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Dulcified Spirit of nitre-, fpiritus nitri dukis, a forni of me- dicine ordered to be made thus: take of rectified fpirit of wine one quart, and of Glauber's 'fpirit of nitre half a pound ; mix them by pouring the fpirit of nitre on the other, and diftil the mixture with a gentle heat, as long as what comes off will not raife any fermentation with a lixi- vial fait. Pembert. ibid. p. 198.
This is much ufed by our diffillcrs to give a vinofity to thofe fpirits, whofe natural flavour of that kind they have deftroyed by the improper ufe of alkaline falts in the recti- fications. Nothing can be more proper for this purpofe than this fpirit, as it really gives the brandy flavour, and is not at all prejudicial to health, but very well falls in with the nature of the fpirit, and promotes its medicinal proper- ties as a diuretic, deobftruent, and litbontriptic. In order to bring the ufe of this fpirit to a greater cer- tainty and perfection, it is. to be ob'.crved, 1. that there is a great difference in fpiritus mtri dukis, according, to the manner of its preparation ; fueh of it being m oft apt to fly off from the fpirit as had leaft pains taken about its incor- poration by dige.tion, or repeated diftiliatron.
2. Any rectified clean fpirit, impregnated with a proper dofe of fpiritus nitri dulcis, and kept in a found glafs veifel clofe ftopt, will a long time retain that vinofity it obtains from it, and which it would othcrwife have loft in a very fhort time.
3. The calks long ufed to receive- rectified fpirits, impreg- nated with this acid, ufually appear yellow and rotten, or corroded within like the bottom of a cork, 'which ftops a vial of fpirit of nitre. It hence appears no wonder that the vinous tafte, given by this addition, is fooner loft in the calk than in a bottle.
4. When the inflammable fpirit has been rectified with fixed alkalies, it always requires a much larger proportion of the
. fpiritus nitri dultis, to give it this vinofity, than when rec- tified only by repeated dift illation ; and this vinofity given by tHe acid is fooner loft, as the fpirit was more impregnated by the alkalies ufed in the rectification. This is the rea- fori of that odd obfervation, that melaffes fpirit retains the vinofity given it by fpiritus nit-fi Hutch much longer than ■ir.ak fpirit ; the former having' had little, if any, oftheal-
- fcaline fait ufed in the rectifying'it, of which the latter, by reafon of its natural foulnefs, has had a great deal.
5. The beft way of making this volatile acid, whether with or without external heat, is not ufually practifed, viz. fo as to render it a perfectly homogeneous and uninflammable li- quor, whence it proves much more volatile than it ought to be. Thus when perfect alcohol, and a well rectified ltrong
- fpirit of nitre, are by degrees put together for the making of this vinous acid ; one half of the mixture evaporates in the conflict, or may be made to diftil away fo, as to leave the other half more fixed. The method of making it is alfo improveable, by ufing in the preparation a fpirit of wine impregnated with fomc fine flavoured ingredient, which has not much oil, for acids do not-readily mix where there is much oil.
In the preparation of this dulcified fpirit of nitre, the longer it ftands in digeftion with the fpirit of wine, the milder it grows ; and by the fame means, alfo, the violently corro- five oil of vitriol may be fo blunted, as to be rendered fcarce perceptible to the tafte. In fine, a fpiritus nitri dulcis may be made by a flow digeftion, greatly fuperior to that commonly ufed, and of fo fixed a nature, that it will not be fubject to have its flavour fly off from the fpirit it is mixed with, any fooner than the native vinofity of brandy will of itfelf fly off from that fpirit, as it always will in time. A proper care in the preparation of this acid might free the diftillers from that troublefome neceffity they are under of adding their fpirit of nitre, juft before they fend their goods away, for fear the flavour fhould be loft before the fpirit is all ufed, and fo the foph iff i cation be found out. There is no fixing any certain proportion, in which the acid is to be mixed with the. fpirit, but in general it is beft not to overdo it; for though it will give an agreeable vino- fity to any tolerably clean fpirit, the perfon will be much deceived, who attempts to drown the bad flavour of a foul one by it. Shaw's Elf. on DifHllery.
Spirit of fait. See the article Salt.
Strength of Spirits. See the article Strength.
Spirit of fulfbur, the fame as oil of fulphur. See the article Sulphur.
SPIRITO, in the Italian mufic, is ufed to fignify that a per- former fhould fing or play with vigour, life, and fpirit. Hence we meet with con fpirito in cantatas and fonatas.
SPIRITUS reftor of vegetables. See the article Arch^eus.
Spiritus tartar/, the name ofa medicine very famous in Ger- many, and probably in the greater efteem, becaufe of the difficulty of preparing it. It is the fpirit of fait of tartar volatilized ; and is ordered by Langelot to be made in this manner : let two or three pounds of crude tartar be burnt to a blackncfs, in order to have what is moft nccenary, a fer- ment to ferment the tartar with ; put this into a large pot, and pour to it fo much water as will ferve to ftand an inch above it ; make this mixture luke-warm, and then pour Suppl. Vol. II,
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into it half a handful of crude tartar powdered; bubbles of air will arife upon this, and will continue fome time ; wheri they feern to decreafe, more powdered tartar is to be add- ed from time to time, to keep up this fermentation. The bubbles will be large, and rife in clutters, and referable bunches of grapes in all but colour. The fire all this time mult be carefully managed, and the tartar put in gradually^ that the fermentation do not become too great, or the pot run over.
After this the matter is to be put together into an iron re- tort, and a very gentle fire kept under it for fome time, and gradually heightened, fo as to force up all the fait; this being done, the volatilized fait is to be carefully fepa- ' rated, and it is remarkable, that the fait is fo wholly vola- tilized by this fermentation, that there fcarce remains any fixed falts in the caput mortuum in the retort. The liquor in the receiver is to be rectified by another dift illation, the water, neceffarily ufed in the fermentation, rendering it too weak. When it is rectified fo far, that it appears whitifh, it is known to be of a due ftrength, and it is then the famous fpirit of tartar, not only' celebrated for its medicinal virtues, but famous for extracting tinctures that can be obtained from no other menftruum. Langelot, de Digeft. et Ferm.
Spiritus volat'dis arcmaticus, a name given of late to what ufed to be called fal volatile oleofum. "The modern way of making it is this : take eflence of lemons, and oil of nut- megs, of each two drachms, oil of cloves half a drachm, dulcified fpirit of fat armoniac a quart; diftil the whole with a very gentle heat. Pemberton's London Dlfpenfatory, p. 205.
SPISSUM, in the antient mufic, was ufed to fignify thofe two fmailcr conjunct intervals of a tetrachord, which taken to- gether, were lefs than the third. Wallis's Append. Ptolem. Harm. p. 165.
The Greek term for this was tsvxw. This, happened in the enharmonic, and the three chromatic genera ; in each of which the interval, between the hypate and the lichanos, was lefs than the interval between the lichanos and the nete. To the fpiffum was oppefed the von-fpiffum, dvrvttHr t or rarum, as Martianus Capella tranfiatcs it. The dwvx>s> happened in the two diatonic genera, where the two frnall- eft intervals Were equal to, or greater than the ihird. They were fuppofed equal in the diatonicum molle, and greater in the intenfurm IVallis, ibid. See the article Genus.
SPIZA, in zoology, a name by which the antient naturalifts called the chaffinch. See the article Fringilla.
SPLANCHNICA, a name given to medicines appropriated to difeafes of the bowels.
SPLEEN {Cycl.) — Mr. du Vernoi has added one opinion more to the many already given, concerning the ufe of the fpleen. From obferving a large empty fpace near the fpleen, in the abdomen of a dead body, the proportional largenefs of its blood-veffels, and the ftructure of the fpleen analogous ta that of the penis, he concludes the fpleen in a living perfon to be fubject to inflations like a bellows : but how it is thus to be moved, or to what purpofe, he does not tell us. See Comment. Acad. Petrop. Tom. 4, ^p. ic;6. feq. Mr. Lieutaud argues for thejpleen's i>eing larger by a greater quantity of blood in it, when the ftomach is empty, and that this blood is preffed out, when the ftomach is full, to increafe the fecretion of bile. Hift. de 1'Acad. des Scienc,
1733-
We have an account, in the Philofophical Tranfadtions, N°45i. of the extirpation of part of the fpleen of a man ? which had begun to mortify ; notwithstanding which, the man recovered.
The fpleen has been cut out of dogs without any damage; Mr. Boyle mentions his having feen the experiment tried on a young fetter, who recovered in a fortnight. Works Abridg. Vol. 1. p. 27.
Dr. Pozzi relates the phenomena he remarked in dinedting a dog, whofe fpeen was cut out when he was young. The liver, which was larger and more heavy than ordinary, was alfo more brittle ; the vena portarum was enlarged ; the gall-bladder was full of bile, more acrid than it is com- monly. From thefe appearances he thinks the ufe of the fpleen to be for feparating a liquor like to fpittle, which may dilute the bile, and prevent its too great acrimony. Med. Eff. Edinb.
The uncertainty we are in, as to the real ufe of the fpleen, has given ground, perhaps, to the notion that men might live without the fpleen ; and that, in many cafes, it might contribute much to health to cut out this ufelefs vifcus. In the Journal des Savans, there is an account of a method of deftroying it, without the terrors of the operation of opening the body.
This was done by a perfon who- applied a wooden knife to- the furface of the body where the fpleen is lodged, and ftrik- ing forcibly on it with a mallet, told the patient that he had broken the fubftance of the fpleen; and that after this it required only the taking certain medicines which he pre- pared, utterly to deftroy and carry it out of the body. ! The folly of a pretence of this kind, one would think., fliould 3 C c c have
