LABORATORY n.
The workroom of a chemist; also, a place devoted to experiments in any branch of natural science; as, a chemical, physical, or biological laboratory. Hence, by extension, a place where something is prepared, or some operation is performed; as, the liver is the laboratory of the bile.
LAMP n.
gnition of a jet of hydrogen on being led over platinum sponge; -- named after the German chemist Döbereiner, who invented it. Called also philosopher's lamp. -- Flameless lamp, an aphlogistic lamp. -- Lamp burner, the part of a lamp where the wick is exposed and ignited. Knight. -- Lamp fount, a reservoir for oil,…
LUNAR a.
ared to be used as a cautery; -- so named because silver was called luna by the ancient alchemists. -- Lunar cycle. Same as Metonic cycle. See under Cycle. -- Lunar distance, the angular distance of the moon from the sun, a star, or a planet, employed for determining longitude by the lunar method. -- Lunar method, t…
MULTIPLICATION n.
The art of increasing gold or silver by magic, -- attributed formerly to the alchemists. [Obs.] Chaucer. Multiplication table, a table giving the product of a set of numbers multiplied in some regular way; commonly, a table giving the products of the first ten or twelve numbers multiplied successively by 1, 2, 3, etc.,…
NATURAL a.
as a whole, incuding the sciences of botany, zoölogy, geology, mineralogy, paleontology, chemistry, and physics. In recent usage the term is often restricted to the sciences of botany and zoölogy collectively, and sometimes to the science of zoology alone. -- Natural law, that instinctive sense of justice and of righ…
NEO- n.
A prefix meaning new, recent, late; and in chemistry designating specifically that variety of metameric hydrocarbons which, when the name was applied, had been recently classified, and in which at least one carbon atom in connected directly with four other carbon atoms; -- contrasted with normal and iso-; as, neopentan…
NIEPCE'S PROCESS n.
A process, now no longer used, invented by J. N. Niepce, a French chemist, in 1829. It depends upon the action of light in rendering a thin layer of bitumen, with which the plate is coated, insoluble.
NITROGEN n.
e, and as such is incapable of supporting life (hence the name azote still used by French chemists); but it forms many important compounds, as ammonia, nitric acid, the cyanides, etc, and is a constituent of all organized living tissues, animal or vegetable. Symbol N. Atomic weight 14. It was formerly regarded as a per…
NOBEL PRIZES n.
warded yearly for what is regarded as the most important work during the year in physics, chemistry, medicine or physiology, idealistic literature, and service in the interest of peace. The prizes, averaging $40,000 each, were first awarded in 1901.