Online Encyclopedia

LIME (O. Eng. lim, Lat. limes, mud, f...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 693 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LIME (O. Eng. lim,
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Lat. limes, mud, from linere, to smear)
  , the name given to a viscous exudation of the holly-tree, used for snaring birds and known as "
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bird-lime." In chemistry, it is the popular name of calcium
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oxide, CaO, a substance employed in very early times as a component of mortars and cementing materials . It is prepared by the burning of
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limestone (a
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process described by Dioscorides and Pliny) in kilns similar to those described under CEMENT . The value and subsequent treatment of the product depend on the purity of the limestone; a pure stone yields a " fat " lime which readily slakes; an impure stone, especially if
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magnesia be
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present, yields an almost unslakable " poor " lime . See CEMENT, CONCRETE and
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MORTAR, for details . Pure calcium oxide "
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quick-lime," obtained by
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heating the pure carbonate, is a white amorphous substance, which can be readily melted and boiled in the electric
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furnace, cubic and acicular crystals being deposited on cooling the vapour . It combines with
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water, evolving much heat and crumbling to pieces; this operation is termed " slaking " and the resulting product " slaked lime "; it is chemically
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equivalent to the conversion of the oxide into
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hydrate . A solution of the hydrate in water, known as lime-water, has a weakly alkaline reaction; it is employed in the detection of carbonic acid . " Milk of lime " consists of a cream of the hydrate and water . Dry lime has no
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action upon chlorine, carbon dioxide and
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sulphur dioxide, although in the presence of water combination ensues . In
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medicine lime-water, applied externally, is an astringent and desiccative, and it enters into the preparation of linamentum calcis and carron oil which are employed to heal burns, eczema, &c . Applied internally, lime-water is an antacid; it prevents the curdling of milk in large lumps (hence its
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prescription for infants); it also acts as a gastric sedative . Calcium phosphate is much employed in treating
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rickets, and calcium chloride in haemoptysis and haemophylia .

It is an antidote for

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mineral and oxalic acid poisoning .

End of Article: LIME (O. Eng. lim, Lat. limes, mud, from linere, to smear)
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