NAPHTHA, n. [from nafata, to push out, as pustules, to throw out, to boil, to be angry. In Ambaric, neft or nepht, from this sense, signifies a gun or musket.] 1. An inflammable mineral substance of the bituminous kind, of a light brown or yellowish color, sharp taste, and incapable of decomposition. By long keeping it hardens into a substance resembling vegetable resin, and becomes black. It is as inflammable as ether. It is said to issue from the earth at Baku, in Persia, and to be received into cisterns. 2. Naphtha consists of carbon and hydrogen.
|
