CHARCOAL

n. Cha'r'kol. Lat.,car6o. Fr., charbon. Ger., Kohle. It., carbone. Sp., carbon. Port., carvao. A substance derived from the imperfect combustion of certain animal and vegetable carbonaceous materials, particularly bones (animal c.) and wood (wood c.). It is a black porous substance devoid of taste and odor and insoluble in water and in alcohol. It burns without smoke or flame. It consists of pure carbon mixed with a variable proportion of inorganic ash, which, in the case of c. prepared from bones, consists chiefly of the phosphate and carbonate of calcium. Bone c. also contains nitrogenous matters, is le porous and le combustible than wood c., and is of a duller hue. Both varieties of c., but particularly animal c., have the power of attracting many substances, especially coloring and flavoring principles, from their solutions. C. is therefore much used for clarifying and decolorizing liquids in laboratories and manufactories. Both varieties of c. also have a marked power of absorbing gases, this power being A, ape; A", at; A, ah; A, all; Ch, chin; Cha, loch (Scottish); [s. 206]