Chem. Also 8 sulfite. [ad. F. sulphite (Nomencl. chimique, 1787), arbitrary alteration of sulphate: see -ITE1 4 b.]
1. A salt of sulphurous acid: usually with a qualifying term indicating the base.
1790. [see SULPHATE 1].
1790, 1794. [see SULPHUREOUS a. 5].
1800. trans. Lagrange’s Chem., I. 219. Sulphite of barytes.
1853. W. Gregory, Inorg. Chem., 270. The sulphites are recognised by their giving off the suffocating smell of sulphurous acid when acted on by a stronger acid.
1867. Ure’s Dict. Arts (ed. 6), III. 719. Soda, Sulphite … is prepared largely for removing the last traces of chlorine from the bleached pulp obtained in the manufacture of paper.
1893. J. A. Hodges, Elem. Photogr., 29. Sulphite of soda.
2. attrib., chiefly with reference to the use of sulphite of soda or of lime in certain processes.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 46. Fill up the forty ounce bottle with the hot ten per cent sulphite solution.
1902. Encycl. Brit., XXXI. 457. Two methods … known respectively as the soda or alkaline process and the sulphite or acid process.
1908. Westm. Gaz., 15 Aug., 14/2. The Canadian Pacific Sulphite Pulp Company.
1910. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 11), X. 310/2. These cellulose pulps are known in commerce as ‘sulphite pulps’ and ‘soda pulps’ respectively. Ibid. (1911), XXVI. 67/1. The manufacture of ‘sulphite cellulose’ from wood.
