mercurismt (merkurizm)

[ Sir T. Browne . mercurous (mér kū-rus), a . [ mercur - y + -ous.] 1. Related to or containing mercury.2. In chem . , specifically applied to compounds in which two atoms of mercury are regarded as forming a bivalent radical: as, mercurous chlorid, Hg2C12. ven. Following the mirror of all Christian kings, With winged heels, as English Mercuries . Shak., Hen. V., ii., chorus, 7. We give the winds wings, and the angels too, as being the swift me engers of God, the nimble mercuries of heaAbp. Sancroft , Sermons, p. 131. Hence-3. [ l . c. or cap .] A common name for a newspaper or periodical publication; formerly, also, a newspaper-carrier or a seller of newspapers. ries. Those who sell them [news-books] by wholesale from the pre are called mercuries . Cowell . No allusion to it is to be found in the monthly Mercu Macaulay , Hist. Eng., xii. 4t. [l. c.] Warmth or liveline of temperament; spirit; sprightly qualities; hence, liability to change; ficklene . He was so full of mercury that he could not fix long in any friendship, or to any design. Bp . Burnet. 5. The innermost planet of the solar system. Its mean distance from the sun is 0 387 that of the earth. The inclination (7 degrees) and the eccentricity (0.2056) of its orbit are exceeded only by some of the minor planets. Its diameter is only 3,000 miles, or about of that of the earth; its volume is to that of the earth as 1 to 18.5. It performs its sidereal revolution in 88 days, its synodical in 116. Its proximity to the sun prevents its being often seen with the naked eye. The ma of Mercury, though as yet not very precisely determined, is le than that of any other planet (asteroids excepted). According to Schiaparelli it rotates on its axis in the same way as the moon does, once in each orbital revolution. 6. [l. c.] Chemical symbol, Hg; atomic weight, 200.1. A metal of a silver-white color and brilliant metallic luster, unique in that it is fluid at ordinary temperatures. It becomes solid, or freezes, at about - 40°, and crystallizes in the isometric system. Its specific gravity at 0° is 13.6; when frozen, according to J. W. Mallet, 14.1932. This metal occurs the largest supply is obtained from the sulphid, known native, sometimes considerable quantity; but by far as cinnabar. (See cinnabar.) Mercury is not very generally di eminated. In the United States only traces of its ores have been found to the east of the Cordilleras. The principal sources of supply are the mines of Almaden in Spain, of New Almaden and others near the Bay of San Francisco, and of Idria in Austria. Its chief use is in the metallurgic treatment of gold and silver ores by amalgamation. The thermometer and barometer are instruments in which the peculiar qualities of this metal are well illustrated. Commercially the most important salts of mercury are mercurous chlorid (Hg2C12) or calomel, chiefly used in medicine, and the mercuric chlorid (HgCl2) or corrosive sublimate, a violent poison used in medicine and extensively in surgery as an antiseptic, and as a preservative in dre ing skins, etc., being a very powerful antiseptic. The sulphid (HgS), or cinnabar, when prepared artificially, is called vermilion, and is used as a pigment. The names mercury and quicksilver are entirely synonymous, but the former is rather a scientific designation, and one nece arily used in compound names and in the adjective form; while the latter is a common popular designation of this metal. See amalgam, calomel, quicksilver. 7. [l. c.] The column of quicksilver in a thermometer or barometer, especially with reference to the temperature or state of the atmosphere shown by it. [Colloq.] Mercury Whatever may be the height of the mercury [in the barometer), a sudden and rapid fall is a sure sign of foul weather. R. Strachan, in Modern Meteorology, p. 80. 8. [l. c.] (a) A plant of the genus Mercurial is, chiefly M. perennis, the dog's-mercury, locally called Kentish balsam (which see, under Kent ish ), and M. annua, the annual or French mercury. See Mercurial is. (b) In older usage, the Che no podium Bonus - Henricus. See all good and good- King - Henry. This is the English, false, or wild mercury.-9. In her., the tincture purple, when blazoning is done by the planets. Argental mercury. See argental. - Baron's mercury [prob. orig. * barren mercury ], the male plant of Mercurial is perennis. - Boy's mercury, the female plant of Mercurial is annua (the sexes having been mistaken). - Corneous mercury. Same as calomel . - Extinction of mercury. See extinction.- Girl's mercury, the male plant of Mercurial is annua. See male1 , 2. — Golden mercury, Mercurial is pe rennis, var. aurea . - Hydro sublimate of mercury, a trade-name for calomel prepared by condensing the vapor of mercurous chlorid with steam in a large receiver, which causes it to deposit in an impalpable powder absolutely free from any trace of corrosive sublimate.- Mercury a go meter. See a go meter . Mercury air-pump, an apparatus used for producing a vacuum, consisting e entially of a reservoir above from which mercury flows down through a small vertical tube, the ve el to be exhausted being attached at the side (at Cin the figure) at a height something more than 30 inches above the lower receptacle. The descending drops of mercury carry with them portions of the air or other gas from the receiver, and if the proce is long continued, the supply ve el at the top being kept full, a nearly perfect vacuum may be obtained. This form of air-pump is often called a Sprengel pump . It gives a much higher degree of exhaustion than is po ible with the ordinary mechanical air-pump, and is much used not only in physical experiments but also for practical purposes, for example in removing the air from the gla bulbs of the incandescent electric lamps. - Mount of Mercury, in palmistry . See mount 1,6.- Native or virgin mercury, the pure metal found found in the form of globules in cavities of the ores of this metal. Three - seeded Mercury Air-pump. 3715 mercy (mer'si), n.; pl. mercies (-siz). [ A man withe out mars i no mars i shall have In tyme of ned when he do the it crave. MS. Ashmole 46. (Hall i well.) The Lord is long suffering, and of great mercy , forgiving iniquity and transgre ion, and by no means clearing the guilty. Num. xiv. 18. A woman's mercy is very little, But a man's mercy is more. Sir Hugh, or the Jew's Daughter (Child's Ballads, III. 334). The sentiment of mercy is the natural recoil which the laws of the universe provide to protect mankind from destruction by savage pa ions. Emerson, John Brown. 2. An act or exercise of forbearance, good will, or favor; also, a kindne undeserved or un expected; a fortunate or providential circumstance; a ble ing: as, it is a mercy that they escaped. IMG:content-0493.png:[blocks in formation] 4. Discretionary action; unrestrained exercise of the will and the power to punish and to spare: as, to be at one's mercy (that is, wholly in one's power). At length, vpon their submi ion, the king tooke them to mercie , vpon their fine, which was seized at twentie you sand marks. Holinshed, Hen. III., an. 1265. And the offender's life lies in the mercy Of the duke only. Shak ., M. of V., iv. 1. 355. Last, 'bout thy stiff neck we this halter hang, And leave thee to the mercy of the court. Beau , and Fl . , Knight of Malta, v. 2. A lover is ever complaining of cruelty while anything is The letter C marks the point denied him; and when the lady ceases to be cruel, she is, where the ve el to be exhausted is attached. Swift . mercury, a plant of the genus Acalypha, of the same family as Mercurial is, and more or le similar in appearance. The fruit splits into three two-valved one-seeded nutlets. It is a large genus, chiefly tropical or subtropical. Many of the species are shrubby; a few (mostly herbaceous) are found in the United States. - Transit of Mercury, a pa age of Mercury over the disk of the sun. -Vegetable mercury, a Brazilian plant, Franciscea uniflora, also called manaca. See Franciscea. mercuryt (mėr'kū-ri), v. t. [ They are as tender as a lady's face new mercuried . B. Jonson, Cynthia's Revels, i. 1. mercury-cup (mėr'kū-ri-kup), n. 1. The cis- tern of a mercury barometer, which is filled with mercury and in which the lower end of the barometer-tube is inserted. - 2. A small open cup containing mercury, used in electrical in- struments and apparatus as a connection for conductors. The cup may be of conducting material and connected with one end of the wire forming the cir- cuit, in which case the circuit will be closed by inserting the other end of the wire in the mercury; or the cup may be of non-conducting material, in which case both ends of the wire must be inserted in the mercury to close the circuit. mercury-furnace (mèrʼkū-ri-fèr" nās), n. A furnace in which cinnabar is roasted in order to cause the pure mercury to pa off in fumes, which are condensed in a series of ve els. mercury-gatherer (mer'kū-ri-gaw a"ér-er), n. In metal - working , a stirring apparatus which causes quicksilver that has become floured or mixed with sulphur in amalgamating to resume from the next moment, at his mercy. Covenanted mercies. See covenant. - Fathers of Mercy, the name of a society of Roman Catholic mi ionary priests, founded in France in 1806 and introduced into the United States in 1842. For mercy! for mercy's sake! an exclamation, usually an appeal to pity. Myself am Naples; Who with mine eyes, never since at ebb, beheld The king my father wreck'd. Mir. Alack, for mercy! Fer . Shak., Tempest, i. 2. 437. God-a-mercyt. See Godl . - Great mercyt. [Imitated from gramercy , ME. grant mercy. See gramercy .] Great favor. Great mercy, sure, for to enlarge a thrall Whose freedom shall thee turne to greatest scath! Spenser, F. Q., II. v. 18. Sisters of Mercy. See sisterhood. - Spiritual and corporal works of mercy. In the middle ages, seven great works of mercy were enumerated called the spiritual and as many called the corporal works of mercy. The seven works of corporal mercy are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit prisoners, visit the sick, harbor strangers, bury the dead; of spiritual mercy, to convert sinners, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, console the afflicted, bear wrongs patiently, forgive injuries, pray for the living and the dead. Cath. Dict . In fulfillynge of Godis commandment is and of the seven dedis of mercy bodili and gostly to a manys euen cristen. Rolle , quoted in Hampole's Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), [Pref., p. xi. To cry (one) mercy. (a) See cry, v. (b) To proclaim a tax. Bot Athelstan the maistrie wan and did tham mercie crie, & alle North wales he sat to treuage hie. Rob. of Brunne, P. 28. =Syn. 1. Clemency , etc. See leniency . the fluid condition, through the agency of memercyt, v. t. [ chanical agitation and rubbing. E. H. Knight. mercury-goosefoot (mėr'kū-ri-gös'fût), n. Same as mercury, 8 ( b ). also fine, Mild eliche thenne Meede merciede hem alle Of heore grete goodne e. Piers Plowman (A), iii. 21.