ultramarine

& s. [Sp. ultra mar i no = be yond sea, foreign; also, ultramarine (s.), from Lat. ultra beyond, and mar in us = marine; mare = the sea.] *A. As adj .: Situated, being, or lying beyond the sea. "The lo of her ultramarine dominions le ens her expenses and ensures her remittances." -Burke : State of the Nation. B. As substantive: 1. Ord. Lang.: A beautiful and unchangeable blue pigment, resembling in purity the blue of the prismatic spectrum. It was formerly obtained by grinding the mineral known as lapis lazuli, calcining it, and again grinding it in a mill, or with a porphyry slab and muller. It is much prized by artists for its beauty and the permanence of its color, both for oil and water painting. Lapis-lazuli being very rare this pigment was the most expensive of colors. Artificial ultramarine, which appears to po e all the valuable properties of the native ultramarine, was first prepared by M. Guimet, by fusing a mixture of kaolin, glauber salt, carbonate of soda and charcoal in a closed crucible, roasting the green substance so obtained with the addition of sulphur, whereby its color is changed to blue, and pulverizing and washing the powder. The native ultramarine appears to consist of silicate of aluminium with sulphide and hyposulphite of sodium. 2. Min .: A name given to the richer-colored varie ties of lapis-lazuli (q. v.).