calomel

calomel
    n 1: a tasteless colorless powder used medicinally as a
         cathartic [syn: {calomel}, {mercurous chloride}]
    

Aquila \Aq"ui*la\, n.; pl. {Aquil[ae]}. [L., an eagle.]
   1. (Zool.) A genus of eagles.
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   2. (Astron.) A northern constellation southerly from Lyra and
      Cygnus and preceding the Dolphin; the Eagle.
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   {Aquila alba} [L., white eagle], an alchemical name of
      {calomel}. --Brande & C.
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Calomel \Cal"o*mel\ (k[a^]l"[-o]*m[e^]l), n. [Gr. kalo`s
   beautiful + me`las black. So called from its being white,
   though made from a black mixture of mercury and corrosive
   sublimate. Cf. F. calom['e]las.] (Chem.)
   Mild chloride of mercury, {Hg2Cl2}, a heavy, white or
   yellowish white substance, insoluble and tasteless, much used
   in medicine as a mercurial and purgative; mercurous chloride.
   It occurs native as the mineral {horn quicksilver}.
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