Chem. Also ulmine. [f. L. ulm-us elm + -IN: named by Thomson. Cf. F. ulmine, Pg. ulmina.]
1. A substance that exudes spontaneously from the inner bark of the elm and some other trees; spec. the final stage of this as a distinct chemical principle.
α. 1813. T. Thomson, Syst. Chem. (1817), IV. 48. Ulmin … was first noticed in 1804, by Klaproth, who found it in a spontaneous exudation from the elm.
1819. Brande, Chem., 366. Ulmin is of a dark brown colour, with scarcely any taste or smell…. The exudation from the elm is generally combined with carbonate of potassa, and is therefore readily soluble in water.
1842. Penny Cycl., XXII. 26/1. Simaruba is the bark of the root of the Simaruba amara…. Its chief constituents are … ulmin, mucilage, and some salts.
β. 1838. Tupper, Proverb. Philos., Notes, 219. With reference to the elm, I would remark, that no use has yet been discovered in the principle called ‘ulmine.’
1853. Royle, Mat. Med. (ed. 2), 632. It [the bark of Elm] contains Tannin … and a peculiar mucilaginous or gummy principle, called Ulmine.
2. A dark-brown or black product resulting from the decay of wood or vegetable matter, or artificially obtained by the action of powerful chemical agents on sugar and some other substances.
α. 1843. Penny Cycl., XXV. 491/1. Ulmin, or ulmic acid, may be artificially obtained … by the following process.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., Org., 54. If the solution [of sugar] be kept boiling for some hours,… a certain quantity of formic acid, and of a brown sparingly soluble substance termed ulmin, are produced.
1868. Watts, Dict. Chem., V. 936. Ulmin is also the name of a brown pigment, produced by the action of strong acids or alkalis on various organic bodies.
β. 1848. Fownes, Chem. (ed. 2), 371, note. This [substance] is generally called ulmic or humic acid, and its origin ascribed to the reaction of the alkali on the ulmine or humus of the soil.
1861. Gesner, Coal, Petrol., etc. (1865), 128. The decay of wood is produced by oxidation, and ulmine is the result.
