Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A deposited carbonate of lime, forming an incrustation on the roots and stems of plants, found in some parts of Germany in loose sandy grounds. It takes its name from an erroneous opinion that it has the quality of uniting fractured bones.
  • noun An inferior kind of glue obtained from bones; bone-glue.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A kind of glue obtained from bones.
  • noun A cellular calc tufa, which in some places forms incrustations on the stems of plants, -- formerly supposed to have the quality of uniting fractured bones.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A kind of glue obtained from bones.
  • noun A cellular calc tufa, found as incrustations on plant stems, once believed to have the power to unite fractured bones.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

osteo- + Ancient Greek κόλλα (kolla, "glue").

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Examples

  • He subjected eight ounces of _osteocolla_ to distillation in an earthen retort, finishing his process with the most violent fire of a reverberatory, and caught in the receiver only two drams of water, which by its smell and properties shewed itself to be slightly alkaline.

    Experiments upon magnesia alba, Quicklime, and some other Alcaline Substances Joseph Black 1763

  • He does not tell us the weight of the _osteocolla_ remaining in the retort, and only says, that it was converted into quick-lime; but as no calcarious earth can be converted into quick-lime, or bear the heat which he applied without losing above a third of its weight, we may safely conclude, that the loss in his experiment was proportional, and proceeded chiefly from the dissipation of fixed air.

    Experiments upon magnesia alba, Quicklime, and some other Alcaline Substances Joseph Black 1763

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