Catharization

[From Gr. catharizo, to purge, purify, or clean]. (Chem.) The art of clearing the surface of bodies from alien matter; and the substance is said to be catharized when the surface is so cleaned. As everything exposed to the air, or to the touch, takes. more a le a deposit or film of foreign matter, substances are cla ed as catharized or uncatharized, according as they have been or not so freed from foreign. matter. The term catharized, denoting the condition of pure surface, may also be applied to surfaces that have not undergone the proce of catharization. Thus a flint stone, in the rough, has an uncatharized surface; but, when split, the inner surface of the pieces will, at least for some time, be chemically clean, or in a catharized state.