be placed in a vessel and
covered with water.

In the articles on "air" and "vitiated air" the evil effects of
ill-ventilated dormitories have been adverted to. Every bedroom should if
possible contain an enclosed fireplace having free access to the chimney.
Failing this a series of little holes about the size of a shilling should
be bored in the lower part of the door, and the upper sash of the window
should be opened to the extent of two or three inches.

[On the connection of BEDS and BEDDING with comfort and health, see
COTTON, DAMP, FEATHERS, LINEN, SLEEP, VENTILATION, VERMIN, &c.; also
_below_.]

[Illustration: 1.]

[Illustration: 2. (Opened.)]

[Illustration: 3. (Closed.)]

=Bed, Air.= Beds, pillows, cushions, &c., when properly constructed and
inflated with air, are clean, luxurious, and healthy substitutes for those
in common use. For this purpose the air-proof part should be formed of
separate cells or tubes, arranged in ridges (see _engr._), or in any
similar manner to admit of free ventilation; and in the case of beds, or
of cushions for the sick, two or three folds of flannel, or blanket, or of
any loose porous fabric, should be placed between them and the under sheet
or the person of the sleeper or patient. Without this precaution,
discomfort and restlessness, excessive warmth and perspiration and even
bed-sores, are apt to follow their use by invalids, when badly
constructed. To obviate these objections to articles of this class
commonly sold, a new one has been produced under the name of the
'INCOM'PARABLE BED' (Aycbourn's Patent), which is thoroughly applicable to
all purposes--domestic, medical, naval, or _military_--and superior to any
feather, flock, or spring bed, however good or carefully made up. This bed
consists of an outer case made of ordinary bed-ticking divided internally
into numerous separate cells, into each of which is placed a suitably
constructed bag, which may be either wholly or partially filled with air
or water; the latter either hot or cold. (See _engr._ 2, 3.) It is
incapable of bursting, and is very agreeable to lie on. It retains its
shape, saves the time, trouble, and wear and tear ordinarily bestowed or
produced by servants in daily tossing about one of down or feathers, is
easily washed and kept clean, allows all the ventilation essential to
health, and is so portable that it may be easily packed in a carpet-bag.
In almost an instant it may be converted into six, or more, separate
life-preservers; and what is equally important it will stand any climate.
Hitherto the use of air-beds and water-beds has been almost exclusively
confined to the upper and wealthy classes, and to hospital practice; but
the moderate prices[126] at which Aycbourn's beds, cushions, &c.,
are sold, place these luxuries, and in many cases--absolute
necessities--within the reach of the masses of the people.

[Footnote 126: These are less than those of feather beds of corresponding
dimensions.]

=Bed, Water.= Water-beds, cushions, &c., are chiefly employed for patients
labouring under bed-sores, paralysis, spinal affections, &c., or who are
the subjects of active surgical treatment in which equable support for the
body or a limb is absolutely necessary. Their construction and use are
similar to those previously noticed, except that, instead of being
inflated with air, they are filled with water, either warm or tepid. For
the bedridden, and for long-continued use generally, they are much
inferior to air-beds. See AIR-BED (_above_).

=Bed.= _Syn._ STRA'TUM, L.; STRATE, &c., Fr.; SCHICHT, &c., Ger. In
_geology_, a mineral layer, seam, or stratum, thick or thin.

=Bed.= In _horticulture_, a small plot of land, usually raised a little
above the general surface, in which flowers, or other plants, are raised
or grown.

=BEDDING, PURIFICATION OF.= To be efficiently disinfected, bedding must be
taken to pieces and subjected to dry heat. This last condition can only be
satisfactorily carried out in large ovens or disinfecting chambers. Any
local authority may provide a proper place and necessary appliances for
the disinfection of bedding. Any local authority may direct the detention
of bedding, clothing, &c., which have been exposed to infection, and may
give compensation for the same.

Any person giving, lending, selling, transmitting or exposing bedding,
clothing, rags, &c., which have been exposed to infection, is liable to a
penalty not exceeding L5.

=Bedding or Litter.= The following is from Col. Fitzwygram's useful work,
'Horses and Stables,' "One great item in a horse's comfort, and
consequently in his aptitude to carry flesh, is a good bed. Every horse
should be bedded down at mid-day. As regards economy of straw, it is
essential not to give the horse a chance of eating it. With this view no
fresh straw should be placed within his reach. The fresh straw should be
brought in first, and put not merely at the bottom, but also in rear of
the stall; then the old litter should be brought in and put at the top and
in front. The horse will not readily eat at, and by the following morning
the new straw will have become somewhat tainted, and may then be mixed and
dried along with the rest. Again, great care should be taken in the
morning to thoroughly shake up and cleanse the bedding from dung; and any
parts which may have become rotten should be thrown out. Good straw
rapidly deteriorates if these precautions are not taken. On the other hand
careless servants often throw away along with the bad parts much good
bedding which might be dried and used again. Bedding should be taken up,
and turned over at least twice in each forenoon, so as to expose every
part to the drying and purifying influence of the sun and air. It is,
however, a mistake to expose it over-much to the action of a very hot sun,
as it makes it too dry and brittle." See HORSE.

=BED'EGUAR= (-e-gahr). _Syn._ BEDEGUAR (or GAR, Fr. Sweet-briar sponge
(which _see_).

=BEE= (b[=e]). _Syn._ HIVE-BEE, HON'EY-B. (h[)u]n'-), DOMES'TIC B.; A'PIS,
L.; ABEILLE, A. MELLIFIQUE, &c., Fr.; BIENE, HONIGBIENE, &c. Ger. The
_a'-pis mellif'ica_ (Linn.; Ph. L., E., & D.), one of the hymenop'tera
best known and most useful to man. [Those desirous of studying the habits
and economy of bees are referred to the works of Huber and Latreille; and
for their management to Mr Cobbett's little book on the subject.] See
APIS, HIVE, HONEY, WAX, &c.

=BEE'-BREAD.= The pollen of flowers collected by bees as food for their
young.

=BEE'-GLUE=, _Syn._ PROP'OLIS, L., Fr. The resinous matter with which bees
cement the combs to the hives, and close up and repair the cells.

=BEECH= (b[=e]che). _Syn._ BEECH'-TREE; FA'GUS, L; HETRE, H. COMMUN, Fr.;
BUCHE, GEMEINE B., Ger. The _fa'gus sylvat'ica_ (Linn.), a magnificent
English forest-tree, of the nat. ord. Amentaceae (DC.). Fruit (BEECH'-MAST,
B.-NUTS), used to feed swine, and, sometimes, in obstinate headaches, and
in gravel complaints; yields oil by expression; inner bark occasionally
used in hectic fevers. Wood (BEECH, B.-WOOD), handsome and very hard, but
brittle and perishable, and particularly liable to become worm-eaten; its
durability is increased by steeping it, when fresh-hewn, for some time in
water; chiefly used by cabinet-makers, coach-builders, millwrights, and
turners; and, sometimes, by coopers; also burnt for charcoal.

=BEEF= (b[=e]fe). _Syn._ CHAIRE DE B[OE]UF, DU B[OE]UF, Fr.; RINDFLEISCH,
&c., Ger.; BU'BULA, CA''RO BO'VIS, &c., L. The flesh of bovine animals,
generally; but ordinarily only that of the domestic ox, cow, or bull.

_Qual._ Good beef is highly wholesome and nutritious; and is well adapted
to persons of good appetite, or that labour or take much exercise. For the
delicate, especially those suffering from debility, partial anaemia,
amenorrh[oe]a, and similar ailments, it is, perhaps, superior to every
other kind of animal food. If cooked so as to be left full of gravy, it
sits lightly on the stomach, and its fat proves even more digestible than
that of either veal or mutton.

It has been proved that under-done beef is one of the causes of tapeworm.

_Choice._ OX-BEEF is known by having a fine smooth, open grain, a lively
and agreeable red colour, and a tender texture, with the fat of a pleasing
pale whitish-yellow or but slightly yellow, and the suet white and hard.
When fine and well fed, the flesh is inter-grained or marbled with
fat.--COW-BEEF has a closer grain than ox-beef, and the lean is of a
deeper red.--BULL-BEEF is closer still, the fat dark, hard, and skinny,
the lean of a deep coarse red, and it has a strong smell and
flavour.--HEIFER BEEF resembles ox-beef, except in being smaller, often an
advantage; but it lacks the rich flavour of the flesh of full-grown oxen.

_Joints, Managem., &c._ Beef is CURED, SALTED, and DRESSED, in all the
ways common to the other meats; the only care necessary being in the
selection of the appropriate joint or part. The ribs, sirloin, rump, and
veiny piece are the proper joints for ROASTING or BAKING. The buttock or
round, edge-bone, second round or mouse-buttock, brisket, flank, shoulder
or leg-of-mutton piece, and the clod, those generally BOILED, STEWED, or
SALTED. The choicest STEAKS are cut from the middle of the rump; the next
best from the veiny piece, or from the chuck-rib. In summer, excellent
ones may also be cut from the shoulder. In France, steaks cut from the
sirloin (without bone) are preferred to all others, and are exceedingly
delicate and tender. The neck may be either stewed or boiled, and is much
used to make soup and gravy. In the country, the round, when fine, and
well hung, is also often roasted or baked.

According to Miss Acton, "the finest part of the sirloin is the chump-end,
which contains the larger portion of the fillet; of the ribs, the middle
ones."

Beef is in season during the whole year, but is finest--when it is most
relished--during the winter months, when, owing to the temperature of the
air, it may be 'hung' a long time, and thus increased in tenderness and
flavour. See OX, BAKING, BOILING, ESSENCES, ROASTING, SALTING, TEA, &c.
(also _below_).

=Beef, Alamode'.= _Syn._ B[OE]UF A LA MODE, Fr. The true 'beef a la mode'
is made as follows; and is not a mere kind of rich stew, such as is daily
sold under the name in the 'cook-shops' of London:--

1. (M. Alexis Soyer.) Rump, sirloin, or rib of beef (about) 12 _lbs._;
lard it through with 10 or 12 long pieces of fat bacon; put it into an
earthen pan with a calf's foot, 4 onions, 2 carrots (sliced), a bunch of
parsley, 2 bay leaves, 2 sprigs of thyme, 2 cloves, 1/2 teaspoonful of
pepper, 1 do. of salt, 4 wine-glassfuls of sherry, 4 do. of water, and 1
_lb._ of streaky bacon (cut into small squares); place on the cover, make
it air-tight round the edges with a little flour-paste, and expose it in a
moderate oven for about 4 hours. Dish up with the vegetables and bacon
placed tastefully round it, the gravy (skimmed) being poured over all. Or
it may be eaten cold, in which case the pan should not be opened until the
whole has thoroughly cooled.

2. (Mrs Rundell.) Rump of beef (or any part of the beef which will stew
well), 3 or 4 _lbs._; trim it, and cut off the fat; add several sorts
(according to taste) of sweet herbs chopped very fine, a little shalot,
and a great deal of spice (cayenne, white pepper, allspice, cloves, and
mace; or mixed spices), and put them, with vinegar, into a saucer that has
been rubbed with garlic; add fat bacon cut into long slips; lard the beef
regularly on both sides, and rub it over with the herbs and spices; next
flour it, and add a small piece of butter, and a pint of water; bake it in
an oven until thoroughly 'done,' then strain the gravy, and serve it up
with pickles on the top. Excellent either hot or cold.

_Obs._ Miss Acton--a high authority in these matters--tells us, that 7 or
8 _lbs._ of beef, thus treated, takes 4 to 5 hours to dress it properly;
and that if a stew-pan be used, it should be as nearly the size of the
meat as possible, the whole being allowed to simmer very gently, and the
meat turned when half done. She also states that "veal dressed in this way
is even better than beef;" but, of course, it takes less time in cooking.

=Beef, Col'lared.= _Prep._ 1. (Miss Acton.) The piece of beef is rubbed
with a little coarse sugar, and set aside for two or three days; it is
then slightly salted (about 1 _oz._ of salt, containing a little
saltpetre, to each _lb._ of meat); and allowed to rest 8 to 10 days; the
bones and tougher skin are next removed, and the under side is sprinkled
thickly with parsley and other savoury herbs (shred small), after which it
is very tightly rolled up, secured with a cloth, and bound as closely as
possible with broad tape. A piece of 8 _lbs._ will require about 5 hours'
gentle boiling, and should be placed, in the same state, whilst still hot,
under a heavy weight, or in a press, for a few hours. The ribs, or
(better) the thinnest part of the flank, is generally selected. The last
should be 'hung' in a damp place for a day or two before curing it.

2. (Mrs Rundell.) From stewed shin of beef and ox-tail, re-stewed with a
glassful each of wine and ketchup, and some of the old broth, and then
poured into moulds. Sweet herbs, sliced eggs, and pickles, may be added at
will.

=Beef, Dutch, Hung Beef.= The round, rump, veiny-piece, or thick flank,
cured, for 10 or 12 days, with dry salt to which a little saltpetre and
some sugar and black pepper has been added; and afterwards 'hung' for use.
It eats well if boiled tender with greens or carrots. If to be grated or
shred, as Dutch, and eaten as a relish on bread and butter, then cut a
lean bit, boil it till extremely tender, and while hot put it under a
press. When cold, fold it in a sheet of paper, and hang it in a very dry
place. It will then keep two or three months.

=Beef, Pott'ed.= See POTTED MEATS, &c.

=Beef, Spiced= (sp[=i]st'). Salted beef when spices (usually black pepper
and allspice) have been added to the salt, &c., used in curing it. See
BEEF, COLLARED (_above_).

=Beef Tea.= An extract manufactured at Berlin, which contains the
nutritive matter of the flesh in the highest state of potency. A pale
blood-red(!) jelly, which will not keep long, and after a time passes into
a state of odorous putrefaction. (A. Buchner.)

=BEER= (b[=e]re). _Syn._ BIERE, Fr.; BIER, D., Ger.; BIRRA, It.;
CEREVI''SIA (-v[)i]zh'-'[)a]), CERVI''SIA (Pliny), C. LUPULA'TA* (_i.e._
hopp'd or modern b.), VI'NUM ANGLIC'ANUM*, V. HORDEA'CEUM* (-sh'[)u]m),
ZY'THUM* (or -THUS*; [Greek: zythos], Gr.), &c., L.; BERE, BEERE, Sax.;
BIR, W. An aqueous infusion of malted grain which, after being boiled with
hops, has undergone the vinous fermentation; malt-liquor. The word BEER is
now the common generic term for all fermented malt-liquors, and, indeed,
for all other beverages prepared by a process of brewing. Whenever the
term is used in a special sense, it is with a descriptive prefix, as, for
example, spruce beer, ginger beer, &c.

_Hist._ Ale and wine are fabled to have been invented by Bacchus; the
former, in Egypt, where the soil and climate would not permit of the
cultivation of the grape. Herodotus ascribes the origin of the art of
brewing to Isis, the wife of Osiris, and notices zythum [Greek: zythos], a
beer obtained from barley. Malt-liquor was undoubtedly employed as a
beverage in the fifth century before Christ; and, probably, very much
earlier. Xenophon distinctly alludes to it in his famous retreat (B.C.
401). Aristotle speaks of 'beer drunkenness,' and Theophrastus calls it
'barley-wine.' The Romans learned the art of brewing from the Egyptians,
and gave the liquor thus made the appropriate name of cerevisia (quasi
Cererisia), from its being the product of corn, the gift of Ceres. The
most celebrated beer of ancient times was the _Pelus'ian pota'tion_, so
named after a town at the mouth of the Nile where beer was prepared in
great perfection. The use of beer was likewise known to the ancient Gauls
and Germans, and probably also to most other ancient nations inhabiting
the temperate zone. Pliny says "Zythum is made in Egypt, _ce'lia_ and
_ce''ria_ in Spain, and many other sorts (of beer) in Gaul." In our own
country, ale was early known and valued as a beverage. The art of its
preparation appears to have been obtained either from the Romans or the
Saxons. According to Verstegan, "This excellent and healthsome liquor,
beere, anciently called ale, as of the Danes it yet is, was of the Germans
invented and brought into use." Alehouses are mentioned in the laws of
Ina, king of Wessex (A.D. 680). Alebooths were regulated by law, A.D. 728.
By the beginning of the 13th century ale was drunk generally in England.
By a statute of James III, of Scotland, it was made a capital offence to
mix wine with beer (A.D. 1482). In 1492, a licence was granted to a brewer
at Greenwich to export 50 tons of that "ale" called "beer" or "bere;" the
distinction between the two apparently being, that the latter was
flavoured with wormwood or other bitters; whereas ale was not. Ale was
originally made from barley-malt and yeast alone, and those who put in
anything else were held to sophisticate the liquor. Hops were introduced
A.D. 1524; and to this date modern, or hopp'd beer, may be traced.

By statute of James I the "ale" called "bere" was taxed, and "one quart
of the best thereof" ordered to be sold for a penny (A.D. 1610). Alehouses
were first licensed in 1621, and during the reign of Charles II were,
together with all malt-liquor, placed under the control of the Excise
(A.D. 1660). By the Statutes 1 & 4 Will. IV (1834), previous enactments
respecting malt liquors and their sale were reduced to their present form.
Beer is now the common beverage in all European countries where the vine
is not a subject of rustic husbandry.

_Qual._ Pure malt-liquor which has undergone sufficient fermentation is
perhaps, when taken in moderation, one of the most wholesome beverages
that can be drunk. Ale is the most nutritious variety, and, when
moderately mature, is the one best adapted to the debilitated and
delicate; but good porter, owing to being less rich in extractive and
gummy matter, and from being slightly astringent from high-dried or
scorched malt being used in its preparation, occasionally agrees better
with bilious constitutions and the dyspeptic. Much, however, depends on
acquired taste and habit. The most wholesome, and perhaps the least
exceptionable beverages obtained from malt, are those known as East-India,
Scotch, and Bavarian ales, when honestly prepared and not highly
'bittered' with the hop, as is, unfortunately, now so general. A late
writer has described good beer as nutritious, from the sugar and mucilage
which it contains; exhilarating, from its spirit; and strengthening and
narcotic, from its hops. Pereira says, "Beer is a thirst-quenching,
refreshing, intoxicating, and slightly nutritious beverage." Its effects,
when taken injudiciously, or in excess, for the most part resemble those
of other intoxicating liquors--disease, misery, and crime; and these in
direct proportion as it deviates from the true standard of purity and
excellence.

All medical authorities agree in discountenancing the use of beer for
infants and children. Water or milk with the child's meals are the best
beverages for them.

_Var._ The numerous varieties of malt liquor met with in commerce may be
resolved into two great classes--ALE and PORTER. ALE of all kinds is
brewed chiefly from pale malt, and is generally of a light amber colour.
PALE ALE is manufactured from the finest and lightest dried malt, and the
choicest hops, the latter in excess. MILD ALE differs from pale ale in
being sweeter, stronger, and almost free from the flavour of the hop.
BITTER ALE or BITTER BEER has, as a rule, less body than pale ale, and is
more highly hopped. TABLE BEER is a weak liquor commonly containing three
or four times the proportion of water usually present in ordinary beer or
ale. PORTER differs from ale chiefly in its being artificially  by
the use of roasted malt, which also imparts to it a peculiar bitter
flavour. In point of strength it stands about midway between light and
strong ales, although frequently brewed of a strength very slightly above
that of table beer. STOUT, BROWN STOUT, &c., are simply richer or stronger
descriptions of porter, and may be said to have nearly the same relation
to the higher qualities of mild ale that porter holds with regard to pale
ale or bitter beer. In London, PORTER is called BEER; and, indeed, in all
parts of the kingdom, the prevailing beverage of this kind consumed by the
masses, of whatever class, commonly goes by the name of beer.

The two great classes of malt liquor above referred to, are, independently
of mere differences of strength, excellence, and commercial value,
practically subdivided into an almost infinite number of varieties. Every
county, every town, and almost every brewer, is distinguished by the
production of a different-flavoured beer, readily perceived, and highly
appreciated by their respective votaries. These differences may be traced
to--variations in the quantity and quality of the materials employed in
their manufacture--the temperature of the water used for mashing--the
duration of the boiling--the temperature at which the fermentation is
conducted, and the extent to which it is carried, together with numerous
other circumstances, which, though usually of an accidental and uncertain
character, are nevertheless sufficient to affect the flavour and quality
of a brewing. Among these, those depending on the condition of the
building, the locality, the apparatus, the water, the management, &c., are
not the least important. In general, however, when the same quantity and
quality of materials are employed, and the same time allowed for the
maturation of the liquor, the chief causes of this diversity will be found
to depend on the water used in the brewing, and the method followed in the
preparation of the malt. Thus, Bavarian, Scotch, and Burton ales differ in
style from other ales chiefly from being fermented at a lower temperature,
and from the water employed in the brewing being that usually denominated
'hard,' whilst porter and stout differ from all these because they are
brewed from a mixture of pale and roasted malt. It is from causes like
these, though apparently trivial, that the many varieties of malt liquor
met with, at the present day, originate.

The per-centage in English beers of malt extract (dextrin and sugar
glucose) is least in bitter, and highest in the sweet ales. The hop
extract (lupulin and hop resin) is in much smaller amount.

The alcohol varies considerably, as does also the free acidity.

The albuminous matter in most beers does not average more than 0.5 per
cent.

The salts, which consist of alkaline chlorides and phosphates, and some
earthy phosphates, average 0.1 to 0.2 per cent. Ammoniacal salts are found
in small quantities. Caramel and assamar are found in the dark beers and
porters. Carbonic acid is always more or less present. The average is 0.1
to 0.2 parts by weight per cent., or about 1-3/4 cubic inches per ounce.
Volatile and essential oils are also present.

PARKES says, "Adopting means numbers; one pint (20 oz.) of beer will
contain--

  Alcohol                1  ounce.
  Extractive (dextrin),
      sugar, &c.         1.2 "  (534 grains).
  Free acid             25  grains.
  Salts                 13    "

The following beer analyses are given by Professor WANKLYN:

Bass's bottled bitter ale contains in 100 cubic centimetres:

  5.3   grams of alcohol.
  5.52   "  organic residue.
  0.36   "  ash.

A sample of draught ale, costing 2d. per pint in London, contained in 100
cubic centimetres:

  4.7  grams of alcohol.
  5.8   "  organic residue.
  0.32  "  ash.

A sample of London porter in 100 cubic centimetres contained:

  3.3  grams of alcohol.
  3.45   "  organic residue.
  0.30   "  ash.

"A large number of analyses recently made show that in the various classes
of malt liquor sold in London there is a variation in the amount of
alcohol contents from 3.87 to 8.41 per cent. of absolute alcohol by
weight, these two extremes corresponding to .98 and 2.18 fluid ounces of
absolute alcohol in the pint of beer. The amount of extract varies from
2.16 to 13.32 per cent. by weight, or from .73 to 2.77 ounces per pint of
beer, as will be seen from the accompanying table.

  ----------------------+---------+----------------------+---------+-------+------------------------
                        |         |   Per-centage of     |         |       |  Con. vols., per pint.
                        |         |----------------------|Original |Malt,  |------------------------
   Kind of Malt Liquor. | Specific|Alcohol|Extract|Acetic|Gravity  |per    |Alcohol,|Extract|Acid,
                        | Gravity.|       |       |Acid. |of Wort. |barrel.|fl. oz. |ounces.|grains.
  ----------------------+---------+-------+-------+------+---------+-------+--------+-------+-------
  Burton ale (Allsopp's)| 1040.38 | 8.25  | 13.32 | .32  | 1121.63 | 4.50  |  2.16  |  2.77 | 29.12
  Bass's barley wine    | 1032.31 | 8.41  | 11.75 | .23  | 1114.78 | 4.25  |  2.18  |  2.42 | 20.77
  Edinburgh ale         | 1006.63 | 4.41  |  3.58 | .19  | 1048.38 | 1.77  |  1.12  |   .72 | 16.73
  Guinness's stout      | 1015.51 | 6.81  |  6.17 | .24  | 1078.06 | 2.88  |  1.74  |  1.25 | 21.32
  Truman, Hanbury,      |         |       |       |      |         |       |        |       |
      & Co.'s porter    | 1013.16 | 4.02  |  5.12 | .24  | 1051.33 | 1.90  |  1.03  |  1.01 | 21.27
  Whitbread's porter    | 1014.04 | 4.28  |  5.15 | .18  | 1054.11 | 2.00  |  1.09  |  1.03 | 15.97
  Hoare's porter        | 1012.99 | 4.18  |  5.04 | .18  | 1052.42 | 1.94  |  1.06  |  1.03 | 15.95
  Perry's ale           | 1006.48 | 3.87  |  3.65 | .14  | 1045.82 | 1.69  |  0.98  |  0.73 |  7.97
  ----------------------+---------+-------+-------+------+---------+-------+--------+-------+-------

"The relative proportions of alcohol and extract in beer will also have
some influence on its fitness in a medical point of view for certain
persons; and in some instances thin dry beer, that has had the
fermentation carried so far as to reduce the amount of extract to a
minimum, may be very preferable to beer containing a larger amount of
extract. In this respect some samples of the Prestonpans' beer are
remarkable for the small proportion of extract they contain.

"In regard to the nutritive value of beer, over and above the stimulant
and tonic actions due to the alcohol and to the bitter principle of the
hop, it is worth notice that a pint of pale ale contains from 1/2 an ounce
to an ounce of solid extract, while mild and old ale contain from 1-1/10
to 2-3/4 ounces in the pint.

"The amount of free acid in British beer appears to be uniformly larger
than in the Viennese and Bavarian beer recently introduced here, and
sometimes it is very much larger. This free acid is represented in the
tables as acetic acid; but there is reason to believe that beer probably
contains lactic acid or other fixed acids, together with a substance
analogous to glucic acid, which, according to Graham, Hoffmann, and
Redwood, appears to be produced in the fermentation of beer wort, as
practised in this country.

"There appears to be great differences in the quality of beer sold by
publicans at a given price. Thus, for instance, the variation in the pale
ale sold at fourpence per pint is from 4.08 to 7.10 per cent. of alcohol,
and from 3.22 to 7.53 per cent. of extract; in the mild ale sold at
twopence per pint it is from 4.43 to 5.62 per cent. of alcohol, and from
5.01 to 5.56 per cent. of extract; and in old ale sold at fourpence per
pint it is from 6.20 to 8.31 per cent. of alcohol, and from 4.56 to 6.2
per cent. of extract. These differences represent respectively 1.58, .27,
and .49 bushels of malt per barrel of beer. From the great alcoholic
strength of some kinds of old ale they partake more of the nature of wine
than of beer, in the usual sense of this term. They are, in fact, quite
equal in that respect to most of the cheaper wine imported from the
Continent, while in flavour and general character old ale, such as that
brewed at Burton-on-Trent and in Scotland, is far superior to any wine of
the kind referred to, which can be sold here at a price even double that
of the best old ale. This kind of ale, however, is but rarely sold by
publicans."--Dr PAUL.

_Materials, Manuf., &c._ See MALT, HOPS, BREWING, &c.

_Purity._ The leading characteristics of good beer are transparency, a
fine colour, an agreeable semi-vinous flavour, and the property of
remaining for several hours exposed in a glass or cup without becoming
'flat' or insipid. If the materials used were good, if the brewing was
skilfully conducted, if the liquor has been carefully stowed in perfectly
sweet casks or vessels, in a suitable cellar, for a sufficient time, and
has not been tampered with, this will almost always be the case. Hence
colour, transparency, and flavour, and the power of resisting exposure,
are tests of the purity and quality of beer, which should not be lightly
treated. There are none more simple and effectual; and, together with a
good 'palate,' and a close observance of its effects on the head and on
the stomach, will readily distinguish pure and wholesome beer from
'doctored' and inferior liquor. If, therefore, we find a sample of beer
possessing the above qualities and in good condition, and on testing it
for its alcohol and saccharine matter, find these substances in such
quantities as fairly to represent the amount of malt which should have
been used in the brewing of such a liquor, we may, in the absence of proof
to the contrary, infer it to be pure; because the object for which
adulteration is practised--the saving of malt and hops--did not exist in
this case. To demonstrate the purity of beer requires an elaborate and
troublesome analysis, which can only be performed by those accustomed to
chemical operations. Good and pure beer should contain nothing but what
exists in the malt, the hops, and the water, from which it is brewed, or
which is produced from them in the processes of 'mashing,'
'fermentation,' and 'maturation.'

_Adulteration._ Until the year 1862 nothing was allowed to enter into the
composition of beer but malt and hops; and the Act 56 Geo. III, cap. 58,
imposes a penalty of L200 on any "brewer, dealer, or retailer of beer,"
who "shall receive, or have in his possession, or use, or mix with, or put
into any worts or beer any molasses, honey, liquorice, vitriol, quassia,
cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, Guinea-pepper, or opium, or any
extract or preparation of these substances, for, or as a substitute for,
malt or hops;" and a further penalty of L500 on any "druggist, or vender
of, or dealer in drugs, or chemist, or other person whatever," who shall
"sell, send, or deliver to any licensed brewer," &c., any of the above
materials. However, by the Act 25 Vic., cap. 22, s. 20, so much of the
above is repealed as relates to hops. This Act provides that--

"On and after the 16th Sept., 1862, so much of an Act passed in the 56th
year of the reign of King George the Third, cap. 58, and of an Act passed
in the 7th and 8th years of the reign of King George the Fourth, cap. 52,
and of any other Act relating to the revenue of excise, as imposes any
excise penalty upon any brewer of, or dealer in, or retailer of beer, for
receiving into, or having in his possession, or using or mixing with any
worts or beer, any article for, or as a substitute for hops, or as
prohibits the sale of any such article to the said persons, shall be, and
is hereby repealed: provided always, that nothing herein contained shall
be construed to extend to repeal any such penalty or prohibition so far as
regards any article which may be used as a substitute for malt,
notwithstanding that it may be also a substitute for hops."

Prior to this an Act (10 Vic., c. 5) had been passed allowing brewers to
use sugar under certain restrictions.

As the law now stands, a brewer may use hops, quassia, wormwood, gentian,
or any other simple bitter; but he is forbidden to use any substitute for
malt, such as unmalted grain, sugar in a liquid state, molasses, or any
substance which would give pungency or intoxicating properties to the
beer, such as cocculus indicus, grains of paradise, tobacco, &c. It is a
well-known and authenticated fact, that beer is commonly and sometimes
dangerously adulterated. The cupidity of fraudulent brewers and publicans
frequently induces them to introduce other ingredients than malt and
bitters into their liquors, with a view of giving them a false appearance
and strength. Thus, to give pungency--capsicum, grains of paradise,
ginger, &c., have been added; to give intoxicating properties--opium,
cocculus indicus, tobacco, &c.; as a substitute for malt--molasses,
treacle, colouring, honey, &c.; to impart a false appearance of
age--sulphuric acid, alum, green vitriol, glycerin, mustard, &c.; to
remove acidity--pearlash, soda, chalk, &c.; and to impart a frothy
head--alum, foots, table-salt, &c.

The publicans generally 'reduce' their strong beer with water (which they
call 'liquor'), and add treacle, together with a mixture of copperas,
salt, and alum (termed 'heading'), to make it bear a frothy head. The
cheap beer sold in many of the low taverns of London is made by dividing
the contents of two butts between three butts, filling them up with water,
and adding a bladder of porter-extract (technically termed 'P. E,') to
each. This 'P. E,' is a mixture of powdered cocculus, Spanish juice,
caramel, capsicum, &c., boiled up with treacle and water to the
consistence of a thin extract, and then put into bullocks' bladders.

_Exam., Tests, &c._ The analysis of beer, both qualitative and
quantitative, as already noticed, is a matter of considerable difficulty.
We shall therefore defer its consideration until we come to the article
PORTER, as that description of beer, on account of its colour, is not only
the one most difficult to examine, but also the one most frequently
adulterated. See ALE, BREWING, HOPS, MALT, PORTER, &c.

=Beer, Am'ber.= _Syn._ AMBER. A liquor, formerly much drank in London,
brewed from a mixture of 3 parts of amber malt, and 1 part of pale malt,
with about 6 _lbs._ of hops to the quarter. It was generally 'tapped'
within a few days after it had done 'working,' and was chiefly used mixed
with bitters, or made into 'PURL,'

=Beer, Wheat'en=, Wheat'-malt Beer. See MUM.

[asterism] Besides malt liquor, or BEER properly so called, a somewhat
similar beverage, though of inferior quality, may be prepared from any
vegetable substance rich in starch and sugar, as noticed in our article on
BREWING. Certain summer beverages also pass under the name; but in both
the cases referred to, the name of the characteristic ingredient, or that
of the vegetable employed, is always conjoined; as in pea-shell beer,
potato-beer, ginger-beer, &c. Examples of some of these are given below:--

=Beer, Gin'ger.= _Syn._ CEREVIS'IA (-v[)i]zh'-) ZINGIB'ERIS, C.
ZINGIBERA'TA*, C. CUM ZINGIB'ERE* (-[)e]r-e), L. _Prep._ 1. Lump-sugar, 1
_lb._; good unbleached Jamaica ginger (well-bruised), 1 _oz._; cream of
tartar, 3/4 _oz._ (or tartaric acid, 1/2 _oz._); 2 or 3 lemons (sliced);
boiling water, 1 gall.; macerate, with frequent stirring, in a covered
vessel, until barely lukewarm, then add of yeast, 1-1/2 or 2 _oz._ (about
2/3rds of a wine-glassful), and keep it in a moderately warm place, to
excite a brisk fermentation; the next day rack or decant the liquor, and
strain it through a jelly-bag or flannel; allow it to work for another
day, or two, according to the weather; then skim it, again decant or
strain, and put it into bottles, the corks of which should be 'wired'
down.

2. Good white sugar, 18 to 24 _lbs._; lemon-juice or lime-juice, 1 quart;
finest Narbonne honey, 1 or 2 _lbs._; bruised Jamaica ginger, 1-1/2
_lb._; pure soft water (that has been boiled, and then allowed to settle),
q. s. Boil the ginger in 3 _galls._ of the water for half an hour; then
add the sugar, the juice, and the honey, with sufficient water (see
_above_) to make the whole measure 18-1/4 _galls._, and strain the mixture
as before. When the liquor has become almost cold, add the white of 1 egg,
and 1/2 _fl. oz._ of essence of lemon, and strongly agitate the cask or
vessel for about half an hour. After standing 3 to 6 days, according to
the state of the weather, bottle it, and place the bottles on their sides
in a cellar, just as is done with wine or beer. It will be ready for use
in about 3 weeks, and will keep good for several months. If wanted for
immediate use, about 1/2 pint of yeast may be added, as in formula 1; but
then it will not keep so well, or be quite so transparent and free from
deposit. The lemon juice and essence of lemon may be replaced, at will, by
cream of tartar (in powder) or tartaric acid, 4 _oz._; and lemons (sliced)
1-1/2 to 2 doz.; added with the sugar, &c.; but the original formula is
preferable.--_Prod._ 18 _galls._ = 24 doz. 1/2-pint bottles, or 30 doz.
ordinary sized ones.

3. EXTEMPORANEOUS:--_a._ Into each bottle put concentrated essence of
ginger, 1 drop; simple syrup or capillaire, 1/2 _oz._ (or in lieu of them,
syrup of ginger and simple syrup, of each a dessert-spoonful); and fill
with aerated soda-water at the 'bottling machine,' in the usual way. Very
superior.

_b._ Into each bottle put two or three lumps of sugar, fill them to the
proper height with pure water, throw in (quickly) an effervescing
ginger-beer powder, and instantly cork the bottle, and secure the cork
with wire.

_Use._ As a cooling and refreshing drink in warm weather; and as a
restorative after hard drink, fatigue, &c.

_Obs._ The products of all the above formulae, if well managed, are
excellent; those of No. 2, and 3_a_., of the very finest description, much
stronger and superior to nine tenths of that sold for the best in the
shops. They are often called, by way of distinction, LIMO''NIATED
GINGER-BEER, IMPERIAL G.-B., &c. Cheaper articles are made by omitting
some of the ingredients, and particularly a portion of the sugar. The
ginger-beer vended at 1_d._ and 2_d._ a bottle, with that known as GINGER
POP, IMPE''RIAL POP, &c., are generally made with moist sugar (1/2 to 3/4
_lb._ to the _gall._), and merely flavoured with a little coarse ginger.
No. 2, made with 2 _lbs._ of sugar to the _gall._ may be kept 2 years, if
not bottled for six months, and well-stored; and with 3 _lbs._ to the
_gall._, for 4 years, when it forms a splendid article (GINGER-CHAMPAGNE).

=Beer, Pine.= See, BEER SPRUCE.

=Beer, Spruce.= _Syn._ CEREVIS'IA (-v[)i]zh'-) ABI'ETIS, C. ABIETI'NA, C.
ABIET'ICA*, L. _Prep._ 1. Sugar, 1 _lb._; essence of spruce, 1/2 _oz._;
boiling water, 1 _gall._; mix well, and when nearly cold, add of yeast 1/2
a wine-glassful; and the next day bottle like ginger-beer.

2. Essence of spruce, 1/2 pint; pimento and ginger (bruised), of each 5
_oz._; hops, 1/2 _lb._; water, 3 galls.; boil the whole for 10 minutes,
then add of moist sugar, 12 _lbs._ (or good treacle, 14 _lbs._); warm
water, 11 _galls._; mix well, and, when only lukewarm, further add of
yeast, 1 pint; after the liquid has fermented for about 24 hours, bottle
it.

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Diuretic and antiscorbutic. Regarded by some persons as
an agreeable 'summer-drink,' and often found useful during long
sea-voyages. When made with lump-sugar it is called WHITE SPRUCE-BEER;
when with moist sugar or treacle, BROWN SPRUCE-BEER. An inferior sort is
made by using less sugar, or more water. If made with 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 _lb._
of lump-sugar per gall., and without yeast, in a similar manner to that
described under GINGER-BEER (No. 2), it may be kept a twelvemonth or
longer in a moderately cool place.

=Beer, Sugar.= _Syn._ CEREVIS'IA (-v[)i]zh'-) SAC'CHARI, L. From moist
sugar (1 to 2 _lbs._ to the _gall._) and a little hops; as treacle-beer.

=Beer, Trea'cle= (tr[=e]'kl-). _Syn._ CEREVIS'IA FAE'CIS SAC'CHARI, &c., L.
_Prep._ 1. From treacle or molasses, 3/4 to 2 _lbs._ per _gall._
(according to the desired strength); hops, 1/4 to 3/4 _oz._; yeast, a
table-spoonful; water, q. s.; treated as _below_.

2. Hops, 1-1/2 lb.; corianders, 1 _oz._; capsicum-pods (cut small), 1/2
_oz._; water, 8 _galls._; boil for 10 or 15 minutes, and strain the
'liquor' through a coarse sieve into a barrel containing treacle, 28
_lbs._; then throw back the hops, &c., into the copper, and reboil them,
for 10 minutes, with a second 8 _galls._ of water, which must be strained
into the barrel, as before; next 'rummage' the whole well with a stout
stick, add of cold water 21 _galls._ (sufficient to make the whole measure
37 _galls._), and, after again mixing, stir in 1/2 a pint of good fresh
yeast; lastly, let it remain for 24 hours in a moderately warm place,
after which it may be put into the cellar, and in two or three days
'bottled,' or 'tapped' on 'draught.' In a week it will be fit to drink.
Very superior.--_Prod._ 1 barrel, or 36 gallons. For a stronger beer, 36
_lbs._, or even 1/2 _cwt._, of treacle, may be used. It will then keep
good for a twelvemonth.

_Obs._ A wholesome drink; but one apt to prove laxative when taken in
large quantities. See BREWING, BEER, GINGER, POWDERS, &c.

=BEERS.= (In _pharmacy_.) _Syn._ CEREVIS'IAE (-v[)i]zh'-e-[=e]) MEDICA'TAE,
L. The general nature and preparation of these articles have been already
noticed.[127] They are little employed in this country. The ingredients
should be so proportioned that from 1/4 to 1/2 a pint may form the proper
dose. The following are examples:--

[Footnote 127: See ALES (Medicated).]

=Beer, Antiscorbu'tic.= _Syn._ CEREVIS'IA ANTISCORBU'TICA, L.; SAPINETTE',
Fr. _Prep._ 1. (P. Cod. 1839) Scurvy-grass and buds of the spruce-fir, of
each 1 oz.; horse-radish root, 2 oz. (all fresh, and bruised or sliced);
new ale or beer, 3-1/2 pints (say, 1/2 _gall._); macerate 4 days, press,
and strain for use.

2. (Ph. Castr. Ruth. 1840.) Horse-radish (fresh), 4 _lbs._; juniper
berries, 3 _lbs._; root of _calamus aromaticus_ and buds of _pinus abies_,
of each 1 _lb._; ginger, 1 _oz._; syrup (of brown sugar), 6 _lbs._; beer,
120 _lbs._ (say, 12 _galls._); macerate 4 days, or until it ferments, then
decant, strain, and add of cream of tartar, 1/2 _lb._; tincture of mustard
(flour of mustard 2 _oz._, to proof spirit 12 _oz._), 5 _lbs._ (say, 1/2
_gall._). In scurvy, &c.

=Beer, Cincho'na.= _Syn._ A'GUE-BEER, BARK'-BEER; CEREVIS'IA CINCHO'NAE,
&c., L. _Prep._ 1. Bruised cinchona-bark, 1 _oz._; proof spirit or brandy,
2 _oz._; mix; the next day add of new beer, 1 quart, and in 3 days decant
or filter.--_Dose_, 2 or 3 wine-glassfuls.

2. (Mutis.) Cinchona, 4 _oz._; sugar, 2 _lbs._; boiling water, 5 _pints_;
when lukewarm, ferment with a little yeast, as for ginger-beer.--_Dose_, 1
or 2 wine-glassfuls.

3. (Ph. Ferrara.) Bruised Peruvian bark, 1-1/2 _oz._; cinnamon, 2 _dr._;
nutmeg (rasped), 7 _dr._; sugar, 25 _oz._; yeast, 2 _oz._; water, 5
_pints_; mix, ferment, decant, and strain, as before.--_Dose_, 3 or 4
wine-glassfuls. They are all administered during the intermission of ague.

=Beer, Pipsissewa.= _Syn._ CERVIS'IA CHIMAPH'ILE, &c., L. _Prep._ (Dr J.
Parrish.) Pipsissewa (_chimaphila umbellata_), 1/2 _lb._; water, 1
_gall._; boil, strain, add of sugar, 1 _lb._; powdered ginger, 1/4 _oz._;
yeast, q. s.; and ferment, stain, and bottle, as for ginger-beer. In
scrofulous affections; especially of the joints.--_Dose._ Half a
tumblerful. It is a favorite remedy with some American practitioners.

=Beer, Sarsaparil'la.= _Syn._ LIS'BON DI'ET-BEER, SPAN'ISH JARAVE;
CEREVIS'IA SAR'ZAE, C. SARSAPARIL'LAE, INFU'SUM S. PARA'TUM FERMENTATIO'NE,
&c., L. _Prep._ 1. Compound extract of sarsaparilla, 1-1/2 _oz._; hot
water, 1 _pint_; dissolve, and when cold, add of good pale or East-India
ale, 7 pints.

2. Sarsaparilla (sliced), 1 _lb._; guaiacum-bark (bruised small), 1/4
_lb._; guaiacum-wood (rasped), and liquorice root (sliced), of each 2
_oz._; aniseed (bruised), 1-1/2 _oz._; mezereon root-bark, 1 _oz._; cloves
(cut small), 1/4 _oz._; moist sugar, 3-1/2 _lbs._; hot water (not
boiling), 9 quarts; mix in a clean stone jar, and keep it in a moderately
warm room (shaking it twice or thrice daily) until active fermentation
sets in, then let it repose for about a week, when it will be fit for use.

_Obs._ It is said to be superior to the other preparations of sarsaparilla
as an alterative or purifier of the blood, particularly in old affections.
That usually made has generally only one half the above quantity of sugar,
for which treacle is often substituted; but in either case it will not
keep well; whereas, with proper caution, the products of the above formulae
may be kept for one, or even two years. No yeast must be used.--_Dose._ A
small tumblerful 3 or 4 times a day, or oftener.

=Beer, Stomach'ic.= _Syn._ MED'ICATED PURL; CEREVIS'IA STOMACH'ICA, L.
_Prep._ (Dr Quincy.) Centaury-tops and Roman wormwood, of each 4 handfuls;
gentian root (bruised), 2 _oz._; the yellow peels of 6 Seville oranges;
Spanish angelica-root and Winter's lard, of each (bruised) 1 _oz._; new
ale, or beer, 3 quarts (say, 1 _gall._); digest for a few days, as before.
One or two wine-glassfuls early in the morning, and an hour before a meal.

=Beer, Sulphu''ric Acid.= _Syn._ SULPHURIC LEMONADE; CEREVISIA ACIDI
SULPHU''RICI, C. ANTICOL'ICA, L. _Prep._ 1. Treacle beer, or other weak
mild beer or ale, to which a little concentrated sulphuric acid has been
added, in the proportion of about 1 dr. to every 8 or 10 pints; the whole
being well agitated together, and allowed a few hours to settle.

2. Treacle, 14 _lbs._; bruised ginger, 1/2 lb.; coriander, 1/2 _oz._;
capsicum and cloves, of each 1/4 _oz._; water, 12-1/2 _galls._; yeast, 1
_pint_; proceed as for ginger-beer, and when the fermentation is nearly
over, add of oil of vitriol, 1-1/2 _oz._ (diluted with 8 times its weight
of water), and of bicarbonate of soda, 1-1/2 _oz._ (dissolved in a little
water). It is fit to drink in 3 or 4 days.

_Uses, &c._ It is taken with great benefit by workers in lead, especially
by those employed in white lead works; also in cases of lead colic,
poisoning by lead or its salts, &c. A tumblerful twice or thrice daily. It
is both harmless and wholesome.

=Beer, Tar.= _Syn._ CEREVIS'IA PI'CIS, C. P. LIQ'UIDAE, L. _Prep._
(Duhamel.) Bran, 2 pints; tar, 1 pint; honey, 1/2 pint; water, 6 pints;
mix, and gently simmer together for 3 hours; when lukewarm add of yeast,
1/2 pint; let it ferment for 36 hours, and strain. Pectoral,
anti-asthmatic, anti-phthisic, &c.--_Dose._ One wine-glassful before each
meal, in bronchial and chest diseases, and incipient consumption. See
BEERS (In Pharmacy; _above_).

=BEES'WING.= The second or pseudo-crust so much admired in port and a few
other wines, and which forms in them only when kept for some time after
the first or true crust has formed. It consists of minute, glittering,
floating particles or lamellae of tartar, purer, and freer from astringent
matter, than that deposited in the first crust. See CRUST, WINES, &c.

=BEET= (b[=e]te). _Syn._ BE'TA, L.; BIET, D.; BETTE, Fr.; BEETE, MANGOLD,
M.-<DW62>, Ger.; BIETOLA, It. The common name of plants of the genus
'beta,' and the nat. ord. Chenopodae (DC.). There are said to be only two
distinct species cultivated--_beta vulg[=a]r'is_ and _b. horten'sis_--each
of which occurs in several varieties; those of the first, and which we
have chiefly to consider, producing a large fleshy root (BEET'-ROOT,
MAN-GOLD-R.; RA'DIX BE'TAE, L.; BETTERAVE, Fr.; ROTHE RUeBE, &c., Ger.),
which is both sweet and succulent; those of the other, only succulent
leaves. The varieties most useful, and now the most extensively cultivated
in England, are of comparatively recent introduction; field-beet, the
mangold-wurzel of the Germans, having been only brought under the notice
of our agriculturists towards the end of the last century.

=Beet, Field.= See BEET, HYBRID (_below_).

=Beet, Hy'brid.= _Syn._ COMMON BEET, FIELD'-B.; BE'TA HY'BRIDA, B.
VULGAR''IS, H.; L.; BETTE COMMUNE, BETTERAVE C., RACINE D'ABONDANCE, R. DE
DISETTE, &c., Fr.; MANGOLD, M.-WURZEL, MANGEL-W., &c., Ger. A variety of
_beta vulgaris_ (Linn.), and that usually cultivated by English farmers.
Root red on the outside, white inside; chiefly grown as winter-food for
cattle, being vastly superior to turnips. It has been used in Germany as a
substitute for bread in times of scarcity. Leaves dressed and eaten like
spinach.

=Beet, Red.= _Syn._ CU'LINARY BEET, GARDEN B., BEET'-RADISH, BEET'-RAVE,
&c.; BE'TA RU'BRA, B. VULG''ARIS R., L.; BETTERAVE, &c., Fr.; ROTHE RUeBE,
&c., Ger. Root tender, well-flavoured, and of a rich red colour
throughout, and hence much used in salads, pickles, and cookery; also made
into a conserve, jam, or confection. The kinds most esteemed for salads
are the small red and the yellowish-red varieties of Castelnaudari.

=Beet, Sea.= _Syn._ BE'TA MARIT'IMA, L. Said to be the best variety for
dressing as spinach.

=Beet, White.= _Syn._ BE'TA AL'BA, B. VULGA''RIS A., B. CI'CLA, L.; BETTE
BLANCHE, POIREE, &c., Fr. A sub-variety of the red beet. Root white, and
hence preferred for making sugar; that with a purple crown being the most
esteemed.

_Obs._ The preceding varieties of beet resemble each other in their
general properties. They are all antiscorbutic, detergent, emollient, and
nutritious; and their roots contain about 8% of sugar, which, by proper
treatment, may be obtained from them of excellent quality. The grated root
is sometimes used to dress blisters and foul ulcers. When sliced, and
dried in a malt-kiln, a very palatable beer may be brewed with it. The
leaves of each variety are dressed and eaten like spinach. The roots, for
the table, after being carefully washed, are dressed whole--neither
scraped nor cut--and, according to their size and age, require from 1 to 4
hours' simmering or baking. They are mostly served in slices, cold,
intermingled with other winter salad vegetables. See BREWING, CATTLE,
SALADS, SUGAR, &c. (also _ante_).

=BEET ROOT.= See BEET.

=BEE'TLE= (b[=e]'tl). _Syn._ SCAR'AB[dagger]*, SCAR'ABEE[dagger]*
(-b[=e]); SCAeRABAE'US, L.; ESCARBOT, SCARABEE, Fr.; KAeFER, Ger.; BETEL,
Sax. In _zoology_, the common name of an extensive genus of insects
(_scarabae'us_, Linn.), of numerous species. It is also popularly applied
to all coleopterous insects, or such as have hard or shelly wing-cases,
especially to those of a dark or obscure colour. The common pests of our
kitchens and basement floors which pass familiarly under the name of
beetles, black beetles, or cockroaches, belong to the order orthoptera,
and not to the coleoptera or beetle tribe, as the name implies. See
INSECTS, &c.

=Black Beetle=; Domes'tic beetle. See BLATTA, COCKROACH, &c.

=Blis'tering Beetle.= See CANTHARIDES.

=BELL.= _Syn._ CAMPA'NA,[128] CAMPAN'ULA,[129] NO'LA*,[130]
TINTINNAB'ULUM,[131] L.; CLOCHE, CLOCHETTE,[132] GRELOT,[133] Fr.; GLOCKE,
SCHELLE, &c., Ger.; BELL, BELLA, BELLE, Sax. A hollow vessel or body,
usually of cast metal, with a wide cup-like mouth expanding outwards, so
formed as to emit sound when suspended and struck with a hard substance.
The word is also applied, either alone or in composition, to substances
having the figure of a bell; as bells (of flowers), bell-animal,
b.-flower, b.-glass, &c.

[Footnote 128: Appropriately, a large bell suspended or adapted for
suspension; as that of a church, &c.]

[Footnote 129: A small bell.]

[Footnote 130: Id.]

[Footnote 131: Id.; appr., one suspended as a door-bell, servants' bell,
&c.]

[Footnote 132: A little bell, a hand-bell.]

[Footnote 133: A little round-bell.]

_Form, Manuf., &c._ Bells of "the common and well-known shape, with a
thick lip or sound-bow, are the most effective known instruments for
producing a loud and musical sound, such as you want when you erect a
large public clock, or put up a peal of church-bells." "After trying a
number of experiments, at Messrs Warner's, I am quite satisfied that there
is nothing to be gained by deviating materially from the established
proportions of the best old bells."[134] This view is borne out by the
researches of the Government commissioners[135] who visited the Paris
Exhibition, who report, that among the 'founders' of France and Belgium,
there are no traditions of the art, nor any discoveries or appliances of
modern science, tending to the improvement of bells, or to provide
efficient substitutes for them; nor is there any known improvement on the
established mode and usual material (BRONZE or BELL-METAL) for casting
them. Sir C. Barry, indeed, according to Mr Dennison, "seemed rather
impressed with the merits of cast-steel bells;" but both Prof. Wheatstone
and Mr Dennison differ from him in opinion. Undoubtedly some cast-steel
bells, of small size, have been produced, capable of yielding sounds of
extraordinary clearness and richness, but, in most cases, owing to the
difficulty in giving the peculiar molecular condition to the metal
essential to a high degree of sonorousness, their tones are comparatively
harsh and disagreeable. Well-annealed glass offers a cheaper and better
material than steel for large bells up to a certain size, whilst its tones
are exquisite. As the depth of the tone of a bell depends chiefly upon the
dimensions and weight of the sound-bow, it appears likely that by
directing our experiments to the increase of these, and the diminishing of
the thickness of the metal in the other parts, the quantity of metal
required to produce large bells might be very greatly reduced. The sound
of an Indian gong that may be easily held suspended by the hand is always
rich and usually as loud and deep as a bell of ordinary construction which
it would take several men to lift. The Chinese often use bells made of
porcelain. Small hand-bells for the toilet and boudoir are often made of
silver, and then yield tones which are remarkably soft, clear, and
pleasing. The tongue, clapper, or hammer, of bronze bells should be of
iron; and steel bells, of bronze. Glass and porcelain bells require the
striking part of the tongue to be of box-wood, the proper weight being
given by a ball of iron cast on the rod immediately above it, and a
similar one screwed on the end of the rod immediately below it. In all
cases the hammer-head, preferably globular, should strike the bell near
the verge, and should be free from projections or asperities.

[Footnote 134: Lecture on the 'Form of Bells,' deliv. at the Royal
Institution, by Mr B. Dennison, to whom the Government intrusted the
construction of the 'great bells' for the New Houses of Parliament.]

[Footnote 135: Prof. Wheatstone and Sir Charles Barry.]

The casting, &c., of bells is essentially similar to that of other
articles in bronze, of corresponding size, and particularly of cannon. See
BELL-METAL, BRONZE, &c.

=BELL'-METAL.= _Syn._ AES CAMPANA''RUM, L.; METAL DE CLOCHE, Fr.;
GLOCKENGUT, GLOCKENSPEISE, Ger. The alloy, usually bronze, of which bells,
&c., are made.

The composition of bell-metal varies considerably, as may be seen below:--

1. (Standard.) Copper, 78 parts; tin, 22 parts;[136] fused together and
cast in the manner described under BRONZE. The most sonorous of all the
alloys of copper and tin. It is easily fusible, and has a fine compact
grain, and a vitreous-conchoidal and yellowish-red fracture. According to
Klaproth, the finest-toned Indian gongs have this composition.

[Footnote 136: The resulting alloy probably contains 7 Cu + Sn.]

2. (Founder's Standard.) Copper, 77 parts; tin, 21 parts; antimony, 2
parts.[137] Slightly paler and inferior to No. 1.

[Footnote 137: More antimony, or some other metal, is often added, as
subsequently noticed; but always to the injury of the alloy as
bell-metal.]

3. Copper, 80 parts; tin, 20 parts.[138] Very deep-toned and sonorous.
Used in China and India for the larger gongs, tam-tams, &c.

[Footnote 138: Equal to about 8 Cu + Sn. In some gongs the proportion of
tin is so low as 22, or even 20 parts, to 100 parts of copper.]

4. Copper, 78 to 80 parts; tin, 22 to 20 parts. Usual composition of
Chinese cymbals, tam-tams, &c.

5. Copper 75 (= 3) parts; tin, 25 (= 1) parts.[139] Somewhat brittle. In
fracture, semi-vitreous and bluish-red. Used for church and other large
bells.

[Footnote 139: Nearly equal to 6 Cu + Sn.]

6. Copper, 80 parts; tin, 10-1/4 parts; zinc, 5-1/2 parts; lead, 4-1/4
parts. English bell-metal, according to Thomson. Inferior to the last; the
lead being apt to form isolated drops, to the injury of the uniformity of
the alloy.

7. Copper, 68, parts; tin, 32 parts.[140] Brittle; fracture conchoidal and
ash-grey. Best proportions for house-bells, hand-bells, &c.; for which,
however, 2 of copper, and 1 of tin, is commonly substituted by the
founders.

[Footnote 140: Equal to about 4 Cu + Sn.]

8. Copper, 72 parts; tin, 26-1/2 parts; iron, 1-1/2 part. Used by the
Paris houses for the bells of small clocks or pendules.

9. Copper, 72 parts; tin, 26 parts; zinc, 2 parts. Used, like the last,
for very small bells.

10. Copper, 70 parts; tin, 26 parts; zinc, 2 parts. Used for the bells of
repeating watches.

11. Melt together copper, 100 parts; tin, 25 parts. After being cast into
the required object, it should be made red hot, and then plunged
immediately into cold water in order to impart to it the requisite degree
of sonorousness. For cymbals and gongs.

12. Melt together copper, 80 parts; tin, 20 parts. When cold it has to be
hammered out with frequent annealing.

13. Copper, 78 parts; tin, 22 parts. This is superior to the former, as it
can be rolled out. For tom-toms and gongs.

14. Melt together copper, 72 parts; tin, 26 to 56 parts; iron, 1.44 part.
Used in making the bells of pendules or ornamental Parisian clocks. For
clock-bells.

_Concluding remarks._ Castings in bell-metal are all more or less brittle;
and, when recent, have a colour varying from a dark ash-grey to
greyish-white, which is darkest in the more cupreous varieties, in which
it turns somewhat on the yellowish-red or bluish-red. The larger the
proportion of copper in the alloy, the deeper and graver the tone of the
bells formed of it. The addition of tin, iron, or zinc, causes them to
give out their tones sharper. Bismuth and lead are also often added to
modify the tone, which each metal affects differently. The addition of
antimony and bismuth is frequently made by the founder to give a more
crystalline grain to the alloy. All these additions are, however,
prejudicial to the sonorousness of bells, and of very doubtful utility.
Rapid refrigeration increases the sonorousness of all these alloys. Hence
M. D'Arcet recommends the 'pieces' to be heated to a cherry-red after they
are cast, and after having been suddenly plunged into cold water, to be
submitted to well-regulated pressure by skilful hammering, until they
assume their proper form; after which they are to be again heated and
allowed to cool slowly in the air. This is the method adopted by the
Chinese with their gongs, &c., a casing of sheet-iron being employed by
them to support and protect the pieces during the exposure to heat. In a
general way, however, bells are formed and completed by simple casting.
This is necessarily the case with all very large bells. Where the quality
of their tones is the chief object sought after, the greatest care should
be taken to use commercially pure copper. The presence of a very little
lead or any similar metal greatly lessens the sonorousness of this alloy;
whilst that of silver increases it. This last metal has been detected in
many old church bells remarkable for the richness of their tones--articles
of silver plate having been cast into the crucibles of the founders, as
votive offerings, by the pious Christians of former ages.

The specific gravity of a large bell is seldom uniform throughout its
whole substance; nor can the sp. gr. from any given proportion of its
constituent metals be exactly calculated owing to the many interfering
circumstances. The nearer this uniformity is approached, or in other
words, chemical combination is complete, the more durable and finer toned
will be the bell.

In general it is found necessary to take about 1-10th more metal than the
weight of the intended bell, or bells, in order to allow for waste and
scorification during the operations of fusing and casting. See BELL,
BRONZE, COPPER, &c.

=BELLADON'NA= (-d[)o]n'[)a]), [It., Sp., Port.; Eng., L., Ger.;[141] B.
P.] _Syn._ DEAD'LY NIGHT'SHADE, DWALE; BELLEDAME, BELLADONNE, &c., Fr.;
TOeDTLICHER NACHTSCHATTEN, TOLLKERSCHE, TOLLKRAUT, WOLFSKIRSCHE, &c., Ger.;
AT'ROPA LETHA'LIS*, SOLA'NUM FURIO'SUM*, S. LETHA'LE*, S. MANIA'CUM*, S.
MELANOCER'ASUS[dagger], &c., L., Bot. var. Literally, fair lady; in
_materia medica, botany, &c._, the usual name (adopted from the Ital.) of
_at'ropa belladonn'a_ (Linn.), an indigenous, poisonous, perennial,
herbaceous plant, of the nat. ord. Solanae (DC); Solanaceae, Endl., (Lind.).
It flowers in June and July, and its drooping, purple blossoms are common
ornaments of our hedges and wastes where the soil is calcareous. It is
supposed to be the 'insane root' of Shakespeare.[142]

[Footnote 141: As a borrowed word.]

[Footnote 142: 'Macbeth,' Act I, Scene 3.]

The parts of this plant used in medicine and pharmacy are the "fresh
leaves and branches to which they are attached; also the leaves separate
from the branches, carefully dried, of _atropa belladonna_; gathered, when
the fruit has begun to form, from wild or cultivated plants in Britain"
(B. P.).

_Prop., Uses, &c._ Every part of this plant contains ATRO'PIA, and is
consequently highly poisonous. Every part, except the berries, is f[oe]tid
when bruised, and of "a dark and lurid aspect, indicative of its deadly
narcotic quality."[143] Its berries, which are of a glossy violet-black,
and of the size of a small cherry, are sweet-tasted, and not at all
nauseous. Children and tired travellers and soldiers, allured by their
beauty and the absence of disagreeable flavour, have frequently been
induced to eat them; but in all cases poisoning, often fatal, has followed
the indulgence.[144] Belladonna is, however, in qualified hands a safe and
most valuable medicine. Its chief use is as an anodyne, antispasmodic,
sedative, and discutient, and particularly to diminish sensibility and
allay pain and nervous irritation in a variety of diseases--neuralgia,
arthritic and migratory rheumatic pains, painful ulcers, cancer, spasmodic
rigidity, strictures, and contractions (especially of the bladder and
uterus), angina pectoris, iritis, epilepsy, chorea, hooping-cough,
hysteria, mania, fevers, phthisis, asthma, &c.; also as a prophylactic of
scarlet-fever,[145] hydrophobia, and salivation, as a resolvent in
enlarged and indurated glands (particularly when painful), as an agent to
produce dilation of the pupil during surgical examinations and operations,
&c., &c. It is employed both internally and externally, and in various
forms, as is noticed under its 'preparations' elsewhere. _Dose._ Of the
powder, 1/2 to 1 gr. twice a day, gradually and cautiously increased until
dryness of the throat or dilation of the pupil occurs, or the head is
affected.

[Footnote 143: Pereira, 4th ed., vol. ii, 545.]

[Footnote 144: One hundred and fifty French soldiers were thus poisoned at
Pirna, near Dresden. (Orfila, 'Tox. Gen.')]

[Footnote 145: Of 2027 persons who took it, and were exposed to the
contagion of scarlet fever, 1948 escaped. (Bayle, 'Bibl. Therap.,' t. ii.
p. 504.) Of 1200 soldiers who took it only 12 became affected. (Oppenheim,
'Lond. Med. Gaz,' vol. xiii, 814.) In this country, however, except among
hom[oe]opaths, it has not found much favour as a prophylactic.]

_Pois., &c._ Belladonna and its preparations are poisonous to _all_
animals, but very much more so to the carnivora than to the herbivora. It
also acts as a poison on vegetables.

_Treatm. Ant., &c._ These may be the same as those employed in poisoning
by aconite, atropia, and opium. The stomach must be cleared as soon as
possible, followed by active purgation. Unfortunately emetics have
scarcely any action, and, therefore, must be given in large doses,
assisted by tickling the fauces, &c. If copious vomiting does not rapidly
follow, the stomach-pump may be had recourse to. When the poison has been
removed from the stomach, copious and continued draughts of astringent
vegetable solutions (weak decoction of galls or oak-bark, or strong coffee
or green-tea), should be persisted in for some time; followed by like
draughts of water soured with any mild vegetable acid (as vinegar,
lemon-juice, citric or tartaric acid, &c.) _Detec._ The contents of the
stomach or vomited matter may be searched for the berries, leaves, seed,
or portions of the root; all of which are easily recognisable. The usual
physiological and chemical tests of atropia may also be applied to these
and to the organic liquids supposed to contain the poison. See ALKALOID,
ATROPIA, EXTRACTS, OINTMENTS, TINCTURES, VEGETABLE JUICES, &c.

=BELLADONNINE.= _Syn._ ATROPIA, which see.

=BELL'Y= (-e). The abdomen (which _see_).

=BELTS.= In their connection with health and disease, _see_ BANDAGE,
DRESS, STAYS, &c.

=BENEDICTINE'S HEALING-PLASTER= (Hauber). 35 grammes of a dark brown
plaster, prepared by digesting together 1 part litharge with 2 parts olive
oil until they become blackish-brown, then adding 4 parts yellow wax,
containing the heat for a short time, and then pouring out. (Wittstein.)

=BENGAL'= (-gawl'). A thin fabric of silk and hair interwoven, originally
from Bengal.

=Ben'gal Light.= A firework used as signals. See FIRES ().

=Ben'gal Stripes.= Cotton cloth, woven with  stripes, orig. from
Bengal; gingham.

=BEN'JAMIN[dagger]*.= Benzoin.

=BEN'ZENE.= See BENZOL.

=BEN'ZINE= (-z[)i]n). Benzol.

=BEN'ZOATE= (-zo-[=a]te). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BEN'ZOAeS, L. A salt in which
one atom of benzoic acid is replaced by a metal or other basic radical.
The benzoates may, in general, be easily prepared by either neutralising
the acid with the base, or by double decomposition. Most of them are more
or less soluble in water, and crystallisable. Those of the alkalies and
ammonia are very soluble, and rather difficult to crystallise. See BENZOIC
ACID and the respective bases.

=BEN'ZOENE*.= See TULUOLE.

=BENZO'IC ACID= (-z[=o]'-[)i]k). HC_{7}H_{5}O_{2} _Syn._ FLOWERS OF
BENZOIN'; HY'DRATED BEN'ZOYL; ACIDUM BENZO'ICUM (B. P.); ACIDE BENZOIQUE,
FLEURS DE BENJOIN, &c., Fr.; BENZOESAeURE, &c., Ger. A substance which is
commonly stated to be the characteristic constituent of the two balsams.
Pure oil of bitter almonds suffers gradual conversion into this acid by
exposure to the air.

_Prep._ The acid of commerce is principally obtained from gum-benzoin,
either by sublimation (dry way), or by dissolving it out by means of an
alkali, or an alkaline earth in the form of a salt (moist way); but
chiefly by the first method.

1. By SUBLIMATION:--

_a._ Good benzoin, crushed small or in the state of coarse powder, is
placed in a cylindrical iron pot with a flat bottom, and from 8 to 9
inches in diameter, so as to form a layer of from 1 to 2 inches deep. The
open end of the pot is next covered with a sheet of soft and loose
blotting-paper,[146] which is attached to the rim with paste. A cone, cap,
or cylinder formed of strong thick paper (cartridge paper), open at its
lower end, is then placed over the top of the pot, including the
blotting-paper; and this is also attached with paste and string. The
apparatus, thus prepared, is then placed on a sand bath,[147] and exposed
for 4 to 6 hours to a gentle and uniform heat. It is next removed from the
sand bath, and, when it has sufficiently cooled, inverted, and the string
detached, when crystals of benzoic acid are found in the paper cone. If,
owing to want of care in manipulating, the product is either  or
empyreumatic, it must be enveloped in several folds of bibulous paper,
then submitted to powerful pressure, and afterwards resublimed. The simple
form of apparatus figured in the engraving answers well on the small
scale, and is that recommended by Dr Mohr.

[Footnote 146: Felt--Liebig.]

[Footnote 147: On an iron plate on which sand has been spread--Ph. Bor.]

[Illustration]

_b._ (Ph. D. 1850.) The subliming pot is ordered to be of sheet-iron. It
is to be fitted into a circular hole in a sheet of pasteboard, and a
collar of tow interposed between it and the flange, so as to produce a
nearly air-tight junction. The paper receiver or cap is to be cylindrical,
open at one end and about 18 inches high, with a diameter at least twice
that of the pot; and it is to be secured in an inverted position on the
pasteboard, and fastened to it by slips of paper and flour-paste. A couple
of inches of the pot is to be passed through a corresponding hole in a
plate of sheet-tin, which is to be kept from contact with the pasteboard
by the interposition of a few corks; and a heat[148] only just sufficient
to melt the benzoin is to be applied for at least six hours.

[Footnote 148: That of a gas-flame is recommended. A ring of very small
gas-jets answers better.]

_c._ (Process adopted at Apothecaries' Hall, London.) The best gum-benzoin
is put into an iron pot, set in brickwork over a suitable small fire-place
(or flue),[149] and communicating by a conical metal neck, with a wooden
box (technically termed a 'house') lined with white blotting-paper, as a
receiver for the flowers. A piece of fine muslin, or of bibulous paper, is
interposed between the top of the subliming-pot and the receiver, to
prevent the sublimate falling back into the former. The sublimation is
conducted rather rapidly, and the acid condenses in beautiful white, soft,
flexible crystals, which are at once ready for the market. When the
process is conducted more slowly, the product is proportionately scaly.

[Footnote 149: A pan with a steam-jacket answers well, and is very
manageable.]

_Obs._ Good samples of benzoin yield from 10 to 12%, or even 12-1/2%, of
'flowers' or 'acid of the first sublimation.' This, after being pressed in
blotting-paper and again sublimed, gives 8-1/2 to 10% of nearly pure
benzoic acid. The loss arising from a second sublimation is thus so great
that the utmost care should be taken to avoid its necessity.

2. In the MOIST WAY:--

_a._ (Ph. D. 1826; Scheele's Process.) Equal parts of benzoin and hydrate
of lime, in fine powder, are intimately mixed together and boiled for
about an hour, with 40 parts of water; the liquor, after filtration, is
evaporated to 1/5th, and the lime saturated with hydrochloric acid; the
benzoic acid crystallised out as the liquor cools, and is then either
washed with very cold water, and dried by a gentle heat, or it is dried
and sublimed in the manner already explained. The product of the
sublimation is extremely white and pure.

_Obs._ An economical and productive process; but, to ensure success, a
perfect mixture of the dry ingredients must be first made; as otherwise
the benzoin runs into a solid mass in the boiling water, and the operation
fails. _Prod._ "1 lb. of (gum) benjamin yields 1 oz. 6 dr. 2 scr. of
flowers." (Gray.)[150]

[Footnote 150: A quantity which, in our own experiments, we were never
able to obtain.]

_b._ (Process of Stoltze.) The benzoin is dissolved in 3 times its weight
of alcohol, the solution introduced into a retort, and a solution of
carbonate of soda in weak spirit-and-water, is gradually added, until all
the free acid present is neutralised; water, equal to about twice the
weight of the benzoin employed, is next poured in, and the alcohol removed
by distillation. The floating resin is now skimmed off the residual liquid
and washed with a little water, and the washings added to the contents of
the retort, which will deposit crystals of benzoate of soda on cooling,
and more by subsequent evaporation. From this salt the benzoic acid is
obtained by saturating the alkali with an acid (as the hydrochloric), and
by subsequent sublimation of the crude precipitated crystals.

3. Other Methods:--

_a._ Ordinary hippuric acid is very gently boiled, for about 15 minutes,
in nitric acid[151] (sp. gr. 1.42); water is then added, and the solution
allowed to cool and crystallise. The crystals are collected on a filter,
washed with a little very cold water, dried by pressure in bibulous paper,
and lastly, purified by sublimation, as before.

[Footnote 151: Hydrochloric acid as well as sulphuric acid also convert
hippuric acid into benzoic acid; as does likewise a sufficient degree of
heat. See HIPPURIC ACID.]

_b._ From the urine of horses, cows, and other graminivorous animals, in a
similar way to that by which hippuric acid is obtained, only allowing the
urine to acquire a slight degree of putridity before evaporation, which
last should be effected by a heat slightly under that of ebullition. The
crude acid thus obtained is purified as previously directed.

_Obs._ Large quantities of benzoic acid are said to be obtained in this
way on the Continent; but, owing to the process being clumsily conducted,
it is generally of inferior quality, and hence unsaleable. It may,
however, by skilful purification, be rendered quite equal to that obtained
from gum benzoin.[152]

[Footnote 152: "A manufactory of sal-ammoniac, near Magdeburgh, which uses
urine, is able to supply flowers of benjamin by the cwt." (Gray.)]

_Prop._ When obtained by sublimation benzoic acid forms soft, light,
feathery, white, flexible crystals, which are transparent or
semi-transparent, with more or less of a mother-of-pearl lustre; when by
slowly cooling its aqueous solution, or by precipitation from a solution
of a benzoate, it forms either thin plates or scales, or a dazzling white
crystalline powder. It is inodorous when cold,[153] but acquires a faint
balsamic odour when gently warmed; fuses at about 212 deg. Fahr., and begins
to sublime freely at a temperature a little above it, but does not boil
until heated to about 460 deg.; burns with a bright yellow flame; is very
soluble in alcohol, dissolves in about 200 parts of cold water, and about
25 parts of boiling water; resists the action of ordinary nitric acid even
when boiling; and forms salts (BEN'ZOATES) with the bases. Sp. gr. 0.667.
Its vapour, which is very suffocating and irritating, has a density of
4.27. Added to fat and fatty substances it either prevents, or greatly
<DW44>s, the accession of rancidity.

[Footnote 153: That of the shops usually smells slightly of benzoin, owing
to the presence of a trace of volatile oil.]

_Test, &c._ It may be recognised--1. By its physical properties
(appearance, fusibility, volatility, odour, &c.) already enumerated:--2.
By its ready solubility in solutions of the alkalies; and by being
precipitated from these solutions, on the addition of one of the stronger
acids, under the form of a dazzling white powder, which is only sparingly
soluble in cold water:--3. By its neutral salts with the alkalies, or its
neutral solution in an alkali, giving a bulky, flesh- precipitate
with perchloride of iron, which is insoluble in water:--4. By its solution
not being precipitated by acetate of lead until after neutralisation with
a fixed alkali, when the acetate produces a white, flocculent
precipitate:--5. By a mixture of alcohol, ammonia, and solution of
chloride of barium, neither disturbing a solution of the free acid, nor
that of one of its salts with the alkalies.

It is chemically distinguished from cinnamic acid by not yielding
essential oil of almonds when it is distilled with oxidising agents, as
chromic acid or a mixture of bichromate of potassium and sulphuric acid;
and from succinic acid, by its different deportment with sesquichloride of
iron (_Test 3, ante_), and with a mixture of alcohol, ammonia, and
solution of chloride of barium (_T. 5, ante_).

_Estim._--1. By weighing it as benzoic acid, obtained either by
precipitation, or by very careful sublimation in a glass apparatus:--2. By
neutralising its alcoholic or aqueous solution, by the usual method of
acidimetry:--3. By precipitating its neutral solution with acetate of
lead, or with sesquichloride of iron, and weighing the carefully washed
and dried precipitate either as benzoate of lead, or as ferric benzoate.

_Pur., &c._ White crystalline silky plates and needles, have an aromatic
odour. Solubility in cold water, 1 in 300; in boiling water, 1 in 12; in
spirit, 1 in 4. Also soluble in caustic alkalies and lime. Borax
considerably increases its solubility in water; 1 of benzoic acid and 1 of
borax are soluble in 100 of water. It sublimes without residue when
heated. It is sometimes met with adulterated with hippuric acid, which may
be easily detected by its altered form, by its diminishing solubility in
cold water, and by its exhaling an odour of tonquin-beans, and afterwards
of hydrocyanic acid, when sublimed. The presence of succinic acid may be
readily detected by its greatly increased solubility in cold water; that
of sugar, not only by its increased solubility, and partial volatility,
but also by the odour of caramel being evolved on the application of
sufficient heat, and the residuum being black and carbonaceous; that of
camphor, by its peculiar odour when gently heated. Spermaceti, specially
prepared for the purpose, is also an occasional adulterant, easily
detected by its insolubility and other well-known properties. All these
substances either destroy or lack the proper crystalline form of benzoic
acid, which is one of the best proofs of its purity. They also greatly
increase its sp. gr.

_Uses, &c._ Its chief use in _medicine_ is as a stimulant and expectorant.
It is an ingredient in the compound tincture of camphor (paregoric elixir)
of the pharmacop[oe]ia.--_Dose_, 10 to 30 gr., dissolved in water by the
aid of a little ammonia or potassa; in old coughs, &c.

=BENZOIC AL'COHOL.= A peculiar oily fluid, discovered by M. Cannizzaro,
and obtained by the action of an alcoholic solution of potassa on pure oil
of bitter almonds.

=BENZOIN'=, B. P. (-zoyn'; z[=o]'-[)i]n). _Syn._
GUM-BENZOIN*[double-dagger], BEN'JAMIN[dagger]*, GUM-B.[dagger]*;
BENZOeI'NUM, L., B. P.; BENJOIN, Fr.; BENZOeE, Ger. The balsamic resin
exuded from incisions made in the stem of the _styrax benzoin_, a
native of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Laos, and Siam. Several varieties of
benzoin are in the market; two only, however, are chiefly used in
medicine, one in agglutinated masses, the other (from Siam), in
tears, being the purer and having the stronger odour.

_Prop., &c._ Odour agreeable, and somewhat like that of vanilla, but more
balsamic; fracture conchoidal; lustre greasy; sp. gr. 1.063 to 1.092. It
fuses at a gentle heat and exhales white fumes, which, on condensation,
are found to be benzoic acid contaminated with a little volatile oil.
Alcohol dissolves the larger portion of it, ether much less, and the
volatile and fixed oils only a little. It contains from 9% to 18, or
(occasionally) nearly 20%, of benzoic acid, according to the quality. It
burns with an agreeable odour. The resin and its alcoholic solution strike
a bright red colour with oil of vitriol, and a green colour with chloride
of iron.

Benzoin has occasionally been sold by fraudulent dealers after its benzoic
acid has been removed by the wet method. When the gum has been thus
treated it will not show the agglutinated tears, upon fracture, which
commonly distinguishes it when intact.

_Uses, &c._ It is chiefly employed in perfumery, and as an ingredient in
incense, fumigating pastilles, &c.; also in court-plaster, in certain
cosmetics, and to scent the varnish used for snuff-boxes, walking-sticks,
&c. As a medicine, its general effects resemble those of the other true
balsams, and of benzoic acid.--_Dose_, 5 or 6 to 20, or even 30 gr., in
powder, and usually in combination with some other remedy; chiefly in
chronic pulmonary and bronchial affections, when occurring in torpid
habits, and unaccompanied by inflammatory symptoms or gastric irritation.
Also as a fumigation in the same diseases, hooping-cough, &c. Like benzoic
acid, it is used to prevent rancidity in ointments, pomades, and other
fatty preparations.

=BENZOINUM.= See BENZOIN.

=BEN'ZOL= (-z[=o]le). C_{6}H_{6}. [_benz_(oin)-_oleum._] _Syn._ BEN'ZENE*,
BEN'Z[)I]NE, BEN'Z[=O]LE*, HYDR[)I]DE OF PHE'N[)Y]L*, PHE'NE[dagger], &c.;
BENZO'LEUM, L.; BENZINE, Fr.; BENZOeL, Ger. A peculiar ethereal hydrocarbon
discovered, by Faraday, among the products of the destructive distillation
of whale oil and other organic substances (A.D. 1825); and subsequently
shown, by Mitscherlich, to form the principal ingredient in the distillate
procured by the action of heat on a mixture of benzoic acid and hydrate of
lime. In 1849, Mr C. B. Mansfield[154] discovered its presence in coal-tar
naphtha, from which the benzol of commerce is now chiefly, if not wholly,
obtained.

[Footnote 154: This unfortunate chemist lost his life (Feb. 25, 1855), in
consequence of being severely burned whilst experimenting on benzol.]

_Prep._ 1. PURE:--_a._ A mixture of benzoic acid, 1 part; fresh-slaked
lime, 3 parts; is submitted, in a coated glass or earthenware retort, to a
heat slowly raised to redness; the oily portion of the resulting
distillate is then separated from the water, and carefully rectified, with
the proper precautions, at a temperature not exceeding 190 deg. Fahr. The
product is usually stated to be pure benzol; but to ensure this it may be
submitted to one refrigeration and rectification, in the manner and at the
temperature noticed below.

_b._ From good commercial benzol, agitated with 1-4th or 1-5th of its
weight of concentrated sulphuric acid, and, after repose and decantation,
rectified at a temperature under 195 deg. Fahr.; the resulting distillate is
exposed to a temperature below[155] 32 deg. Fahr., and the mass of crystals
that form are thrown on a funnel, kept at the same temperature, to drain,
after which they are pressed between folds of bibulous paper,[156] and
then allowed to liquefy by simple exposure, in a close vessel, to the
ordinary temperature of the atmosphere. The product, after rectification
at a temperature not exceeding 190, deg. is nearly pure benzol. It may be
rendered absolutely pure by repeating the refrigeration a second and a
third time, followed by a final rectification at 180-185 deg. Fahr.

[Footnote 155: Preferably considerably below. If the distillate be not
rich in benzol, a temperature so low as 8 or 10 deg., or even 4-5 deg., Fahr. may
be necessary or, at all events, advantageous.]

[Footnote 156: Filtration under pressure is thought by some chemists to be
preferable. For this purpose a 'Beart's Coffee-pot' (or a similarly
constructed apparatus), was often employed by Mansfield, and is
recommended by Prof. Muspratt.]

2. COMMERCIAL:--By submitting light coal-tar naphtha to distillation,
either at once, or after it has been agitated with a little oil of
vitriol, and decanted, care being taken that the temperature does not
exceed 200 deg. Fahr.

A drawing and description of the apparatus invented by Mansfield for the
preparation of benzol from coal-tar naphtha is given below.

[Illustration]

A is the still placed on a furnace R; C is filled with cold water. As soon
as the oil in the still boils, the vapours are condensed in B, and flow
back into A; this continues until the water in C has been heated to a
certain temperature, when the vapours are condensed in the cooler D, the
liquid flowing at _n_ into the carboy S. As soon as the water in C begins
to boil, all the substances contained in the coal-tar naphtha and volatile
at 212 deg. Fahr. are condensed and collected in S. A very pure benzol is
obtained by this apparatus. By opening the tap _m_, the hydrocarbons which
boil over 212 deg. Fahr. can be rectified. The stopcock _i_ is used for
opening the still.

In the benzol works the apparatus shown below is employed.

A is the still, B the condenser, C a water-tank. At the commencement of
the operation the water in C is heated by means of the steam-pipe D which
communicates with the steam boiler. The tube G is attached to the still;
_i_ is a contrivance for filling, _b_ for emptying it. The condensed water
is carried off by means of H. By freezing benzol and pressing the solid
substance obtained, it may be rendered quite pure.

[Illustration]

_Prop._ Pure benzol is a clear, colourless, very mobile liquid, having a
strong, characteristic, and rather agreeable ethereal odour. It is neutral
to test-paper; exceedingly volatile at all temperatures; insoluble in
water; miscible with alcohol and with ether; highly inflammable; burns
with a brilliant flame, emitting clouds of smoke, which rapidly condense
and fall as a shower of fine sooty, carbonaceous matter; boils at 176 deg.
Fahr.;[157] solidifies, at 32 deg., to a snowy white camphor-like mass, or
when very slowly refrigerated, to beautiful transparent cruciform
leaflets, which aggregate together into forms resembling fern-fronds;
remelts at 40-1 deg. Fahr.; and when solidifies burns, like camphor, without
previous fusion. Sp. gr. .850;[158] sp. gr. of vapour, 2.770.[159] It is
unaffected by the ordinary hydrated acids, and has no action on the
alkaline metals. Highly concentrated nitric acid readily dissolves it, and
from this solution nitrobenzol is precipitated on the addition of water.
Its vapour is dangerously inflammable, and, when mixed with the air, is
highly explosive. Its solvent power extends over a numerous list of
substances. Commercial benzol has a less agreeable odour, and not
unfrequently a slight colour, with other modifications of the properties
just enumerated, depending on the relative amount of impurities contained
in it.

[Footnote 157: Fownes, Mansfield, Muspratt, and others; 186 deg.--Mitscherlich
187 deg.--Mr C. G. Williams (in Ure's 'Dict. of A. M., & M.,' 5th ed.). (See
next note.)]

[Footnote 158: Williams, Ure, Muspratt; .885--Fownes, Mitscherlich. The
different sp. gr. and boiling-points assigned to benzol, by authors, can
only be accounted for by samples of different degrees of purity having
probably been examined. The numbers given in the text are those not
usually adopted; but we are not prepared to say, that they are definitely
settled. On the contrary, we think it not unlikely that further
investigations may show that the apparently greater levity of the benzole
obtained from naphtha may arise from the presence of some other
hydrocarbon which has hitherto escaped detection.]

[Footnote 159: Theoretically, 2.738.]

_Pur._--1. It should be colourless, without action on either litmus or
turmeric paper, and have the boiling-point, sp. gr.,[160] &c. already
indicated:--2. A few drops thrown on a slip of glass or a piece of white
paper should rapidly and entirely evaporate by simple exposure to the air
without leaving a stain behind, or evolving any disagreeable or foreign
odour:--3. Agitation with a little sulphuric acid should not discolour
it:--4. It should not perceptibly lose weight or volume by agitation with
a little cold water.

[Footnote 160: If it has a less sp. gr. than .850, it is probably
adulterated with the naphtha obtained from the Torbane-hill mineral or
Boghead-coal, of which the sp. gr. is only .750.]

_Detec._--1. From the physical and other properties already
enumerated:--2. By converting it into aniline and then testing it
accordingly. For this purpose a little of it is dissolved in concentrated
nitric acid, and the nitrobenzol thus formed is precipitated by the
addition of water. The fluid is then agitated with ether, to dissolve out
the nitrobenzol, and the resulting ethereal solution is mixed with an
equal bulk of alcohol and hydrochloric acid and a little granulated zinc
at once added. Hydrogen is evolved, and by its action the nitro-compound
is converted into aniline. The liquid is next alkalised with potassa in
excess, and the alkaline fluid agitated with ether. The ethereal solution,
on evaporation, leaves a residue (aniline), which, after the addition of a
little water, may be tested with a few drops of solution of chloride of
lime, when a characteristic purple colour will be developed, provided the
original liquor was benzole, or contained it. In this way very minute
traces of benzol may be detected.

_Uses, &c._ In its impure or commercial form, chiefly as a solvent for
gutta percha and india rubber; but it leaves the first in a spongy,
friable state, and the latter glutinous or sticky, unless heat is applied
to it for some time; also as a solvent in the manufacture of varnishes, as
a diluent in lieu of oil of turpentine, for oil-paints, as a material for
the production of artificial light, &c., &c. In the pure or nearly pure
form it is largely employed in the laboratory and in chemical analysis as
a solvent of many resins,[161] mastic, wax, camphor, fat, the fixed and
essential oils, sulphur, phosphorus, iodine, several of the
alkaloids,[162] &c., &c. Under the name of BENZINE and BENZINE-COLLAS it
has been recently extensively vended for the removal of spots of grease,
paint, &c., from woven fabrics, which it does most readily and completely,
without detriment to the material. As a source of artificial light it has
been the subject of innumerable applications and patents. It may be burned
in a 'wickless' lamp, provided a proper cap-burner be employed. Alcohol or
pyroxilic spirit containing 1-3rd, or even 1-4th of it, burns with a rich
white flame. Air driven through it becomes sufficiently inflammable to
serve as illuminating gas; whilst ordinary coal-gas by merely passing over
it yields a flame of greatly increased brilliancy; but in all these
applications the greatest possible care is necessary to prevent
accidents.[163] See NAPHTHA (Coal-tar).

[Footnote 161: Anime and copal are scarcely affected by it in the fluid
state, but readily dissolve in its vapour at the point of condensation.]

[Footnote 162: Particularly quinine, which it dissolves readily, but not
cinchonine. Hence it is invaluable for the separation of them. It may be
economically and conveniently substituted for ether in the preparation of
many alkaloids, with the advantage of being applicable in many cases in
which ether cannot be employed.]

[Footnote 163: Workmen constantly exposed to the vapour of benzol are very
subject to nervous irritability, and, where the apartment is
ill-ventilated, even fits of nervous prostration and trembling, of a truly
alarming character. In two or three cases which we have seen, the
symptoms, to the inexperienced eye, closely resembled those occasionally
resulting from the long-continued use of very minute doses of strychnia,
or of the alcoholic extract of nux vomica.]

=Benzol, Nitrate of.= See NITRO-BENZOL.

=BENZOLINE.= A product of the fractional distillation of American rock
oil. If used for burning purposes, care should always be taken to use a
sponge lamp, so as to ensure the benzoline vapour (which is extremely
inflammable) being well diluted with air when burnt.

=BENZOYL.= C_{7}H_{5}O. The radical of an extensive series of compounds,
of which the hydride, C_{7}H_{5}OH (essential oil of bitter almonds), and
benzoic acid, HC_{7}H_{5}O_{2} are the most important members.

=Benzoyl, Hy'dride of.= C_{7}H_{5}OH. _Syn._ ESSENCE OF BITTER ALMONDS,
ESSENTIAL OIL OF BITTER ALMONDS, VOLATILE OIL OF BITTER ALMONDS.

_Prep._ 1. The crude oil of bitter almonds is agitated with a moderately
dilute solution of protochloride of iron which has been previously mixed
with fresh hydrate of lime in excess, and the whole, after having been
placed in a retort connected with a suitable receiver, is subjected to
distillation. The oil passes over mixed with water, from which it is
easily separated after repose. By subjecting it to a second agitation and
distillation with a fresh mixture of the protochloride and hydrate, and,
after careful separation from the water which distils over with it,
allowing it to remain for some hours in contact with fragments of fused
chloride of calcium, to free it from all traces of adhering water, the
product will be nearly chemically pure, provided the whole process has
been conducted with as little access of air as possible.

2. (Liebig.) Agitate the crude oil of bitter almonds with mercuric oxide
in slight excess, and, after a few days' contact, rectify the oil from a
little fresh oxide. The product is quite pure when the process is properly
managed. The bicyanide of mercury thus formed may be either employed as
such, or reconverted into oxide of mercury and hydrocyanic acid.

_Prop., &c._ A rather thin, colourless liquid, of great refractive power
and characteristic and agreeable odour; soluble in 35 parts of water;
miscible in all proportions with alcohol and ether; it boils at 356 deg.
Fahr.; on exposure to the air it rapidly absorbs oxygen, and becomes
converted into a mass of crystallised benzoic acid; heated with solid
hydrate of potassa hydrogen is evolved, and benzoate of potassium formed;
with the alkaline bisulphites it forms beautiful crystalline compounds.
Its flame, and that of its vapour, is bright but very smoky. Sp. gr.
1.043. It differs from the crude or common oil of bitter almonds chiefly
in the absence of hydrocyanic acid, and consequently in not being
poisonous. It has hence been proposed as a substitute for the crude oil as
a flavouring ingredient in cookery, confectionery, liqueurs, &c.; but is
unfitted for the purpose, owing to the rapid deterioration it suffers
unless it be kept absolutely excluded from the air.

_Formiate of Hydride of Benzoyle._ See FORMOBENZOIC ACID.

=BER'BERINE= (-een).[164] C_{20}H_{17}NO_{4}. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._
BAR'BER[)I]NE*, BER'BERITE* (of Thomson); BERBERI'NA, L. A substance
discovered by Buchner and Herberger in the root of the common barberry
shrub (_ber'beris vulga'ris_, Linn.); and subsequently, by Boedecker, in
calumba-root; and more recently by Mr Perrins, in the calumba-wood
(_menispermum fenestratum_) of Ceylon, which contains a considerable
quantity of it.

[Footnote 164: This substance must not be confounded with BEEBERINE or
BIBERINE (which _see_).]

_Prep._ 1. A soft watery extract of the root, or of the wood, is digested
in rectified spirit, with trituration, as long as anything is taken up;
the resulting tincture, after repose, is filtered, and the alcohol
gradually distilled off until the residuum has the consistence of a thin
syrup. The crystals which form as the liquid cools are drained in a
funnel, washed with a few drops of ice-cold water, pressed dry in bibulous
paper, and then purified by solution and crystallisation, first in
rectified spirit, and next in distilled water.

2. By digesting the root, or the wood (coarsely powdered) in rectified
spirit, and then proceeding as before.

_Prop._ Berberine may be classed with the azotised colouring substances;
or, from its composition and its possessing feeble basic properties, with
the alkaloids. It crystallises in fine needles, or in stellated prisms,
which are yellow, odourless, very bitter-tasted, neutral to test-paper,
and contain 12 equiv. of water. At 212 deg. Fahr. it acquires a red colour;
but recovers its normal yellow on cooling. A much higher temperature
decomposes it, yellow vapours being evolved. It is freely soluble in
boiling water and in alcohol, from either of which solutions it may be
readily obtained in crystals. It requires 500 parts of water at 60 deg. to
dissolve it, and very much more at lower temperatures. Its solutions are
yellow; that in alcohol appears green by reflected light. The concentrated
mineral acids destroy it. Its salts are more or less soluble.

_Uses, &c._ Chiefly in medicine, in similar cases to those in which the
use of calumba-root is indicated. It has been highly recommended in
dyspepsia and heartburn, in disturbed action of the liver, and, combined
with iron (lactate, phosphate, or hyposulphite), in chlorosis, anaemia, &c.
According to M. Altin, it is an effectual remedy for the mucal, colourless
diarrh[oe]a, and the derangement of the urinary secretions which commonly
follow cholera.--_Dose_, 3 to 10 gr.; in larger doses it proves laxative.
See CALUMBA, &c.

=BERENIZON= (Dr Charles Wortley). A preparation for promoting the growth
of the hair. Balsam of Peru 3 grammes, castor oil 3 grammes, tinct.
cinchona 4 grammes, spirit 85 grammes, rosewater 40 grammes. (Schaedler.)

=BERG'AMOT.= _Syn._ BERGAMO'TA, L.; BERGAMOTE, Fr.; BERGAMOTTE, Fr., Ger.
The bergamot-lemon, or fruit of _cit'rus ber'ga'mia_; also sometimes,
colloquially, the fragrant oil obtained from its rind. See OILS
(Volatile).

=BERGBALSAM--MOUNTAIN BALSAM= (of G. Schmidt, Berlin). Recommended for
hemorrhoids, want of appetite, headache, constipation, &c. Rhubarb 2
parts, cortex frangulae 10 parts, milfoil flowers (_Achillea millefolium_)
1 part, tansy 1 part, crystallised soda 1-1/2 parts; be digested for some
hours in warm water, the fluid expressed made up to 26 parts, 30 parts of
sugar dissolved in it, and lastly mixed with 17 parts of rectified
spirit. (Hager.)

=BER'RY= (b[)e]r'-re). _Syn._ BAC'CA (pl. _bac'cae_, -s[=e]), L.; BAIE,
Fr.; BEERE, Ger. Any small succulent or pulpy fruit containing several
naked seeds or granules. In _botany_, an indehiscent pericarp or
seed-vessel, pulpy, many-celled, and many-seeded, the seeds being naked,
and for a time connected by a slender membrane, from which they become
detached at maturity, and then remain dispersed through the pulp. It is
distinguished by its figure, &c., into several varieties.

The leading berries employed in domestic economy and the arts are noticed
in their alphabetical places (which _see_).

=BER'YL= (b[)e]r-r[)i]l). _Syn._ AQUAMARINE' (r[=e]ne); A'QUA-MARI'NA,
BERYL'LUS, L.; AIGUE-MARINE, BERIL, Fr.; BERYLL, &c., Ger.; SMARAGD, It. A
beautiful mineral, which, in its richer forms, is classed with the gems.
It is usually of a green colour of various shades, passing into
honey-yellow and sky-blue. It is allied in composition to the emerald; but
occurs in much larger crystals than that gem, and owes its colour to oxide
of iron instead of oxide of chromium. According to Gmelin its composition
is--Silica, 68.7%; alumina, 17.6%; glucina, 13.4%; red oxide of iron,
.24%. Other (previous) authorities state that it contains fully 14% of
glucina, 2% of lime, and 1% of oxide of iron.

The finest beryls come from Dauria on the frontiers of China, from
Siberia, and from Brazil. Some of gigantic size have been found in the
U.S., at Ackworth and Grantham, New Hampshire, and at Royalston, Mass. One
of these measured 32 x 22 x 15 inches, and weighed 2900 _lbs._; another,
12 x 24 x 45 inches, and weighed 1076 _lbs._

Apatite or Saxony beryl, chrysolite or pierre d'asperge,
fluor-spar, and even natural crystals of phosphate of iron, are often
worked up by the lapidaries and passed off as beryls, or false beryls,
emeralds, topazes, &c. See GEMS, PASTES, &c.

=BERYL'LA*.= See GLUCINUM, OXIDE OF.

=BERYL'LIUM*.= See GLUCINIUM.

=BETAINE.= C_{5}H_{11}NO_{21}. An alkaloid occurring in the juice of the
mangold-wurzel. Scheibler prepares it as follows:--The expressed juice of
the mangold-wurzel, strongly acidulated with hydrochloric acid, is mixed
with a solution of sodium phosphotungstate;[165] the resulting precipitate
containing albumen, colouring matter, woody fibre, and a small quantity of
the base, is filtered as quickly as possible, and the filtrate, mixed with
a fresh quantity of the precipitant, is left to itself for eight or ten
days. It then gradually deposits on the bottom and sides of the vessel a
crystalline precipitate, which is rinsed with a little water and treated
with milk of lime, whereby insoluble calcium phosphotungstate is produced,
while the betaine remains in solution. The filtered liquid freed from lime
by carbonic acid, and evaporated, leaves impure betaine, which may be
purified by recrystallisation from alcohol, with help of animal charcoal.

[Footnote 165: Prepared by dissolving sodium bitungstate in ordinary
phosphoric acid, adding hydrochloric acid, and decanting the clear
solution from the precipitate thereby produced.]

A hydrochlorate, a sulphate, an aurochloride, and a platinic chloride of
betaine have been prepared.

=BE'TEL= (b[=e]'tl). [Eng., Ger.] _Syn._ BE'TLE, BE'TEL-TREE, B.
PEPPER-TREE; BETEL, Fr.; WASSERPFEFFER, &c., Ger.; PI'PER BE'TEL (Linn.),
CHAVICA BETLE (Miquel), L. A climbing plant of the nat. ord. Piperaceae,
common in India and the East. Its leaves, which somewhat resemble those of
the citron, are bitter, stomachic, tonic, stimulant, and sialogogue.

=Betel.= A common masticatory in the East, where it is chewed in the same
way as tobacco is by Europeans and Americans, but much more generally,
being regarded by the Malays, Sumatrans, &c., as an absolute necessary of
life. It is commonly formed by dividing areca-nuts[166] into four or six
equal parts or slices, one of which is rolled up, with a little
chunam,[167] in a sirih or leaf of the piper-betel,[168] and then
constitutes a 'quid' ready for use.

[Footnote 166: In many cases suitable pieces of the whole fruit, including
the husk, are used; and in others only the husk (PINANG); there being
different strengths and qualities of 'betel' employed.]

[Footnote 167: Lime made by burning shells.]

[Footnote 168: In some cases, the leaf of chavica siriboa (Miq.), which
possesses similar properties, is employed.]

_Prop., &c._ Betel, in those accustomed to its use, produces a species of
pleasing excitement or intoxication, stimulates the action of the salivary
glands, stomach, and kidneys, corrects acidity, diminishes cutaneous
perspiration, restrains excessive discharges, increases the power of
physical exertion and endurance, moderates the effects of climate, and
appears to act as a general tonic on the system. It darkens the teeth, and
tinges the saliva as well as the mouth and lips of a bright red colour. In
those unhabituated to its use it causes giddiness, astringes and
excoriates the mouth and fauces, and temporarily deadens the sense of
taste. The Indians conceive that it preserves and fastens the teeth,
cleanses and strengthens the gums, sweetens the breath, cools the mouth,
assists respiration, and acts as a general aphrodisiac on both sexes.
Peron states that he preserved his health during a long and very trying
voyage by the habitual use of betel, whilst his companions, who did not
use it, died mostly of dysentery.[169]

[Footnote 169: 'Voyage aux Terres Australes.']

=BE'TEL-NUT.= _Syn._ ARE'CA-NUT; NUX ARE'CAE CAT'ECHU, N.-BE'TEL, &c., L.
The seed of the catechu-palm (_are'ca_, _cat'echu_, Linn.), divested of
the husk or fibrous pericarp. The whole fruit (ARECA-NUT of commerce) is
about the size of a small egg; the husked nut is of the size of a large
nutmeg. The whole fruit is remarkable for its narcotic or intoxicating
power. It has, however, been thought doubtful whether its intoxicating
effect is not owing to the piper-leaf in which it is wrapped when eaten
(chewed), rather than to any special property of its own. See ARECA
CATECHU.

=BETTNASSEN, Remedy for Incontinence of Urine= (prepared by Dr
Kirchhoffer, in Kappel by St. Galle). Thirty powders, each consisting of 2
grammes ferri carbonas, 4 grammes ergotae pulv., .03 grammes extract. sem.
strychni. aquos. The prescription for the embrocation runs--Spirit
serpylli 120 grammes, tinct. sem. strychni. 60 grammes, liq. ammon. 15
grammes. (Hager.)

=BET'ULINE= (-[=u]-l[)i]n; b[=e]-t[=u]). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BETULI'NA, L.
A crystalline substance obtained from the bark of the white birch
(_be't[)u]la al'ba_, Linn.).

=BE'ZOAR= (-z[=o]re). [Eng., L. indecl.; prim. Pers.[170]] _Syn._
BE'ZOAR-STONE; BEZOAeR'DUS, LA'PIS BEZOAeR'DICUS, &c., L.; BEZOAR, BEZOARD,
Fr.; BEZOARSTEIN, Ger. The name of preternatural concretions found in the
stomach, intestines, &c., of certain animals, and formerly supposed to
possess the most extraordinary antidotal power and medicinal virtues. So
far, indeed, did this belief extend, that other substances regarded as
antidotes were called BEZOAR'DICS[dagger], or otherwise named after them;
whilst the adj. BEZOAR'DIC[dagger] (b[)e]z-) and BEZOAR'TICAL[dagger]
(bezoardique, Fr.; bezoar'dicus, L.), came to be synonymous with
antidotal. Certain bezoars were once valued at even ten times their weight
in gold. They were not only taken internally, but also worn as amulets.
They have, however, long since fallen into disuse in this country.

[Footnote 170: Some authorities derive this word from _badzahr_ or
_pazahar_, Persian compounds implying 'antidote to poison,' others, from
_paseng_, or _pasahr_, the name of the goat in Persia. Mayne's
notation--_bez oar_, is unusual; and several of his analogues, synonymes,
&c., are incorrectly given (? misprinted).]

Among the leading bezoars of old medicine are--

=Bezoar, Ger'man.= _Syn._ BE'ZOAeR GERMAN'ICUM, B. CAPRI'NUM, L. From the
Alpine goat.

=Bezoar, Hu'man.= _Syn._ B. HOM'INIS, L. Falsely stated to be found
occasionally in man.

=Bezoar, Microcos'mic.= _Syn._ B. MICROCOS'MICUM, L. Human urinary
calculi.

=Bezoar, Mon'key.= _Syn._ B. SIM'AE, LA'PIS S., L. From certain species of
ape or monkey, obtained by giving an emetic.

=Bezoar Occiden'tal.= _Syn._ WEST'ERN B.; B. OCCIDENTA'LE, L. Found in the
fourth stomach of the chamois or wild goat of Peru, &c.; or, according to
others, of a species of antelope.

=Bezoar, Orien'tal.= _Syn._ EAST'ERN B.; B. ORIENTA'LE, LAPIS B.
ORIENTA'LIS, L. From the fourth stomach of _ca'pra aega'grus_, a species of
goat inhabiting the mountains of Persia, &c.

=Bezoar, Ox.= _Syn._ B. BOVI'NUM, L. From the ox, and other bovine
animals.

=Bezoar, Por'cupine.= _Syn._ B. HYS'TRICIS, B. HYS'TRICUS, LA'PIS H., L.
PORCI'NUS, &c., L. Said to be found in the gall-bladder of the Indian
porcupine. Chiefly from Malacca. Has an intensely bitter taste, which it
imparts to water.

=Bezoar, West'ern.= See OCCIDENTAL BEZOAR (_ante_).

Of the preceding, those from the stomach of ruminants vary in size from
that of a bean to that of a hen's egg, and have a composition and
appearance closely imitated by the following formula, the product of which
is commonly sold for them:--

=Bezoar, Facti''tious.= _Prep._ From pipe-clay, or clay and chalk, equal
parts, made into a stiff paste with ox-gall; a little hair or wool being
added, and the resulting mixture pressed by the hands into small masses of
a flattened spheroidal or egg-like form. These give a yellow tint to paper
rubbed with chalk, and a green one to quick-lime, which tests are used for
genuine bezoars. Like the latter, they are antacid or absorbent, which is
probably the only virtue they possess.

Amongst 'chemical bezoars' now obsolete even on the Continent were--

=Bezoar, Ar'gentine[dagger]=; B. LUNA''RE, L. Made by distilling butter of
antimony with a solution of nitrate of silver. Once highly esteemed in
epilepsy and head diseases.

=Bezoar, Min'eral=; B. MINERA'LE, L. Powder of algaroth deflagrated with
nitre in a red-hot crucible, and then well washed with water. Once used as
a diaphoretic. Other similar preparations were B. JOVIA'LE (from tin), and
B. MARTIALE (from iron).

=Bezoar, Sat'urnine=, B. OF LEAD; B. SATUR'NI, L. Made by distilling a
mixture of oxide of lead, butter of antimony, and nitric acid. Once highly
esteemed in diseases of the spleen.

=BHAURTA.= In Indian cookery, a dish made of mashed potatoes and onions,
strongly spiced with capsicum, and sometimes also with curry-powder,
shaped in a mould, and then slightly baked.

=BIBAS'IC.= _Syn._ BIBAS'ICUS, L.; BIBASIQUE, Fr. In _chemistry_, having
two bases, or two atoms of the base or basic radical in its composition.
See ACID, NOMENCLATURE, SALT, &c.

=BIB'ERON= (b[)i]b'-r[=o]n_g_). [Fr.] A sucking-bottle or 'artificial
mother.' See BOTTLES.

=BI'BIRINE= (b[=e]'-). See BEBEERINE.

=BIB'ULOUS= (-[=u]-). _Syn._ BIB'ULUS, L.; SPONGIEUX, Fr. Absorptive;
spongy.

=BICAR'BONATE.= A salt in which only half the hydrogen in (hypothetical)
carbonic acid (H_{2}CO_{3}) is replaced by a metal, _e.g._ bicarbonate of
sodium, NaHCO_{3}.

=BICE= (b[=i]se), _Syn._ BLUE BICE. See BLUE PIGMENTS.

=Bice, Green.= See GREEN PIGMENTS.

=BICKEL'SCHER THEE=, for constipation, flatulence, hemorrhoids, loss of
appetite, stomach complaints, and similar diseases. Cassia lignea and
anise, of each 3 parts; cumin and fennel seed, each 4 parts; senna leaves,
20 parts; to be bruised together. (Selle and Hager.)

=BI'DERY= (b[=e]'-). _Syn._ VI'DRY. An alloy of which the chief seat of
the manufacture is the city of Bider', near Hyderabad, India. It was first
brought under the notice of the British public at the International
Exhibition of 1851, where many articles made of it were greatly admired
for the elegance of their forms, and the gracefulness of their engraved
and enchased patterns.

_Prep._ 1. Zinc, 31 parts; copper and lead, of each 2 parts; melted
together, with the usual precautions, under a mixture of resin and
beeswax, to prevent oxidation.[171]

[Footnote 171: These are very nearly the proportions which Dr Hamilton
says he saw used in India.]

2. (Dr Heyne.) Copper, 8 parts; lead, 2 parts; tin, 1 part; melted
together, as before. For use, the resulting alloy is remelted, and to
every 3 parts of it 16 parts of zinc are added.

_Prop., &c._ Colour between that of pewter and zinc; does not corrode by
exposure to air or damp; yields little to the hammer, and can only be
broken by extreme violence. It possesses a convenient degree of
fusibility, above that of zinc and tin, but much lower than that of
copper. For the turner it is usually cast in moulds of baked clay; but
otherwise in moulds of iron or other hard metal. The beautiful black
colour which the finished articles possess is imparted by dipping them
into a solution of sal-ammoniac, saltpetre, sea-salt, and blue vitriol.
See BRASS, BRONZE, PEWTER, &c.

=BIDET'= (b[)i]d-[)e]t'; -[=a]'--Fr.). An article of bedroom furniture
conveniently formed for laving the lower part of the body. Besides the
value of its use as an instrument of personal cleanliness and health, it
offers a ready means of medicating the parts, often highly serviceable in
piles, prolapsus, affections of the scrotum and prostate gland, strangury,
ischuria, suppressed or difficult menstruation, &c. See ABLUTION, BATHS,
&c.

=BIELEFELDER TROPFEN--BIELEFIELDER DROPS= (Bansi). A spirituous extract of
wormwood, unripe oranges, rhubarb, cascarilla, cloves, and gentian.
(Hager.)

=BIEN'NIAL= (b[=i]-[)e]n'-y'[)a]l). _Syn._ BIEN'NIS, L.; BIENNAL,
BISANNUEL, DE DEUX ANS, Fr.; ZWEIJAeHRIG, Ger. Occurring once in, or
lasting, two years. In _botany_ and _gardening_, applied to plants that do
not produce flowers and seed until the second year or season of their
growth, and which then die; subst., a biennial plant.

The existence of the biennials, like that of the annuals, may be prolonged
by art; indeed, many of them, by carefully removing the flowers ere the
seed-vessels begin to form, may be made to bloom a second season, and even
for several seasons following, like perennials. See ANNUALS, FLOWERS,
PLANTS, &c.

=BIFF'IN.= A baked apple, flattened by pressure.

_Prep._ The apples are placed in a cool oven 6 or 7 times in succession,
and flattened each time by gentle pressure, gradually applied, as soon as
they are soft enough to bear it; after which they are taken out, and as
soon as cold put on clean dishes or glass plates. The sour or tart variety
of apples is the best for baking. If the process be well managed, the
appearance of the prepared fruit is very rich and the flavour delicious.

=BIL'BERRY.= The whortleberry.

=Bilberry, Bear's.= Uva ursi.

=BILE.= _Syn._ BI'LIS,[172] CHO'LE,[173] FEL,[174] L.; BILE, FIEL, GALLE,
Fr.; GALLE, &c., Ger. A bitter fluid secreted by the liver, from venous
blood; in part flowing from the intestines, and in part regurgitating into
the gall-bladder. Its composition is of a very complex character; and its
uses in the animal economy appear to be--to separate the chyle from the
chyme, to promote the digestion and assimilation of oleaginous substances,
and to assist in exciting the peristaltic action of the intestines. The
faeces appear to owe their colour chiefly to the presence of bile; as,
without it, they possess a dirty pipe-clay colour. Several of the
substances which enter into its composition, or which are formed from
those which do so, are noticed elsewhere, under their respective names.
Its analysis, detection, and uses in the arts are given under GALL.

[Footnote 172: Properly, the 'gall' after it leaves the 'gall-bladder'--a
sense retained in its English analogue.]

[Footnote 173: [Greek: Chole], Gr.]

[Footnote 174: Strictly, the gall-bladder with the gall.]

=Bile= (of Animals). See GALL.

=BILE, Bil'iousness.= Under these terms are popularly included all those
slight affections of the stomach usually accompanied with derangement of
the head and bowels, apparently arising from excess of bile. Persons
subject to attacks of this description should be particularly careful to
avoid excess in both eating and drinking, and should more especially shun
those articles of food and those liquors which, from experience, they find
are apt to disagree with them. A mutton chop, slightly under-dressed, is
an excellent article for the breakfast, or the lunch, of bilious patients;
and good beef or mutton, either broiled or roasted, so that the gravy be
retained, is better for dinner than many dishes apparently more delicate.
These, with fresh game and venison, form a good variety from which to
choose a bill of fare. New beer and porter should be particularly avoided,
as well as boiled meat, stews, soups, greasy or rich puddings, much butter
or fat, and most articles of pastry, as they are very indigestible, and,
by overtasking the powers of the stomach, very apt to derange it. Strong
cheese,[175] salads (particularly cucumbers), over-ripe or unripe fruit,
new bread and rolls, cabbages and green vegetables, and especially peas,
beans, nuts, almonds, and the like, are also objectionable for parties
with delicate stomachs or a bilious tendency. The bread eaten by such
persons should be perfectly free from alum, and preferably prepared with
meal retaining the whole of the bran in it; and should be two days, or at
the least one day old. The quantity of animal food per day, except for the
laborious, should be limited to from 6 or 8 to 12 _oz._; and warm slops of
all kinds, except moderately strong tea and coffee, should be taken as
seldom as possible, and, in general, avoided altogether. Even cocoa and
chocolate prove injurious to the delicate and bilious. Out-door exercise
and plenty of fresh air are essential to the health of such persons. Those
who indulge in them freely are never attacked with affections of this
kind, unless it be after gluttonising or heavy drinking. Above all things
heavy and late suppers should be abandoned; indeed, the better plan is to
take nothing more than a hard biscuit, or dry crust, after tea.

[Footnote 175: Rotten cheese is absolute poison to the bilious.]

In general, attacks of bile may be prevented by the exercise of moderate
judgment and temperance in living; and in those hitherto subject to them
by the occasional use of an aloetic, mercurial, or saline aperient; and
they may be generally rapidly removed by an emetic, followed by a dose of
castor oil, Epsom salts, or Seidlitz powder. A tumbler of pure cold water
taken on retiring to rest, and another (or even two) on rising in the
morning, will often remove both the tendency and the fit, when all the
usual remedies have failed. See ABERNETHY MEDICINES, ANTIBILIOUS,
DYSPEPSIA, STOMACH AFFECTIONS, &c.

=BILHARZIA HAEMATOBIA.= A fluke-like parasite. It is bisexual. The body of
the male is thread-shaped, round, white, and flattened anteriorly. The
female is thin and delicate. This creature was discovered in the portal
vein and bladder of man by Bilharz, of Cairo, after whom it was named. It
is especially prevalent in those who dwell by the banks of the Nile, and
is also very frequently met with amongst the inhabitants of the Cape of
Good Hope. It is the cause of very serious disturbance in the human
economy, and not infrequently of death.

The main symptoms of the disease this dangerous parasite sets up are those
which point to derangement of the urinary organs; but its effects are not
confined to these, since there seems little room to doubt that it is the
chief cause of the dysentery so prevalent in Egypt, the eggs of the
diatoma being found deposited within the intestinal vessels, or beneath
the exudations of the swollen mucous membrane. Dr Harley has found the ova
in the urine of persons affected with haematuria at the Cape of Good Hope.
When death ensues from the presence of this parasite the post-mortem
appearances are various. In the bowels, congestion, deposits upon the
mucous membrane, and extensive ulcerations, degeneration and atrophy of
the kidneys, dependent upon an infiltrated state of the ureters, and
blocking of the portal vein, due to the presence of myriads of the
parasites, are some of the most important pathological changes.

=BIL'IARY AFFECTIONS= (-y[)a]r-e). See BILE (_ante_), CALCULI, JAUNDICE,
LIVER, &c.

=BI'LINE= (-l[)i]n). _Syn._ BILI'NA, L. This name has been loosely applied
to two substances:--1. Bile, or pure bile, freed from the mucus of the
gall-bladder, and gently evaporated to dryness. A gummy pale yellow mass,
white when powdered:--2. Tauro-cholalic or choleic acid. See GALL, &c.

=BIL'IOUS= (-y[)u]s). _Syn._ BILIO'SUS, L.; BILIEUX, Fr.; GALLIG,
GALLICHT, &c., Ger. Pertaining to, caused by, full of, or having excess of
bile. See BILE, BILIOUSNESS.

=BILIPH'EINE= (-e-[)i]n). Cholepyrrhine.

=BILIV'ERDINE= (-d[)i]n). A green colouring matter, identical with
chlorophyll, found in bile, and in the green dejections of children.

=BILL OF FARE.= In _cookery_, _domestic economy_, &c., a list of things
ready dressed or prepared for the table (CARTE, C. D'UN RESTAURANT, MENU,
&c., Fr.); also a list of articles of food in season. For Tables of the
latter, see FOOD.

=BI'NARY.= _Syn._ BINA''RIUS, L.; BINAIRE, Fr. Consisting of two parts. In
_chemistry_, compounded of two elements, or of two bodies performing the
function of elements.

BINOC'ULAR (-[=u]-). Having two eyes. In _optics_, of or with two eyes, as
binoc'ular v[)i]''sion; or formed with two eye-pieces or tubes, so as to
be used with two eyes, as a b. mi'croscope, b. tel'escope, &c.

=BIRCH.= _Syn._ BE'TULA, L.; BOULEAU, Fr.; BIRKE, Ger. The common name of
trees of the genus _be'tula_; appr., _b. al'ba_ (Linn.), or white birch;
also its wood. See BETULINE, and _below_.

BIRCH, BLACK. _Syn._ CHER'RY B., SWEET B., MOUNT'AIN MAHOG'ANY;
BETULEN'TA, L. A forest tree of N. America. Wood used for cabinet work;
bark yields a volatile oil similar in odour and taste to that of
gualtheria; juice obtained by tapping, saccharine, and yields BIRCH-SUGAR.

=Birch, White.= _Syn._ BIRCH, (or) COMMON B.; BE'TULA, L. A tree found in
the woods of England. Wood neither very hard nor durable; leaves formerly
used in itch and dropsy; bark febrifuge, yields a pyroligneous oil by
distillation. See OILS (and _above_).

BIRD[176] [Eng., Sax.] _Syn._ A'VIS, L.; OISEAU, Fr.; VOGEL, Ger. Any
fowl or animal of the feathered kind. In fashionable and gourmandic cant,
appr. a partridge. See BIRDS (_below_).

[Footnote 176: Properly, a 'chicken' or 'young flying animal,'--It is
remarkable, as observed by Webster, that a nation should lay aside the
proper generic name of flying animals--'fowl' (_fugel_, _fugl_, Sax.;
_vogel_, Ger., Dut.; _fugl_, Dan.; _fogel_, Sw.; from the root of the
Lat., _fugio_, _fugo_), and substitute the name of the young of those
animals as the generic term.]

=BIRD'LIME.= _Syn._ VIS'CUS, L.; GLU, Fr.; VOGELLEIM, Ger. _Prep._ The
middle bark of the holly (gathered in June or July) is boiled for 6 to 8
hours in water, or until it becomes quite soft and tender; the water is
then drained off, and it is placed in a heap, in a pit underground
(commonly on layers of fern), and covered with stones. Here it is left to
ferment for 2 or 3 weeks, and watered, if necessary, until it assumes a
mucilaginous state. It is next pounded in a mortar until reduced to a
uniform mass, which is then well kneaded with the hands in running water,
until all the refuse matter is worked out. It is, lastly, placed in an
earthen vessel, and covered with a little water; in which state it may be
preserved from season to season. In about a week it is fit for use.

_Prop._ Greenish : very gluey, stringy, and tenacious; when
air-dried, brittle and pulverisable, but capable of gradually assuming its
previous viscosity when moistened.

_Uses._ To cover twigs to catch birds, and other small animals. It is said
to be discutient, but is now never employed in medicine.

_Obs._ Birdlime may also be made from mistletoe berries, the young shoots
of the elder, the bark of the wayfaring-tree, and some other vegetables,
by a similar process to that above described. Should any of it stick to
the hands it may be removed by means of a little oil of turpentine.

A kind of factitious birdlime is made by boiling linseed oil either with,
or without, a little yellow resin, until it forms a viscid, stringy paste
when cold. This is chiefly used, spread on paper or cloth, to catch
insects. See FLY-PAPERS, &c.

=BIRDS.= _Syn._ A'VES, L. Birds, besides their value as food, play an
important part in the economy of organic nature, and particularly in that
of the vegetable kingdom. They are the best friends of the agriculturist
and the gardener; and their presence, in numbers, appears essential to
keep down the innumerable races of insects that prey upon our cereals,
fruits, and culinary vegetables. M. Florent Prevost, who has for fifty
years presided over the Natural History Museum of Paris, and who has, like
the ancient Roman augurs, examined the entrails and stomach of fowls with
scientific curiosity, avers, as the result of his long experience, that
birds, of whatever sort, are an unmitigated blessing to the farmer, and
that the detritus and organic particles found by inspection of them in
whole hecatombs, which, by the assistance of the Royal Forest Rangers, he
has sacrificed on the altar of utility, show an immense preponderance of
insect corpuscula in their digestive organs, whilst the traces of cereal
or other valuable products are infinitesimal in comparison. It is found
that even sparrows, rooks, and owls--three of the feathered tribe the most
persecuted by the farmer--are, in reality, the faithful and vigilant
conservators of his fruits and crops. In one of the smaller states of
Germany, where, owing to public rewards being given to their destroyers,
the whole race of sparrows were exterminated, the crops failed to such an
alarming extent that it became necessary to offer large premiums for the
reintroduction of these useful birds from other parts. In some of the
agricultural districts of France, where the destruction of small birds has
been carried on with relentless activity for years, insects have so
prodigiously multiplied as to attack everything green around them. Even
the forest trees are, in many cases, denuded of leaves by them, and are
rapidly perishing. Venomous species of caterpillars, previously scarcely
known except to entomologists, have now become common; and cases of
children losing their lives from attacks of them whilst birdnesting have
been published in newspapers.[177] In our own country the extension of
sparrow-clubs--associations disgraceful to the boasted intelligence of the
nineteenth century--threatens similar results. Already the gardener finds
his fruit-crops lessening year by year; and that many of them,
particularly of the smaller and sweeter fruits, have become so precarious,
that they now scarcely pay for cultivation. In our own neighbourhood,
where small birds have for some years been destroyed by bushels at a time,
it is almost impossible to raise a currant, gooseberry, cherry, or plum;
whilst seedling flowers and culinary vegetables often entirely disappear
on the first night after being planted, or are so completely deprived of
the succulent portion of their leaves and stems, that the remaining
skeleton of network in a few days withers and dies. But this is not
all--the columns of our diurnals bring us continual reports of failing
grain-crops in the neighbourhoods in which these bird-clubs have existed
for any length of time, and that even on land previously remarkable for
its fertility.[178] Did this loss fall only on the benighted beings who so
wilfully cast back the blessings of an all-wise protecting Providence, it
would be a just retribution; but, unfortunately, it affects the whole
nation, and threatens, ere long, unless arrested by legislation, to prove
a national calamity. The only apparent remedy for the evil, at present, is
the diffusion of information tending to show that the farmer and the
gardener, in destroying small birds, destroy their best friends.

[Footnote 177: A striking fatal case of this description is given in the
'Times' of June 12, 1862.]

[Footnote 178: See the 'Times' and other leading 'journals' for 1862.]

[For further information respecting birds, see AVES, BIRD (_ante_), GAME,
GERMAN PASTE, NESTS (Edible), POULTRY, PUTREFACTION, TAXIDERMY, TRUSSING,
&c.]

=BIRKENBALSAM--BIRCH BALSAM= (Dr Friedreich Lengiel). A cosmetic against
wrinkles, small-pock marks, freckles, mole spots, red noses, acne, &c. 5
grammes water glass, 2 grammes potash, 1 gramme soap, 5 grammes gum
arabic, 10 grammes glycerin, 400 grammes water. (Schaedler.)

=BIS'COTIN.= [Fr.] A small biscuit. In _cookery_, &c., a species of
confection made of eggs, flour, marmalade, and sugar, variously compounded
and flavoured according to the taste of the operator.

=BIS'CUIT= (-k[)i]t). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BUCCELLA'TUM, PA'NIS BIS COC'TUS,
L.; SWIEBACK, Ger.; BISCOTTO, It.; BIZCOCHO, Sp. Literally, 'twice-baked,'
appr., a well-known variety of hard, dry, unleavened bread, made in thin
flat pieces. Those prepared for seamen (SEA'-BISCUITS, CAP'TAIN'S B.[179])
are composed of flour and water only. When made of fine flour and a few
caraway seeds are added, they are commonly called AB'ERNE'THY BISCUITS.
Fancy biscuits generally contain a little sugar and butter, to which
almonds, caraways, mace, ginger, lemon, and other articles, technically
called 'flavourings,' are frequently added.

[Footnote 179: A captain's biscuit differs from a common 'sea biscuit' in
being made of finer flour.]

_Prep._ On the small scale, biscuits are made by forming the flour and
water into a dough by the common process of hand-kneading, occasionally
assisted with a lever, as in making ordinary bread. The dough is then
rolled into a sheet, and cut into pieces of the desired size and form.
These, after being stamped, are exposed to the heat of a moderately quick
oven, when a few minutes (12 to 18, according to their size) are
sufficient to bake them.

On the large scale, the whole manual process, from preparing the dough to
the point at which the newly-made biscuits are ready for baking is now
generally performed by machinery. The articles so prepared are commonly
known in trade as 'MACHINE-MADE BISCUITS,' and are not only much cheaper,
but of fully equal quality to those 'made by hand.' In the bakehouses of
her Majesty's Victualling Yards at Deptford, Gosport, and Plymouth, the
ingenious machinery invented by Mr T. T. Grant is employed. These
establishments are said to be capable of producing annually above 8000
tons of sea-biscuits, at a saving of upwards of 12,000_l._ a year, from
the cost that would have been incurred for the purpose on the old system.
Under the latter it is stated that wages, and wear and tear of utensils,
cost about 1_s._ 6_d._ per cwt. of biscuit; whilst under the new system
the cost is only 5_d._

The allowance of biscuit to each seaman in the royal navy is 1 _lb._ per
day; or, on the average, six biscuits.

=Biscuits Depuratifs= (Olivier) are made with meal, milk, and sugar. Each
biscuit contains 1 centigramme corrosive sublimate. (Foy.)

=Biscuits, Fancy.= The varieties of these are almost innumerable. In a
printed list now before us we observe the names of upwards of one hundred
different kinds. These are produced by varying the number and proportions,
of the ingredients used in their composition, and the form and size in
which they are turned out of hand. They are further modified by the
relative heat of the oven, as well as the length of time they are allowed
to remain in it. It would, therefore, be waste of space to give particular
directions for the preparation of each. The proportion of butter and
sugar, or either of them, may be from 1 _oz._ and upwards, to flour, 1
_lb._; according to the degree of richness desired. In a few cases milk,
or eggs, or both, are introduced. The 'flavourings' embrace a wide range
of substances--bitter almonds, caraways, cassia, cinnamon, ginger, mace,
nutmeg, lemon, orange-peel, orange-flower water, essence of peach
kernels, vanilla, &c., &c.; many of which give their name to the
biscuit.--AR'ROW-ROOT BISCUITS are usually made of equal parts of
arrow-root and flour; MEAT'-BISCUITS, from about 1 part of lean meat
(minced small and pulped) beaten to a dough with about 2 parts of flour,
and a little seasoning, no water being added;[180] SODA BISCUITS, by
adding 1 to 2 _dr._ of carbonate of soda to each _lb._ of flour. In most
other cases, the mere inspection of the biscuit will convey to the
experienced biscuit-baker and cook sufficient information to enable him to
produce an exactly similar one, or at least a very close imitation. The
richest kind of SPONGE-BISCUITS, as we are informed, are made as
follows:--Add the whites and yelks of 12 eggs, previously well beaten, to
1-1/2 _lb._ of finely powdered sugar, and whisk it until it rises in
bubbles, then add 1 _lb._ of the finest pastry-flour, and the grated rind
of 2 lemons. Put it into 'shapes,' sift a little sugar over them, and bake
them in buttered tin moulds, in a moderately quick oven, for nearly half
an hour.[181]

[Footnote 180: For the MEAT-BISCUITS used in the navy, and by travellers,
see MEAT.]

[Footnote 181: A few fancy biscuits will be found noticed in their
alphabetical places. See CRACKNELS, MACAROONS, &c.]

=Biscuits Purgatifs= (Caroz). Each biscuit contains 2 decigrammes
scammony. (Reveil.)

=Biscuits Purgatifs= (Sulot). Each biscuit contains 6 decigrammes
scammony.

=Biscuits Purgatifs et Vermifuges= (Ferd. Graef, Aschbach) contain 1/4
gramme resina scammonii in each.

=Biscuits Purgatifs et Vermifuges au Calomel= (Sulot). There are 3
decigrammes of calomel in each. (Reveil.)

=Biscuits Vermifuges a la Santonine= (Sulot.) Each biscuit contains 5
centigrammes of san tonin. (Reveil.)

BISCUITS, DEV'ILED, in _cookery_, are captain's biscuits (or any similar
kind) buttered on both sides, peppered well, and then covered on one side
with a slice of good cheese formed into a paste with made mustard; the
whole being seasoned with a little cayenne pepper is, lastly, grilled.
Chopped anchovies, or essence of anchovies, is a good addition.

=BISMUTH.= Bi. BISMUTH, ETAIN DE GLACE, Fr.; BISMUTH, WISMUTH, W.-METALL,
Ger. One of the metals.

[Illustration: Bismuth furnace in section.

  _a_, Eliquation-tube.[182]
  _b_, End at which it is charged.
  _c_, End from which the metal flows.
  _d_, Receiving-pan.
  _e_, Water-trough.
  _f_, Grate, &c.[183]
  _g, g_, Draught-holes.]

[Footnote 182: Several of these tubes are usually set side by side
together.]

[Footnote 183: Usually one to each eliquation-tube.]

_Sources._ Bismuth occurs in the mineral kingdom in the metallic state
(NA'TIVE BISMUTH), and in combination with sulphur (BIS'M[)U]TH[)I]NE),
and with oxygen (B. O'CHRE, &c.). That of commerce is mostly imported from
Saxony, where it is chiefly obtained from native bismuth by the simple
process of eliquation. The ore, sorted by hand from the gangue, and broken
into pieces of about the size of nuts, is introduced into the ignited iron
pipes of the furnace (see _engr._) until these latter are filled to about
one half their diameter and to three fourths of their length. From these
the liquefied metal is allowed to flow into iron pans containing some
coal-dust, and from these into a trough of water, in which it is
granulated and cooled. It is subsequently remelted and cast into moulds so
as to form 'bars' varying in weight from 25 to 56 _lbs._ each. In this
state it usually contains a small admixture of arsenic, iron, lead, and
sulphur; from the first of which it may be freed by exposure for some
time, under charcoal, at a dull red heat. It is best obtained in a pure
condition by heating to redness, in a covered crucible, a mixture of
oxide, or subnitrate of bismuth, with half its weight of charcoal.

_Prop._ Colour greyish-white with a reddish tint; crystalline; very
brittle (may be powdered); melts at about 480 deg. Fahr., and does not
re-solidify until cooled to 6 or 7 deg. below this point; it volatilises at a
strong heat, and, in close vessels, the fumes condense unchanged in
crystalline laminae; little acted on by the air, but when exposed to it at
a high temperature burns with a faint blue flame, emitting yellow fumes
which condense into a yellow pulverulent oxide; when slowly cooled, in
large masses, it forms large cubic crystals or octahedrons of great
beauty; nitric acid, somewhat dilute, dissolves it freely. It is highly
diamagnetic. Sp. gr. 9.8 to 9.83, which, by careful hammering, may be
increased to 9.8827. A bar of bismuth, when heated from 32 deg. to 212 deg.,
expands exactly 1/710 in length.

_Uses, &c._ Bismuth enters into the composition of STEREOTYPE-METAL,
SOLDER, PEWTER, FUSIBLE METALS, and several other alloys. Added to other
metals it renders them more fusible. An alloy of tin, nickel, bismuth, and
silver is said to hinder iron from rusting. A mixture of bismuth, lead,
and tin is much employed for taking impressions from dies, forming moulds,
and for other purposes.

Bismuth salts are usually insoluble, or decomposed by any quantity of
water into free acid and a basic salt. They are nearly all colourless,
and, except the chloride, more volatile. They are easily recognised by the
following reactions:--

Their saturated or concentrated solutions giving a white precipitate on
dilution with water:--Sulphuretted hydrogen blackens them, or gives a
black precipitate:--The nitric solution is unaffected by the addition of
sulphuric acid:--Chromate of potassium gives a yellow precipitate, which
differs from that from lead, by being soluble in nitric acid, and
insoluble in potassa.

Von Kobbell takes a mixture of potassium iodide and flowers of sulphur in
equal proportions, and heats the whole on charcoal before the blowpipe;
the production of bright scarlet, very volatile bismuth iodide ensues,
even when only traces of bismuth are present.

For a method of volumetrically estimating bismuth, consult a paper by Mr
Pattison Muir, in the 'Journal of the Chemical Society,' April, 1876.

=Bismuth, Car'bonate.= (Ph. B.) Mix nitric acid, four fluid ounces, with
three fluid ounces of distilled water, and add in successive portions
purified bismuth, in small pieces, two ounces. When effervescence has
ceased apply for ten minutes a heat approaching ebullition; then decant
the solution from any insoluble matter. Evaporate to two fluid ounces, and
add this in small quantities at a time to a cold filtered solution of six
ounces of carbonate of ammonia, in two pints of distilled water,
constantly stirring. Collect precipitate on a calico filter; wash till
washings pass tasteless. Remove water by slight pressure of the hands, and
dry at a heat not exceeding 150 deg..--_Dose_, 5 to 20 grains.

=Bismuth, Chlorides of:=

=Basic Chlo''ride.= Bi_{3}Cl_{8}. _Syn._ SUBCHLO''RIDE OF BISMUTH,
PEARL'-POWDER; BISMU'THI SUBCHLORI'DUM, L. _Prep._ A dilute solution of
hydrochloric acid is dropped into another of bismuth (prepared by
dissolving that metal in nitric acid); and the resulting precipitate,
after being well washed in pure water, is dried in the shade.--_Prop.,
Uses, &c._ Similar to those of the subnitrate.

=Chlo''ride.= BiCl_{3}. _Syn._ TERCHLO''RIDE OF BISMUTH. _Prep._ A mixture
of corrosive sublimate, 2 parts; bismuth, 1 part; (both in powder) is
exposed to heat until all the 'mercury' present is expelled, after which
it is at once put into bottles. A greyish-white, granular substance.

=Bismuth, Nitrates of=:

=Basic, Nitrate.= BiONO_{3}. _Syn._ PEARL-WHITE, BISMUTH SUBNITRATE;
BISMUTHI SUBNITRAS, B. BISMUTHI NITRAS, L.; BLANC DE FARD, B. D'ESPAGNE*,
&c., Fr.; PERLWEISS, SCHMINKWEISS, &c., Ger. _Prep._ Bismuth, 1 oz.;
nitric acid, 1-1/2 fl. oz.; distilled water, 3 pints; mix 1 fl. oz. of the
water with the acid, and dissolve the bismuth in the mixture; throw the
solution into the remainder of the water, and, after repose, pour off the
supernatant liquor, drain the powder that has subsided on a linen cloth,
wash it with distilled water, and dry it with a gentle heat.

_Prop._ A pearly white, inodorous powder, insoluble in water, but freely
soluble in nitric acid; long exposure to a strong light turns it greyish.
When prepared from a neutral solution, it consists of very fine
microscopic crystalline laminae; but when prepared from acid solutions,
with less water, the crystals are acicular, and more silky and lustrous.
When moistened it exhibits an acid reaction with litmus paper.

_Pois., &c._ Like the other salts of bismuth, it causes vomiting, purging,
giddiness, cramp, insensibility, &c. No certain antidote is known. The
treatment may consist of an emetic, followed by the copious use of
emollient drinks, as weak broth, barley water, milk and water, &c.; and
subsequently, when necessary to prevent inflammation, by a low diet and
aperients.

_Uses, &c._ In _medicine_, as a sedative, an astringent, or tonic, and an
antispasmodic, in chronic affections of the stomach unaccompanied by
organic disease of that organ, and apparently of a nervous character;
particularly in gastrodynia, troublesome sickness and vomiting, pyrosis or
waterbrash, and generally in gastro-intestinal affections attended with
fluxes; also in intermittent fever, spasmodic asthma, &c.--_Dose_, 5 to
10, or even 20 gr.

Externally, made into an ointment with 4 parts of lard, it has long been
employed in certain chronic skin diseases. Under the name of PEARL-WHITE
it is commonly used by ladies as a cosmetic; but it is stated that it
injures the skin, producing, after a time, paralysis of its minute
vessels, rendering it yellow and leather-like--an effect which,
unfortunately, it is usually attempted to conceal by its freer and more
frequent application. In very large doses it is poisonous.

Both the basic nitrate and the basic chloride of bismuth pass under the
names of PEARL-WHITE and PEARL-POWDER, owing to their extreme whiteness
and beauty. That of the druggists, however, is usually the former; that of
the perfumers usually the latter, but not unfrequently both.

=Bismuth Powder=, for beautifying the skin and removing freckles. (From
North America.) Consists of calcium carbonate, with much clay, and is free
from injurious metals. (Chandler.)

=Bismuth, Purified.= (Ph. Br.) Put bismuth, 10 ounces, and 1 ounce of
powdered nitrate of potash, into a crucible, and heat them until both are
fused. Continue the heat, constantly stirring, for fifteen minutes, or
till the salt has solidified into a slag above the metal. Remove the salt,
add nitrate of potash, 1 ounce, to bismuth in crucible, and repeat the
process. Pour the fused bismuth into a suitable mould, and let it cool.

=Nitrate.= Bi(NO_{3})_{3}. _Syn._ NEUTRAL NITRATE, TERNITRATE. Purified
bismuth (in small fragments), 2 oz.; nitric acid, 6 oz.; dissolve with
heat, adding more acid, if necessary, to effect entire solution of the
metal; to the resulting solution add half its volume of distilled water,
filter through powdered glass, and evaporate until crystals form.

_Use._ Chiefly in chemistry, and as a source of the pure oxide and the
subnitrate.

=Bismuth Oxides=:--

=Bismuthous Oxide.= Bi_{2}O_{3}. _Syn._ TEROXIDE OF BISMUTH, PROTOXIDE OF
BISMUTH. From either the neutral or the basic nitrate, by exposure, in a
crucible, to gentle ignition. Pure. A straw-yellow powder, of rather
difficult solubility.

HY'DRATED:--By gradually dropping an acid solution of bismuthous nitrate
into a concentrated solution of potassium hydrate perfectly free from
carbonic acid, and washing and drying the resulting precipitate. Pure. A
rich-looking white powder.

_Prop., &c._ Fuses at a high temperature, and then acts as a powerful flux
on siliceous matter without itself imparting colour, a property of which
the enameller and gilder has long availed himself. Like the basic nitrate,
it has been used as an antispasmodic and as a cosmetic. Sp. gr. 8.211 to
8.355.

=Bismuthic Oxide.= Bi_{2}O_{5}. _Syn._ BISMUTHIC ANHYDRIDE, BISMUTHIC
ACID. Suspend teroxide of bismuth in a strong solution of potassa, and
pass chlorine through the mixture until decomposition is complete; treat
the powder with dilute nitric acid (to remove any undecomposed teroxide),
after which wash it in cold water, and dry it.

_Prop., &c._ A reddish powder, soluble in water. Its salts, of which
little are known, are called BIS'MUTHATES. When heated it loses oxygen,
and a bismuthate of bismuth is formed.

=Bismuthous Sulphide.= Bi_{2}S_{3}. This compound occurs native
(BIS'M[)U]TH[)I]NE), and may be easily prepared artificially by either
fusing its elements together, or by passing sulphuretted hydrogen through
a solution of nitrate of bismuth.

=Bismuthous Valerianate.= _Syn._ BISMU'THI VALERIA'NAS, L. _Prep._ An acid
solution of nitrate of bismuth is decomposed with a solution of
valerianate of soda in water containing a little free valerianic acid; the
precipitate is carefully washed in distilled water, and dried in the
shade. Recommended as superior to the subnitrate in some forms of
gastrodynia, dyspepsia, intermittents, &c.--_Dose_, 2 to 6 gr., or more.

=BIS'TRE= (-ter). [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BISTER, Ger. _Prep._ 1. The most
compact, best , and well-burnt portions of the soot of beechwood,
or of peat,[184] are selected, reduced to powder and sifted through a very
fine lawn sieve. It is then digested in clear warm water for several
hours, with frequent stirring; after which it is allowed to settle, when
the liquid portion is decanted from the sediment. This process is repeated
a second, and even a third time. The paste is next poured into a tall
narrow vessel, which is then filled with pure cold water, and well
agitated. The grosser parts only are now allowed to subside,[185] and the
supernatant liquor, containing the finer portion of the BISTRE in
suspension, is poured off into another vessel, where it is left to deposit
its contents. The deposit is next collected, and carefully dried and
powdered; or it is only partially dried, and at once made into cakes with
gum-water or isinglass-size, and then allowed to dry and harden for sale.

[Footnote 184: The first is usually employed in England.]

[Footnote 185: Two or three minutes suffice for this purpose.]

2. (Dr MacCulloch.) The tar-like liquid obtained from the dry distillation
of wood is again carefully distilled until all volatile matter has passed
over, and a brittle, pitch-like residuum is obtained, which is either
brown or black according to the time and temperature employed; after which
the heat is still further prolonged, but with increased care, until the
brittle substance becomes pulverulent and carbonaceous. It is then ground
and elutriated with pure cold water, as before.

_Uses, &c._ As a water colour to tint drawings, in the same way as Indian
ink, to which it is esteemed superior when the subjects are intended to be
afterwards tinted with other colours. It occupies the same place among
water colours that brown-pink does in oil.

According to Dr MacCulloch, bistre from wood-tar, when carefully prepared,
has great depth and beauty of colour, with all the fine properties of
sepia; but that if the whole of the oils and acids have not been removed
by the process, it is apt to collect in little flocks which interfere with
its use.

=BITES= and =STINGS=. _Syn._ MOR'S[=U]S (-S[=U]S, _sing._) ET IC'T[=U]S
(-T[)U]S, _s._), L. The treatment of the bites of non-venomous and
non-rabid animals is the same as that of ordinary lacerated or punctured
wounds, as the case may be; that of the bites and stings of venomous and
rabid animals, serpents, insects, &c., often require, in addition, the use
of special antidotes to destroy the virus or to prevent its absorption, or
to neutralise its effects when absorbed and to promote its elimination
from the system.

The bites and stings of ANTS, BEES, WASPS, HORNETS, and similar insects
common to this climate may be treated by washing the part with spirit of
hartshorn or dilute liquor of ammonia or eau de luce, or a weak solution
of chloride of lime. Should considerable inflammation ensue, and the part
become much swollen, a thing that rarely occurs, leeches may be applied,
and a cooling purgative given. The stings of venomous reptiles may be
similarly treated, excepting that the strength of the solutions of
ammonia, chloride of lime, &c., should be stronger than in the former
case, so as to produce some pain and smarting. In cases where the venom is
of a very poisonous description, the wound should be first well washed
with water of ammonia, and afterwards seared with lunar caustic in every
part, including the interior and deep-seated portions. In extreme cases
the surface of the wound, both internal and external, may be removed with
the knife; or, in the case of a small joint, as a finger, the injured
portion may be amputated. Prior to the use of the washes or caustic,
dry-cupping or suction with the mouth may be had recourse to with great
advantage. A ligature placed on the limb, above the wound, as soon as
possible after the accident, will impede the absorption of the poison
whilst the other treatment is in progress. A similar plan may be followed
after the bite of a dog supposed to be mad. It has, indeed, been lately
asserted by one of our most celebrated veterinarians that he and his
colleagues have been repeatedly bitten by dogs that have afterwards been
proved to be mad, but from having fearlessly applied caustic to the parts
they have escaped uninjured.

The poison inserted by the stings and bites of several venomous reptiles
is so rapidly absorbed, and of so fatal a description, as frequently to
occasion death within a very short space of time, and before any remedy or
antidote, under ordinary circumstances, can be applied. But even in these
extreme cases it is probable that absorption, and consequently the
rapidity of the action of the poison, might be considerably impeded or
lessened by the immediate application of a ligature above the part, as
before described, the patient accompanying the treatment by swallowing a
large quantity of liquid, by which partial plethora would be produced, and
the functions of the absorbents for a time nearly-suspended. A few minutes
thus gained would permit of the application of appropriate antidotes, by
which the poison might be neutralised before it would become necessary to
remove the ligature, whilst the kidneys would be in full action.
Unfortunately, these wounds are generally inflicted in parts of the world
where precautionary measures are seldom thought of, and generally at times
when people are least prepared to meet them, as well as so suddenly and
unexpectedly as to stagger even those observers who may be in no absolute
danger themselves. Such is the bite of the East Indian CO'BRA DI CAPEL'LO,
against which two Asiatic (arsenical) pills are often prescribed by the
Hindoos; but which are generally scarcely swallowed before the poison of
the serpent has rendered the patient a stiffened corpse. Eau de luce, a
favorite remedy in India, when liberally employed both internally and
externally, is said to prove sometimes more successful. The bite of the
PUFF-ADDER is of a similar, or even a more fatal description than that of
the cobra. When the venom of any of these animals or of a rabid dog is
once fully absorbed into the system, there appears to be no treatment that
can save the patient. A bottle of Madeira wine or 1/2 a pint of brandy or
rum diluted with twice its weight of water, drank in two doses about 3 or
4 minutes apart, is a popular remedy in India in such cases. Its effect is
to impede absorption.

The secret antidote so long successfully employed by Mr Underwood, the
'snake-king' of Australia, for the bites of the WHIP-SNAKE and the
DIAMOND-SNAKE, two of the most venomous of that region, is now positively
asserted to be the common male fern (_polypo'dium fi'lix mas_, Linn.). Of
the powdered root, or preferably, of the green leaves of this plant
nearest the root, he prepares a sort of decoction, or broth, which he
takes or administers liberally. A more convenient preparation would,
perhaps, be a tincture prepared by digesting 1 _oz._ of the dried, or 3
_oz._ of the fresh leaves (bruised), in a pint of proof spirit or strong
brandy or rum for a fortnight; as in this state it could be kept for any
length of time, if well corked, without deterioration.

For HORSES AND CATTLE. Mr Finlay Dun recommends ammonia solution; solution
of caustic potash; carbolic acid; prussic acid and chloroform.

[See HYDROPHOBIA, POISONS, SNAKE-BITES, STINGS, VENOM, WOUNDS, &c.[186]]

[Footnote 186: Notices of several chemical and neurotic antidotes, of
great promise, will also be found in different parts of this volume. The
names of the respective animals may likewise be referred to.]

=BITT'ER.= [Eng., Ger.] _Syn._ AMA''RUS, L.; AMER, Fr. Tasting like
wormwood, quassia, or other similar vegetables; subst., a bitter plant,
bark, or root (= AMA''RUM, L.; see _below_).

=Bitter App'le[double-dagger].= Colocynth.

=Bitter Cup.= A cup or tumbler formed by the turner out of quassia wood.
Liquor, by standing in it a short time, becomes bitter and stomachic. They
are now common in the shops.

=Bitter Earth*.= Magnesia.

=Bitter Herbs.= See BITTERS (_infra_) and SPECIES (Bitter).

=Bitter Salt[dagger]=, Bitter Pur''ging-salt. Sulphate of magnesia.

=Bitt'er-sweet.= Woody nightshade.

=Bitt'er-wort[double-dagger]= (-w[)u]rt). Gentian.

=BITT'ERN.= The 'mother-water' or 'bitter liquor' of salt-works from which
the chloride of sodium (sea-salt) has been separated by crystallisation.

=Bittern.= An intoxicating poisonous mixture sold by the brewers'
druggists, composed of 1 part each of extract of quassia and powdered
sulphate of iron, with 2 parts of extract of cocculus indicus, 4 parts of
Spanish liquorice, and about 8 parts of treacle; the liquorice being first
boiled with a little water until dissolved, and the solution evaporated to
a proper consistence before adding the other ingredients. Used by
fraudulent brewers and publicans to impart a false bitter and apparent
strength to their liquors.

=BITT'ERS= (-[)e]rz). _Syn._ AMA''RA, &c., L. Vegetable bitters are
commonly regarded as tonic and stomachic, and to improve the appetite when
taken occasionally and in moderation. The best time is early in the
morning, or half an hour or an hour before a meal. An excessive, or a too
prolonged use of them, tends to weaken the stomach, and to induce
nervousness. They should not be taken for a longer period than about 8 or
10 days at a time, allowing a similar period to elapse before again having
recourse to them.

Among the most useful and generally employed bitters are--calumba,
cascarilla, chamomiles, gentian, hops, orange peel, quassia, and wormwood.

=Bitters.= In the liquor-trade, a compound prepared by steeping vegetable
bitters, and some aromatics as flavouring, in weak spirit, for some 8 or
10 days; a little sugar or syrup being subsequently added to the strained
or decanted tincture. In that of the taverns and gin-shops the menstruum
is usually gin, or plain spirit reduced to a corresponding strength.
BRAN'DY-BITTERS and WINE'-BITTERS are prepared in a similar way with
common British brandy, or some cheap white wine (Cape or raisin), as the
case may be. Each maker has usually his own formulae, which he modifies to
suit the price and the palate of his customer.--This class of liquors has
been justly charged with being the fertile cause of habitual intemperance,
of disease, and even of death! Their occasional use as tonics or
stomachics is also objectionable, owing to the trash, and even deleterious
substances, which so frequently enter into their composition. See
LIQUEURS.

=BITU'MEN.= [Eng., L.] _Syn._ BITUME, Fr.; ERDPECH, ERDTHEER, &c., Ger. A
term of a very comprehensive character, and, in general, very loosely
applied, including a variety of inflammable mineral substances,
consisting of varying proportions of hydrocarbons, having a strong smell
and differing in consistence, all the varieties being found in the earth,
of which asphaltum, naphtha, and petroleum may be mentioned as examples.

Asphalt is very extensively disseminated throughout Europe, Asia, and
America. Considerable quantities are exported from the West Indian
Islands, and from the Dead Sea, in Judaea; hence its commercial name,
'Jewish bitumen,' or 'Jew's pitch.' The different kinds vary greatly in
quality, according to the amount of earthy matter and other impurities
contained in them; they may all, however, be reduced to a state of equal
purity by boiling or macerating them in hot water, by which means the
earthy and siliceous matters are more or less completely removed. These
latter fall to the bottom of the vessel, and the bitumen rises to the
surface, or forms clots on the sides of the boiler, when it is skimmed
off, and thrown into a large cooler, where more water separates. At the
Seyssel and Bechelbronn bitumen works the bitumen so obtained is thrown
into large cauldrons and boiled for some time, by which means the volatile
products and water accompanying it are driven off, and the remaining sand
and impurities fall to the bottom of the cauldron, leaving the purified
asphalt in the form of a thick fatty pitch, in which state it comes into
the market or is applied to various purposes. In the following table we
give the composition of a few bitumens:

                             Carbon,   Hydrogen,  Oxygen,    Nitrogen
                             per cent. per cent.  per cent.  per cent.

  Viscous bitumen
      of Bechelbronn           88.0       12.0       --         --

  Virgin bitumen
      of Bechelbronn           88.0       11.0       --        1.0

  Liquid bitumen from
      Hatten, Lower Rhine      88.0       11.6       --        0.4
                                                   |_______________|
  Solid bitumen of Coxatambo,                             |
      near Cuenca, in Peru     88.7        9.7           1.6

        _Annexed is a table of the analysis of several
        asphalts, centesimally represented_:--

                                    Bitumen of                        Bitumen of
                      Bitumen of    Pont de Chateau,   Bitumen of     Monastier,
                      Bastennes.    Auvergne.          Abruzzi.       Haute Loire.

                                   _______|_______    _______|_______
                                  |               |  |               |
                                    Crude.   Pure.     Crude.   Pure.

  Oily matters }         {20.0       --       --         --      --       7.0
  Carbon       } Bitumen { 3.7       76.13   77.5        77.64  81.8      3.5
  Hydrogen                 --         9.41    9.6         7.86   8.4      --
  Nitrogen                 --      }       { 12.4         1.02   1.0      --
  Oxygen                   --      } 12.66 {  0.5         8.35   8.8      --
  Water                    --        --       --         --     --        4.5
  Gas and vapour           --        --       --         --     --        4.0
  Quartz sand and mica  }       {    --       --         --     --       60.0
  Clay                  } 76.3  {    --       --         --     --    Ferrug. 21.0
  Ashes                   --          1.80    --          5.13  --        --
                         -----      -----    -----      -----  -----    -----
                         100.0      100.0    100.0      100.0  100.0    100.0

The solid bitumens are now extensively employed in the manufacture of
bituminous mastic or cement and similar compositions, which are used for
the lining of water-cisterns, and for various other hydraulic purposes; as
also for roofs, floors, roads, pavements, &c. For the last purpose the
native varieties of 'asphaltic rock,' consisting of a mixture of bitumen
and calcareous earth, when tempered with a proper quantity of crushed
granite, or calcareous sand or gravel, is found to be the most substantial
and durable. The plan followed in laying down such pavements in Paris,
where they have been the most extensively adopted, is--The ground having
been made uniformly smooth, is edged, in the usual manner, with
curb-stones rising about 4 inches above its level, and then covered, to
the depth of 3 inches, with concrete (made with about 1-6th part of good
hydraulic lime), which is well pressed upon its bed, the surface being
subsequently smoothed over with a very thin coating of hydraulic mortar.
On this, when perfectly dry,[187] the 'bituminous mastic,' rendered
semi-fluid by being cautiously heated in a suitable iron cauldron,[188] is
evenly spread over so as to form a layer three quarters of an inch, or for
less solid work, half an inch thick. Some coarse sand is lastly sifted
over and pressed down on the surface, when the work is complete; and in a
few days the pavement becomes sufficiently compact and solid to be thrown
open to foot passengers.

[Footnote 187: On this point depends the success of the work. Absolute
dryness is a _sine qua non_ in the process. The mastic must also be laid
down in dry weather. If laid in wet, damp, or even foggy weather, it will
be liable to separate from its bed, and gradually to break up. This is why
so much of the asphalt and bituminous pavement laid down in London has
proved a failure.]

[Footnote 188: It is here that the mixture of the bitumen (previously
crushed sufficiently small to pass through meshes 10 to the inch) is made
with the sand or gravel; a small portion of mineral tar or coal-tar (3 to
7 or 8%) being commonly added to promote their fusion and complete union.]

An important precaution to be observed in making asphalt pavements or
roads is to boil the bitumen which is employed thoroughly, so as to expel
the water and volatile oils, which if allowed to remain are found to
render the mastic more liable to be affected by the extremes of heat and
cold, as well as less able to stand the wear and tear of traffic.

_Claridge's Process._ This consists in fusing the blocks of mastic in a
suitable boiler, similar to that seen in fig. 1, and in adding a quantity
of mineral tar, in the proportion of 1 _lb._ to every _cwt._ of the
mastic. The tar is first fused in the boiler, 56 _lbs._ of the mastic are
then introduced, and the whole repeatedly stirred so as to prevent the
formation of a deposit. When the contents of the boiler are melted, the
cauldron is covered over for a quarter of an hour, after which the
remainder of the mastic is added, and its fusion proceeded with as before,
the process being repeated until the boiler is full, allowing an interval
of from ten to fifteen minutes between each operation.

When the mastic is sufficiently fluid it will drop freely from the
stirrer, and jets of light smoke are observed to issue from it. If stiff
mastic be required, the proportion of tar is lessened, and a quantity of
coarse grit or river sand, to the amount of 20 or 30 _lbs._ to the _cwt._,
is added.

[Illustration: 1.]

In laying the asphalt the greatest attention and care must be paid to the
preparation of a solid and dry foundation.

This is usually accomplished by removing or ramming the loose earth, and
placing upon the bed a layer of coarse sand mixed with powdered limestone,
in the proportion of seven parts of the former to one of the latter, and
the whole is pressed or beaten solid; upon this a second layer of finer
materials is laid compacted and levelled; the bed thus prepared is allowed
to dry before coating it with mastic.

Fig. 2 shows the manner in which ordinary asphalting is laid down. In this
figure C is the bed of coarse concrete, B the second and finer layer of
the same material, and A the superior layer of asphalt.

[Illustration: 2.]

The base or concrete must be perfectly dry when the mastic is poured on,
or the work will be a failure, for the moisture will be converted into
steam, which, issuing through the fluid mastic, will cause the formation
of holes in the latter or blister it, and ultimately the surface will
crack. To counteract in some measure the evil arising from the formation
of steam, fine cinder dust is sifted over the bed of concrete previous to
the application of the mastic.

When asphalting suspension bridges, a sheet of canvas is usually spread
over the concrete.

In asphalting damp places, such as cellars and foundations, a brick invert
is always laid in asphalt beneath the concrete. This is done by placing
the bricks in rows, at the proper depth and <DW72>, and pouring a coating
of asphalt about a quarter of an inch thick upon them. Before the mastic
solidifies, the bricks are separated a little by passing a knife between
them, thus affording the mastic an opening by which to seal up more
thoroughly the connection. The concrete is afterwards laid upon this bed,
and the layer of mastic upon this in the usual way. The thickness of the
layer of mastic varies according to the attrition to which it is to be
subjected; but the usual depth is from a quarter to one and a quarter
inch.

_Artificial Asphalt._ This is prepared from coal tar by distilling off the
volatile oils which hold the tar in solution, the result being that a kind
of fatty pitch is left, which must be boiled until a sample, when cooled,
becomes nearly solid. The operation may be accomplished in the open air,
but if this means of evaporation be adopted, the process is attended with
a very unpleasant odour, and the volatile oils are dissipated. These
volatile oils are used for the preparation of varnish, for lubricating
machinery, and for the manufacture of a superior kind of lampblack. They
have also been employed to increase the illuminating power of coal-gas,
which purpose they accomplish by imparting their vapours to gas passed
over them when they are placed in shallow vessels. Various forms of
patent apparatus have been designed for this purpose.

When it is required to collect the oils, the coal tar is placed in a
retort made of sheet iron, with a convex bottom, which is placed
immediately over a fire. The products of the combustion after striking the
bottom of the retort circulate round it, then proceed under a second
boiler to heat the tar contained in it, and from which the retort is
replenished when necessary. This vessel, when three quarters full,
contains nearly 24 _cwts._ of tar; it should be perfectly embedded in
masonry; the capital itself by which the volatile products escape should
be surrounded with materials that are bad conductors of heat, such as
ashes. But for this precaution the volatile oils would become condensed,
and fall back into the evaporating vessel.

The volatile oils are collected by being made to pass through a tube
cooled by a current of water, this tube running in a direction the reverse
of that pursued by the vapours, and terminating in a closed vessel, which
acts as the receptacle for the oils. A tube branching from the boiler
conducts the uncondensed products outside the building in which the
distillation is conducted.

When the tar has been boiled sufficiently long to give it the requisite
consistence, it is removed by means of a pipe into a third hemispherical
boiler of cast-iron. To prepare the bituminous mastic directly from this
fatty pitch, the latter is kept in a state of fusion, and chalk in
sufficient quantity is then added. If the chalk be previously heated,
ground to a coarse powder, and sifted, the mixture is effected more
rapidly and satisfactorily.

The asphalt becomes the more solid the greater the proportion of chalk
added; on the other hand, it becomes less elastic and more brittle. The
asphalt is moulded as follows:--A long table is covered with cast-iron
plates, surrounded with a framework, which is subdivided into eight or ten
equal compartments by means of rules of about six inches in height,
introduced vertically into grooves formed at equal intervals in the long
sides of the frame. The eight or ten moulds obtained by this means are
coated internally with a paste composed of sixty parts of water and forty
of chalk. This compound prevents the mastic adhering to the sides of the
mould, and ensures its being easily detached.

Two barrels, or 9 _cwts._ of tar, lose by distillation one fourth of their
weight, the loss consisting of 1 _cwt._ 3 _qrs._ 15 _lbs._ of volatile
oils, and 1 _qr._ 13 _lbs._ of water.

Sometimes ground or fine sand enters into the composition of asphalt in
proportions equal to the chalk; but in some cases only half as much sand
as chalk is used.

In the manufacture of asphalt it is very important that the contents of
the cauldron should be stirred during fusion, not only to prevent the tar
adhering to the bottom, and so getting burnt, but to ensure the
ingredients being brought into intimate combination, and a homogeneous and
smooth compound being produced.

As soon as the whole is thoroughly incorporated, the proper consistence
attained, and the vapours of the volatile oils and water come off in very
minute quantities, the asphalt is run off into the moulds before
described, and when sufficiently set may be removed, and is ready for use.

Dr G. H. Smith has patented a process for making artificial asphalt,
waterproof concrete, &c., which promises to become of great value in the
construction of sea walls, docks, and harbour works, &c. Dr Smith's
invention consists in filling up the interstices of any porous substance,
such as brick, burned or unburned clay, soft stones, plaster of Paris,
&c., with pitch or tar which has been boiled to such a consistence that
the pores or cells of the material used are completely filled with solid
matter when cold.

Other hydrocarbons, resins, or gums may be used instead of pitch or tar;
but it is essential that the saturating substances, though naturally fluid
or semifluid, can be so changed by boiling that they lose their fluidity
when cold; or they must be, though hard under all ordinary temperatures of
the atmosphere, capable of reduction by heat or otherwise to a fluid
condition, so that they will penetrate the porous materials.

The asphalto-bitumen mine of the Val de Travers, in the Canton of
Neufchatel, is said to be the richest and most extensive in the world of
its particular class. The calcareous bitumen which it yields contains 20%
of nearly pure bitumen, and 80% of carbonate of lime; and it has a sp. gr.
(2.115) approaching that of ordinary bricks.

The 'Val de Travers Company,' and the 'Bastenne and Gaujac Company,' are,
it is said, those which have hitherto been the most successful in laying
down asphalto-pavements. See ASPHALTUM, PETROLEUM, &c.

=Bitumen, Elastic.= _Syn._ MIN'ERAL CAOU'TCHOUC (k[=o][=o]'-ch[)o][)o]k),
EL'ATERITE. A rather rare species of bitumen, differing chiefly from the
other solid varieties in being elastic.

=Bitumen, Liq'uid.= Petroleum.

=BITU'MINOUS.= _Syn._ BITUTM[)I]NO'SUS, L.; BITUMINEUX, Fr.; ERDPECHIG,
Ger. Of bitumen, or resembling or containing it.

=BIX'EINE= (-e-[)i]n). The red colouring-principle of annotta. It is
obtained by treating bixine with liquid ammonia, with subsequent free
contact of air.

_Prop., &c._ When pure, a rich deep-red powder, soluble in alcohol and in
alkalies, and turned blue by sulphuric acid. It appears to be oxidised
bixine.

=BIXIN.= The red resinous colouring matter of annatto. Bolley and Mylius
prepare it by digesting the dried alcoholic extract of annatto with ether;
repeatedly treating the least soluble portion (which contains the greater
part of the colouring matter) with hot ether; dissolving the remainder in
alcohol; precipitating the alcoholic solution with lead acetate;
decomposing the washed precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen; extracting
the colouring matter therefrom by hot alcohol; and precipitating the
alcoholic solution with water.

=BIX'INE= (-[)i]n). The yellow colouring-principle of annotta.

_Prep._ A solution of annotta is precipitated with a solution of acetate
of lead; the precipitate, after having been washed in cold water, is
decomposed by sulphuretted hydrogen; the decanted liquor or filtrate
yields crystals by cautious evaporation.

_Prop., &c._ Yellowish white, turning full yellow by exposure to air;
soluble in water, and freely so in alcohol and in alkaline solutions; by
oxidation it is converted into bixeine. For a correct knowledge of both of
these substances we are indebted to M. Preisser.

=BLACK.= _Syn._ A'TER,[189] NI'GER, L.; NOIR, Fr.; SCHWARZ, Ger.; BLAC,
BLAEC, Sax. In _dyeing_, &c., of the colour of lamp-soot, or of night;
subst., a black colour.

[Footnote 189: Black, deep black; as opposed to _albus_, white.]

=Black Ash.= The waste lye of the soapmakers is evaporated in large iron
boilers, the salt separated as it falls down, and then heated in a
reverberatory furnace, until it is partially decomposed and fused, when it
is run into iron pots to cool. It is used in the manufacture of alum and
common soap.

=Black Col'ours= (k[)u]l'-). See BLACK PIGMENTS.

=Black Draught.= See MIXTURE, SENNA (Compound).

=Black Drop.= See DROPS, PATENT MEDICINES, &c.

=BLACK DYE.= _Syn._ TEINTE NOIRE, Fr.; SCHWARZE FARBE, Ger. The following
are the processes and materials now commonly employed in dyeing black:--

_a._ For COTTON:--

1. The goods, previously dyed blue, are steeped for about 24 hours in a
decoction of gall-nuts or sumach, then drained, rinsed in water, and
passed through a bath of acetate of iron for a quarter of an hour; they
are next again rinsed in water, and exposed for some time to the air;
after which they are passed a second time through the bath, to which a
little more iron-liquor is previously added. The whole process is
repeated, if necessary, according to the intensity of the shade of black
desired.

2. The goods are steeped in a mordant of acetate of iron, worked well, and
then passed through a bath of madder and logwood for 2 hours. Less
permanent than No. 1.

_Obs._ About 2 _oz._ of coarsely powdered galls, or 4 _oz._ of sumach, are
required for every pound of cotton, in the process of galling. The first
should be boiled in the water, in the proportion of about 1/2 gal. of
water to every lb. of cotton. The sumach-bath is better made by mere
infusion of that dye-stuff in very hot water.

3. (For 10 lbs. of cloth.) The goods are put into a boiling bath made of 3
lbs. of sumach, and allowed to steep, with occasional 'working,' until the
liquor is perfectly cold; they are next passed through lime water, and,
after having drained for a few minutes, immediately transferred to and
worked for an hour in a warm solution of 2 lbs. of copperas; after free
exposure to the air for about an hour they are again passed through lime
water, and, after draining, 'worked' for an hour in a bath made with 3
lbs. of logwood, and 1 lb. of fustic; they are then 'lifted,' and 1/4 lb.
of copperas being added, they are returned to the bath, 'worked' well for
about 30 minutes, and finished. Good and deep.

_Obs._ Instead of copperas iron-liquor may be used, observing to take
1-1/2 pint of the latter (of the ordinary strength) for every lb. of the
former ordered above.

_b._ For FLAX and LINEN:--

This, for the most part, closely resembles that employed for cotton; but,
in some cases, a mordant of iron-liquor, or of copperas, followed by
passing the goods through lime-water, and exposure to the air, precedes
the dye-bath.

_c._ For SILK:--

Silk goods are dyed much in the same way as woollens, but the process is
conducted with less heat:--

1. A bath of nut-galls is given for 12 to 36 hours, occasionally working
the goods therein; they are next taken out, rinsed, and well aired, after
which they are passed for a few minutes through a bath containing sulphate
of iron, and are then again drained, rinsed, and aired. The steep in the
nut-gall bath may be repeated, if necessary, followed, as before, by the
iron-bath previously replenished with a little fresh copperas. The whole
quantity of galls to be taken for 1 lb. of silk varies with their quantity
from 1/2 to 3/4 lb., that of the copperas (for the first bath), from 3 to
4 _oz._

2. (For 1 cwt. of silk.) Boil 22 _lbs._ of bruised Aleppo galls, for 2
hours, in 90 to 100 galls. of water, observing to add boiling water from
time to time, to compensate for that lost by evaporation; to the clear
bath add 32 lbs. of copperas, 7 lbs. of iron-filings, and 21 lbs. of gum;
digest with agitation for 1 hour, and when the ingredients are dissolved,
pass the silk (previously prepared ['galled'] with 1/3rd of its weight of
gall-nuts) through the bath for about an hour; then rinse and air it well;
next leave it in the dye-bath for 6 to 12 hours; and this immersion or
steep may be repeated, if necessary, at will. This is said to be the
process commonly adopted for velvet at Genoa and Tours.

3. (For 5 lbs. of silk.) Turn the goods for an hour through a mordant
formed of 1 lb. of copperas and 2 oz. of nitrate of iron (dyer's), with
sufficient water; after rinsing in cold water and airing them, 'work' them
for an hour in a decoction made of 5 lbs. of logwood and 1 lb. of fustic;
then lift them from the bath, add 2 oz. of copperas, reimmerse, and 'work'
them well for 10 or 15 minutes longer; lastly, rinse, air, and finish. A
full deep black.

4. (For 5 lbs.) For the mordant use 1/2 lb. of copperas; rinse, and air;
for the 'dye-bath,' a decoction of 4 lbs. of logwood to which 1/2 pint of
stale urine has been added; after 'lifting' the goods add 2 _oz._ more of
copperas to the bath, and work for 15 minutes, as before. A good black. By
adding 2 _oz._ of dyer's nitrate of iron to the mordant the same
ingredients will give a deep black; and by substituting a little white
soap for the urine, and omitting the addition of copperas to the
logwood-bath, it will give a blue-black. The last may also be produced by
first dyeing the goods deep blue as with 'prussiate,' and omitting the
urine and soap, in which case one half only of the logwood will be
required.

_d._ For WOOL:--

To produce a good permanent black on wool or woollen goods, they must be
first dyed of a deep blue in the indigo-vat, or, more cheaply, by the
Prussian-blue process. When the goods are coarse or common, and price is
an object, they are generally 'rooted' instead of being 'blued.' This
consists in giving them a dun or brown colour with the husks of walnuts or
the roots of the walnut-tree, or with other like cheap astringent
substances.

1. (For 1 _cwt._ of wool.) Good logwood-chips, 20 _lbs._, and
Aleppo-galls, 18 _lbs._; are inclosed in a coarse bag, and boiled with
water, q. s., for 5 or 6 hours; 1/3rd of this decoction is then
transferred into another copper, with verdigris, 2 _lbs._, and a
sufficient quantity of water having been added, the goods (previously dyed
dark blue) are passed through the liquor for two hours, at a heat slightly
below the boiling-point. The goods are next lifted and drained, another
1/3rd of the decoction of logwood and galls, with copperas, 9 _lbs._,
added to the boiler, after which the fire is lowered, and as soon as the
copperas is dissolved, the cloth is returned to the bath, and again well
'worked' for at least an hour. It is then taken out, thoroughly aired, and
the remaining 1/3rd of the decoction added, with sumach, 20 _lbs._ The
whole is then brought to a boil, and sulphate of iron, 2 _lbs._, together
with a pailful of cold water, thrown in; after which the goods are put in
a third time, and 'worked' for one hour; they are then taken out, rinsed,
aired, and again passed through the bath for another hour. After being
thoroughly rinsed, the goods are at once either 'fulled,' dried, and
folded, or are further softened and beautified by passing them for 15
minutes through a hot weld-bath (not boiling), when they are rinsed, &c.
(but not 'fulled'), as before. A beautiful though expensive dye. With
management the above quantities of the ingredients will dye 1-1/4 or even
1-1/2 _cwt._ of wool.

2. (For 1 _cwt._) The cloth (previously dyed blue) is 'galled' with 5
_lbs._ of nut-galls, and then dyed in a bath made with 30 _lbs._ of
logwood, to which about 5 _lbs._ of copperas has been added; after which
it is rinsed, aired, and 'fulled,' as before. This is said, by Lewis, to
be the usual proportions and plan adopted by the English dyers.

3. (For 1 _cwt._) Make a bath, as before, with fustic, 2 _lbs._; logwood,
5 _lbs._; and sumach, 10 _lbs._; work the (blued) cloth for 3 hours at the
boiling heat, or near it; lift it out, add sulphate of iron, 10-1/2
_lbs._, and when dissolved, pass the cloth through it for 2 hours; rinse,
air well, and again pass the goods through the bath for an hour; lastly,
rinse until the water runs clear. Inferior to the last, but less
expensive.

4. (For 1 _cwt._, without previous blueing or 'rooting,')--_a._ Work the
goods at about 200 deg. Fahr. for 1 hour, in a bath made with 6 to 7 _lbs._ of
cam-wood; lift, add 6-1/2 _lbs._ of copperas, and again work the goods for
an hour, after which withdraw the fire, and allow them to steep for 10 or
12 hours; next drain and rinse them, and work them in a second bath made
with 60 _lbs._ of logwood for 1-1/2 hour; lift, add 3 _lbs._ of copperas,
and again work for an hour; lastly, rinse, air, and finish:--_b._ The
goods are first worked, for about two hours, in a bath of 3 _lbs._ of
fustic, in which 5 _lbs._ of bichromate of potash and 4 _lbs._ of alum
have been dissolved; after exposure to the air for about an hour and
thorough rinsing they are worked for a second two hours in a bath made
with 45 _lbs._ of logwood, 3-1/2 _lbs._ of barwood or cam-wood, and 3
_lbs._ of fustic; they are then lifted, and 3 _lbs._ of copperas having
been added to the bath, are again immersed and worked for half an hour to
an hour.

5. (For 10 _lbs._ of wool or w. cloth.) Work the goods for 1/2 an hour in
a bath of 1/2 _lb._ of cam-wood; lift, add 7 or 8 _oz._ of copperas, and
after working them for 20 minutes, withdraw the fire, and leave them in
the liquor for 10 or 12 hours; next rinse them in cold water, drain, and
then work them for an hour in a bath made with 5 _lbs._ of logwood, to
which 1 pint of urine has been added; lift, add 4 _oz._ of copperas, work
them for half an hour longer, and, lastly, wash and dry them.

6. (For 7 _lbs._) Take of galls (bruised), 1/4 _lb._; logwood chips, 1-1/2
_lb._; for the bath; boil or work the goods for 2 hours, take them out,
add of copperas, 1/4 _lb._; and when it is dissolved, work the goods
through the liquor for at least 2 hours, keeping the bath nearly boiling;
again take them out, wash, and air; then add 1 _oz._ more of copperas to
the bath, and pass the cloth through it for another hour; lastly, air,
rinse, and finish.

7. (For 5 _lbs._) For the first bath--bichromate of potash, 8 _oz._;
alum, 6 _oz._; fustic, 4 _oz._; for the second bath--logwood, 4 _lbs._;
barwood and fustic, of each 4 _oz._; to which add, after the lift,
copperas, 4 _oz._; the process being conducted as in 4, _b_. This, as well
as the two formulae immediately preceding it, is particularly suited to
articles of dress dyed in the small way, at home. When the articles are
only re-dipped, as it is called, a proportionately smaller quantity of the
ingredients may be taken.

_Concluding Remarks._ In dyeing black, particularly on wool, it is
absolutely necessary to take the goods out of the dye-bath several times,
and to expose them to the air. This is called "airing" them, and is done
to allow the oxygen of the atmosphere to act upon the ingredients of the
dye, and especially on the iron; as without this action of the air a good
colour cannot be produced. The usual proportions employed by the dyers of
England are 5 _lbs._ each of galls and copperas and 30 _lbs._ of logwood
for every _cwt._ of cloth; but these weights are frequently increased for
choice goods, just as they are always lessened for common ones. The other
astringent substances used as substitutes for galls in dyeing black are
taken in quantities proportionate to their respective strengths, that of
good Aleppo gall-nuts being referred to as a standard.

The German wool-dyers usually commence their process with a mordant of
Salzburg vitriol (3 parts) and argol (1 part); and after exposure of the
goods in a cool place for 24 hours, work them in a bath of logwood (5 to 6
p.) and fustic (2 p.); after which the bath is restored by the addition of
verdigris (1/4 p.) dissolved in vinegar and the goods again worked through
it for about 1/2 an hour. This is for 20 parts weight of wool or cloth.

Black marinos are usually mordanted (hot) with about 1/10th of their
weight of copperas, and then aired for 24 hours; after which they are dyed
in a boiling bath made with about 1/2 their weight of logwood with the
addition of about 2% of argol or tartar.

As black is the shade most commonly attempted by amateur dyers, it may be
here necessary to call their attention to what is said on mixed fabrics in
our article on DYEING; since an inattention to this point will inevitably
cause the failure of their efforts.

According to Muspratt, a mixed fabric of silk and woollen may be dyed
black by one process, as follows:--Work the goods an hour in a solution of
8 _oz._ each of tartar and copperas, and wash out; work for 15 minutes in
a decoction of 4 _lbs._ of logwood; lift, add 1 _oz._ of bichromate of
potash, work for 1/2 an hour, and dry. And a mixed fabric of cotton, silk,
and woollen:--Steep for six hours in a bath made of 2 _lbs._ of sumach;
then work for an hour in a solution of 6 _oz._ each of tartar, sulphate of
copper, and copperas; wash, and work 1/2 an hour in a decoction of 4
_lbs._ of logwood; lift, add to the bath 1 _oz._ of copperas; work ten
minutes, wash, and dry. If a very deep black be required, 1 _lb._ of bark
is to be added with the logwood. See DYEING, MORDANTS, &c.

=BLACK JACK.= This term is applied to burnt sugar, which is used to colour
beverages, and more particularly for the adulteration of coffee. It is
also known under the name of "coffee refined," and as such is vended in
tin canisters. It is moreover employed to give colour to vinegar, brandy,
and rum. Butter, with which water has been largely incorporated, is also
known as "Black Jack." See CARAMEL.

=BLACK LEAD= (l[)e]d). See PLUMBAGO.

=BLACK PIG'MENTS.= _Syn._ PIGMEN'TA NI'GRA, L. The principal black
pigments of commerce are obtained by carbonising organic substances
(particularly bones), by exposure to a dull red heat, in covered vessels
out of contact with the air; or by collecting the soot formed during the
combustion of unctuous, resinous, and bituminous matters. Artists and
amateurs also prepare, on the small scale, a variety of blacks, many of
which are not procurable at the colour-shops. This they effect either by
the carbonisation of substances not usually employed for the purpose, or
by simply reducing to powder certain mineral productions selected on
account of the peculiar shades of colour which they respectively possess.
Some of the last might, however, be more appropriately classed with
browns. The following list embraces most of these articles:--

=Black, An'imal.= Bone-black.

=Black, Aniline.= See TAR COLOURS.

=Black, Beech'.= Carbonised beech-wood.

=Black, Blue'.= Vine-twigs dried and then carefully carbonised, in covered
vessels, until of the proper shade. That of the ancients was made of
wine-lees. Pit-coal, carefully burnt at a white heat, then quenched in
water, dried and well-ground, forms a cheap, good, and durable blue-black,
fit for most ordinary purposes. See FRANKFORT-BLACK.

=Black, Bone'.= _Syn._ I'VORY-BLACK (of _commerce_); CAR'BO OS'SIS, OS
US'TUM NI'GRUM, E'BUR U. N. (vena'le), &c., L.; NOIR D'OS, &c., Fr.;
KNOCHENSCHWARTZ, &c., Ger. Carbonised bones reduced to powder. That of
commerce is usually the residuum of the distillation of bone-spirit.
Inferior to true ivory-black; having a slight, but peculiar reddish tinge,
from which the latter is quite free. Besides its use as a pigment, it is
extensively employed in making blacking, as a material for the moulds of
founders, as a clarifier and bleacher of liquids, &c. See IVORY-BLACK and
CHARCOAL, ANIMAL.

=Black, Cas'sel=, Cologne'-Black. Ivory-black.

=Black, Coal'.= See BLUE-BLACK and NEWCASTLE-BLACK.

=Black, Composi''tion= (z[)i]sh'-[)u]n-). The selected portion of the
residuum of the process of making prussiate of potash from blood and
hoofs. Used both as a pigment and to decolour organic solutions, which it
does better than bone-black.

=Black, Cork'.= Spanish-black.

=Black, Flo''rey=, FLOREE D'INDE. The dried scum of the dyer's wood-bath.
A superior blue-black.

=Black, Frank'fort=, NOIR DE FRANCFORT. From vine-twigs dried, carbonised
to a full black, and then ground very fine. An excellent black pigment;
also used by the copper-plate printers to make their ink. See BLUE-BLACK.

=Black, Harts'horn.= Resembles ivory-black, which is now usually sold for
it. It was formerly prepared by carbonising the residuum of the
distillation of spirit of hartshorn.

=Black, I'vory.= _Syn._ CAR'BO EB'ORIS, E'BUR US'TUM NI'GRUM, L.; NOIR
D'IVOIRE, &c., Fr.; ELFENBEINSCHWARTZ, KOHLE VON ELFENBEIN, Ger. From
waste fragments and turnings of ivory, by careful exposure in covered
crucibles, avoiding excess of heat or over-burning. The whole having been
allowed to become quite cold, the crucibles are opened and their contents
reduced to fine powder. For the first quality only the richest
portion of the charcoal is selected, and this, after being powdered, is
ground with water on porphyry, washed on a filter with warm water, and
then dried. A very rich and beautiful black. It is brighter than even
peach-stone black, and is quite free from the reddish tinge of bone-black.
With white-lead it forms a rich pearl-grey. See BONE-BLACK.

=Black, Jamai'ca= (-m[=a]'-). Sugar-black.

=Black, Lamp'.= _Syn._ FULI'GO LUCER'NAE, F. PI'NEA, &c., L.; NOIR DE
FUMEE, &c., Fr.; KIENRUSS, &c., Ger. _Prep._ 1. (On the small scale.) A
conical funnel of tin-plate furnished with a small pipe to convey the
fumes from the apartment, is suspended over a lamp fed with oil, tallow,
coal-tar, or crude naphtha, the wick being large and so arranged as to
burn with a full smoky flame. Large spongy, mushroom-like concretions of
an exceedingly light, very black, carbonaceous matter, gradually form at
the summit of the cone, and must be collected from time to time. The
funnel should be united to the smoke-pipe by means of wire, and no solder
should be used for the joints of either.

2. (_Commercial._) On the large scale, lamp-black is now generally made by
burning bone-oil (previously freed from its ammonia), or common coal-tar,
and receiving the smoke in a suitable chamber. In the patented process of
Messrs Martin and Grafton the coal-tar is violently agitated with
lime-water until the two are well mixed, after which it is allowed to
subside, and the lime-water having been drawn off, the tar is washed
several times with hot water. After subsidence and decantation it is put
into stills, and rectified. The crude naphtha in the receiver is then put
into a long cast-iron tube furnished with numerous large burners,
underneath which is a furnace to heat the pipe to nearly the boiling
point. Over each burner is a sort of funnel which goes into a cast-iron
pipe or main, which thus receives the smoke from all the burners. From
this main the smoke is conveyed by large pipes to a succession of boxes or
chambers, and thence into a series of large canvas bags arranged side by
side, and connected together at top and bottom alternately. Fifty to
eighty of these 'bags' are employed; the last one being left open to admit
of the escape of the smoke, which has thus been made to traverse a space
of about 400 yards. As soon as the bags contain any considerable quantity
of black they are removed and emptied. The black deposited in the last bag
is the finest and best, and it becomes progressively coarse as it
approaches the furnace.

_Obs._ The state of minute division in which the carbon exists in good
lamp-black is such as cannot be given to any other matter, not even by
grinding it on porphyry, or by 'elutriation' or 'washing over' with water.
On this account it goes a great way in every kind of painting. It may be
rendered drier and less oily by gentle calcination in close vessels, when
it is called burnt lamp-black, and may then be used as a water-colour; or
its greasiness may be removed by the alkali-treatment noticed under Indian
ink. It is the basis of Indian ink, printer's ink, and most black paints.

Russian lamp-black is the soot produced by burning the chips of resinous
deal. It is objectionable chiefly from being liable to take fire
spontaneously when left for some time moistened with oil.

=Black, Manganese'= (-n[=e]ze'-). Native binoxide of manganese. Durable
and dries well.

=Black, New'castle.= From the richer-looking varieties of pit-coal by
grinding, and elutriation. Brown black or, in thin layers, deep brown. It
is, perhaps, "the most useful brown the artist can place on his palette;
being remarkably clear, not so warm as Vandyke-brown, and serving as a
shadow for blues, reds, and yellows, when glazed over them. It seems
almost certain that Titian made large use of this material." See
BLUE-BLACK (_ante_).

=Black, Opor'to.= Carbonised wine-lees.

=Black, Pa'ris=, NOIR DE PARIS. From turner's bone-dust, treated as for
ivory-black. Works well both in oil and water. It is commonly sold for
real ivory-black, and for burnt lamp-black.

=Black, Peach-stone.= From the stones or kernels of peaches, cherries, and
other similar fruits, treated as for ivory-black. A bright, rich black;
works well with oil; with white-lead and oil it makes old grey.

=Black, Pit'coal.= Newcastle-black.

=Black, Prus''sian= (pr[)u]sh'-[)a]n). Composition-black.

=Black, Rice'.= Rice-charcoal. Inferior.

=Black, Rus''sian.= See LAMP-BLACK.

=Black, Soot'= (s[)o][)o]t'-). The soot of coal-fires, ground and sifted.
Used in common paint, and to colour whitewash; with Venetian-red and oil,
it makes chocolate-colour; also used to make grey mortar.

=Black, Span'ish.= From cork-cuttings carbonised, as bone-black. Resembles
Frankfort-black, but works softer.

=Black, Sug'ar= (sh[)o][)o]g'-). Carbonised moist sugar. Has little body,
but for washing drawings is equal in mellowness to Indian ink and bistre.

=Black, Sun'derland.= Newcastle-black.

=Black, Tur'ner's.= Paris-black.

=Black, Vine'-twig.= Frankfort-black.

=Black Wheat'= (hw[=e]te'-) Carbonised wheat. It has a good colour, a full
body, and dries hard and quickly with oil.

=BLACK'BERRY.= The popular name of _ru'bus frutico'sus_ (Linn.) or the
common 'bramble.' Fruit (BLACK'BERRIES; MURES DE RONCE, Fr.),
antiscorbutic and wholesome, but in excess apt to sicken; twigs used in
dyeing black; root astringent, formerly used in hooping-cough.

=Blackberry, Amer'ican.= The _ru'bus villo'sus_ (Ait.). Root astringent
and tonic; officinal in the Ph. U. S.

=BLACK PUDDING.= A pudding made of the blood of the pig, mixed with groats
and fat. It contains about 11 per cent. of nitrogenous matter.

=BLACK'ING.= _Syn._ CIRAGE (des bottes), NOIR (pour les souliers), Fr.;
SCHWAeRZE, SCHUHSCHWAeRZE, Ger. An article too well known to require
description.

_Hist., &c._ Blacking, and other polishes for leather, were undoubtedly in
common use among the ancients; but the compound to which we now more
particularly apply the name is of comparatively modern invention. The
latter appears to have been first introduced into England from Paris,
during the reign of Chas. II, but was not in common use among the masses
of our population much before the middle of the 18th century.

The general and still increasing use of blacking as a polish for boots and
shoes by all classes of the inhabitants of civilised countries, has given
an extent and importance to its manufacture which a stranger to the
subject would scarcely be led to suspect. The princely establishments of
some of the firms who compound this sable article cannot fail to have
arrested the attention of the passenger through the streets of this great
metropolis; whilst the enormous fortune acquired by one of their late
members, and, for the most part, bequeathed by him for purposes of charity
and philanthropy, has invested both the donor and his craft with an
interest and notoriety which they did not previously possess. At the
present time the consumption of blacking is greater than at any former
period; and of this, as of many other articles, England is the principal
manufactory for the world, alike distinguished for the extent of her trade
and the excellent quality of this product of her industry. In truth,
England excels all other nations in the manufacture of common
shoe-blacking; and perhaps in no other country is an equal attention paid
to the cleanliness and appearance of the external clothing of the feet.

_Prep._ I. LIQUID BLACKING:--

1. Take of bone-black, 16 parts; treacle, 12 parts; oil of vitriol, 3
parts; sperm oil,[190] 2 parts; gum-arabic, 1 part; strong vinegar, or
sour beer, 48 to 50 parts[191] (all by weight); place the bone-black in a
capacious wooden, stone-ware, or enamelled iron vessel,[192] add the oil,
and rub them well together; next gradually add the treacle, and actively
and patiently grind or rub the mass, after each addition, until the oil is
perfectly killed, and finally for some time afterwards, to ensure complete
admixture; then cautiously dilute the vitriol with about three times its
bulk of water, and add it, in separate portions, to the former mixture,
observing to stir the whole together, as rapidly as possible, on each
addition of the acid, and for some minutes after the whole is added, so as
to render the mass thoroughly smooth and homogeneous; let it stand,
covered over, for two or three days, or longer, stirring it, in the mean
time, for 15 or 20 minutes daily; lastly, having dissolved the gum in the
vinegar, add the solution gradually to the rest, and stir the whole
together briskly for some time, and again daily for 3 or 4 days. It may be
further diluted, at will, with a little more vinegar or beer, or with
water; but unnecessary or excessive dilution should be avoided, as the
richness and quality of the blacking become proportionately reduced. If
all the ingredients (except the vitriol) be made hot before admixture, the
shining quality of the product will be greatly improved, and the process
may be shortened.[193]

[Footnote 190: Sperm oil is commonly regarded as the best for blacking;
but pale seal oil is thought by some to be quite as good. The cod-liver
oil of the curriers, if clear, is less expensive, and probably better than
either of them. Common olive oil, and refined rape oil, are, however,
those most generally used by the blacking-makers.]

[Footnote 191: That is, 3 to 3-1/2 times the weight of the ivory-black.]

[Footnote 192: Metallic vessels must be avoided.]

[Footnote 193: By taking the 'parts' ordered in this and the other formulae
as so many 1/4 _lbs._, _lbs._, 1/4 _cwts._, or _cwts._, the proportions of
each ingredient for any quantity of blacking, from a 1/4 of a _lb._, or a
1/4 _pint_, up to 2 _tons_, or nearly 450 _galls._, will be at once seen;
and so on of even larger quantities. See Concluding Remarks (_infra_).]

2. Ivory-black, 16 parts; treacle, 8 parts; oil of vitriol, 4 parts;
(diluted with) water, 2 parts; oil, 2 parts; gum-arabic, 1 part; soft
water (for the final dilution, instead of vinegar), 64 parts; mixed, &c.,
as before. Excellent.

3. As the last; but taking only 6 parts of treacle, 1 part of oil, and
omitting the gum-arabic. Good. A commoner article of liquid blacking does
not sell.

4. (Bryant and James's INDIA-RUBBER LIQUID BLACKING. Patent dated 1836.)
Take of india rubber (in small pieces), 18 _oz._; hot rape oil, 9 _lbs._
(say 1 _gall._); dissolve; to the solution add of ivory-black (in very
fine powder), 60 _lbs._; treacle, 45 _lbs._; mix thoroughly; further add
of gum-arabic, 1 _lb._, dissolved in vinegar (No. 24), 20 galls.; reduce
the whole to a perfect state of smoothness and admixture by trituration in
a paint-mill; throw the compound into a wooden vessel, and add, very
gradually, of sulphuric acid, 12 _lbs._; continue the stirring for 1/2 an
hour, repeating it daily for 14 days; then add of gum-arabic (in fine
powder), 3 _lbs._;[194] again mix well, and repeat the stirring for 1/2 an
hour daily for 14 days longer, when the liquid blacking will be ready for
use or for bottling. The quality is very excellent; but this, probably,
does not depend on the presence of the india rubber, but on the general
correctness of the proportions, and the care and completeness with which
they are mixed.

[Footnote 194: This should be gently rubbed through a sieve, held over the
blacking by one person, whilst another stirs the mass assiduously with the
spatula.]

5. (_Without Vitriol._) Take of ivory-black (in very fine powder), 2
_lbs._; treacle, 1-1/2 lb.; sperm oil, 1/4 pint; mix, as before; then add
of gum-arabic, 1 _oz._; (dissolved in) strong vinegar, 1/2 pint; mix well;
the next day further add of good vinegar, or strong sour beer, 3 to 4
pints (or q. s.); stir briskly for a 1/4 of an hour, and again once a day
for a week. Excellent. A cheaper, but inferior article, may be made by the
reductions and omissions noticed above.

6. From paste-blacking (see _below_), by reducing it with sufficient
vinegar, sour beer, or water, to give it the liquid form.[195]

[Footnote 195: It is sometimes convenient to prepare liquid blacking in
this way from a stock of 'paste-blacking' already on hand.]

II. PASTE BLACKING:--

1. Qualities from good to super-excellent may be made from any of the
preceding formulae, by simply omitting the final dilution with the vinegar,
sour beer, or water, therein ordered at the end of the process.

2. (Bryant and James's INDIA-RUBBER PASTE BLACKING.--Patent dated 1836.)
Of india-rubber oil, ivory black, treacle, and gum-arabic, the same as for
their liquid blacking (see I, 4, _above_), but dissolving the last in only
12 _lbs._ (say 5 quarts), instead of 20 galls. of vinegar; grinding to a
smooth paste in a colour-mill, and then adding of oil of vitriol, 12 lbs.
as before. The mass is to be stirred daily for a week, when it will be fit
for use, or potting.[196] Excellent.

[Footnote 196: The final addition of the 3 _lbs._ of powdered gum, ordered
in the formula of their liquid blacking, is not mentioned by the
patentees; and we therefore presume they do not intend it to be made. If
made, it should be at the end of the week, and the daily stirring must
then be continued for another week. This addition, or omission, enables us
to produce two qualities from the same formula.]

3. Ivory-black, 1 cwt.; treacle, 28 lbs.; rape oil (or other cheap oil), 1
gall.; mix, as before; then add of oil of vitriol, 21 _lbs._; (diluted
with) water, 2 _galls._; mix them quickly and thoroughly by forcible
stirring with a strong wooden spatula, and as soon as admixture is
complete, but whilst still fuming, put the cover on the tub, and leave it
till the next day, when (without further stirring) it will be fit for use
or sale.[197] Good ordinary. Used for packets and tins.

[Footnote 197: The object here is to make the product as spongy and light
as possible, so that the purchaser may fancy he has a great deal for his
money.]

4. As the last; but adding with the ivory-black, &c., 14 to 28 _lbs._ of
coal-soot[198] (sifted), omitting one half of the oil, and diluting the
vitriol with an extra gall. of water. Inferior. Chiefly used for 1_d._ and
1/2_d._ packets.[199]

[Footnote 198: This is also to give bulk.]

[Footnote 199: A still more common article is vended in the north of
England, and in Scotland, in which the oil is omitted altogether. The sale
of such blackings (?) is disreputable, when it is remembered that a really
good article may be made for 2_d._ to 2-1/2_d._ per _lb._]

5. (GERMAN BLACKING). Ivory-black, 1 part; treacle, 1/2 part; sweet oil,
1/8 part; mix, as before; then stir in a mixture of hydrochloric acid, 1/8
part; oil of vitriol, 1/4 part (each separately diluted with twice its
weight of water before mixing them). This forms the ordinary
paste-blacking of Germany, according to Liebig.

6. (_Without Vitriol._) As I, 5 (_ante_); but with the omission of the
last 1/2 gall. of 'vinegar.'

_Concluding Remarks._--To produce a first-rate article of blacking it is
absolutely necessary that the ingredients be of the best quality, and used
in the proper proportions; and that the order of their admixture, and the
general manipulations, be conducted under ordinary circumstances, in the
manner described in the first of the above formulae. The proportions of the
treacle and the oil (the most expensive of the ingredients) should not be
stinted; and, indeed, that of the latter may be safely increased in
quantity, without materially affecting the polish, and with manifest
advantage as far as the softness and durability of the leather to which it
is applied is concerned. The manipulations required in the manufacture of
both paste-blacking and liquid blacking are essentially the same; the
difference between the two articles, when the same materials are used,
depending entirely on the quantity of liquid added. Thus, as noticed
before, by diluting paste-blacking with water, vinegar, or beer-bottoms,
it may be converted into liquid blacking of a nearly similar quality; and,
by using less fluid matter, the ingredients of liquid blacking will
produce paste blacking. One thing must, however, be observed, and that is,
that the ivory-black used for liquid blacking should be reduced to a much
finer powder than for paste blacking; as, if this is not attended to, it
is apt to settle at the bottom, and to be with difficulty again diffused
through the liquid. Persons who object to the use of blacking containing
oil of vitriol may employ formula I, 5, or II, 6 (_above_). The vitriol,
however, greatly contributes to promote the shining properties of the
blacking; and, in small quantities, or in the proper proportion, is not so
injurious to the leather as some persons have represented; as it wholly
unites itself to the lime of the bone-phosphate contained in the
ivory-black, and is thus neutralised, insoluble sulphate of lime, and an
acid phosphate or superphosphate, being formed. It is the latter that
gives the acidity to a well-made sample of blacking, and not the sulphuric
acid originally added to it. In this way the larger portion of the
ivory-black is reduced to a state of extremely minute division, and with
the other ingredients forms a strongly adhesive paste, which clings to the
surface of the leather, and is susceptible of receiving a high polish by
friction when in a scarcely dry state. This is the reason why lamp-black
should never be employed for blacking to the exclusion of the necessary
proportion of bone-black, as it has no earthy base to absorb or neutralise
the acid, which, if left in a free state, would prove very hurtful to the
leather. Oil of vitriol is now employed in the manufacture of all the more
celebrated and expensive blackings; and that simply because no other
substance is known so efficient, and so little injurious to the leather.
In the common blackings of Germany, hydrochloric acid is often used to the
entire exclusion of oil of vitriol; but blacking so prepared possesses
several disadvantages from which that of England is free. In the best
German blackings only a small portion of this acid is used, as may be seen
by reference to formula II, 5 (_above_). The addition of white-of-egg,
isinglass, and similar articles[200] to blacking, always proves injurious,
as they tend to stiffen the leather and to make it crack, without at all
improving its polishing properties. Even gum-arabic, in quantity, is on
this account objectionable. Oil has an opposite tendency, and, as already
stated, the quantity commonly used may be increased with advantage. Resin
oil should be particularly avoided.

[Footnote 200: In Scotland, flour-paste soured by keeping is often
substituted for part of the treacle in the common blackings; with the
effect, however, of greatly impairing their polishing qualities, and
causing the leather to rapidly become stiff and to crack. Further, such
blacking will not keep, often growing mouldy and hard in two or three
weeks.]

Dr Ure has recommended the use of a little copperas[201] in blacking; with
the object, we presume, of striking a black with the tan in the leather;
but except with new, or nearly new leather, this effect would not occur,
whilst its presence, if not objectionable, would otherwise be useless.

[Footnote 201: The proportion recommended by Dr Ure is 1/4 _oz._ to each
_lb._ of bone-black, dissolved in 10 parts of water, and to be added with
the vitriol.]

The only improvement that has been introduced in the manufacture of
blacking since the early days of the celebrated Day & Martin is, a few
hours after the conclusion of the mixture of the ingredients (but before
adding the vinegar, if any), to simmer the whole very gently, for about 8
or 10 minutes, observing to stir it assiduously all the time. The fire
must then be withdrawn, and the pan covered over until it is quite cold,
when half an hour's lusty stirring will finish the process.[202] In this
way a degree of maturity and brilliancy will be imparted to the product,
which, without the application of heat, it would take months to acquire,
if, indeed, it ever reached it.

[Footnote 202: A capacious enamelled cast-iron boiler, with a concave
bottom, should be used for this purpose; in which case the ingredients can
be mixed in it, and thus the trouble of removal avoided. If a common
copper or cast-iron boiler be employed, the blacking must not be allowed
to remain in it longer than necessary to give it the 'simmer,' at the
conclusion of which it should be turned out into a wooden tub or vat to
cool.]

As it is generally more convenient to measure than to weigh liquids, it
may be useful to remind the reader that, in round numbers,

  1 gal. of oil           weighs   9-1/4 _lbs._
  1   "       sour beer     "     10-1/4   "
  1   "       vinegar }     "     10       "
  1   "       water   }

We may here further remark that the blackings of different houses vary
considerably in some of their properties; as also do those of even the
same maker by age. Some blackings dry off rapidly and give a very
brilliant polish with very little labour; whilst others take a little
longer to 'dry off,' and somewhat more labour to polish them. The former
are best adapted to hasty use, and when a very brilliant surface is
desired; the latter when depth of polish, without extreme brilliancy,
satisfies the wearer. The first best meets the requirements of fashionable
life; the last those of the middle classes and pedestrians exposed to
dirt, mud, and the various vicissitudes of travelling and weather. To the
one belong the 'blackings' of Everett, Day & Martin, &c.; to the other,
those of Warren, Bryant & James, and most of the smaller manufacturers,
with nearly all the paste-blacking of the more respectable shops. Time,
however, equalises the qualities of these two classes. Blackings which are
crude, moist, and oily lose these properties, and become drier and more
brilliant by age. The practice of several of the first-class West-end boot
and shoe makers is never to use a blacking which they have not had in
their stock at least a twelvemonth.

Blacking, both liquid and paste, should be stored in a cool and moderately
dry cellar; and when in use should be kept corked or otherwise excluded
from the air. Exposure or desiccation destroys most of its best qualities.

The present annual value of the blacking consumed in the United Kingdom is
estimated at 562,500_l._, or about 4-1/2_d._ per head for the whole
population; while the collective yearly value of that exported is about
35,000_l._

[See BALLS, BLACKING, BONE-BLACK, BOOTS AND SHOES, LEATHER, SULPHURIC
ACID, &c.; also _below_.]

=Blacking, Automat'ic.= _Syn._ SELF-SHI''NING BLACKING, SPAN'ISH JAPAN,
&c. _Prep._ 1. Gum-arabic, 4 _oz._; treacle or coarse moist sugar,
1-1/2_oz._; good black ink, 1/4 pint; strong vinegar, 2 _oz._; rectified
spirit of wine and sweet oil, of each 1 _oz._; dissolve the gum in the
ink, add the oil, and rub them in a mortar or shake them together for some
time, until they are thoroughly united; then add the vinegar, and lastly
the spirit.

2. Lamp-black, 3/4 _oz._; indigo (in fine powder), 1 _dr._; put them in a
mortar, or basin, and rub them with sufficient mucilage (made by
dissolving 4 _oz._ of gum in 1/4 pint of strong vinegar) to form a thin
paste; add very gradually of sweet oil, 1 _oz._; and triturate until their
union is complete, adding toward the end the rest of the mucilage; then
further add of treacle, 1-1/2 _oz._; and afterwards, successively, of
strong vinegar, 2 _oz._; rectified spirit, 1 _oz._; lastly, bottle for
use.

3. Mix the whites of 2 eggs with a table-spoonful of spirit of wine, 2
large lumps of sugar (crushed), and sufficient finely powdered ivory-black
to give the required colour and thickness, avoiding excess.

_Obs._ The above are chiefly used for dress boots and shoes. The first two
are applied to the leather with the tip of the finger, or a sponge, and
then allowed to dry out of the dust. The third is commonly laid on with a
sponge or soft brush, and when almost dry or hard may have its polish
heightened with a brush or soft rubber, after which it is left for a few
hours to harden. It may also be used to revive the faded black leather
seats and backs of old chairs. They all possess great brilliancy for a
time; but are only adapted to clean, dry weather, or indoor use. They
should all be applied to the leather as thinly as possible, as otherwise
they soon crack off.

=Blacking, Har'ness.= Good glue or gelatine, 4 _oz._; gum-arabic, 3 _oz._;
water, 3/4 pint; dissolve by heat; add of treacle, 6 _oz._; ivory-black
(in very fine powder), 5 _oz._; and gently evaporate, with constant
trituration, until of a proper consistence when cold; when nearly cold put
it into bottles, and cork them down. For use, the bottle may be warmed a
little to thin it, if necessary. Does not resist the wet.

2. Mutton suet, 2 _oz._; bees-wax (pure), 6 _oz._; melt, add of sugar
candy (in fine powder), 6 _oz._; soft soap, 2 _oz._; lamp-black, 2-1/2
_oz._; indigo (in fine powder), 1/2 _oz._; when thoroughly incorporated,
further add of oil of turpentine, 1/4 pint; and pour it into pots or tins.

3. Bees'-wax, 1 _lb._; soft soap, 6 _oz._; ivory-black, 1/4 _lb._;
Prussian blue, 1 _oz._; (ground in) linseed oil, 2 _oz._; oil of
turpentine, 1/2 pint; to be mixed, &c., as before.

_Obs._ The above are used by laying a very little of them on the leather,
evenly spreading it over the surface, and then polishing it by gentle
friction with a brush, or a soft-rubber. The last two are waterproof.
Numerous compositions of the class are vended by the saddlers and oilmen,
but the mass of them are unchemical mixtures, badly prepared, and cause
disappointment to those who use them. Such is not the case with the
products of the above formulae, if we may rely on the statements of those
who have employed them for years. The last two are suitable for both
harness and carriage leather. See BALLS, HEEL, &c.

=BLADD'ER.= _Syn._ VES'ICA, L.; VESSIE, Fr.; BLASE, BLATTER, Ger. In
_anatomy_, &c., a thin membranous sac or bag, in an animal, serving as a
receptacle for some secreted fluid; appr., the urinary bladder. See
CALCULUS, INFLAMMATION, RUPTURE, &c.

=Bladd'ers.= (In _commerce_.) The better qualities of these articles are
prepared by cutting off the fat and loose membranes attached to them, and
washing them first in a weak solution of chloride of lime, and afterwards
in clear water; they are then blown out and submitted to strong pressure
by rolling them under the arm, by which they become considerably larger;
they are next blown quite tight, dried, and tied up in dozens. Commoner
qualities are merely emptied, the loose fat removed, and then blown out,
and strung up to dry. Used chiefly by druggists and oilmen to tie over
pots, bottles, and jars, and to contain pill-masses, hard extracts, and
other similar substances; also in surgery, to cover wounds, sore heads,
&c.--_Obs._ Bladders should never be purchased unless perfectly dry and
air-tight; as, if the reverse be the case, they will neither keep nor
prove useful, but will rapidly become rotten and evolve a most offensive
odour. If purchased whilst damp, they should be at once hung up in a
current of air, so as to dry as soon as possible.

=BLAIN*= (bl[=a]ne). A boil; a sore; a pustule.

=BLANC= (bl[)o]ng). [Fr.] In _cookery_, a dish which, according to Mrs
Rundell, is formed of grated bacon and suet, of each 1 _lb._; butter, 1/2
_lb._; 2 lemons; 3 or 4 carrots (cut into dice); 3 or 4 onions; and a
little water; the whole being simmered for a short time, with or without
the addition of a glass of sherry or marsala, before serving.

=BLANCH'ING.= _Syn._ CANDICA'TIO, DEALBA'TIO, &c., L.; BLANCHIMENT, &c.,
Fr.; BLEICHEN, &c., Ger. A whitening, or making white; a growing white. In
some cases it means decortication. See ALMONDS, BLEACHING, DECOLORATION,
&c.

=Blanching.= In _cookery_, an operation intended to impart whiteness,
plumpness, and softness, to joints of meats, poultry, tongues, palates,
&c. It is usually performed by putting the articles into cold water, which
is then gradually raised to the boiling point, when they are at once taken
out, plunged into cold water, and left there until quite cold. They are
subsequently removed and wiped dry, ready for being dressed.

_Obs._ The operation of blanching meat, although it renders it more
sightly according to the notions of fashionable life, at the same time
lessens its nutritive qualities, by abstracting a portion of the soluble
saline matter which it contains, especially the phosphates, and thus
deprives it of one of the principal features which distinguish fresh meat
from salted meat. Animal food, before being dressed, may be washed or
rinsed in cold water without injury, provided it be quickly done; but it
cannot be soaked in water at any temperature much below the boiling-point
without the surface, and the parts near it, being rendered less
nutritious. Washing meat when first received from the butcher is, indeed,
a necessary act of cleanliness; but soaking it for some time in water is
unnecessary, and for the reasons stated should be avoided.

Strong acetic acid (concentrated vinegar) poured on or rubbed over hard
lean meat gradually renders it soft and gelatinous. Ordinary household
vinegar has the same effect, but in a less degree. Tough meat thus treated
for a short time before dressing it becomes more tender and digestible,
though somewhat less nutritious; whilst the taste and flavour of the
vinegar is removed by the heat subsequently employed in dressing it.

=BLANCMANGE'.= (blo-m[)o]n_g_zh'[double-dagger].) _Syn._ BLANCMANGER
(bl[)o]n_g_-m[)o]n_g_-zh[=a]), Fr. _Literally_, white food; in _cookery_,
a confected white jelly. It is commonly prepared by simmering 1 _oz._ of
isinglass, 2 or 3 _oz._ of lump sugar, and a little flavouring,[203] in
about a pint of milk, until the first is dissolved, when the whole is
thrown into a jelly-bag, and the strained liquor is allowed to cool and
solidify; it is next remelted by a gentle heat, and, when nearly cold,
poured into moulds, which have been previously rubbed with a little salad
oil and then wiped out again.

[Footnote 203: This may be 5 or 6 bitter almonds (grated), or a little
cinnamon, orange, or lemon peel, &c., at will. Sometimes these are
omitted, and a little orange-flower water, rose-water, or essence of
vanilla, added to the remelted jelly.]

_Obs._ Good gelatine, or strong calves' feet jelly, is often substituted
for the isinglass. At other times the jelly is made with about 1/2 pint of
water (instead of milk), when 1/2 pint of almond-milk, or of cream, is
added to the remelted jelly. Sometimes ground rice or arrow-root is
employed in lieu of isinglass, when the product is called RICE-BLANCMANGE,
or WEST-INDIAN B., as the case may be. TRANSPA''RENT BLANCMANGE[204] is
merely clarified isinglass-jelly, flavoured. See CREAM (Stone), ISINGLASS,
and JELLY.

[Footnote 204: A misnomer of the confectioners and cooks.]

=BLANQUETTE'= (blan_g_-ket'). [Fr.] In _cookery_, a species of white
fricasee. It is also the name of a delicate species of white wine, and of
a particular sort of pear.

=BLAST'ING.= In _civil_ and _military engineering_, the disruption of
rocks, &c., by the explosion of gunpowder, or other like material.

=BLAST'ING POWDERS= (Melville and Callow's). _Prep._ 1. (POWDER NO. 1.)
Chlorate of potassa, 2 parts; red sulphuret of arsenic, 1 part; to be
separately carefully reduced to powder, and lightly mixed together,
scrupulously avoiding the use of iron instruments, percussion, much
friction, the slightest contact with acids, or exposure to heat.

2. (POWDER NO. 2.) Chlorate of potassa, 5 parts; red sulphuret of arsenic,
2 parts; ferrocyanide of potassium (prussiate of potash), 1 part; as No.
1.

3. (POWDER NO. 3.) Chlorate of potassa and ferrocyanide of potassium,
equal parts.

_Obs._ These compounds are not permanently injured by either salt or fresh
water, merely requiring to be dried to regain their explosive character.
They possess fully eight times the force of ordinary powder. One of their
advantages, especially to the underground miner, is the very trifling
amount of smoke produced by their explosion. On the other hand, the
extreme facility with which they explode by attrition, contact with a
strong acid, and a slight elevation of temperature, render them unsuited
to most of the purposes of ordinary gunpowder. On this account they should
only be prepared in small quantities at a time, and with the utmost
caution. Mr Callow, the inventor of them, lost several of his fingers, and
was rendered a <DW36> for life, by an explosion of the kind referred to,
which occurred only a few weeks after the sealing of his patent. A straw,
or small strip of wood, only slightly wetted with oil of vitriol, and
applied to a small heap of the powder, produces instantaneous explosion.
Captain Wynand's 'Saxifragine' is composed of nitrate of baryta, 76 parts;
charcoal, 22 parts; and nitre, 2 parts. Schultze's wood-gunpowder is
composed of granulated wood treated with a mixture of nitric and sulphuric
acid, afterwards impregnated with a solution of nitre. M. Baeudish has
invented a method by which this wood-gunpowder may be compressed into a
solid substance, exerting great power and free from danger by transport.
Lithofracteur, a white blasting powder used in Belgium, is a substance
similar to gun-cotton.

Messrs Nenmayer and Fehleisen's haloxylin is composed of charcoal, nitre,
and yellow prussiate of potash. See GUN-COTTON, GUNPOWDER, MINING, &c.

=BLATTA ORIENTALIS.= The common cockroach, originally imported from the
East, belongs to the family of orthopterous insects; and may be classed
amongst the most offensive and objectionable of domestic pests. It is
extremely voracious, not only devouring all kinds of provisions, but
attacking and consequently destroying silk, flannel, and even cotton
fabrics, in the absence of anything more eatable. The cockroach is
nocturnal in its habits, and exceedingly active and swift of movement. Its
flattened form enables it to insinuate itself easily into crevices, and so
to escape detection. The American cockroach (_Blatta Americana_) is larger
than the above. A still larger species (_Blatta gigantea_) is found in the
West Indies where it is known by the name of the drummer. It is so called
from the tapping noise it makes on wood, the sound so produced, when
joined in by several of the creatures (as it usually is) being sufficient
to destroy the slumbers of a household.

Cockroaches may be poisoned by means of wafers made of red lead, or caught
by smearing a piece of wood with treacle, and floating it on a broad basin
of water. When the fires and lights are extinguished they issue from their
holes, and fall into the basin in their efforts to reach the bait. The
chinks and holes from which they come should also be filled up with
unslaked lime, and some lime should also be sprinkled about the ground.

Old Gerrard says they avoid any place in which the leaves of the mullein
are strewn about.

The _Blatta Orientalis_, which was formerly supposed to possess remedial
powers, and was hence employed in medicine by the more ancient
therapeutists, has lately found advocates for his readmission into the
animal materia medica. He is reported, when made into a tincture, to act
as a diuretic, and to yield a crystalline body possessed of similar
properties, but in a more concentrated form. Some of the American journals
report that he may be given in the form of powder or infusion (from 15 to
30 gr.) 3 or 4 times a day, in dropsy, and to increase the secretion of
urine as well as of perspiration.

=BLEACH'ING=, (bl[=e]che'-). _Syn._ DEAeLBA'TIO (-sh'o), INSOLA'TIO,[205]
&c., L.; BLANCHIMENT, BLANCHISSAGE, Fr.; BLEICHEN, Ger. The process by
which the colour of bodies, natural or acquired, is removed, and by which
they are rendered white or colourless. It is more particularly applied to
the decolorisation of textile filaments, and of cloths made of them.

[Footnote 205: Bleaching by exposure in the sun.]

_Hist._ Bleaching is a very ancient art, as passages referring to it in
the earlier sacred and profane writers fully testify. It had probably
reached a high degree of excellence among the inhabitants of the first
Assyrian empire, and was certainly practised in Egypt long before the
commencement of written history. We may fairly assume that fine white
linen formed part of the "raiment," which, together with "jewels of gold,
and jewels of silver," and "precious things," Abraham sent as presents to
the beautiful Rebekah and her family,[206] fully three centuries and a
half before the Exodus. Subsequently, in Scripture, we have special
mention of "fine linen, white and clean." Herodotus, the earliest Greek
historian, tells us, that the Babylonians wore "white cloaks;"[207] and in
Athenaeus we read of "shining fine linen," as opposed to that which was
"raw" or unbleached.[208] At this early period, and for many centuries
afterwards, the operations of washing, fulling, and bleaching were not
distinctly separated. The common system of washing followed by drying in
the sun, adopted by the ancients, is a process which of itself, by
frequent repetition, decolorises the raw materials of textile fabrics, and
thus must inevitably have taught them the art of 'natural bleaching' of a
character similar to that practised in Europe up to a comparatively very
recent period. And this appears, according to the authority of ancient
authors, to have been the case. Washing or steeping in alkaline and
ammoniacal lyes, or in milk of lime, followed by exposure in the sun,
formed the chief basis of their system; whilst woollens, then as now, were
treated with soap and fuller's earth, or with potter's clay, marl,
Cimolian earth, or other like mineral. Urine was highly esteemed among
them; and we are told that in the time of the emperor Vespasian,[209] and
undoubtedly long before it, cloths were sulphured. Indeed, according to
Pliny, sulphuring was often had recourse to in ordinary washing, as well
as in the bleaching process.[210]

[Footnote 206: Gen. xxiv, 53; B.C. 1857.]

[Footnote 207: Herod., i, 195.]

[Footnote 208: Athen., ix, 77.]

[Footnote 209: 'Hist. Nat.,' xxv, 57, &c.]

[Footnote 210: {Transcriber's note: Footnote omitted by publisher.}]

Bleaching continued to be practised with no essential change of its
principles until the discovery of chlorine, to which we shall presently
refer. In the last century Holland obtained the best name for bleaching.
The process passed then to Ireland and Scotland, and thence into England.
It was even customary to send goods from this country to be bleached in
Holland. The first attempt to vie with Holland was made, in Scotland, in
1749.

The first steps towards the modern or chemical system of bleaching were
the investigations of Berthollet on chlorine, in 1784, but which were not
communicated to the French Academy until the year 1787. The knowledge of
the use of chlorine as a bleacher was soon afterwards brought to this
country by the Duke of Gordon, and by Prof. Copeland of Aberdeen, and
through them was practically applied by Messrs Milnes of that place. About
the same time James Watt, a correspondent of Berthollet, successfully
introduced its use in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and then generously
laid a statement of the results before the Manchester manufacturers. In
enforcing the importance of the new substance and process on these
gentlemen, he was ably followed and seconded by Dr Henry. In 1798, Mr
Charles Tennant, of Glasgow, obtained a patent for a new bleaching liquor
prepared by saturating lime water with chlorine; and another, in 1799, for
dry chloride of lime, a substance which is still preferred as a bleacher
to all other preparations of chlorine. The new or continuous process of
bleaching, as it is called, and that which is at present in general use in
all the chief bleach-works of Lancashire, was introduced by Mr David
Bentley, of Pendleton, and patented by him in 1828.

_Proc._ Bleaching is commonly said to be natural when exposure to light,
air, and moisture forms the leading part of the process; and to be
chemical when chlorine, chloride of lime, sulphurous acid, or other like
substances are employed. In some cases, as with linen, the two processes
are combined. The subject requires to be noticed under separate heads,
depending on the material operated on:--

I. BLEACHING of =Cotton=:--Cotton is more easily bleached, and appears to
suffer less from the process than most other textile substances. On the
old plan it was first (1) thoroughly washed in warm water, to remove the
weaver's paste or dressing; then (2) 'bucked' or 'bowked' (boiled) in a
weak alkaline lye, or in milk of lime, to remove colouring, fatty, and
resinous matters, insoluble in simple water; and after being (3) again
well washed, was (4) spread out upon the grass, or bleaching ground, and
freely exposed to the joint action of light, air, and moisture
(technically called 'crofting'). The operation of 'bucking' in an alkaline
lye, washing, and exposure was repeated as often as necessary, when the
goods were (5) 'soured' or immersed in water acidulated with sulphuric
acid, after which they (6) received a final thorough washing in clean
water, and were (7) dried, finished, and folded for the market. From the
length of the exposure upon the bleaching ground this method is apt to
injure the texture of the cloth; and from the number of operations
required is necessarily expensive and tedious. It is therefore now very
generally superseded by the system of chemical bleaching briefly described
below.

In the CHEMICAL SYSTEM of bleaching the goods are 'washed' and 'bucked' as
on the old plan, then submitted to the action of a weak solution of
chloride of lime, and afterwards passed through water soured with
hydrochloric or sulphuric acid, when they have only to be thoroughly
washed, and to be dried and finished, for the entire completion of the
process.

The new or continuous process, before referred to,[211] is the method of
chemical bleaching at present in the most general use; and, indeed, it has
nearly superseded all other methods. In this system the pieces, previously
tacked together endwise so as to form a chain, are drawn, by the motion of
rollers, in any direction, and any number of times, through every solution
to the action of which it is desired to expose them, and this entirely and
completely under the control of the operator.

[Footnote 211: See 'Hist.' (_ante_).]

The following _Table_ exhibits an outline of the several operations in the
improved form of the continuous process as practised by Messrs McNaughten,
Barton, and Thom, at Chorley, and in most other large bleach-works:--

1. Preliminary operations:--_a_. The 'pieces'[212] are separately stamped
with the printer's name, a solution of silver, or sometimes coal-tar,
being employed for the purpose.

[Footnote 212: Usually about 30 yards each.]

_b._ They are tacked together endwise either by hand or a machine, so as
to form one continuous piece of 300 to 350 yards in length, according to
the weight of the cloth.

_c._ They are singed.[213]

[Footnote 213: Generally on one side only; but for goods to be
subsequently finely printed, on both sides. For very fine printing the nap
is sometimes removed by shearing instead of 'singeing,' an ingenious and
effective machine being employed for the purpose.]

_d._ They are crushed into a rope-like form by drawing them through a
smooth aperture,[214] the surface of which is generally of glass or
porcelain--the rope-form being given them to enable the water and other
liquids to penetrate the goods more easily, and to allow them to be laid
in loose coils in the kiers.

[Footnote 214: Such apertures are also used instead of pulleys, in the
transfer of the rope from place to place.]

2. The pieces are bucked or boiled in milk of lime[215] for 12 to 14
hours,[216] followed by rinsing or cleansing in the washing-machine.

[Footnote 215: The common proportions are about 1 lb. of quick-lime slaked
and reduced to milk, with 2 galls. of water, for every 14 or 15 lbs. of
cloth.]

[Footnote 216: This is done in a large iron boiler furnished with a
perforated false bottom of wood, and technically termed a 'kier.']

3. They are soured in water acidulated with hydrochloric acid,[217] and
again washed; similar machines being employed for each.

[Footnote 217: This dilute acid or acidulated water has usually the sp.
gr. 1.010 or 2 deg. Twaddle.]

4. They are bucked or boiled for 15 or 16 hours in a solution of resinate
of soda,[218] and then washed as before.

[Footnote 218: Made with about 17 _lbs._ of soda-ash and 3 _lbs._ of
resin, with water, 50 galls., to every 20 or 21 _lbs._ of cloth.]

5. They are chemicked by being laid in a wooden, stone, or slate cistern,
when a solution of chloride of lime[219] is pumped over them, so as to run
through the 'goods' into a vessel below, from which it is returned on them
by continued pumping, so that the cloth lies in it for 1 or 2 hours; it is
then washed.

[Footnote 219: Technically called 'chemick.' The strength of the solution
is usually of the sp. gr. 1.0025, or 1/2 deg. Twaddle.]

6. They are bucked or boiled, for 4 or 5 hours, in a solution of 1 _lb._
of crystallised carbonate of soda, dissolved in 5 galls. of water, to
every 35 _lbs._ of cloth; and washed.

7. They are again 'chemicked,' as before; and washed.

8. They are soured in very dilute hydrochloric acid;[220] and then left on
'stillages'[221] for 5 or 6 hours.

[Footnote 220: Sp. gr. 1.0125, or 2-1/2 deg. Twaddle.]

[Footnote 221: Low stools or props to keep them from the ground.]

9. They are, finally, thoroughly washed, well squeezed between rollers,
dried over steam-heated tin-cylinders, starched or dressed, and finished.

This is the usual process for good calicos, Muslins, and other light
goods, are handled rather more carefully; whilst for commoner ones the
sixth and seventh operations are generally omitted. The whole usually
occupies 5 days; but by using Mr Barlow's high-pressure steam kiers, it
may be performed in two days. Yarns, &c., may be bleached in a similar
manner by first looping the skeins together.

_Obs._ According to the most reliable authorities, the strength of
cotton-fibre is not impaired by its being boiled for two hours in milk of
lime, under ordinary pressure, out of contact with the air; nor, according
to the bleachers, even by sixteen hours boiling at the strength of 40
_lbs._ per 100 galls. It is said that lime is less injurious than 'soda.'

Solution of caustic soda, sp. gr. 1.030, does not injure it, even by
boiling under high pressure; but, in practice, soda-ash, or carbonate of
soda, is used, and this only in the second bucking, and in the third, if
there be one. The strength now never exceeds 25 _lbs._ of the crystals to
the 100 _galls._, and is usually less.

Experiments have shown that immersion for 8 hours in a solution of
chloride of lime containing 3 _lbs._ to the 100 galls., followed by
souring in sulphuric acid of the sp. gr. 1.067, or for 18 hours in acid of
1.035, does not injure it.

By the improved method of previously treating the goods with lime or
alkalies, little chloride of lime is required. Indeed, it is said that
where 300 _lbs._ were formerly employed, 30 to 40 _lbs._ only are now
used. At the same time it is right to mention, that though a solution at
1/2 deg. Twaddle is usually regarded as the best and safest strength, yet in
some bleach works, particularly for inferior and less tender goods, this
is greatly increased, even up to 5 deg., the period of immersion being
proportionately reduced, as it is not safe to expose the goods long to the
action of such powerful solutions. With the higher strengths they are
passed rapidly through the liquid with the calender, sufficient time only
being allowed to soak them thoroughly; then immediately through the acid
or souring, followed by washing as before.

In Scotland and Ireland the washing is generally performed by wash-stocks;
whilst in Lancashire, dash-wheels, or washing machines with squeezers, are
almost always used for the purpose.

Cotton loses about 1-20th of its weight by bleaching.

II. BLEACHING of =Linen=:--Linen may be bleached in a similar way to
'cotton,' but the process is much more troublesome and tedious, owing to
its greater affinity for the colouring matter existing in it in the raw
state. Under the old system, several alternate buckings with pearlash or
potash and lengthened exposure on the field, with one or two sourings, and
a final scrubbing with a strong lather of soft soap, constituted the chief
details of the process. In this way a high degree of whiteness, though not
an absolutely pure or snow white, was ultimately produced. Grass-bleaching
or crofting is still extensively used for linen; but it is more generally
employed only for a limited time, and in combination with a modification
of the system at present almost universally adopted for cotton goods;
whilst, in some cases, crofting is omitted altogether, and the bleaching
conducted wholly by the latter process. The following _Tables_ exhibit the
outlines of the new system as at present practised in Ireland and
Scotland:--

_a._ For plain sheetings:--

1. They are bucked for 12 or 15 hours in a lye made with about 1 _lb._ of
pearlash (or soda-ash) to every 56 _lbs._ of cloth, and washed.

2. Crofted for about 2 days.

3. Bucked in milk of lime.

4. Turned, and the bucking continued, some fresh lime and water being
added; and washed.

5. Soured in dilute sulphuric acid at 2 deg. Twaddle.

6. Bucked with soda-ash for about 10 hours, and washed.

7. Crofted, as before.

8. Bucked again with soda-ash, as before.

9. Crofted for about 3 days.

10. Examined, the white ones taken out, and the others again bucked and
crofted.

11. Scalded or simmered in a lye of soda-ash of about only 2-3rds the
former strength, and washed.

12. Chemicked, for 2 hours, at 1/2 deg. Twaddle, washed, and scalded.

13. Again chemicked, as before.

14. Soured for 4 hours, as in No. 5; washed, and finished.

This occupies 13 to 15 days, according to the weather.

_b._ For shirtings, &c.:--As the preceding, but with somewhat weaker
solutions.

_c._ For goods to be subsequently printed:--

1. Bucked in milk of lime for 10 or 12 hours.

2. Soured in dilute hydrochloric acid of 2 deg. Tw., for 3 to 5 hours, and
washed.

3. Bucked with resinate of soda for about 12 hours.

4. Goods turned, reboiled as before, and washed.

5. Chemicked at 1/2 deg. Tw., for 4 hours.

6. Soured at 2 deg. Tw., for 2 hours, and washed.

7. Bucked with soda-ash for about 10 hours, and washed.

8. Chemicked as in No. 5.

9. Soured, as at No. 6, for 3 hours; washed, and dried.[222]

[Footnote 222: The strengths of the solutions, when not otherwise stated,
are about the same as those given under COTTON (_ante_).]

_Obs._ The chief difficulty in bleaching linen arises from the fact that
its colouring matter is insoluble in acid or alkaline solutions until it
has been long acted upon by light, air, and moisture, as in the common
process of grass-bleaching. Chlorine hastens the operation; but,
unfortunately, it can only be employed towards the end of the process; as
when earlier used, the colour of the raw cloth becomes set, and
irremovable. To obviate this difficulty Mr F. M. Jennings, of Cork, has
lately[223] introduced the joint use of an alkali and an alkaline
hypochlorite (chloride) in the place of the ordinary chloride of lime. He
prepares a bath of solution of soda at 5 deg. Twaddle, which he raises by the
addition of chloride of soda (or of potash) to 6 or 7 deg., and in this he
steeps the cloth (after the first bucking and souring) for some hours,
heat, or constant squeezing between rollers, being had recourse to, to
facilitate the action. Souring and washing follow, when the goods are
again put into the alkaline and chloride bath, as before; after which they
are soured, and bucked again with soda. These last three operations are
repeated until the cloth is almost white, when crofting for one half to
one fourth the time required by the usual method renders it fit for the
final bucking, and finishing. Indeed, it is said that if the process be
very carefully managed it renders crofting unnecessary.

[Footnote 223: Patent dated 1859.]

Raw linen loses about 1-3rd of its weight in bleaching.

III. =Silk=:--Silk is usually bleached by first steeping it, and then
boiling it in solutions of white soap in water, after which it is
subjected to repeated rinsings, a little indigo-blue, or archil, being
added to the last water to give it a pearly appearance. When required to
be very white (as for gloves, stockings, &c.), the goods are cautiously
submitted, for 2 or 3 hours, to the action of the fumes of burning
sulphur, and then finished by rinsing, as before.

_Obs._ Boiling or sulphuring is not required for the white silk of China.
Raw silk loses from 4 to 5 _oz._ per _lb._ by bleaching.

IV. =Wool=:--In bleaching raw wool it is first deprived of the yolk or
peculiar natural varnish with which it is covered. For this purpose it is
steeped and stirred for about 20 minutes in rather warm water (135 deg.--140 deg.
Fahr.), either with or without the addition of 1-4th part of stale urine;
after which it is placed in baskets to drain, and soon afterwards
thoroughly rinsed in a stream of water, when it is again allowed to drain,
and it is hung up to dry. The further operations depend on circumstances,
wool being sometimes whitened in the fleece, or in the yarn, but still
more frequently and extensively not till woven. When it is intended to
send it in the first two forms white to market, it is hung up or spread
out, whilst still wet, and sulphured (see _below_); after which it is
either at once rinsed for some time in cold water, or is previously
treated with a very weak bath of soft soap.

In the case of woollen fabrics the operations of purifying or whitening
the wool, beyond the removal of the yolk, are, for the most part, mixed up
with the weaving and working of it. The pieces leave the hands of the
weaver of a dingy grey colour, loaded with oil, dirt, and dressing. They
then pass to the fulling-mill, where they are treated with fuller's earth
and soap, often preceded with ammonia or stale urine, after each of which
they are well washed out or scoured with cold water, and are then ready
for the dyer. When it is intended to obtain them very white, or to dye
them of a very delicate shade, they are commonly sulphured; after which
they are washed or milled in cold water for some hours, a little finely
ground indigo being added towards the end, to increase their whiteness; an
addition also made when the cloth is sufficiently white without the
sulphuring process.

The usual mode of SULPHURING woollen goods is to hang them up on pegs or
rails, or, in the case of fleece-wool, to spread it about, at the upper
part of a close, lofty room or chamber, called a sulphur-stove. In each
corner of this room is set a cast-iron pot containing sulphur, which,
after the introduction of the goods, is set on fire, when the door at the
lower part of the chamber is shut tight and clayed. This is commonly done
over-night; and by the morning, the bleaching being finished, the goods
are removed, washed, and azured.

Sulphuring, unless very skilfully managed, imparts a harsh feel to woollen
goods, which is best removed by a very weak bath of soap-and-water
(lukewarm); but the action of soap in part reproduces the previous
yellowish-white tinge. Milling with cold, or lukewarm water, tinged with
indigo, is the best substitute.

_Obs._ Raw wool loses from 35 to 45% of its weight by scouring, and 1 to
2% more in the subsequent operations of the bleacher; the loss being in
direct proportion to the fineness of the staple.

[asterism]The above are the four principal applications of the art of
bleaching; but, in technical language, the words bleaching, bleacher,
bleachery, bleach-works, &c., when employed alone, are understood to have
reference only to cotton and linen. This has arisen from the enormous
extent of these manufactures, and from the process of bleaching them
forming a business entirely distinct from that of weaving, dyeing, or
printing them. The following, with the exception of the first, are of
comparatively minor importance and interest:--

V. =Materials for Paper=:--Old rags for the manufacture of paper, and
paper-pulp, are now almost universally bleached with chlorine or chloride
of lime; the former being generally used in France, and the latter in
England. The process usually consists in (1) boiling in an alkaline lye to
remove grease and dirt, (2) washing, (3) pressing, (4) deviling or
tearing up the pressed cake into fine shreds or pulp, (5) chemicking, with
agitation, for about an hour, in a clear solution of chloride of
lime,[224] followed by (6) washing, (7) souring with dilute hydrochloric
acid at 1 or 2 deg. Tw., or treatment with a solution of some antichlor, or
both, and (8) a final washing and pressing. For the common kinds of paper,
the operations included in No. 7 are omitted; but unless the whole of the
lime-salt be removed from the pulp, the paper made of it is liable to turn
brown and become rotten by age. In some cases rags are bleached before
being divided and pulped. Cotton-waste is bleached in a similar way to
rags.

[Footnote 224: The 'strength' varies with the colour and quality of the
rags. From 2 to 4 _lbs._ per _cwt._ of rags is a common proportion; but
for dyed and printed rags as much as 7 or even 8 _lbs._ per _cwt._ are
often employed. It is better, however, to prolong the process with a
weaker solution, than to hasten it by using the chloride in excess. Large
rectangular cisterns of wood, or of slate, are commonly employed as the
bleach-vessels. Cisterns of wood, or brick-work lined with gutta percha or
with asphalto-bitumen, are employed in some paper-mills, and answer
admirably.]

In France, the chlorine, in a gaseous form, is passed from the generators
into the bleach-cisterns containing the pulp, which in this case must be
fitted with close covers.

=VI. Printed Paper=, as Books, Engravings, Maps, &c.--These when stained
or discoloured may be whitened by (1) wetting them with pure clean water,
(2) plunging them into a dilute solution of chloride of lime, (3) passing
them through water soured with hydrochloric acid, and then (4) through
pure water until every trace of acid be removed. This process may be
further improved by further dipping them into a weak solution of some
antichlor, and again washing them, before finally drying them. It is only
rare and valuable original works or specimens of art that are worth this
treatment, which, owing to the very nature of paper, requires considerable
address to manage. In many cases a sufficient degree of renovation may be
effected by simply exposing the articles, previously slightly moistened,
to the fumes of burning sulphur, followed by passing them through a vessel
of pure water.

=VII. Straw, Straw-plait=, and articles made of them, are, on the large
scale, usually bleached by (1) a hot steep or boil in a weak solution of
caustic soda, or a stronger one of soda-ash, followed (2) by washing and
(3) by exposure to the fumes of burning sulphur. To effect the last, the
goods are suspended in a close chamber connected with a small stove, in
which brimstone is kept burning. On the small scale, a large chest or box
is commonly employed. A piece of brick, or an old box-iron heater, heated
to dull redness, is placed at the bottom of an iron crock or earthen pan,
a few fragments of roll sulphur thrown on, the lid instantly closed, and
the whole left for some hours. Care should be taken to avoid inhaling the
fumes, which are very deleterious as well as disagreeable and annoying.
Straw goods are now also frequently bleached by the use of a weak solution
of chloride of lime, or of water strongly soured with oxalic acid or even
oil of vitriol, followed by very careful rinsing in clean water; but here,
as in the former case, the natural varnish, dirt, grease, &c., must be
first removed by alkalies or soap, to enable the chlorine or acid to act
on the fibres.

=VIII. Wax.= Wax is bleached by first melting it at a low temperature in a
cauldron, from whence it is allowed to run out by a pipe at the bottom
into a capacious vessel filled with cold water.

This vessel is fitted with a large wooden cylinder, which turns upon its
axis; and the melted wax falls upon this cylinder. The surface of the
cylinder being always wet, the wax does not adhere to it, but becomes
solid, assuming the form of ribbons as it does so, and in this shape
becoming distributed through water in the tub. The wax is then removed and
placed upon large frames stretched upon linen cloth, which are supported
about 18 inches above the ground, and erected in a situation exposed to
the air, dew, and sun. The several ribbons thus placed on the frame should
not exceed an inch and a half, and they ought to be so moved about from
time to time as that each part may be equally exposed. If the weather be
favorable the wax will become white in a few days. It is again remelted,
formed into ribbons, and exposed as before. These operations are continued
in until the wax is completely bleached, after which it is melted and run
into moulds.

_Concluding Remarks._ The theory of bleaching, notwithstanding the giant
strides of chemistry during the last 20 years, remains still unsettled;
and hence the processes employed are still, for the most part, empirical.
It appears probable that chlorine acts by uniting with the hydrogen of the
water, or of other compounds present, or probably with that of both, and
that it is the oxygen thus liberated, and whilst in the nascent state,
that is the true operative agent. Hence bleaching by chlorine, or by the
hypochlorites, may be regarded as an oxidation of the colouring matter;
but whether the chlorine or the oxygen effects this oxidation is of little
practical importance--the result being the same--the destruction of the
compound, and the removal of the colour that depends on its existence. It
is doubtful whether the bleaching power of sulphurous acid is due to it as
an oxidising or a deoxidising agent; but the last is probably the case,
with a like destruction of the compound constituting the colouring matter.
It may, however, be supposed that sulphurous acid acts as an oxidiser, as
it appears to do when it decomposes sulphuretted hydrogen; or it may act
by simply altering the compound by inserting itself, a view receiving some
support from the fact that wool whitened by sulphuring may be restored to
nearly its previous colour by merely treating it with soap or alkalies.

The bleaching power of light depends on its actinic or chemical rays,
which, like chlorine, appear to act as an oxidising agent.

Chlorates, chromates, chromic acid, manganates, &c., have been proposed as
bleaching agents for textile filaments and fabrics, but without success or
practical advantage. Immersion in water more or less strongly impregnated
with sulphurous acid has, however, been successfully substituted for the
common sulphuring process, particularly for silk.

To avoid the injury of the goods by sparks, and by drops of water highly
saturated with sulphurous acid falling from the roof, Mr Thom has invented
a method of passing them rapidly through, or keeping them in constant
motion in the sulphuring chamber. His apparatus is constructed on the
principle of the washing-machine, the fumes of burning sulphur being used
instead of water.

M. Tessie du Motay has proposed a new method for bleaching. He takes about
equal parts of permanganate of soda and sulphate of magnesia, and
dissolves them in lukewarm water. The tissues, previously freed from
grease, are to be plunged into this bath until they are covered with a
brown coating. They are then to be placed in a bath of sulphuric acid at 4
per cent., and rinsed after the brown matter is removed. They may be
finally passed through sulphurous acid. Mr Ramsay's method consists in
sprinkling with water equal parts of chloride of lime and sulphate of
magnesia, when hydrochlorate of magnesia is formed. It may be remarked
that none of the more modern methods of bleaching have been found, when
reduced to practice, to be cheaper, better, or more advantageous to work
than those sanctioned by long experience and use.

[Further information in connection with bleaching will be found under the
heads ACTINISM, BLANCHING, CALICO-PRINTING, CHARCOAL, CHLORIDES
(Bleaching), CHROMATES, CHROMIC ACID, HYPOCHLORITES, HYPOCHLOROUS ACID,
LIGHT, RINSING, SPOTS and STAINS, SULPHURATION, WASHING, &c.; also under
BONES, ENGRAVINGS, FAT, FEATHERS, HORN, IVORY, OIL, PAPER, PRINTED BOOKS,
RAGS, SPONGE, STRAW-PLAIT, TALLOW, WAX, &c.[225]]

[Footnote 225: An accurate description of the apparatus and machinery
employed in bleach-works, with numerous engravings, will be found in Ure's
'Dict. of Arts, Manuf. & Mines,' 5th ed., i, 318-351, &c.]

=Bleaching Liq'uid.= Solution of chloride of lime.

=Bleaching Pow'der.= Chloride of lime.

=Bleaching Salts.= The commercial hypochlorites.

=BLEAR'-EYE= (bl[=e]re'-[=i]). _Syn._ LIPPITU'DO, L.; CHASSIE, LIPPITUDE,
Fr. An exudation of a puriform matter from the margins of the eyelids,
which are red, tumid, and painful; and frequently, during the night, glued
together by the discharge.

_Treatm._ Mild astringent collyria, as those of sulphate of zinc or alum
(6 or 8 gr. to 1 oz. of water). An ointment formed of 1 part of the
ointment of nitrate of mercury (Ph. L.), diluted with 11 parts of sweet
washed lard, may be advantageously applied nightly, by means of a
camel-hair pencil, the smallest quantity possible only being used. Excess
in eating and drinking should be avoided, and some aperient medicine
taken.

=BLEAK= (bl[=e]ke). _Syn._ BLAY[double-dagger], BLEY[double-dagger],
(bl[=a]). The _cypri'nus albur'nus_ (Linn.), a small river-fish, the
scales of which are used in making artificial pearls (which _see_).

=BLEB.= A vesicle or blister. In some states of general derangement of
health this arises spontaneously. It should be treated in the same way as
scalds.

=BLEED'ING= (bl[=e]de'-). In the sense of a flow or loss of blood, see
HAEMORRHAGE; in that of bloodletting, see CUPPING, LEECHING, VENESECTION,
&c.

=Bleeding Piles.= Take every morning aperient doses of milk of sulphur,
then a small teaspoonful of confection of black pepper every day. Wash
externally with a sponge and cold water. Apply compound gall. ointment to
the piles if external.

=Bleeding from the Air Passages and Lungs.= Let the patient at once go to
bed, and keep perfectly quiet, avoiding movement of any kind as much as
possible. Administer dilute acids in frequently repeated doses, with five
drops of tincture of digitalis. The bowels should be kept open by means of
Epsom salts in infusion of roses. Give iced drinks and let solid ice be
sucked. Mustard plasters may be applied to the chest. A morphia lozenge
may now and then be sucked gradually away, as well as a small piece of sal
prunella. The cough must be allayed by the administration of small doses
of morphia in gum water or barley water. All food should be taken cold.

The treatment that we have indicated in the last two forms of haemorrhage
is intended for the exclusive guidance of emigrants or of others so placed
as to be unable to summon prompt medical aid. Wherever this can be
obtained no time should be lost in at once seeking it.

=Bleeding from the Nose.= Apply cold water containing ice, if obtainable.
It should be so applied to the nose as to cause a shock. A cold piece of
metal, such as a key, placed on the naked back sometimes stops the
haemorrhage. If neither of the above means succeed inject with a syringe a
solution of alum or sulphate of zinc (ten grains to the ounce), or snuff
up the nostrils some gallic acid, powder of pomegranate, kino, or catechu,
mixed with starch. A plug of lint may also be dipped in either of the
above solutions, or rolled in the powders, and pushed up the nostrils, or
some tincture of perchloride of iron, properly diluted and applied on a
piece of lint, may be tried.

=Bleeding from the Stomach.= _Syn._ HEMATEMESIS. In this case the blood is
vomited usually in clots of a dark colour. It should be noticed whether it
comes from the back of the nose or throat. The treatment consists in
perfect repose in bed, and in the administration of dilute sulphuric acid
in infusion of roses, with saline aperients. If these fail to give relief,
tannin and krameria may be tried, and small doses of laudanum or five
grains of alum may be given every four hours. If in pain, add to it 1/4
grain of acetate of morphia. All food and drinks should be taken cold, the
latter iced. Pernitrate of iron in from 10 to 30 minim doses is a valuable
remedy.

=BLENDE= (bl[)e]nd). A name applied to several minerals; appr.,
zinc-blend, or native sulphuret of zinc--the black jack of miners.

=BLIGHT= (bl[=i]te). See MILDEW, and PLANTS (Diseases of).

=BLIND'NESS= (bl[=i]nd'-). _Syn._ ABLEP'SIA, CAE'CITAS, &c., L.;
AVEUGLEMENT, CECITE, Fr.; BLINDHEIT, Ger. Deprivation or want of sight.

Blindness may be congenital, or born with a person; or it may arise from
accident, external violence, or disease. In the latter it may frequently
be relieved by medical and surgical treatment. See AMAUROSIS, CATARACT,
EYES, OPHTHALMIA, VISION, &c.

=Blindness, Day.= _Syn._ NIGHT'-SIGHT; N[)Y]CTALO'PIA, L. A disease of the
eye in which vision is painfully acute or more or less extinct in a strong
light, as that of day; but clear and pleasant in the dusk of evening and
at night. Its chief causes are excessive exposure of the eyes to the
direct influence of very strong or glaring light, or to heat, or both of
them together; and is often one of the sequelae of ophthalmia (which
_see_).

=Blindness, Night.= _Syn._ DAY'-SIGHT; HEMERALO'PIA, L. An affection of
the eye, the reverse of the preceding, in which objects are clearly seen
only in broad daylight. In the beginning of the complaint the patient
continues to be able to see, though less clearly, for a short time after
sunset, and even by moonlight, and perhaps distinctly by bright candle
light; but after a short time this power is lost. It most frequently
occurs in hot climates, and low latitudes at sea. Its chief causes are
fatigue and exposure of the eyes to the glare of the tropical sun,
probably coupled with gastric derangement. In some cases it is congenital,
and is then generally incurable. The treatment consists in avoiding
exciting causes, and endeavouring to restore the tone of the stomach, and
the general health, by the usual methods. The eyes at the same time should
be topically medicated by the frequent use of cold water, or mild
astringent collyria. See OPHTHALMIA (Chronic).

=BLIS'TER.= _Syn._ PAP'ULA, PUS'TULA, L.; PUSTULE, VESSIE, &c., Fr.;
BLASE, BLATTER, Ger. A bladder or vesicle caused by the deposition of
serous fluid between the cuticle and the derma or true skin, occasioned by
the application of a vesicant, or by a burn, scald, or friction.

=Blister.= _Syn._ VESICATO''RIUM, L.; EPISPASTIQUE, VESICATOIRE, Fr.;
BLASEN-PFLASTER, B.-STOFF, Ger. A substance which vesicates or raises
blisters; in pop. lang., a vesicating plaster or similar application.

The use of blisters is very ancient, and appears to date back long prior
to the time of Hippocrates. Indeed, their value as cutaneous stimulants
and counter-irritants appears to have been recognised by the medical
faculty of all nations down to the present time. It is a principle
sufficiently established with regard to the living system, that where a
morbid action exists, it may often be removed by inducing an action of a
different kind, as a state of excitement or irritation, in the same or a
neighbouring part. In this way is explained the utility of blisters in
local inflammation and spasmodic action, and it is this principle which
regulates their application in pneumonia, gastritis, hepatitis, phrenitis,
angina, rheumatism, colic, spasmodic affections of the stomach,
&c.--diseases in which they are employed with the most marked advantage. A
similar principle exists with respect to pain; exciting one pain often
relieves another. Hence blisters frequently give relief in neuralgia,
toothache, and other like painful affections. Lastly, blisters, by their
operation, communicate a stimulus to the whole system, and raise the
vigour of the circulation. Hence, in part, their utility in fevers of the
typhoid kind, though in such cases they are used with still more advantage
to obviate or remove local inflammation.

Blisters are commonly prepared with cantharides plaster, or with some
other preparation of cantharides; and, in the former case, usually have
their surface sprinkled over with powdered Spanish fly; whilst the
blistering surface is surrounded with a margin spread with common adhesive
plaster, for the purpose of causing them to adhere to the part to which
they are applied. In order to prevent the action of the cantharides upon
the mucous membrane of the bladder, or urinary organs, they are also often
sprinkled with a little powdered camphor, or better still, are moistened
with camphorated ether, which, on its evaporation, leaves a thin layer of
camphor on the surface; but care must be taken that the layer be not too
thick, as in that case the plaster would not take effect. With a like
object, a piece of thin book-muslin or tissue-paper (silver-paper) is
frequently placed between the blistering surface of the plaster and the
skin; the efficacy of which may be still further heightened by first
soaking the muslin or paper in olive or almond oil.

The usual time an ordinary blister of cantharides plaster is allowed to
remain in contact with the skin is from 10 to 12 hours. It is then gently
removed. The subsequent treatment depends on the object in view. When it
is not wished to maintain a discharge from the blistered surface, the
vesicle is cut with the point of a pair of scissors at its most depending
part, to let out the fluid which it contains, followed by a dressing of
spermaceti or other simple ointment; but when the case requires the
blister to be kept open, or to be converted into a perpetual blister, as
it is sometimes called, the whole of the detached cuticle is carefully
removed with the scissors, and the part is dressed with either the
ointment of cantharides or of savine, at first more or less diluted with
lard or simple ointment, with an occasional dressing of resin cerate.
According to Mr Crowther, the blistered surface is best kept clean by
daily fomentation with warm water.

Of late years, to obviate the unpleasant effects occasionally arising from
the common blister, various compounds having cantharides for their base,
as well as fabrics spread with them, have been brought before the public.
These are noticed hereafter. See PLASTER, VESICANTS, &c.

=Blisters, Extempora''neous.= Among the best of these may be mentioned the
following:--

1. A piece of lint dipped in the strongest vinegar of cantharides, and
immediately after its application to the skin, covered over with a piece
of strapping, or preferably a piece of sheet gutta percha or oiled silk,
to prevent evaporation. Raises a blister in from 5 to 8 minutes.

2. Concentrated acetic acid, applied in the same way, has a similar
effect.

3. (Dr Darcq.) Into a flat watch glass pour from 8 to 10 drops of highly
concentrated liquor of ammonia; cover the liquid with a small piece of
linen of rather less diameter than that of the glass, and at once apply
this little apparatus to the previously shaved skin. The whole must be
kept in its place by means of moderate pressure with the fingers, until a
red ring, about 2 centimetres in breadth, is observed round the glass,
when it is certain that vesication is effected. Sometimes scarcely 30
seconds are necessary for obtaining the result. The apparatus may then be
removed, and the blistered part treated in the usual manner; the dressing
being according to the object in view.

4. (Trousseau.) Bibulous paper slightly wetted with a little of the
ethereal extract of cancharides, and instantly applied to the skin, the
whole being covered with a piece of common adhesive plaster to prevent
evaporation.

5. Boiling water applied by means of a suitably shaped tube, the adjacent
parts being at the same time protected from injury. Instantaneous.

=Blister, Horse.= See VETERINARY MEDICINES.

=Blister*, Perpet'ual.= See BLISTER (_ante_).

=BLIS'TERING.= _Syn._ VES'ICANS, VESICATO''RIUS, L.; EPISPASTIQUE,
VESICANT, VESICATOIRE, Fr.; BLASENZIEHEND, &c., Ger. In _medicine_, &c.,
that vesicates or raises blisters when applied to the skin.

=Blistering Pa'per, Plas'ter, Tis''sue= (t[)i]sh-[=u]), &c. See PLASTERS,
VESICANTS, &c.

=BLOAT'ER.= See BLOTE.

=BLONDE.= [Fr.] _Syn._ BLOND'-LACE. Silk-lace. The name is now also
applied to cotton-lace edged with silk. For the mode of cleaning it and
getting it up, see LACE and MUSLIN.

=BLOOD= (bl[)u]d). _Syn._ SAN''GUIS, L.; SANG, Fr.; BLUT, Ger. The general
circulating fluid of animals, and that on which the nourishment and growth
of their bodies depend, and from which all the secretions are formed. It
is warm and red in vertebrated animals; and, for the most part, cold and
white in the invertebrata. In man and all other mammals, and in birds--the
two highest classes of the animal kingdom--the blood, though collectively
forming but one circulating stream, varies considerably in appearance
according to the part or vessels in which it is found. That contained in
the left side of the heart, and in the arteries, possesses a very
brilliant scarlet colour, and is called arte''rial blood; whilst that
found in the right side of the heart, and in the veins, has a darkish
purple colour, and is called ve'nous blood. The two, however, differ
little from each other in their chemical properties and composition; the
most marked point of difference being that venous blood holds carbonic
acid in solution, whilst oxygen predominates in the blood of the arteries.
The fibrine of venous blood is also soluble in a solution of nitrate of
potassa; whilst that of arterial blood is insoluble in that menstruum.

_Comp._ Blood consists of a transparent and nearly colourless fluid
(plas'ma, se''rum, s[)e]ralbu'men), in which float about a countless
multitude of microscopic round red bodies (blood-discs, blood-corpuscles),
to which its colour is due, accompanied by a few colourless globules
(white blood-corpuscles) of a somewhat larger size. The red corpuscles are
found, on more minute examination, to consist of an envelope containing a
solution of haematosin.

_Prop._ These are, for the most part, well known. It has an alkaline
reaction, a saline and rather disagreeable sweetish taste, and when newly
drawn evolves a peculiar odour or halitus, which almost immediately
disappears. As it cools and on repose it coagulates, owing, according to
some, to the spontaneous solidification of the fibrine.

The following table, based upon the observations of Schmidt and the
analysis of Lehmann, is given by the latter, as representing the average
quantitative relation of the principal constituents of normal blood. It
will be noticed that the blood is here regarded as composed of two
portions, one consisting solely of the red particles, and the other of
the liquid, in which these red corpuscles are suspended, termed the
_liquor sanguinis_, which consists of the serum holding fibre in
solution:--

        _Sp. gr. of Blood-corpuscles, 1.0885._

  1000 parts blood-corpuscles contain--

  Water                           688.00
  Solid constituents              312.00
    consisting of--
  Haematin (with iron)              16.75
  Globulin and cell membrane      282.22
  Fat                               2.31
  Extractive matters                2.60
  Mineral substances (without
    iron)                           8.12
  Chlorine                          1.686
  Sulphuric anhydride (SO_{3})      0.066
  Phosphoric anhydride (P_{2}O_{5}) 1.134
  Potassium                         3.328
  Sodium                            1.052
  Oxygen                            0.667
  Calcium phosphate                 0.114
  Magnesium phosphate               0.073

        _Sp. gr. of Liquor Sanguinis, 1.028._

  1000 parts of liquor sanguinis contain--

  Water                           902.90
  Solid constituents               97.10
    consisting of--
  Fibrin                            4.05
  Albumen                          78.84
  Fat                               1.72
  Extractive matters                3.94
  Mineral substances                8.55
  Chlorine                          3.644
  Sulphuric anhydride (SO_{3})      0.115
  Phosphoric anhydride (P_{2}O_{5}) 0.191
  Potassium                         0.323
  Sodium                            3.341
  Oxygen                            0.403
  Calcium phosphate                 0.311
  Magnesium phosphate               0.222

The ash of blood contains about 6.84 per cent. of ferric oxide. (Lehmann.)

The following table gives the results of the average composition of human
blood in man and woman, according to the analyses of Becquerel and Rodie:

                                              Male.      Female.
  Specific gravity of defibrinated blood      1.0600        1.0575
     "        "    of serum                   1.0280        1.0274
  Water                                     779.00        791.00
  Fibrin                                      2.20          2.20
                 { Serolin          }       { 0.02 }      { 0.02
                 { Phosphorised fat }       { 0.49 }      { 0.46
  Fatty Matters  {                  } 1.60  {      } 1.62 {
                 { Cholesterin      }       { 0.09 }      { 0.09
                 { Saponified fat   }       { 1.00 }      { 1.05
  Albumen                                    69.40         70.50
  Blood-corpuscles                          141.10        127.20
  Extractive matters                          6.80          7.40
                                           -------       -------
                                           1000.10       1000.02
                                           -------       -------
           { Sodium chloride                  3.10          3.90
  Salts    { Other soluble salts              2.50          2.90
           { Earthy phosphates                0.33          0.35
  Metallic iron                               0.57          0.54
                                             -----         -----
                                              6.50          7.69

The blood also contains, in solution, oxygen, nitrogen, carbonic acid, as
well as a free alkaline carbonate, urea, and small traces of alcohol have
also been detected in normal blood.

The following report of a commission composed of MM. Mialhe, Mayel,
Lefort, and Cornil, appointed to devise the best method for the
examination of blood stains, was published in 1873. The following
translation of the report appeared in the 'Chemical News' of December 5th,
1873.

1st. When the stain is of recent date, or supposed to be so, the red
corpuscles should be particularly examined, and every care taken to
preserve them without change. The stains must not be washed with water, so
that the haematin may not be altered. After insisting on the microscopic
characters of the blood stains, isolated or compared with those of various
animals, the commission enumerates with care the fluids which are
destructive or preservative of blood-corpuscles. Among the first, water,
and particularly hot water, acetic, gallic, hydrochloric, and sulphuric
acids; and of alkalies, potash and soda, even in weak solution, and ether
and chloroform, also many other reagents, so alter the blood-corpuscles as
to cause them to entirely disappear. Alcohol, chromic and picric acids,
and bichromate of potash, preserve the corpuscles, though they alter their
form. The preservative fluids are those whose composition approaches
nearest to serum, such as the iodised serum of Schultze, an excellent
preparation made with amniotic fluid, to which are added a few drops of
the tincture of iodine, so as to give it the colour of white wine; or,
better, a fluid composed thus; white of egg, 30 grams; distilled water,
270 grams; and chloride of sodium, 40 grams; or even a fluid containing
0.5 per cent. of chloride of sodium, or 5 or 6 per cent. of sulphate of
sodium. If the stains be wetted and softened by these fluids, and then
examined, white and red corpuscles and fibroid particles will be observed.

2nd. In more difficult cases, when the microscope, owing to the
alterations which time has effected in the haematin, can give but vague
information, examination by the spectroscope and chemical analysis enables
us to arrive at precise results. The use of these means being less known,
and also more delicate, requires special study.

1. _Spectrum analysis._ Colouring matters have the power of absorbing
certain  rays of white light--the same always for the same
substance. This is the principle upon which spectroscopic examination is
based. If into any analysing tube filled with water a few drops of
solution of haemoglobin be introduced, till it has the colour of
peach-blossoms, the luminous rays of the spectrum passing through this
fluid present two bands of absorption, in the lines D and E of
Frauenhofer, in the yellow and the green. The same fact would be observed
if a few drops of blood were substituted for haemoglobin in the analysis.

In a case of doubt the haemoglobin of the blood could be reduced by adding
to this latter a reducing body. Destroyed haemoglobin has a different
spectrum from oxygenated haemoglobin, a single absorption band as large as
the two former bands united, and a little to the left of Frauenhofer's
line D.

2. In blood in a state of decomposition, or which has been treated with
acids or caustic alkalies, haemoglobin is changed into a new substance;
haematin is formed, which, combined with hydrochloric acid, gives definite
crystals.

In order to obtain them we must proceed thus:--A small fragment of dried
blood is placed on a glass slide; it is dissolved in a drop of water, and
a minute portion of sea-salt added. It is covered with a thin slide, and
pure acetic acid is made to pass between the two slides, and it is heated
over a spirit-lamp to boiling-point; acetic acid is again added, and it is
heated afresh; and this is repeated till the crystals are obtained.

They are rhomboidal, of a dirty brown colour, quite characteristic, and
require to be seen with a magnifying power of three hundred or four
hundred diameters. With the smallest quantity of blood these two reactions
can always be produced--the spectrum examination and the crystals of
hydrochlorate of haematin; and they are so certain that the existence of
one alone enables one to affirm the presence of blood.

3. The third process, though not so exact as the preceding, ought,
nevertheless, never to be neglected. If to a very small quantity of blood
dissolved in a little water be added a few drops of tincture of guaiacum
and of binoxide of hydrogen, a persistent blue colour is immediately
produced; but this very sensitive reaction can be obtained with other
organic matter, such as nasal mucus, saliva, &c.; it therefore only gives
a probability. We must proceed in the following manner:--A tincture of
guaiacum is prepared with alcohol at 83 degrees, and guaiacum resin; a
mixture of sulphuric ether and binoxide of hydrogen is also made, and
enclosed in a stoppered bottle, and kept under water in the dark. This
preparation is less liable to change than pure oxygenated waters. The
object stained with blood, if it be white, is put into a little cup, then
moistened with water to dissolve out the blood stain, and washed in
distilled water; this water is then submitted to the action of these
reagents.

If the thing stained be , and the stain little or not at all
visible, it must be moistened, and then pressed between two or three
sheets of white blotting-paper, and tried first with the guaiacum. If the
stain be of blood a reddish or brown spot will form on the paper.

One of the sheets should be treated with ammonia, and the stain will
become crimson or green. A second sheet treated with tincture of guaiacum
and ozonised ether will give a blue colour more or less intense, according
to the quantity of the blood.

To recapitulate:--1. If the stains or scales of blood appear recent, the
corpuscles may, after the necessary precautions, be examined under the
microscope, and their presence, diameter, &c. observed, which will enable
one to diagnose the origin of the blood, whether human or animal. 2. If
the stains be old and the blood changed, the reaction with the tincture of
guaiacum would make the presence of blood probable; but its actual
presence cannot be affirmed without spectrum examination or the production
of crystals of hydrochlorate of haematin; one of the two is sufficient. It
is unnecessary to add that these reactions do not show whether the blood
is human or animal.

Bullocks' blood has of late years, more especially in France, come into
use as a remedy for anaemia and pulmonary phthisis. A correspondent,
writing from Paris to the 'Medical Times and Gazette' in 1872, says: "It
is a curious sight to see the number of patients of both sexes and of all
ranks and ages, who flock to the slaughter-house every morning to drink of
the still fuming blood of the oxen slaughtered for the table. I was struck
with the facility with which young ladies take to it, and I have heard
many say that they prefer it to cod-liver oil."

In a paper read in 1872 before the Academy of Sciences in Paris by M.
Boussingault, detailing his researches into the composition of blood, the
author expressed his surprise that bullock's blood was not more generally
used as a food, as it contains all the constituents of a perfect aliment.
According to the above chemist, of all nutritive substances the blood of
animals contains the largest amount of iron. In man, Boussingault found in
100 grammes of blood 51 milligrammes of iron; in that of the ox, 55
milligrammes; of the pig, 59 milligrammes; and in that of the frog, 42
milligrammes. But it was not only in red blood that iron was found,
Boussingault detected it in white blood also; and he found the blood of
snails to contain as much iron as that of the ox or calf.

A simple and ingenious method for the therapeutic administration of the
serum of the blood of sheep and oxen has been lately devised by Dr Francis
Vacher, the medical officer of Birkenhead. Dr Vacher takes the blood of
these animals, allows it to stand until it clots, removes the clot, and
dries it at a gentle heat in a hot-air chamber. By this means he obtains a
nearly odourless and comparatively tasteless powder, which is ten times
the strength of fresh serum. To this preparation he gives the name "_serum
sanguinis exsiccatum_." He believes that his dried serum will prove a
valuable nutrient in consumption, scrofula, diabetes, and loss of flesh.

_Uses, &c._ That of bullocks is employed for the clarification of wines
and syrups; also in the preparation of adhesive cements, as the vehicle in
coarse paint for outdoor work, as a manure, as a bleaching powder, to make
pure animal charcoal, and for several other purposes. The blood of sheep,
pigs, and bullocks, mixed with flour or oatmeal, and seasoned, is eaten by
the common people, but it is rather indigestible, and apt to induce
disease. Gut-skins stuffed with this mixture form "black puddings."

Bullock's blood, dried by exposure in thin layers to a current of air, at
a heat under 125 deg., and then reduced to powder, is exported in large
quantities to the colonies, where it is used, as a 'clarifier,' in the
sugar-works. Dried at a temperature ranging between 212 deg. to 220 deg., then
coarsely powdered, and the dusty portion sifted off, it is much used by
fraudulent dealers to adulterate grain-musk. See CHARCOAL (ANIMAL),
GLOBULIN, HAEMATOSIN, PLASMA, SERUM, STAINS, VISION, &c.

=Blood-purifying Tea, Gout and Rheumatic= (Franz Wilhelm, Neunkirchen).
Equal parts of senna leaves, sarsaparilla root, liquorice, rad. tritici,
red sandalwood, bittersweet stalks, cut small and mixed. (Hager.)

=Blood-purifying Tea= (F. Koeller, Graz). Senna leaves, 32 parts; guaiacum
wood, 10 parts; juniper wood, restharrow root, rad. tritici, dandelion
root, chicory root, of each 8 parts; alder bark, 3 parts; sassafras, 2
parts; star-anise, 5 parts, dirty and worm-eaten, roughly chopped, and
mixed. (Hager.)

=Blood, Spit'ting of.= See HAEMOPTYSIS.

=Blood, Vom'iting of.= See STOMACH DISEASES.

=BLOOD'-ROOT.= _Syn._ RED'-ROOT, PUCCOON'; SANGUINA''RIA, L. The
_sanguin[=a]r'ia Canaden'sis_ (Linn.), a papaveraceous plant of North
America; also its root (SANGUINA''RIA, Ph. U. S.), which is the part used
in medicine. Juice, blood-red, used in dyeing. In small doses (3 to 5 gr.)
it is stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant; in large ones (10 to 20
gr.), narcotic, emetic, and purgative. The powder is sometimes used as an
escharotic. See SANGUINARINE.

=BLOOD'STONE.= A hard compact variety of haematite used to form burnishers.
The name is also applied by lapidaries to the heliotrope.

=BLOOM.= In _perfumery_, &c., a name given to several calorific
skin-cosmetics, of which the following are examples:--

=Bloom of Almonds= (ah'-m[)u]ndz). _Syn._ AL'MOND-BLOOM. _Prop._ Boil 1
_oz._ of ground Brazil-wood in 2-1/2 _pints_ of soft water for 30 minutes,
adding the juice of two lemons towards the end; strain, and add 3/4 _oz._
of isinglass, 1/4 _oz._ of powdered cochineal, 1 _oz._ of alum, and 1/2
_oz._ of borax; boil again for 4 or 5 minutes, and strain through muslin.
Glass or earthenware vessels must be used, as metals injure its colour.

=Bloom of Roses.= _Prep._ 1. Dried red rose leaves, 1-1/2 _oz._; boiling
water, 1 _pint_; infuse in glass or earthenware for 2 hours, press out the
liquor, and add the juice of 3 large lemons; the next day filter, or
decant the clear portion. Both the above should be kept in a cool place,
otherwise they soon spoil. A little spirit of wine (3 or 4 _fl. oz._ to
the pint) is sometimes added to them to remove this objection. They are
greatly inferior to the following:--

2. Carmine, 1/4 _oz._; strong liquor of ammonia (not weaker than .900), 1
_oz._; put them into a stoppered bottle, set it in a cool place, and
occasionally agitate it for two or three days, to effect a solution; then
add of rose-water, 1 pint; and, after admixture, further add of esprit de
rose, 1/2 _fl. oz._; pure rectified spirit, 1 _fl. oz._; again well
agitate, and set the whole aside for a week; lastly, decant the clear
portion from the dregs (if any), for use or sale. Very fine. A cheaper
article is made by omitting a portion of the carmine, and the whole of the
esprit and spirit; and a still inferior one by substituting 1-1/2 _oz._ of
silver-grain cochineal (in powder) for the carmine, with digestion for a
week in the ammonia previously diluted with one half of the water.

=Bloom of Youth, or Liquid Pearl= (G. W. Laird, New York). A colourless
liquid holding in suspension 34 per cent. of zinc oxide entirely free from
lead. (Chandler.)

=BLOTE.= To prepare or cure by drying and smoking; now only applied to
fish.

=BLO'TER.= _Syn._ BLOAT'ER. A bloted fish; appr., a herring slightly
salted, and only very slightly dried and smoked.

=BLOW'PIPE= (bl[=o]'-). _Syn._ CHALUMEAU, Fr.; LOeTHROHR, Ger. An
instrument by means of which the flame of a candle or lamp, or a gas-jet,
is directed upon any substance placed to receive it, which is thus
subjected to an intense heat. The blowpipe is to the artist and the
experimentalist what the wind-furnace is to the artisan; but it is
proportionately more powerful, convenient, and economical.

Beginners are usually unable to maintain a continued stream of air from
the jet of this instrument, although the doing so is really a very simple
affair. The operation merely depends on a little artifice in using it,
which is more difficult to describe than to acquire. The effect intended
to be produced is a continual stream of air for many minutes, if
necessary, without interruption, even for an instant. This is done by
simply applying the tongue to the roof of the mouth, so as to interrupt
the communication between the mouth and the passage of the nostrils; by
which means the operator is at liberty to breathe through the nose, at the
same time that by the muscles of the lips he forces a continued stream of
air from the anterior part of the mouth through the blowpipe. When the
mouth begins to be empty it is replenished by the lungs in an instant,
while the tongue is withdrawn from the roof of the mouth, and replaced
again in the same manner as in pronouncing the monosyllable tut. In this
way the stream of air may be continued for a long time without fatigue,
provided the flame be not urged too impetuously; and even should it be so
urged no other inconvenience will be felt than that of slight fatigue of
the muscles of the lips.

The hottest portion of the flame produced by the action of the blowpipe is
at the tip of the outer white flame, which has also the property of
rapidly burning or oxidising substances placed in it which are susceptible
of such a change; and it is hence commonly called the OXIDISING FLAME. The
interior blue flame is, for a like reason, called the DEOXIDISING or
REDUCING FLAME, as it possesses the property of extracting oxygen from
most bodies capable of being so affected.

Substances to be submitted to the action of the blowpipe-flame are placed
on a support, which is either a piece of charcoal, or a wire or small
spoon of platinum, gold, or silver, as the case may require. Sometimes a
plate of cyanite is used. Pine-wood charcoal is preferred for this
purpose; and the sides, not the ends of the fibres, are presented to the
flame. When a very intense heat is required, the substance operated on
should not exceed the size of half a peppercorn.

Several characteristic colour reactions may often be obtained in the
examination of a substance for analysis, by fusing a small portion of it,
with a bead of microcosmic salt, and exposing it for some time to the
outer flame of the blowpipe. If the substance dissolve readily in the salt
and rather copiously to a clear bead _whilst hot_, and is of a blue colour
by candle light inclining to violet, it denotes COBALT. If it be green,
upon cooling blue; in the reducing flame after cooling, red--COPPER. If
green, particularly fine on cooling, unaltered in the reducing flame,
CHROMIUM. If brownish red, on cooling light yellow or colourless; in this
reducing flame, red whilst hot, yellow whilst cooling, then
greenish--IRON. If reddish to brownish red, on cooling yellow to reddish
yellow or colourless; in the reducing flame unaltered--NICKEL. If
yellowish-brown, on cooling light yellow or colourless; in the reducing
flame almost colourless, and blackish-grey on cooling--BISMUTH. If light
yellowish to opal, when cold, rather dull; in the reducing flame
whitish-grey--SILVER. If amethyst-red, especially on cooling; colourless
in the reducing flame, not quite clear--MANGANESE. If the bead remains
clear on cooling, ANTIMONY, ALUMINA, ZINC, CADMIUM, LEAD, LIME, and
MAGNESIA are indicated, the latter five when added in somewhat large
proportion to the microcosmic salt, give enamel white beads. The bead of
oxide of LEAD saturated is yellowish. If the bead becomes enamel-white on
cooling, even where only a small portion of the powder has been added to
the microcosmic salt--BARYTA and STRONTIA are indicated.

If the substance dissolves in the microcosmic salt slowly and only in
small quantity, the bead being colourless and remaining so after cooling,
the undissolved portion looking semi-transparent, and if upon the addition
of a little sesquioxide of iron it acquires the characteristic colour of
an iron bead--this denotes SILICIC ACID.

For producing extreme degrees of heat the flame is blown with a jet of
oxygen gas, the instrument being then called an OXYGEN BLOWPIPE; or a
mixture of oxygen and hydrogen is burned, when it is called an
OXY-HYDROGEN BLOWPIPE. The heat produced by the last is so great that no
substance can stand exposure to it, even the most refractory native
compounds being immediately fused. Gold is volatilised, and iron is
rapidly consumed the instant it is placed in the flame.

[Illustration:

  1. Hemming's safety-jet for the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe.
    _a_, Pipe conveying oxygen gas.
    _b_,     "          hydrogen gas.
    _c_, Ball
        stuffed with fine wire-gauze.
    _e_, Jet (internal diameter 1-80th of an
        inch).
  2. Black's blowpipe.
  3. Bergman's   "
  4. Pepy's      "
  5. Wollaston's "
  6. Oxy-hydrogen blowpipe.]

The principal varieties of the blowpipe in general use are figured in the
engravings above.

Beside the above there are several other varieties of the blowpipe
occasionally employed; one in which the air is expelled by the pressure of
a column of water, and hence called the HYDROSTATIC BLOWPIPE; another, in
which the flame is blown with the vapour of boiling alcohol, is named the
SPIRIT-BLOWPIPE.

=Blowpipe, Herapath.= For sealing and bending glass tubes and constructing
glass apparatus of various forms, it is convenient to have the blowpipe
mounted on a fixed support, and when a flame of considerable power is
required, the blast must be supplied by bellows worked with the foot. A
very convenient form of blowpipe for these purposes is that invented by
Herapath, and represented in the following figure, _a_ is a flexible tube
attached to a stop-cock (_b_), which communicates with a tube (_c d_),
bent at right angles at _d_, where a T-shaped tube (_e f g_) slips on by
means of the piece _f_. The blow-pipe jet (_h i_) passes into the longer
arm of the T-piece, and fits somewhat tightly; _k l_ is a second piece of
flexible tube, terminating in a mouthpiece, or connected with a blowing
apparatus. On turning on the gas, it passes in the direction marked by the
arrows, and is to be inflamed at _e_. On blowing with the mouth, or by
means of a pair of bellows, into the tube _k l_, the ignited gas takes the
form of a blow-pipe flame of great power, the nature of which is entirely
under control by means of the stop-cock _b_, and also by regulating the
quantity of air supplied through the tube (_k l_). The T-shaped piece is
movable at _f_, so that the jet may be directed to any position. The
apparatus may be mounted on a heavy foot, and connected with the
gas-supply, by means of the flexible tube, so that it can be placed in any
required position on the laboratory table; or it may be permanently fixed
on a table specially devoted to the purpose, and having beneath it a pair
of bellows worked by a treadle.

[Illustration]

A simple and inexpensive apparatus for supplying a continuous blast of air
for blowpipe or other purpose is figured below.

It consists essentially of a tin tube (to which is fixed a branch tube
open to the air), through which water may be driven from a supply tap into
a properly fitted bottle. Air becomes thus entangled with the water in its
course through the tube, and carried with it into the bottle. The water is
then got rid of by means of a syphon, and the air is conducted by an
elastic tube to the blow-pipe.

[Illustration:

  _A_, _B_, Tin tube, eighteen inches long, half-inch diameter.
  _C_, _D_, Tin tube, three inches long, one third-inch diameter, inserted
      at right angles.
  _E_, _F_, Tin tube, long enough to reach the level of A, one third-inch
      diameter, inserted at an angle of 45 deg..
  _G_, _H_, _I_, Siphon, half-inch diameter.
  _K_, _L_, Air tube, one third-inch diameter.
  _M_, India-rubber tube to convey away the air.]

To set the apparatus in action, connect the tube C D with a water tap by
means of a piece of elastic tubing, and turn on the water; pinch the tube
M for a few moments between the thumb and finger until the syphon has
begun to act. A blast of air will at once be felt at the extremity of M.

=BLUB'BER.= _Syn._ AD'EPS BALAENA''RUM, L.; GRAISSE DE BALEINE, Fr. The
soft fat of whales, and of other large sea-animals, from which the oil
(TRAIN' OIL, WHALE' OIL) is obtained by heat.

=Blubber, Sea.= The popular name of several species of marine animals of
the genus _medusa_, having a body resembling a large mass of jelly. They
are very plentiful in some parts of the coast of England, and are said to
form a rich and cheap manure for pasture and arable land. They are used at
the rate of about 1 _ton_ to every 20 or 30 loads of mould, together with
a chaldron of lime, per acre. In 3 or 4 months the land is usually found
in prime condition. Pilchards, and other fish that swarm upon our coasts,
and for which there is not a ready market, may be used in the same way,
and are much richer, being, when properly managed, but little inferior to
guano.

=BLUE= (bl'[=o][=o]). _Syn._ CAERU'LEUS, L.; BLEU, Fr.; BLAU, Ger. Of the
colour of the clear sky, or of any shade of it, whether lighter or darker;
subst., a blue colour, blueness (COL'OR CAERU'LEUS, L.); or a blue,
colouring material or pigment (CAERU'LEUM, L.).

=Blue Dye=. _Syn._ TEINTE BLEUE, Fr.; BLAU FARBE, Ger. The most permanent
blue is that given by indigo, and particularly by what is called the
'indigo-vat.' A variety of shades, of great beauty, and considerable
permanence, may also be given by the 'Prussian-blue process.' Cheaper
blues are commonly dyed with logwood. Each of these is noticed at length
under their respective heads. The following are also employed, and are
well adapted for common goods, on the small scale and for domestic use.

1. Give the goods a mordant of alum, or of acetate of alumina ('red
liquor'), then rinse them well, and boil them in a bath of logwood, to
which a small quantity of blue vitriol has been added; lastly, rinse and
dry.

2. Boil the goods for a short time in a bath of logwood; then add to the
liquor tartar and verdigris, in the proportion of 1 oz. of each to every
lb. of logwood employed; and again boil for a short time.

3. Give the goods a mordant of tartar; lift, add a little chromate of
potash; again work for 15 or 20 minutes, and rinse; next boil in a bath of
logwood, adding towards the last a few grains more of the chromate; again
boil, and finish. The whole quantity of chromate used should not exceed
1/4 oz. to each lb. of logwood taken for the bath. Very dark.

4. Bilberries, elder-berries, mulberries, privet-berries, and several
other like vegetable substances, may be used to dye blue, as above,
instead of logwood.

_Obs._ By increasing the proportion of alum or red-liquor the colour
verges on purple; and by employing a little acetate of iron or green
copperas, the darker shades of blue are produced. Verdigris, blue vitriol,
and alkalies, turn it more on the blue; whilst a mordant of tin imparts a
violet cast. If much more chromate be used than that ordered the result is
a blue-black. See DYEING, INDIGO, LOGWOOD, MORDANTS, PRUSSIAN BLUE, &c.

=Blue Pig'ments=. _Syn._ CAERU'LEA, &c., L. The preparation of the
principal blue pigments of commerce is described under their respective
names. In the following list those for which directions are given are of a
miscellaneous and less usual character.

=Az'ure.= _Syn._ Azure Blue. A name frequently given to smalts. That of
the oil-painter is ultramarine; that of the ancients is noticed below. See
ULTRAMARINE, &c.

=Blue, Barth's=. See INDIGO, SULPHATE OF.

=Blue, Berlin.= Prussian blue.

=Blue, Bice.= Native blue carbonate of copper, prepared by grinding and
elutriation. That of the shops is generally a factitious compound made
from smalts.

=Blue, Carmine.= See CARMINE and INDIGO, SULPHATE OF.

=Blue, Char'coal.= Carbonised vine-stalks are triturated with an equal
weight of salt of tartar or pearlash, the mixture put into a crucible, and
heated over the fire until it ceases to swell, the mass being kept well
stirred all the time; when cold, it is dissolved in water, and the excess
of alkali saturated with dilute sulphuric acid. The liquid becomes blue,
and a dark precipitate falls down, which turns of a brilliant blue colour
when dried and cautiously heated.

=Blue, Chi'na.= _Syn._ Roy'al Smalts. The crude oxide of cobalt, or
zaffre, is ground with an equal weight of potash, and about eight times
its weight of felspar, the mixture submitted to fusion in a crucible, and
when cold reduced to an impalpable powder. Used to paint pottery, and as a
blue pigment.

=Blue, Co'balt.= _Syn._ Cobalt'ic Az'ure. This is commonly prepared by one
or other of the following formulae:--

1. Zaffre, 1 lb., is dissolved in nitric acid (diluted with an equal
weight of water), 3/4 lb., by digestion for some hours; the solution is
evaporated nearly to dryness, and the residuum redissolved in warm water;
to this solution, after filtration, a solution of phosphate of soda is
added as long as a precipitate forms; this last is collected on a filter,
washed with cold water, and mixed, whilst still moist, with 8 times its
weight of fresh-precipitated hydrate of alumina; the paste is then dried,
and exposed to a cherry-red heat in a crucible, after which the mass is
cooled and reduced to a very fine powder.

2. A solution of nitrate of cobalt is precipitated with ammonia-alum, and
the precipitate washed, dried, and exposed to a cherry-red heat, as
before. The products of the above formulae are very beautiful and
permanent. See COBALTO-ULTRAMARINE.

=Egyp'tian Az'ure.= Alexan'drian Frit, Azure of the Ancients. A mixture of
carbonate of soda, 1 _lb._; calcined flints, 1-1/2 _lb._; copper filings,
1/4 _lb._ (all in fine powder); fused together in a crucible for 2 or 3
hours, and when cold, reduced to an impalpable powder. A beautiful and
unchangeable sky-blue colour. Used in both oil and fresco painting; and as
a substitute for smalts, of which, indeed, it is a variety.

=In'digo= (which _see_).

=Blue, I'ron.= Fer'ric blue. Ordinary phosphate of iron prepared by
precipitating a solution of protosulphate of iron with another of
phosphate of soda, the resulting powder being washed, and dried at a
gentle heat. A lively sky-blue colour, but without much depth or body.

=Blue, Lake.= See LAKES and INDIGO, SULPHATE OF.

=Blue, Molybde'num.= From sulphuret of molybdenum, dissolved in nitric
acid, and some tin filings and a little muriatic acid added. After
digestion for some time the clear liquid is poured off, and evaporated to
dryness. The resulting powder is then mixed with moist hydrate of alumina
(as in making cobalt blue), heated to a very dull red, and when it has
again become cold, reduced to powder. Used both as a paint and an
enamel-colour.

=Blue, Moun'tain.= Native carbonate of copper, mixed with more or less
earthy matter, reduced to fine powder. That of the shops is often
factitious.

=Blue, Par'is.= Prussian blue.

=Blue, Pow'der.= Smalts.

=Blue, Prus''sian= (which _see_).

=Blue, Queen's.= See THUMB-BLUE (_below_).

=Blue, San'der's.= Ultramarine-ashes.

=Blue, Sax'on.= Saxon Az'ure. A compound of hydrate of alumina and
Prussian blue, prepared as follows:--

1. To sulphate of iron, 1 _oz._; and alum, 8 _oz._; dissolved in water, 1
gall.; add, simultaneously, separate solutions of prussiate of potash and
common pearlash, until they cease to produce a precipitate; after repose
collect the deposit, wash it well with water, and dry it.

2. A solution of sulphate of iron is precipitated with another of
prussiate of potash, and instantly mixed with the precipitate which has
just been obtained by treating a solution of alum with a solution of
pearlash; the mixed precipitates being finally treated as before.

=Smalts= (which _see_; also CHINA-BLUE and EGYPTIAN AZURE, _above_).

=Blue, Thenard's.= See ULTRAMARINE (Cobaltic).

=Blue, Thumb'.= Cake'-blue, Crown'-blue, Fig'-blue, Knob'-blue,
Mech'lenburg-blue, (m[=e]k'-), Queen's-blue, Stone-blue, &c. Names given
to the lump-blue used in laundries, which vary according to the quality
and the particular form given to it.

_Prep._ 1. A mixture of powdered starch with sufficient indigo (in
impalpable powder) to give the necessary colour, made into a stiff dough
with starch-paste, and then formed into lumps or cakes of the desired size
and shape, and dried. This forms the ordinary 'washerwoman's blue' of the
shops.

2. As the last, but substituting caeruleo-sulphate of potassa or blue
carmine[226] for the 'powdered indigo' ordered in the last formula. Very
fine.

[Footnote 226: See INDIGO (Sulphate of).]

3. As No. 1, but substituting whiting for the powdered starch and weak
size, or a decoction of Irish moss for the starch-paste. Inferior.

_Uses, &c._ Employed by laundresses to impart a faint blue tinge to linen,
in order to increase its apparent whiteness. The common forms given to it
are that of small balls of about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter; the same, but
rather larger, and pinched with the thumb and finger in three directions,
so as to leave corresponding depressions (THUMB-BLUE); and cakes, which
are cut out of the mass, previously rolled into a sheet, by a suitably
shaped cutter.

=Blue, Turnbull's.= Ferridcyanide of iron (which _see_; also TURNBULL'S
BLUE).

=Blue Verditer.= See VERDITER.

=Ultramarine'= (-r[=e]ne'), _U.-blue._ See ULTRAMARINE.

=BLUSH'ING.= _Syn._ RU'BOR, RUBE'DO, L. In _physiology_, &c., the red glow
on the cheeks or face occasioned by confusion, bashfulness, surprise, or
shame.

Blushing is caused by a sudden increase in the quantity and velocity of
the blood in the capillaries, occasioning their turgescence; and,
consequently, a heightening of the natural pale-reddish hue of the skin.
It is referable to sudden mental emotions of an exciting character, such
as surprise, confusion, consciousness of slight, injury, or indignity, and
the like. Emotions of a depressing character frequently produce an
opposite effect. This is termed pallor, and depends on the rush of blood
from the skin and surface of the body upon the internal organs. The first,
though often unpleasant, is never dangerous; the last always so. The cure
of the habit of blushing consists in persisting efforts to maintain a
sufficient degree of presence of mind and self-confidence to permit of
reflection, or a calm view of the exciting circumstance, instead of
sinking into a state of temporary mental imbecility and helpless
confusion.

'=BLUTANDRANG UND LUFTROHREN-VERSCHLEIMUNG=' (remedy for congestion and
obstruction of the air-vessels), manufactured and sold by the inventor, C.
Taenzer, 18, Kesselstrasse, Berlin,' is the title of a twelve-page
pamphlet. For cold in the head, the apparatus, which consists of a small
linen cushion to bind over the mouth, is moistened with 10 to 15 drops of
the fluid. The fluid (150 grammes) is a mixture of spirit of wine and
acetic ether, in which some arnica, milfoil, &c., have been macerated.
(Hager.)

=BLUTHENHARZ--FLOWER RESIN= (Kwizda, Kornenburg). Against barrenness in
domestic animals. A mixture of 9 parts powdered Bergundy pitch with 1 part
pine pollen, 3/4 oz. (Hager.)

=BOARDS, to make White.= Boards may be rendered white and clean by
scrubbing them, instead of with soap, with a mixture composed of one part
of freshly slaked lime and three parts of white sand.

=BOCKBIERESSENZ=, for the artificial imitation of bockbier. A tincture of
1 part lupulin, 2 parts pyroligneous acid, and 8 parts spirit of wine.
(Hager.)

=BOG SPAVIN.= In horses, a distension of the bursa or sheath of the true
hock joint. Mr Finlay Dun prescribes rest; high-heeled shoe, fomentation,
cold water, spring truss, counter-irritation, firing-iron; seton.

=BOIL= (boyl). _Syn._ FURUN'CULUS, L.; FURONCLE, Fr.; BEULE, EITERSTOCK,
Ger. In _surgery_, a well-known inflammatory tumour, of a superficial and
more or less temporary character, which generally terminates by
suppuration.

Boils (_furun'culi_) generally attack the healthy and robust during the
period of youth and early manhood, and seldom trouble persons who have
arrived at the middle age of life.

_Treatm., &c._ When boils begin to appear, and exhibit persistency by
daily enlargement and increasing pain, suppuration should be promoted by
warm poultices of bread and linseed-meal, to which a little fat or oil may
be added, to prevent their getting hard. If poultices are inconvenient,
warm and stimulating embrocations, or exposure to the vapour of hot water,
or the application of stimulating plasters, may be adopted instead. When
the tumour is sufficiently 'ripe,' the matter should be evacuated by
gentle pressure, and the wound dressed with a little simple ointment
spread on a piece of clean lint or linen. The diet may be full and liberal
until the maturation of the tumour and the discharge of the matter, when
it should be lessened, and the bowels kept gently open by saline
purgatives, as Epsom-salt or cream of tartar. When there is a disposition
in the constitution to the formation of boils, the bowels should be kept
at all times regular, and tonics, as bark or steel, had recourse to, with
the frequent use of sea-bathing when possible. An occasional dose of the
Abernethy medicines (which _see_) also often prevents their recurrence. A
course of sarsaparilla may be likewise taken with advantage. See ABSCESS,
TUMOURS, &c.

Dr Sydney Ringer prescribes a 1/16th grain of sulphide of sodium, mixed
with sugar of milk, three or four times a day on the tongue; but this
should only be administered under medical supervision.

_Treatment_ for HORSES and CATTLE.--Fomentations; poultices containing
belladonna, cold water, carbolic acid dressing, counter-irritants,
laxatives, sulphites, and chlorates.

=BOIL'ERS.= See INCRUSTATION and STEAM.

=BOIL'ING.= In _cookery_, the operation of dressing food in water at the
point of ebullition, or one very closely approaching it. The practice of
cooking animal food by boiling, although exceedingly simple, and often
most convenient, is neither judicious nor economical when the broth or
liquid in which it has been dressed is to be rejected as waste; as in this
way the most nutritious portion of the flesh of animals, consisting of
soluble saline and other matter required for the formation of bone, and
the nutrition of the muscular tissues, &c., is to a great extent lost.
This particularly applies to small pieces so dressed, and to those
presenting a large surface to the action of the water in proportion to
their weight. Large pieces of meat suffer less in proportion than smaller
ones, for the same reason; but even with them the outside should be
rejected, as it is both insipid and innutritious compared with the
interior portion. To reduce the solvent and deteriorating action of the
water to the lowest possible point, the articles to be boiled should not
be put into the water until it is in a state of full ebullition, which
should be maintained for 5 or 6 minutes afterwards, by which time the
surface and the parts lying immediately beneath it will have become, to a
certain degree, hardened, and will then act as a protective shield to the
inner portion of the mass. The boiling being continued for 5 or 6 minutes
cold water is added, until the temperature becomes about 150 deg. F., and the
cooking of the joint is carried on at this heat until the meat is done:
meat loses nearly a fourth of its weight in boiling, salt meat, which is
intended to be eaten cold, should be allowed to cool in the water in which
it has been boiled. The practice of dressing meat by putting it into cold
water, which is then gradually raised to the boiling-point, cannot be too
much censured. A 1/4 of an hour per lb. for dressing young meat, poultry,
and small pieces, and 20 minutes per lb. for old, tough, and larger ones
are the usual times allowed by cooks for the purpose. See BOUILLI, FOOD,
&c.

=BOIL'ING-POINT.= See EBULLITION.

=BOIS DURCE= (bwah d[)u]r-s[=a]). [Fr.] The substance invented in France,
and to which this name is given, is made from sawdust, which, under the
influence of a high temperature and the enormous pressure of 600 tons,
acquires a degree of hardness very much exceeding that of ordinary wood.
It has a very fine grain, and is unaffected by atmospherical variations;
but its principal merit is its adaptation to moulding, so that by the most
economical processes forms and impressions are given to it which it would
require, in any other way, considerable labour and workmanship.

=BOLAS.= Sweet light cakes which, according to Mrs Rundell, are prepared
as follows:--Into flour, 2 lbs., pour of warm milk, 3/4 pint, a small
teacupful of yeast, and 6 eggs; make a dough, add of butter 1 lb. (by
degrees), and set it in a warm place to rise for an hour; then mix in of
powdered sugar 1 lb.; and make the mass into cakes; put these into cups or
tins previously well buttered, and ornament the top with candied orange or
lemon peel; lastly bake them. See CAKES.

=BOLDO= (nat. ord. Monimiaceae). A shrub growing in the Chilian Andes. The
bark is used in tanning, and the wood makes a good charcoal. It is
reported to be useful in affections of the liver and digestive organs. It
has been employed as a tonic in cases where quinine is inadmissible. In
large doses it provokes vomiting. The powder of the dried leaves is a
sternutatory. See a paper by M. Claude Verne, translated into the 'Pharm.
Journ.,' 3rd series, v, 405.

=BOLE.= _Syn._ BO'LUS, L.; TERRE BOLAIRE, &c., Fr. The name of several
argillaceous minerals, varying in colour from white to yellow, red, and
brown, which they owe chiefly to iron. See OCHRES and RED and BROWN
PIGMENTS.

=BOLOG''NA PHI'AL= (-lawn'-y[)a]). See PHIALS.

=BO'LUS=, [L., Eng.] _Syn._ BOL, Fr. Boluses, in _pharmacy_ and
_medicine_, are small, roundish masses of medicinal substances, which are
taken in the same manner as pills, which they resemble, except in their
larger size. Those persons who object to swallowing them in their common
state may wrap them in soft paper, or introduce them into the emptied
husks of raisins or grapes.

Boluses (bo'l[=i], L.) are prepared with the same ingredients, and in a
similar manner to pills (which _see_).

=Bolus, Guaiacum= (HORNE). Guaiacum resin 1/2 drachm, elder rob, enough to
make into a bolus. Formerly given in quinsy.

=Bolus for Ague.= (The _bolus ad quartanum_ of the French Hospital).
Peruvian bark 1 ounce; carbonate of potash 1 drachm; tartarised antimony
15 grains; syrup, a sufficient quantity, one to be taken every four hours
during the intermission.

=Bolus, Vermifuge= (Dr Campbell). Basilie powder one scruple, conserve of
wormwood, a sufficient quantity to make into one bolus for an adult.
(FOY.) Powdered pomegranate root 1 drachm, assaf[oe]tida half a drachm,
croton oil 3 or 4 drops, syrup sufficient. Divide into 15 boluses; 5 daily
for tapeworm. (FRENCH HOSPITAL.) Wormseed 1 scruple, calomel 5 grains,
camphor 15 grains, syrup sufficient. Make into 3 doses; one, two, or three
in the day.

=BON'-BON= (b[=o]n_g_'-b[=o]n_g_). [Fr.] A sugarplum. See CONFECTIONERY
and SUGARPLUMS.

=BONBONS VERMIFUGES OF GAROZ.= A bonbon containing 15 centigrammes of
scammony, and 2 centigrammes of santonin. (Reveil.)

=BONE.= _Syn._ Os, L., Fr.; BEIN, KNOCHEN, Ger.; BAN, Sax. The hard
substance forming the interior skeleton of animals, or any single part of
it.

  _Comp._ According to Berzelius:--

                        Human bones.  Ox bones.

  Animal matter soluble in
    boiling water            32.17}   33.30

  Vascular substance          1.13}

  Phosphate of calcium,
    with a little fluoride of
    calcium                  53.04    57.35

  Carbonate of calcium       11.30     3.85

  Phosphate of magnesium      1.16     2.05

  Chloride of sodium and
    other salts              1.20      3.45
                         --------  --------
                           100.      100.

The soluble animal matter is chiefly fat and gelatin.

_Uses, &c._ The bones of animals are employed for various purposes in the
arts, manufactures, and domestic economy. Those of good meat form most
excellent materials for making soups and gravies, as is well known to
every cook. In France, soup is extensively made by subjecting bruised
bones to a steam heat of 2 or 3 days' continuance. In England the same is
commonly effected in an iron Papin's digester. When the earthy matter of a
bone is dissolved out by digesting it in a large quantity of very dilute
hydrochloric acid, a lump of gelatine is obtained, which, after being well
washed with water, is equal to isinglass for all the purposes of making
soups and jellies. The following is the process recommended by Proust for
making the best of bones, in hospitals, gaols, and similar
establishments:--

The bones, crushed small, are to be boiled for 15 minutes in a kettle of
water, and the fat (which is fit for all common purposes) skimmed off as
soon as cold. The bones are then to be ground, and boiled in 8 to 10 times
their weight of water (of which that already used must form a part), until
half of it is wasted, when a very nutritious jelly will be obtained. Iron
vessels should alone be used in this process, as the jelly and soup act
upon copper, brass, and the other common metals. The bones of fresh meat
are the most productive; those of boiled meat come next, whilst those of
roasted meat scarcely afford any jelly. As 'boning' meat before cooking is
now a very general practice, a quantity of fresh bones may always be
obtained.

Bones are, for the most part, WROUGHT, TURNED, BLEACHED, and DYED in a
similar manner to ivory, but with less care, owing to their inexpensive
and coarser character. Before being submitted to any of these operations
they are, however, first submitted to long boiling, to deprive them of
grease.

The bones of living animals may be dyed by mixing madder with their food.
The bones of young pigeons may thus be tinged of a rose colour in 24
hours, and of a deep scarlet in 3 days; but the bones of adult animals
take a fortnight to acquire even a rose colour. The bones nearest the
heart become tinged the soonest. In the same way extract of logwood tinges
the bones of young pigeons purple. See BLEACHING, DYEING, IVORY, &c.

In all manufacturing processes in which bones are operated upon, foul
vapours, unless special precautions are observed, will be thrown off, to
the great annoyance and discomfort of those living near the building where
the operations are performed.

To avoid this the offensive vapours should always be carried by a flue
made for the purpose into the furnace-fire, and there consumed. But this
will not remedy another source of annoyance which arises from the
disgusting stench caused by the putrefaction of the flesh adhering to the
bones, which lie in heaps about the premises.

The trade of a bone-boiler comes under the head of offensive trades (see
'Public Health Acts,' s. 112-114), and is under the control and regulation
of an urban sanitary authority, which has also the power of preventing the
bone-boiling being carried on within its district if it thinks proper.

=BONE'-ASH.= Impure triphosphate of calcium, obtained by calcining bones
to whiteness, and reducing the ash to fine powder. Used to make pure
phosphate of calcium, to form cupels, &c.; also sold for burnt hartshorn.

=BONE'-DUST.= _Syn._ BONE-MANURE. Bones (previously boiled for their
grease) ground to different degrees of coarseness, in a mill. It is sown
along with the seed in a drill. Wheat thus treated is said to yield 30 to
50 per cent, more weight in straw and grain than by the common methods.
Turnip and other light soils it renders more than ordinarily productive.
Bone manure is much used in the west of Yorkshire, Holderness, and
Lincolnshire. The usual quantity per acre is 70 bushels, when used alone;
but when mixed with ashes or other common manure, 30 bushels per acre is
said to be enough. When coarse, and applied in the same manner as other
manures, it has been found to remain upwards of seven years in the ground,
the productiveness of which it has increased during the whole time.

=BONE'-GLUE.= See GELATIN.

=BONE'-GREASE.= From refuse bones, bruised, boiled in water, and the broth
skimmed when cold. _Prod._ 1/8th to 1/4th of the weight of the dry bones.
(Proust.) Used for making soap and candles. See CHARCOAL, ANIMAL.

=BONE'-PHOSPHATE.= See TRIBASIC PHOSPHATE OF LIME.

=BONE'-SHAVINGS.= _Syn._ BONE'-DUST (Turners'), BONE-TURNINGS. This, by
boiling with water, yields a beautiful jelly, which is nearly equal to
that produced from hartshorn and ivory shavings, for which it is very
frequently sold. Used to make jellies and blancmanges, to stiffen straw
bonnets, &c.

=BONE-SPAVIN.= A bony enlargement on the antero-internal parts of the hock
in horses. In recent cases it is best to apply cold applications, but in
protracted and chronic cases, hot fomentations will be found best. In case
of these failing, recourse should be had to blistering or firing, or if
need be to a seton.

=BOOK'BINDING= (-b[=i]nd-). Although a full description of the various
operations of this well-known art, or handicraft, does not properly fall
within the province of this work, a brief notice of them will probably, in
many cases, prove useful to the amateur and the emigrant:--

The process of binding books is divided into several distinct operations,
which, in large establishments, are usually performed by different
persons; such a method being found to produce greater expedition, and
better work, than when the whole is done by one person.

The sheets received from the hands of the printer are--

1. _Folded_, which is done correctly by observing the 'marks' or
'signatures' at the bottom of the pages. As the sheets are folded they are
laid upon each other in proper order, and are ready to undergo--

2. The operation of beating. This is performed by either laying them upon
a large stone and striking them with a heavy smoothed-faced hammer, or by
passing them through a rolling-press. The former method is usually adopted
in the small way, and the latter on the large scale.

[Illustration]

3. The sheets are next fastened to bands, which is done by taking them up
one by one, and sewing them to pieces of cord, stretched in a little frame
screwed or fastened to the counter or table, called the sewing press. (See
_engr._) The number of bands used is generally 6 for a folio, 5 for a
quarto, and so on proportionally, less than 4 being seldom employed even
for small sizes. The ends of the cords being cut off to within about 2
inches of the back, the sheets are ready for--

4. _Glueing._ The back being knocked into shape with a hammer, and the
sheets placed in the cutting-press, which is then slightly screwed up,
melted glue is thinly and evenly applied. After a short time, to permit it
to become sufficiently set and hard, the book is removed from the press,
and the back properly adjusted with a hammer, when it is again put into
the cutting-press, where it is screwed up very tight, and is then ready
for--

5. _Cutting._ The instrument employed for this purpose is of a peculiar
shape, and called a plough or plough-knife, which consists of a stout flat
knife, double-edged at the 'cutting point,' firmly set in a kind of frame,
in which it may be adjusted by screws.

6. _Affixing the boards._ The bands are now scraped out fine at the ends,
and fastened to the pasteboard intended to form the covers, which is then
properly adjusted, and further shaped, if necessary, with a large pair of
shears. The edges now undergo the operation of--

7. _Sprinkling_, _gilding_, or other adornment. The first is performed
with a stiff brush made of hog's bristles, dipped in the colour; the brush
being held in the one hand, and the hairs moved with the other, so as to
scatter the colour in minute drops equally over the surface.

8. The external covering of leather, fancy cloth, or paper, is now
applied, having been previously soaked in paste, to make it properly
adhere. One or more of the blank leaves of the book are next pasted
against the inside of the cover, to screen the ends that are turned over
when the book is finished; or for choice work, is handed to a 'finisher'
for--

9. _Lettering_, _gilding_, &c. Ordinary gold-leaf is applied by means of
white of egg, the pattern being given by pressure with heated brass tools,
having the design or letters on their surfaces. The whole is then glazed
over with white of egg and polished.

10. _Burnishing book edges._ This is performed with a wolf's or dog's
tooth, or a steel burnisher. Place the books in a screw press, with boards
on each side of them, and other boards distributed between each volume.
First rub the edges well with the tooth to give them a lustre. After
sprinkling, or staining, or when the edges have become dry, burnish the
front; then turning the press, burnish the edges at the top and bottom of
the volume. Burnish the gilt edges in the same manner, after having
applied the gold; but observe in gilding to put the gold first upon the
front, and allow it to dry; and on no account commence the burnishing
until the gold is quite dry.

The succession of the above operations sometimes slightly varies with the
workmen, and with the nature of the binding. The examination of a bound
book during their perusal will, however, render the whole quite familiar
to the reader.

There are several varieties of binding, of which only the following
deserve notice here:--

BOARDS. A book rather loosely done up, without cutting the edges, and
covered with  paper or cloth, is said to be in 'boards.'

CLOTH, CLOTH-BINDING. This is the style of binding in which the majority
of works are now issued. It admits of great neatness and even beauty, is
cheap, and when well executed is very durable.--The prepared cloth
(hard-glazed or varnished calico), cut by a pattern to the proper size, is
passed rapidly between the engraved cylinders of a rolling-press, by which
the design is given to it. Paste is now applied to each piece of cloth,
which is then placed over the volume previously prepared to receive it. In
many cases the covers are prepared separately before being embossed, and
are afterwards fastened in the finished state to the book by means of a
piece of canvas or calico previously affixed to its back for the purpose,
when all that is required is to paste the ends of it to the inside of the
boards, with the last blank leaf over it. Books in cloth are seldom cut at
the edges, unless they are otherwise highly finished.

HALF-BINDING. Books forwarded in boards, and finished with leather backs
and corners, are said to be 'half-bound.'

LEATHER-BINDING. A book is only said to be 'bound,' or 'fully-bound,' when
both its backs and sides are wholly covered with one piece of
leather.--The leather is wetted by immersion in water, wrung or squeezed,
stretched on a smooth board, cut to the proper size, pared thin on the
edges, and covered with paste. It is then applied to the book (previously
forwarded in boards, and cut), drawn tightly over it, turned down on the
inside, rubbed smooth with a folding-stick, and otherwise adjusted; after
which it is placed in some suitable situation, at a distance from a fire,
to dry.

Rough calf requires to be damped on the grain side with a sponge and water
before pasting and covering.

Russia-leather is well soaked in water for an hour, taken out, beaten, and
rubbed; after which the paste is well worked into the flesh side before
covering.

Morocco is first 'grained' by rubbing it on a board, with the grain side
inside, and, after being pasted, left to soak for about a quarter of an
hour; after which it is drawn on with a piece of woollen cloth, to
preserve the grain.

Roan is either soaked in water, or left to soak when pasted.

SCHOOL-BINDING. Originally applied to school-books strongly sewn and 'done
up' in sheep-skin, which was either left of a plain brown, or sprinkled or
marbled with copperas water. Similar works of a cheaper class are now
often 'done up' in canvas, brown-holland, and even coarse and strong
 glazed calico.

_Concluding Remarks._ Numerous patents for improvements in binding books,
several of which possess very great merit and usefulness, have been
obtained during the last 30 years. Among these, one known as 'Hancock's
Patent Binding,' from its extreme novelty, simplicity, durability, and
inexpensiveness, deserves a passing notice here. By Mr Wm. Hancock's
method the sheets are folded in double leaves, and by being properly
placed together and adjusted (by setting them vertically, with the edges
forming the back of the book downwards, in a concave mould so formed that
whilst giving shape it may leave the whole breadth, and nearly the whole
length exposed), and firmly secured by a few turns of packthread, the book
is subjected to the action of a press, and a strong and quick-drying
solution of india rubber is smeared over the back with the finger, when
the whole is left for 3 or 4 hours, or longer, to dry. The operation is
repeated as often as necessary, after which fillets of cloth are cemented
on with the same varnish, and the book is ready to have the boards
attached. The sheets of books that cannot be folded in 'double leaves' may
be strongly stitched through, separately, before adjusting them in the
mould. In this way several of the usual operations of binding are
dispensed with. We most willingly bear testimony to the strength and
durability of this method, as well as to the great convenience it affords
in allowing the books to open perfectly flat upon a table, or to be
distorted in any possible manner, without injury to their backs. It is,
undoubtedly, the best way of binding books for travellers. The Editor of
the last edition of this work once had a large trunk of books, among which
was a massive volume bound on Hancock's plan. All the rest were nearly
torn to pieces by a few months' journey, but this one remained uninjured
even after five years, during which time it accompanied him in his
travels, extending, collectively, to upwards of 23,000 miles. See GILDING,
MARBLING, SPRINKLES, STAINS, &c.

=BOONEKAMP OF MAAGBITTER.= Dried orange berries, 100 grammes; bitter
orange peel, 30 grammes; gentian root, 60 grammes; cascarilla bark, 30
grammes; turmeric, 15 grammes; cinnamon, 25 grammes; cloves, 15 grammes;
rhubarb, 7-1/2 grammes; 90 per cent. spirit, 750 grammes: water, 1650
grammes; star-anise oil, 40 drops; sugar, 250 grammes; digested,
expressed, and filtered. (Hager.)

=BOOTS and SHOES.= The cleaning of boots and shoes forms no unimportant
part of the domestic duties of a large establishment; as on it being
properly performed depend both their appearance and durability. A votary
of St Crispin, in whom we place considerable reliance, assures us that to
effect this object in the best style, all that is necessary is to employ
very little blacking (merely enough to moisten the surface of the
leather), and to brush it off whilst still damp. Never make the surface
wet, nor allow the blacking to dry before applying the polishing brush.
For this purpose a portion only of the boot or shoe should be attended to
at a time. The dirt is, of course, to be carefully brushed off before
applying the blacking. When it is desired to restore the shape of a boot
or shoe, as well as to clean it, boot trees may be used. Of the brushes,
we are told that there should be at least three--one (dirt brush) with
bristles stiff, but not wiry nor scratchy, to remove mud and dirt; another
(blacking-brush), with fine, flexible hair, and plenty of it, for applying
the blacking; and a third (polishing-brush), covered with long, fine,
springy, and slightly stiff hair, for giving the polish. The employment of
inferior or worn-out brushes is said to be false economy, and proves
particularly destructive to the lighter classes of leather.

The occasional use of a little oil or grease to the uppers of boots and
shoes increases their softness and durability, as well as the 'depth,' but
not the brilliancy of the polish, from common blacking. For this purpose
some good tallow or 'dubbing' may be used; the absorption being aided by a
very gentle heat. The soles or bottoms of new boots and shoes may be
thoroughly saturated with similar substances, by which means their
durability will be fully doubled. The common practice among the shoemakers
is to moisten the surface of the leather with a wet sponge before applying
the oil or grease; by which (they say) its pores are opened and its
absorbent powers increased.

_Varnish for Boots and Shoes._--1. Boil together in a pipkin one pint of
linseed oil; 1/2 _lb._ of mutton suet, the same quantity of beeswax, and a
small piece of resin; and when the mixture becomes milk-warm, apply it
with a hair brush. After two applications the articles will become
waterproof. Great caution must be exercised in melting the above
ingredients, lest the mixture boils over, and so give rise to a
conflagration.

2. Common tar may be made warm and brushed over the soles of boots or
shoes. These latter are then put near the fire so that the tar may be
absorbed. When the absorption has taken place, a second or third
application may be given with advantage. This application is not suitable
for the upper leathers.

3. India-rubber varnish will be found very useful for anointing the upper
leather of boots and shoes; but the lower parts, which are exposed to the
wear and tear caused by friction with the ground, are but little benefited
by its application.

Patent-leather boots and shoes are best cleaned with a little sweet oil or
milk (preferably the first), the dirt having been previously removed in
the usual way.

India-rubber goloshes and overshoes may be cleaned with a sponge or brush,
and water, care being taken not to wet the linings. The same applies to
gutta percha. See BLACKING, LEATHER, WATERPROOFING, &c.

The reasons why boots and shoes so commonly cause corns, and fatigue, and
give pain in wear, are explained in our article on the FEET (which _see_).

Paramount in importance to the appearance of boots or shoes on the wearer
is the desideratum, not only of having them so made as to ensure personal
comfort in walking, but additionally to have them so constructed as to
protect the feet from wet during damp and rainy weather. The evils arising
from getting the feet damp cannot be overstated; amongst them are to be
included--cold, cough, bronchitis, inflammation of the lungs, and
rheumatism. In those inheriting a constitutional consumptive taint, a cold
caught from wearing damp or leaky boots has very frequently been known to
have precipitated the disease, that has ended in more or less speedy
death. Hence arises not only the duty of changing damp boots or shoes as
soon as ever the opportunity offers, but the wisdom of adopting the
preventive precaution of wearing them of such stout construction as to be
impervious to water during rainy weather. If the dangers arising from a
neglect of this advice are visited with such serious consequences upon
adults and grown persons, they affect infants and children with even far
greater intensity, because of the much more tender and sensitive
organisation of the latter. It therefore behoves every mother not only to
see that her children are shod with good thick boots or shoes, but to take
especial care that whenever these are damp they are removed at once.

Mr Chavasse, in his excellent work, 'Counsel to a Mother,' recommends
"boots for walking out of doors and shoes for the house." He adds, "that
the constant wearing of boots in the house is weakening to the ankles, as
weakening as tight lacing is to the waist; indeed it acts much in the same
way, namely, by wasting away, by pressure, the ligaments of the ankles, as
stays waste away the muscles of the waist." In support of his argument he
quotes Dr Humphrey, who says, "The notion is in both instances fortified
by the fact that those persons who have been accustomed to the pressure
either upon the ankle or upon the waist, feel a want of it when it is
removed, and are uncomfortable without it. They forget, or are
unconscious, that the feeling of the want has been engendered by the
appliance, and that had they never resorted to the latter, they would
never have experienced the former. The deduction to be drawn from Dr
Hutchinson's opinion is that no more fertile source of weak ankles exists
than that of wearing laced boots during childhood. Boots with elastic
sides, as exerting much more equal pressure, and allowing full scope for
the ankles to play, are far preferable to tightly laced-up boots.

=BOOT-POW'DER.= French chalk reduced to powder by scraping or grating.
Used to facilitate the 'getting on' of new or tight boots, a little of it
being rubbed on the insides of the backs, heels, and insteps.

=BOOT-TOP LIQ'UID.= _Syn._ BOOT'-TOP COMPOSI''TION. There are numerous
articles of this class extant, but, with few exceptions, they are most
unchemical mixtures, not infrequently containing ingredients which are
either unnecessary, or opposed to the action of the rest. The following
are examples:--

_Prep._ _a._ WHITE-TOP:--1. Oxalic acid and white vitriol, of each 1
_oz._; water, 1-1/2 pint; dissolve. It is applied with a sponge, the
leather having been previously washed with water; after a short time it is
washed off with water, when the boot-tops are either dried in a current of
air or by a gentle heat; they are lastly either polished with a brush, so
as to appear like new leather, or they are left rough, as the case may
require.

2. Sour milk, 1 quart; butter of antimony, cream of tartar, tartaric acid,
and burnt alum, of each 2 oz.; mix.

3. Sour milk (skimmed), 3 pints; cream of tartar, 2 _oz._; alum and oxalic
acid, of each 1 _oz._

4. Alum, cream of tartar, magnesia, and oxalic acid, of each 1 _oz._; salt
of sorrel and sugar lead, of each 1/4 _oz._; water, 1 quart. The preceding
are for white tops.

_b._ BROWN-TOP:--Alum, annatto, and oxalic acid, of each 1 _oz._;
isinglass and sugar of lead, of each 1/2 _oz._; salt of sorrel, 1/4 _oz._;
water, 1 quart; boil for 10 minutes.

_c._ Saffron, 15 grains; boiling water, 2 _oz._; infuse and strain. Add
tincture of rhubarb 1-1/2 _oz._; concentrated infusion of rhubarb, to make
up to 4 _oz._

=BORACIC ACID= (-r[)a]s'-). H_{3}BO_{3}. _Syn._ BORIC ACID, SEDATIVE
SALT[dagger], S. S. OF VIT'RIOL[dagger]; ACIDUM BORACICUM (-r[)a]s'-), L.;
ACIDE BORACIQUE, A. BORIQUE, Fr.; BORAXSAeURE, &c., Ger. The pure acid is
obtained from common borax. That of commerce is extracted from the boracic
acid lagoons of Tuscany.

_Prep._ 1. Borax, 1 part; boiling water, 4 parts; dissolve, and add
sulphuric acid until the solution acquires a distinctly acid reaction, for
which purpose about 1/2 the weight of the borax will be required. As the
solution cools, crystals of BORACIC ACID will be deposited. These may be
purified by placing them on a filter, and washing them with a little very
cold water, followed by re-solution, in boiling water, and
recrystallisation. Nearly pure.

2. As the last, but substituting hydrochloric acid for the sulphuric acid,
there ordered. Very nearly pure.

3. By exposing the product of the first crystallisation of either of the
preceding formulae to heat in a platinum crucible, and redissolving and
recrystallising the residuum. Chemically pure. Used in analysis.

_Prop., &c._ Odourless; bitter-tasted; dissolves in 25 times its weight of
cold water, and in 3 times its weight of boiling water; very soluble in
alcohol, which then burns with a bright green flame; reddens litmus;
browns turmeric-paper (properties characteristic of this substance); when
strongly heated it forms a brittle glass (VITRIFIED BORACIC ACID) on
cooling. The crystallised acid contains 3 atoms, or 43.5% of water. Its
salts are called BO''RATES.

_Uses._ Boracic acid was once administered internally, in large doses, as
an anodyne, antispasmodic, and sedative, but is now scarcely ever employed
as a medicine. The crude acid is used in the manufacture of borax; the
pure acid in the manufacture of certain chemicals.

Boracic acid is extensively used in Sweden and other countries for the
preservation of milk. Meat which has been soaked in a solution of the acid
for a few seconds, and milk to which a small quantity has been added, will
keep much longer than they would otherwise do. In Sweden alone boracic
acid to the amount of 75,000_l._ was consumed in one year. It is said to
be a perfectly harmless antiseptic.

=BORACIC ANHYDRIDE.= See BORIC ANHYDRIDE.

=BORATE.= [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BO''RAS, L.; BORAXSAeURE SALZE, Ger. A salt in
which the hydrogen of boracic acid is replaced by a basic radical. The
borates may be formed by either digesting the hydrate of the base in a
solution of the acid, with the assistance of heat, or from a solution of
borax and a soluble salt of the base, by double decomposition. They are
all decomposed by the stronger acids.

_Tests._ The borates may be tested by digesting them in a slight excess of
oil of vitriol, evaporating the resulting solution to dryness, powdering
the residuum, and dissolving it in alcohol; the resulting solution
possesses the property of burning with a green flame if the sample
examined was a borate, or contained a notable quantity of one. See BORACIC
ACID.

=BORAX.= [Eng., Fr.; Ger., L., B. P.] 2NaBO_{2}.B_{2}O_{3}. _Syn._
BIBO''RATE OF SO'DA, BO''RATE OF S*, SUBBO''RATE OF S.[dagger], GOLD
SOLDER[dagger]*, REFINED' TINC'AL[dagger]*; SO'DAE BIBO''RAS, S. BO''RAS,
L.; CHRYSOCOLLE, &c., Fr.; BORAXSAURES NATRON, &c., Ger. COMmercial
biborate of soda. Borax is obtained either by purifying native borate of
soda (TINC'AL, TINC'AR), or by saturating crude boracic acid with the
alkali. It is never prepared on the small scale unless for chemical
analysis.

_Prop._ Crystals, six-sided prisms, which contain 10 equiv. of water, and
effloresce in dry air; soluble in 20 parts of cold, and in 6 parts of
boiling water; solution has an alkaline reaction on test-paper; by heat it
loses its water of crystallisation, and at a higher temperature fuses to a
glass-like substance (see _below_).

_Pur._ This may be ascertained by determining the quantity of sulphuric
acid required to neutralise a given weight of the sample under
examination, as indicated by litmus paper. Common salt and alum are
frequently mixed with borax to lower the value. The first may be detected
by a solution in hot water giving a curdy-white precipitate with nitrate
of silver, soluble in ammonia; the last, by water of ammonia, giving a
bulky-white pulverulent precipitate. The former must be distinguished from
the white pulverulent precipitate of borate of silver, which is thrown
down from pure borax.

_Uses, &c._ Borax is extensively employed as a flux for metals, for
soldering, and in medicine. Internally it is diuretic, sedative,
emmenagogue, and refrigerant, in doses of 15 to 40 gr.; externally, made
into a gargle for sore throat, and in powder as a detergent in aphthae, and
ulcerations of the month. Dissolved in rose-water, it is used as a
cosmetic; and mixed with about 8 times its weight of lard, forms a useful
ointment in piles and sore nipples.

The 'Comptes Rendus' (lxxx, 473) contains the results of some experiments
made by M. Schnetzler, with the view of testing the antifermentative and
anti-putrefactive properties of borax.

When the leaves of the _Elodea Canadensis_ were plunged into a
concentrated solution of borax, the living matter of the cell was killed,
and the same result followed with the fresh leaves and spores of the
_Vaucheria clavata_, the spores of the grape fungus (_Oidium sacchari_),
and of yeast moulds, &c. Infusoria, rotifera, and _entomostraca_, placed
in water containing borax, quickly ceased to move and then died. The larvae
of frogs placed in a solution of borax were killed in less than an hour
after immersion. M. Schnetzler thinks the deduction to be drawn from these
facts is that borax ought to act antagonistically to fermentation, if this
latter be a chemical phenomenon accomplished under the influence of the
life of the yeast. To test the correctness of this hypothesis experiments
were undertaken with a view of determining the action of borax upon
fermentable matters.

Ripe grapes and currants after being kept two years in a concentrated
solution of borax, in a closed vessel, presented no trace of fermentation,
although, however well preserved, they were not eatable. As a counter test
grapes were placed in a well-closed vessel filled with ordinary water,
when after a time, according to the temperature, fermentation took place,
with evolution of carbonic acid. Thirty cubic centimetres of fresh milk
were placed in a test tube with one gram of borax. The cream quickly
formed a rather thick layer on the upper portion. Although the test tube
was closed by a cork a mould was formed upon the cream, but the remainder
of the liquid underwent no acid fermentation, and retained during several
months the appearance of very clear creamed milk, and although afterwards
under the influence of summer heat the liquid became perfectly limpid, and
deposited the casein as a soft white matter, neither the deposit nor the
liquid had an acid taste, and after three months they still had the odour
of fresh milk. Fresh milk put into a well-closed tube without borax
underwent fermentation in two or three days. A piece of sheep's brain
treated with powdered borax, after eight days, although it evolved
sulphuretted hydrogen, gave no indications of putrefaction, and after
retaining a soft consistence during some months, became hard and almost
horny without any disagreeable smell.

A pound of beef was placed in a concentrated solution of borax, in a tin
case not hermetically sealed.

The liquid into which the colouring matter of the blood, and some of the
soluble nitrogenous substances of the meat had diffused, was three times
removed during a year and a half, and the meat washed with cold water; but
at the end of the above time it had not the least odour of putrefaction.
It was of a yellowish colour, but soft and tender as fresh meat. Removed
from the borax solution the meat remained in the same state in the air.
Beef, veal and portions of sheeps' brains were placed in a vessel which
was filled with solution of borax and hermetically sealed. The liquid soon
became clear red, and this colour remained during several months without
alteration. The meat presented not the least disagreeable smell as long
as excess of air was prevented. Meat placed in water in a flask
hermetically sealed became rotten in a few days.

The peculiar odour of the meat preserved in borax in contact with air the
author considers to be due to the decomposition of matters which result
from the metamorphosis of substances that constitute the muscular and
intermuscular fibre. Although probably the use of borax will not be
applicable to the preservation of meat for culinary purposes, the author
considers that it may be economically substituted for alcohol in the
preservation of anatomical specimens. Moreover, its power of suspending
life in the lower organisms would seem to indicate its probable
utilisation in the treatment of wounds, &c.

In support of the above views as to the antiseptic properties of borax, M.
Schnetzler refers to a letter from an English traveller in California, who
there observed that in a soil containing borax the carcass of a horse had,
for four months, remained without decomposition, the flesh continuing
perfectly fresh, and the eye retaining its clearness and brightness. For
most of the proposed applications of salicylic acid to the preservation of
milk, and the products derived from it, it is affirmed that borax is
equally efficacious, and has the advantage of being cheaper and more
convenient.

=Borax, Glass of.= Borax dried at a gentle heat, and then melted by
increasing the heat until it forms a vitreous mass on being cooled. Used
in soldering, and as a flux, particularly in blowpipe experiments.

=BO''RIC ACID.= See BORACIC ACID.

=BORIC ANHYDRIDE.= B_{2}O_{3}. _Syn._ ANHYDROUS BORACIC ACID, BORACIC
ANHYDRIDE, BORIC OXIDE. The only known oxide of boron. It can be produced
by burning boron in oxygen, in the air, or in nitrous oxide, but is most
easily and economically prepared by strongly heating boracic acid so as to
deprive it of water. It is a brittle vitreous solid, not volatilised by
heat except in the presence of water. Dissolves in water, forming boracic
acid. Its alcoholic solution burns with a green flame, like that of
boracic acid.

=BO'RON.= B. The base of boracic acid. It was discovered by Homberg in
1702; but, from attracting little notice, was soon forgotten. It was
rediscovered, almost simultaneously, by Sir H. Davy and by Gay-Lussac and
Thenard, in 1807-8.

_Prep._ Boron is prepared by a process similar to that employed to obtain
silicium:--Potassium and perfectly dry boracic acid, or, preferably,
boro-fluoride of potassium, intimately mixed together, are placed in a
glass adopter-tube, and submitted to a low red heat. When cold, the loose
cork that fastened its mouth is removed, and hot water poured in, in
successive portions, until the whole matter is detached and all its
soluble portion dissolved; the liquid is next allowed to settle, and the
precipitate washed first with a solution of sal-ammoniac, and afterwards
with alcohol; the residuum (boron) is lastly dried in a capsule, and put
into a well-stoppered phial.

_Prop., &c._ A solid, tasteless, and inodorous powder, of a dark
greyish-brown colour. With sulphur it unites at high temperatures, forming
sulphurets (sulphides of boron); and when placed in chlorine gas it
spontaneously inflames, and a gaseous chloride of boron is formed. The
compounds of boron with basic radicals are termed BORIDES.

_Obs._ Among the most remarkable of the recent discoveries in chemistry
are those of MM. Wohler and Deville, relative to silica and boron. Each of
these substances is now proved to exist in three very different states,
analogous to the three known states of carbon, namely, charcoal, graphite,
and diamond. The last of these states is, of course, the most interesting.
Crystallised boron possesses a hardness, brightness, and refractive power
comparable to those of the diamond; it burns in chlorine, without residue,
and with circumstances resembling those of the combustion of diamond in
oxygen; it is not acted on by any of the acids, and appears to be the
least alterable of all the simple bodies. Its powder is already used in
the arts, instead of diamond-dust; and it seems not improbable that, when
obtained by the chemist in crystals of a larger size, it may rival even
the diamond as a gem.

Some late experiments by Wohler and Deville seem to have established the
fact, that the so-called "graphitoidal" boron is really a boride of
aluminium. Its formation on fusing aluminium with amorphous boron or boric
oxide appears to take place more particularly when the heat applied is
neither very strong nor long continued.

=Boron, Terflu'oride of.= See FLUOBORIC ACID.

=BOTHRIOCEPHALUS CORDATUS.= Leuckart was the first to describe this
creature, which is a parasitic worm infesting the human intestines. It is,
however, much more commonly met with in dogs than in man. The annexed
engraving depicts--_b_, the head (back view), magnified five diameters;
_b'_, upper part of body and head, magnified two diameters; _a_ is a
portion of the worm, natural size. See BOTHRIOCEPHALUS LATUS.

[Illustration]

=BOTHRIOCEPHALUS LATUS.= A parasitic worm infesting the human intestines.
Although classed with the tapeworms, it differs essentially from _taenia_.
The head is of an elongated form, compressed with an anterior obtuse
prominence into which the mouth opens.

[Illustration]

The animal has the power of elongating and contracting the neck, so that
it appears sometimes short, sometimes long. The joints or segments
commence about three inches from the head; the anterior ones are nearly
square, but the remainder are much elongated transversely. Each segment
contains on its flat surface two orifices, the anterior connected with a
male, the posterior with a female organ of generation. The parasite is of
a brown colour, and from six to twenty feet in length.

Those who are affected by this worm never pass the single segments from
the bowels, but void them in chains of many links. The ova are also
frequently to be met with in the faeces; they are of an ovoid shape; the
capsule is perfectly translucent, and the yolk is distinguishable. The
yolk undergoes segmentation, and ultimately develops an embryo with six
hooks at the anterior extremity, cased in a mantle studded with vibratory
cilia, and the lid of the capsule then opens up; and the embryo escapes.
If they do not obtain access to the intestines of an animal within a week,
they lose their ciliated mantle and perish. Drinking-water is supposed to
be the chief if not the only medium through which the parasite gains
admissions to the intestines in man. It seems to be unknown in England,
except when imported; but is common in Russia, Sweden, Norway, Lapland,
Finland, Poland, and Switzerland.

=BOTS.= The larvae of the gad-fly. The eggs are deposited by the female fly
on the horse's shoulder and on parts of the body within reach of the
tongue, by which they are carried to the mouth and find their way to the
stomach. They usually resist all attempts to expel them. The most
promising treatment consists in rubbing down in hot water about 2 or 3
_drms._ each of aloes and assaf[oe]tida; and when the solution has cooled,
adding to it 1 _oz._ each of turpentine and ether. Repeat this dose two or
three times a week, omitting the aloes if necessary.

=BOT'TLES= (b[)o]t'lz). See GLASS, INFANCY, LACTATION, PHIALS, &c.

=BOTT'LING= (b[)o]t'l-[)i]ng.) See CORKS, MALT LIQUORS, WINE, &c.

=BOUGIE= (b[=o][=o]'-zh[=e]). [Fr.] _Syn._ CE'REUS, CERE'OLUS,[227]
CANDE'LA PROBATO''RIA*, L. In _surgery_, a long slender instrument,
originally of wax,[228] introduced into the urethra, [oe]sophagus, or
rectum, in stricture and other diseases of those organs.

[Footnote 227: Properly, a 'little bougie.']

[Footnote 228: Hence the name.]

_Prep._ 1. (Prof. Pickel's.) Amber (melted), 1 part; boiled oil, 3 parts;
mix, cool a little, and further add of oil of turpentine, 1 part; spread
the mixture, at 3 successive intervals, upon loose spun-silk cord or web;
dry in a heat of 150 deg. Fahr., and repeat the process until the instrument
has acquired the proper size; lastly, polish it, first with pumice-stone,
and afterwards with tripoli and oil. This is the original receipt of the
once celebrated French professor Pickel, and is still generally used,
slightly modified, on the Continent. At the present time, in Paris, a
little caoutchouc, equal to about 1/20th of the weight of the oil
employed, is generally added. For the best ELAS'TIC BOUGIES the process
usually occupies from 6 to 8 weeks, to allow full time for the drying and
hardening of the composition. When the bougie is required to be hollow, a
piece of polished metallic wire is introduced into the axis of the silk;
or tin-foil is rolled round the wire and the composition applied as
before. When dry and hard the wire is withdrawn.

2. (Hunter's.) Yellow wax, 2 parts; red lead, 3 parts; olive oil, 6 parts;
slowly boiled together until combination takes place; strips of soft linen
(rather wider at the one end than the other) are then dipped into the
composition, rolled up firmly, and finished off on a polished slab.

3. (Piderit's.) Olive oil, 1 part; wax, 6 parts; as before.

4. (Bell's.) Lead-plaster, 11 parts; yellow wax, 4 parts; olive oil, 1
part.

5. (St. B. Hosp.) Wax, 12 parts; Chio turpentine, 4 parts; red sulphide of
mercury, 1 part.

6. CAOU'TCHOUC BOUGIES:--In France, where ether is comparatively
inexpensive, these are made by applying an ethereal solution of india
rubber to the silk or foil prepared as before. In England, naphtha was,
until recently, employed instead of 'ether,' but it furnishes a very
inferior product. Now bisulphuret of carbon is generally used as the
solvent. Sometimes strips of india rubber, previously boiled in water, or
that have had their edges softened by moistening them with a little ether,
or bisulphuret of carbon, are wound round the 'wire or foil,' and kept in
their place by a piece of tape applied over them. They are afterwards
carefully smoothed off and polished.

7. GUTTA-PER'CHA BOUGIES:--These are formed of gutta percha (previously
softened by immersion in boiling water), by rolling it between plates of
polished glass or marble. When skilfully prepared from the best
(uncoloured) gutta percha, they are admirable instruments. A bougie of
this description, of moderate size, and slightly oiled, or wetted with
glycerin or gum-water, may be passed through the whole length of the
urethra of a healthy person without causing the slightest pain.
Gutta-percha catheters (hollow bougies) are still more flexible and easily
introduced, and may remain in the urethra for a long time without causing
irritation; an important advantage in such matters. The reader cannot,
however, be too careful to avoid those made of  gutta percha,
which, unfortunately, rapidly become very brittle by age. Those originally
manufactured in this material were  black, and were constantly
breaking whilst in use--a disaster from which several serious and even
fatal cases ensued. There is no such danger to be dreaded from those made
of the uncoloured material when of good quality.

=BOULES DE NANCY.= See BALLS (Martial).

=BOUILLI.= [Fr.] A name frequently applied by cooks to dishes of boiled or
stewed meat, as a refinement on its plain English synonymes. Thus, beef
bouilli, beef in bouilli, &c., mean stewed or boiled beef, &c. As,
however, the name is a la francais, so must be the 'accompaniments,' which
generally consist of herbs and vegetable seasoning in greater quantity and
variety than is usually deemed essential for an humble dish of English
boiled or stewed meat.

=BOUILLON= (b[=o][=o]l'-yon_g_). [Fr.] In _cookery_, broth, soup.

=BOUQUET'= (b[=o][=o]-k[=a]'). [Fr.] A nosegay. In _perfumery_, highly
scented spirits (esprits) adapted for the handkerchief are commonly called
bouquets. The following are examples:--

=Bouquet d'Amour.= _Prep._ From esprits de rose, jasmin, violette, and
cassie (flowers of _acacia farnesiana_), of each 2 parts; essences of musk
and ambergris, of each 1 part; mix, and filter.

=Bouquet de la Reine.= _Prep._ 1. Essence of bergamot, 1 dr.; English oil
of lavender, 25 drops; oil of cloves, aromatic vinegar, and essence of
musk, of each 10 drops; alcohol, 1 fl. oz.; mix.

2. Oils of bergamot and lavender, of each 30 drops; neroli, 15 drops; oils
of verbena and cloves, of each 5 drops; essences of musk, ambergris, and
jasmin, of each 1/2 dr.; rectified spirit of wine (strongest, scentless),
2 fl. oz.; mix. A much-esteemed perfume.

=BRA'GRAS.= Tar, black resin, and the dregs of strained resin, melted
together.

=BRAIN= (br[=a]ne). _Syn._ BRAINS[double-dagger]; CER'EBRUM, L.; CERVEAU,
Fr.; GEHIRN, HIRN, Ger. The soft whitish mass of nerve-matter contained in
the skulls of animals, and, in man, supposed to be the seat of the soul
and the mind.

=Brains.= (In _cookery_.) There appears to be scarcely anything which is
at all eatable that the ingenuity and taste of the modern cook does not
appropriate to his purposes, and clothe with delectability, or transform
into something execrable. We observe that our chef de cuisine--no
unimportant personage--has taxed every viscera and brought together every
novelty and dainty to humour and excite the appetite. Animals which were
guiltless of brains whilst living, are found by him to possess excellent
ones when dead, from which he prepares a variety of miniature dishes which
are truly novel and inviting. Let frugal housewives for the future
carefully value their brains, and apply them to useful purposes in a
double sense. When cleaned, washed, blanched, and flavoured with the
necessary seasoning, they may be formed into a variety of hors-d'[oe]uvres
creditable to any table. Mrs Rundell tells us that "beat up with a little
white pepper and salt, a sage-leaf or two (scalded and finely chopped),
and the yelk of an egg, and fried, they make excellent cakes, fritters,
&c."

=BRAMAELIXIR--GENUINE ASIATIC STOMACH BITTER= (Ch. Rama Ayen, Hamburg).
Cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves, of each 15 grammes; galangal, ginger,
zedoary, pepper, of each 30 grammes; wormwood oil, 15 drops; 90 per cent.
spirit, 830 grammes; water, 330 grammes; digest and filter. (Hager.)

=BRAN.= _Syn._ FUR'FUR, L.; BRAN, SON, Fr.; KLEIE, Ger. The inner husk or
proper coat of the cereal grains, sifted from the flour; appr., that of
wheat. _Comp._ 100 parts of bran contain albuminoid bodies, 13.80; oil,
5.56; starch, fibre, &c., 61.67; ash, 6.11; water, 12.85.

_Uses, &c._ The bran of wheat, diffused through hot water, is largely
employed by the calico-printers to remove the colouring matter from those
parts of their goods which are not mordanted. A handful mixed with a pail
of warm water forms an excellent emollient foot-bath. Infused in hot water
(bran-tea), and sweetened, it forms a popular demulcent, much used in
coughs and hoarseness, and which, taken in quantity, proves gently
laxative. It also forms an excellent manure, and, from containing the
ammonio-magnesian phosphate, is especially adapted as a 'dressing' for
potatoes. It is frequently mixed with flour, and made into bread
(bran-bread), which is eaten by the poorer orders for economy, and by the
higher classes because it is recommended by the faculty as being more
wholesome than white wheaten-bread.

=Bran Mash.= Put half a peck of bran or pollard into a bucket and pour on
to it enough scalding water to wet it thoroughly; stir well with a stick
or work with the hands; and let it stand, covered up, till new-milk warm.
If a horse is not in work on Sunday, it is a good custom to give it on
Saturday evening a bran mash in lieu of a feed of corn. Bran mash is
cooling and slightly laxative. The bran should always be freshly ground.
When intended to be nutritive, oats should be scalded with the bran.

=BRANDISH'S ALKALINE= (Liqueur de potasse des Anglais, Solutio Alkalina
Anglica), used in England to add to meat and vegetables about to be
cooked, to help in "drawing" tea and coffee, and as a medicine to
neutralise acidity of the stomach and lubricate the digestive passages
[die Verdanungswege schluepfriger zu machen]. Preparation:--Crude carbonate
of potash 3 parts, wood ashes 1 part, quicklime 1 part, warm water 40
parts. Add to the water the lime, carbonate, and ashes, digest one day,
and filter. (Hager.)

=BRANDRETH'S PILLS=, much used as a purging pill in North America, consist
of gamboge, podophyllin, the inspissated juice of pokeberries, saffron
adulterated with turmeric, powdered cloves, and peppermint oil. Gamboge is
stated to be present in Brandreth's pills on the authority of two American
druggists and one dealer. The action of the pills does not, however,
correspond with that ingredient, for in two persons five pills produced no
loose stools. (Hager.)

=BRAN'DY.= _Syn._ SPIR'ITUS GAL'LICUS, S. VI'NI GAL'LICI (-s[=i]; B. P.),
A'QUA VI'TAE[dagger]*, L.; EAU-DE-VIE, Fr.; BRANNTWEIN, COGNAC, Ger.;
BRAN'DYWINE[dagger]. A well-known spirituous liquor obtained by the
distillation of the wine of grapes. The name is also often, though
improperly, given to the spirit distilled from other liquors, and
particularly from the fermented juice of fruits; but in this case usually
with some qualifying epithet.

When first distilled, brandy, like other spirituous liquors, is colourless
(WHITE BRANDY), and continues so if kept in glass or stoneware; but if
stored in new oak casks, as is usually the case, it gradually acquires a
yellowish tint from the wood (PALE BRANDY). The deep colour that this
spirit frequently possesses when it reaches the consumer is imparted to it
by the addition of a little burnt sugar (caramel). Catechu, or terra
japonica, in powder or solution, is also sometimes added to give a
roughness to the spirit. The original intention was merely to imitate the
appearance acquired by brandy from great age, when kept in wood; but in
process of time the thing has come to be overdone. The natural colour
which the spirit receives from the cask, however long it may be kept in
it, never exceeds a light amber tint, about equal to that of pale Jamaica
rum. Nothing, however, will now please the public taste but a spirit of
lively and full 'brandy-colour,' as it is called. The consequence is that
more colouring is commonly added than is compatible with a rich appearance
or a very fine flavour.

The brandies most esteemed in England are imported from France, and are
those of Cognac and Armagnac, the preference being generally given to the
former. The brandies of Rochelle and Bordeaux come next in quality; while
those obtained from Portugal, Spain, and Italy are very inferior.

The constituents of pure brandy are alcohol and water, together with small
quantities of a volatile oil, acetic acid, acetic ether, [oe]nanthic
ether, colouring matter, and tannin. It is from the presence of the two
ethers that the spirit derives its characteristic smell and flavour. The
amount of absolute alcohol in brandy varies from 45 to 55 per cent. When
first imported it is generally 1 or 2 over-proof, but its strength
decreases by age, and by the time it is taken from the bonded store for
sale, it is seldom stronger than 3 or 4 under-proof. Pure brandies of the
best quality, even when new, seldom exceed proof, and are generally a
little below it. The reason of this is that they are but slightly
rectified, as redistillation tends to injure the ethereal oils, upon which
the flavour of the brandy depends.

The quality and flavour of the brandy imported from France vary, and often
considerably, from that which is drunk at the best tables on the
Continent; this principally arises from it being prepared, or, as it is
technically termed, 'made up,' for the London market; which means lowering
it by the addition of plain spirit, colouring, &c. This is done to any
extent desired by the English purchaser, and the quantity and prices of
the substances so added are regularly set out in the invoice. The strength
at which foreign brandy is sold in England varies from proof to 33
under-proof. In large quantities, and from bond, the strength, of course,
depends much upon the age and quality of the spirit; a fine old brandy
being, perhaps, 15 or 17 u. p., while one of the last year's vintage, of a
commoner quality, may be as strong as 2 u. p., or even 1 u. p. These
matters are familiar to every experienced brandy dealer.

In France there are several varieties of brandy, which are known by names
descriptive of their qualities, source, and strengths:--

"Eau-de-vie superieure" is obtained from pale white wines by skilful
distillation, and is remarkable for its rich and delicate flavour. It
forms the finest variety of COGNAC BRANDY, both 'white' and 'pale,' of the
English drinker, being seldom artificially . Its deepest tint,
though long kept in wood, never exceeds a pale amber; and hence, even when
thus , it is frequently called 'white brandy' by the uninitiated.

"Eau-de-vie ordinaire," or common brandy, is distilled from inferior or
spoilt white or red wines; average sp. gr. about 0.9476 (from 22 to 27 u.
p.). It forms the 'ordinary brandy' of the taverns and hotels; and, after
being 'made up' with plain spirit to 1 or 2 u. p., a very large portion of
that which is exported.

Of each of the above varieties there are numerous degrees of qualities,
which are further increased in number by their admixture, and by the
addition to them of plain spirit.

"Eau-de-vie de marc." From the lees of sour, damaged, and inferior red
wines, the marc or cake of grapes, &c., distilled by a quick fire, to
drive over as much essential oil and flavouring matter as possible. Coarse
flavoured and inferior. Used chiefly to mix with other brandy, or to
flavour plain spirit.

"Eau-de-vie seconde." The weak spirit that passes over, after the receiver
has been changed. Very weak and inferior.

"Eau-de-vie a preuve d'Hollande." Sp. gr. .941 to .942 (18 to 20 u. p.).
The common strength at which brandy is retailed in France, and that at
which it stands the 'proof' or 'bead.'

"Eau-de-vie a preuve d'huile." Sp. gr. .9185 (about 23 deg. Baume, or 1-1/4
o. p.); pure, olive oil just sinks in it. It is the strongest brandy kept
for retail sale in France.

"Eau-de-vie forte." From common brandy distilled at a low temperature. It
answers to our spirit of wine. Sp. gr. .839 (38 deg. Baume, or 55 deg. o. p.).

"Esprit de vin" is brandy or spirit, carefully rectified to .861 (28 deg.
Baume, or 42 o. p., and upwards).

_Pur., &c._ The method of determining the strength of brandy is explained
under 'ALCOHOLOMETRY,' Of the large quantity of this liquor consumed in
England, we can assure the reader that a small fraction only escapes
adulteration. Pure French brandy is indeed an article quite unattainable
by the small consumer. The brandy of our shops and taverns is not only
systematically 'lowered' a little (with spirit of wine or British brandy)
by the wholesale dealer, but it undergoes a like process, but to a much
greater extent, at the hands of the retailer. The only method to obtain
perfectly pure brandy is either to take it direct from the bond store, or
to buy it of some known respectable party, and to pay a price that offers
no inducement to dishonesty. When this cannot be done, British brandy had
better be at once purchased, by which money will be saved, and a more
wholesome article obtained.

French brandy, as already noticed, is commonly 'lowered' with water, malt
brandy, and spirit of wine, by which its original flavour is more or less
weakened and injured. This species of adulteration is best detected by the
palate. Another, and no very uncommon fraud practised by the retailers, is
to reduce their brandy with a large quantity of water. As a natural
consequence their liquor suffers so greatly in flavour, and its deficiency
in alcohol becomes so apparent, that they soon see the necessity of either
abandoning the nefarious practice, or resorting to others of a less
harmless character to disguise it. The latter alternative is commonly
adopted. An excess of burnt sugar is immediately introduced into the
spirit, followed by sundry portions of cayenne pepper, grains of paradise,
horse-radish, acetic ether, &c., to give it a pungency and 'make-believe
strength' that "passes muster" with the petty consumer. This fraud may be
detected by gently evaporating a little of the suspected liquor in a spoon
or glass capsule, when the acrid matter, colouring, and sugar will be left
behind, and may be readily detected by their flavour, sweetness,
glutinosity, &c. A little perfectly pure brandy evaporated in a similar
manner (on a watch-glass, for instance), merely leaves a trifling
discoloration on the surface of the glass. Genuine French brandy always
reddens blue litmus paper, from containing a little acetic acid; the old
 varieties are also blackened by a solution of a persalt of iron.
Another test for caramel (burnt sugar) is, let a small quantity of the
brandy be well shaken with one sixth of its volume of white of egg, and
the precipitate formed allowed to deposit, or be removed by filtration;
the clear liquid ought to be colourless. Should caramel be present,
however, it will retain its colour. Sometimes brandy is contaminated with
a small quantity of lead or copper derived from the apparatus or utensils
with which it has been prepared or measured. Sugar of lead has also
sometimes been used by the ignorant dealer to clarify it. The presence of
these highly deleterious substances may be detected in the following
manner:--

1. COPPER:--_a._ A small piece of clean polished iron or steel immersed in
the suspected liquid for a short time (with agitation) becomes coated with
a film of metallic copper, when that metal is present. To facilitate the
precipitation of the metal, the sample under examination may be slightly
acidulated with a few drops of pure acetic acid. Minute traces of copper
may sometimes be detected on the surface of the iron with a lens, which
would be passed over unnoticed by the naked eye.

_b._ (Boettger.) A little of the brandy is to be agitated with a few drops
of pure olive oil. The latter will acquire a green colour if copper be
present.

2. LEAD:--_a._ Hydrosulphuric acid and sulphide of ammonium produce a
black precipitate or discoloration in brandy containing lead.--_b._ A
solution of sulphate of soda (Glauber-salts), or water soured with
sulphuric acid, produces a heavy white precipitate, which turns black when
moistened with sulphide of ammonium.

3. Methylated spirit is detected by rubbing a little of the suspected
brandy on the hands, and then drawing a long breath with the hands over
the mouth. The peculiar odour of the methylated spirit, if present, then
becomes evident. This is a test, however, requiring practice and
experience.

4. TO DETERMINE THE ALCOHOLIC STRENGTH.--Put 100 c. c. of the brandy into
a small retort, or into a flask, with a lateral tube, and distil to
dryness, or nearly so, condensing the distillate by means of a suitable
receiver, and let the alcohol by means of the processes detailed under
ALCOHOLOMETRY. The brandy may be roughly tested for fusel oil by burning a
little of it in a dish, and depressing over the flame a saucer or other
cold piece of porcelain. If a black stain is left, some of the lower
alcohols are very probably present, and should be looked for by distilling
half a pint of the spirit, and examining the later for heavier products.
The vinic alcohol being the most volatile comes over first, the heavier
fusel oil remaining until the later stages.

_Concluding Remarks._ In the 'trade,' the addition of water ('liquor') to
spirit is technically called 'reducing,' whilst absolute adulteration is
known under the questionable name 'improving.' Both of these operations
have now been so long practised with impunity as to form the leading
qualifications demanded in a cellarman.

The following formulae for 'reducing' brandy are those of two large
wholesale dealers, who consider themselves much more honest than their
brethren in the same line:

1. Cognac brandy (10 u. p.), 20 galls.; British brandy (17 u. p.), 5
galls.; water, 4-1/2 galls. Strength of mixture, 25 u. p.

2. To 72 galls, of full-flavoured French brandy (5 u. p.) are added 10
galls, of spirit of wine (58 o. p.); 25 galls. of water, and 1 pint of
good colouring. The whole is then well 'rummaged up,' and allowed to stand
for two days, when it is fit for use. Strength of mixture, 22 u. p.

A liqueur, sold in London under the name of "brandy improver," or "brandy
essence," consists of a thin sugar syrup, flavoured with acetic ether and
essence of cayenne, and  with burnt sugar. It is said to heighten
the true Cognac flavour, and restore lost alcoholic strength.

=Brandy, British.= _Syn._ MALT BRANDY, &c. For a long time this liquor was
distilled from spoiled wine and the dregs of wine, both British and
foreign, mixed with beer-bottoms, spoiled raisins, and similar substances.
Malt and molasses spirit were afterwards employed, as at the present day,
for the purpose; but it was long considered as "an unpardonable and wicked
misuse of these articles." Modern experience, however, has proved that
pure malt spirit is, in this country, the most convenient, if not the best
kind, to form the basis of an imitation brandy.

_Prep._ 1. To 12 galls. of malt spirit (finest and flavourless) at proof,
add, of water, 5 galls.; crude red tartar or wine-stone, 3/4 lb.
(previously dissolved in 1 gall. of boiling water); acetic ether, 6 fl.
oz.; French wine-vinegar, 2 quarts; French plums (bruised), 5 lbs.; sherry
wine-bottoms, 1/2 gall.; mix in a sherry or French-brandy cask, and let
them stand for about a month, frequently 'rummaging up' the liquor with a
stick; next draw over 15 galls. of the mixture from a still furnished with
an agitator. Put the 'rectified spirit' into a clean, fresh-emptied
Cognac-brandy cask, and add of tincture of catechu, 1 pint; oak shavings,
1 lb.; and spirit colouring, 1/2 pint; agitate occasionally for a few
days, and then let it repose for a week, when it will be fit for use.
_Prod._, 15 galls, of BRANDY, 17 u. p. Age greatly improves it.

2. Malt spirit (as before), 99 galls.; red tartar (dissolved), 7 lbs.;
acetic ether, 1/2 gall.; wine-vinegar, 5 galls.; bruised raisins or French
plums, 14 lbs.; bitter-almond cake (bruised and steeped for twenty-four
hours in twice its weight of water, which must be used with it), 1/4 lb.;
water, q. s.; macerate as before, and draw over, with a quick fire, 120
galls. To the distilled spirit add a few lbs. of oak shavings; 2 lbs. of
powdered catechu (made into a paste with hot water), and spirit-colouring
q. s.; and 'finish' as in the last. _Prod._, 120 galls, of spirit, fully
17 u. p. Equal in quality to the last.

3. Clean spirit (17 u. p.), 100 galls; nitrous ether, 2 quarts; cassia
buds (ground) 4 oz.; bitter-almond meal, 5 oz.; orris-root (sliced), 6
oz,; powdered cloves, 1 oz.; capsicum, 1-1/2 oz.; good vinegar, 3 galls.;
brandy colouring, 3 pints; powdered catechu, 2 lbs.; full-flavoured
Jamaica rum, 2 galls. Mix in an empty Cognac 'piece,' and macerate for a
fortnight, with occasional stirring. _Prod._, 106 galls., at 21 or 22 u.
p.

4. Malt spirit (17 u. p.), 100 galls.; catechu, 2 lbs.; tincture of
vanilla, 1/2 pint; burnt sugar colouring, 1 quart; good rum, 3 galls.;
acetic or nitrous ether, 2 quarts. Mix as the last.

5. Clean spirit (17 u. p.), 89 galls.; high-flavoured Cognac, 10 galls.;
oil of cassia, 2 dr.; oil of bitter almonds, 3 dr.; powdered catechu, 1
lb.; cream of tartar (dissolved), 1-1/4 lbs.; Beaufoy's concentrated
acetic acid, 1/2 gall.; sugar colouring, 2 to 3 pints; good rum, 1 gall.
When the above mixtures are distilled, the French brandy, colouring, and
catechu, should be added to the distilled spirit.

6. To plain spirit (), at 17 u. p., add a little tincture of
catechu, and a sufficient quantity of eau-de-vie de marc, or of the oil
distilled from wine-lees, to flavour it.

_Obs._ The oil referred to in the last formula is obtained by distillation
from the lees of wine, either dried and made up into cakes, or in their
wet state, mixed with about 7 or 8 times their weight of water. This oil
should be kept dissolved in alcohol, as it is otherwise apt to lose its
flavour. Brandy from any part of the world may be very closely imitated by
distilling the oil from the lees of the wines produced in that particular
district. Where black tea is cheap, as in the United States of America, it
is very commonly employed to impart the roughness of brandy to the
 spirit, and the subsequent addition of a little 'flavouring'
greatly improves it. A really good article of cider-spirit thus treated
forms a passable 'mock brandy.' In conclusion, we may remark that, as the
strength and quality of ingredients frequently vary, and success depends
greatly on skill in manipulation, much must be left to the experience,
judgment, and discretion of the operator. In all cases he must recollect
that a certain degree of 'age' is absolutely necessary to give a high
character to any spirit. Indeed, to age in the one case, and its absence
in the other, may be referred the reasons why French brandy and British
brandy, apart from mere shades of flavour, so materially differ.

The production of a flavoured British spirit closely resembling French
brandy is a subject well worthy of the attention of the ingenious chemist,
rectifier, and cellarman, as a matter of profit; and of the amateur, as
affording an interesting field for useful and amusing experiment.

=Brandy, Car'away.= A species of cordial commonly prepared as follows:--1.
Caraway-seeds (bruised), 4 oz.; lump sugar, 2 lbs.; British brandy, 1
gall.; macerate a fortnight, occasionally shaking the bottle.--2. Sugar, 1
lb.; caraways (bruised), 1 oz.; 3 bitter almonds (grated);
spirit-colouring, 1 oz.; plain spirit or gin (22 u. p.), 1/2 gall.; as
before. Some persons omit the colouring.

=Brandy, Cher'ry.= _Prep._ 1. Brandy and cherries (crushed), of each 1
gall.; let them lie together for 3 days, then express the liquor, and add
2 lbs. of lump sugar; in a week or two decant the clear portion for use.

2. To the last add 1 quart of raspberry juice, and 1/2 a pint of
orange-flower water. Both the above are excellent.

3. Treacle, 1 cwt.; spirit (45 u. p.), 41 galls.; bitter almonds
(bruised), 1 lb. (or more or less to taste); cloves, 1 oz.; cassia, 2 oz.;
macerate a month, frequently stirring. This is the article now commonly
vended in the shops and at stalls for cherry brandy.

4. German cherry juice 15 galls.; pure rect. spirits, 20 galls.; syrup, 5
galls.; oil of bitter almonds, 1 drachm.

_Obs._ Equal part of fully ripe Morello cherries and black cherries
produce the richest cordial. Some persons prick each cherry separately
with a needle instead of crushing them; in which case they retain them in
the liquor, and serve up a few of them in each glass. The plan named in
the first formula is, however, that usually adopted. On the small scale,
the fruit is commonly bruised between the fingers. A portion only (if any)
of the stones in the cherries should be crushed, to impart a nutty
flavour. See LIQUEURS.

=Brandy, Ci'der.= From cider and perry; also from the marc of apples and
pears fermented. It is very largely manufactured in the United States of
America and Canada, where it may be purchased for about 2_s._ 1_d._ a
gallon. See BRITISH BRANDY (_above_).

=Brandy, Dant'zic.= From rye, ground with the root of _calamus
aromaticus_. It has a mixed flavour of orris and cinnamon.

=Brandy, Guern'sey.= Beet-root spirit flavoured.

=Brandy, Lem'on.= _Prep._ 1. Fresh lemons (sliced), 1 dozen; brandy, 1
gall.; macerate for a week, press out the liquor, and add of lump sugar, 1
_lb._

2. Proof spirit, 7 galls.; essence of lemon, 3 dr.; sugar, 5 lbs.;
tartaric acid, 1 oz.; (dissolved in) water, 2 galls.; turmeric powder or
spirit-colouring, a dessert-spoonful; as before. Sometimes milk is added
to the above, in the proportion of 1 quart (boiling hot) to every gallon.

=Brandy, Malt.= See BRITISH BRANDY.

=Brandy, Or'ange.= As lemon brandy, but employing oranges.

=Brandy, Pale.= This article has been already referred to. (See p. 337.)
That of the gin-shops and publicans is generally a spurious article, made
by mixing together about equal parts of good brown French brandy, clean
spirit of wine, and soft water, and allowing the whole to stand until the
next day to 'fine down.' If the first is 9 u. p., and the second 58 o. p.,
the product will be 17 u. p. Any deficiency of strength is made up by
adding a little more spirit of wine.

=Brandy, Pat'ent.= The article so much bepuffed under this name, by
certain houses, is merely very clean malt-spirit mixed with about 1-7th of
its bulk (or less) of strong-flavoured Cognac, and a little colouring.

=Brandy, Peach.= From peaches, by fermentation and distillation. Much used
in the United States, where peaches are very plentiful, and consequently
cheap. A cordial spirit under the same name is prepared as follows:--

1. From peaches, sliced and steeped in twice their weight of British
brandy or malt-spirit, as in making cherry brandy.

2. Bitter almonds (bruised), 3 oz.; proof spirit (pale), 10 galls.; water,
3 galls.; sugar, 5 or 6 lbs.; orange-flower water, 1/2 a pint; macerate
for 14 days. Add brandy-colouring, if required darker.

=Brandy, Rais'in= (r[=a]'zn). See SPIRIT (Raisin).

=Brandy, Rasp'berry= (r[)a]z'-). From raspberries, as directed under
CHERRY BRANDY. Sometimes a little cinnamon and cloves are added. The only
addition, however, that really improves the flavour or bouquet is a little
orange-flower water, a very little essence of vanilla, or a single drop of
essence of ambergris.

=Brandy, White.= See BRANDY (p. 337) and PALE BRANDY (_ante_).

=BRASS.= _Syn._ AES, AE''RIS METAL'LUM, L.; AIRAIN, LAITON, CUIVRE JAUNE,
Fr.; ERZ, MESSING, Ger.; BRAES, Sax. A well-known alloy of copper and zinc.

_Prep._ Brass is now generally manufactured by plunging copper, in slips,
into zinc melted in the usual manner. The former metal rapidly combines
with the fluid mass, and the addition is continued until an alloy somewhat
difficult of fusion is formed, when the remainder of the copper is at once
added. The brass thus obtained is broken into pieces, and remelted under
charcoal, and a proper addition of either zinc or copper made, to bring it
up to the colour and quality desired. It is next poured into moulds of
granite. Before being submitted to the rolling-press for reduction to thin
plates it undergoes the operation of annealing.

The proportions of the metals forming this alloy are varied according to
the desired colour, and the purposes to which it is to be applied. The
following formulae are founded chiefly on analyses of standard brasses and
yellow metals, made expressly for this work. Small fractions are omitted;
the nearest whole numbers being generally taken:--

_a._ FINE BRASS:--1. Copper, 2 parts; zinc, 1 part; either combined, as
explained above, or the two metals separately melted, suddenly poured
together, and united by vigorous stirring.

2. Copper, 7 parts; zinc, 3 parts. Bright yellow; malleable.

3. Fine copper, 4 parts; zinc, 1 part. Deeper  than the last; an
excellent and very useful alloy.

_b._ MALLEABLE BRASS:--1. Copper, 33 parts; zinc, 25 parts; as before.

2. Copper, 3 parts; zinc, 2 parts. These alloys are malleable whilst hot.

_c._ RED BRASS. This name is commonly applied to all those alloys which do
not contain more than 18 to 20% of zinc. In the deeper- foreign
varieties (RED TOM'BAC) the per-centage of copper occasionally amounts to
88, 90, or even 92%.

_d._ YELLOW BRASS. See FINE BRASS (_above_).

_e._ BUTTON-BRASS:--1. Copper, 8 parts; zinc, 5 parts. This is the
'PLATIN' of the Birmingham makers.

2. Yellow brass, 16 parts; zinc, 2 parts; tin, 1 part. Paler than the
last.

3. Copper, 25 parts; zinc, 20 parts; lead, 3 parts; tin, 2 parts. Pale;
used for common buttons.

_f._ FOR FINE CASTINGS:--1. As fine brass, according to the colour
desired. (See _above_.)

2. Copper, 62 parts; zinc, 35 parts; lead, 2 parts; tin, 1 part.

3. Copper, 60 parts; zinc, 36 parts; tin, 4 parts. Both the last two are
rather pale and brittle.

4. Copper, 90 parts; zinc, 7 parts; tin, 2 parts; lead, 1 part. Rich deep
colour.

5. Copper, 91 parts; zinc, 5 parts; tin, 3 parts; lead, 1 part; as the
last.

_g._ For GILDING:--1. As fine brass (_above_).

2. Copper, 64 parts; zinc, 32 parts; lead, 3 parts; tin, 1 part.

3. Copper, 82 parts; zinc, 18 parts; tin, 3 parts; lead, 1 part.

_h._ For SOLDER:--1. Fine brass, 12 parts; zinc, 6 parts; tin, 1 part;
melted together.

2. Brass, 2 parts; zinc, 1 part; as before.

3. Brass, 3 parts; zinc, 1 part. Very strong. Used for soldering tubes and
other like purposes requiring great strength. The above alloys form the
'HARD SOLDER' of the braziers. For certain purposes a little silver is
added to them, when the compound receives the name of 'SILVER-SOLDER,'

_i._ For TURNING:--1. Fine brass, 98 parts; lead, 2 parts; melted
together.

2. Copper, 61 parts; zinc, 36 parts; lead, 3 parts.

3. Copper, 65 parts; zinc, 33 parts; lead, 2 parts.

_j._ For WIRE:--1. Copper, 72 parts; zinc, 28 parts; the resulting alloy
being subsequently properly annealed.

2. Copper, 64 parts; zinc, 34 parts; as before.

3. To the last add of lead, 2 parts.

_Anal._ This may be briefly described as follows:--

_a._ 100 gr. of the alloy is digested in nitric acid. The insoluble
portion is peroxide of tin, every 74 gr. of which, when washed and dried,
contain 58 gr. of metallic tin.

_b._ Sulphuric acid is added to the nitric solution as long as a white
precipitate falls; after a time the precipitate is collected on a filter,
washed with a mixture of water and alcohol, and ignited in a porcelain
crucible. Every 152 gr. of the residuum represents 104 gr. of metallic
lead.

_c._ The liquid filtered from the precipitate of sulphate of lead is
treated with a stream of sulphuretted hydrogen; the precipitate is
collected on a filter, washed with water mixed with a little sulphuretted
hydrogen, dried, and digested in pure nitric acid until the sulphur which
separates acquires its natural full yellow colour; the resulting solution
is next diluted with water, and reprecipitated with potassa, the whole
being boiled until the precipitated oxide of copper becomes of a deep
brown or black; it is then collected on a filter, washed, dried, ignited
in a platinum crucible, and weighed therein immediately after it becomes
cold. Every 40 gr. of oxide of copper thus obtained represents 32 gr. of
pure copper.

_d._ The liquid poured from the precipitate of sulphide of copper is
boiled for about a minute, when it is precipitated with a solution of
carbonate of sodium; the whole is then boiled for a few minutes, and the
precipitated oxide of zinc collected, washed, dried, and ignited. Every 40
gr. of this oxide contains 32 gr. of metallic zinc.

_Concluding Remarks._ In the adoption of his formula the operator should
be entirely led by the object he has in view. The larger the proportion of
copper, the deeper will be the colour, and the greater the density, and,
within certain limits, the toughness of the alloy. Zinc lessens the
specific gravity and colour. Tin gives it hardness and grain; whilst lead
toughens it, and renders it fitter for turning. These facts are known to
every experienced brass-founder. See ALLOYS, COPPER, MOSAIC GOLD, PRINCE'S
METAL, TOMBAC, &c.

=BRASS BATH= (FOR ELECTRO-PLATING). _For steel, wrought and cast iron, and
tin; using ordinary cyanide of potassium._ Dissolve together in 14 pints
of distilled or rain water:--Bisulphite of soda, 7 _oz._; cyanide of
potassium (containing 75 per cent. of real cyanide), 17 _oz._; carbonate
of soda, 34 _oz._

To this solution add the following, made up to 3-1/4 pints of
water:--Acetate of copper, 4-1/2 _oz._; neutral protochloride of zinc,
3-1/2 _oz._; the two liquors become colourless when mixed. Ammonia must
not be used for brass electro-plating baths for iron, especially for
solutions worked in the cold.

=BRASS BATH= (FOR ELECTRO-PLATING). _For zinc._ Pure or rain water, 4-1/2
gallons; bisulphite of soda, 24-1/2 _oz._; cyanide of potassium
(containing 75 per cent. of cyanide), 35 _oz._ To this add the following
solution:--Water, 9 pints; acetate of copper and protochloride of zinc,
each 12-1/2 _oz._; liquid ammonia, 14 _oz._

The filtered bath is colourless, and gives, under the action of the
battery, a brass deposit of a very fine shade, varying from red to green,
by increasing the proportion of copper or that of zinc.

=BRASS'-COLOUR.= _Syn._ BRASS-PIGMENT, B.-BRONZE. _Prep._ 1. Grind copper
filings, or the precipitated powder of copper, with a little red ochre.
Red-.

2. Gold- brass, or Dutch leaf, reduced to a very fine powder.
Yellow or gold .

_Obs._ Before application these powders are mixed up with pale varnish, no
more being worked up at once than is wanted for immediate use. They are
also applied by dusting them over any surface previously covered with
varnish to make them adhere.

=BRASS-PASTE.= _Prep._ 1. Soft soap, 2 oz.; rotten-stone, 4 oz.; beaten to
a paste.

2. Rotten-stone made into a paste with sweet oil.

3. Rotten-stone, 4 oz.; oxalic acid (in fine powder), 1 oz.; sweet oil,
1-1/2 oz.; turpentine, q. s. to make a paste.

_Obs._ The above are used to clean brass-work, when neither varnished nor
lacquered. The first and last are best applied with a little water; the
second with a little spirit of turpentine or sweet oil. Both require
friction with soft leather. See BRASS-WORK, PASTES, &c.

=BRASS PLATING.= _By simple dipping._ A colour resembling brass is given
to small articles of iron or steel by a long stirring in a suspended tub
containing the following solution:--Water, 1 quart; sulphate of copper,
and protochloride of tin crystallised, about 1-5th of an _oz._ each. The
shades are modified by varying the proportions of the two salts.

=BRASS-STAIN.= _Prep._ 1. Sheet-brass (cut into small pieces) is exposed
to a strong heat for 2 or 3 days, then powdered, and again further exposed
in a like manner for several days; the whole is then reduced to fine
powder, and exposed, a third time, to heat, testing it occasionally, to
see if it be sufficiently burnt. When a little of it, fused with glass,
makes the latter swell and froth up, the process is complete. It imparts
to glass a green tint, passing into turquoise.

2. Equal parts of plate-brass and sulphur are stratified together in a
crucible, and calcined, until they become friable; the whole is then
reduced to powder, and exposed to heat as before. This imparts a calcedony
red or yellow tinge to glass by fusion; the precise shade of colour being
modified by the mode of using it.

_Obs._ The common practice in the glass-houses is to conduct the
calcination by exposing the metal, placed on tiles, in the leer or
annealing arch of the furnace; a plan both convenient and economical.

=BRASS'-WORK.= Articles of brass and copper, when not varnished or
lacquered, may be cleaned and polished with sweet oil and tripoli,
rotten-stone, or powdered bath-brick, applied with friction on flannel,
and 'finished off' with leather; due care being taken to ensure the
absence of anything gritty, which would scratch and disfigure the surface
of the metal. A strong solution of oxalic acid in water gives brass a fine
colour. Vitriol and spirits of salts make brass and copper very bright,
but the polish thus obtained soon tarnishes, and the articles consequently
require more frequent cleaning. A strong lye of roche alum and water also
improves the appearance of brass. In all cases where acids or saline
matter has been used, the metal should be at once well rinsed in clean
water, and then wiped dry, and finally dry polished with soft leather.

BRASS INLAID-WORK may be cleaned with tripoli and linseed oil, applied by
a rubber of felt or leather; the whole being afterwards thoroughly rubbed
off, and then finished with clean soft leather. The ornaments of a French
clock, and similar articles, are said to be best cleaned with bread-crumb,
carefully rubbed, so as not to injure the wood-work. ORMOLU CANDLESTICKS,
LAMPS, and BRANCHES, may be cleaned with soap and water. LACQUERED and
GILDED ARTICLES are spoiled by frequent rubbing, and by acids and alkaline
leys.

1. A fine colour may be given to BRASS ORNAMENTS, when not gilt or
lacquered, with a little sal-ammoniac, in fine powder, moistened with soft
water. The articles must be afterwards rubbed dry with bran and whiting.
Another plan is to wash the brass-work with a strong lye of roche alum (1
oz. to water 1 pint), and after rinsing it in clean water and drying it,
to finish it off with fine tripoli. These processes give to brass the
brilliancy of gold. See BRASS-PASTE.

2. A gold varnish for giving a beautiful gilding to brass and bronze
objects is prepared from 16 grams of shell-lac, 4 grams of dragon's blood,
1 gram of turmeric-root, and 332 grams of rectified spirit of wine. The
varnish is thinly stroked over the surface with a sponge, the metal being
warmed over a small coal fire.

The surface at first appears dull, but soon after it appears as if most
beautifully gilded. The ready-prepared spirituous varnish must be
preserved in well-stoppered vessels.--_Dingler's Journal._

=BRASS'ING.= _Syn._ BRASS-COATING. 1. Copper-plates and copper-rods may be
covered with a superficial coating of brass by simply exposing them, in a
heated state, to the fumes given off by melted zinc at a high
temperature. The coated plates and rods are rolled into thin sheets or
drawn into wire. The spurious gold wire of Lyons is said to be made in
this way.

2. Vessels of copper may be coated with brass, internally, by filling them
with water strongly soured with hydrochloric acid, adding some amalgam of
zinc and cream of tartar, and then boiling the whole for a short time.
This plan may be usefully applied in certain cases to copper boilers in
laboratories, and to other purposes.

3. By the electrotype (which _see_).

=BRAUNETINCTUR--QUINSY OR BROWN TINCTURE= (Netsch, Rauschau), an
embrocation for the larynx, is a mixture of 3 parts oil of cloves and 1
part creosote. (Hager.) According to Leimbach 1 part creosote with 3 parts
of a spirituous tincture of cochineal perfumed with oil of cloves.

=BRAWN.= A boar or its flesh. When young, the horny parts feel moderately
tender. If the rind is hard, it is old. (Mrs Rundell.) Also in cookery,
the flesh of the boar, or of swine, collared so as to squeeze out as much
of the fat as possible, boiled, and pickled.

=Brawn, Mock.= _Prep._ (Mrs Rundell.) Take the head and belly-piece of a
young porker, well saltpetred; split the head and boil it; take out the
bones and cut it to pieces; then take 4 ox-feet, boiled tender, and cut
them in thin pieces; lay them in the belly-piece with the head cut small;
roll it up tight with sheet tin, and boil it 4 or 5 hours. When it comes
out set it up on one end, put a trencher on it (within the tin), press it
down with a heavy weight, and let it stand all night. The next morning
take it out of the tin and bind it with a fillet, put it in cold
salt-and-water, and it will be fit for use; it will keep a long time, if
fresh salt-and-water are put into it about once every four days.

=BRAXY.= Inflammation of the bowels in sheep, chiefly affecting young
sheep. It is most frequent during winter, and occurs in exposed wet
localities. The symptoms are restlessness, thirst, tenderness along the
spine or belly, and constipation.

_Treatment._ Bleed early, and give 3 _oz._ castor oil; 8 grains of
calomel; 1/2 _oz._ of laudanum; 3 _oz._ treacle; beat up with two eggs,
and mixed with about 6 _oz._ of warm water; let this be repeated in half
doses every six hours.

This should be combined with clysters and hot fomentations to the belly.
If, after two days, no benefit should be derived, give thrice daily, 5
grains of calomel, 20 grains of carbonate of ammonia, and 1-1/2 dram of
laudanum, in gruel. The animal should be removed to a shed or sheltered
place.

=BRAZIL NUTS.= The particular tree yielding these nuts (the _Bartholetia
excelsa_) is a native of Brazil, whence the nuts are exported to the
yearly annual amount of about 60,000 bushels.

When the kernels of the nuts are submitted to pressure they yield an oil
in great repute for domestic purposes and for export, each pound of the
nuts yielding nine ounces of the oil, valued at two shillings the pound.
According to Martius, this oil consists of 74 per cent. of eldein, and 26
per cent. of stearin. The finely laminated inner bark of the trunks is
also a valuable article of commerce, especially adapted for the caulking
of ships and barges, and is worth about eighteen shillings the cwt.

The following analysis by Corenwinder gives the composition of the kernels
taken from the nuts when in a fresh condition:

  Water                                 8.00
  Oil                                  65.60
  Nitrogenous matters                  15.31
  Non-nitrogenous organic matters       7.39
  Phosphoric acid           1.35 }
  Lime, potash, silica, &c. 2.35 }      3.70
                                      ------
                                      100.00

=BRAZIL'-WOOD= (-z[=e]le'-). _Syn._ BRAZIL[double-dagger]; LIG'NUM
BRAZILIEN'SE, L.; BOIS DE BRESIL, Fr. A dye-stuff furnished by several
species of trees of the genus _caesalpin'ia_, and much used in dyeing
various shades of red. The usual practice is to boil it for some hours in
hard spring-water, and to keep the resulting decoction for some time, or
until it undergoes a species of fermentation; as it is thus found to yield
more permanent and beautiful colours than when employed fresh. The
following are examples of its application:--

_a._ For COTTON:--

1. The goods are first boiled in a bath of sumach, next worked through a
weak mordant of solution of tin, and then run through the Brazil bath
lukewarm. This gives a bright red.

2. The goods are alumed, rinsed, next mordanted with solution of tin,
rinsed again, and then turned through the Brazil dye bath. This gives a
rose colour.

_b._ For LINEN:--This, for the most part, is similar to that adopted for
cotton.

_c._ For SILK:--The goods, after being alumed in the same way as wool, but
at a lower temperature, are rinsed, and passed through the Brazil-wood
bath lukewarm.

_d._ For WOOL:--The goods are first steeped or boiled in a weak mordant of
alum and tartar, for 1 hour, and then allowed to lie in the cold liquor
for 2 or 3 days, with frequent moving about; they are lastly boiled in the
Brazil-wood bath for about 1/2 an hour.

_Obs._ The shades of colour given with Brazil-wood may be modified by
varying the strength of the bath, the mordant, &c. The addition of a
little alum turns it on the purple. A little alkali added to the bath, or
passing the goods, after being dyed, through water holding a little alkali
in solution, produces what is called false crimson. A deep crimson is
obtained by adding a little logwood to the Brazil-wood bath. 1 lb. of
Brazil-wood, 1/2 oz. of alum, and 2 oz. of tartar, are sufficient to dye
from 20 to 28 lbs. of cotton, according to the depth of shade required.
See DYEING, RED DYES, &c.

=BRAZI'LIN.= _Syn._ BREZE''L[)I]NE, SAPAN'[)I]NE. The colouring matter of
Brazil-wood. It forms small orange- needles, soluble in both water
and alcohol. Alkalies turn it violet; acids, yellow. Bolly has shown it to
be identical with the colouring matter of Sapan-wood.

=BRA''ZING.= The operation of uniting pieces of copper, brass, iron, &c.,
by means of hard solder.

_Proc._ The edges, after being filed or scraped quite clean, are covered
with a mixture of hard solder and powdered borax, made into a paste with
water. The whole is then allowed to dry, and is afterwards exposed, in a
clear fire, to a heat sufficient to melt the solder. See AUTOGENOUS,
SOLDERING, SOLDERS, &c.

=BREAD= (br[)e]d). _Syn._ PA'NIS, L.; PAIN, Fr.; BROD, Ger.; BROOD, Dut.;
BROeD, Dan., Swed.; BREOD, Sax. Loaves or cakes made from ground corn, and
constituting the staple article of food of all civilised nations.

This important article of food is made of the flour of different cereal
grains, but only those that contain gluten admit of conversion into light
or spongy bread. In this respect wheat-flour is superior to all others.
When this flour is made into a paste or dough with water, and the dough,
previous to baking, is left for some time in a moderately warm place, a
state of fermentation comes on, owing to the sugar of the flour gradually
undergoing the process of conversion into alcohol, in every respect
similar to that which takes place during the fermentation of wine and
beer. In this process a large quantity of carbonic acid gas is liberated,
and the toughness of the dough preventing its escape, the whole mass
becomes puffed up and spongy, and a light porous paste is formed, the
porosity of which is still further increased by the heat of the oven. The
natural process of fermenting the dough just described is, however,
tedious and uncertain, whilst the dough has a tendency to run into the
acetous fermentation, and to acquire a sour and disagreeable taste, by
which it is rendered less nutritious and less easy of digestion. This has
led to the use of a ferment which produces a similar condition more
speedily, and with greater certainty. Leaven or dough was originally
employed for this purpose, and the bread so made was hence called LEAVENED
BREAD. At the present time barm or yeast is almost universally used for
this purpose. All that is essential to make a loaf of bread is to add a
proper quantity of yeast to the dough, and to allow it to remain for a
short time in a warm place, and as soon as it rises or becomes spongy, to
subject it to the process of baking.

In preparing his dough, the modern baker takes a part of the water needed
for the batch, and having rendered it tepid or lukewarm (80 deg. to 90 deg. Fahr.)
by the addition of boiling water, dissolves his salt in it, and adds the
yeast, together with a portion of the flour. With these he forms a thin
dough, which he sets aside in a moderately warm place provided for the
purpose, and technically called the 'kneading trough,' 'prover,' or
'tryer,' where it soon begins to ferment and swell up. This process is
called 'setting the sponge,' and according to the proportion the water in
it bears to the whole quantity that is to be used, it receives the name of
'whole,' 'half,' or 'quarter sponge.' Here the sponge heaves and swells,
and ultimately the surface bursts and subsides, and if not checked swells
again and again in a similar manner and would continue to do so until the
whole of the 'saccharine matter' was destroyed, and the dough had become
sour. The baker is careful, however, to stop it before it has communicated
a sourness to the mass. After the first, or, at the furthest, after the
second or third 'dropping of the sponge,' he adds the remaining quantity
of flour, water, and salt, necessary to form the 'batch,' and then kneads
the whole until it becomes sufficiently tough and elastic to bear the
pressure of the hand without adhering to it. The 'dough' is now left to
itself for a few hours, during which the fermentation still goes on. The
inflated mass is then again kneaded, cut into pieces, weighed, and shaped
into loaves. In an hour or two these unbaked loaves swell up to nearly
double their former size, and are then placed in the oven and baked.
During this operation they continue for a time to increase in size, in
consequence of the dilation of the pent-up gas by the heat. At length the
fermentation is checked, and the dough becomes too solid to admit of
further alteration.

Such are the principles and practice of the art of baking. The operations
are precisely the same on both the small and the large scale, and
therefore need not be separately described.

The kneading of the dough by hand is not only a very laborious process,
but it is unhealthy and additionally objectionable on account of its being
uncleanly. Added to this, the uniform quality of the dough is not to be
depended upon. Although it is impossible to perform by machinery any
labour which absolutely requires the touch of the human hand,
bread-kneading machines have been introduced wherever the making of only
one and the same kind of bread is required. Amongst the numerous kinds of
machines devised for bread-making, is Clayton's. (_See cut._)

The constituents of the dough are placed in the cylinder, _A_, mounted in
the framework, _b b_, and provided with hollow axles, _c_ and _d_,
turning in their bearings at _e_. The interior of the cylinder is fitted
with the framework, _f_, which may be made to revolve by the aid of the
axles, _g_ and _h_. The two halves of this framework are connected
together by the diagonal knives _i_, _i_, which, when the machinery
revolves, work up the dough; the trough or outer cylinder revolves in the
opposite direction to the revolution of the framework. The crank, _o_, is
connected with the axle of the trough or outer cylinder, the crank, _p_,
with that of the inner framework; as the two cranks are turned in opposite
directions, they impart opposite movements to trough and framework. The
revolving of the machinery may be performed by one man by the aid of one
crank, since the axle, _h_, of the crank, _o_, which is fitted to the
inner frame by means of the hollow axle-tree, and revolves along with it,
carries a conically shaped wheel, _m_, fitted to the wheel _k_, which,
being connected with _l_, causes the trough also to revolve; when
therefore the wheel _m_ turns towards the right, the wheel _t_ will
revolve towards the left. Another kneading machine is that of Mr Stevens.
It is employed at the Holborn Union, where more than 5000 _lbs._ of bread
are made every week by one man and two boys.

[Illustration]

_Adult._ The adulteration of both flour and bread is carried to a fearful
extent, more especially in London. The baker's flour is very often made of
the worst kinds of damaged foreign wheat; and other cereal grains, and
particularly beans, are mixed with them in grinding them into flour. In
this capital no fewer than six distinct kinds of wheaten flour are brought
into the market--fine flour, seconds, middlings, fine middlings, coarse
middlings, and twenty-penny flour.

Among the principal substances which have been proved to have been used to
adulterate wheat-flour and bread are the following:--

  **Alum.
   *Ammonia (Sesquicarbonate).
  **Beans.
   *Bone dust.
   *Chalk.
    Clay.
    Copper (Sulphate).
    Lime (Sulphate from the soda water makers).
   *Magnesia (Carbonate).
   *Plaster of Paris.
   *Potash (Carbonate and bicarbonate).
  **Potatoes.
  **Rice.
  **Soda (Carbonate and sesquicarbonate).
   *Starch (Potato).
  **Water (in excess).
    Zinc (Sulphate).

Of these substances, those marked thus (*) are very frequently used; and
those marked thus (**) almost universally so.

In the absence of chemical analysis the unalumed loaf may be roughly
distinguished from the alumed one by the following characteristics: it is
neither so white, so bulky, nor so symmetrical; it bites shorter, and it
is free from the sour taste which accompanies the presence of alum. Again,
unalumed bread a day or two old will be found to crumble with great
readiness; alumed bread, however old, crumbles, on the contrary, with
difficulty.

According to Mr Accum, the smallest quantity of alum that can be employed
with effect to produce white, light, and porous bread, from the inferior
kinds of flour commonly used by the bakers, is from 3 to 4 oz. to a sack
of flour weighing 280 lbs. But Dr P. Markham states that the ordinary
bread of the London baker is made of one sack or 5 bushels of flour; 8 oz.
of alum; 4 lbs. of salt; 1/2 gall. of yeast; and about 3 galls. of water.
Our own analyses, extending to many hundred samples of London bread, as
well as those of other chemists, show that even this large quantity of
alum is often very much exceeded by the bakers.

Alkaline substances, as the carbonates of ammonia, soda, and potash, are
often employed to realise the important consideration of producing light
and porous bread from spoiled, or, as it is technically called, sour
flour. The first salt becomes temporarily converted into a gaseous state
during the operation of baking, causing the dough to swell up in minute
bubbles, which thus render it light and porous; the salt itself being at
the same time, for the most part, volatilised. Alum is added, not only
with a like intention, but also to enable the dough to carry more water.
There are several instances of convictions on record of millers and bakers
having used gypsum, chalk, and pipeclay in the manufacture of their goods.
A gentleman lately writing from the North of England says that he found
in one sample of flour which he recently examined upwards of 16% of
gypsum; and in another, 12% of the same earth.

A few years since it was discovered that some of the bakers in France and
Belgium added blue vitriol to their dough to make it take more water, in
the same way as the English baker uses alum. 1 oz. of this sulphate was
dissolved in a quart of water, and a wine-glassful of this solution added
to the water necessary to make about 50 4-lb. loaves. This enormous crime
was soon detected, and deservedly caused the ruin of its heartless
perpetrators.

_Exam._ The following are the methods employed for the discovery of the
principal sophisticants of bread, and as the chief of these, and the one
most difficult of identification is alum, we have given prominence to the
processes now generally adopted for the detection of this article:--

1. ALUM:--_a._ (Robine and Parisot.) About 1/4 lb. of the suspected bread
(somewhat stale or dry) is reduced to crumbs, macerated for 2 or 3 hours
in cold water, and then squeezed through a clean piece of white linen. The
liquid is next evaporated to dryness at a steam-heat, the residuum
redissolved in a little hot water, and the solution filtered. Liquor of
ammonia or a solution of sal-ammoniac, and a solution of chloride of
barium added to the filtered liquid, give a white precipitate when ALUM is
present.

When nearly the whole of the alum has suffered decomposition in the loaf,
as is frequently the case, the following process is required:--

_b._ (M. Kuhlman.) 4 or 5 oz. of bread are reduced to ash, which is
powdered and treated with nitric acid, the mixture evaporated to dryness,
and about 1 oz. of hot water added. A little caustic potassa is added to
the last solution (unfiltered), the whole boiled a few minutes, and passed
through a filter. The filtrate is next tested with a solution of
sal-ammoniac, and the whole again boiled for 2 or 3 minutes. If a
precipitate forms it is alumina; every 50 gr. of which are equivalent to
332 gr. of crystallised alum.

_c._ The suspected sample is wetted with a weak solution of logwood, or,
preferably, of cochineal. Pure bread is only slightly stained by this
solution; bread containing alum strikes a lavender, lilac, or purple
colour, according to the quantity of the adulterant present. If it
acquires a pearl-grey or bluish tint, some alkali (potash, soda, or
ammonia) is present.

_d._ (J. A. Wanklyn.) 100 grams of bread are incinerated in a platinum
dish, capable of holding the whole quantity at once. The incineration is
managed at a comparatively low temperature, and takes some four or five
hours; the platinum dish being heated by means of a large Bunsen burner,
abundantly supplied with air. It is well to continue the ignition until
the bread-ash is nearly completely burnt, and it is advisable to weigh the
dish containing the ash. The weight of the ash should not sensibly exceed
2 grams. The ash having been obtained is then moistened with 3 c. c. of
pure strong hydrochloric acid, and then some 20 to 30 c. c. of distilled
water is added, and the whole is boiled, filtered, and the precipitate
washed several times with boiling water. In this manner a precipitate
consisting of a silica, together with some unburnt carbon, is left on the
filter, whilst the filtrate contains the phosphates. The precipitate,
which, after being burnt, consists of silica, is weighed. The filtrate is
mixed with 5 c. c. of ammonia (sp. gr. 0.880), whereby it is rendered
powerfully alkaline and opaque, owing to the precipitation of the
phosphates. It is finally mixed gradually with some 20 c. c. of strong
acetic acid, and as the acid is being poured in, it is to be observed that
the liquid is alkaline and opaque, until some 5 c. c. of the acid have
been added; that when about 10 c. c. have been added the liquid is acid
and much clearer, and that at least 10 c. c. of strong acetic acid are
added after the establishment of a distinctly acid reaction. The liquid is
then boiled and filtered, and the precipitates, consisting of phosphates
of alumina and iron, well-washed with boiling water, ignited and weighed.
The last step is the determination of the iron in the weighed precipitate,
and this is accomplished either by reduction and titration with standard
solution of permanganate in the well known manner, or else by a colour
process, viz., by trituration with ferrocyanide of potassium. Having
ascertained the amount of iron in the precipitate of mixed phosphates, it
is only necessary to calculate it into phosphate of iron, and to subtract
the weight of phosphate of iron from the total weight of the mixed
phosphates, and the difference is the phosphate of alum yielded by 100
grams of the bread. The following results have been obtained by applying
the above-described process to samples of bread presumed to be free from
alum:--

        _From 100 grams of Bread._

                          Precipitate
     Bread-ash.  Silica.  insoluble in
                          acetic acid.
        Grams.    Grams.    Grams.
    A   1.408       ...     0.010
    B   1.378       ...     0.006
    C   1.730     0.018     0.010
    D   1.620     0.032     0.014
    E     ...       ...     0.012
  (1)F  1.383     0.030     0.012
  (2)F  1.324     0.025     0.014

The precipitate insoluble in acetic acid contained in every instance a
large proportion of iron, but in some cases at least did not wholly
consist of phosphate of iron. On deducting the quantity of phosphate of
iron from the total phosphates insoluble in acetic acid, there remains a
residue of some five or six milligrams. It would therefore appear that
unalumed bread is liable to contain a minute trace of alumina, which,
expressed as phosphate of alumina (Al_{2}O_{3}PO_{5}), equals five or six
milligrams per 100 grains of bread, or 0.005 per cent. If the alum
corresponding to this phosphate be calculated, it will be seen that 100
grams of unalumed bread may appear to contain 0.022 grams of alum; or
expressed on the 4-lb. loaf, there may appear to be 6 grams of alum in it.
This agrees very fairly with Dr Dupre's observation.

_e._ (J. C. Thresh.) The author states that this process requires only a
few hours, and quotes experiments, showing the accuracy of the results:--

Take 1250 gr. of bread (from middle of loaf) or flour, and char thoroughly
in a platinum dish or on foil over a gas lamp. Powder the char and mix it
with sufficient pure strong hydrochloric acid to make a thin cream. Boil
gently for a few minutes, then add 100 c. c. of water, and continue the
ebullition a few minutes longer. Dilute to 150 c. c., stir well, and
filter off 120 c. c., which will contain the alumina from 1000 gr. of the
bread or flour. To this filtrate add a slight excess of solution of
ammonia, boil for a few seconds. Then let the precipitate subside, and
decant the supernatant fluid. Add boiling water to the sediment, and again
set aside to settle, and decant the clear fluid. Pass the fluids through a
small filter to collect any particles of the precipitate which may have
been suspended therein, and throw the filtrate away. Now add to the
partially washed precipitate about a gram of pure caustic potash (or
soda), warm, and pass the solution through the same filter employed for
the previously decanted fluids. Wash the filter with hot water, to which a
little KHO may be added, and proceed to precipitate the alumina in the
filtrate by adding a few drops of dilute phosphoric acid and excess of
pure acetic acid. Heat the solution and precipitate to the boiling point,
and then wash the latter by decantation and filtration. Finally dry,
ignite, and weigh. The weight of the resulting Al_{2}PO_{4} in grams,
multiplied by 400, will give the amounts of ammonia alum in grains present
in one pound of the bread or flour.

_f._ (Mr Crookes.) The bread of which at least 500 grains should be taken
is first to be incinerated on a platinum or porcelain dish, until all
volatile organic matter has been expelled, and a black carbonaceous ash
remains. The temperature must not be raised much beyond the point
necessary to effect this. Powder the coal thus obtained and add about
thirty drops of oil of vitriol, and heat until vapours begin to rise; when
sufficiently cool, add water, and boil for ten minutes. Filter and
evaporate the filtrate until the fumes of sulphuric acid begin to be
evolved, when 10 gr. of metallic tin and an excess of nitric acid must be
added, together with water, drop by drop, until action between the acid
and metal commences. When all the tin is oxidised, add water, and filter.
Evaporate the filtrate until fumes of sulphuric acid are again visible,
when more water must be added, and the liquid again filtered if necessary.
To the clear solution now add tartaric acid, then ammonia in excess, and
sulphide of ammonium. Evaporate the liquid containing the precipitate
suspended to it, in a dish, until all the smell of sulphide of ammonium
has disappeared. Filter, evaporate to dryness, and ignite to get rid of
the organic matter. Powder the black ash, boil it in moderately strong
hydrochloric acid, filter, add a crystal of chlorate of potash, and boil
for a minute. Now add chloride of ammonium and ammonia, and boil for five
minutes. If at the end of that time any precipitate is observed, it will
be alumina. From the filtered solution, if oxalate of ammonia be added,
the lime will be precipitated; and if to the filtrate from this, ammonia
and phosphate of soda be added, the magnesia will come down.

Dr Dupre is of opinion that no baker should be fined in whose bread the
amount of alumina found corresponds with less than 10 grains of potash
alum in the 2-lb. loaf, unless there is direct evidence of adulteration by
alum independent of the result of analysis.

Mr Crookes says, "By treatment with a trace of alum, flour with a doubtful
soundness is endowed with soundness. For this purpose a proportion of alum
is required which does not exceed 20 grains to a 4-lb. loaf.

2. COPPER:--_a._ Moisten the suspected bread with a few drops of a
solution of ferrocyanide of potassium. It will assume a pinkish-brown
colour if copper be present.

_b._ A little of the bread may be steeped in hot water, or, better still,
in water soured with a little nitric acid, and the clear liquor squeezed
or poured off, and tested with ferrocyanide of potassium, as before.

3. MAGNESIA:--Bread adulterated with magnesia, on digestion in hot water
acidulated with sulphuric acid, furnishes a liquid which gives a white
precipitate when tested with a solution of either carbonate of potassa or
of carbonate of soda, especially on boiling.

4. SODA; POTASSA:--Hot water after digestion on the ashes or charcoal
turns turmeric paper brown. The liquid may be evaporated to dryness,
redissolved in distilled water, slightly acidulated with hydrochloric
acid, and tested with bichloride of platinum. If a yellow crystalline
precipitate forms, either at once or after some hours, it is potash;
otherwise the alkali present is soda.

5. CHALK, WHITING, BURNT BONES, PLASTER OF PARIS, and similar substances
are easily detected by calcining a little of the flour or bread in a clean
open vessel, when the amount of ash left will indicate the quantity of
adulteration. The quantity of the ash left by genuine bread or flour is
very trifling indeed, about 2%.

=Microscopic Characters of Bread.= When bread is placed under the
microscope, starch cells, broken up into angular masses, or greatly
enlarged, and stringy masses of gluten are usually visible; besides these,
when a microscope of high power is employed, bacteria of the rod-shaped
variety may frequently be detected, the source of these being, probably,
the yeast. Great caution and diligent observation are necessary to guard
against the falling into the serious error of mistaking the many curious
forms the broken-up wheat starch presents for adulterants. By practice and
the constant examination of the characters of unadulterated bread,
combined with a practical knowledge of the appearance different starch
grains present, after being more or less changed in shape by cooking, the
microscopist may identify rice-flour, bean-flour, and Indian millet.
Barley flour and potatoes, however, are very difficult of detection. There
is very little difference in the shape of the barley-starch granule and
that of the wheat, and in the process of bread-making the potato granules
are so changed as to confuse all their distinctive characters. Bone-dust
and a few other mineral adulterations may be detected by the microscope.

_Concluding Remarks._ A number of processes are used by cooks and
confectioners to make the different varieties of fancy bread, cakes,
puddings, &c., which vary according to the peculiar characteristic it is
desired to communicate to them; but none of these articles properly belong
to the trade of the common baker. Thus, some kinds of cakes and pastes are
made to eat 'short,' as it is called, or are rendered less tenacious, and
a species of brittleness imparted to them by the addition of starch,
rice-flour, or sugar. In pastry a similar effect and peculiar lightness is
produced by butter or lard, whilst in some articles white of egg, gum
water, isinglass, and other adhesive substances, are added to produce an
exceedingly light and porous mass.

The chief varieties of bread at present in use in this country are known
according to their shapes, as--BRICKS, COBURG, COTTAGE, BATCH, FRENCH
ROLLS, and RYE BREAD. These vary in their quality, chiefly according to
the flour of which they are formed, and their various flavours depend upon
the heat of the oven in baking. The best WHITE BREAD is made from the
purest wheat-flour; ordinary WHEATEN BREAD, of flour containing a little
of the finest bran; SECONDS, from flour containing a still larger
proportion of bran; and common HOUSEHOLD BREAD, from flour produced by
grinding the whole substance of the grain, without any separation of the
bran. The last variety is undoubtedly the most wholesome and nutritious,
although that least frequently used. SYMNEL-BREAD, MANCHET or ROLL-BREAD,
and FRENCH BREAD are varieties made of the purest flour, from the finest
wheat, a little milk being usually added for rolls, and butter and eggs
for choicer purposes. Several other minor kinds of bread are also made,
varied by the addition of sundry trifles, as sugar, currants, and other
palatable ingredients. The SCOTCH SHORTBREAD is made from a very thick
dough, to which butter, sugar, orange-peel, and spices are added,
according to the taste of the maker.

In the manufacture of white bread from damaged or inferior flour a large
quantity of alum is employed by the fraudulent baker, as already noticed;
but with the 'best flour' no alum is required. The utmost beauty,
sponginess, and sweetness may be given to bread without the addition of
one particle of alum, provided the best materials alone enter into its
composition. As such materials are seldom employed by the bakers, the
usual practice is to introduce 4 or 5 oz. of alum to every sack of flour,
or about 1 oz. to each bushel; and very frequently fully double this
quantity of alum is employed. But even this enormous quantity is often not
the whole of the alum present in common bread; for the miller, in order to
cheat the baker, puts in the 'doctor,' in the shape of 4 to 6 oz. of alum
to the sack, whilst the baker, unconscious of this victimisation,
subsequently uses a double dose of alum in order to cheat his
customers.[229] The method of detecting this pernicious adulteration has
been already explained. The proper quantity of salt is 4 lbs., and never
more than 5 lbs., to the sack, or 1 lb. per bushel. One sack of the best
flour, with 4 or 5 lbs. of salt, yields about 360 lbs. of good bread; and
a sack of seconds, 345 to 350 lbs. of bread; each being moderately baked.
If the loaves are well-baked or over-baked, the product will be from 345
to 350 lbs. only; but if they are slack-baked or under-baked, from 370
lbs. to 385 lbs. of crumbling bread may be obtained from 1 sack of good
white flour.

[Footnote 229: The common excuse of the bakers for using alum is, that
without it the bread is not sufficiently white to please their customers,
and that the batches are not easily parted into loaves after baking; but
Liebig has shown that clear lime-water, which is perfectly harmless, will
effect the same object if substituted for the simple water used to make
the dough.]

The attention of chemists has, at various times, been directed in search
of some method to rectify or lessen the effects of bad harvesting and
improper storage on grain, so that a damaged or inferior article might be
rendered serviceable, and available for human food. Prof. E. Davy
recommends the addition of 1/4 oz. of carbonate of magnesia to about every
3 lbs. of sour, melted, heated, and similarly damaged flour. This
substance materially improves the quality of the bread, "even when made
from the worst new seconds flour;" whilst it is said to be perfectly
harmless; and the bread so prepared, for temporary use, is certainly
unobjectionable. What effects would arise from the daily consumption of
such bread for several months has not been determined; but it is doubtful
whether it would prove salutary. Indeed there are sufficient reasons for
condemning the adoption of such bread in the general diet of a people for
any very lengthened period.[230] Our own experiments in bread-making,
extending over a long period of years, lead us to prefer carbonate or
bicarbonate of soda for the purpose. Theoretically, the corresponding
salts of potassa would be preferable. A mixture of equal parts of the
bicarbonates of potassa and of soda will, perhaps, ultimately be found to
be more useful than either substance used separately.

[Footnote 230: See GOITURE, MAGNESIA, &c.]

In times of scarcity and famine various substances, besides the flour of
the cereals, have been made into bread, or have been mixed with it, in
order to lessen the quantity of the former required by the people. For
this purpose, almost every amylaceous vegetable at once plentiful and
cheap has, in its turn, been eagerly appropriated. Acorns, beech-mast, the
leguminous seeds, numerous starchy bulbous roots, and similar substances,
have been employed, either in the form of meal, or made into an emulsion
or jelly, which has been used instead of water to form the flour of
bread-corn into a dough. At such times bran, the most nutritious and
valuable portion of the grain, although usually rejected as worthless, has
been retained in the flour, and has even been added to it in excess.
Birkenmayer, a brewer of Constance, during a period of scarcity, succeeded
in manufacturing bread from the farinaceous residue of beer (brewer's
grains). 10 _lbs._ of this substance, rubbed to a paste, with 1/2 _lb._ of
yeast, 5 _lbs._ of ordinary meal, and a handful of salt, produces 14
_lbs._ of BLACK BREAD, which is said to be "both savoury and nourishing."
The nutritious quality of brewer's grains is shown by their extensive
employment at the present day as food for pigs and cattle, and
particularly for milch cows. In like manner Iceland, Carragheen, and other
mosses, have been made into bread, either alone, or mixed with flour or
meal. They are used, in the first case, in the state of meal, in the same
way as flour; in the second case, 7 _lbs._ of moss are directed to be
boiled in 10 or 12 _galls._ of water, and the resulting glutinous liquid
or jelly to be employed to make 70 _lbs._ of flour into dough, which is
then fermented and baked in the usual way. It is said that flour thus
produces fully double its weight of good household bread. A simpler plan
is to mix 1 _lb._ of lichen meal with 3 or 4 _lbs._ of flour; the
bitterness of the lichen having been first extracted by soaking it in cold
water. Bread so prepared has of late been highly recommended for the
delicate and dyspeptic. The modern baker is in the habit of mixing large
quantities of potatoes with his bread, whenever he can purchase them at
paying prices. Mealy potatoes are selected, and are carefully mashed or
pulped, and the dry flour is worked into this pulp or dough, which is then
mixed with the sponge in the usual manner. For inferior bread, equal
weights of potato pulp and dry flour are often used. Bread so prepared
eats 'short,' and is deficient in sponginess, and in that fine
yellowish-white tint which forms one of the characteristics of pure
wheaten bread, More recently, rice boiled with water to a jelly has got
into very extensive use among the bakers. A 'sponge' is made with a
portion of the jelly thickened with some flour, and the whole process is
conducted in the ordinary manner, except that the fermentation is
generally more slowly conducted and allowed to proceed for a longer
period. Flour so treated yields fully 50% more bread than when merely
mixed up with yeast and water. This constitutes the process of Messrs
Morian, Martin, and Journet, of Paris, which was tested, a few years
since, at Marylebone Workhouse. The experiment succeeded, but the only
result to the public has been, that the common bakers have adopted the
plan, and now very generally surcharge their bread with such an excess of
water that, in many cases, it only possesses two thirds the amount of
nourishment which it did before the publication of the system just
referred to. Unfortunately, the cupidity of dishonest tradesmen appears to
be continually impelling them to avail themselves of the exertions of
philanthropists and the discoveries of science, in order to increase their
profits, regardless alike of the quality of their commodities and the
health of their customers. Bread containing an excess of water rapidly
becomes sour and mouldy, and is apt to disorder the digestive functions of
those who eat it.

From the experiments of Dr Colquhoun, it appears that the starch of flour
is partially converted into sugar during the process of fermenting and
baking the dough, and thus contributes to the sweetness of the bread. He
proposes to add to the flour, arrow-root, the farina of potatoes, and
similar amylaceous substances, made into a jelly with hot water, for this
purpose. Dr Percival has recommended the addition of salep with the same
intention. 1 _oz._ of salep, dissolved in 1 quart of water; 2 _lbs._ of
flour; 80 grs. of salt; and 2 _oz._ of yeast, gave 3 _lbs._ 2 _oz._ of
good bread. The same weight of materials, without the salep, gave only
2-3/4 _lbs._ If too much salep is added, it gives its peculiar flavour to
the bread.

In reference to the above substitutions, and to the relative quantity of
bread produced from any given weight of flour, the reader should remember
that the mere increase of the weight or bulk of the product does not carry
with it a corresponding increase of the nutritive elements contained in
the flour. These remain the same in all cases; and just in proportion as
the product, in bread, is greater, will be the decrease in the value of
such bread as food. So also with potatoes, rice, and other farinaceous and
pulpy substances used as substitutes for wheat-flour. Their poverty in
nitrogenous matter, or flesh-formers, is so great, that the greatly
increased quantity required as food to support the body, apart from mere
inconvenience, more than compensates for their apparent low price. Thus,
good wheaten bread, at 2_d._ per _lb._, is more than twice as cheap as
potatoes at 1_d._; for, assuming 2 _lbs._ of the first as a day's food, 10
_lbs._ of the last will be required for the same purpose; and even this
large quantity will scarcely effect the desired object. Liebig has
demonstrated that, regard being had to the nutritive power of wheat, it
is, under all ordinary circumstances, the cheapest article of food
provided by nature for man.

We have not entered into particulars respecting oven management, because,
on the large scale, it is thoroughly understood by every practical baker.
For the instruction of the busy housewife, however, we may state that the
oven should always be sufficiently heated before the bread is put into it,
in order that the gas contained in the cells of the 'sponge' may be
expanded as rapidly as possible by the heat, and the resulting light mass
quickly rendered sufficiently solid to prevent its subsequent collapse.
The heat should also be maintained at nearly the same temperature during
the whole of the time the bread is submitted to its action. In general,
with ordinary kitchen ovens properly heated, 30 minutes' baking is
sufficient for one-pound loaves and cakes; and 15 minutes in addition for
every pound after the first for larger ones. Thus, a 1 _lb._ loaf requires
1/2 hour; a 2 _lb._ loaf 3/4 hour; and a 4 _lb._ loaf, 1-1/4 hour.

It is the common ambition of the English baker to give that peculiar tint
to the crust of his bread in the process of baking which is so highly
esteemed by connoisseurs, and so successfully produced by the Viennese and
Parisians. It has been long known at Vienna that if the hearth of an oven
be cleaned with a moistened wisp of straw, the crust of bread baked in it
immediately afterwards presents a beautiful yellow tint. It was thence
inferred that this peculiarity depends on the vapour, which being
condensed on the roof of the oven, falls back on the bread. At Paris, in
order to secure with certainty so desirable an appearance, the hearth of
the oven is generally laid so as to form an inclined plane, with a rise of
about 11 inches in 3 feet; and the arched roof is built lower at the end
nearest the door, as compared with the further extremity. When the oven is
charged the entrance is closed with a wet bundle of straw. By this
arrangement the steam is driven down on the bread, and a golden-yellow
crust is given to it, as if it had been previously covered with the yolk
of an egg.

Pure wheaten bread is one of the most wholesome articles of food, and has
been justly termed the 'staff of life,' and a certain proportion of it
should be taken at every meal.

_New and Stale Bread._--As has been just stated, bread which has been kept
for 24 hours after baking is more digestible, and therefore preferable to
that which has been newly baked. This latter exhibits a well-known elastic
appearance, and possesses a certain degree of moisture which renders its
taste more agreeable to most persons than bread which has been kept for a
day or two, and has become firmer and drier in appearance, and which is
commonly termed _stale_. It is very generally supposed that this change in
properties in bread which has been kept for a few days, is owing to the
loss of water.

This, however, is not the case. The crum of newly baked bread when cold
contains about 45 per cent. of water, and that of stale bread contains
almost exactly the same proportion.

The difference in properties between the two is due simply to difference
in molecular arrangement. Boussingault found that a loaf which had been
kept for six days, though it had become very stale, had not lost more than
1 per cent. of its weight when new. The same loaf was then placed in the
oven for an hour, and at the end of that time it had acquired all the
properties and appearance of new bread, although during the second baking
it lost 3-1/2 per cent. of water. In another experiment a portion of bread
was allowed to become stale when enclosed in a tight case, to prevent loss
of water by evaporation; it was then heated, and was thus restored to the
condition of new bread; these effects were produced alternately, many
times in succession, upon the same piece of bread; a heat of about 131 deg. F.
was found to be sufficient to convert stale into new bread. Every person
who has seen a thick slice of stale bread toasted may have satisfied
himself that the crum has during this operation been converted into the
same condition as that of new bread.

_Fungi._ When bread has been kept a few days and has become stale, certain
species of fungi show themselves in it: these are the _penicillium
glaucum_, which is the green mould of cheese; the _fermentum cerivisiae_ or
yeast fungus; the _oidium auriantiacum_ or orange-red mould; the _puccinia
graminis_ and others. Excess of salt added to the bread prevents the
development of these fungi.

_Diseases arising from the employment of unsound Flour and Bread._--The
flour may be ergotised or grown, and fermenting from the presence of
fungi. All the poisonous symptoms of ergot are induced from continuously
partaking of bread made with ergotised flour. Dry gangrene is one of the
most virulent forms of poisoning caused by partaking of ergotised bread.
Severe intestinal derangement is an accompaniment of the milder forms of
poisoning. Ergot is more frequently present in rye flour than in wheat.
Fermenting bread is a fertile source of dyspepsia, whilst acid bread
causes diarrh[oe]a. This latter malady is also caused by the presence in
bread of the _oidium aurantiacum_. Professors Varnell and Tuson state
that mouldy oats, the mould being caused by a fungus (the _aspergillus_),
have given rise to paralytic symptoms in horses, so that the presence of
these fungi in oats used for making bread should always be regarded with
considerable caution.

It has not been demonstrated that the acarus so common in flour has had
any injurious effect when eaten. When well fermented and baked bread is
very easy of digestion. It should never be eaten until it has stood at
least 24 hours after being taken out of the oven. When newer, bread is apt
to disagree with the stomach, frequently producing indigestion,
biliousness, diarrh[oe]a, dyspepsia, and other like ailments. Bread
prepared from meal containing the whole of the bran is the most nutritious
and digestible, and should alone be given to children and growing persons,
and eaten by the dyspeptic and delicate. Young infants should never be fed
upon bread. See ALEUROMETER, ALUM, FLOUR, WHEAT, &c.

=Bread, Aerated.= The best description of unfermented bread is that
manufactured by the process of Dr DAUGLISH. The method of manufacture has
this advantage:--During the whole of the operation neither the flour nor
the dough comes into contact with the flesh of the workman. For a full
description of the method of preparing this article, _see_ Watts' 'Dic. of
Chemistry.' See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.

=Bread, Amer'ican.= From American barreled flour. "14 _lbs._ of American
flour will make 21-1/2 _lbs._ of bread; whereas the best sort of English
flour produces only 18-1/2 _lbs._ of bread." (Mrs Rundell.) This arises
from the superior quality of the wheat used in its production; and also
from its being kiln-dried before grinding, by which much water is driven
off.

=Bread, Bee.= The matter collected by bees to form the bottom of the hive.
It resembles a mixture of resin and wax. Its fumes were formerly thought
to be anti-asthmatic.

=Bread, Bran.= 1. From the whole meal, without sifting out any of the
bran.

2. By adding about 3 _oz._ of bran to every _lb._ of ordinary flour.

=Bread, Cassava=, is made from the root of the _manihot_, by first
expressing the juice, then grinding the residue into a coarse meal, and
baking it in the form of cakes upon thin iron plates. When steeped in oil,
and flavoured with cayenne, and slightly broiled upon a gridiron, it is
not unpalatable.

=Bread, Extemporaneous.= See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.

=Bread, French.= _Prep._ 1. From fine flour, as the best white bread. For
the better kinds, and for those intended for rolls and small fancy bread,
the sponge and dough is commonly wetted with milk and water, and,
occasionally, a very little butter is added. "When the rolls or small
fancy loaves have lain in a quick oven about a quarter of an hour, turn
them on the other side for about a quarter of an hour longer. Then take
them out and chip them with a knife, which will make them look spongy, and
of a fine yellow; whereas rasping takes off this fine colour, and renders
their look less inviting."

2. FRENCH SOUP-BREAD. From fine flour, but employing fully double the
usual quantity of salt. It is baked in thin loaves, so as to be nearly all
crust, by which means it becomes more soluble in hot soup.

=Bread, Hick's Pat'ent.= This is ordinary bread baked in an oven so
arranged that the vapours arising during the process are condensed in a
suitable receiver. The condensed liquor is a crude, weak spirit, produced
during the fermentation of the dough, and possesses little commercial
value; indeed, insufficient to pay for the expenses attending its
collection. Besides which, the bread prepared under this patent was
rejected by the vulgar, who flocked to the shops of the neighbouring
bakers, who professed to sell their bread with "the gin in it."

=Bread, Household.= This name is commonly given to bread made with flour
from which only the coarser portion of the bran has been removed; and to
bread prepared from a mixture of flour and potatoes. The following are
examples:--

1. (Rev. Mr Haggett.) Remove the flake-bran from flour, 14 _lbs._; boil
the bran in 1 _gall._ of water until reduced to 7 pints; strain, cool, and
knead in the flour, adding salt and yeast as for other bread. Very
wholesome.

2. Flour, 7 _lbs._; mealy potatoes (well mashed), 3 _lbs._; as before.
Objectionable for the reasons already given.

=Bread, Leav'ened.= (l[)e]v'-). Using leaven instead of yeast, and in the
same way. About 1 _lb._ to each bushel of flour is usually sufficient. The
more leaven used, the lighter the bread made with it will be; and the
fresher and sweeter the leaven, the less sour will it taste. Leaven,
except among the Jews and sailors, is now superseded by yeast.

=Bread, London White.= The common proportions of the London bakers
are--Flour, 1 sack; common salt, 4-1/2 lbs.; alum, 5 oz.; yeast, 4 pints;
warm water for the sponge (about), 3 galls. The process has been already
noticed.

=Bread, Paris White.= The following has been handed to us as the plan
commonly adopted by the Paris bakers for their best white bread:--On 80
lbs. of the dough (before the yeast was added) from yesterday's baking, as
much lukewarm water is poured as will be required to make 320 lbs. of
flour into a rather thin dough; as soon as this has risen, 80 lbs. are
taken out and reserved in a warm place as leaven for the next day's
baking; 1 lb. of dry yeast, dissolved in warm water, is then added to the
remaining portion, and the whole lightly kneaded; as soon as it has
sufficiently risen, it is made into loaves, and shortly afterwards baked;
the loaves being placed in the oven without touching each other, so that
they may become crusty all round.

=Bread, Unfermented.= _Syn._ EXTEMPORANEOUS BREAD. _Prep._ 1. From Jones's
patent flour. Very wholesome and excellent; indeed, when skilfully made
and baked, almost equal to French bread.

2. From Sewell's patent flour. Slightly inferior to the last.

3. To each lb. of flour add, separately, 1-1/4 dr. of bicarbonate of soda,
and 1 dr. of tartaric acid (both perfectly dry, and in very fine powder);
rub them well together with the hands until thoroughly incorporated; then
form the whole into a dough with water, as quickly as possible, and at
once bake in a quick oven. About 8 or 9 oz. of water are required for
every lb. of flour. Answers well when expertly managed.

4. Flour, 1 lb.; bicarbonate of soda, 1 dr.; mix; make a dough with water,
q. s., to which 1 dr. of hydrochloric acid (commercial) has been added,
and further proceed as before.

5. Whiting's PATENT BREAD:--This closely resembles the last. The
proportions are--Flour, 7 lbs.; carbonate of soda and hydrochloric acid,
of each 1 oz.; water, 2-3/4 pints. This method was suggested by Dr Henry
in 1797, and was patented by Dr Whiting in 1836. If the proportions be not
observed, or the mixture be not perfect, the quality of the bread suffers.
The action of the acid on the soda forms common salt in the loaf.

6. AMMONI'ACAL BREAD:--Carbonate of ammonia, 3/4 to 1 oz.; cold water, q.
s.; dissolve, add of flour, 7 lbs.; and make a dough, which must be formed
into loaves and baked immediately, as before.--_Obs._ To ensure success
the carbonate should be recent, and free from bicarbonate, the presence of
which is known by its being white and powdery, and of inferior pungency.
If any of the last salt be present, the bread will have a yellowish
colour, and a slightly alkaline or urinous flavour. The process answers
best for small loaves, cakes, and fancy bread. By employing pure carbonate
of ammonia instead of the commercial sesquicarbonate, the process succeeds
admirably, and the resulting bread is most wholesome. A late writer
recommends the use of bicarbonate of ammonia, but evidently does so in
ignorance, as in practice it is inapplicable, as the author verified by
numerous carefully conducted experiments.

7. It has been at various times proposed to knead the dough with water
highly charged with carbonic acid, on which Dr Ure observes that "the
resulting bread will be somewhat spongy." He states that he endeavoured to
make bread in this way, but never could succeed in producing a light
spongy loaf. The quantity of gas in the water is much too trifling for the
purpose, and the greater part of it escapes in the process of making the
dough, even though all the materials be well cooled, and the operation
conducted in a cold place. The only way of obviating the difficulty is to
conduct the kneading in a trough under considerable atmospheric pressure,
and at a very low temperature, by means of machinery, as is done by Dr
Dauglish, whose method is now protected by letters patent. This method is
not, however, adapted either to domestic use or the small scale.[231]

[Footnote 231: For a full description of Dauglish's process, see Watts'
'Dic. of Chemistry.']

_Obs._ Unfermented bread has been strongly recommended as being more
wholesome, and generally better adapted to bilious and dyspeptic patients,
than fermented bread. It must, however, be confessed, that the unfermented
bread commonly met with has a slight 'raw-grain' taste, which is very
disagreeable to some persons. But this taste is not necessarily present,
being chiefly dependent on bad manipulation, the use of inferior flour,
and insufficient baking. The process of fermentation doubtless modifies
the condition of the starch and gluten of the dough, and renders them
easier of digestion. This species of bread is sadly adulterated with a
variety of indescribable messes. See BISCUITS, BREAD (_ante_), FLOUR,
GINGERBREAD, &c.

=Bread Fruit= (_Artocarpus incisa_, nat. order Graminaceae). The tree
yielding the bread-fruit is a native of Central America, the South Sea
Islands, and the Islands of the Indian Archipelago. It is principally
composed of starch, sugar, and water, every 100 parts containing 80 of
water. The fruit is gathered when the starch is in a mealy condition; it
is then peeled, wrapped in leaves, and baked by placing it between hot
stones. It then has the taste of sweetbread.

The natives of the countries where this fruit is found practise a method
for preserving it, which consists in allowing the nitrogenous parts of the
fruit to putrefy in water-tight pits. They thus obtain a mass resembling
soft cheese in consistence, and this, when required to be eaten, is baked
in the same manner as the fresh fruit.

=BREAK'FAST= (br[)e]k'-). _Syn._ JENTACULUM L.; DEJEUNER, DEJEUNE, Fr.;
FRUeHSTUeCK, Ger. The first meal of the day; or the food served at it.

The morning meal--the 'early bit' of the Germans--is perhaps the most
important one of the day. According to Erasmus Wilson, it is usually
"taken at eight or nine." The proper time for the purpose must, however,
depend upon that at which the party rises. About an hour, to an hour and a
half, after leaving the bed, will generally be found the most appropriate
time for breakfast, and appears to be the one pointed out by nature, and
the most conducive to health. By that time the powers of the system have
fully recovered from the inactivity of sleep, and the functions of the
stomach and other viscera have again come into full play. The appetite is
excited and seeks appeasing, and both instinct and reason direct us to the
social board. If abstinence be now prolonged, the physical and mental
energies, unsupported by the supply of food which indirectly gives them
birth, gradually lessen, and incipient exhaustion ensues. The fluids of
the stomach and the smaller intestines begin to act upon the coats of
those viscera instead of on the food, and an unpleasant feeling of hunger
or a loss of appetite comes on, with all its depressing consequences. When
breakfast cannot be taken within a reasonable period after rising, the gap
should be filled up by chewing a crust, a biscuit, or the like. A raw egg
or two, sucked from the shell, or broken into a teacup and drank, will be
found most valuable for this purpose. Raw milk, cheese, salted food, and
other indigestible matter, should be particularly avoided at this early
period of the day.

The articles of food to be chosen for the breakfast-table must depend
entirely on the state of the health, the occupations, &c., of those
assembled round it. Coffee appears to be, by common consent, the favourite
beverage. For the delicate, the bilious, and the young, it should neither
be taken too strong, nor very weak, and should be softened down with milk
or cream, and well sweetened with sugar. Tea is more apt to affect the
nerves and stomach than pure unchicoried coffee. Green tea, taken thus
early in the day, often acts as an absolute poison, though a slow one. We
have seen severe fits of vomiting and exhaustion follow its use.

The solid food for breakfast should be easy of digestion, and nutritious.
Females, children, and persons leading a sedentary life, should confine
themselves to a sufficient quantity of good meal-bread with only a
moderate quantity of butter, to which an egg, or a small rasher of mild
bacon, may be advantageously added. For very young children there is no
better breakfast, where it agrees with them, than scalding-hot new-milk
poured on sliced bread, with a slice or two of bread and butter to eat
with it. Parties engaged in active occupations may extend their exploits
somewhat farther, and add to this bill of fare a little ham or cold meat.
When an undue time will elapse before the luncheon or dinner, and
particularly during the colder season of the year, the broiled leg of a
fowl, an under-dressed mutton chop, or a little tender beef-steak, will be
found, by the parties last referred to, most useful; nay, in many cases,
invaluable. But excess must be particularly avoided. The object is to take
enough food to maintain the system in full energy and vigour, and
particularly to avoid offending the stomach by overloading it; a
misfortune easily effected at the breakfast table. Old commercial
travellers--men wise in the mysteries of life and its enjoyments--are
scrupulously careful to make a good, but not a heavy breakfast, before
commencing the arduous duties of the day. See DEJEUNER, MEALS, &c.

=Breakfast Pow'der.= _Syn._ RYE'-COFFEE, DILLEN'IUS'S C., HUNT'S
ECONOM'ICAL BREAKFAST POWDER, &c. Rye, roasted along with a little fat,
after the manner of coffee. It was once sold at 2_s._ 6_d._ the lb., and
was formerly extensively used as a substitute for foreign coffee, of which
it is one of the cheapest and best. Since the reduction of duty on coffee
it has nearly fallen into disuse, unless it be by the grocers to
adulterate that article.

=BREAST (Sore).= See NIPPLES.

=Breast Pang.= _Syn._ ANGINA PECTORIS. _Symptoms._--A sudden pain
occurring in the parts covered by the breast-bone and the throat,
accompanied with a feeling of suffocation, and the apprehension of
immediate death. The pain sometimes extends down the arms and through the
back. Summon a medical man without a moment's loss of time. Pending his
speedy arrival give a drachm of ether with one third of a grain of acetate
of morphia. Apply hot applications to the chest and stomach; likewise
friction to the chest, back, and sides with spirits. If the relief be only
partial, the dose of ether may be repeated after twenty minutes.

=BREATH (Fetid).= Scarcely anything is more disagreeable or disgusting
than a stinking breath. Various means have been proposed to remove this
annoyance, depending principally on the administration of aromatics, which
by their odour smother it for a time; but these require continual
repetition, and are liable to interfere with the functions of digestion.
The real cause of stinking breath may generally be traced to a diseased
stomach, or to decayed teeth. When the former is the case, mild aperients
should be administered; and if these do not succeed, an emetic may be
given, followed by an occasional dose of the Abernethy-medicines. When
rotten teeth are the cause, they should be thoroughly cleansed, and then
'stopped,' or if this is impracticable, they should be removed. When this
is impossible or inconvenient, the evil may usually be lessened by keeping
them scrupulously clean. Dirty teeth also often cause the breath to smell;
and hence the use of the tooth-brush should be a daily habit. Occasionally
rinsing out the mouth with a little clean water to which a few drops of
solution of chloride of lime, or of chloride of soda, has been added, is
often an effective method. Mouth-washes of Condy's fluid, and also of
carbolic acid, both very greatly diluted, form useful remedies; as do also
chlorate of potash and tannic acid in the form of mouth-washes. As a
tooth-powder, fresh-burnt charcoal, and particularly areca-nut charcoal,
is without comparison the best. Lozenges, such as the following, have been
strongly recommended to sweeten and purify the breath:--Gum-catechu, 2
oz.; white sugar, 5 oz.; orris powder, 1 oz.; neroli, 5 or 6 drops; make
them into a paste with mucilage, and divide the mass into very small
lozenges. 20 or 30 drops of oil of cloves may be substituted for the orris
and neroli, at will. One or two may be sucked at pleasure. When the breath
of a child or infant, usually so sweet and fresh, smells unpleasantly, it
indicates stomach derangement of some sort. Very frequently it is
indicative of worms. See CACHOU AROMATISE, PASTILS, &c.

=BREW'ING.= The art of making beer.

The only ingredients allowed by law to enter into the composition of beer
are malt, sugar, hops, or any substitute for hops, and water, together
with a little yeast.

The apparatus and utensils required under the common system, in brewing
beer, are--

1. A copper or boiler capable of holding fully two thirds of the quantity
proposed to be brewed; with a gauge-stick to determine the number of
gallons of fluid at any given depth therein; and a wooden cover to place
over it before the boiling commences, or when not in use. A copper capable
of holding not less than 140 galls. is a convenient size for brewing a
quarter of malt, and is commonly known as a one-quarter copper.

2. A mash-tub or mash-tun capable of containing one third more than the
copper.

3. One or more tuns or vessels, to ferment the beer in.

4. Three or four shallow coolers, to reduce the wort as rapidly as
possible to a proper temperature for fermentation.

5. One or two copper or wooden bowls, for baling, &c.

6. A thermometer with a scale reaching from below 32 deg. to a few degrees
above the boiling-point of water (say to 225 deg. or 230 deg. Fahr.).

7. A saccharometer, for taking the density of worts and beer.

8. A suitable number of casks (clean and sweet), to contain the beer.

9. One or more large funnels or tunners.

10. Two or more clean pails.

11. A hand-pump of a size proportionate to the brewing.

12. A mill, for crushing the malt. Brewers, for sale, are restricted by
law to the use of mills with plain metal rollers.

These articles will vary in value from L10, upwards to many hundreds, or
even thousands, according to the extent of the brewing; but the whole of
them necessary for a private family may be bought for less than the former
amount, as the mill, pump, &c., may then be dispensed with, and the rest
may be of the simplest and least expensive character possible. By proper
care they will last for 30 or 40 years, and still continue in a useful
state.

Preliminary proceedings:--

The malt is chosen according to the intended character of the
brewing--pale, amber, roasted, or any mixture of them, as the occasion may
require. It is bruised or crushed in a mill (malt-mill) before employing
it in brewing, that it may be the more readily acted on by the water. It
should not be ground too small, as it would then make the wort thick, and
cause it to run with difficulty from the mash-tun. The crushed malt may
advantageously lie for a few days in a cool situation, by which it will
attract a considerable quantity of moisture from the air, and be the more
easily exhausted by the water used in mashing. Pale malt may be used
coarser than amber or brown malt. A bushel of good malt should measure
1-1/4 bushel when ground; and a quarter should yield between 9-1/2 and 10
bushels, the quantity slightly varying according to the degree of bruising
it has undergone. On the large scale, malt is ground in crushing mills
furnished with plain iron rollers; on the small scale, by wooden rollers
or mills worked by hand. For private brewing, the malt is generally bought
ready crushed or ground, for convenience sake.

The hops, after being taken from the 'pockets' or 'bag,' are crumbled with
the hands ready to be thrown into the copper. For general purposes those
grown in Kent, and of the present season, are preferred. For the finer
sorts of ale, East Kent hops are commonly used; and when it is intended to
keep the liquor for a long time, those known by the names of Country's,
Alton's, or Farnham hops, are employed.

The quantity of hops required by a given measure of malt varies from 2
lbs. to 22 lbs. per quarter, according to the strength or gravity of the
wort, the character of the beer intended to be brewed, and the climate
which the beer may have to sustain. Export beer requires, as a rule, an
exceptionally large amount of hops to enable it to bear without injury the
heat of the country to which it is shipped. The following are the usual
proportions:--

  Table beer                      2 lbs.  1 qr.
  Mild ale or porter              4 "     1 "
  Brown stout                     5 "     1 "
  Scotch ale (best)               5 "     1 "
  Strong ale (ordinary)           5-1/2 " 1 "
  "          (keeping)            8 "     1 "
  Bitter ale               10 to 14 "     1 "
  East India ale (export)  12  " 22 "     1 "

When a strong, coarse hop is used, a less quantity suffices for the same
strength brewed, but the flavour is always inferior.

The water, which should be clear, and free from all traces of decomposing
animal and vegetable matter, must be provided in abundance. Of late years
hard water has been preferred by many brewers, on the ground that beer
brewed with it is self-fining, and hence requires no artificial
clarification either in the vat or cask.

Hard water is also much to be preferred to soft in brewing stock beers;
since by its rendering the albuminous matters contained in the mash
insoluble, it prevents the fermentation to which these would otherwise
give rise, and so assists in the preservation of the beer, and in keeping
it free from acidity.

The German brewers, however, who do not brew beverages intended to be kept
for any time, on the contrary, employ a soft water, by which means the
albuminous substances contained in the malt are rendered soluble, and
become diffused throughout the beer, and possibly add in some measure to
its nutritive qualities. Hard waters are said to have the property, over
soft ones, of enabling the beer to retain more saccharine matter, and
hence to improve its flavour and to give it more body. The ales of Burton
are pre-eminent for their excellent quality and keeping properties. In the
neighbourhood of Burton there are extensive beds of new red sandstone and
gypsum, by sinking wells into which the Burton brewers obtain the water
from which they make their beers. From the subjoined analyses of Burton
well waters it will be seen that this water is a very hard one, and
contains, besides other salts, a very large quantity of sulphate of lime.

Analysis of the water used in Messrs ALLSOPP'S brewery (Dr Boettinger):--

                       Amount of ingredients
                          in the imperial
                        gallon, represented
                            in grains.

  Chloride of sodium           10.12
  Sulphate of potash            7.65
  Sulphate of lime             18.96
  Sulphate of magnesia          9.95
  Carbonate of lime            15.51
  Carbonate of magnesia         1.70
  Carbonate of iron             0.60
  Silica                        0.79
                              ------
                               65.28

Analysis of water from a well at the brewery of Messrs BASS (Cooper):--

  Carbonate of lime             9.93
  Sulphate of lime             54.40
  Chloride of calcium          13.38
  Sulphate of magnesia          0.83
                              ------
                               78.54

The whole of the water used in the Burton breweries is obtained from
wells, and not from the river Trent, as was at one time erroneously
supposed. A factitious Burton water may, it is said, be obtained by adding
sulphate of lime and salt to any soft water, in the proportions stated in
the above analyses.

Dr C. Graham is of opinion that, although the properties of the Burton
well waters are very greatly due to the large quantity of sulphate of lime
contained in them, the chlorides of sodium and calcium are also important
constituents.

The yeast must be fresh and good; and all the vessels and utensils
perfectly sweet and clean. If the latter be neglected, even the most
skilful brewing will prove a failure.

Process of brewing:--

1. MASHING:--The ground or bruised malt placed in the mash-tun is
macerated for some time in hot water, and the infusion (_wort_) drawn off
from a hole in the bottom, over which a strainer or false bottom is
placed, to prevent the malt passing out along with the liquor. During the
process of mashing a peculiar principle contained in the malt, called
diastase, reacts upon the starch with which it is associated, and converts
it into grape-sugar. The more completely this conversion is effected the
richer will be the resulting wort in sugar or "_saccharine_," and the
stronger and more alcoholic the beer produced by its fermentation. It is,
therefore, a desideratum with the brewer to mash at the temperature which
most fully promotes this important object. The best temperature for this
purpose ranges between 150 deg. and 170 deg. Fahr. When more than one mash is
made, the first should be something lower than the first-named
temperature; the second may be from 175 deg. to 185 deg.; and the third as high as
200 deg. Fahr.

If the first mashing has been rightly conducted, the whole of the starch
will be converted into sugar, and the action of the second and third
mashings is merely to wash out any of the remaining saccharine matter
still existing in the crushed grain.

In practice, as soon as the water in the copper acquires the temperature
of 170 deg., 45 galls. are run into the mash-tun, and 1 quarter of crushed
malt gradually added to it. The whole is now thoroughly mixed with the
mash liquor, by means of oars, or machinery, the agitation (_mashing_)
being continued for 30 or 40 minutes, when 36 galls. more water from the
copper are added, and the whole again well agitated, as before. The
mash-tun is now closely covered up, and the mash allowed to repose for
about two hours, in order that the diastase may exert its saccharifying
power upon the unconverted starch of the malt. At the end of this time the
tap is set, and the wort run into the 'underback.' It generally amounts to
about 50 galls. The second mash is then made with about 60 galls. of
water, at 185 deg. F., and the whole process repeated as before. After an hour
the liquor is drawn off, and the malt drained ready for the third mash.
This time only 35 galls. of water are added at 200 deg. F., and the whole is
seldom allowed to stand longer than half an hour. It is then run off, and
the malt allowed to drain as dry as possible.

In some cases the worts of the first and second mashes only are used for
strong beer; that of the third mashing being kept for table beer, or as
liquor to mash a fresh quantity of malt.

Pale malt and mixtures of malt and raw grain should be mashed for a longer
time, and at a somewhat lower temperature than brown or high-dried malt.

Instead of making second and third mashes as above described, it has long
been the practice in Scotland, and is now becoming common in England, to
sprinkle the surface of the grains in the mash-tun with water, at or about
the temperature of 180 deg. Fahr., by means of a simple revolving instrument
termed a 'sparger,' and to let the liquor drain through the goods and run
off by the tap with the last portions of the first wort. By this means the
whole surface of the grain is continuously and regularly sprinkled with
hot water.

When sugar is used it may be either mixed with the malt in the mash-tun,
at the time of mashing, or put into the underback, just before setting the
taps, and the hot wort run upon it. The proportions of malt and sugar vary
according to the quality of the latter, but, on an average, from 170 lbs.
to 200 lbs. of good raw sugar may be taken as the equivalent of a quarter
of malt.

2. BOILING:--The wort is next transferred from the underback to the
copper, and heated to the boiling-point as soon as possible, the object of
this expedition being to prevent the formation of acid in the wort, by
exposure to the air, before undergoing the changes which take place in the
copper. As soon as the boiling of the wort commences the hops are added,
and the boiling is continued for about 2 or 2-1/2 hours. A longer boiling
is highly objectionable, owing to the extraction of a heavy, resinous
bitter from the hop, and the danger of losing the volatile oil upon which
the aroma depends. For mild beers the worts are seldom boiled so long; for
strong keeping ales, sometimes a little longer. The boiling is known to be
completed when the liquor 'clears,' as it is called, and albuminous flocks
sink to the bottom of the copper.

The hops, strained from each wort, are returned into the copper with the
following one.

The average loss by evaporation in the process of boiling varies from
1/6th to 1/7th of the original bulk of the wort. The gravity increases at
the same time in about the ratio of 5 to 4; so that if the gravity be, at
first, say 32 lbs. per barrel, it will at the end of the operation have
risen to about 40 lbs.

3. COOLING:--The wort, under the common system, is 'run off' from the
copper into the 'hop-back,' through a strainer which keeps back the hops.
It is then pumped into large square shallow vessels called 'coolers,'
where it is freely exposed to a current of air to reduce its temperature
as quickly as possible, in order to avoid acidity or 'souring.' In 6 or 7
hours, or sooner, the temperature should fall to about 60 deg. Fahr. In warm
weather the depth of the liquor in the coolers should not exceed 3 or 4
inches; and in cold weather not more than 5 or 6 inches. As soon as the
temperature has fallen to about 60 deg. the liquor is 'tunned' and 'yeasted.'

The loss by evaporation and condensation in the coolers varies from 13 to
18 galls. per quarter.

4. FERMENTATION:--The cooled wort is next run into the fermenting tuns or
vessels (gyle-tuns). In small brewings these may be casks with one of
their heads removed; but under any form they must not be more than 2/3rds
filled. The yeast, previously mixed with a little wort, and kept until the
whole has begun to ferment (technically termed '_lobb_'), is now added,
and after agitation the vessel is covered up, and kept so, until the
fermentation is well established. By this time the temperature has risen
from 9 deg. to 15 deg..

The quantity of yeast employed, and the temperature of the wort when it is
added, differ in different breweries and for different kinds of beer. It
seldom exceeds 2 lbs. per barrel unless the weather is unusually cold, or
the yeast old or stale, when a larger proportion is required. The Scotch
brewers generally take only 1 gall. of yeast to fully 4 hhds. of wort.

In England, the temperature at which the yeast is added varies from 55 deg. to
65 deg. Fahr. In Scotland, the common temperature is 51 deg. to 52 deg.. In cold
weather the heat may be 5 deg. or 6 deg. higher than in mild and warm weather, and
a little more yeast may also be advantageously employed. In cold weather
ale is commonly tunned at 60 deg., porter at 64 deg., and weaker beers at 65 deg. or
70 deg. Fahr. In 'warm weather' strong beer should be 4 deg. or 5 deg., and other
beers 7 deg. or 8 deg. cooler than the 'heats' just mentioned. On the small scale,
1 to 1-1/4 pint of yeast may be used to every barrel of strong-beer wort,
and 3/4 pint to every barrel of mild-beer wort.

The commencement of the fermentation is indicated by a line of small
bubbles forming round the sides of the tun, and in a short time extending
over the whole surface. A 'crusty head' soon forms, and then a 'fine rocky
head,' followed by a 'light frothy' one. At length the head assumes a
yeasty appearance, the colour becomes yellowish brown, and a vinous odour
is developed. As soon as this last head begins to fall, the tun is skimmed
every 2 or 3 hours, until no more yeast is formed. The object of this is,
not only to check the violence of the fermentation, but also to remove a
peculiar bitterness, with which the first portion of the yeast is
impregnated. The beer is then put into casks, or 'cleansed,' as it is
called. A minute attention to every stage of this process is necessary to
secure a fine flavour and a brilliant beverage.

It may be regarded, as a rule, that the lower the temperature, and the
slower, more regular, and less interrupted the process of fermentation,
the better will be the quality of the brewing, and the less likely to
change by age. A little more yeast is required in winter than in summer.
When the fermentation becomes slack in the 'gyle-tun,' a little more
'lobb' is generally added, and the whole is well 'roused up,' On the
contrary, if the temperature rises considerably, or the fermentation
becomes too brisk, the wort is cooled a little and skimmed, or at once
cleansed.

5. CLEANSING:--This consists in running the beer from the gyle-tun into
casks, or other vessels, set sloping, so that the yeast as it forms way
work off the one side of the top, and fall into a vessel placed below to
receive it. In small brewings the beer is often at once transferred from
the gyle-tun to the 'store-casks,' which are sloped a little until the
fermentation is over, when they are skimmed, filled, and bunged.

The process of cleansing is generally commenced as soon as the
'saccharine' in the fermenting wort falls to about 10 lbs. per barrel, a
degree of attenuation which it usually reaches in about 48 hours. Some
brewers add a little wheat-flour or bean-flour (about 1/4 lb. per barrel)
to the beer in the gyle-tun, shortly before cleansing, to quicken the
discharge of yeast; but it is not clearly ascertained whether such a plan
is advantageous, or the contrary.

6. STORING:--As soon as the fermentation is concluded, which generally
takes from 6 to 8 days, or longer, the clear liquor is pumped into the
store-casks or vats, which are then closely bunged, and deposited in a
cool cellar, if not already there, to mature. The preference, which at
present exists in most parts of the United Kingdom, is for mild,
freshly-brewed malt liquors; the good old or mature-vatted beer being now
seldom met with. This, of course, is a source of increased profit to the
brewer, as it enables him to turn over his capital more rapidly, and saves
the risk and expense attendant on long storage.

7. RIPENING:--After a period varying from one to twelve months or longer,
according to the nature of the brewing, and the condition of the cellar,
the liquor will have become fine, and sufficiently mature for use. During
this period the casks, &c., should be occasionally examined to see that
there is no leakage, and to open the vent-holes, should any oozings appear
at the joints. As equable a temperature as possible should be maintained
in the cellar, by ventilation, on the one hand, and the employment of
artificial heat on the other, as circumstances and seasonal changes may
render necessary.

8. FINING or CLARIFYING:--Beer which has been badly brewed or badly
stored, or which from other causes may be thick or muddy, requires
clarifying by artificial means. For a barrel about 1 to 1-1/2 pint of
brewer's finings (isinglass or fish-gelatin dissolved in sour beer) is put
into a bucket, and some of the beer being gradually added, the whole is
violently agitated with a whisk until a frothy head is formed. The mixture
is then thrown into the cask of beer, and well 'rummaged up,' after which
the bung is replaced, and the liquor allowed to repose for a week or ten
days.

Sometimes the above method is found to fail with weak and bad-conditioned
beer. When such is the case, the addition of a teaspoonful of sulphuric
acid, or a table-spoonful of powdered catechu (previously dissolved in 1/2
a pint of boiling water), followed by agitation for a quarter of an hour,
will generally cause the 'finings' to clarify the liquor; 2 or 3 oz. of
tincture of catechu (mixed with a little water) may be used in the same
way. A handful of hops, previously boiled for five minutes in a little of
the beer, and then added to the barrel, and the whole allowed to stand for
a few days, before proceeding to clarify it, will generally have a similar
effect, and cause the 'finings' to act with certainty. It is the absence
of the proper quantity of astringent matter in beer that usually renders
them ineffective.

M. Brescius employs tannin for the clarification of beer. To 1000 litres
of beer he adds 140 grains of tannin dissolved in 3/4 of a litre of water,
which is thoroughly stirred up. After three or four days he adds one litre
of isinglass or two of gelatin in the proportion of 1 kilo. to 100 litres.
The complete clarification requires about eight days.

_Gen. commentary._ The preceding is a concise account of all the essential
operations of the system of brewing at present practised in this country.
On the large scale, extensive and costly apparatus and machinery are
employed for the purpose. On the small scale, various modifications, of a
minor character, or the several processes herein detailed, are frequently
adopted according to the circumstances or ingenuity of the operator. The
principles and practice of brewing beer are, however, essentially the same
under all the conditions here referred to. In Scotland, only one mash is
made, and that at a temperature of about 180 deg. Fahr., with one third of the
quantity of the water required for the brewing. The 'mash-tun' is then
covered up for about half an hour, when the wort is drawn off, and the
operation of 'sparging' begun. This operation is continued until the
density of the mixed worts becomes adapted to produce the quality of the
ale then under process of manufacture. The 'gyle-tun' (fermenting-tun) is
set at from 50 deg. to 60 deg. Fahr., the fermentation being continued slowly for
fifteen to twenty days; and the ale is not 'cleansed' before the degree of
attenuation falls to about 1/2 lb. per day, and not more than one fourth
of the original gravity of the wort remains. Scotch ale is justly
celebrated for its superior quality. Its usual original gravity is from 34
to 45 lbs. per barrel.

In Bavaria, a country remarkable for the excellence of its beer, the wort
is made to ferment at a low temperature, until all the substances which
favour acetification have been rendered insoluble, and have separated
from the liquor. The fermentation is conducted in wide, open, shallow
vessels, which afford free and unlimited access to atmospheric oxygen; and
this in a situation where the temperature does not exceed 45 deg. to 60 deg. Fahr.
A separation of the nitrogenous constituents thus takes place
simultaneously on the surface, and within the whole body of the liquid.
The clearing of the fluid is the sign by which it is known that these
matters have separated. The fermentation usually occupies three or four
weeks, and is conducted during the cooler portion of the year only, and in
a situation removed as much as possible from the influence of
atmospherical changes of temperature. The sedimentary yeast (unterhefe),
and not the surface yeast (oberhefe), of the Bavarian fermenting backs is
employed.

The beers of England and France, as well as most of those of Germany,
become gradually sour by contact with the air. This defect, as observed by
Liebig, does not belong to the beers of Bavaria, which may be preserved,
at pleasure, in half-full casks, as well as in full ones, without
suffering any material alteration. This precious quality must be ascribed
to the peculiar process employed for fermenting the wort, called by the
German chemists 'untergaehrung,' or fermentation from below; and which "has
solved one of the finest theoretical problems that had long taxed the
ingenuity and patience of both the scientific and practical brewer."
(Liebig.)

The 'Comptes Rendus,' lxxvii, 1140-1148, contains a paper by M. Pasteur on
the manufacture of an 'unalterable beer.' In this communication he states
that the liability of beer to turn sour, ropy, &c., is due to the presence
of special ferments derived from the air, and from the materials used. By
boiling the infusion of malt and hops, cooling out of contact with air,
and fermenting with pure yeast[232] in vessels to which only carbonic acid
or pure air is admitted, a beer is produced of superior quality, which may
be preserved without trouble for any time. Even a partial adoption of
these precautions is attended with valuable results. In preparing pure
yeast to start with, the author makes use of the fact that oxygen favours
the growth of true yeast, but hinders the propagation of the other
ferments. Pure yeast being obtained, the beer is afterwards fermented in
an atmosphere nearly destitute of oxygen, as its quality is thereby
improved. Pure yeast when kept in pure air undergoes no change, even at
summer temperature. The _mycoderma vini_ does not, as the author once
thought, become changed into beer-yeast on submersion in a nutritive
fluid; under these circumstances it acts as an alcoholic ferment, but does
not propagate itself.

[Footnote 232: M. Pasteur does not state how this is to be obtained.]

"In the ordinary fermentation of grape-juice and worts these liquids do
not furnish a quantity of alcohol equivalent to the sugar which they
contain; and this because a certain portion of the sugar serves for the
oxidation of the gluten, and is not transformed like the rest. But
wherever the liquor has arrived at the second period of transformation,
the product in alcohol ought to be equivalent to the quantity of sugar
present, as actually happens in all fermentations (sedimentary) which are
not accompanied with a formation, but a disappearance of the yeast.
According to Dr Ure, worts furnish, in the Bavarian breweries, from 10% to
20% more alcohol than they do by the ordinary process of fermentation
(obergaehrung), or that excited by the use of 'oberhefe' or top-yeast."

East-India Ale or Pale Ale, for exportation, is brewed from worts of a sp.
gr. of from 1.063 to 1.070. For the best varieties, 15 to 16 lbs. of the
finest East Kent hops are used to every quarter of pure malt. The pale ale
or bitter beer of the publicans is commonly a very weak liquor (mere table
beer), highly bittered with the hop, and too often with quassia, wormwood,
and other still more objectionable substances. The process now adopted by
the great brewers of pale ale at Burton-on-Trent combines all the most
admirable points of both the Bavarian and Scotch systems of brewing.

Berlin White ale or Pale beer is brewed from wheat-malt mixed with about
1/6th part of barley-malt, the 'wort' being boiled with hops, 1/2 lb. to
the bushel, and slightly fermented with 'top-yeast,' at a rather higher
temperature.

The desire of evading the duty led to the discovery of its being only
necessary to employ 1/3rd, or less, of the grain, in the form of malt;
this portion being sufficient to convert into sugar, in the process of
mashing, the starch of the unmalted grain forming the other part. This
plan answers well when the wort is merely intended for the production of
'grain spirit,' but beer so made is insipid and inferior in quality to
that brewed wholly of malt. Inferior kinds of beer have also been made
from other ingredients than barley-malt, among which may be named the
grain of the cheaper cereals, bran, potatoes, turnips, beet-root, carrots,
parsnips, pea-shells, and other vegetable substances rich in starch and
sugar, all of which will produce beer by being mashed with water in the
common way, with about 9% or 10% of barley-malt.

One quarter of the best barley-malt yields, by skilful mashing, fully 84
lbs. of 'saccharine,' or soluble sweet extractive matter. This
concentrated within the compass of one barrel (33 galls.) gives a sp. gr.
of 1.234. In the process of mashing about 4/7ths of this quantity of
saccharine (or 48 lbs.) is generally carried off in the first wort; 2/7ths
(or 24 lbs.) in the second wort; and 1/7th (or 12 lbs.) in the third wort;
the strengths of the worts being to each other respectively as 4, 2, 1.
The average gravity obtained by the common brewers from malt of current
quality ranges from 80 to 81 lbs. Sugar may be used as a partial
substitute for malt, with, in most cases, some degree of saving to the
brewer, and without injury to the quality of the beer. The kind of sugar
to be used will depend on the quality of the beer to be brewed, but it
should be remembered that a bad sugar will not, any more than bad malt,
yield a sound palatable beer. From 170 lbs. to 200 lbs. of good raw sugar
may be taken as the average equivalent of a quarter of malt.

When the process of mashing has been properly conducted, the wort, after
leaving the cooler, should not be turned blue by tincture of iodine, or by
iodide of potassium mixed with a few drops of nitric acid. If it turns
blue some of the starch has escaped conversion into sugar, and is
dissolved in the liquor.

By multiplying the decimal part of the number representing the specific
gravity of a wort by 360 (the weight in pounds of a barrel of pure water),
we obtain the quantity of saccharine per barrel, corresponding to the
given sp. gr.; and by dividing the joint weight of saccharine and water,
per barrel, by 360, we obtain the specific gravity. Thus--

Suppose a sample of wort to have a specific gravity of 1.055, then--

Decimal of sp. gr. .055 x 360 = 19.8 lbs. per barrel.

Again, a barrel of wort weighs 379.8 lbs., that is, 360 lbs. for the
weight of a barrel of water, and 19.8 lbs. for the weight of saccharine in
the water, then--

297.8 / 360 = 1.055 specific gravity.

It is usually stated in works on brewing that certain temperatures must be
reached by each variety of beer, during the progress of the fermentation,
in order for the liquor to acquire its characteristic flavour. Thus, it is
stated that mild beer begins to acquire flavour when the heat of
fermentation arrives at 75 deg. Fahr., increases at 80 deg., and is highest at
90 deg., but sometimes even reaches 100 deg.. Old ale is said to obtain its best
flavour at a temperature not exceeding 75 deg.; and porter at 70 deg. Fahr. In
order to reach these temperatures the worts are directed to be set at from
10 deg. to 15 deg. lower, the rise being due to the heat generated during the
fermentation. That these statements refer principally to the old methods
of brewing is shown by the fact that some of the brewers of Bavaria,
Scotland, and Burton-on-Trent produce rich and high-flavoured liquors at
temperatures vastly below those above enumerated. Still, however, the fact
must not be concealed, that since the introduction of the new German
system of brewing into England the general character of its beers, as they
reach the consumer, are inferior in strength and flavour to those of a
former period. We may now seek almost in vain for the fine vinous,
high-flavoured, invigorating old beers vended in our early days by the
common publicans and tavern-keepers, of whom the larger majority were
their own brewers. Under the new system of chemical brewing, as worked by
those huge monopolists, the 'great brewers,' the only object appears to be
to obtain the largest quantity possible of saccharine out of the quarter
of malt, and to convert this into the largest possible quantity of beer,
with little regard to flavour or quality, but an excessive one for their
own profits. In due course this liquor is forced on their helpless tenants
the publicans, who, in their turn, 'reduce' and 'doctor' the liquor,
until, by the time it reaches the consumer, its insipidity and low
strength would have led even a brewer's drayman of the last century to
cast it into the kennel.

The best times for brewing are the spring and autumn; as at those periods
of the year the temperature of the air is such as to permit of the easy
cooling of worts sufficiently low, without having recourse to artificial
refrigeration, or to the use of machinery for the purpose. Old ale cannot
be conveniently brewed in summer.

Beers are classed by the brewers into--

  _Small beers_--made from worts not exceeding the sp. gr. 1.025, or 9
      lbs. per barrel.
  _Middlings_--made from worts of the sp. gr. 1.030 to 1.050, and
      averaging about 14 lbs. per barrel.
  _Strong beers_--made from worts of the sp. gr. 1.040 to 1.080, extending
      from about 35 lbs. per barrel upwards.

The densities of the worts employed for different kinds of beer vary
considerably, as will be seen by the following table:--

        TABLE _of the Densities of Beers_.

  |----------------------------------------------------|
  |                     | Pounds  |                    |
  |    Description.     |  per    |  Specific Gravity. |
  |                     | barrel. |                    |
  |----------------------------------------------------|
  |Burton ale, Class 1  |40 to 43 |   1.111 to 1.120   |
  |    "         "   2  |35 "  40 |   1.097 "  1.111   |
  |    "         "   3  |28 "  33 |   1.077 "  1.092   |
  |Ordinary ale         |25 "  27 |   1.070 "  1.075   |
  |Common    "          |   21    |   1.058            |
  |Scotch ale, Class 1  |40 to 44 |   1.111 to 1.122   |
  |    "         "   2  |33 "  40 |   1.092 "  1.111   |
  |Porter (ordinary)    |   18    |   1.050            |
  |  "    (good)        |18 to 21 |   1.050 to 1.058   |
  |  "    (double)      |{?} to 22|   1.055 "  1.060   |
  |Brown stout          |   23    |   1.064            |
  |      "    (best)    |   26    |   1.072            |
  |Table beer           |12 to 14 |   1.033 to 1.039   |
  |Small  "   (com.)    |    6    |   1.017            |
  |----------------------------------------------------|

EXPORTATION OF BEER:--When beer is exported from any part of the United
Kingdom, either as merchandise or ships' stores, the brewer or exporter of
such beer is allowed a certain drawback of duty. The amount is
proportional to the quantity of malt or sugar inferred to have been used
in the brewing of the beer. Thus, if the original specific gravity of the
worts from which the beer was brewed were not less than 1.040, a drawback
is granted of 4_s._ 3_d._ per barrel. This is equivalent to a return of
the duty on 1-1/2 bushels of malt, with an allowance of 3_d._ for licence
duty, now charged in lieu of the abolished hop duty. For every additional
5 degrees of specific gravity, from 1040 deg. to 1125 deg. inclusive, a further
sum of 5_d._ per barrel is allowed.

[For further information connected with the above subject the reader is
referred to the separate articles--ALE, BEER, DEXTRINE, DIASTASE,
FERMENTATION, MALT LIQUORS, PORTER, SACCHAROMETER, SPECIFIC GRAVITY, WORT,
YEAST, &c.]

=Brewing Uten'sils.= The cleansing and preservation of brewing utensils,
beer casks, &c., has frequently engaged the attention of practical men and
brewers' chemists. To preserve them sweet they should always be thoroughly
cleaned before setting them aside. Contact with soap, or any greasy
material, should be carefully avoided. A scrubbing-brush and scalding-hot
water are generally sufficient to clean them. Great care should be taken
to remove every particle of yeast or fur on the sides and bottom; and
after being well drained they should be stowed away in some clean and cold
situation, properly exposed to the fresh air. Should they become tainted
or mouldy, a strong lye of pearl-ash, common salt, or quick-lime, may be
spread over them, scalding hot, with a broom or scrubbing-brush. Washing
them with oil of vitriol diluted with about 7 or 8 times its bulk of
water, is another excellent and very effective method. Fresh-burnt
charcoal has also been employed for the same purpose. In each case the
vessels must be subsequently thoroughly washed out with clean water, as
before. Steam, assisted by the action of a chain, has been successfully
applied to clean casks in several breweries. Bisulphite of lime has,
within the last few years, been highly recommended for sweetening and
cleaning vats, casks, &c. It is also said to prevent beer from developing
acidity. See CASKS, VATS, SPOROKTON, &c.

=BRICKS.= Brick-making scarcely comes within the province of this work. In
connection with hygiene, however, we may call the reader's attention to
the superior advantages of both hollow and waterproof bricks; the first,
for ventilation and lightness; the last, for preserving the dryness and
integrity of our homes under all the vicissitudes of climate, season, and
weather, either on damp soils or dry ones. Workman's "Patent Waterproof
Bricks" received a strong commendatory notice from the Commissioners of
the "Great International Exhibition" of 1851.

=BRILLIANTINE.= 1. Castor oil, 1 part; eau de Cologne, 4 parts. Mix. 2.
Honey, 1 _oz._; glycerin, 1/2 _oz._; eau de Cologne, 1/2 _oz._; spirit of
wine, 2 _oz._ Mix.

=BRINE= (for Meat). _Prep._ 1. A nearly saturated solution of common salt,
1 lb.; and saltpetre, 1 oz.; in soft water.

2. To the last add of sugar or treacle, 1/2 lb. Bay-salt is recommended
when the meat is to be kept for a very long period. Meat preserved in
brine that has been used for curing several times is said to become
poisonous. See PICKLING, &c.

=Brine, Red-Cabbage.= Red-cabbage leaves steeped in a strong solution of
common salt. Used as a test for acids and alkalies.

=Brine, Vi'olet.= From the petals of the blue violet, as the last. Used as
a test for acids.

=BRIOCHE PASTE= (bre-[=o]sh'). In _cookery_, a species of paste, or crust,
prepared of eggs and flour, fermented with yeast, to which a little salt,
a large quantity of sugar, and about half as much butter as the weight of
the flour used, are afterwards added, and well worked in. Used as an
addition to soup, and as a casing for lobsters, patties, eggs, &c.

=BRISK'NESS.= The natural briskness and sparkling of fermented liquors
depends on the gradual evolution of carbonic acid gas within the body of
the fluid, by the process of fermentation. See MALT LIQUORS, PORTER,
WINES, &c.

=BRIS'TLES= (br[)i]s'lz). The stiff hair of swine, &c. They are commonly
stiffened by immersion for a short time in alum-water; and are dyed by
steeping them for a short time in any of the common dyes used for cotton
or wool.

=BRITAN'NIA METAL.= _Syn._ TUTANIA. A superior species of pewter, used for
teapots, spoons, &c.

_Prep._ 1. Plate-brass, bismuth, antimony, and tin, equal parts, melted
together, and the resulting alloy added at discretion to melted tin, until
it acquires the proper degree of colour and hardness.

2. To the first alloy, prepared as in No. 1, add one fifth of its weight
of metallic arsenic, before mixing it with the melted tin.

3. Antimony, 1 part; brass, 4 parts; tin, 5 or 6 parts; melted together.
See QUEEN'S METAL (ALLOYS), PEWTER, &c.

4. Tin, 150 parts; copper, 3 parts; antimony, 10 parts.

5. Tin, 46-1/2 parts; copper, 1 part; antimony, 3 parts.

=Britannia Metal for Casting.= _a._ Tin, 100 parts; hardening (see
_below_), 5 parts; antimony, 5 parts. _b._ Tin, 105 parts; copper, 2
parts; antimony, 12 parts.

=Britannia Metal (Best) for Handles.= Tin, 140 parts; copper, 2 parts;
antimony, 5 parts.

=Britannia Metal, Hardening for.= Tin, 1 part; copper, 2 parts.

=Britannia Metal (Best) for Lamps, Pillars, and Spouts.= Tin, 75 parts;
copper, 1 part; antimony, 3-3/4 parts.

=Britannia Metal for Registers.= Tin, 25 parts; antimony, 2 parts;
hardening, 2 parts.

=Britannia Metal for Spinning.= Tin, 25 parts; antimony, 1 part;
hardening, 1 part.

=Britannia Metal (Best) for Spoons.= Tin, 20 parts; antimony, 2 parts;
hardening, 1 part.

=Britannia Metal for Spouts.= Tin, 46-1/2 parts; copper, 1 part; antimony,
2 parts.

=BRITANNIA SILVER.= Under this name there is, or was, offered to the
public at Vienna, and probably elsewhere, under the misleading
recommendation that it is a perfect substitute for silver, a heterogeneous
metallic composition, in the form of spoons, forks, candlesticks, cups,
&c. The Britannia silver is sometimes, or always, light, silvered,
Britannia metal (an alloy of 86 tin, 10 antimony, 3 zinc, 1 copper; or of
2 copper, 6 zinc, 21 antimony, 71 tin; or of 1.84 copper, 81.90 tin, 16.25
antimony, and 1 zinc). One firm announces that Britannia silver is
silver-white throughout, a colour which can only be obtained in similar
alloys by the addition of arsenic. Another firm sells candlesticks of
inferior packfong as Britannia metal, and another actually sells tinned
Bessemer steel-plate cups as guaranteed Britannia silver. (Ackerman.)

=BRIT'ISH GUM.= See GUM.

=BRITISH WINES.= See WINES.

=BROC'COLI.= [Eng., L., Ger.] _Syn._ BROCOLI, Fr.; BROCCOLO, It. A
well-known sub-variety of cauliflower. The qualities, and the mode of
dressing broccoli, are similar to those of cabbages, noticed elsewhere.
See VEGETABLES (Culinary), &c.

=BROKEN KNEES= (IN HORSES). The wound should first be thoroughly washed,
and then sewn up, and fomented with tepid water. Afterwards cold-water
dressings containing a little carbolic acid may be applied. Perfect rest
is essential, and, where necessary, splints and slings must be had
recourse to. After the wound has thoroughly healed blisters are
recommended for restoring the hair.

=BROKEN WIND= (IN HORSES). Of the many remedies said to be useful in this
malady few, if any, appear to exercise any permanent advantage. There is
no reason, however, why a horse affected with broken wind should not be
made serviceable if the precaution be taken to put him to moderately slow
work, if the following precautions be followed. His food should be given
him in small quantity and at frequent intervals. The oats should be
bruised and the hay cut small, and both be slightly damped before he
partakes of them. This dietary may be varied by small doses of carrots or
turnips.

The amount of fluids should be restricted, and he should be fed and
watered at least an hour before going to work. A mild physic ball should
also be occasionally administered.

Dogs suffering from asthma should be subjected to the same treatment. To a
full-sized dog ten drops each of ether and tincture of belladonna may be
given every hour during an attack of spasm until the breathing becomes
easier.

=BRO'MA.= _Prep._ 1. Pure cocoa, 1 lb.; sugar and sago-meal, of each 4
oz.; mix. British arrow-root (_i. e._ carefully prepared potato-starch) is
often substituted for the sago.

2. As the last, but using fine wheat flour in lieu of sago-meal. Made into
a beverage in a similar way to cocoa.

=BRO'MAL.= C_{2}Br_{3}HO. A colourless, oily liquid, obtained by the
action of bromine on alcohol. Sp. gr. 3.34; boiling point above 212 deg. F.
Like chloral it yields a solid hydrate with water. Because of its powerful
irritant properties it seems unlikely to prove useful, either as a
hypnotic or as an anaesthetic.

=BRO'MIDE= (-m[)i]d). _Syn._ BRO'MURET*, HYDROBRO'MATE*; BROMI'DUM,
BROMURE'TUM, HYDROBRO'MAS, L.; BROMIDE, BROMURE. Fr. A chemical compound
of bromine with another radical.

_Prop._, _&c._ The soluble bromides give white precipitates with nitrate
of silver, acetate of lead, and protonitrate of mercury. That from the
first of these is insoluble in dilute nitric acid and in ammonia water
unless concentrated; and it has a slight yellowish tinge, changing to a
violet on exposure to the light. A few drops of liquid chlorine poured
upon a bromide, followed by agitation of the mixture with a little
sulphuric ether, furnishes an ethereal solution of bromine. [For the other
bromides see the respective bases.]

=BRO'MINE= (-m[)i]n), (_bromos_, a stink). Br. _Syn._ BROME*; BRO'MIUM,
BROMIN'IUM, L.; BROME, Fr. An elementary substance, discovered by M.
Balard, of Montpellier, in 1826.

_Prep._ 1. A current of gaseous chlorine is passed through the
uncrystallisable residuum of sea-water called bittern, which then assumes
an orange tint, in consequence of bromine being set free from its
combinations; sulphuric ether is then agitated with it, and the mixture is
allowed to stand, in a close vessel, until the ethereal portion floats
upon the surface. This is a solution of crude bromine, and for common
purposes the ether may be at once evaporated by a very gentle heat. To
render it pure, caustic potassa is added in excess to the ethereal
solution, or the latter is agitated with a solution of potassa, by which
means bromide and bromate of potassium are formed. The whole is evaporated
to dryness, and submitted to a dull red heat. The residuum is next
powdered and mixed with pure peroxide of manganese; the mixture having
been placed in a retort, sulphuric acid (diluted with half its weight of
water) is poured in. Red vapours immediately arise, and condense into
drops of bromine, which are collected by plunging the neck of the retort
nearly to the bottom of a small receiver containing a little very cold
water. The bromine forms a stratum beneath the water, and may be collected
and at once put into a stoppered bottle; or it may be further purified by
distillation from dry chloride of calcium.

2. Leisler's patent for a method of obtaining bromine consists in
decomposing the lye containing the bromine salt by heating it with
hydrochloric acid and bichromate of potash in a leaden still having an
earthenware head. The volatilised bromine with the vapour of water is
conducted into a receiver containing iron turnings, bromide of iron, which
dissolves in the water contained in the receiver, being formed. The
bromide of iron so produced is either converted into other metallic
bromides by the usual processes, or the bromine is obtained in a separate
state from the iodide by treatment with sulphuric acid and bichromate of
potash.

3. Large quantities of bromine are extracted from the mother liquor of
carnallite, a double chloride of magnesium of potassium occurring in
enormous quantities in a bed of clay in the neighbourhood of Stassfurt,
near Magdeburg. The mother liquid of the carnallite at 35 deg. B. is first
freed as much as possible from the chloride of calcium it contains, by
means of refrigeration. It is next evaporated down until it acquires a
density of 40 deg. B. Frank says it cannot be concentrated to the above
extent, because of a waste of bromine resulting from the formation of
hydrobromic acid produced by the decomposition of the lye, owing to its
being overheated at the bottom of the pan. Upon being cooled to 25 deg. C. a
quantity of chloride of magnesium crystallises out, whilst the remaining
liquor contains from 0.3 to 0.5 of bromine as bromide of magnesium. The
liquor is then put into a sandstone apparatus such as is used for the
preparation of chlorine, and the requisite quantity of manganese and
hydrochloric acid being added, steam is poured into the apparatus. After
about a quarter of an hour the bromine is evolved in the form of vapour,
which becomes condensed by being made to pass through a leaden worm cooled
in water, and is finally collected as liquid bromine in Woolff's bottles.

The crude bromine so obtained is purified by redistillation in glass
retorts. It is stated that the sandstone apparatus can be charged six
times in 24 hours. In order to free the bromine from the presence of any
chloride it is shaken up with a solution of bromide of potassium.

The chlorine unites with the potassium, forming chloride of potassium and
liberating an equivalent quantity of bromine in so doing. Dr Frank
suggests the use of earthenware worms in preference to leaden ones, these
latter being acted upon and corroded by liquid bromine. In Dr Frank's
bromine works at Stassfurt the distillation is conducted in cubic
stoneware vessels, having a capacity of about three cubic metres. These
vessels are surrounded with belts of iron, in case of the occurrence of
fracture. It was found that few stones answered the purpose required of
them, as by reason of their porous nature they permitted the chloride of
manganese formed during the distillation to ooze through. To remedy this
the stones had to be coated with tar, a process which entailed a very
serious loss of bromine, from the formation of bromine compounds with the
hydrocarbons of the tar, as well as a contamination of the bromine with
the tar. Subsequently Dr Frank found in the neighbourhood of Porta
Westphalia a stone which answered the purpose without requiring the
previous objectionable and expensive preparation with tar.

It seems that the workmen discard the respirators which are provided for
their use in the bromine works, and merely tie a cloth over the mouth and
nose (sometimes neglecting this precaution) when decanting the bromine.

To lessen the evil effects of the vapours upon the health of the workmen
under these circumstances, the building is rendered as airy as possible by
being thoroughly ventilated throughout. No workmen afflicted with asthma
or with any catarrhal affection are employed, whilst those engaged are
strictly prohibited from taking spirituous liquids in any form, a custom
which begets an irritability of the mucous membranes, which is found to be
exceedingly dangerous; on the contrary, a generous diet, and one
consisting of an abundant use of bacon and butter, was found very
beneficial.

Bromine is sometimes contaminated with chlorine, iodine, and occasionally
bromide of carbon. A small quantity of the bromine agitated with a
solution of soda, in such proportion that the fluid is made very slightly
alkaline, forms a colourless solution, which, if  by the further
addition of a small quantity of the bromine, does not become blue on the
subsequent addition of a cold solution of starch. This shows the absence
of iodine. Chlorine may be detected by adding a small quantity of the
suspected bromine to some warm solution of potash in a capsule,
evaporating, drying the residue, and distilling with bichromate of potash
and sulphuric acid. Bromide of carbon has a higher boiling-point than pure
bromine.

_Prop., &c._ A dark, reddish-, volatile liquid, having an odour
intermediate between that of chlorine and iodine, but much more
suffocating and offensive. It solidifies at about 19 deg., and boils at about
145 deg. Fahr. It is slightly soluble in water, more so in alcohol, and
abundantly so in ether. Its aqueous solution bleaches like chlorine, but
less powerfully. With hydrogen it forms HYDROBRO'MIC ACID; and with the
bases, compounds called BRO'MIDES. Its sp. gr. is 2.976; that of its
vapour, 5.39.

_Tests._ It is readily recognised by its colour, odour, and volatility,
and by the colour of its vapour; by its giving a yellowish-white
precipitate with nitrate of silver, which is turned violet by the action
of light; and by its solutions giving an orange or yellow colour to
starch, and a red tinge to solution of chloride of gold.

_Uses, &c._ Bromine possesses very similar medicinal properties to iodine,
and has been administered in goitre, scrofula, &c., in the form of an
aqueous solution composed of 1 part of bromine to 40 of water, of which 5
or 6 drops is the dose; but it is more usually given under the form of
bromide of potassium (which _see_). The compounds of bromine are also
largely used in photography in the manufacture of certain coal-tar
colours, and in scientific chemistry the solution has also been used as a
lotion. Bromine is a good disinfectant. It is very poisonous; the
antidotes, &c., resemble those for iodine. See BROMIDE, SOLUTIONS, &c.

=BROMOCHLORALUM= (Tilden & Co., New York), for the removal of bad smells,
as a disinfectant, and antiseptic. A fluid, sp. gr. 1.43, containing 27.5
per cent. of solid matter. The latter consists of 18.5 per cent. of
aluminium chloride, with chalk and a considerable quantity of alkaline
salts. Free bromine is not present. (H. En{?}demann.)

=BROMOFORM= (CHBr_{3}). A colourless liquid obtained by distilling bromide
of calcium with alcohol. It has a sp. gr. of 2.90; and boils at 305.6 deg. F.,
emitting a vapour having a density 8.632. It is somewhat similar in
properties to chloroform, but much more irritating; hence it has been
rarely employed medicinally.

=BROMTHEE--BRAMBLE TEA= (?)--is a mixture of 5 parts lime flowers _cum
bracteis_, 5 parts senna leaves, 5 parts acacia flowers, 8 parts cort.
frangulae, and 2 parts sassafras chips. (Hager.)

=BROHCHI'TIS= (br[)o]ng-k[=i]'). [L.; prim. Gr.] In _pathology_,
inflammation of the mucous lining of the bronchia or smaller ramifications
of the windpipe. In its milder form it is popularly called a 'cold on the
chest.'

_Symp._ The usual symptoms are hoarseness, dry cough, and a slight degree
of fever, followed by expectoration of mucus, at first thin, and
afterwards thick and copious. In the severer forms there is more fever,
cough, and oppression at the chest, &c.

_Treatm._ It generally yields to small and repeated doses of ipecacuanha
and antimonial diaphoretics; a light diet and mild purgatives being at the
same time adopted, but in every case it is safer to have recourse to
medical aid.

HORSES.--Finlay Dun prescribes the following:--Tincture of aconite,
inhalation of the vapour of water, ether and belladonna, carbolic acid,
sulphurous acid, mash diet, salines, chlorate of potash, the salts of
ammonia, chloral hydrate, mustard externally, warm clothing, but cool air.
Symptoms very similar to those of bronchitis are frequently caused in
calves and young cattle by the presence in the bronchii of threadworms or
filaria. The cause is generally removed by the administration of a dose or
two of oil of turpentine, given at intervals of a day or two.

=BRON'CHOCELE= (br[)o]ng'-ko-s[=e]le). See GOITRE.

=BRONZE.= [Eng., Fr., Ger.] _Syn._ AES, L.; BRONZO, It. An alloy of tin and
copper, remarkable for the exactness of the impressions which it takes by
moulding and stamping, as well as for its great durability. It has hence
been always extensively employed in the casting of buts, medals, statues,
&c. In ancient times, when the manufacture of steel was ill-understood,
cutting instruments were commonly made of it. It was also the general
material of coins of small value; a use which, of late years, has been
revived in several of the states of Europe, and still more recently in the
coinage of these realms. Bell-metal, gun-metal, and speculum-metal are
mere varieties of bronze.

_Prep._ On the small scale this alloy is prepared in crucibles; but for
statues and larger works on reverberatory hearths. The fusion of the mixed
metals is conducted as rapidly as possible under pounded charcoal, and the
melted mass is frequently stirred together to produce a perfect mixture
before casting.

The proportions of the materials so vary in different castings that it is
almost impossible to say precisely what quantities are the best. The
following are given as examples:--

_a._ For EDGE-TOOLS:--Copper, 100 parts; tin, 14 parts. When skilfully
hardened and tempered this alloy is capable of receiving an edge nearly
equal to that of steel.

_b._ For GILDING:--1. Copper, 82 parts; zinc, 18 parts; tin, 3 parts;
lead, 2 parts.

2. From copper, 83 parts; zinc, 17 parts; tin, 2 parts; lead, 1 part.

_c._ For MEDALS:--1. Copper, 89 parts; tin, 8 parts; zinc, 3 parts. This
alloy assumes a beautiful antique appearance by age, and takes a sharp
impression by stamping.

2. (M. Chaudet.) Copper, 95 parts; tin, 4 or 5 parts. This is also
excellent for any small castings.

_d._ For MORTARS:--Copper, 93 parts; lead, 5 parts; tin, 2 parts.

_e._ For STATUARY:--1. Copper, 88 parts; tin, 9 parts; zinc, 2 parts;
lead, 1 part.

2. Copper, 82-1/2 parts; zinc, 10-1/2 parts; tin, 5 parts; lead, 2 parts.
These are very nearly the proportions of the celebrated statue of Louis
XV.

3. Copper, 90 parts; tin, 9 parts; lead, 1 part.

4. Copper, 91 parts; tin, 9 parts.

For a gold varnish for bronze objects refer to BRASS.

_Obs._ Several analyses have been made of ancient cutting instruments,
from which it appears that the proportion of tin varies from 4% to 15%; a
fact which tends to prove that more depends upon the exact mode of
tempering the alloy than on the relative proportions of the ingredients.
Lead and zinc are inadmissible in bronze for this purpose. One or two per
cent. of iron may, nevertheless, be added with advantage. The ancient
bronze used for springs contained only 3% to 4% of tin. The edges and lips
of bronze mortars must be carefully tempered by heating them to a cherry
red, and then plunging them into cold water, as unless so treated they are
very apt to be broken in use. See BELL-METAL, BRASS, GUN-METAL, &c.

=Bronze'-powder.= _Syn._ BRONZE. A name given to various powders having a
rich metallic appearance, which they retain when applied on varnish, or
when mixed with it, as in surface bronzing.

_Prep._ 1. GOLD-:--_a._ From Dutch-foil, reduced to an impalpable
power by grinding. Cheap and looks well, and is very durable when
varnished.

_b._ From gold-leaf, as the last.

_c._ Precipitated powder of gold.

_d._ From verdigris, 8 oz.; tutty powder, 4 oz.; borax and nitre, of each
2 oz.; bichloride of mercury, 1/4 oz.; grind them together, make the
mixture into a paste with oil, and then fuse it; when cold, roll it into
thin sheets or leaves, and grind it as in No. 1.

2. IRON-:--Plumbago, in fine powder.

3. RED:--Sulphate of copper, 100 parts; carbonate of soda, 60 parts; mix,
and apply heat until they unite into a mass; then cool, powder, and add of
copper filings, 15 parts; again well mix, and keep the compound at a white
heat for about twenty minutes; lastly, when cold, reduce the 'residuum' to
an impalpable powder, wash it in pure water, and dry it.

4. SILVER:--Bismuth and tin, of each 1 oz.; melt them together, and add of
quicksilver, 1 to 1-1/2 oz.; when cold, powder it.

_Obs._ The above are used by painters, japanners, &c. See BISULPHIDE OF
TIN (TIN), POWDERS, &c.

=BRONZ'ING.= The process of giving a bronze-like, or an antique metal
appearance, to the surface of copper, brass, and other metals. The
following methods are recommended for this purpose:--

1. To the surface of the article, first thoroughly cleaned and polished,
evenly apply with a brush the common crocus powder ('jewellers' rouge'),
previously made into a smooth paste with water. When dry, place it in an
iron ladle, or on a common fire-shovel, and expose it over a clear fire
for about one minute; lastly, when sufficiently cold, polish it with a
plate-brush. This gives a very rich appearance, similar to that on
tea-urns; the shade depending on the duration and the degree of heat
employed.

2. As the last, but substituting finely powdered plumbago for crocus
powder. Equally beautiful, but deeper  and more permanent than
that produced by No. 1.

3. As the preceding, but employing mixtures of plumbago and crocus in
various proportions according to the shade desired.

4. A dilute solution of liver of sulphur (sulphurated potash), or of
hydrosulphate of ammonia is applied with a camel-hair pencil to the metal
previously slightly warmed; when dry, the surface is either left rough or
brushed off. If liver of sulphur has been used, it will be better to wash
it first in clean hot water; but without the slightest friction. This
gives the appearance of very antique bronze.

5. Verdigris, 2 oz.; and sal-ammoniac, 1 oz.; are dissolved in vinegar, 1
pint; and the mixture is diluted with water until it tastes only slightly
metallic, when it is boiled for a few minutes, and filtered for use.
Copper medals, &c. (thoroughly clean) are steeped in the liquor at the
boiling-point until the desired effect is produced. Care must be taken not
to keep them in it too long. When taken out they are carefully washed in
hot water, and dried. Effect as the last.

6. Verdigris and vermilion, of each 2 oz.; alum and sal-ammonia, of each 5
oz. (all in fine powder); vinegar, q. s. to form a thin paste. This is
spread over the surface of the copper, which is then uniformly warmed by
the fire, and afterwards well washed and dried. The tint may be deepened
by repeating the process. The addition of a little blue vitriol inclines
the colour to a chestnut-brown; and a little borax to a yellowish-brown.
Used by the Chinese for copper tea-urns, &c.

7. Sal-ammonia, 1 oz.; cream of tartar, 3 oz.; common salt, 3 oz.; hot
water, 1 pint; dissolve; then add of nitrate of copper, 2 oz., dissolved
in 1/2 a pint of water; mix well, and with it repeatedly moisten the
article (placed in a damp situation) by means of a soft brush. Produces a
very antique appearance.

8. Salt of sorrel, 1 oz.; sal-ammoniac, 3 oz.; distilled vinegar, 1 quart;
dissolve. As the last. Much used for bronze figures.

9. A very weak solution of bichloride of platinum, applied with a hair
pencil or by immersion. Used for binding screws, holders, and other small
articles of copper and brass.

10. Sulphate of iron and sulphate of copper, of each 1 oz.; water, 1 pint;
dissolve; wash the surface of the articles with it; let them dry; then
apply a solution of verdigris, 2 oz. dissolved in strong vinegar, 1/4
pint; when dry, polish them with a soft brush, and either some plumbago or
colcothar. Used for tin castings.

11. The articles (properly cleaned) are either immersed in, or washed
over, with a solution of sulphate of copper or of verdigris. In a short
time they acquire a coating of pure metallic copper, and are then washed.
This only answers with iron and steel goods. It is admirably suited for
iron castings.

12. An antique appearance may be given to silver by either exposing it to
the fumes of hydrosulphate of ammonia, or immersing it for a very short
time in a solution of hydrosulphate of ammonia, or in dilute nitric acid.

=Bronzing, Sur'face.= A term commonly applied to the process of imparting
a bronze-like or metallic appearance to the prominent portions of the
surfaces of figures made of paper, wood, plaster of Paris, &c. It is
effected by first giving them a coat of oil-varnish or size, and when this
is nearly dried, applying, with a 'dabber' of cotton, or a camel-hair
pencil, any of the ordinary metallic bronze-powders before referred to.
Sometimes the powder is placed in a little bag of muslin, and dusted over
the surface. The articles should be afterwards varnished.

Paper is bronzed by mixing the bronze-powders up with a little weak
gum-water, and burnishing the surface when dry and hard.

=Electrotypes, to Bronze. Green.= Steep the medal or figure in a strong
solution of common salt, or sugar, or sal-ammoniac, for a few days; wash
in water, and allow to dry slowly; or suspend it over a vessel containing
a small quantity of bleaching powder, and cover over. The length of time
it is allowed to remain will determine the depth of colour.

=Brown.= Add four or five drops of nitric acid to a wine-glassful of
water. The object is rubbed over with this gently, and allowed to dry, and
when dry subjected to a gradual and equal heat; the surface will be
darkened in proportion to the heat applied.

=Black.= Wash the surface over with a little dilute solution of
hydrosulphate of ammonia, and dry at a gentle heat.

=BROOM.= The common name of the plant _spar'tium scopa''rium_. A useful
diuretic; of great service in dropsy. See DECOCTION.

=Broom Ashes.= From broom-stalks burnt. Formerly used as a diuretic in
dropsy.

=Broom, Salt of.= Obtained by dissolving broom ashes in water, and
filtering and evaporating the solution. It consists principally of
carbonate of potassa. It was formerly used in dropsy, and as an antacid,
&c.

=BROSSE DE CORAIL.= [Fr.] The root of lucerne (_medicago sativa_),
cleaned, dried, and hammered at the end. Used as a tooth-brush.

=BROTH.= _Syn._ JUS (coctis carnibus), JUS'CULUM, L.; BOUILLON, JUS, Fr.;
FLEISCHBRUeHE, Ger. In _cookery_, the liquor in which flesh has been
boiled. Broth is distinguished from soup by its inferior strength and
quantity of seasoning, &c. It contains much of the nutriment of the meat.
We extract the following from Dr Letheby's work 'On Food':--

"A nutritious broth, containing the albumen of the meat or chicken, may be
obtained by infusing a third of a pound of minced meat or chicken in 14
oz. of _cold_ water, to which a few drops (4 or 5) of muriatic acid and a
little salt (from 10 to 18 grains) have been added. After digesting for an
hour or so, it should be strained through a sieve, and the residue washed
with five ounces of water, and pressed, The mixed liquids thus obtained
will furnish about a pint of _cold extract of meat_, containing the whole
of the soluble constituents of the meat (albumen, creatin, creatinin,
&c.), and it may be drunk cold, or slightly warmed, the temperature not
being raised above 100 deg. F., for fear of coagulating the albumen."

=Broth, Scotch.= This, which is in very general use amongst the middle and
working classes of Scotland, is made as follows:--Put into a pot three
quarts of cold water along with a cupful of Scotch barley, and let it
boil; add two pounds of neck of mutton. Allow it to stew gently for an
hour, skimming occasionally. Then add turnips cut in squares, and onions
sliced, and carrots and turnips uncut. The half of a small cabbage chopped
in moderately fine pieces may be put in instead of all these vegetables;
and leeks may be used instead of onions. Stew the whole for an hour
longer. The broth is now ready. Season with salt and serve in a tureen.
The meat is served in a separate dish, with the uncut pieces of turnip and
carrot and a little of the broth as gravy. Any meat may be employed in the
same way. Broths and soups contain the greater part of the saline matter
of the meat, the crystalline principles, viz. creatin and creatinin, some
of the albumen and fat, and an amount of gelatin, dependent upon the
duration of the boiling process. They also contain nearly all the odorous
matters of the meat. Cold water extracts from one sixth to one fourth of
the solid ingredients of meat. The presence of a large quantity of highly
nitrogenous crystalline principles in broths and soups accounts for their
restorative powers. These, which are the _creatin_ and _creatinin_, bear a
close resemblance to the thein of tea and coffee, and the _theobrominae_ of
cocoa, in their physiological effects.

Broth is contra-indicated for children at the breast, as it not
unfrequently induces sickness, disorders the bowels, and induces fever.
The same applies to beef tea. When, however, broth and beef tea are used
as clysters in such quantities that can be retained, they act most
beneficially. See BOILING, SOUP, &c.

=BROWN DYE.= Every shade of brown may be produced, almost at will, by
mixtures of reds and yellows with blues and blacks; or directly by simple
dyes. The following are examples:--

_a._ For COTTON:--

1. Give the goods a mixed mordant of acetate of alumina and acetate of
iron, followed by a bath of madder or of madder and fustic. Excess of
acetate of alumina turns it on the AMARANTH TINT; the acetate of iron
darkens it.

2. First 'gall' the goods, then turn them for a short time through the
black bath; next give them a mordant of sulphate of copper, then pass
them through a decoction of fustic, afterwards through a bath of madder,
and again through the solution of sulphate of copper; drain, dry, rinse
well, and finish with a boil in soap and water. This gives a
CHESTNUT-BROWN.

3. First give the goods a mordant of alum, then a bath of madder, and next
a bath of fustic to which a little green copperas has been added. This
gives a CINNAMON-BROWN.

_b._ For LINEN:--This varies little from that commonly employed for
cotton.

_c._ For SILK:--

1. One of the above mordants is followed by a bath made by mixing equal
parts of the decoctions of logwood, fustic, and Brazil-wood. The shade may
be varied by altering the proportions of the decoctions; Brazil-wood
reddening, logwood darkening, and fustic yellowing, the tint.

2. Annotta, 4 oz.; and pearlash, 1 lb.; are dissolved in boiling water, q.
s.; the silk is passed through it for two hours, then taken out, and
squeezed dry; it is next passed through a mordant of alum, and then
through a bath of Brazil-wood, followed by another of logwood to which a
little green copperas has been added.

_d._ For WOOL:--

1. Boil the cloth in a mixed mordant of alum, common salt, and water, then
dye it in a bath of logwood to which a little green copperas has been
added. 2 oz. of alum, and 1 oz. of salt, are required for every lb. of
wool.

2. Boil the goods in a mordant of alum and sulphate of iron, then pass
them through a bath of madder. The more copperas the darker will be the
dye. Good proportions are 2 parts of alum and 3 of copperas.

3. Give a mordant of alum and tartar, then pass the goods through a madder
bath; next run them through a bath of galls and sumach or logwood to which
a little acetate or sulphate of iron has been added.

4. Mordant the cloth as last, dye in a madder bath, remove the cloth, add
a little acetate or sulphate of iron, and again pass it through the bath
as long as necessary.

5. Give the cloth a light blue ground with indigo, and then a mordant of
alum; rinse, and lastly run it through a bath of madder.

6. A mordant of alum and tartar, followed by, first a bath of madder, and
afterwards a bath of weld or fustic to which a little iron-liquor has been
previously added. In this way every shade, from MORDORE and CINNAMON to
DARK CHESTNUT, may be produced.

7. Boil fustic-chips, 1 lb., for 2 hours; pass the cloth through the bath
for 1 hour; take it out and drain; add of green copperas, 1-1/4 oz.; good
madder, 4 oz.; boil for a short time, and again pass the cloth through the
bath, until it acquires the proper tint. BRONZE-BROWNS, and every similar
shade, may be thus given by varying the proportions.

_e._ The following are called SUB'STANTIVE or DIRECT BROWNS:--

1. Decoction of oak-bark. It dyes wool of a fast brown of various shades,
according to the quantity employed. A mordant of alum brightens it.

2. Infusion or decoction of walnut-peels. Dyes wool and silk a brown,
which is brightened by alum.

3. Horse-chestnut-peels. A mordant of chloride of tin turns it on the
BRONZE; and sugar of lead, on the REDDISH-BROWN.

4. Catechu or Terra Japonica. For cottons. Blue vitriol turns it on the
BRONZE, and green copperas darkens it, when applied as mordants. Acetate
of alumina as a mordant brightens it. The French colour, CARMELITE, is
given with 1 lb. of catechu, 4 oz. of verdigris, and 5 oz. of
sal-ammoniac.

5. Sulphate or chloride of manganese. Dissolved in water with a little
tartaric acid, it gives the bronze tint called SOLITAIRE. The stuff, after
being passed through the solution, is turned through a weak lye of potash,
and afterwards through another of chloride of lime, to heighten and fix
it.

6. Prussiate of copper. This gives a fine BRONZE or YELLOWISH-BROWN to
silk. A mordant of blue vitriol is commonly first given, followed by a
bath of prussiate of potash.

=BROWN PIG'MENTS.= The principal and most useful of these are--umber,
terra di Sienna (both burnt and raw), Spanish brown, and some of the
ochres. Brown, of almost any shade, may be made by the admixture of blacks
with reds and yellows, or with greens, in different proportions. See
BISTRE, BLACK, NEWCASTLE,[233] OCHRES, SEPIA, &c.

[Footnote 233: Under BLACK PIGMENTS.]

=Brown, Span'ish.= See OCHRES.

=BROWN PINK.= See YELLOW PIGMENTS.

=BROWN'ING.= In _cookery_, a fluid preparation used to colour and flavour
gravies, soups, &c.

_Prep._ 1. Sugar, 4 oz.; and butter, 1 oz.; are melted in a frying-pan or
ladle with about a tablespoonful of water, and the heat is continued until
the whole has turned of a deep brown; the heat is then lowered a little,
and some port wine (about 1 pint) is gradually poured in; the pan is now
removed from the fire, and the mixture well stirred until the roasted
sugar is entirely dissolved; it is then put into a bottle, and 1/2 oz.
each of bruised pimento and black pepper, 5 or 6 shalots (cut small), a
little mace and finely grated lemon peel, and 1/4 pint of mushroom catsup,
added. The bottle is shaken daily for a week, and the clear liquid, after
5 or 6 days' repose, decanted into another bottle. Rich flavoured, but
expensive.

2. As the last, but using strong beer, or water, instead of wine. A
glassful of spirit may be added after bottling it.

3. Sugar-colouring, 1 pint; salt, 1/4 lb.; mushroom-catsup, 1/2 pint;
spice, q. s. Excellent for all ordinary purposes.

4. Lump sugar (powdered), 2-1/2 lbs.; salad oil, 1/2 lb.; heat as before;
then add, of port wine, 1 quart; Cape wine, 3 quarts; shalots, 6 oz.;
mixed spice, 4 oz.; black pepper, 3 oz.; mace, 1 oz; salt, 1 lb.; lemon
juice, 1 pint; catsup, 1 quart; mix well.

5. Good spirit-colouring or sugar-colouring and mushroom catsup, of each 1
gall.; Jamaica pepper, black pepper, and shalots, of each 4 oz; cloves,
cassia, and mace, bruised, of each 3/4 oz.; boil in a covered vessel for 5
minutes; digest for 14 days, and strain.

6. Colouring, 3 pints; mushroom catsup, 1 pint; common salt, 3/4 lb.;
Chili vinegar (strongest), 1/2 pint; spice, q. s. Half a pint of British
brandy or rum may be added.

_Obs._ The above are excellent additions to gravies, soups, &c.; and of
themselves form most admirable sauces for fish, meat, and game.

=Browning= (for Gun-barrels). _Prep._ The following are current formulae:--

1. Blue vitriol, 4 oz.; tincture of chloride of iron, 2 oz.; water, 1
quart; dissolve, and add aquafortis and sweet spirit of nitre, of each 1
oz.

2. Blue vitriol and sweet spirit of nitre, of each 1 oz.; aquafortis, 1/2
oz.; water, 1 pint; as last.

3. Butter of antimony and sweet oil, equal parts; well shaken together. To
be applied to the iron previously warmed.

_Obs._ The above fluids are rubbed on the barrel (previously well polished
and cleaned off with whiting to remove the oil), and allowed to remain on
for some hours, or until the next day, when they are rubbed off with a
stiff brush. The process may be repeated, if necessary. The barrel is next
washed in water in which a little pearlash or soda has been dissolved, and
afterwards well rinsed in clean water; it is then polished, either with
the burnisher, or with a brush and beeswax. Sometimes a coat of tough
shell-lac varnish is applied.

=BRUCEA= (-sh'[)a]). False cusparia (which _see_).

=BRUCHBALSAM--RUPTURE BALSAM= (Dr Taenzer).--No. 1. Compound rosemary
cerate, nutmeg cerate, red Johannis oil, yellow wax, of each 1 part; fat,
5 parts. No. 2. Mixture of nutmeg cerate, 50 parts; tallow, butter, of
each 10 parts, melted and mixed with 25 parts strongest liquor potassae.
No. 3. Compound rosemary cerate, oil of bayberries, of each 2 parts;
nutmeg cerate, 4 parts; red Johannis oil, 6 parts; yellow wax, 3 parts;
tincture of myrrh and tincture of aloes, of each 1/2 part; tr. opii, 1/4
part, melted and heated until the spirit has evaporated. (Hager.)

=BRUCHPFLASTER--RUPTURE PLASTER= (Kruesi Altherr). A spread plaster, the
mass consisting of 5 parts Bergundy pitch and 2 parts turpentine. (Walz
and Hager.)

=Bruchpflaster--Rupture Plaster= (Caspar Menet). Machine-made paper
covered with thin gauze, and thinly spread with a mass of 9 parts wax, 3
parts turpentine, and 1 part elemi. (Hager.)

=BRUCHSALBE--RUPTURE CERATE= (Gottlieb Sturzenegger, Herisau, Canton
Appenzell). A mixture of 50 parts fat and 1 part oil of bayberries.
(Hager.)

=BRUCHE=, ruptures cured without medicine, operation, or pain, by Lavedan,
chemist. A pelotte containing in it zinc and copper plate on which a
solution of the "poudre electrochimique" (common salt) is dropped.
(Hager.)

=BRU'CIA.= C_{23}H_{26}N_{2}O_{4}. Aq. [Eng., Fr.] _Syn._ BRU'CINE;
BRU'CINA, L. An alkaloid discovered by Pelletier and Caventou, in the bark
of _bru'cia antidysenter'ica_, and afterwards associated with strychnia,
in _nux vomica_.

_Prep._ Ground nux vomica, or the bark of brucia antidysenterica, is
boiled in dilute sulphuric acid, and the resulting decoction mixed with
hydrate of lime (in excess); the crude precipitate thus obtained is boiled
in alcohol (sp. gr. .850), and the tincture filtered whilst hot. A mixture
of crude strychnia and brucia is deposited as the fluid cools, and the
remainder is obtained by evaporation. This is powdered and digested in
cold alcohol, which dissolves out the brucia; the solution furnishes
crystals on spontaneous evaporation. It may be further purified by
recrystallisation from alcohol.

_Prop._ Soluble in 850 parts of cold, and about 500 parts of hot water;
freely soluble in alcohol; added to the dilute acids until they are
neutralised, it forms crystallisable salts, easily obtained by
evaporation.

_Tests._ It is distinguished from strychnia, which in many respects it
resembles, by its ready solubility in both dilute and absolute alcohol,
and its insolubility in ether. With nitric acid it strikes a fine red
colour, which is removed by sulphuretted hydrogen and sulphurous acid.
Iodic acid, chloric acid, and chlorine, also turn it red.

Professor Sonnenschein has succeeded in converting brucia into
strychnia. He says--"Brucia C_{23}H_{26}N_{2}O_{4} and Strychnia
C_{21}H_{22}N_{2}O_{2} differ apparently considerably in their
composition; but the former may easily be converted into the latter.
Referring to the formulae it will be seen that strychnia is produced by
combining brucia with 4O, and eliminating 2H_{2}O_{1} and 2CO_{2}. This is
effected as follows:--Brucia is moderately heated with 4 to 5 times its
weight of diluted nitric acid, when a red colouration will be produced and
gases evolved, which cause in a mixture of barium chloride and ammonia a
white precipitate of carbonate of barium.

The red solution is concentrated in a water-bath, super-saturated with
potassa, and agitated with ether, which, on spontaneous evaporation,
leaves a reddish mass, containing a red colouring matter, a yellowish
resin, and an alkaloid which is obtained pure by dissolving in an acid and
crystallising. This base has the intensity, bitter taste, and other
properties of strychnia, gives the characteristic reactions with potassium
chromate, cerium oxide, and sulphuric acid, and yields with chlorine the
sparingly soluble compound. The muriate crystallises in fine silky
needles, from which 9.20 per cent. of chlorine was obtained.

The conversion of brucia into strychnia is not only highly interesting,
but it is likewise of great importance in forensic analysis, proving again
that in such cases the employment of oxidising agents is admissible only
with great caution. A student who had received for analysis a mixture
containing, among other substances, brucia and nitrate of lead, employed
the process of Stas and Otto for the separation of the alkaloids, and
found strychnia instead of brucia which had been oxidised by the liberated
nitric acid.

"If strychnia is heated with a strong base like potassa, soda, or baryta,
for some time, in a sealed glass tube placed in a water-bath, a body is
obtained which no longer shows the reactions of strychnia, but resembles
brucia in its reactions. The experiments on this decomposition, which is
likewise of importance in forensic analysis, are not yet concluded."

=BRUISE= (br[=o][=o]ze). _Syn._ CONTU'SIO, CONTU'SUM, L.; CONTUSION,
MEURTRISSURE, Fr.; BRAUSCHE, QUETSCHUNG, &c., Ger. A contusion; but in
popular language applied chiefly to cases in which there is an
extravasation of blood owing to the rupture of the minute vessels, with
consequent discoloration or tumefaction of the part.

_Treatment._--In common cases, sufficiently serious, bruises may be rubbed
with a little opodeldoc or soap-liniment; or, if the inflammation be
considerable, they may be bathed with a little weak goulard water, or with
vinegar and water. In more severe cases leeches may be applied. See
CONTUSION.

_Treatment for Animals._--The same as for man.

=BRUNS'WICK BLACK.= See VARNISHES.

=BRUNS'WICK GREEN.= See GREEN PIGMENTS.

=BRUSHES.= Brushes may be best washed in a moderately cold weak solution
of borax. They should afterwards be rinsed in cold water and dried.

=BRUSTBONBONS--PECTORAL BONBONS= (Fr., Stollwerck, Cologne). Carageen, 3
parts; Iceland moss, 2 parts; red poppy petals, 1-1/2 parts; coltsfoot, 1
part; liquorice, 2 parts; marshmallow root, 2 parts; daisy (_Bellis
perennis_), 1-1/2 parts; Souchong tea, 1 part; boiled with 24 parts of
water till reduced to half, and the fluid afterwards mixed with refined
sugar.

=BRUSTGELEE--PECTORAL JELLY= (Daubitz, Berlin). A yellowish-brown nearly
clear jelly, with a sweet, weak anise, followed by a somewhat bitter
taste, made of gelatin, 12 grammes; sugar, 60 grammes; and a herbal
infusion, 120 grammes; the latter made from anise, star-anise, Iceland
moss, &c.

=BRUSTPULVER--PECTORAL POWDER= (Beliol, Paris). For chronic pains in the
chest. A mixture of 75 parts milk-sugar, 20 parts gum arabic, 5 parts
Rochelle salt. (Mayer).

=BRUSTSAFT PRAPARIRTER--PREPARED PECTORAL JUICE= (Rudolph Buettner,
Berlin). For coughs, hoarseness, tightness of the
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaBook