CHALCHIHUITL 757 



centrifugal pump pointed out. In August 1838, M. Combes took out a brevet 

 ^invention, entitled ' Pour un machine universelle, a force centrale, propre a de"placer 

 les liquides et les fluides aeriformes ' (Becherches theoriques et experimentales sur les 

 Boues a Reaction ou a Tuyaux, par M. Ch. Combes, and ' Jurors' Eeport of Great Exhi- 

 bition,' 1851). Many ventilating machines for mines are constructed on this principle. 

 (See VENTILATING MINES ; also TURBINE.) Whirling machines, which are used for drying 

 cloth, sugar, and other things, are entirely dependent on the action of centrifugal 

 force. These machines are called hydro-extractors. 



CERASIN. The name given by Dr. John to those gums which swell but do not 

 dissolve in water ; such as gam tragacanth. It is synonymous with BASSOBINE. 



CERATE, from cera, wax. An unguent, of rather a stiff consistence, made of oil, 

 or lard, and wax, thickened occasionally with pulverulent matters. 



CBREAXiXxr. (Ctrealine, Fr.) A nitrogenous substance found by M. Mego 

 Mouries in bran. See BREAD. 



CEREALS. Grasses cultivated for sake of their grain, used as food-stuffs. They 

 comprise wheat, barley, rye, oats, maize, and rice. The name is derived from the 

 goddess Ceres. 



CERESINE. A by-product obtained in purifying ozokerite for the manufacture 

 of paraffin. By treating the crude product with sulphuric and sulphurous acids, and 

 then with alkalis, pure cerasine is obtained in the form of a white semi-transparent 

 opaline substance, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol, fusing at about 143 F., 

 and having a specific gravity of 0'88. In Vienna, ceresine has been used as a substitute 

 for bees' -wax in certain pharmaceutical preparations. This article is sold in round, 

 thin plates, a few inches in diameter. It is faultlessly white, scentless, harder than 

 wax, and translucent at the edges. The fracture resembles somewhat that of wax, 

 but it cannot be kneaded, either in warm water or between the fingers. It is not 

 attacked by acids, either hot or cold, and is not in the slightest degree saponified by 

 caustic alkalis. It is volatile at high temperatures and distils over unchanged. It 

 is closely analogous to paraffin and stearine, but is rendered more waxy in appearance, 

 by being cooled slowly. See CANDLES OZOKERITE. 



CERINE. A substance which forms from 70 to 80 percent, of bees'-wax. It may 

 be obtained by digesting wax for some time in spirit of wine at a boiling temperature. 

 The myricine separates, while the cerine remains dissolved, and may be obtained from 

 the decanted liquor by evaporation. Cerine is white, analogous to wax, fusible at 

 134 F., hardly acted upon by hot nitric acid, but is readily carbonised by hot sul- 

 phuric acid. "When treated with caustic-alkali ley, it is converted into margaric acid 

 and cerdine. 



CERIUM. A peculiar metal discovered in connection with lanthanum and didy- 

 mium, in cerite, attanite, orthite, and a few other minerals of rare occurrence, found in 

 Sweden. Cerium has also been detected by Prof. Church in a Cornish mineral, which 

 he found to consist of a hydrous phosphate of cerium ; this mineral has been named by 

 Mr. Greville C. "Williams, Churchite. 



Cerium, extracted from its chloride by potassium, appears as a dark red or chocolate 

 powder, which assumes a metallic lustre by friction. It does not conduct electricity 

 well, like other metals ; it is infusible ; its specific gravity is unknown. It has 

 been applied to no use in the arts. See "Watts's 'Dictionary of Chemistry.' 



CEROSXX7E. A name applied to the wax of the sugar-cane. 



C EROTIC ACID. An acid obtained by the action of boiling alcohol on bees'* 

 wax, or by the destructive distillation of Chinese wax. 



CERUSE. A name of white lead. See WHITE LEAD. 



CERUSXTE or CERUSSITE. Native carbonate of lead. See LEAD. 



CEYLON CATECHU. A variety of the Bombay Catechu. 



CEYIiON MOSS. (Plocaria Candida.) See Ams. 



CHABASITE. A hydrated silicate of alumina and lime. This zeolite is found 

 in the fissures of some trap rocks. 



CHAXITWORK is a peculiar style of textile fabric, to which hosiery and tambour- 

 ing belong. See HOSIERY. 



CHAKKARA. A coarse sugar obtained from the cocoa-nut and other plants. 



CH AXiC AjaTTHITE. A name occasionally applied to the native sulphate of copper. 



CHAIiCAltfTHUlYX. The ancient name of the native sulphate of iron. 



CHAXiCEDOXTY. A hard mineral of the quartz family, often cut into seals. 

 Under it may be grouped common chalcedony, heliotrope, chrysoprase, plasma, agate, 

 onyx, cat's-eye, sardonyx, carnelian, and sard. 



CHALCEDONYX. .The name of those agates in which opaque white chalcedony 

 alternates with the translucent grey variety. 



CHAXiCHlHUiTXi. A green stone prized by the ancient Mexicans fbr orna- 

 mental purposes. It has been variously referred to jade, turquoise, emerald, &c. 



