dragons blood (dragonzblud)

The name of several resins of a dark-red color. The drag on's-blood of commerce is an exudation upon the fruit of the Calamus Draco, one of the ratan-palms of the Malay archipelago. It is used in medicine for coloring plasters and tooth-powders, and in the arts for coloring varnish, staining marble, etc. It is largely used by the Chinese. The dragon's-blood of the island of Socotra in the Indian ocean, known from a very early date under this name (the cinnabar of Dioscorides), and supposed to be the product of species of Dracena, is now but little sought. The dragon's-blood of the Canary islands is the astringent inspi ated juice of the Dracæna Draco, and is no longer in use. The name has also been applied to an exudation obtained from the Pterocarpus Draco, a leguminous tree of the West Indies, and to that of the Croton Draco, a euphorbiaceous tree of Mexico; but neither substance is met with in commerce. the seventeenth century. Ran into Bucklers bury for two ounces of dragon-water, Dekker and Webster, Westward Ho, iii. 3. some spermaceti and treacle. Carduus Benedictus Or dragon - water may doe good upon him. Randolph, Amyntas (1640). dragon wort (drag'on-wert), n. The bistort, Polygonum Bistort a , and with the old herbalists the green dragon, Dracunculus vulgar is . dragony (drag'o-ni), a . Same as dra- gonné. Cotgrave. drain sel in a heavy gale, formed of a square sheet, kept stretched by metallic bars, and attached to a beam which serves to float it. Also called anchor-drag and sea - anchor. dragsman (dragz'man), n.; pl. dragsmen (-men). 1. The driver of a drag or coach. He had a word for the hostler, a nod for the shooter or guard, and a bow for the dragsman. Thackeray, Shabby Genteel Story, i. 2. A thief who follows carriages to cut away luggage from behind. [Eng. slang.] drag-spring (drag's pring), n. In rail.: ( a ) A strong spring placed near the back of the tender. It is attached by the ends to the drag-bar which connects the engine and tender, and by the center to the drag-bar which connects the train to the tender. (b) A spring attached to the drag-bar to le en the jerk when starting or increasing speed. [Eng.] drag-staff (drag's taf), n. A pole pivoted to the rear axle of a vehicle and trailing on the ground behind it, designed to prevent a backward movement of the vehicle when it stops on a steep hill. drag-twist (drag'twist), n. See drag, 1 ( g ). drag-washer (drag'wosh"èr), n. A flat iron ring on the axle-arm of a gun-carriage, having an iron loop attached for the purpose of fastening the drag-rope when nece ary. Farrow, IMG:content-3129.jpg:[graphic]