lunar caustic

lunar caustic
    n 1: silver nitrate fused into sticks and formerly used as a
         caustic
    

Nitrate \Ni"trate\, n. [Cf. F. nitrate.] (Chem.)
   A salt of nitric acid.
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   {Nitrate of silver}, a white crystalline salt ({AgNO3}), used
      in photography and as a cauterizing agent; -- called also
      {lunar caustic}, and more commonly called {silver
      nitrate}.
      [1913 Webster +PJC]
    

Lunar \Lu"nar\ (l[=u]"n[~e]r), a. [L. lunaris, fr. luna the
   moon. See {Luna}, and cf. {Lunary}.]
   1. Of or pertaining to the moon; as, lunar observations.
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   2. Resembling the moon; orbed. --Dryden.
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   3. Measured by the revolutions of the moon; as, a lunar
      month.
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   4. Influenced by the moon, as in growth, character, or
      properties; as, lunar herbs. --Bacon.
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   {Lunar caustic} (Med. Chem.), silver nitrate prepared 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}, the method of finding a ship's longitude by
      comparing the local time of taking (by means of a sextant
      or circle) a given lunar distance, with the Greenwich time
      corresponding to the same distance as ascertained from a
      nautical almanac, the difference of these times being the
      longitude.

   {Lunar month}. See {Month}.

   {Lunar observation}, an observation of a lunar distance by
      means of a sextant or circle, with the altitudes of the
      bodies, and the time, for the purpose of computing the
      longitude.

   {Lunar tables}.
      (a) (Astron.) Tables of the moon's motions, arranged for
          computing the moon's true place at any time past or
          future.
      (b) (Navigation) Tables for correcting an observed lunar
          distance on account of refraction and parallax.

   {Lunar year}, the period of twelve lunar months, or 354 days,
      8 hours, 48 minutes, and 34.38 seconds.
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