Naph·tha n.
 1. Chem. The complex mixture of volatile, liquid, inflammable hydrocarbons, occurring naturally, and usually called crude petroleum, mineral oil, or rock oil.  Specifically: That portion of the distillate obtained in the refinement of petroleum which is intermediate between the lighter gasoline and the heavier benzine, and has a specific gravity of about 0.7, -- used as a solvent for varnishes, as a carburetant, illuminant, etc.
 2. Chem. One of several volatile inflammable liquids obtained by the distillation of certain carbonaceous materials and resembling the naphtha from petroleum; as, Boghead naphtha, from Boghead coal (obtained at Boghead, Scotland); crude naphtha, or light oil, from coal tar; wood naphtha, from wood, etc.
 Note: ☞ This term was applied by the earlier chemical writers to a number of volatile, strong smelling, inflammable liquids, chiefly belonging to the ethers, as the sulphate, nitrate, or acetate of ethyl.
 Naphtha vitrioli  Old Chem., common ethyl ether; -- formerly called sulphuric ether. See Ether.

 ◄ ►


 Spir·it n.
 1. Air set in motion by breathing; breath; hence, sometimes, life itself. [Obs.] “All of spirit would deprive.”
 The mild air, with season moderate,
 Gently attempered, and disposed eo well,
 That still it breathed foorth sweet spirit.   --Spenser.
 2. A rough breathing; an aspirate, as the letter h; also, a mark to denote aspiration; a breathing. [Obs.]
    Be it a letter or spirit, we have great use for it.   --B. Jonson.
 3. Life, or living substance, considered independently of corporeal existence; an intelligence conceived of apart from any physical organization or embodiment; vital essence, force, or energy, as distinct from matter.
 4. The intelligent, immaterial and immortal part of man; the soul, in distinction from the body in which it resides; the agent or subject of vital and spiritual functions, whether spiritual or material.
    There is a spirit in man; and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.   --Job xxxii. 8.
    As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.   --James ii. 26.
    Spirit is a substance wherein thinking, knowing, doubting, and a power of moving, do subsist.   --Locke.
 5. Specifically, a disembodied soul; the human soul after it has left the body.
    Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.   --Eccl. xii. 7.
 Ye gentle spirits far away,
 With whom we shared the cup of grace.   --Keble.
 6. Any supernatural being, good or bad; an apparition; a specter; a ghost; also, sometimes, a sprite,; a fairy; an elf.
    Whilst young, preserve his tender mind from all impressions of spirits and goblins in the dark.   --Locke.
 7. Energy, vivacity, ardor, enthusiasm, courage, etc.
    =\“Write it then, quickly,” replied Bede; and summoning all his spirits together, like the last blaze of a candle going out, he indited it, and expired.\=   --Fuller.
 8. One who is vivacious or lively; one who evinces great activity or peculiar characteristics of mind or temper; as, a ruling spirit; a schismatic spirit.
    Such spirits as he desired to please, such would I choose for my judges.   --Dryden.
 9. Temper or disposition of mind; mental condition or disposition; intellectual or moral state; -- often in the plural; as, to be cheerful, or in good spirits; to be downhearted, or in bad spirits.
    God has . . . made a spirit of building succeed a spirit of pulling down.   --South.
 A perfect judge will read each work of wit
 With the same spirit that its author writ.   --Pope.
 10. Intent; real meaning; -- opposed to the letter, or to formal statement; also, characteristic quality, especially such as is derived from the individual genius or the personal character; as, the spirit of an enterprise, of a document, or the like.
 11. Tenuous, volatile, airy, or vapory substance, possessed of active qualities.
    All bodies have spirits . . . within them.   --Bacon.
 12. Any liquid produced by distillation; especially, alcohol, the spirits, or spirit, of wine (it having been first distilled from wine): -- often in the plural.
 13. pl. Rum, whisky, brandy, gin, and other distilled liquors having much alcohol, in distinction from wine and malt liquors.
 14. Med. A solution in alcohol of a volatile principle.  Cf. Tincture.
 15. Alchemy Any one of the four substances, sulphur, sal ammoniac, quicksilver, or arsenic (or, according to some, orpiment).
    The four spirits and the bodies seven.   --Chaucer.
 16. Dyeing Stannic chloride. See under Stannic.
 Note: ☞ Spirit is sometimes joined with other words, forming compounds, generally of obvious signification; as, spirit-moving, spirit-searching, spirit-stirring, etc.
 Astral spirits, Familiar spirits, etc. See under Astral, Familiar, etc.
 Animal spirits. (a) Physiol. The fluid which at one time was supposed to circulate through the nerves and was regarded as the agent of sensation and motion; -- called also the nervous fluid, or nervous principle. (b) Physical health and energy; frolicsomeness; sportiveness.
 Ardent spirits, strong alcoholic liquors, as brandy, rum, whisky, etc., obtained by distillation.
 Holy Spirit, or The Spirit Theol., the Spirit of God, or the third person of the Trinity; the Holy Ghost.  The spirit also signifies the human spirit as influenced or animated by the Divine Spirit.
 Proof spirit. Chem. See under Proof.
 Rectified spirit Chem., spirit rendered purer or more concentrated by redistillation, so as to increase the percentage of absolute alcohol.
 Spirit butterfly Zool., any one of numerous species of delicate butterflies of tropical America belonging to the genus Ithomia. The wings are gauzy and nearly destitute of scales.
 Spirit duck. Zool. (a) The buffle-headed duck. (b) The golden-eye.
 Spirit lamp Art, a lamp in which alcohol or methylated spirit is burned.
 Spirit level. See under Level.
 Spirit of hartshorn. Old Chem. See under Hartshorn.
 Spirit of Mindererus Med., an aqueous solution of acetate of ammonium; -- named after R. Minderer, physician of Augsburg.
 Spirit of nitrous ether Med. Chem., a pale yellow liquid, of a sweetish taste and a pleasant ethereal odor. It is obtained by the distillation of alcohol with nitric and sulphuric acids, and consists essentially of ethyl nitrite with a little acetic aldehyde. It is used as a diaphoretic, diuretic, antispasmodic, etc.  Called also sweet spirit of niter.
 Spirit of salt Chem., hydrochloric acid; -- so called because obtained from salt and sulphuric acid. [Obs.]
 Spirit of sense, the utmost refinement of sensation. [Obs.] --Shak.
 Spirits of turpentine, or Spirit of turpentine Chem., rectified oil of turpentine, a transparent, colorless, volatile, and very inflammable liquid, distilled from the turpentine of the various species of pine; camphine.  It is commonly used to remove paint from surfaces, or to dissole oil-based paint.  See Camphine.
 Spirit of vitriol Chem., sulphuric acid; -- so called because formerly obtained by the distillation of green vitriol. [Obs.]
 Spirit of vitriolic ether Chem. ethyl ether; -- often but incorrectly called sulphuric ether.  See Ether. [Obs.]
 Spirits of wine, or Spirit of wine Chem., alcohol; -- so called because formerly obtained by the distillation of wine.
 Spirit rapper, one who practices spirit rapping; a “medium” so called.
 Spirit rapping, an alleged form of communication with the spirits of the dead by raps. See Spiritualism, 3.
 Sweet spirit of niter. See Spirit of nitrous ether, above.
 Syn: -- Life; ardor; energy; fire; courage; animatioon; cheerfulness; vivacity; enterprise.


 Sul·phu·ric a.
 1. Of or pertaining to sulphur; as, a sulphuric smell.
 2. Chem. Derived from, or containing, sulphur; specifically, designating those compounds in which the element has a higher valence as contrasted with the sulphurous compounds; as, sulphuric acid.
 Sulphuric acid. (a) Sulphur trioxide (see under Sulphur); -- formerly so called on the dualistic theory of salts. [Obs.] (b) A heavy, corrosive, oily liquid, H2SO4, colorless when pure, but usually yellowish or brownish, produced by the combined action of sulphur dioxide, oxygen (from the air), steam, and nitric fumes. It attacks and dissolves many metals and other intractable substances, sets free most acids from their salts, and is used in the manufacture of hydrochloric and nitric acids, of soda, of bleaching powders, etc. It is also powerful dehydrating agent, having a strong affinity for water, and eating and corroding paper, wood, clothing, etc.   It is thus used in the manufacture of ether, of imitation parchment, and of nitroglycerin. It is also used in etching iron, in removing iron scale from forgings, in petroleum refining, etc., and in general its manufacture is the most important and fundamental of all the chemical industries. Formerly called vitriolic acid, and now popularly vitriol, and oil of vitriol.
 Fuming sulphuric acid, or Nordhausen sulphuric acid. See Disulphuric acid, under Disulphuric.
 Sulphuric anhydride, sulphur trioxide. See under Sulphur.
 Sulphuric ether, common anaesthetic ether; -- so called because made by the catalytic action of sulphuric acid on alcohol. See Ether, 3 (a).

 ◄ ►


 E·ther n.  [Written also æther.]
 1. Physics A medium of great elasticity and extreme tenuity, once supposed to pervade all space, the interior of solid bodies not excepted, and to be the medium of transmission of light and heat; hence often called luminiferous ether.  It is no longer believed that such a medium is required for the transmission of electromagnetic waves; the modern use of the term is mostly a figurative term for empty space, or for literary effect, and not intended to imply the actual existence of a physical medium.  However. modern cosmological theories based on quantum field theory do not rule out the possibility that the inherent energy of the vacuum is greater than zero, in which case the concept of an ether pervading the vacuum may have more than metaphoric meaning.
 2. Supposed matter above the air; the air itself.
 3. Chem. (a) A light, volatile, mobile, inflammable liquid, (C2H5)2O, of a characteristic aromatic odor, obtained by the distillation of alcohol with sulphuric acid, and hence called also sulphuric ether.  It is a powerful solvent of fats, resins, and pyroxylin, but finds its chief use as an anæsthetic. Commonly called ethyl ether to distinguish it from other ethers, and also ethyl oxide. (b) Any similar compound in which an oxygen atom is bound to two different carbon atoms, each of which is part of an organic radical; as, amyl ether; valeric ether; methyl ethyl ether.  The general formular for an ether is ROR´, in which R and R´ are organic radicals which may be of similar or different structure.  If R and R´ are different parts of the same organic radical, the structure forms a cyclic ether.
 Complex ether, Mixed ether Chem., an ether in which the ether oxygen is attached to two radicals having different structures; as, ethyl methyl ether, C2H5.O.CH3.
 Compound ether Chem., an ethereal salt or a salt of some hydrocarbon as the base; an ester.
 Ether engine Mach., a condensing engine like a steam engine, but operated by the vapor of ether instead of by steam.

 ◄ ►