ALKALI  , an Arabic See also:

• TERM

term originally applied to the ashes of See also:

• PLANTS

plants, from which by lixiviation carbonate of soda was obtained in the See also:

• CASE
• CASE, JOHN (d. 1600)

case of See also:

• SEA (in O. Eng. sae, a common Teutonic word; cf. Ger. See, Dutch Zee, &c.; the ultimate source is uncertain)
• SEA, COMMAND OF THE

sea-plants and carbonate of potash in that of See also:

• LAND

land-plants . The method of making these " mild " alkalis into " See also:

• CAUSTIC (Gr. rcavvraubs, burning)

caustic " alkalis by treatment with See also:

• LIME
• LIME (O. Eng. lim, Lat. limes, mud, from linere, to smear)

lime was practised in the See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time of See also:

• PLINY, THE ELDER
• PLINY, THE YOUNGER

Pliny in connexion with the manufacture of See also:

• SOAP

soap, and it was also known that the ashes of See also:

• SHORE

shore-plants yielded a hard soap and those of land-plants a soft one . But the two substances were generally confounded as " fixed alkali " (carbonate of See also:

• AMMONIA (NH3)

ammonia being " volatile alkali "), till See also:

• DUHAMEL, JEAN BAPTISTE (1624-1706)

Duhamel du Monceau in 1736 established the fact that See also:

• COMMON

common See also:

• SALT (a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch zout, Ger. Salz, Scand. salt; cognate with Gr. &Xs, Lat. sal)
• SALT, SIR TITUS, BART

salt and the ashes of sea-plants contain the same See also:

• BASE

base as is found in natural deposits of soda salts (" See also:

• MINERAL

mineral alkali "), and that this See also:

• BODY

body is different from the " See also:

• VEGETABLE

vegetable alkali " obtained by incinerating land-plants or See also:

• WOOD, ANTHONY A2 (1632-1695)
• WOOD, JOHN GEORGE (1827—1889)
• WOOD, MRS HENRY [ELLEN] (1814—1887)
• WOOD, SEARLES VALENTINE (1798—188o)

wood (pot-ashes) . Later, See also:

• MARTIN (Martinus)
• MARTIN, BON LOUIS HENRI (1810-1883)
• MARTIN, CLAUD (1735-1800)
• MARTIN, FRANCOIS XAVIER (1762-1846)
• MARTIN, HOMER DODGE (1836-1897)
• MARTIN, JOHN (1789-1854)
• MARTIN, LUTHER (1748-1826)
• MARTIN, SIR THEODORE (1816-1909)
• MARTIN, SIR WILLIAM FANSHAWE (1801–1895)
• MARTIN, ST (c. 316-400)
• MARTIN, WILLIAM (1767-1810)

Martin Heinrich See also:

• KLAPROTH, HEINRICH JULIUS (1783-1835)
• KLAPROTH, MARTIN HEINRICH (1743-1817)

Klaproth, finding vegetable alkali in certain minerals, such as See also:

• LEUCITE

leucite, proposed to distinguish it as potash, and .at the same time assigned to the mineral alkali the name natron, which survives in the See also:

• SYMBOL (Gr. o-uµ(3oXov, a sign)

symbol, Na, now used for See also:

• SODIUM [symbol Na, from Lat. natrium; atomic weight 23.00 (0=16)]

sodium . The word alkali supplied the symbol for See also:

• POTASSIUM [symbol K (from kalium), atomic weight 39.114 0=16)]

potassium, K (kalium) . In See also:

• MODERN

modern See also:

• CHEMISTRY
• CHEMISTRY (formerly "chymistry"; Gr. xvµela; for derivation see ALCHEMY)

chemistry alkali is a See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general term used for compounds which have the See also:

• PROPERTY

property of neutralizing acids, and is applied more particularly to the highly soluble hydrates of sodium and potassium and of the three rarer "alkali metals," See also:

• CAESIUM (symbol Cs, atomic weight 132.9)

caesium, See also:

• RUBIDIUM [symbol Rb, atomic weight 85.45 (0=16)]

rubidium and See also:

• LITHIUM [symbol Li, atomic weight 7•oo (0=16)]

lithium, also to aqueous ammonia . In a smaller degree these alkaline properties are shared by the less soluble hydrates of the "metals of the alkaline earths," See also:

• CALCIUM [symbol Ca, atomic weight 40.0 (o= x6)]

calcium, See also:

• BARIUM (symbol Ba, atomic weight 137'37 [0=16])

barium and See also:

• STRONTIUM [Symbol Sr, atomic weight 87.62 (0=16)]

strontium, and by See also:

• THALLIUM

thallium See also:

• HYDRATE

hydrate . An alkali is distinguished from an See also:

• ACID (from the Lat. root ac-, sharp; acere, to be sour)

acid or neutral substance by its See also:

• ACTION

action on See also:

• LITMUS (apparently a corruption of lacmus, Dutch lacmoes, lac, lac, and moes, pulp, due to association with " lit," an obsolete word for dye, colour; the Ger. equivalent is Lac/emus, Fr tournesol)

litmus, See also:

• TURMERIC (from Fr. terre Write, turmeric, Lat. terra merita, deserved, i.e. excellent earth; Skeat suggests that it is a barbarous corruption, perhaps of Arabic karkam, kurkum, saffron or curcuma)

turmeric and other indicators .