British Eighteenth-Century Chemical Terms

Sacchareted Lime: Calcium oxalate (CaC₂O₄).
Saccharum Saturni: Lead acetate (Pb(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Saffron: A range of orange-yellow colors. The color called saffron comes from the dye of the same name, which is an extract of the plant Crocus sativus.
Saffron of Gold.: See Aurum Fulminans.
Saffron of Iron.: See Saffron of Mars.
Saffron of Mars: Any yellowish iron compound, e.g., hydrated ferroso ferric oxide (Fe₃O₄ ^. xH₂O) or ferric sulfide (Fe₂S₃).
Saffron of Metal: A mixture of antimony sulfide (Sb₂S₃), nitre (KNO₃), and antimony sulfate (Sb₂(SO₄)₃).
Sal Absinthi (Salt of Wormwood): Mostly potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Sal Albus: Borax (sodium tetraborate) (Na₂B₄O₇ ^. 10H₂O).
Sal Alkali Vitriolatum: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Alkanus Vegetablis: Potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Sal Amarum: Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄).
Sal Ammoniac (Sal Armoniac): Ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl). Sometimes used for other ammonium salts.
Sal Ammoniacum Fixum: Calcium chloride (CaCl₂)
Sal Ammoniacum Volatilis: A term variously used for any salt solution that gave off the odor of ammonia. When referring to solid salts the term meant ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃).
Sal Anglicum (Epsom Salt): Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄).
Sal Catharticum: Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄).
Sal Catharticum Amarum: Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄).
Sal Catholicum: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal de Duobus: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal de Seignette (Sal de Soinette): See Seignetteís Salt.
Sal Digestiv: Potassium chloride (KCl).
Sal di Modena: Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄).
Sal Diureticus: Potassium acetate (KC₂H₃O₂).
Sal Duplicatum: Potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Enixum: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Epsom (Epsom Salt): Magnesium sulfate (MgSO₄).
Sales Medii: See Sal Medium.
Sales Salsi: See Sal Salsam.
Sal gemme (Sal Gem): Sodium chloride (NaCl).
Sal Gentianae: Mostly potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Sal Glauber (Glauberís salt): Sodium sulfate (Na₂SO₄).
Sal Guaiaci ex Ligno: Mostly potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Saline Bodies (Cullen): Substances which are (a) sapid, (b) miscible with water, and (c) noninflammable.
Salited Earths, Metals, etc.: Chlorides (Cl¯).
Sal Juniperi: Mostly potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Sal Kali (Sodium Carbonate): Soda (Na₂CO₃).
Sal Marinus: Sea Salt; mostly sodium chloride (NaCl).
Sal Marinus Fontan: Sodium chloride (NaCl) as found in or near landlocked bodies of water.
Sal Marinus Regeneratus: Potassium chloride (KCl).
Sal Martis: Ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄).
Sal Medium (Sal Salsum) (Sales Medii): Any neutral salt that would not precipitate solutions made with acid or alkaline slats and would not change the color of syrup of violets.
Salmiac: See Salt Ammoniac.
Sal Mirabile (Glauber's salt): Sodium sulphate (Na₂SO₄).
Sal Nitriforme Inflammable: Probably ammonium nitrate ((NH₄)NO₃).
Sal Nitrii: Potassium nitrate (KNO₃).
Sal Perlatum: Sodium phosphate (Na₂PO₄).
Sal Polychrestrum: Potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Polychrestrum Anglorum (Sal Polychrestrum Glaseri): Potassium sulphate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Polychrestrum de Rochelle: See Sal Polychrestrum de Seignette.
Sal Polychrestrum de Seignette: Potassium sodium tartrate (NaKC₄H₄O₆).
Sal Polychrestrum e Nitro et Sulphure: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Polychrestrum Glaseri: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Prunellae: A mixutre of potassium nitrate and potassium sulfate (KNO₃; K₂SO₄).
Sal Rupellensis (Rochelle Salt): Hydrated potassium sodium tartrate (KNaC₄H₄O₆ ^.4H₂O).
Sal Salsam: Any neutral combination of anacid with alkali. (see also Neutral Salts, Sal Medium, or Salts.)
Sal Sapientiae: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sal Saturni: Lead acetate (PbC₂H₃O₂).
Sal Sedivatus (Sedative Salt): Boracic boric acid, (H₃BO₃).
Sal Sennerti: Potassium acetate (KC₂H₃O₂).
Sal Soda (Salt Soda, Soda): Sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃).
Sal Succini (Salt of Amber): Succinic acid (HO₂CCH₂CH₂CO₂H).
Salt: In the 16th and 17th centuries this term denoted a group of solid soluble, nonimflammable substances with characteristic tastes. In the 18th century salts gradually became to be thought of in terms of process, as, for example, the product of the reaction between acids and bases, acids and other salts, or between two salts, etc. Some chemists regarded acids and bases themselves as salts or at least some saline substances. In general, salts were increasingly recognized as the largest and most important class of substances as the eighteenth century progressed.
Salt Alembroth: A mixture of equal parts of corrosive sublimate (mercuric chloride, HgCl₂) and sal ammoniac (NH₄Cl). Used as a flux for metals.
Sal Tartari: Potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃). It usually was produced by strongly heating tartar.
Salt Ash: Magnesium chloride (MgCl₂).
Salt of Amber: Succinic acid (C₄H₆O₄).
Salt of Art: See Salt Alembroth.
Salt of Benzoin: Benzoic acid (C₆H₅COOH).
Salt of Centaury: Solid residues obtained from the calcination of any of the plant species of the genus Centaurea.
Salt of Chalk: Calcium acetate (Ca(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Salt of Colcothar: Probably impure ferric hydroxide(Fe(OH)₃).
Salt of Coral: Calcium acetate (Ca(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Salt of Crab's Eye: Calcium acetate (Ca(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Salt of England: Ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃).
Salt of Epsom: See Epsom Salt.
Salt of Gall-Nuts: Tannic acid (C₇₆H₅₂O₄₆).
Salt of Glass: A mixture of the various salts found in raw materials used in glassmaking. These included fixed alkali (potassium carbonate), common salt (sodium chloride), Glauber's salt (sodium sulfate), vitriolate tartar (potassium sulfate), etc.
Salt of Hartshorn: Ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃).
Salt of Human Blood: A mixture if ammonium salts, including ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH), and various organic solids.
Salt of Lead (Sugar of Lead) (Sal Saturn): Lead acetate (Pb(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Salt of Lime: Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) precipitated from limewater (calcium hydroxide solution, Ca(OH)₂) by a carbonate compound.
Salt of Mars: Most often used for ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄). Occasionally used as a general term for any iron salt and as a specific name for ferrous acetate (Fe(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Salt of Milk: Probably calcium lactate (Ca(C₃H₅O₃)₂).
Salt of Oxbone: Impure ammonium salts from bone extracts of cattle (NH₄OH).
Salt of Science: See Salt Alembroth.
Salt of Sedlitz: See Sedlitz Salt. (Sometimes sedlitz salt was confused with Glauber's salt.)
Salt of Soda: See Soda.
Salt of Sorrel: Acid potassium oxylate (KHC₂O₄).
Salt of Steel: Loosely applied to various iron salts. Most commonly applied to martial vitriol. (Ferrous Sulfate; FeSO₄).
Salt of Sulphur: Impure potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Salt of Sylvius (Febrifugal Salt of Sylvius): Potassium chloride (KCl).
Salt of Tachenius: Impure potassium and sodium carbonates (K₂CO₃, Na₂CO₃) obtained from the incomplete combustion of plant products. These salts contained organic impurities.
Salt of Tartar: Potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Salt of Urine: Impure ammonium salts extracted from urine.
Salt of Vinegar: Impure potassium sulfate. Probably mixed with acetates and citrates.
Salt of Wisdom: See Salt Alembroth.
Salt of Wormwood: Mostly potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Sal Vitrioli: Ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄).
Sal Volatile Fixatum: Ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄).
Sal Volatile Oleosi: Any solid extracted from animals or vegetable matter containing ammonium salts, e.g., salts of hartshorn, etc.
Sandarach: (1) See Realgar; (2) a resin from the tree Callitris quadrivalvis.
Sadniver (Glass Gall): A solution containing a mixture of salts found on the surface of glass after vitrification.
Saphire: See Sapphire.
Sapid: To have a decided, yet pleasant taste.
Saponaceous: To be soapy, slippery, sometimes foaming.
Sapphire: A clear blue gem material which is like ruby, a crystalline form of alumina. ( Al₂O₃
Sarcocolla: A gum resin imported form the Middle East.
Sarsparilla: The roots of plants of the family smilaceae from which gummy and resious extracts are obtained.
Sassafras: A term applied both to the reee Sassafras officinale and to its bark when dried and prepared.
Saturation: The action by which a "perfect" union between an acid and an alkali is accomplished. Its product is a neutral salt.
Saturn (of Saturn): Used in referring to lead or to compounds containing lead.
Saunders: See Red Saunders.
Scammony: A gummy, resinous juice from the root of the plant Convolvulvus scammonia.
Scheele's Green: Cupric hydrogen arsenite (CuHAsO₃).
Schorl: A black mineral. Now known as a variety of tourmaline.
Schwartz Blei Weiss (Black White-Lead): Plumago (graphite) (C_N).
Scordium: The plant Teucrium scordium from which gummy and resious extracts are obtained. It has an odor of garlic.
Scoria: The undesirable solid residues or slag which remain after a metal has been separated from an ore.
Scorification: Any process which produces scoria or slag. Sometimes used for processes which ield metal or semimetals. Scorifiation usually involved the addition of other substances to the ore, then heating.
Secret Fixed Sulphur of the Philosophers: Calcined residue when sulphur is distilled with linseed oil.
Secret Sal Ammoniac (Glauber's Secret Sal Ammoniac): Ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄)).
Sedative Salt: Usually boric acid, but sometimes sodium tetraborate (Na₂B₄O₇).
Sedative Spar: Calcium borate (CaB₄O₇).
Sedlitz Salt (Epsom Salt): Magnesium Sulphate (MgSO₄).
Seignette's Salt: Sodium potassium tartrate (Rochelle's salt) (NaKC₄H₄O₆).
Selenite: The various minerals forms of Calcium sulphate (CaSO₄).
Selenitic Spar: Any mineral assigned to the family of "spars" that could be calcined like gypsum (CaSO₄ ^. 2H₂O).
Semi-Metals: Substances which have the properties characteristic of metals except for ductility and which sublime. Different chemists had different lists, but most included antimony (Sb), arsenic (As); bismuth (Bi), cobalt (Co), and Zinc (Zn). Some included mercury (Hg) and, later in the century, nickel (Ni).
Sena (Senna): Several similar plants of the genus Cassia from the leaves of which gummy and resinous extracts were obtained.
Senegal: A gum extract from the root of the North American species Polygala senega.
Senna: See Sena.
Separationg-Glass: A vessel narrow at the top, then bellying out in the center, and narrowing again to a hollow tube or stem. Shaped somewhat like the modern spearatory funnel anbd often used for similiar purposes.
Serpentine: A steatite, usually green.
Shoot: When crystals appeared, especially suddenly in a saturated solution, they were said to "shoot".
Siderum: Iron phosphide (Fe₃P).
Silex: Silicon dioxide (SiO₂).
Silicious Earth (Silcia): Silicon dioxide (SiO₂).
Similor: A copper zinc alloy with a color approximating that of real gold.
Slaked Lime: Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)₂).
Smalt: A blue, glassy substance used as a pigment. The blue comes from cobaltous oxide (CuO). Smalt also contains silica (SiO₂).
Smelting: The process opf extracting a metal from its ore.
Smo(a)king Spirit of Libavius: Primarily stannous chloride (SnCl₂) but with chlorides of mercury mixed in.
Smo(a)king Spirit of Nitre: Concentrated nitric acid (HNO₃).
Snow of Antimony: See Flowers of Antimony.
Soap: In general, any chemical combination of acids, bases, or salts with oils that exhibit detergent action. Common soap was the product of sodium hydroxide with an oil or fat.
Soap of Glass: Manganese dioxide (MnO₂) in its role of agent to remove color bodies from glass while the glass is molten.
Soap-Rock: See Steatites.
Soapstone: See Steatite
Soda: Sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃)
Soda Baryllia (Spanish): Sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃)
Soda Hispanica (Washing Soda): Sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃)
Solder: Any fusible metal alloy used for joining two pieces of metal. Most types were alloys of tin and lead.
Soluble Tartar: Normal potassium tartrate. Probably (K₂C₄H₄O₆)
Solution: Any liquid in which one component called the "solute" is dispersed in a second component called the "solvent."
Solvend ( Cullen): Solute
Soot: Carbon and hydrocarbon deposits from incomplete combustion of fuels.
Sorrel: Various plants of the genus Rumex from which an acid salt (acid potassium acetate) was extracted.
Spanish Earth: Vitriols (mixture) (CuSO₄; FeSO₄).
Spanish Green: Basic copper carbonate (2CuCO₃ ^. Cu(OH) ₂).
Spanish White: Bismuth oxychloride (or oxynitrate) (BiOCl; BiONO₃
Spar: A class of compounds characterized by a crystalline form that features shiny reflective plate surfaces.
Spath (Spat) Stone: A naturally occurring mineral solid containing mostly calcium sulfate (CaSO₄).
Spathic Iron Ore: Ferrous carbonate (FeCO₃)
Specificum Purgans Paracelsi: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄)
Spermaceti: The white fatty substance obtained from the head of the sperm whale. Used in pharmaceuticals and candles.
Sphacelated: Gangerenous
Spikenard: The aromatic extract from the Indian plant Nardostachys jalamansi. The term was also used for the plant itself.
Spirit: (1) Any liquor obtained from another substance by distillation; (2) later, any subtle substance dissolved in another substance. The concept gradually veered ttoward what we now call the gaseous state.
Sp. Ammon. Cum Calce Viva: Ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃).
Spirit Ammon. Sal. Vol.: Mostly ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃).
Spirit of Alum: Sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) obtained from the destructive distillation of alum (KAl(SO₄)₂ ^. 12H₂O).
Spirit of Hartshorn: Strong solution of ammonia produced by the distillation of hartshorn (NH₄O₄).
Spirit of Libavius: Stannic cholride (SnCl₄).
Spirit of Mindererus: Ammonium acetate solution (NH₄(C₂H₃O₂).
Spirit of Wine: Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) (C₂H₅OH).
Spiritus Aceti: The acetic acid (HC₂H₃O₂) obtained from distilling any fermented material which produces this acid, e.g., vinegar.
Spiritus Beguini: Ammonium polysulfide (fuming liquor of Boyle) ( (NH₄)₂S).
Spiritus CC: Ammonium carbonate ( (NH₄)₂CO₃).
Spiritus Nitri Coagulatus: Potassium nitrate (KNO₃).
Spiritus Nitri Dulcis (Sweet spirit of Nitre): Ethyl nitrite (C₂H₅NO₂).
Spiritus Sal Ammoniacum: See Spirit of Sal Amomoniac.
Spiritus Salis Ammoniaci Cum Sale Alkali Parata: Ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃).
Spiritus Salis Coagulatus: Potassium chloride (KCl).
Spiritus Sulphuris: See Spirit of Vitriol or Spirit of Sulphur
Spiritus Sulphuris Volatilus Beguinii: Ammonium polysulphide ((NH₄)₂S).
Spirit Veneris: Sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄).
Spiritus Vitrioli: See Spirit of Vitriol.
Spiritus Vitrioli Coagulatus: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Sp. Mind.: See Spirit of mindererus
Spout: Any hollow projection from a vessel that is used to direct the liquid flow while pouring. This term was most commonly applied to the spout on an alembic.
Spuma Lupi: The minderal from which tungsten was extracted.
Stagnant Gas (Marsh Gas): Methane (CH₄).
Stamping: Crushing of ores.
Stannum Anglici: Tin (Sn) from England.
Stannum Glaciale: Bismuth (Bi)
Starkey's Soap: Saponaceous substance from the reaction between potassium carbonate and essential oil of turpentine.
Steatite: A mineral substance composed mostly of various forms of magnesium silicate, e.g., (Mg₃Si₄O₁₁ ^. H₂O).
Steel: Regarded as a form of iron which (a) contained a larger portion of the inflammable principle and (b) had fewer chemical impurities.
Stibiated Tarter: Potassium antimonyl tartrate (KSbC₄H₄O₇).
Stibium: Antimony sulfide (Sb₂S₃).
Stick Laque: See Lac.
Stinking Sulphureous Air: Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S).
Stone of bologna: A variety of barium sulfate (BaSO₄) that became phosphorescent when calcined.
Spirit of Niter "Besiardique": Nitric acid added to "Butter of Antimony" and the mixture distilled to get a liquor which holds the "Regulus of Antimony" in solution.
Spirit of Nitre: Dilute nitric acid (HNO₃).
Spirit of Ammoniac: Ammonia (NH₃), or ammonium hydroxide solution (NH₄OH).
Spirit of Salt: hydrochloric acid (HCl).
Spirit of Saturn: Impure acetone made from lead acetate (CH₃COCH₃).
Spirit of Sea-Salt: Hydrochloric acid (HCl).
Spirit of Sulfer: Mixture of sulfuric and sulfurous acids (H₂SO₄; H₂SO₃).
Spirit of Tatar: Potassium hydrogen tartrate (KHC4H4O6). Product of the dry distillation of crude tartar.
Spirit of Urine: Ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃). Derived from an impure solution of ammonia obtained by the distillation of urine.
Spirit of Venus: Concentrated and relatively pure acetic acid (HC₂H₃O₂).
Spirit of Verdigris: Acetic acid (HC₂H₃O₂).
Spirit of Vinegar: Impure acetic acid obtained by distilling vinegar (HC₂H₃O₂).
Spirit of Vitriol: Dilute sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) and/ or sulfurous acid (H₂SO₃).
Strontia: Strontium oxide (SrO).
Sublimate: Solid or concrete products of sublimation. Not powder.
Sublimation: A property possessed by some substances enabling their going directly from the solid to the gaseous state without passing through the liquid phase.
Subsatnia Ferrea Vitrioli: Ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃).
Succinum: Amber.
Sudorific: Any medicinal substance which promoted, or was believed to promote, sweating.
Sugar of (A Subtance): Usually signifying an acetate (C₂H₃O₂).
Sugar of Lead: Lead acetate (Pb(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Sulphur: (a) As a "principle," in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries the substantive causes of the properties of inflammablility, color, and odor; (b) in the doctrined of phlogiston, a compound composed of vitriolic (sulfuric) acid and the inflammable principle, "phlogiston."
Sulphur Album Fixum: Potassium nitrate (KNO₃).
Sulphurated Iron: Ferrous sulphide (FeS).
Sulphur Minerale: Solid mineral sulphur (S).
Sulphur Of Antimony (Golden Sulphur of Antimony): The orange sulfide of antimony, usually a mixture of the trisulfide (Sb₂S₃) with some of the pentasulfide (Sb₂S₅).
Sulphureous Salt of Stahl: Impure potassium sulfite (K₂SO₃).
Sulphureous Acid: Sulfurous acid (H₂SO₄).
Sulphurets: Sulfides (S).
Sulphureum (Bergman): Sulfurous acid (H₂SO₃).
Sulphurous Acid (Pre-Lavoisier): Sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄).
Sulphur Vivum: Naturally occurring sulphur (S).
Superolefiant Gas (Dalton): Butylene (C₄H₈).
Swedish Acid: Hydrofluoric acid (HF).
Sweetened Spirit of Salt: Ethyl chloride (C₂H₅Cl).
Sweet Mercury (Mercureous Dulis): Mercurous chloride (Hg₂Cl₂).
Sweet Principle from oils and fats: Glycerol (HOCH₂CHOHCH₂OH).
Sweet Sublimate: Mercurous chloride (Hg₂Cl₂).
Sympathetic Ink: Any solution that is colorless but becomes dark (and thus visible) by heating, by addition of other chemicals, etc.
Syrup of Violets: A water extract of the petals of violets.
Syrupus Violatum: See Syrup of Violets.

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Tabasheer (Tabachir): A white powder formed at the joints of bamboo shoots. Imported from the Orient and used as a medicinal.
Talc: A mixture of magnesium metasilicilate (Mg₃H₂(SiO₄)₃) with magnesium silicate (Mg₃Si₄O₁₁ ^. H₂O).
Talky Earths: (a) fibrous earths; (b) earths that suffer no change from the action of acids or fire; (c) earths that do not become viscid or hard when made into aqueous paste, e.g., asbestos.
Tannin: Any astringent vegetable substance that can react with animal hyde and convert it to leather. The most common tannin was tannic acid extracted from oak-galls.
Tar: The dense, black, inflammable liquid or semisolid obtained from the distillation of various woods or coal. A complex mixture of hydrocarbons and organic compounds.
Tartar: Potassium hydrogen tartrate (K₄HC₄H₄O₆).
Tartarated Alkali of Tartar: Potassium tartrate (K₂C₄H₄O₆).
Tarter Emetic (Stibiated Tartar): potassium antimonyl tartrate (KSbC₄H₄O₇).
Tartarified Iron: see Chalybs Tartar.
Tartarified Tincture of Iron: Ferrous tartrate solution (FeC₄H₄O₆).
Tartarin: A term occasionally used for potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Tartarized Tartar: Potassium tartrate (K₂C₄H₄O₆).
Tartarized Tincture of Mars: Not a true alcohol solution, this medicinal was dubbed a tincture largely because of its deep color. Probably iron tartrate (FeC₄H₄O₆).
Tartarum Regeneratum (Regenerated Tartar): Potassium acetate (KC₂H₃O₃) for the most part, but also used for assorted potassium salts. Not very well defined.
Tartarum Solubus (Soluble Salt of Tartar): Potassium tartrate (K₂C₄H₄O₆).
Tartarum Tartisatum: Potassium tartrate (K₂C₄H₄O₆).
Tartarum Vitriolatum (Vitriolated Tartar): Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Tartarus Citratus: Potassium citrate (K₃C₆H₅O₇ ^. H₂O).
Tartarus Nitratus: Potassium nitrate (KNO₃.
Tartarus Tartarisatus: Potassium tartrate (K₂C₄H₄O₆).
Tartarus Vitriolatus: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄).
Tartre Stybie (Tartar Emetic): Potassium antimonyl tartrate (KSbC₄H₄O₇).
Tar Water: A solution of the water-soluble components of tar. Mostly alcohols and polar organic materials.
Tectum Argenti: Bismuth (Bi).
Terebinth: The resin from the terebinth tree Pistacia terebinthuis.
Terebinthaceous: Impregnated with turpentine, having turpentine as a component, or just similar to turpentine.
Terebinthine: The refined portion or the "spirit" of the resin from the terebinth and other trees having similar resins. Very similar to what we now call turpentine.
Terra Anglica Rubra: Ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃).
Terra Foliata Nitri: Potassium acetate (KC₂H₃O₂).
Terra Foliata Tartari: See Regenerated Tartar.
Terra Foliata Tartari Crystallisabilis: Sodium acetate (NaC₂H₃O₂).
Terra Foliata Secretissima: Solid potassium acetate (KC₂H₃O₂)₂.
Terra Francisca: Assorted sulfates (e.g., FeSO₄, CuSO₄)
Terra Molybdaenea: Molybdic acid (H₂MoO₄(H₂).
Terra Ponderosa: Barium sulfate (BaSO₄).
Terra Ponderosa Acetate: Barium acetate (Ba(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Terra Ponderosa Aerata: Barium carbonate (BaCO₃).
Terra Ponderosa Molybdaenata: Barium molybdate (BaMoO₄).
Terra Foliee Animale: Ammonium acetate (NH₄C₂H₃O₂).
Terra Foliee Crystallisee: Sodium acetate (NaC₂H₃O₂).
Test: A large cupel used for refining substantial quantities of gold and silver by means of lead.
Testaceous Earths: Mineral solids that came from or were chemically similar to shells. Thus, "testaceous powders" were prepared from shells.
Testing: The operation of refining gold and silver by means of lead.
Theriac: A general term for an antidote for the poison of a venomous snake.
Tincal (Tinkal): Crude borax imported from India.
Tinct. Tartari: Solution of potassium hydroxide (KOH) in alcohol.
Tinctura Antimonii: See Tincture of Antimony.
Tincture: A solution in which ethanol is the primary solvent. The term was applied most often to colored solutions.
Tincture of Antimony: A medicinal prepared from antimony metal and liver of suphur (potassium polysulfides).
Tincture of Coral: Crude acetone (CH₃COCH₃).
Tincture of Mars: A general term for various medicinal preparations involving iron salts. Common components included ferrous hydroxide and mixed tartrates and oxides.
Tincture of Mars of Mynsight: An alcohol solution in which the solute is primarily ferric chloride (FeCl₃).
Tin-Glass: Bismuth (Bi).
Tinging: When one substance tinges or slightly colors another.
Torrefaction: Roasting of ores in the hope of removing impurities.
Tourmaline (Tourmalin, Ash-Stone): A mineral solid consisting of various forms of silicoborate, including the black mineral "Schorl."
Tournsole: See Turnsol.
Triplesalts: Salts which seemed to have three components rather than the usual two, e.g., alum (KAl (SO₄)₂ ^. 12H₂O).
Tripoli (Infusoria Earth, Rotten-Stone): A finely divided mineral solid used for polishing. Obtained from the shells of diatoms.
Tritorium: A vessel used for the separation of immisicible liquids. It was often shaped somewhat like two modern separatory funnels cut near their tops and fused together. Basically the same as a separating glass.
Trituration: Mechanical breakdown or division of solid substances through grinding; e.g., with mortar and pestle, in a mill, etc.
Triture: See Trituration.
Trona: Naturally occurring sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃). It usually had some bicarbonate (NaHCO₃) in it as well.
Tubulated Retort: A retort which had a sealable opening in the top to allow addition or removal of material without changing the position of the retort.
Tung Spat: See Heavy Spar.
Tunsgten (Scheelite): Native calcium tungstate (CaWO₄)
Turmaric: A powder mad from the root of the imported East Indian plant Curcuna Longa.
Turners Yellow: Yellow lead oxychloride (PbCl₂ ^. 3PbO).
Turnsol (e): The bluish purple substance from the plant lichen Crozophora tinctoria. Used as an indicator. Synonymous with litmus.
Turpentine: A resinous liquid extracted from various trees. Originally the extract of the terebinith tree Distacia terebinthus.
Turpeth Mineral (Turbeth Mineral): Basic mercuric sulphate (HgSO₄ ^. 2HgO).
Tutenag (Chinese Copper): A term occasionally applied to zinc (Zn). Also used for a white metal alloy (Chinese copper) which consisted primarily of copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), and nickel (Ni). Used to alloy silver in coins and jewelry items.
Tutia: See Tutty.
Tutty: Zinc oxide (ZnO).

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Uliginous: Any water, oozing matter like that in a swamp.
Ulmin: A mucilagenous substance from the inner bark of the elm.
Ultramarine: A blue pigment mad from the gem mineral lapis lazuli. The relative composition of ultramarine is not fixed, but the largest component is a sodium aluminum silicate combined with sulphur.
Umber: A mineral solid which exists in a range of brown hues. Chemically, umber is mostly a mixture of hydrous ferric oxide (Fe₂O ^. xH₂O) and manganese dioxide (MnO₂). It was believed by many in the eighteenth century to be a fossil wood originally found in Umbria near Spoleto in Italy.
Unctuous: Oily; i.e., viscous, adherent and lubricating.
Unctuous Oils: Oils that have little or no taste or odor but are relatively "oily"; i.e., are viscous, adherent, and lubricating.
Urinou Salts: Usually any ammonium salt. Sometimes any of the alkali carbonates.
Ustulation: The loss of volatile components of a substance without loss of texture or body. Cf. Calcination.

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Vague Acid of Mines: An aeriform fluid which was probably largely sulphur dioxide (SO₂).
Vapour: Rather loosely applied to any aeriform substance or phase. Perhaps the best eighteenth century definition was any aeriform substance that could be liquefied by cold.
Vapour of Arsenic: Aresenious oxide (As₂O₃)
Varnish: A resin in solution. "Spirit" varnishes were resins dissolved in turpentine or alcohol. "Oil" varnishes were resins dissolved in linseed and/or other oils.
Vegetable Acid: Any acidic substance extracted from whole or fermented vegetable matter. Thus, the term was applied to acetic (CH₃COOH), citric (C₆H₈O₇), and tartaric (C₄H₆O₆) acids, etc.
Vegetable Acid, Fermentative: Primarily acetic acid from vinegar (HC₂H₃O₂).
Vegetative Acid, Native: Citric acid (C₆H₈O₇)
Vegetable Alkali (Potash): Potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃).
Vegetable Ammoniacal Salt: Solid ammonium acetate (NH₄C₂H₃O₂)
Vegetable Salt: See Tartarified Tartar or Soluble Tartar.
Venus (of Venus): Usually suggested either copper or a compound of copper. Sometimes it simply indicated an acetate. (C₂H₃O₂¯).
Verdigris (Verdigrise): A basic copper acetate (Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂ ^. 2Cu(OH)₂). Long used as a green pigment.
Verditer (Blue Verditer; Blue Bice): A blue pigment made from a basic copper carbonate (2CuCO₃ ^. Cu(OH)₂) which is chemically the same as azurite.
Vermillion: The red pigment made from cinnabar (mercuric sulfide, HgS). See Cinnabar.
Vine Black: A preparation of carbon from the twigs and wood of vines. Used as a black pigment.
Vinegar of Lead: Primarily lead acetate (Pb(C₂H₃O₂)₂).
Vital Air: Oxygen (O₂)
Vitiated Air: Air from which oxygen has been removed, thus mainly nitrogen.
Vitresant (Vitrifiable): Any solid that could be made into "glass".
Vitrifiable Earths (Vitreous Earths): Mineral substances which fuse under the action of fire.
Vitrification: The chemical part of the process of making glass or of any high-temperature process which produced a glass-like substance.
Vitriol: Used mainly for ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄), but a generic term for sulfates. As with many old terms, the usage varied; e.g., some used the term for nitrates of silver and copper.
Vitriol, Blue: Copper sulfate (CuSO₄)
Vitriol, Green: Ferrous (or iron) sulfate (FeSO₄)
Vitriol, White: Zinc sulfate (ZnSO₄)
Vitriol (or Vitriolic) Acid: Sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄)
Vitriolated Earths, Metals, etc.: Sulphates.
Vitriolated Ether: Diethyl ether (C₄H₁₀O).
Vitriolated Tartar: Potassium sulfate (K₂SO₄)
Vitriolic Ether: Diethyl ether (C₄H₁₀O).
Vitriol of Goslar (White Vitriol): Zinc sulfate (ZnSO₄)
Vitriol of Jove: Stannous sulfate (SnSO₄)
Vitriol of Jupiter: Stannous acetate (Sn(C₂H₃O₂)₂)
Vitriol of Mars (Green Vitriol): Ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄)
Vitriol of Quick Silver: Mercuric nitrate (Hg(NO₃)₂)
Vitriol of Saturn: Lead acetate (Pb(C₂H₃O₂))
Vitriol of Silver: Occasionally, early in the century, silver nitrate (AgNO₃). As the century progressed, the term was more reasonably applied to silver sulfate (Ag₂SO₄)
Vitriol of Venus: Cupric sulfate (CuSO₄)
Vitriolum Album: See White Vitriol.
Vitriolum Ammonium: Ammonium sulfate ((NH₄)₂SO₄)
Vitriolum Anglicum: Ferrous sulfate (FeSO₄)
Vitriolum Veneris cum Alkali Fixo Praecipitatum: Basic copper acetate (Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂ ^. CuO ^. 6 H₂O)
Vitrium Antimonii (Glass of Antimony): Fused antimony oxide (Sb₂O₃)
Vivifying Spirit: A hypothetical principle in the air which, according to some early eighteenth century chemists, was the active agent in combustion and respiration.
Volatile: An adjective usually used to indicate not only that a substance naturally gave off some aeriform component (as indicated by an odor) but also that it decomposed easily and gave off one or more aeriform components to the air on heating.
Volatile Acid of Nitre: Nitrous acid (HNO₂)
Volatile Acid of Sulfur (Phlogisticated Vitriolic Acid): Sulfurous acid (H₂SO₃)
Volatile Alkali: A term most commonly used for solutions of ammonia; e.g., ammonium hydroxide.
Volatile Alkali in its Concrete Form: Ammonium carbonate (NH₄CO₃)
Volatile Liver of Sulfur: Volatile product from heating sulfur with quicklime and ammonium chloride.
Volatile Sal Ammoniac: Ammonium hydroxide solution.
Volatile Salt: Ammonium carbonate ((NH₄)₂CO₃)
Volatile Salt of Amber: See Salt of Amber
Volatile Salt of Hartshorn: Ammonium carbonate (NH₄CO₃)
Volatile Spirit of Sal Ammoniac: Ammonium hydroxide (NH₄OH) obtained from quicklime (calcium oxide) and sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride).
Volatile Spirit of Sulfur: The aeriform product from burning sulfur; mostly sulfur dioxide
Volatile Vitriol of Venus: Copper acetate Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂

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Wash: Any fermented mixture which, after distillation, would produce distilled spirits (ethanol CH₃CH₂OH, with impurities).
Water gas: Mixture of hydrogen (H₂) and carbon monoxide (CO)
Water of Minderus: A solution of ammonium acetate (NH₄C₂H₃O₂).
Water of Rabel: A solution of ethyl ether (CH₃CH₂OCH₂CH₃) in ethanol (CH₃CH₂OH)
Wax: A term referring to beeswax only, as the hydrocarbon waxes were not available in the eighteenth century.
Whey: The liquid which remains after milk is curdled, usually in the process of cheese-making
White Arsenic: Arsenious oxide (As₂O₃)
White Calx of Antimony: Mixture of antimony oxide (Sb₂O₃) and potassium oxide (K₂O).
White Copper: An alloy of arsenic (As), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn).
White Copperas: Zinc sulphate (ZnSO₄)
White Lead: Basic lead carbonate (Pb(CO₃)₂ ^. Pb (OH)₂)
White Manganese: Manganous carbonate (MnCO₃)
White Precipitated Mercury (Precipitate of Sublimate of Mercury): Mercurammonium chloride (HgNH₂Cl)
White Vitriol: Zinc sulphate (ZnSO₄)
Wind Furnace: A reverberating furnace.
Wine: Often used more broadly by eighteenth-century chemists to include any potable liquid which had become "spiritous" through fermentation; e.g., beer, cider, and mead.
Witherite: Barium carbonate (BaCO₃).
Woad: A blue dye prepared from the leaves of the plant Isatis tinctoria.
Wolfram: A mineral substance Spumi lupi that was under investigation in the 18th century.
Wood Ash: Potassum carbonate (K₂CO₃)
Worm: A long, coiled tube, usually of copper, attached to the head of a distillation apparatus for the purpose of increasing condensation. A worm commonly was used in ditilling spirits.
Wormwood: The plant Artemisia absinthium, the leaves of which were used to make an extract by distillation. Used as a medicinal.
Wort: An infusion of grain, usually malt, which was fermented to produce beer.
Woulfe Bottle: A bottle with two or more necked orifices that was used in distillation.

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Yellow: A yellow coloring agent produced by treating indigo with dilute nitric acid. This substance proved to be unstable and seldom was used as dye.
Yellow Aqua Fortis: Concentrated nitric acid (HNO₃).
Yellow Arsenic: Arsenious sulphide (As₂S₃).
Yellow Ochre: Hydrated ferric oxide (Fe₂O₃ ^. H₂O).
Yttria: A mixture of rare earth elements from the mineral gadolinite. Primarily the trioxide of yttrium (Y₂O₃).

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Zaffre (Saffre): A gray or reddish powder composed mostly of cobalt oxide (CaO).
Zeolites: A group of mineral solids which are various hydrated silicates, primarily of aluminum, calcium, potassium, and sodium. Although not really related, they share the property of swelling and "boiling" under the heat of the blowpipe.
Zinc (Zinco, Zinetum): Regarded in the eighteenth century as a semi-metal because of its relative brittleness.