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American Dictionary of the English Language

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Vitriol


VIT'RIOL, noun [Latin vitrum, glass; perhaps from its color.]

1. In mineralogy, native vitriol is a substance of a grayish or yellowish white color, apple green, or sky blue, and when decomposed, covered with an ochery crust. It occurs in masses, disseminated, stalactical, or capillary. Externally, it is dull and rough; internally, it is more or less shining, with a vitreous silky structure. It is called by manufacturers copperas, a name derived from the flower or efflorescence of copper. This substance is seem only in cabinets.

2. In chimistry, a combination of the acid of sulphur with any metallic substance; but chiefly green vitriol or sulphate of iron; blue vitriol or sulphate of copper, and white vitriol or sulphate of zink.

All metals may be converted into vitriols, by dissolving them with acid spirits, and suffering them to stand and crystallize.