| 释义 |
‖ pyrophorus|paɪˈrɒfərəs|
Pl. -i |-aɪ|.
[mod.L., ad. Gr. πυροϕόρος fire-bearing.]
1. Chem. Any substance capable (esp. in a finely divided state) of taking fire spontaneously on exposure to air. In early use applied spec. to Homberg's pyrophorus, a substance made by heating alum with lamp-black, starch, sugar, or flour.
1778M. Cutler in Life, etc. (1888) II. 204 That these acids may produce such appearances is probable from the easy experiment of Pyrophorus. 1798Monthly Mag. Jan. 20/1 There is a particular composition, known to chemists by the name of pyrophorus, because it possesses the property of being liable to spontaneous inflammation in the open air. It was composed by Homberg. 1842Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 345 The metallic cobalt thus obtained acts as a pyrophorus when it comes in contact with the air. c1860Faraday Forces Nat. iv. 199 note, Lead Pyrophorous..is a tartrate of lead which has been heated in a glass tube to dull redness as long as vapours are emitted.
2. (With capital initial.) Entom. A genus of beetles (named by Illiger, 1809) of the family Elateridæ (see elater1 2), found in tropical and subtropical America, containing the most brilliantly luminous ‘fire-flies’. |