44 ADHESIVE INFLAMMATION. 
That there is a limit to the exercise of adhe- 
sion, is evident from the phenomenon of a satu- 
rated solution. Thus the adhesion between water 
and a salt goes on destroying the cohesive force 
of the latter, until the two opposing forces are 
nearly balanced, when suddenly there is a cessa- 
tion of solution, and the liquid is said to be satu- 
rated. See SoLurion. 
The effect of adhesion between gaseous bodies 
and solids is often of influence; thus when, fine 
particles of iron, lead, &c., are thrown on water, 
the portion of air adhering to their surface is so 
great as to prevent their sinking until they have 
accumulated so that their gravity is superior to 
the buoyancy of the air. For the interference 
of the adhesion between air and glass, see Baro- 
METER. It is believed that the adhesion of va- 
| pour of water to glass interferes with its evapo- 
rization, as steam escapes more freely from me- 
tallic surfaces. In the weighing of gases, after 
_ the exhaustion of the air in the flask, the gas to 
| be weighed should be admitted several times in 
_ order to expel all the atmospheric air, for there 
can be no doubt: that its adhesion to the glass 
tends to retain a portion, and to alter the exact 
weight of the gas. 
The attraction of aqueous vapour from the air 
by some animal and vegetable substances, has 
led to their adoption to measure the hygrometric 
condition of the air. See articles Hycromernr, 
HyYGRoscopn. 
The force of heterogeneous adhesion might be 
measured in many instances, if other forces and 
circumstances did not modify and diminish its 
action; we may, nevertheless, approximately de- 
termine it. Thus, if a dry plug of wood be tightly 
fitted into one end of a stout tube of glass or por- 
celain, and a projecting portion be allowed to 
dip into water, the wood will swell by the en- 
trance of the liquid into its pores so as to burst 
the tube, though capable of resisting a pressure 
of more than 700 lbs. to the square inch. This 
force is also applied to split rocks, holes being 
bored into them, which are rammed with dry 
wooden wedges and moistened, so that, by swel- 
ling from capillary action, the wood. splits the 
rock in the required direction. 
The interfering forces are gravity, cohesion, 
&c. The solution of salt, &c., in water is opposed 
by both, the latter more than the former. Heat 
generally assists adhesion in the case of solution, 
solids dissolving usually in larger quantities of a 
heated than a cold liquid. This effect may arise 
from the fact that heat is an antagonist force of 
cohesion. On the other hand, heat may diminish 
it, as in certain solutions (sulphate of soda), &c., 
or we may destroy the force, as in evaporating a 
solution to recover a dissolved solid, in distilling 
where we collect the liquid without the solid. 
Cold may likewise be employed to separate a 
solid from solution. See Arrracrion.—Booth’s 
and Boye’s Enclyclopedia of Chemistry. 
ADHESIVE INFLAMMATION. That kind 
ADULT. 
of inflammation which terminates by an adhesion 
between inflamed and separated surfaces. When 
the lungs, bowels, &c., are highly inflamed, their 
external coats are glued, as it were, to the adja- 
jent membranes lining the chest or belly, and 
thus adhesions are formed. 
ADIANTHUM. See Marprennarr. 
ADLUMIA. A tall climbing annual, from 
North America, and of the fumitory tribe. It is 
chiefly remarkable for covering a large space in 
the course of a summer. 
ADONIS, or Purasant’s Eyz. A small genus 
of common, hardy, flowering plants, of the crow- 
foot tribe. Three annual species, and one peren- 
nial, are well known in even villa and cottage 
gardens; the former called Adonis autumnalis, 
estivalis, and flaminea, and the latter called Ado- 
nis vernalis. Two other species have been intro- 
duced ; and about eight species continue to be 
unknown in Britain. One of the annual kinds 
grows naturally in Kent, particularly on the 
banks of the river Medway, between Maidstone 
and Rochester ; it abounds there in fields which 
are sown with winter-wheat ; and though it is 
rarely seen in fields sown with spring-corn, yet 
if these fields are in lea or grass the next year, it 
then appears in great profusion. The flower, 
when fully expanded, has some resemblance to a 
drop of blood surmounting the leaves of carrots ; 
and, a number of years ago, it was carried in 
great quantities to the markets of London, and 
sold in the streets, under the name of red morocco. 
The annual kinds, when either self-sown or arti- 
ficially sown in autumn, bloom in the beginning 
of June, and mature their seeds in August and 
September ; and those sown in spring bloom in 
July or August, and mature their seeds in Octo- 
ber. They grow in almost any situation, but 
thrive best in a light soil; and they may be pro- 
cured in a succession, not only by sowings at dif- 
ferent periods, but by sowings in different soils 
and exposures, some in the shade and some in 
open ground. The perennial adonis is a native 
of the mountainous districts of many parts of 
Germany, but has been very long naturalized 
in the gardens of Britain. It has an annual stem, 
though a perennial root; it carries a yellow 
flower ; and it blooms in the end of March or be- 
ginning of April, and matures its seeds in August. 
The roots of the adonis are used by the Germans 
for black hellebore; the seeds, bruised and given 
in wine or beer, have been recommended for stone 
and colics ; and a hot infusion of the whole plant 
has been administered for promoting a gentle 
perspiration. But possibly its alleged properties 
as an antispasmodic and a diuretic belong rather 
to the wine with which it is mixed; and its al- 
leged properties as a diuretic to the hot water in 
which it is administered. 
ADOXA. See MoscHaret. 
ADULT. A full-grown animal. In man, the 
term is used to denote the age succeeding adol- 
escence, and preceding oid age. 
