calx

Definition

The substance which remains after a metal or mineral has been thoroughly burnt, once seen as being the essential substance left after the expulsion of phlogiston, but now recognised as being the metallic oxide (or, in some cases, the metal in a state of sublimation).

Etymology

From Latin calx (“lime”). Doublet of cauk and chalk.

Example Sentences

• "[S]ome ladies apply to what are termed coſmetics under various names, which crowd the newspapers. Of theſe the white has deſtroyed the health of thouſands; a calx, or magiſtery, of biſmuth is ſuppoſed to be ſold in the ſhops for this purpoſe; but it is either, I am informed, in part or entirely white lead or ceruffa. […] The real calx of biſmuth would probably have the ſame ill effect."
• "The regeneration of mercury from its calx, without addition of any other substance, had been a chief example for anti-phlogiston, but that could, as Kirwan showed, be explained in a way consistent with phlogiston theory."