ALKALI

n. A2l’ka?l-i. Pl, a’es or a’s. Written also alcali. From Ar., al-gal i, soda-ash. Lat., Fr., alcali, alkali. Ger., alkalisches Mittel, Laugensalz. It., aleali. Sp.,dlcali. Originally, the soluble pare of the ashes of plants, especially of sea-weed (carbonates of sodium and pota ium). At a later period three kinds of a, were recognized—vegetable, mineral, and volatile, corresponding respectively to potash, soda, and ammonia and their carbonates. At present the word is used in various senses. In its most. restricted but most usual sense it is applied to four substances only, the hydrates of poesia (potash), sodium (soda), lithium (lithia), and ammonium (supposed to exist in the aqueous solution of ammonia); ina more general sense it is.applied to the hydrates of the so-called alkaline earths (baryta, strontia, and lime) and to a large number of organic substances, both natural and artificial, cla ed as alkaloids and as ammonium-bases. The following properties are common to the mineral and many of the organic alkalies: 1. They are more or le soluble in water, the a’es proper much more so than the alkaline earths. 2. They neutralize the strongest acids, and with weak acids form salts having alkaline properties in some degree. 3. Di olved in water, they act as caustics or corrosives on vegetable and animal substances. 4. They precipitate the heavy metals from most of their acid solutions, as hydrates or as oxides. 5. They alter the tint of many coloring matters. [B, 2.]—Acetated vegetable a. Pota ium acetate. [B, 69.|—Acetated volatile a. Ammonium acetate. [B, 69.]—Aerated a. Fr.,alcaliaéré. It., aicali aerato. A combination of an a. with aerial (carbonic) acid; a carbonate of pota ium, sodium. or ammonium. [B, 93.|—Aerated fixed miner a i a. Sodium carbonate. [B.]—Aerated fixed vegetable a. Pota ium carbonate. [B.]—Aerated volatile a. Ammonium carbonate, [B.]—A. ammoniacum acetatum, A. ammoniacum aquosum, A. ammoniacum causticum, A. ammoniacum fluidum, A. ammoniacum spirituosum, A. ammoniacum succinatum, A. ammoniacum vinosum, A. ammoniacum volatile (Lat.), A. animal (Fr.), See under ALCALI. ‘ae carbonic a (Lat.). The carbonates of the a’es. [B, 95.)—A’a caustic a (Lat.). Caustic a'es. [B, 95.]—A>metalle (Ger.), The a-metals. [B.j—A. minerale nitratum, A. minerale phosphor a tum, A. miuerale salinum, A. minerale sulphur i cum (Lat.). See under ALCALI—A. of nitre. See ALCALI du nitre.—A. of tartar. See ALCALI tartar i—Caustic a. Lat., alcali_causticum. One of sufficient purity to act as a caustic. [B.|—Deliquescent a. Potash. [D, 90.|—Effervescing a. A carbonate of one of the a’es. _ [B, 93.|—Effervescing fixed mineral a. Sodium carbonate. [B.]—Effervescing fixed vegetable a. Pota ium carbonate. [B.]—Effervescing volatile a. Ammonium carbonate, [B.]—Fixed a. Lat., alcali firum. Fr., alcali fixe. Sp., dlcali fijo. A non-volatile a, (either soda or potash). —Fixed mineral a. A salt of sodium, especially the carbonate. [B.]—Fixed vegetable a. Lat., alcali fizum herbarum. À salt of pota ium, especially the carbonate. [B.]—A. fixum tartar i cum, See ALCALI jixum tartar is a tum.—Fo il a. Lat., Fr., alcali fo ile. See Mineral a.—Marine a. Fr., alcali mar in. Soda. [B.]—Mephitic volatile a, Ammonium carbonate. [B.]—Mild a. Lat., alcali mite. Fr., alcali doux. Ger., mildes A, An old name for an a. which had lost its causticity in some degree, as by combination with carbonic acid.—Mild volatile a. Ammonium carbonate. [B.]—Mineral a, Lat., alcali minerale. Fr., alcali minéral. Ger., mineralisches A. Syn.: fa il a. An old name for soda and sodium carbonate; now applied to all the inorganic aes. [B.]—Muriated vegetable fixed a.. Pota ium chloride. [B.]-Organic a. An organic base. See ALKALOID.—Phlogistic a, Phlogisticated a. Lat., alcali-phlogistic a tum. Fr, alcali phlogistiqué. Ger., phlogistisirtes A. An oid term variously applied to sodium chloride and pota ium cyanide and ferrocyanide. B, 3, 86, 93, 107; D, ET a. ‘A cyanide of one of the alkali-metals. [B.]—Urinary a. Ammonia. [D, 90.]—Vegetable Lat., alcali vegetabile. Fr., alcali végétal. An old name for ta ium carbonate; now sometimes applied to the ]—Volatile a. Lat., alcali volatile. Fr., alcali volatil. Ger., flächtiges A. An oid name for ammonia and ammonium carbonate. For other sub-titles in Latin, see under AL- CALI; See also A.-ALBUMINATE and A.-METAL.