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Naphtha   Listen
noun
Naphtha  n.  
1.
(Chem.) The complex mixture of volatile, liquid, inflammable hydrocarbons, occurring naturally, and usually called crude petroleum, mineral oil, or rock oil. Specifically: That portion of the distillate obtained in the refinement of petroleum which is intermediate between the lighter gasoline and the heavier benzine, and has a specific gravity of about 0.7, used as a solvent for varnishes, as a carburetant, illuminant, etc.
2.
(Chem.) One of several volatile inflammable liquids obtained by the distillation of certain carbonaceous materials and resembling the naphtha from petroleum; as, Boghead naphtha, from Boghead coal (obtained at Boghead, Scotland); crude naphtha, or light oil, from coal tar; wood naphtha, from wood, etc. Note: This term was applied by the earlier chemical writers to a number of volatile, strong smelling, inflammable liquids, chiefly belonging to the ethers, as the sulphate, nitrate, or acetate of ethyl.
Naphtha vitrioli (Old Chem.), common ethyl ether; formerly called sulphuric ether. See Ether.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Naphtha" Quotes from Famous Books



... the lads declared were fastened into the irons. There was a sad decline in brilliance and luxury. None the less, the ground was muddy as ever, there was the same crush, the press of faces lighted up by the flares and the electric lights, the same smell of naphtha and a few fried ...
— England, My England • D.H. Lawrence

... bleak place, Beacon Hill, and 'twas so soft underfoot that day the water'd got inside my boots, till they fair bubbled if I took a step. The rain was falling steady, and sputtered in the naphtha-lamps that they was beginning to light up outside the booths. There was one powerful flare outside a long tent, and from inside there come a smell of fried onions that made my belly cry 'Please, ...
— The Nebuly Coat • John Meade Falkner

... constituents of petroleum, such as naphtha, gasolene and kerosene, are oftentimes driven off by a partial distillation, these products being of greater value for other purposes than for use as fuel. This partial distillation does not decrease the value of petroleum ...
— Steam, Its Generation and Use • Babcock & Wilcox Co.

... his friends and relations. During this ceremony, some person places on his head a garland of straw, or dry herbs, filled with burning coals, on which they pour sandrach, which takes fire as strongly as naphtha; notwithstanding of which, he continues his progress without betraying any sense of pain, or change of countenance, though the crown of his head be all on fire, and the stench of his burning flesh ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 1 • Robert Kerr

... barbel and carp, and the latter attain so great a size that one is a sufficient load for an ass. The principal exports of the province are coarse wool, hides, dates and horses. At various points, especially at Hit, and from Hit southward along the edge of the Arabian plateau occur bitumen, naphtha and white petroleum springs, all of which remain undeveloped. The climate is very hot in summer, with a mean temperature of 97deg F. From April to November no rain falls; in November the rains commence, and during the winter the thermometer falls to ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 2 - "Baconthorpe" to "Bankruptcy" • Various

... rear, at the end of a narrow lane, around which the fire swirled and arched itself, white and wicked, lay the body of a man—dead, said the panic-stricken crowd. His sufferings had been brief. A worse fate threatened all unless the fire was quickly put out. There were underground reservoirs of naphtha—the ground was honeycombed with them—that might explode at any moment with the fire raging overhead. The peril was instant and great. Captain Ahearn looked at the body, and saw it stir. The watch-chain upon the man's vest rose and fell as if he ...
— Children of the Tenements • Jacob A. Riis

... Moths in Furniture:—All the baking and steaming are useless, as, although the moths may be killed, their eggs are sure to hatch, and the upholstery to be well riddled. The naphtha-bath process is effectual. A sofa, chair or lounge may be immersed in the large vats used for the purpose, and all insect life will be absolutely destroyed. No egg ever hatches after passing through the naphtha-bath; all oil, ...
— The Whitehouse Cookbook (1887) - The Whole Comprising A Comprehensive Cyclopedia Of Information For - The Home • Mrs. F.L. Gillette

... contrite, well and good; if not, he orders his legions to assault them. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not, he causes bloodshed and carnage among them. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not, he directs a stream of hot naphtha upon them. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not, he hurls projectiles at them from his ballistae. If the people are contrite, well and good; if not, he has scaling-ladders set up against their walls. If the ...
— The Legends of the Jews Volume 1 • Louis Ginzberg

... and gives off water having an acid reaction, naphtha and a tarry fluid, which chiefly condense in the neck of the bulb, and leave ...
— A System of Instruction in the Practical Use of the Blowpipe • Anonymous

... pure in nature. Those constitutions which can bear in open day the rough dealing of the world must be of that mean and average structure,—such as iron and salt, atmospheric air, and water. But there are metals, like potassium and sodium, which, to be kept pure, must be kept under naphtha. Such are the talents determined on some specialty, which a culminating civilization fosters in the heart of great cities and in royal chambers. Nature protects her own work. To the culture of the world, an Archimedes, a Newton is indispensable; so she guards them by a certain aridity. ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 1, Issue 2, December, 1857 • Various

... considered too unreliable, pumping must be accomplished by using an engine which, no matter of what form or type, derives its energy from the combustion of fuel, be the same coal, wood, charcoal, petroleum or kerosene, gas, gasoline, or naphtha. The use of such pumping engines implies a constant expense for fuel, operation, maintenance, and repairs. In some modern forms of engines this expense is small, notably so in the oil engine, and also in the gasoline engine; hence these types ...
— The Home Medical Library, Volume V (of VI) • Various

... that of the eighth chasm of the Inferno as to colour and flame, and, as to mirth, a development of the Homeric heaven. A smoky glare, of the complexion of brass-filings, ascended from the fiery tongues of innumerable naphtha lamps affixed to booths, stalls, and other temporary erections which crowded the spacious market-square. In front of this irradiation scores of human figures, more or less in profile, were darting athwart and across, up, down, and around, like gnats ...
— Life's Little Ironies - A set of tales with some colloquial sketches entitled A Few Crusted Characters • Thomas Hardy

... shark when alive. Many blankets had been found in the shark, not to mention a barrel or two of beer. Leach stood at the door turning a box organ, which we had bought cheaply; and David Hey undertook to look after the naphtha lamps, &c. Well, for a week the show went on very well, and we had large numbers of visitors. Towards the end of the week, the fish began to smell, so we paid Joseph Gott, taxidermist, Market-street, 5 pounds to cure the shark. In ...
— Adventures and Recollections • Bill o'th' Hoylus End

... its tent—what else could it do, seeing that municipal ineptitude provided no building wherein could be run chariot races of six horses abreast? But the tent, in my youthful eyes, confused by the naphtha glares and the violent shadows cast on the many tiers of pink faces, loomed as vast as a Roman amphitheatre. It was a noble tent, a palace of a tent, the auditorium being but an inconsiderable section. There was stabling for fifty horses. There were ...
— The Mountebank • William J. Locke

... circle was traced by a small rod, tipped apparently with sponge saturated with some combustible naphtha-like fluid, so that a pale lambent flame followed the course of the rod as Margrave guided it, burning up the herbage over which it played, and leaving a distinct ring, like that which, in our lovely native fable-talk, we call the "Fairy's Ring," ...
— A Strange Story, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... dress, or your grandmamma buys a new violet ribbon for her cap, just ask if they are dyed with aniline colors; and if the answer is "Yes," you may know that they came from the coal-tar. Besides the dyes, we shall also have left naphtha, useful in making varnish, and various oils that are used in more ways than I can stop to tell you, or you would care now to hear. If your cousin Annie has a jet belt-clasp or bracelet, and if you find in aunt Edith's box of old treasures an odd- shaped brooch of jet, you may remember the coal again; ...
— The Stories Mother Nature Told Her Children • Jane Andrews

... that I, my Mary, were an acid, A living acid; thou an alkali Endow'd with human sense, that, brought together, We both might coalesce into one salt, One homogeneous crystal. Oh! that thou Wert Carbon, and myself were Hydrogen; We would unite to form olefiant gas, Or common coal, or naphtha—would to heaven That I were Phosphorus, and thou wert Lime! And we of Lime composed a Phosphuret. I'd be content to be Sulphuric Acid, So that thou might be Soda. In that case We should be Glauber's Salt. Wert thou Magnesia Instead we'd form that's named from Epsom. Couldst thou ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton

... arched Roof Pendent by subtle Magick, many a Row Of Starry Lamps and blazing Crescets, fed With Naphtha and Asphaltus, yielded Light As ...
— The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - With Translations and Index for the Series • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele

... conducted her to the door. Almost blinded by the bright light, she entered the adjoining apartment, where it seemed as if she saw through a veil muffled figures go forward to the centre, and deposit money in a marble basin which stood upon a kind of altar; naphtha burned in silver basins upon each end of it, and a muffled figure ...
— Old Fritz and the New Era • Louise Muhlbach

... may be; YOU say so. But then I didn't know anything more about Communipaw Central, or the Naphtha Gaslight Company, and so I thought it was a square game. Only I realized on the stocks I bought, and I kem up outer Wall Street about four hundred dollars better. You see it was a sorter risk, after all, for them ...
— Drift from Two Shores • Bret Harte

... The flyings of the cotton mill do not explode, but flame passes through them with a rapidity almost instantaneous, yet not sufficient to exert the pressure which explodes; the dust of the wood planer and sawer only as yet makes sudden puffs without detonating force. Naphtha vapor and benzine vapor are getting into all places. One of the latest introductions is naphtha extracting oil from linseed, and then volatilized by steam superheated to 400 F. This combination reminds us, as to effectiveness, of the combination at the ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 288 - July 9, 1881 • Various

... said; "they seized me, and knocked me down. In front of my door, the corpse of a German lay stretched out. The Germans said to me, 'You are going to pay for that to us.' A few moments later, they gave me a bayonet cut in my leg. They sprinkled naphtha in my house, and set it afire. My son was struck down in the street, and I was marched in front of the German troops. I do not know even yet the fate ...
— Young Hilda at the Wars • Arthur Gleason

... Naphtha or liquid balsam found at Pedir, so much celebrated by the Portuguese writers, is doubtless this oleum terrae, or meniak tanah, as it is called ...
— The History of Sumatra - Containing An Account Of The Government, Laws, Customs And - Manners Of The Native Inhabitants • William Marsden

... with pitch; and this mask, which appeared viscous and sticky, varied its aspect with the night shadows. The child saw the mouth, which was a hole; the nose, which was a hole; the eyes, which were holes. The body was wrapped, and apparently corded up, in coarse canvas, soaked in naphtha. The canvas was mouldy and torn. A knee protruded through it. A rent disclosed the ribs—partly corpse, partly skeleton. The face was the colour of earth; slugs, wandering over it, had traced across it vague ribbons of silver. The canvas, glued ...
— The Man Who Laughs • Victor Hugo

... up which a clumsy steam tram, vomiting smoke and sparks, made its clangorous way, and adown which one saw the greasy brilliance of shop fronts and the naphtha flares of hawkers' barrows dripping fire into the night. A hazy movement of people swayed along that road, and we heard the voice of an itinerant preacher from a waste place between the houses. You cannot see these things as I can see them, nor can you figure—unless ...
— In the Days of the Comet • H. G. Wells

... could not help wondering how a box which was scarcely larger than an ordinary coffin had managed to hold it all. The neck was the first portion of the body to issue from the bandages; it was covered with a fairly thick layer of naphtha which had to be chiselled away. Suddenly, through the black remains of the natron, there flashed on the upper part of the breast a bright gleam of gold, and soon there was laid bare a thin sheet of metal, cut out into the shape of the sacred hawk, its wings ...
— The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5 - The Romance of a Mummy and Egypt • Theophile Gautier

... quickly on. Ackroyd, with a great sigh of relief, went on by her side. They came out into Lambeth Walk, where the market was as noisy as ever; the shops lit up, the stalls flaring with naphtha lamps, the odour of fried fish everywhere predominant. He led her through the crowd and a short distance into her own street. Then she gave him her hand and said: 'Good-night, Mr. Ackroyd. Thank you for bringing me back. You'll be friends ...
— Thyrza • George Gissing

... further examination into the question; and the results arrived at will be those here quoted. The coal we employed was what is known as Stravenhouse small coal, which costs 5s. per ton delivered. The experiment in each case lasted 48 hours. The tar employed was what is known as boiled tar; the naphtha having been previously removed, but the pitch oil left in the tar. The value of this tar in Dundee is about 4s. per ton. The following ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 664, September 22,1888 • Various

... does not always spare our unfrequented halls and stairs. I note these little facts, for the contrast with those of an American hotel which we once assisted in closing, and where the elevator stopped two weeks before we left, and we fell from electricity to naphtha-gas, and even this died out before us except at long intervals in the passages; while there were lightning changes in the service, and a final failure of it till we had to go down and get our own ice-water of the lingering ...
— Henry James, Jr. • William Dean Howells

... early that, in the whole stretch of rollicking, tumbling, buoyant waters between bank and bank, only one piece of river-craft could be seen. This pushed onward, cleaving through the little billows in the teeth of the morning breeze. It was a tiny naphtha launch—a horrid, fussy, smoking little thing, cutting through breeze and water, and diffusing a scent of oil and greased iron in the pure and radiant air. A white bird on the bank looked at it, and rose with a startled note of alarm, and a flight ...
— Six Women • Victoria Cross

... Suddenly he was surprised by the impression made on it by the current. It seemed to be of a slimy consistency, as if it had been made of mineral oil. Alcide, aiding his touch by his sense of smell, could not be mistaken. It was really a layer of liquid naphtha, floating on the surface ...
— Michael Strogoff - or, The Courier of the Czar • Jules Verne

... take that, Eddy; we don't write the shoe polish manufacturers at all—there's too much naphtha used, and they all burn eventually," were the words that caught his attention, and in the shadow of the door he ...
— White Ashes • Sidney R. Kennedy and Alden C. Noble

... some voluble merchant retailing goods from a barrow. From the interiors of tiny shops and cellars came eldritch voices crying the nature and remarkable qualities of the wares within. Every hand-cart carried a flaring naphtha-lamp, and the glare of these innumerable torches created strong lights and flickering shadows which would have gladdened the heart of Rembrandt were his artistic wraith permitted to roam the by-ways of a city which, perhaps, he never heard ...
— One Wonderful Night - A Romance of New York • Louis Tracy

... dry slaked lime. The usual plan is to put in the water first, then add the indigo and copperas, which should be dissolved first, and finally to add the milk of lime, stirring all the time. Artificial indigo has been made from coal-tar products. The raw material is a coal-tar naphtha called toluene or toluol, which is also the raw material for saccharin, a sweetening agent made from coal-tar. This artificial indigo is proving a formidable rival to ...
— The Chemistry of Hat Manufacturing - Lectures Delivered Before the Hat Manufacturers' Association • Watson Smith

... revolution in the art of war, and the history of mankind.' ... We do not know of any imitation of the original Greek fire having been used in modern warfare, but have no hesitation in believing that naphtha prepared as already stated would in many cases prove advantageous. It seems to be well calculated for close naval combat, if the object be to destroy the sails and rigging of an enemy's ship. The rapidity and extent of its combustion, added to the circumstances of its peculiar ...
— James Cutbush - An American Chemist, 1788-1823 • Edgar F. Smith

... because excess of colour is connected with graver faults in the region of the intellectual conscience. Macaulay is a constant sinner in this respect. The wine of truth is in his cup a brandied draught, a hundred degrees above proof, and he too often replenishes the lamp of knowledge with naphtha instead of fine oil. It is not that he has a spontaneous passion for exuberant decoration, which he would have shared with more than one of the greatest names in literature. On the contrary, we feel that the exaggerated words and dashing sentences are the fruit of deliberate ...
— Critical Miscellanies, Volume I (of 3) - Essay 4: Macaulay • John Morley

... the pattern down as in stamping. Rub the paint evenly over the perforations, and it will leave the lines clean, sharp and distinct. After the stamping is done, the pattern must be cleaned immediately. This is done by placing the pattern on the table and turning benzine or naphtha over it to cut the paint and then wiping the pattern dry on both sides with an old cloth, or, better still, with common waste—such as machinists use to clean machinery; this is cheap and absorbs the paint and naphtha quickly. Hold the pattern up to the light to see if the ...
— The Ladies Book of Useful Information - Compiled from many sources • Anonymous

... also called the Isle of Serpents. It is asserted by the ancients to have been presented to Achilles by his mother Thetis. In the Gulf of Perecop there is also another island, called Taman, which contains springs of naphtha." ...
— The World of Waters - A Peaceful Progress o'er the Unpathed Sea • Mrs. David Osborne

... Dissolve asphaltum in naphtha until it is as thin as water and makes a yellowish stain; or to equal parts of asphaltum, varnish, and gold size japan, add enough turpentine to thin ...
— Handwork in Wood • William Noyes

... the approximating part of the cover require to be truly turned and smoothly finished. A very good packing is made of solid indiarubber core about half an inch thick. This is carefully spliced—cemented by means of a solution of rubber in naphtha, and the splice sewed by thick thread. The lid ought to have a rim fitting inside the vessel, for this keeps the rubber packing in place; the rim has been accidentally omitted in Fig. 85. The bolts should not be more ...
— On Laboratory Arts • Richard Threlfall

... of bazaars in India All glitter and spices and smells, But they don't compare With the naphtha flare And the herrings the coster sells; And the oranges piled like gold, The cucumbers lean and cold, And the red and white block-trimmings And the strawberries fresh and ripe, And the peas and beans, And the sprouts and greens, And the 'taters ...
— Many Voices • E. Nesbit

... showed the physical differences between men and women; the lesser power of women to endure long hours of standing; the heightened susceptibility of women to industrial poisons—lead, naphtha, and the like. A long chapter of testimony on the effect of child-bearing in communities where the women had toiled long hours before marriage, ...
— What eight million women want • Rheta Childe Dorr

... lords of Asia,—Mithridates and Tigranes the Armenian,—in the war, and having compelled them, to avoid a pitched battle proceeded to besiege Tigranocerta. The barbarians did him serious injury by means of their archery as well as by the naphtha which they poured over his engines. This chemical is full of bitumen and is so fiery that whatever it touches it is sure to burn to a cinder, and it can not be extinguished by any liquid. As a consequence Tigranes recovered ...
— Dio's Rome • Cassius Dio

... of me that to retain my position as janitor of your organization I sacrificed a trust committed to my charge. I'll gladly lend you my private launch, though I don't think it will aid you much, because the naphtha-tank has exploded, and the screw slipped off and went to the bottom two weeks ago. Still, it is at your service, and I've no doubt that either Phidias or Benvenuto Cellini will carve out a paddle for you ...
— The Pursuit of the House-Boat • John Kendrick Bangs

... that burning oil commonly called the Greek fire, which is said to consume both flint and iron. It was the invention of the seventh century, and was long used with terrific effect by the Greeks, who called it the liquid fire. It is supposed to have been composed of naphtha, pitch, and sulphur, with other ingredients. It was propelled in a fluid state through brazen tubes from the prows of vessels and from fortifications, with as much facility as water is now thrown from the fire-engine; igniting the moment it was exposed to the air, when it became a continuous ...
— How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves - Updated to 1900 • W.H.G. Kingston

... Trading Company,' full of hope to the then mercantile mind; a Mr. Hanway despatched, years ago, as Chief Clerk, inexpressibly interested to manage well;—and managing, as you may read at large. Has done his best and utmost, all this while; and had such travellings through the Naphtha Countries, sailings on the Caspian; such difficulties, successes,—ultimately, failure. Owing to Mr. Elton and Thamas Kouli Khan mainly. Thamas Kouli Khan—otherwise called Nadir Shah (and a very hard-headed fellow, by all appearance)—wiled ...
— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XVI. (of XXI.) - Frederick The Great—The Ten Years of Peace.—1746-1756. • Thomas Carlyle

... foreboding, a scorching sensation in the region of the back brought his head round. Then he yelled in earnest, for the roaring flame from the other brazier had set the quickset hedge, inflammable with drought, burning as fiercely as the naphtha torch of a fair-booth, while a black patch, widening every moment, was spreading through the dry, white grasses under the clumsy wheels of the living-van, whose brown painted sides were beginning to blister and char, as Billy, rendered intrepid by desperation, grabbed ...
— Golden Stories - A Selection of the Best Fiction by the Foremost Writers • Various

... [Arabic]; it stands on the declivity of the mountain, at about one hour from the sea. Some wild date-trees grow there. At the foot of the mountain are several wells three or four feet deep, upon the surface of whose waters naphtha or petroleum is sometimes found in the month of November, which is skimmed off by the hand; it is of a deep brownish black colour, and of the same fluidity as turpentine, which it resembles in smell. This substance, ...
— Travels in Syria and the Holy Land • John Burckhardt

... Saracens at the siege of Constantinople in 673 A. D. Therefore an anachronism in this poem. Liquid fire was, however, known to the ancients, as Assyrian bas-reliefs testify. Greek fire was made possibly of naphtha, saltpetre, and sulphur, and was thrown upon the enemy from copper tubes; or pledgets of tow were dipped in it and ...
— Men and Women • Robert Browning

... constructed," he states, "two sets of compound engines of tempered steel, all the parts being made very light and strong, and a steam generator of peculiar construction, the greater part of the heating surface consisting of small and thin copper tubes. For fuel I employed naphtha." ...
— The Dominion of the Air • J. M. Bacon

... tried to wallow in a general store. For there lay scattered over the landscape, from the burst cars, type-writers, sewing-machines, bicycles in crates, a consignment of silver-plated imported harness, French dresses and gloves, a dozen finely moulded hard-wood mantels, a fifteen-foot naphtha-launch, with a solid brass bedstead crumpled around her bows, a case of telescopes and microscopes, two coffins, a case of very best candies, some gilt-edged dairy produce, butter and eggs in an omelette, a broken box of expensive toys, and a few hundred other ...
— The Day's Work, Volume 1 • Rudyard Kipling

... such temperatures chloric ether became solid, and carefully prepared chloroform exhibited a granular pellicle on its surface. Spirits of naphtha froze at 54 degrees below zero, and oil of sassafras at 49 degrees. The oil of winter-green was in a flocculent state at 56 degrees, and solid ...
— The Ocean and its Wonders • R.M. Ballantyne

... his girdle; and Boabdil stood in a small circular room, apparently without other door or outlet; but, after looking cautiously round, the king touched a secret spring in the wall, which, giving way, discovered a niche, in which stood a small lamp, burning with the purest naphtha, and a scroll of yellow parchment covered with strange letters and hieroglyphics. He thrust the scroll in his bosom, took the lamp in his hand, and pressing another spring within the niche, the wall receded, and showed a narrow and winding staircase. The king reclosed the entrance, and descended: ...
— Leila or, The Siege of Granada, Book III. • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... Comparing naphtha refuse and anthracite, the former has a theoretical evaporative power of 16.2 lb. of water per lb. of fuel, and the latter of 12.2 lb., at a pressure of 8 atm. or 120 lb. per square inch; hence petroleum has, weight ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 455, September 20, 1884 • Various

... death. Lentulus! bring fire here; I will set fire to your clothes, that we may see if you can burn, I will set your hair, your beard, your nails on fire; but we will first soak you in oil and naphtha, in pitch and sulphur. Then we will see whether you have an everlasting ...
— Historical Miniatures • August Strindberg

... own marking-ink, was made with nitrate of silver. Their knowledge of chemistry was far greater than that of their neighbours, and the science is even now named from the country of its birth. The later Arabs called it Alchemia, the Egyptian art, and hence our words alchemy and chemistry. So also Naphtha, or rock oil, from the coast of the Red Sea; and Anthracite, or rock fuel, from the coast of Syria, both bear Egyptian names. To some Egyptian stones the Romans gave their own names; as the black glassy obsidian from Nubia they ...
— History Of Egypt From 330 B.C. To The Present Time, Volume 11 (of 12) • S. Rappoport

... extraordinary composition should suspect his own ignorance and that of his Byzantine guides, so prone to the marvellous, so careless, and, in this instance, so jealous of the truth. From their obscure, and perhaps fallacious, hints it should seem that the principal ingredient of the Greek fire was the naphtha, [18] or liquid bitumen, a light, tenacious, and inflammable oil, [19] which springs from the earth, and catches fire as soon as it comes in contact with the air. The naphtha was mingled, I know not by what ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 5 • Edward Gibbon

... 'Perhaps' to win and you'll go home looking like Pierp Morgan after a busy day. It can't lose, this clam can't! Say, that horse 'Perhaps' wears gold-plated overshoes and it can kick more track behind it than any ostrich you ever see! Why,| it's got ball-bearing castors on the feet and it wears a naphtha engine in the forward turret. Get reckless with the coin, boys, and go the limit, and if the track happens to cave in and it does lose, I'll drag you down to Elmhurst behind the blue mare and make the suction pump in the backyard ...
— Get Next! • Hugh McHugh

... Romans, and he equally overlooks the great junks of the Chinese, which, by aid of the magnetic compass[1], made bold passages from Java to Malabar, and from Malabar to Oman,—vessels which (on the authority of an ancient Arabic MS.) Reinaud says carried from four to five hundred men, with arms and naphtha, to defend themselves against the ...
— Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and • James Emerson Tennent

... seized me and knocked me down. In front of my door the corpse of a German lay stretched out. The Germans said to me: 'You are going to pay for that to us.' A few moments later they gave me a bayonet cut in my leg. They sprinkled naphtha in my house and set it afire. My son was struck down in the street and I was marched in front of the German troops. I do not know even yet the ...
— Golden Lads • Arthur Gleason and Helen Hayes Gleason

... guisers an' dolls. There'll be swings and steam roundabouts, aye, an' steam-organs playin' all t' latest tunes thro' t' music-halls—a lot finer than your daft country songs. An' we'll noan have to wait for t' harvest-moon; there'll be naphtha flares ivery night lightin' up all ...
— Tales of the Ridings • F. W. Moorman

... and he thought, "A circus has pulled down its tent, carted off its gaudy wagons, its naphtha lights, and its boxes of sawdust. And a new show is ...
— Erik Dorn • Ben Hecht

... population. Although Russians and Tartars form its bulk, France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Persia are all represented, most of the Europeans being employed in the manufacture of petroleum. The naphtha springs are said to yield over 170,000 ...
— A Ride to India across Persia and Baluchistan • Harry De Windt

... trees of bullet marks as if a struggle had taken place. On a further examination of the blacks' camp where the pint pot was found, there was also found a tin canteen similar to what is used for keeping naphtha in, or some such stuff, both of which we keep. The natives say that any memos the whites had are back on the last camp we were at on the lake with the natives, as well as the iron-work of saddles, etc., which ...
— Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia • William John Wills

... fire we have not a precise description, since the knowledge of it was kept at Constantinople as a state secret. There is reason, however, to believe that it contained sulphur and nitrate of potash mixed with naphtha. Of gunpowder, Marcus Graecus, whose date is probably to be referred to the close of the eighth century, gives the composition explicitly. He directs us to pulverize in a marble mortar one pound of sulphur, two of charcoal, and six of saltpetre. If some of this powder be tightly rammed in a long ...
— History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) - Revised Edition • John William Draper

... amazement at hearing, echoing through the wide street in front of the hotel, the sound of strident ragtime. Investigation disclosed a gaudily striped tent of considerable size set up in the street and illuminated by those flaring naphtha lamps they use in circuses. Going over to the tent, we learned that there was dancing within, whereupon we paid our fifteen cents apiece and entered. I have forgotten what produced the music—it may have been a mechanical piano or a hurdy-gurdy—but there was music, and it was loud, and ...
— American Adventures - A Second Trip 'Abroad at home' • Julian Street

... and rivulets which seemed to have been curved into artificial banks; some of pure water, others that shone like pools of naphtha. At my right hand, ravines and defiles opened amidst the rocks, with passes between, evidently constructed by art, and bordered by trees resembling, for the most part, gigantic ferns, with exquisite varieties of feathery foliage, ...
— The Coming Race • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... attack by a Moslem navy and army. The eastern emperor, Leo the Isaurian, conducted a heroic defense, using with much effectiveness the celebrated mixture known as "Greek fire." This combustible, probably composed of sulphur, naphtha, and quicklime, was poured or hurled on the enemy's ships in order to burn them. "Greek fire," the rigors of an uncommonly severe winter, and timely aid from the Bulgarians at length compelled the Arabs to beat a retreat. Their failure to take Constantinople ...
— EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY • HUTTON WEBSTER

... knowledge of business, and what I acquired I have paid for with my health; but I had to think of my child. Kromitzki is very clever. He has large concerns at Odessa, and is at present engaged in some large speculations in naphtha at Baku, or some such place, 'que sais-je.' It seems there is some difficulty about his not being a Russian subject. If he married Aniela he might clear the estate; and as an extensive landowner he would have no ...
— Without Dogma • Henryk Sienkiewicz

... corner of Quay Flat, where on Saturday nights and holidays a sort of small fair was always held. One or two shooting-galleries, a cocoa-nut 'shy,' and a score or more of stalls laden with fruit, sweetmeats, and the like, were brilliantly lighted up by naphtha flares. Towards this patch of brightness all loungers and idlers were drawn like moths to a candle, and Chippy, too, moved that way. It was now about half-past nine, and the little fair was at ...
— The Wolf Patrol - A Tale of Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts • John Finnemore

... roof, Pendent by subtle magic, many a row Of starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed With naphtha and asphaltus, yielded light As from a sky. The hasty multitude ...
— Recreations of Christopher North, Volume 2 • John Wilson

... remember, and I'll try to meet the train too." And then to Sylvia, as she led the way to the boathouse to get the canoe, "I'm glad dad's coming. He's perfectly grand, and I'm going to see if he won't give me a naphtha launch. Dad's a good old scout and he's ...
— A Hoosier Chronicle • Meredith Nicholson

... handles and other purposes, so named after its maker, Alexander Parkes, a well-known local manufacturer, who said it was made from refuse vegetable fibre, pyroxyline, oil, naphtha, ...
— Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham - A History And Guide Arranged Alphabetically • Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

... literature of petroleum. This report informed Bissell that the substance, could be refined cheaply and easily, and that, when refined, it made a splendid illuminant, besides yielding certain byproducts, such as paraffin and naphtha, which had a great commercial value. So far, Bissell's enterprise seemed to promise success, yet the great problem still remained: how could he obtain this rock oil in amounts large enough to make his enterprise a practical one? A chance glimpse of Kier's label, with its picture of an ...
— The Age of Big Business - Volume 39 in The Chronicles of America Series • Burton J. Hendrick

... danger, though I ought to be as careful of them as if they were my real brothers. And there I was trying to be, only she didn't understand. Then, another day, not long before, I coaxed some big boys who have a naphtha-launch to give the 'Balls a sail on it down the bay. The thing happened to explode, and, though nobody was hurt, she went on just terrible because I'd taken the children without asking her. How could I ask her when she was ...
— The Brass Bound Box • Evelyn Raymond

... one of the old houses, we ran down and saw a store a few doors distant in flames. The windows were bursting and flying out, and the mingled mass of smoke and red flame reached half way across the street. We learned afterwards it was occasioned by the explosion of a jar of naphtha, which instantly enveloped the whole room in fire, the people barely escaping in time. The persons who had booths near were standing still in despair, while the flames were beginning to touch their property. A few butchers who first came up, did almost everything. ...
— Views a-foot • J. Bayard Taylor

... colourings of Rumour, from the censures no less than from the praises, had our friend painted for himself a certain imperious Queen of Hearts, and blooming warm Earth-angel, much more enchanting than your mere white Heaven-angels of women, in whose placid veins circulates too little naphtha-fire.—Sartor Resartus. ...
— What Great Men Have Said About Women - Ten Cent Pocket Series No. 77 • Various

... he said, addressing the verandah ceiling, "passed through dangers enough to make me loved, Othello-wise, for themselves alone. Dangers of culverts, dangers of sharp turnings, dangers of blue metal, of precipices, of wandering cows, of naphtha explosions. Here have I turned myself into a demd damp moist unpleasant body just to get to her sheltering bosom and she ...
— In the Mist of the Mountains • Ethel Turner

... found to burn much better than other oils in mines where bad air prevails, and is less injurious to the health of the workmen. Oil of colza and tallow are extinguished, where naphtha, petroleum, and ...
— The Mirror Of Literature, Amusement, And Instruction - Vol. X, No. 289., Saturday, December 22, 1827 • Various

... light, a bowl of flaming naphtha mounted on a bamboo pole, and the light fell over the golden fruit—mangoe, plantain, and banana piled high upon it, and also all round the vender's feet as he stood by his stall in town costume of one long white ...
— Five Nights • Victoria Cross

... principal objection. Personally, I never saw any drunkenness; and there is so little real revelry that one turns one's back on the naphtha lamps in this town and that, in Leyden and the Hoorn, Apeldoorn and Middelburg, with the sad conviction that the times are out of joint, and that Teniers and Ostade and Brouwer, were they reborn to-day, would probably either have to take to painting Christmas supplements or earn ...
— A Wanderer in Holland • E. V. Lucas

... available capital is sunk in the ground and swallowed up. Even with good signs, it is impossible to foresee the results or the extent of production, and there is also an extraordinary irregularity in the outcome of the separate naphtha-bearing plots. An instance was mentioned to me of a peasant proprietor who had made enough money on which to live sumptuously, but he hungered for more, and engaged in further boring operations. He was on the verge of losing everything, when oil was suddenly ...
— Persia Revisited • Thomas Edward Gordon

... like a balance, apt to propend each way, and to be weighed down with every wench's looks, his heart a weathercock, his affection tinder, or naphtha itself, which every fair object, sweet smile, or mistress's favour sets on fire. Guianerius tract 15. cap. 14. refers all this [4770]to "the hot temperature of the testicles," Ferandus a Frenchman in his Erotique Mel. (which [4771]book came first ...
— The Anatomy of Melancholy • Democritus Junior

... took a bit of potassium metal, bright as silver, out of a bottle of naphtha, put it in the candle wick, touched it with a bit of dripping ice, and ...
— Among the Forces • Henry White Warren

... drawn in every lingering outsider. The roundabouts churned out their relentless music, and the bottle-shooting galleries popped and crashed. The well-patronised ostriches and motorcars flickered round in a pulsing rhythm; black, black, black, before the naphtha flares. ...
— Mr. Britling Sees It Through • H. G. Wells

... which can be offered to a Moslem. There are indeed pity and terror in the difference between two such items in the Treasury-accounts as these: "Four hundred thousand dinars (L200,000) to a robe of honour for the Wazir Ja'afar bin Yahya;" and, "Ten kirat, (5 shill.) to naphtha and reeds for burning the ...
— The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Volume 10 • Richard F. Burton

... substance, supposed to have been a compound of naphtha, sulphur, and nitre, which was hurled against the enemy in battle. As it was first used in 673, in the siege of Constantinople, Browning is ...
— Browning's Shorter Poems • Robert Browning

... She was glad, she said, that we had taken the place next them, after our brief sojourn in the furnished house where we had first lived, and said that there was only one objection to the locality, which was the prevalence of moths; they obliged you to put away your things in naphtha-balls almost the moment the spring opened. She wished to know what books my wife was presently reading, and whether she approved of women's clubs to the extent that they were carried to in some places. She believed in book clubs, but ...
— The Whole Family - A Novel by Twelve Authors • William Dean Howells, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Mary Heaton Vorse, Mary Stewart Cutting, Elizabeth Jo

... near each other, three strips of land, bearing the names of Punta de Soto, Punta de la Brea, and Punta Guaratarito. In these parts the bottom of the sea is evidently formed of mica-slate, and from it near Cape de la Brea, but at eighty feet distant from the shore, there issues a spring of naphtha, the smell of which penetrates into the interior of the peninsula. It is necessary to wade into the sea up to the waist, to examine this interesting phenomenon. The waters are covered with zostera; and in the midst of a ...
— Equinoctial Regions of America • Alexander von Humboldt



Words linked to "Naphtha" :   solvent, dissolving agent, dissolver



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