24 August 2016

latex

[ley-teks]

noun, plural latices [lat-uh-seez] (Show IPA), latexes.

1. a milky liquid in certain plants, as milkweeds, euphorbias, poppies, or the plants yielding India rubber, that coagulates on exposure to air.
2. Chemistry. any emulsion in water of finely divided particles of synthetic rubber or plastic.

Origin of latex

Latin

1655-1665; < New Latin, special use of Latin latex water, juice, liquid

Dictionary.com

Examples from the Web for latex

Contemporary Examples

Models wore slicked-back ponytails mounted high on their heads with strips of latex that looked like masking tape.
Backstage at Jason Wu Fall 2012 Show (PHOTOS)
Isabel Wilkinson, Kevin Tachman
February 10, 2012

Historical Examples

The trouble may be traced to the use of defective straining sieves when the latex is being handled.
The Preparation of Plantation Rubber
Sidney Morgan

From the latex of the opium poppy the opium of commerce is extracted.
Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany
Douglas Houghton Campbell

Equal regard must be given to the mixture of the solution with the latex.
The Preparation of Plantation Rubber
Sidney Morgan

The latex is poured into the dabree, where it naturally coagulates into sheets.
Rubber
Edith A. Browne

The latex is strained and mixed with some acid, usually acetic, in order to coagulate or thicken it.
Makers of Many Things
Eva March Tappan

Throughout the 19th century, the British empire exported opium from India to China. By 1905 around a quarter of Chinese men were addicted to opium, a narcotic produced from the latex of the poppy plant.

Anagram

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Today’s quote

Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time, and always start with the person nearest you.

– Mother Teresa

On this day

24 August 79AD – eruption of Mt Vesuvius, Italy, completely destroying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae. The cities were buried under approximately 75m of tephra. The initial eruption produced a cloud of ash and pumice ranging from 15km to 30km high. It is estimated that 16,000 people perished.

24 August 479 – Fall of the Roman Empire as Visigoths conquer Rome.

24 August 1936 – establishment of the Australian Antarctic Territory.

24 August 1954 – Communist Party outlawed in the United States with the passing of the Communist Control Act.

24 August 1995 – Microsoft launches Windows 95. Bill Gates is embarrassed during a demonstration of the product, when his audience experiences the infamous ‘blue screen of death’.