tonIc

& s. [Lat. tonic us, from Gr. tonikos relating to stretching; tonos a thing stretched; Fr. tonique; Sp. & Ital. tonico.] [TONE, 8.] A. As adjective : *I. Ordinary Language : 1. Of or pertaining to tones or sounds. "To the judicious performance upon this solemn instrument [the organ] my observations now naturally recur. In point of tonic power I presume it will be allowed preferable to all others." -Mason: On Church Music. 2. Of or pertaining to tension; increasing tension. II. Technically: 1. Music : Pertaining to, or founded on the keynote or tonic; as, the tonic chord (the notes C, E, and Gsounded simultaneously). 2. Pharmacy : Increasing the tone, health, and strength of the body or of its organs; corroborative, bracing. B. As substantive: 1. Music: (1) The key-note of any scale; the ground-tone or basis of a scale or key. (2) The key-chord in which a piece is written and with which it concludes. 2. Pharm . ( pl .): Medicines which increase the tone of any part of the bodily frame. Garrod enumerates four cla es of them: (1) Blood Tonics, called also Analeptic Tonics or Blood Restoratives, as various salts of iron, cod-liver oil, . (2) Nervine Tonics, as nitrate of silver, oxide of silver, sulphate of zinc, salts of iron, strychnia, . (3) Stomachic Tonics, as calumba, gentian, qua ia, hops, sulphate of quinine, . (4) Vascular Tonics, called also Vascular Stimulants, as various salts of ammonia, oil of turpentine, camphor, .