Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Drummond light \Drum"mond light`\ [From Thomas Drummond, a
British naval officer.]
A very intense light, produced by turning two streams of gas,
one oxygen and the other hydrogen, or coal gas, in a state of
ignition, upon a ball of lime; or a stream of oxygen gas
through a flame of alcohol upon a ball or disk of lime; --
called also {oxycalcium light}, or {lime light}.
Note: The name is also applied sometimes to a heliostat,
invented by Drummond, for rendering visible a distant
point, as in geodetic surveying, by reflecting upon it
a beam of light from the sun.
Calcium \Cal"ci*um\ (k[a^]l"s[i^]*[u^]m), n. [NL., from L. calx,
calcis, lime; cf F. calcium. See {Calx}.] (Chem.)
An elementary substance; a metal which combined with oxygen
forms lime. It is of a pale yellow color, tenacious, and
malleable. It is a member of the alkaline earth group of
elements. Atomic weight 40. Symbol Ca.
Note: Calcium is widely and abundantly disseminated, as in
its compounds calcium carbonate or limestone, calcium
sulphate or gypsum, calcium fluoride or fluor spar,
calcium phosphate or apatite.
{Calcium light}, an intense light produced by the
incandescence of a stick or ball of lime in the flame of a
combination of oxygen and hydrogen gases, or of oxygen and
coal gas; -- called also {Drummond light}.