42 ALCOHOL 



AI.BITE. A soda felspar. See FBLSPAK. 



AliBOXiXTH. A cement prepared by calcining native carbonate of magnesia 

 (magnesito) and mixing the magnesia thus obtained -with silica. 



ALBUM CR.JECUIVI. The white faeces of dogs, hyaenas, &c. After the hair 

 has been removed from skins, this is used to preserve the softness of them, and 

 prepare them for the tan-pit. Fowls' dung is considered by practical tanners as 

 superior to the dung of dogs, and this is obtained as largely as possible. These 

 excreta may be said to be essentially phosphate of lime and mucus. We are informed 

 that various artificial compounds which represent, chemically, the conditions of those 

 natural ones, have been tried without producing the same good results. It is a reflec- 

 tion on our science, if this is really the case. Album Graecum is frequently found 

 fossilised- in bone-caverns which have been used as hyaena dens. 



AXiBUTKEEXT or AXiBTnvxiN. (Album Ovi.) Albumen is a substance which 

 forms a constituent part of the animal fluids and solids, and which is also found in the 

 vegetable kingdom. It exists nearly pure in the white of egg. Albumen 'according 

 to several analyses consists of : 



Carbon 63-4 



Hydrogen 7'1 



Nitrogen . . . . . . . 15'7 



Sulphur 1-3 



Oxygon (according to Liebcrkuhn) . . 22' 1 



The coagulation of albumen by heat is illustrated in the boiling of an egg. The 

 salts of tin, bismuth, lead, silver, and mercury form with albumen white insoluble 

 precipitates ; therefore, in cases of poisoning by corrosive sublimate, nitrate of silver, 

 or sugar of lead, the white of egg is the best antidote which can be administered. 



Albumen is employed for clarifying vinous and syrupy liquids ; when boiled with 

 them it coagulates and entangles the colouring matter, either falling to the bottom 

 or floating on the surface of the fluid, according to its specific gravity. In this way it 

 is employed, especially as it is found in the serum of blood, in sugar-refining. It is 

 also used in fixing the colours in calico-printing. It is employed in photography, and 

 mixed with recently slaked lime it forms a very useful cement, becoming in a short 

 time as hard as stone. 



VEGETABLE ALBUMEN is identical in composition with that of the white of egg. It 

 is abundant in nearly all the roots used for food, as the potato, turnip, carrot, &c. It 

 is found in large quantity in wheat-flour, and in most oleaginous seeds. See Watts's 

 ' Dictionary of Chemistry.' 



AiiBUMENISED PAPER. A paper prepared with the white of egg for photo- 

 graphic purposes. See PHOTOGRAPHY. 



AXiBinvxiNOIDS. A term applied to compounds which play an important part 

 in the economy of both animal and vegetable life. The more important are ALBUMEN, 

 FIBKIN, and CASEIN. 



AliCARAZZAS. Porous earthenware vessels made in Spam from a sandy marl, 

 and but slightly fired. They are used for cooling liquors. Those vessels are made 

 in France under the name of hydrocerames ; similar kinds of earthenware are also 

 manufactured in Staffordshire and Derbyshire. 



AI.CIDJE. A family of sea-birds, to which the Guillemots and Penguins belong. 

 The Patagonian Penguin is larger than a goose, slate-coloured on the back, and white 

 with a black mark on the breast, encircled by a citron-yellow cravat. The plumage 

 is very close, and the breast is used as tippets and for trimming ladies' dresses. 

 The black Guillemot ( Uria grylle) also yields its feathers to meet th* requirements 

 of fashion. 



AZiCOHOIi. (Alcool, Fr. ; Alkohol, or Weingeist, Ger.) The word alcohol is 

 derived from the Hebrew word ' kohol,' ^p|3 to paint. The Oriental females were and 

 are still in the habit of painting the eyebrows with various pigments ; the one generally 

 employed was a preparation of antimony, and to this the term was generally applied. 

 It became, however, gradually extended to all substances used for the purpose, 

 and ultimately to strong spirits, which were employed, probably, as solvents 

 for certain colouring principles. The term was subsequently exclusively used 

 to designate ardent spirite, and ultimately the radical or principle upon which their 

 strength depends. 



As chemistry advanced, alcohol was found to be a member only of a class of bodies 

 agreeing with it in general characters ; and hence the term is now generic, and we 

 speak of the various alcohols. Of these, common or vinous alcohol is the best known ; 

 and, in common life, by ' alcoholic liquors,' we invariably mean those containing the 

 original or vinous alcohol. 



