See also:

• BORAX (sodium pyroborate or sodium biborate)

BORAX (See also:

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

sodium pyroborate or sodium biborate)  , Na2B4O7, a substance which appears in See also:

• COMMERCE
• COMMERCE (Lat. commercium, from, cum, together, and rnerx, merchandise)

commerce under two forms, namely " See also:

• COMMON

common " or prismatic See also:

• BORAX (sodium pyroborate or sodium biborate)

borax, Na2B4O7.10H2O, and " jewellers' " or octahedral borax, Na2B4O7.5H2O . It is to be noted that the See also:

• TERM

term " borax " was used by the alchemists in a very vague manner, and is therefore not to be taken as meaning the substance now specifically known by the name . Prismatic borax is found widely distributed as a natural product (see below, See also:

• MINERALOGY

Mineralogy) in See also:

• TIBET, or THIBET

Tibet, and in See also:

• CANADA

Canada, See also:

• PERU
• PERU (apparently from Biru, a small river on the west coast of Colombia, where Pizarro landed)

Peru and Transylvania, while the See also:

• BED
• BED (a common Teutonic word, cf. German Bett, probably connected with the Indo-European root bhodh, seen in the Lat. fodere, to dig; so " a dug-out place " for safe resting, or in the same sense as a garden " bed ")

bed of Borax See also:

• LAKE
• LAKE, GERARD LAKE, 1ST VISCOUNT (1744-1808)

Lake, near Clear Lake in See also:

• CALIFORNIA
• CALIFORNIA, LOWER (Baja California)
• CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY OF

California, is occupied by a large See also:

• MASS (O.E. maesse; Fr. messe; Ger. Messe; Ital. messa; from eccl. Lat. missa)
• MASS, IN

mass of crystallized borax, which is See also:

• FIT

fit for use by the assayer without undergoing any preliminary See also:

• PURIFICATION

purification . The See also:

• SUPPLY (through Fr. from Lat. supplere, to fill up)

supply of borax is, however, mainly derived from the boric See also:

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

acid of See also:

• TUSCANY
• TUSCANY (Toscana)

Tuscany, which is fused in a reverberatory See also:

• FURNACE

furnace with See also:

• HALF

half its See also:

• WEIGHT

weight of See also:

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

sodium carbonate, and the mass after cooling is extracted with warm See also:

• WATER

water . An alternative method is to dissolve sodium carbonate in See also:

• LEAD
• LEAD (pronounced iced)

lead-lined See also:

• STEAM
• STEAM (0. Eng. steam, vapour, smoke, cf. Du. steam; the origin is unknown)

steam-heated pans, and add the boric acid gradually; the See also:

• SOLUTION (from Lat. solvere, to loosen, dissolve)

solution then being concentrated until the borax crystallizes . Borax is also prepared from the naturally occurring See also:

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

calcium borate, which is mixed in a finely divided See also:

• CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition with the requisite quantity of soda ash; the mixture is fused, extracted with water and concentrated until the solution commences to crystallize . From a supersaturated aqueous solution of borax, the pentahydrate, Na2B407.5H20, is deposited when evaporation takes See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place at somewhat high temperatures . The same See also:

• HYDRATE

hydrate can be prepared by dissolving borax in water until the solution has a specific gravity of 1.246 and then allowing the solution to cool . The pentahydrate is deposited between 79° C. and 56° C.; below this temperature the decahydrate or',See also:

• ORDINARY (med. Lat. ordinarius, Fr. ordinaire)

ordinary borax, Na,B407.10H20, is deposited . Crystals of ordinary borax swell up to a very See also:

• GREAT

great extent on See also:

• HEATING

heating, losing their water of See also:

• CRYSTALLIZATION

crystallization and melting to a clear See also:

• WHITE
• WHITE, ANDREW DICKSON (1832– )
• WHITE, GILBERT (1720–1793)
• WHITE, HENRY KIRKE (1785-1806)
• WHITE, HUGH LAWSON (1773-1840)
• WHITE, JOSEPH BLANCO (1775-1841)
• WHITE, RICHARD GRANT (1822-1885)
• WHITE, ROBERT (1645-1704)
• WHITE, SIR GEORGE STUART (1835– )
• WHITE, SIR THOMAS (1492-1567)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM ARTHUR (1824--1891)
• WHITE, SIR WILLIAM HENRY (1845– )
• WHITE, THOMAS (1628-1698)
• WHITE, THOMAS (c. 1550-1624)

white See also:

• GLASS
• GLASS (O.E. glees, cf. Ger. Glas, perhaps derived from an old Teutonic root gla-, a variant of glo-, having the general sense of shining, cf. " glare," " glow ")
• GLASS, STAINED

glass . The crystals of octahedral borax fuse more easily than those of the prismatic See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form and are less liable to split when heated, so that they are preferable for soldering or fluxing . Fused borax dissolves many metallic oxides, forming complex borates which in many cases show (characteristic See also:

• COLOURS, MILITARY

colours .

Its use in soldering depends on the fact that See also:

• SOLDER (derived through the French from Lat. soldare, to make solidus, firm)

solder only adheres to the See also:

• SURFACE

surface of an untarnished See also:

• METAL
• METAL (through Fr. from Lat. metallum, mine, quarry, adapted from Gr. µATaXAov, in the same sense, probably connected with ,ueraAAdv, to search after, explore, µeTa, after, aAAos, other)

metal, and consequently a little borax is placed on the surface of the metal and heated by the soldering See also:

• IRON [symbol Fe, atomic weight 55.85 (0=16)]

iron in See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order to remove any superficial film of See also:

• OXIDE

oxide . It is also used for See also:

• GLAZING

glazing pottery, in glass-making and the glazing of See also:

• LINEN

linen . Boric acid (q.v.) being only a weak acid, its salts readily undergo hydrolytic See also:

• DISSOCIATION

dissociation in aqueous solution, and this See also:

• PROPERTY

property can be readily shown with a concentrated aqueous solution of borax, for by adding 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 and then just sufficient acetic acid to turn the litmus red, the addition of a large See also:

• VOLUME

volume of water to the solution changes the See also:

• COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour back to See also:

• BLUE (common in different forms to most European languages)

blue again . The boric acid being scarcelyionized gives only a very small quantity of See also:

• HYDROGEN [symbol H, atomic weight x-oo8 (0=16)]

hydrogen ions, whilst the See also:

• BASE

base (sodium hydroxide) produced by the See also:

• HYDROLYSIS (Gr. 6Swp, water, Anew, to loosen)

hydrolysis occasioned by the dilution of the solution, being a " strong base," is highly ionized and gives a comparatively large amount of hydroxyl ions . In the solution, therefore, there is now an excess of hydroxyl ions; consequently it has an alkaline reaction and the litmus turns blue . Mineralogy.—The Tibetan See also:

• MINERAL

mineral deposits have been known since very See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early times, and formerly the crude material was exported to See also:

• EUROPE

Europe, under the name of tincal, for the preparation of pure borax and other See also:

• BORON (symbol B, atomic weight I I)

boron salts . The most See also:

• WESTERLY

westerly of the Tibetan deposits are in the lake-See also:

• PLAIN (O. Fr. plain, from Lat. plenum)

plain of Pugha on the Rulangchu, a tributary of the See also:

• INDUS

Indus, at an See also:

• ELEVATION

elevation of 15,000 ft.: here the impure borax (sohaga) occurs over an See also:

• AREA

area of about 2 sq. m., and is covered by a saline efflorescence; successive crops are obtained by the See also:

• ACTION

action of See also:

• RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain and See also:

• SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow and subsequent evaporation . Deposits of purer material (chit 'See also:

• SALE
• SALE, GEORGE (c. 1697-1736)
• SALE, SIR ROBERT HENRY (1782—1845)

sale or water borax) occur at the lakes of See also:

• RUDOK

Rudok, situated to the See also:

• EAST
• EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

east of the Pugha See also:

• DISTRICT

district; also still farther to the east at the great lakes Tengri Nor, See also:

• NORTH
• NORTH, BARONS
• NORTH, MARIANNE (1830—1890)
• NORTH, ROGER (1653-1734)
• NORTH, SIR THOMAS (1535?-16o1?)

north of See also:

• LHASA (LIIASSA, LASSA, " God's ground ")

Lhasa, and several other places . More recently, the extensive deposits of borates (chiefly, however, of calcium; see See also:

• COLEMANITE

COLEMANITE) in the See also:

• MOHAVE (corrupted from hamok-habi; " three mountains," their native name, with reference to three peaks, which form a prominent feature of their country)

Mohave See also:

• DESERT

desert on the See also:

• BORDERS, THE

borders of California and See also:

• NEVADA
• NEVADA (a Spanish word meaning " snow-clad " or " snowy land," originally applied to a snow-capped mountain range on the Pacific slope)

Nevada, and in the See also:

• ATACAMA
• ATACAMA, DESERT OF

Atacama desert in See also:

• SOUTH
• SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

South See also:

• AMERICA

America, have been the See also:

• CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief commercial See also:

• SOURCES

sources of boron compounds . The boron contained in solution in the 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 lakes has very probably been supplied by hot springs and solfataras of volcanic origin, such as those which at the See also:

• PRESENT

present See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day See also:

• CHARGE
• CHARGE (through the Fr. from the Late Lat. carricare, to load in a carrus or wagon; cf. " cargo ")

charge the See also:

• WATERS, TERRITORIAL

waters of the lagoons in Tuscany with boric acid . The deposits formed by evaporation from these lakes and marshes or salines, are mixtures of borates, various alkaline salts (sodium carbonate, sulphate, chloride), See also:

• GYPSUM

gypsum, &c . In the mud of the lakes and in the surrounding marshy See also:

• SOIL

soil See also:

• FINE

fine isolated crystals of borax are frequently found .

For example, crystals up to 7 in. in length and weighing a See also:

• POUND
• POUND (2)—(a)

pound each have been found in large See also:

• NUMBERS, BOOK OF
• NUMBERS, PARTITION OF

numbers at Borax Lake in Lake See also:

• COUNTY (through Norm. Fr. comae, cf. O. Fr. cunte, conk', Mod. Fr. comae, from Lat. comitatus, cf. Ital. comitato, Prov. comtat; see COUNT)

county, and at Borax Lake in See also:

• SAN

San Bernardino county, both in California . Borax crystallizes with ten molecules of water, the See also:

• COMPOSITION
• COMPOSITION (Lat. compositio, from componere, to put together)

composition of the crystals being Na2B4O7+10H2O . The crystals belong to the See also:

• MONOCLINIC

monoclinic See also:

• SYSTEM

system, and it is a curious fact that in See also:

• HABIT (through the French from Lat. habitus, from habere, to have, hold, or, in a reflective sense, to be in a certain condition; in many of the English senses the French use habitude, not habit)

habit and angles they closely resemble See also:

• PYROXENE

pyroxene (a silicate of calcium, See also:

• MAGNESIUM [symbol Mg, atomic weight 24.32 (0 = 16)]

magnesium and iron) . There is a perfect cleavage parallel to the orthopinacoid and less perfect cleavages parallel to the faces of the See also:

• PRISM (Gr. rrpivµa, properly a thing sawn, Irpii"ety, to saw)

prism . The mineral is transparent to opaque and white, sometimes greyish, bluish or greenish in colour . Hardness 2–21; sp. gr . 1.69-1.72 . The See also:

• OPTICAL

optical characters are interesting, because of the striking crossed See also:

• DISPERSION
• DISPERSION (from Lat. dispergere, to scatter)

dispersion of the optic axes, of which phenomenon borax affords the best example . The optic figure seen in convergent polarized See also:

• LIGHT

light through a See also:

• SECTION
• SECTION (Lat. sectio, cutting, secare, to cut)

section cut parallel to the See also:

• PLANE

plane of symmetry of a borax crystal is symmetrical only with respect to the central point . The plane of the optic axes for red light is inclined at 2° to that for blue light, and the See also:

• ANGLE (from the Lat. angulus, a corner, a diminutive, of which the primitive form, angus, does not occur in Latin; cognate are the Lat. angere, to compress into a bend or to strangle, and the Gr. ayKOS, a bend; both connected with the Aryan root ank-, to

angle between the optic axes themselves is 3° greater for red than for blue light .