Acid, Gallic.—Acid produced in yellowish colored crystals, derived from nut-galls or oak-apples. Soluble in water and alcohol. Nut galls are an import ingredient in the manufacture of good black ink.

Acid, Muriatic.—Called also Hydrochloric Acid and sometimes spirit of salt. Made by the action of sulphuric acid on common salt (chloride of sodium). Mingled with half its volume of Nitric Acid it forms Aqua Regia.

Acid, Nitric.—Sometimes called Aqua Fortis. Made by the decomposition of Nitre, or saltpetre by strong sulphuric acid.

Acid, Sulphuric.—Called oil of vitriol, made from sulphur and nitre or saltpetre.

Acid, Hydrochloric.—Called Muriatic Acid, which see.

Alcohol.—The product of the fermentation of sugar, and is contained in all fermented liquors. It is a colorless fluid, boils at 173° F. and burns without smoke. The volatile oils and resins are dissolved by it, as well as many acids and salts, the caustic alkalies, etc. The resulting compounds of the acids upon alcohol are called ethers.

Alkanet Root.—The root of a species of Bugloss. It affords a fine red color to alcohol and oils, but a dirty red to water. The spirituous tincture gives to white marble a beautiful deep stain.

Annatto.—Also spelled Anotta and Anotto. A red coloring substance obtained from the pulp of the seed-vessel of the plant Bixa orellana. It dissolves better and more readily in alcohol than in water.

Antimony, Chloride of.—Called also Butter of Antimony and Sesquichloride of Antimony. Made by distilling the residue of the solution of sulphuret of antimony in strong hydrochloric acid, or by distilling a mixture of corrosive sublimate and antimony. It is highly corrosive. In medicine, used as a caustic.

Antimony, Butter of.—See Antimony, Chloride of.

Aqua Fortis.—Called also Nitric Acid, which see.

Aqua Regia.—Made by mixing one part nitric acid in two muriatic acid, by measure; keep the mixture in a bottle in a cool, dark place.

Asphaltum.—Native bitumen, will dissolve in turpentine with gentle heat.

Benzoin, Gum or Gum Benjamin.—A gum extracted from the tree, Styrax benzoin, which grows in the East Indies. It fuses at a gentle heat, can be dissolved in alcohol and imperfectly dissolved in ether. It is employed as a varnish for toilet and other articles, which give out an agreeable smell when warmed by the heat of the hand.

Blue Vitriol.—Sulphate of copper. A salt formed by sulphuric acid in combination with copper. It is soluble in cold or warm water, used much in dyeing and exciting galvanic batteries.

Brimstone.—See sulphur.

Brimstone, Black.—Crude sulphur.

Burnt Umber.—Umber is a mineral of brown color from the Island of Cyprus. Two kinds are found in the market, raw and burnt.

Butter of Antimony.—See antimony, chloride of.

Camphor.—A solid concrete substance, Laurus camphor or Indian laurel tree, which grows in the East Indies, China and Japan. Soluble in alcohol, ether, oil and acetic acid.

Chloride of Antimony.—See antimony, chloride of.

Chloride of Mercury.—Called corrosive sublimate, which see.

Chloride of Iron.—See muriate of iron.

Copal.—The concrete juice of a tree growing in South America and the East Indies. Strictly speaking, it is not a gum or a resin, but rather resembles amber. It may be dissolved by digestion in linseed oil with heat little less than sufficient to boil the oil. The solution, diluted with oil of turpentine, forms a transparent varnish. It also dissolves in ether, and the ethereous solutions may be mixed with alcohol.

Copperas.—Sulphate of iron or green vitriol. A salt made by the decomposition of iron or iron pyrites in oil of vitriol. Dissolved in water, is the basis of black dyes, and is used in making ink, &c.

Copper, Sulphate of.—Called blue vitriol, which see.

Corrosive Sublimate.—Chloride of mercury. A salt prepared by the decomposition of sulphate of mercury by common salt. It is a deadly poison. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, in two or three parts of hot water and in about 15 parts cold water. It melts and sublimes about 600°. The white of eggs is an antidote for the poison.

Damar or Dammar.—A gum obtained from the agathis or dammar tree, allied to the pine trees, growing in the East Indies. It is soluble in alcohol and in oil of turpentine.

Dragon’s Blood.—The inspissated juice of various plants, of a red color, used for tinging varnishes, tooth tincture, staining marble, &c.

Ether, Nitric.—Mode of distilling equal parts of strong nitric acid and alcohol with a few grains of urea. It is liquid, colorless, of sweet taste, and insoluble in water. It boils at 185° F. The vapor explodes at moderate heat.

Elemi.—A resin obtained from plants grown in the East Indies and South America. In making lackers, it is used to give toughness to the varnish.

Fustic.—The wood of a tree growing in the West Indies. Used for dyeing yellow.

Gallic Acid.—See Acid, gallic.

Green Copperas.—Sulphate of iron. See Copperas.

Green Vitriol.—Copperas, which see

Hydrochloric Acid.—Muriatic Acid, which see

Iron, Chloride of.—See Muriate of Iron.

Iron, Muriate of.—See Muriate of Iron.

Iron, Sulphate of.—See Sulphate of Iron.

Iron, Sesqui-Chloride of.—Perchloride of iron or permuriate of iron. Made by dissolving rust of iron in muriatic acid and then crystalizing. It forms red crystals. Soluble in water, alcohol and ether. Very corrosive.

Logwood.—The wood of a tree growing in Central America. The extract is used in dyeing black color.

Madder.—A plant of the genus Rubia, one species of which is used in dyeing red.

Manganese, Sulphate of.—A beautiful rose-colored salt, used to give a fine brown dye.

Mastic.—A resin exuding from the mastic tree. It is in yellowish-white, semi-transparent tears. Used as an ingredient in varnishes.

Mercury, Quicksilver.—A metal fluid at ordinary temperatures. Congealable at about 40° below zero. Boils at 660° and forms a colorless dense vapor. It is used in barometers and thermometers, and in alloy with tin in coating mirrors. It unites with chloroform, forming calomel and corrosive sublimate. The only acids that act on it are sulphuric and nitric. To unite with the latter it must be heated.

Mercury, Chloride of.—See Chloride of Mercury.

Mercury, Horn.—Called Chloride of Mercury.

Mercury, Muriate of.—Chloride of Mercury.

Muriate Tincture of Steel.—See Muriate of Iron.

Muriate of Iron.—Called Chloride of Iron. Made by dissolving iron filings in muriatic acid and crystalizing by evaporation. Crystals of green color being the result.

Nitrate of Silver.—Made by dissolving silver in nitric acid and evaporating the solution in crystals. Will dissolve in warm water. Is used for indelible ink to mark clothing and in photography. When fused and cast in small sticks is called lunar caustic.

Nitric Acid.—See Acid, nitric.

Nitric Ether.—See Ether, nitric.

Oil of Vitriol.—See Acid, sulphuric.

Pearlash.—Carbonate of potassa. An alkali obtained from the ashes of trees by leaching. When evaporated to dryness in iron kettles it is called potash, but when calcined to burn off the coloring matter it is called pearlash.

Potash.—See Pearlash. Sometimes called salts of tartar.

Pumice Stone.—A substance resembling the slag from furnaces, ejected from volcanoes. The pulverized material is used to remove the gloss and imperfections on varnished surfaces by rubbing with a woolen cloth and water.

Quicksilver.—See Mercury.

Rotten Stone.—A soft stone used for fine grinding and polishing. Generally used after pumice stone, and is applied with a soft woolen cloth and sweet oil.

Salts of Tartar.—See Potash.

Sandarac.—A resin that exudes from tree growing in Africa. Fusible by heat and soluble in alcohol. Used in varnishes.

Sesqui-Chloride of Iron.—See Iron, Sesqui-chloride of.

Shellac.—Lac is a resinous substance produced mainly from the banyan tree of the East Indies. It is the product of an insect. Stick lac is the resin in its natural state; seed lac when broken up, cleaned of impurities and washed; shellac when it is melted and formed in thin flakes. United with ivory-black or vermilion it makes sealing wax. Dissolved in alcohol it makes lackers and varnishes.

Silver, Nitrate of.—See nitrate of silver.

Soda.—Common. See potash.

Spanish Whiting.—Ground chalk carefully cleaned from all stony matter.

Spirits of Nitre.—An alcoholic solution of nitrous ether.

Steel, Tincture of.—See muriate tincture of steel.

Sulphate of Iron.—Copperas or green vitriol. See copperas.

Sulphate of Manganese.—See manganese, sulphate of.

Sulphur.—Often called brimstone. A mineral of yellowish color. Soluble in turpentine, fat oils, bisulphuret of carbon and hot liquor of potassa. With oxygen it forms sulphuric and sulphurous acids, and with the metals it combines as sulphurets or sulphides. It is an essential ingredient in gunpowder, and the gas arising from its combustion is employed in bleaching straw and woolen goods.

Tartar, Salts of.—See potash.

Turpentine.—An oleo-resinous substance as flowing from several species of pine, larch and fir trees. Oil of turpentine is obtained by distilling the crude turpentine.

Umber, Burnt.—See Burnt Umber.

Venice Turpentine.—A liquid resin which exudes from the larch tree. The Venice turpentine usually met with is turpentine to which is added a quantity of black melted resin.

Verdigris.—A green oxide of copper, very poisonous. The white of eggs is an antidote for the poison, when taken into the stomach.

Vitriol, Blue.—Called sulphate of copper. See Blue Vitriol.

Vitriol, Green.—Sulphate of iron. See Copperas.

Vitriol, Oil of.—See Acid, sulphuric.

Whiting, Spanish.—See Spanish Whiting.