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compounds; obtained by heating ammonium oxalate, mercuric cyanide, etc. It is obtained in combination, forming an alkaline cyanide when nitrogen or a nitrogenous compound is strongly ignited with carbon and soda or potash. It conducts itself like a member of the halogen group of elements, and shows a tendency to form c…

An arrangement to attain a desired result by a combination of interested parties; -- applied to stock speculations and political bargains. [Slang]

to resolve into original elements; to set free from previously existing forms of chemical combination; to bring to dissolution; to rot or decay.

Repeated composition; a combination of compounds. [Obs.] Decomposition of forces. Same as Resolution of forces, under Resolution. -- Decomposition of light, the division of light into the prismatic colors.

under Determinate. -- Law of definite proportions (Chem.), the essential law of chemical combination that every definite compound always contains the same elements in the same proportions by weight; and, if two or more elements form more than one compound with each other, the relative proportions of each are fixed. Co…

with suitable tackle for hoisting heavy weights, as stones in building. Derrick crane, a combination of the derrick and the crane, having facility for hoisting and also for swinging the load horizontally.

To form in the mind by new combinations of ideas, new applications of principles, or new arrangement of parts; to formulate by thought; to contrive; to excogitate; to invent; to plan; to scheme; as, to devise an engine, a new mode of writing, a plan of defense, or an argument. To devise curious works. Ex. CCTV. 32. Dev…

roduced by a single object lens of crown glass is corrected by a smaller concave lens, or combination of lenses, of high dispersive power, placed at a distance in the narrower part of the converging cone of rays, usually near the middle of the tube.

differential motion. -- Differential motion, a mechanism in which a simple differential combination produces such a change of motion or force as would, with ordinary compound arrangements, require a considerable train of parts. It is used for overcoming great resistance or producing very slow or very rapid motion. -…

rre and Bouton, in which a painting is seen from a distance through a large opening. By a combination of transparent and opaque painting, and of transmitted and reflected light, and by contrivances such as screens and shutters, much diversity of scenic effect is produced.

A mingling of discordant sounds; an inharmonious combination of sounds; discord. Filled the air with barbarous dissonance. Milton.

c radicals, as the double carbonate of sodium and potassium, NaKCO3.6H2O. (b) A molecular combination of two distinct salts, as common alum, which consists of the sulphate of aluminium, and the sulphate of potassium or ammonium. -- Double shuffle, a low, noisy dance. -- Double standard (Polit. Econ.), a double standa…

cted that the work held by it may be altered as to its center of motion, so as to produce combinations of eccentric combinations of eccentric circles. -- Eccentric gear. (Mach.) (a) The whole apparatus, strap, and other parts, by which the motion of an eccentric is transmitted, as in the steam engine. (b) A cogwheel s…

the Established Church; -- called also Christian courts. [Eng.] -- Ecclesiastical law, a combination of civil and canon law as administered in ecclesiastical courts. [Eng.] -- Ecclesiastical modes (Mus.), the church modes, or the scales anciently used. -- Ecclesiastical States, the territory formerly subject to the P…

A bosslike prominence; figure in relief; raised work; jut; protuberance; esp., a combination of raised surfaces having a decorative effect. "The embossment of the figure." Addison.

An unforeseen occurrence or combination of circumstances which calls for immediate action or remedy; pressing necessity; exigency. To whom she might her doubts propose, On all emergencies that rose. Swift. A safe counselor in most difficult emergencies. Brougham.

Carbon disulphide; -- so called from certain red compounds which it produces in combination with other substances.

An agreeable combination of sounds; euphony.

alloy or mixture which has the lowest melting point which it is possible to obtain by the combination of the given components.

eing exhausted. I was seriously tormented by the thought of the exhaustibility of musical combinations. J. S. Mill.