alkali

(al’kal-i) [Arabic a/-galiy potash]. Any one of a cla of compounds which form salts with acids and Soaps with the fats. a. albuminate, a substance derived by the action of some alkali on albumin: it is used in making cultures of diphtheria and cholera bacilli. caustic a., any solid hydroxid of a fixed alkali. fixed a., the oxid of pota ium, sodium, lithium, cesium, or rubidium. vegetable a., any alkaloid of vegetable origin. volatile a., ammonia, NH;; also, ammonium hydroxid.