Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I (part 3 of 10)

Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume I (part 3 of 10)

=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 coloured 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 coloured.

=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 ALUMINÆ ET SODÆ, 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 suprà et infrà.)

=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′ŭmd). Mixed or impregnated with alum. In dyeing, mordanted with alum.

=ALU′MEN= (-l′ōō-). [L.] Alum; the pharmacopœial 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. Wöhler, 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° to 600° 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-à-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° Baumé), 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 diarrhœa; and, mixed with syrup of poppies, in slight cases of hæmoptysis (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 gonorrhœa, leucorrhœa, &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′MINÆ 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 formulæ 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° 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° to 180° 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° and 80°, contains above 58% of water; dried at 212° 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, diarrhœa, 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 diarrhœa 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′MINÆ 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 œsophagus, 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′MINÆ TANN′AS, L. Prep. Take of pure hydrate of aluminum (dried at 90° Fahr.), 1 part; tannic acid (dried at 212°), 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° 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 diarrhœa, in dysentery, and particularly in hæmoptysis, hæmorrhage, &c.——Dose, 3 to 12 or 15 gr.

=Aluminium Bronze.= See BRONZE ALUMINIUM.

=AL′VINE= (-vĭn). 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= (-ăh-dōō). Syn. GERMAN TINDER, TOUCH′WOOD, PYROTECH′NIC SPONGE, SPUNK‡§, SURGEON’S AG′ARIC, A. OF THE OAK, &c.; AGAR′ICUS QUER′CÛS, A. QUER′NUS, A. CHIRURGO′′RUM, FUN′GUS QUER′CÛS, &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 Baumé.) 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.; AMALGAMÉ, 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= (-dēne). 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 coloured, 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†, LA′PIS LYN′CIS†, 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 Königsberg 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° 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. Haüy):——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 10£ to 15£. 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=* (ăs′-). 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= (-tĭsh′-). 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=†. See LIQUID-AMBAR.

=Amber, Oil of.= See OILS.

=Amber, Re′sin of.= See PYRÉTINE.

=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 PYRÉTINE (Crystalline).

=AM′BER DRINK=†. Amber-coloured 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= (-grĭs; grēse‡). Syn. GREY AMBER*; AMBRAGRI′′SEA (grĭzh′-e-ă), L.; AMBREGRIS, Fr.; AMBRA, AMBAR, Ger. An odorous, solid substance, found floating on the sea in tropical climates, and in the cæcum 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 fæces of the animal, perhaps (as suggested by Brande and Pereira) somewhat altered by disease. “Some of the semifluid fæces, 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-coloured, 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° to 150° Fahr. into a yellowish resin-like mass; at 212° 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-ĭn). 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°; volatilises at 212° to 220° Fahr.; nitric acid converts it into AMBREIC ACID. It closely resembles cholesterine.——Prod. 85%.

=AMBRETTE′= (-brĕt′). [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. (Schädler.)

=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 coloured with cochineal. The first was a spirituous solution of an ethereal oil with some oil of cloves, coloured 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, hæmorrhoids, 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= (-thĭst). Syn. PURPLE ROCK-CRYSTAL; AMÉTHYSTE, 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 (ĭn), &c.

=Amethyst, Orient′al.= A rich violet-blue variety of transparent, crystallised corundum.

=AM′IANTH= (-e-ănth). 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-dĭn). [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° 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° 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.

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° Fahr., it forms a transparent, colourless liquid of the sp. gr. 0·731; at 60° Fahr. this liquid expanded into 1009 times its volume of ammoniacal gas; at -40° Fahr., and the ordinary atmospheric pressure, it forms a subtle colourless liquid, which at -103° 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° 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°, and freezes at -40° 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. Böttger 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 AMMONIÆ, 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.

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.

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 ammoniæ 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.

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° to 100°, 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° 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 ------------+------------+----------------+------------

⁂ Strengths corresponding to sp. gr. which are not in the above Tables may be found by the ‘method of differences’ explained under ALCOHOLOMETRY.

⁂ 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. AMMONIÆ 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° 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. ----------+------------+----------+------------+----------+------------

⁂ 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° 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′′NIÆ ACE′TAS, L.; ACETATE D’AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; ESSIGSÄURES 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. AMMONIÆ 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. AMMONIÆ 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 AMMONIÆ 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 coloured 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, AMMONIÆ 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° Fahr., 3·3 parts at 62°, 2·5 parts at 96°, and 2 parts at 120°; 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, hæmorrhage, 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° Fahr., and need not exceed 150° to 155°. These pots are arranged in sets, as shown at D in the engraving.

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.

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.

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° and 9° Baumé (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 amenorrhœa. In rather large doses, frequently repeated, it is said to prove often highly beneficial in chronic enlargement and induration of the prostate gland (M. René 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 (suprà); 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.; AMMONIÆ HYDROCHLO′′RAS PU′′RA, SAL AMMONI′ACUS DEPURA′TUS†, 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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° Fahr.; and the heat being carefully raised to about 250°, 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° Fahr., the salt is obtained in beautiful hexagonal prisms; when at 212°, 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°, and is decomposed into nitrous gas and water at 460° 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ SUL′PHAS, L,; SULFATE D’AMMONIAQUE, Fr.; SCHWEFELSAUER AMMONIUM SALZ, Ger.; Glauber’s SECRET SALT†, G. SECRET SAL AMMONIAC†, SAL AMMONI′ACUM SECRE′TUM GLAUBE′′RI†, &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° Fahr.; and is volatilised, with entire decomposition, at about 535°. 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 fœtid 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′′NIÆ 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, fœtid 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. AMMONIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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′′NIÆ 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° 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†; 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 assafœtida 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 PRÆPARA′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= (fĭb′-y′ă). [L. pl.; prim. Gr.] Syn. AMPHIB′IANS (-yănz), AMPHIB′IALS (-y′ălz). 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′ŭs). 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; AMYGDALOÏ′DES (-dēz), L.; AMYGDALOÏDE, 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. (Nyström.)

=AMYLA′CEOUS= (ăm-e-lā′-sh′ŭs). Syn. AMYLA′CEUS, L.; AMYLACÉ, Fr. Of or like starch; consisting of or abounding in starch; starchy. See FOOD, NUTRITION, STARCH, &c.

=AM′YL= (-ĭl). 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° 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° 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° 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°-99° C.

=AM′YLENE= (-e-lēne). 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° 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 anæsthesia, 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.)

=ANÆMIA.= Deficiency of blood.

=ANÆSTHE′SIA= (ăn-ēz-the′-zh′ă; -sh′ă; -thēze′y′ăr). [L.; prim. Gr.] Syn. ANESTHÉSIE, Fr. In pathology, diminished or lost sense of feeling.

In surgery and obstetrics, the production of temporary anæsthesia, for the purpose of rendering operations painless, relieving the pangs of childbirth, &c., is effected by the use of——

=ANÆSTHET′ICS.= Syn. ANÆSTHET′ICA, L.; ANESTHÉTIQUES, 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 anæsthetic. 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 anæsthetic both in England and France, but towards the end of that year the anæsthetic 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 anæsthetic, 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 anæsthetic 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 anæsthetics 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 anæsthetic 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 anæsthetic, 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 anæsthetics is a form of intoxication, caused by the action of the anæsthetic 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 anæsthesia; 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 anæsthetic 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 anæsthetics 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 anæsthesia, 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 anæsthesia 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 anæsthetics, 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 anæsthetic. Attention was directed to its anæsthetic 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 anæsthetic in dental surgery, and shortly afterwards it was first employed to produce anæsthesia 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, anæsthesia without exhilaration. The time required to produce anæsthesia 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 hæmoglobin 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 anæsthetic 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 anæsthetic 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 anæmia. 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 anæsthesia, is simply, so far as it may exist, a result of it.

The anæsthesia 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 anæsthetics. 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 anæsthetics.

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-sĭs). [Eng. L., Gr.] Syn. ANALYSE, Fr.; AUSLÖSUNG, 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 coloured 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-coloured 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 coloured 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 coloured ray of which the beam is made up being differently refracted.

“If, however, instead of the white flame coloured 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 coloured 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 α, and violet line K β. In the case of sodium nearly the whole of the light is concentrated on the intense yellow double line Na α. In the lithium spectrum a crimson band, Li α, is the prominent line; Li β is seldom visible, but at the elevated temperature of the voltaic arc an additional blue line becomes very intense. In the spectrum of cæsium two lines in the blue, Cs α and Cs β, are strongly marked. In rubidium the lines Rb α and Rb β in the blue, and Rb γ in the red are almost equally specific. Thallium is recognised by the intense green line Il α. 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 cæsium, 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, cæsium 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.

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.

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 coloured 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 nebulæ 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 nebulæ 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 coloured 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= (-chō′-). 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= (-kū′zĭk). See ANCHUSINE.

=ANCHU′SINE.= (-kū′zĭn). [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= (ăngk-e-). [L.; prim. Gr.] Syn. ANKYLO′SIS, ANCYLO′SIS (ăn-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. KARIYÁT. 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 Kariyát= (Infusum Andrographis compositum). Take of Kariyát, 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 Kariyát= (Tinctura Andrographis composita). Take of kariyát 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= (ăn-e-). Non-electric; a non-electric.

=ANEMOM′ETER= (ăn-e-). Syn. ANEMOM′ETRUM, L.; ANÉMOMÈTRE, 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:——

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.; ANÉMOMETRIE, 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= (ă-nĕm′-o-ne). Syn. ANEM′ONY; ANEM′ONE, L., Gr.; ANÉMONE, Fr. The wind-flower. In botany, a genus of beautiful flowering herbaceous plants, of the nat. ord. Ranunculaceæ. 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-nēz). Syn. AN′IMAL-FLOWERS‡, SEA SUN′FLOWERS‡. 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° 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= (ăn′-e——Brande, Mayne). Syn. ANEMOSCO′PIUM, L.; ANÉMOSCOPE, 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——α, without, νηρος, (the) watery, ειδος, form, as correctly given by Brande. By some strange mistake, Dr Mayne, in his new ‘Expository Lexicon,’ gives “α, priv., αηρ, 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= (-jĕl′-). [L., Port., Sp.; Ph. E. & D.] Syn. GARDEN ANGELICA; ANGÉLIQUE, Fr.; ANGELIKA, A.-WURZEL, ANGELKRAUT, Ger. The angelica archangel′ica of Linnæus, 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 diarrhœa, 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 paletôts 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.= (-tūre′-ă). See CUSPARIA.

=Angostura, False.= See BRUCEA, CUSPARIA and STRYCHNOS.

=ANGOSTU′′RINE=, =Angustu′rine= (-ĭn). 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= (-drŭs; an′hydrous, as marked by Brande, is less usual). Syn. AN′HYDRUS, L.; ANHYDRÉ, 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° 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. Béchamps.) 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 Béchamp’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° 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.”

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 Béchamp. 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° to 360° 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 Béchamp’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° C. (9° 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° | 8-1/2 7 2-1/2 5-1/2 7 ... 7 5-1/2 ... 180°——185° | 54 50 29-1/2 22 5-1/2 7 4-1/2 2-1/2 2 185°——190° | 34 34 56-1/2 55-1/2 55-1/2 37 7-1/2 4-1/2 1-1/2 190°——195° | ... 5 7-1/2 8-1/2 15 33 42 17 8 195°——200° | ... ... ... ... 9 ... 19 36 18 200°——205° | ... ... ... ... 4-1/2 16 10 16 39 205°——210° | ... ... ... ... ... ... 3-1/2 8 19 210°——215° | ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 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= (-kūle). [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: Animalculæ 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= (ăn′-ĭm-e). [Eng., L., Sp.] Syn. GUM-AN′IME, A.-RES′IN; ANIMÉ, Fr.; ANIMEHARZ, KOURBARILLHARZ, Ger.; COURBARIL, JUTAIBA, Nat. A pale brownish-yellow, transparent, brittle resin, which exudes from the hymenæa courbaril (Linn.) or locust-tree, the h. martiana, and other species of hymenæa 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′ŭn——Br., We.; ă-nī′-ŭn——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.; ANISÉ, Fr. In pharmacy, the art of the liqueuriste, confectioner, &c., applied to articles or preparations impregnated or flavoured with aniseed.

=AN′ISE= (-ĭs). Syn. ANI′SUM, PIMPINEL′LA A. (Linn.), A. OFFICINA′LE, L.; ANIS, Fr.; ANIS, GEMEINER ANIS, Ger. An annual plant of the nat. ord. Umbelliferæ (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 pharmacopœias. 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′= (ăn-ĭz-ĕt′). [Fr.] Aniseed cordial. See LIQUEURS.

=ANISOCHILUS CARNOSUM.= Nat. order LABIATÆ. 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 Labiatæ. 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†§; 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 hæmatite, 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′NÆ, 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= (-dīne). Syn. ANO′DYNUS (-dĭnŭs-), L.; ANODIN, Fr.; SCHMERZSTILLEND, Ger. That allays pain; soothing; atalgic.

=Anodynes.= Syn. ANO′DYNA (sing., ano′dy̆̆num), L.; Anodins, REMÈDES 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= (-īle). Syn. ANO′DYNUM INFAN′TILE (-tĭl-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= (Müller, 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= (-dĭn′-y′ă). Freedom from pain; anæsthesia.

=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= (-băl-y′ō′-nā). 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= (ănt). Syn. EMM′ET, PIS′MIRE*‡ (pĭz′-); FORMI′CA, L.; FOURMI, Fr.; AMEISE, Ger.; ÆMET, Sax. This well-known little insect belongs to the family formic′′idæ, 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 MAGNANIMITÉ, once greatly esteemed as an aphrodisiac. See FORMICA, FORMIC ACID, FORMYLE, &c.

=ANTAC′ID= (-tăs′-ĭd). Syn. ANTAC′IDUS, L.; ANTACIDE, &c., Fr.; SÄURETILGEND, &c., Ger. An agent which neutralises acids or removes acidity. (See below.)

=ANTAC′IDS= (-tăs′-ĭdz). 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 diarrhœa.

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 diarrhœa, 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 formulæ containing them, under DRAUGHTS, LOZENGES, MIXTURES, &c.

=ANTAL′GICS= (-tăl′-). Syn. ANTAL′GICA, L. Medicines which relieve pain; anodynes.

=ANTAL′KALINES= (ănt-ăl′-kă-lĭnz). 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. Müller, 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= (-thĕl-). See VERMIFUGES and WORMS.

=AN′THIARINE= (-ĭn). See ANTHIRINE.

=ANTHOK′YAN=. Syn. SUCC′US VI′OLÆ 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° 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-nĭz). 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; coloured 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°, or subjects the mass heated to 30°-40° 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° 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° and 195° 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° 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= (sīte). [Eng., Fr.] Syn. ANTHRAC′OLITE, GLANCE′-COAL, STONE′-COAL‡, 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 Isère, 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 ” |Côte-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° 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° | 6·66 | 7·74 | 10·00 | 44·27 | ... |Pressure 17 lbs. coal | | | | | | | | | per square in. Scotch coal, | 108 | 5 | 170° | 6·62 | 6·89 | 13·25 | 33·33 | ... |Ditto. different variety | | | | | | | | | from preceding | | | | | | | | | ANTHRACITE | 47·94 | 8-1/2 | 45° | 8·73 | 10·10 | 5·88 | 75·09 | ... |Ditto. Scotch coal, from | 8·24 | 8-1/2 | 50° | 5·38 | 6·90 | 5·31 | 436·89 | 3·15 |Lower pressure, near Edinburgh | | | | | | | | | open copper | | | | | | | | | boiler. English bituminous | 6·07 | 8·4 | 50° | 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.; ANTHRACOMÈTRE, Fr.; KOHLENSÄUREMESSER, 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= (-thĭp-). Syn. ANTIHYPNOT′ICS (-hĭp-), &c. See AGRIPNOTICS.

=AN′TI-.= [Gr., αντι, 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= (-ĭn; -ti′——Brande). [Eng., Fr.] Syn. AN′THIARINE, Eng., Fr.; ANTIARI′NA, ANTHIARI′NA, ANTIA′′RIA, UPA′SIA (-zh′ă), 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= (-trĭsh′-) [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° to 100° 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° or 70° 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= (-yŭs). 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= (-klōre). 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= (-dōte). [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 formulæ:——

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 formulæ 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= (-mōne′y-′ăl).[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.; ANTIMONSÄURE, 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-mŭn-e). Syn. METAL′LIC ANTIMONY*, REG′ULUS OF A.†; ANTIMO′′NIUM, A. METAL′LICUM, STIB′IUM, METAL′LUM ANTIMO′′NII†, A. REG′ULUS†, &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.]

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 formulæ 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. (Wöhler.) 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 scoriæ 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° 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 (Thénard); 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.]

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° Fahr. still retains traces of water, which is not wholly expelled until the heat reaches 390-392°, 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= (klōre′-īdz):——

=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†, &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-coloured. 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°, 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. Prod., 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 coloured 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 formulæ.

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 coloured), 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 scoriæ) 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†, DIAPHORETIC MIN′ERAL†, &c.; ANTIMO′′NIUM DIAPHORET′ICUM, A. CALCINA′TUM, CALX ANTIMO′′NII, C. A. ANGLO′′RUM†, POTAS′SÆ ANTIMO′′NIAS, KALI STIB′ICUM†, &c., L. var.; ANTIMOINE DIAPHORÉTIQUE, 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 DIAPHORÉTIQUE LAVÉ, &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° 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 pharmacopœial preparations.

=Antimony, E′thiops of.= Syn. Æ′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).= [-ĭn.] Syn. WHITE OX′IDE OF ANTIMONY, SNOW OF A.†; ANTIMO′′NII FLO′′RES ARGENTI′NI, A. NIX†, 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 SILICATÉ, 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.; HÉPAR D’ANTIMOINE, OXYSULFURE D’ANTIMOINE SILICATÉ, 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°.

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 (-dĭs′-) 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 scoriæ. 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° 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.

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-coloured 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 striæ, 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 primæ viæ, 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 Pharmacopœia,’ 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°, and the solution gives with sulphuretted hydrogen an orange precipitate which, when washed and dried at 212°, 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-jĭs′-). 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. (Schädler.)

=ANTISCORBU′TIC= (-skor-bū′-). 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, FÄULNISSWIDRIG, 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= (-spăz-). 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, assafœtida, 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 coloured with rosaniline. (Hager.)

=ANTISUDIN=, a remedy for sweaty feet (Mandowski, Annaberg). Powdered alum. (Hager.)

=ANTS= (ănts). 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= (-tīte). 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= (ă-pēre′-ĕ-ĕnt; -pĕr′-, as marked by Mayne and Smart, though etym. correct, is less usual). Syn. APER′ITIVE (-tĭv); APER′IENS, L.; APÉRITIF, Fr.; ABFÜHREND, ÖFFNEND, 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-ōle; or -ŏl). 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 coloured 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′′riæ. (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 Linnæan 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., COMPOSITÆ. 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= (-pŏs′-e-nĭn). Syn. APOCYNI′NA, L. A bitter, crystallisable substance, found in apŏ′′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° and 150° 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= (-plĕks-e). Syn. APOPLEX′IA, APOPLEX′IS, L. (from απο-πλησσω, 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= (-dĭn). 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=† (-tēme or -tĕm). Syn. AP′OSTEM†; APOSTE′MA†, 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, GERÄTHSCHAFT, 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.; APÉTIT, 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 primæ viæ. 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= (ăp′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. Rosaceæ. 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=‡. The tomato.

=Mad′-apple=‡. 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†; ARMENI′ACUM MA′LUM, PRÆCO′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 præcox 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, Briançon′.= The fruit of armeniaca brigantiaca (Pers.). Acidulous; seeds or kernels, by expression, yield HUILE DE MARMOTE.

=A′QUA= (-kwă). [L.] Water.——AQUA DESTILLA′TA or A. DISTILLA′TA, is distilled water; A. FLUVIA′LIS or A. EX FLU′MINE (-ĭn-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 Græ′ca, A. Orienta′lis.= See HAIR-DYES.

=Aqua Mari′na.= [L.] The beryl†.

=Aqua Mirab′ilis=†. [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′tæ=†. [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 Vitæ Aromatico-Amara.= (F. Bolle, formerly J. B. Claude, Berlin). Galangal ginger, āā, 2 parts; orange berries, European centaury, gentian, cinnamon, angelica, āā, 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 aërated, 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 confervæ, 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.; Wässerig, Wässerhaltig, Ger. Watery; made with, containing, or resembling water. In chemistry and pharmacy, applied to solutions, extracts, &c., prepared with water.

=AR′ABESQUE= (-bĕsk). [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= (-bĭn). 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= (ăbl). Syn. ARAB′ILIS, L.; ARABILE, LABOURABLE, Fr.; PFLÜGBAR, Ger. In agriculture, fit for or under tillage or aëration; 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 HYPOGÆA.= 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 Pharmacopœia.

“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 £6 to £8 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 Linnæus’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′borātor†, 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′TÆ, elixir vitæ; &c.

=ARCHE′US= (-kē′-ŭs; ăr′*——Mayne). [L.] Syn. ARCHÆ′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 archæus’ or intelligent vital principle. According to others, the powers of ‘Archæus’ 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 ARCHÆ′AL, hidden, operative.

=ARCH′IL= (artsh′-ĭl). 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= (ăr; āre——Eng.). [Fr.] See MEASURES.

=ARE′CA.= [L.] In botany a genus of East Indian trees, of the nat. ord. Palmæ (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= (ăr-e-). Syn. ARENA′CEUS, L.; ARÉNACÉ, SABLONNEUX, Fr.; SANDIG, SANDARTIG, Ger. In agriculture, mineralogy, &c., sandy; resembling sand; friable.

=ARENA′′RIOUS= (-nare′-). Syn. ARENA′′RIUS, L.; ARÉNAIRE, 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.; ARÉNATION, 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′= (ăr-e-nōse’). Syn. AR′ENOUS*; ARENO′SUS, L.; ARÉNEUX, Fr. Sandy; arenaceous (which see).

=AREOM′ETER= (ă-re- or ăr-re-; āre-e——Smart). Syn. AREOM′ETRUM, L.; ARÉOMÈTRE, 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 aréomètres of Baumé, on account of their general use by Continental chemists. The relations and equivalents of Baumé’s scales, as now adopted in France, are shown in the first two of the following Tables:——

I.——Corresponding DEGREES of BAUMÉ’S AREOMETERS and REAL SPECIFIC GRAVITIES:——

1. Areometer for liquids LIGHTER than WATER, or Pèse-esprit.[77]

-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+-------- Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |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° Cent., or 54-1/2° Fahr. Those now made in France are adjusted at 15° C., or 59° F.; and those made in England, at either 59° or (more usually) 60° Fahr. The standard temperature of the instrument must be known for its correct application.]

2. Areometer for liquids HEAVIER than WATER; Pèse-acide, or Pèse-sirop.[78]

+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+ |Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific| |Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |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 BAUMÉ’S AREOMETER for heavy liquids.[78] From the Batavian Pharmacopœia.

[Footnote 78: See footnote on previous page.]

+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+-------+--------+ |Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific|Degrees|Specific| |Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |Gravity.|Baumé. |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.; ARÉOMÉTRIE, 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 Aréca. 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-coloured 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 PAPAVERACEÆ). 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= (-ĭn). Syn. ARGENTI′NUS, L.; ARGENTIN, Fr.; SILBERFARBEN, &c., Ger. Silver-like; pertaining to, resembling, or sounding like silver; argental.

=Ar′gentine.= (-tĭn). [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†, A. MO′BILE† (-ĭl-e), was quicksilver; A. MOR′TUUM†, dead silver, grain-s; A. MUSI′VUM†, mosaic s., silver-bronze; A. NITRA′TUM†, lunar caustic; A. VI′VUM†, quicksilver; A. ZOÖTIN′ICUM†, cyanide of silver; &c.

=AR′GIL=† (jĭl). Syn. ARGIL′LA, L.; ARGILE, Fr. Clay or potter’s earth.

=ARGILLA′CEOUS= (-jĭl-). 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= (-jĭl-). 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= (-ă-tūre). 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. Compositæ (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, diarrhœa, 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 homœopaths. 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 (nīsh′-y′ă), 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.; GEWÜRZHAFT, Ger. Fragrant; odoriferous; spicy; applied chiefly to plants and their products (AROMATICS, A. PLANTS; AROMAT′A, AROMAT′ICA, L.; AROMATIQUES, ÉPICES, 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-coloured 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 Müller, Brünn). 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-bŏŏ-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‡§; PALM-SPIRIT; AR′AC′CA, SPIR′ITUS PAL′MÆ, S. SUC′CI P., S. ORY′ZÆ*, 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 hæmorrhage 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. Marantaceæ (Lindl.; Cannaceæ——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′TÆ, FÆC′ULA M., L.; RACINE FLÉCHIÈRE, 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.

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 diarrhœa 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.

=ARSE′′NIATE.= Syn. AR′SENATE; ARSE′′NIAS, AR′SENAS, L.; ARSÉNIATE, 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-nĭk). As. Syn. ARSENIUM; ARSEN′ICUM, ARSE′NIUM, L.; ARSENIK, A.-METALL, Ger. ARSENICO, Sp., It. The brittle, grey-coloured 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 × 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° 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° Fahr.; above it, a yellowish fuming liquid, which boils at 428° 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; RÉALGAL, 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 REÄLGAR 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‡.= See ARSENIOUS ANHYDRIDE.

=Arsenic, Yell′ow.= Trisulphide of arsenic.

=ARSENIC ACID.= H_{3}AsO_{4}. Syn. ACIDUM ARSEN′ICUM, L.; ACIDE ARSÉNIQUE, Fr.; ARSENICSÄURE, 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 ARSÉNIQUE, Fr.; ARSENIKSÄURE, 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 ARSÉNIEUX, ARSENIC BLANC, OXYDE, Fr.; ARSENIGSÄURE, 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.

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° 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° Fahr., and 7·72 parts of boiling water; but on cooling to 60°, only about one third of this quantity continues in solution. The transparent variety is soluble in 103 parts of water at 59°, 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.).

=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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 coloured, 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° 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.]

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-coloured 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.

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.

The best fluxes to use are ferrocyanide of potassium dried at 212° 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.

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° 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.

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 coloured 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 coloured 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 primæ viæ, 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° 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 Jäger, Gilgenkrantz, and Pereira, a few of the lower order of the algæ 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. (Jäger.) 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 œsophagus, 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 primæ viæ; and sometimes of the mouth, fauces, and œsophagus, 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 coloured. 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 retards, 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, Pâte arsénicale, 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, £20:——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-coloured 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, coloured 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 ‘Hygiène.’ “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-coloured 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 coloured 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 eublèe, 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. Bérard-Zenzilin, which consists in directly incorporating the arsenical colouring matter with a specially prepared collodion.

=AR′SENIDE.= Syn. ARSEN′IURET; ARSENIURE′TUM (-i-ū-), L.; ARSÉNIURE, Fr. A combination of arsenicum with a metal (including hydrogen), in definite proportion.

=AR′SENITE= (-nīte). Syn. AR′SENIS, L.; ARSENITE, Fr.; ARSENIGSÄURE SALZ, Ger. A salt of arsenious acid.

=ART.= [Eng., Fr.] Syn. ARS (gen., ar′tis; pl., ar′tes), L.; τεχνη, (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.

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 ‘Traité sur les puits Artesiens,’ by M Gamier, and to ‘Considérations Géologiques et physiques sur la théorie des puits forcés, ou fontaines Artésiennes,’ 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= (-tĭn). [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 scoly̆̆mus (Linn.), a thistle-like perennial plant of the nat. ord. Compositæ (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= (ăs-ă-). Syn. AS′ARUM, A. EUROPÆ′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 ασαρον of Dioscorides, a small round, hard, stemless, hardy herbaceous plant, bearing chocolate-coloured flowers; and of the nat. ord. Aristolochieæ (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° and 60° 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 pharmacopœias:——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 Gräger[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= (-rĭn). C_{20}H_{26}O_{5}. Syn. ASARONE. A species of stearopten, discovered by Görtz, 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 Gräger). Syn. ASARI′NA, L. The crystallisable bitter principle of asarabacca, noticed above. It is said to greatly resemble cytisine.

=AS′ARITE= (-rīte). See ASARABACCA.

=ASBES′TOS.= Syn. ASBES′TUS (ασβεστος, 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.; FRÊNE, 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. Oleaceæ (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.; FRÊNE, 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.= (-ĭz). [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. Müller.]

[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= (-ă-jĭn). C_{4}H_{8}N_{2}O_{3}. [Eng., Fr.] Syn. ALTHE′INE, ASPAR′AMIDE, MAL′AMIDE*; ASPARAGI′NA, ASPARAGI′NUM, L.; AGÉDOÏLE, 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 formulæ. 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° 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. Asparageæ (DC.).; Liliaceæ (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′AGUS§, SPAR′ROW-GRASS§, SPER′AGE†§; 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 fœtid 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 Pharmacopœias, 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 Petræ′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= (-mĭd). 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= (-pĕn). Syn. ASP*, TREM′BLING POP′LAR‡; POP′ULUS TREM′ULA (Linn.), L.; TREMBLE, Fr.; AESPE (äspe), &c. Ger. A large tree, of the nat. ord. Amentaceæ; (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′= (-fălt′). 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†, 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= (-tĭsh-′ŭs). 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= (-fĭk′-sh′ă; -fĭks′-e-ă‡). [L., Gr.] Syn. ASPHYX′Y‡ (-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.; ASPHYXIÉ, Fr.; ASPHYKTISCH, SCHEINTODT, &c., Ger. Affected with or labouring under asphyxia. (See above.)

=ASP′IC=†. 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 déjeûners 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= (ăss). Syn. AS′INUS, L.; ANE (âne), Fr.; ESEL, Ger. The e′quus as′inus (Linn.), a well-known animal found almost everywhere.

=ASSAFŒTIDA.= [L. and Eng.] Syn. ASSAFETIDA, DEVIL’S DUNG, Eng.; ASSAFŒTIDA GUMMI, L.; STINKASAND, STINKENDER ASAND, TEUFELS-DRECK, Ger. A gum resin exuded from the excised root of narthex assafœtida (B. P.); from ferula assafœfida, 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, viâ Bombay, in cases, mats, and casks.

Comp. Assafœtida 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 assafœtida of the shops is generally in masses of a whitish, reddish, or violet hue, formed principally of adhering tears or grains, possesses a peculiar fœtid, 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 fœtid.

Prop., Uses, &c. Assafœtida is stimulant, antispasmodic, emmenagogue, expectorant, aphrodisiac, and anthelmintic, and is the most powerful of all the fœtid 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 Assafœtida. 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 assafœtida.”[94]

[Footnote 94: Pereira, ‘Mat. Med. & Therap.,’ 4th ed., iii, 177.]

=ASSAFŒTIDA, 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′= (-sā). Syn. ESSAI (anc., asaie), Fr. PRÜFUNG, &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 (dŏos′-) 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.

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 (mŭf′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.

The CU′PEL (kū′-pĕl) 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.

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, VERÄHNLICHUNG, &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.; ASTHÉNIQUE, DÉBILE, 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= (ăst′mă[98]). [Eng., Ger., L., Gr.] Syn. ASTHME, Fr.; ENGBRÜSTIGKEIT, 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 dyspnœa, &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 assafœtida. 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 Aubrée, 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. Coloured with some cochineal tincture. (Hager.)

According to a later analysis by Schröppel, 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 coloured 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 Orleïn). 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. (Schädler 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= (-trĭnje′-). [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.; ATMOMÈTRE, &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= (-fēre). Syn. ATMOSPHE′′RA, L.; ATMOSPHÈRE, Fr.; ATMOSPHÄRE, DUNSTKREIS, Ger. Primarily, a ‘vapour-sphere,’ appr., the assemblage of respirable gas and aëriform 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° Fahr., expressed in inches of mercury.

-----+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+------------ Lat. | Height | Lat. | Height | Lat. | Height | (inches). | | (inches). | | (inches). -----+------------+----------+-----------+-----------+------------ 0° | 29·930 | 40° | 30·019 | 54-1/2° | 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° Fahr. See AIR (Atmospheric), EPIDEMICS, VENTILATION, &c.

=Atmosphere=. In engineering and pneumatics, the pressure of a column of mercury at 0° Cent. or 32° Fahr., which is 76 centimètres or 29·9218 inches high, at the mean level of the sea in latitude 45°, 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 (-ŭm). 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 ατομος, 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 Cæsium | 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° 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.; ATROPHIÉ, &c., Fr.; ATROPHIE, Ger. In pathology, wasting or emaciation, with loss of strength, and unaccompanied by fever or other sensible cause; defective nutrition; decline.

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