exsiccant (eksikant)

and n. [Also written exiccant; II. n. In med., a drug having drying properties. Some are moderately moist, and require to be treated with medicines of the like nature, such as fleshy parts; others, dry in themselves, yet require exsiccants , as bones. Wiseman , Surgery, vi. 5. exsiccatæ, exsiccati (ek-si-ka'tē, -tī), n. pl. [NL., f. (sc. plante ) and m. (sc. fungi, etc.) of L. exsiccatus, pp. of exsiccare, dry up: see exsiccate.] In bot., dried specimens of plants, especially specimens i ued in uniform numbered sets for herbariums. Cryptogams, as fungi and algæ, exsufflate exsiccate (ek-sik'at or ek'si-kat), v. t.; pret. and pp. exsiccated, ppr. exsiccating. [Also written exiccate; Great heats and droughts exsiccate and waste the moist of the earth. Mortimer, Husbandry. ure