phlogiston

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

By these experiments the theory of Phlogiston was destroyed; and with its destruction, the whole alchemical apparatus of Principles and Elements, Essences and Qualities, Souls and Spirits, disappeared.

From The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry by Muir, M. M. Pattison

Phlogiston, flō-jis′ton, n. an imaginary element, believed in till nearly the end of the 18th century as forming part of every combustible body, which by its disengagement caused burning, or fire in action.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) by Various

Dear Sir, Your favor of December the 12th came duly to hand, as did the second letter to Doctor Linn, and the treatise on Phlogiston, for which I pray you to accept my thanks.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson

The Overthrow of the Phlogiston theory: the chemical revolution of 1775-1789.

From U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1977 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office

Phlogiston also must evidently be set loose by the ignition of charcoal, and is not improbably the matter which flies off from paint, composed of white-lead and oil.

From Experiments and Observations on Different Kinds of Air by Priestley, Joseph