| high enema | An enema instilled high up into the colon. Synonym: enteroclysis. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| Hypaque enema | Enema with water-soluble radiographic contrast material, whether diatrizoate or other. (05 Mar 2000) |
| small bowel enema | Radiographic examination of the small intestine, by retrograde filling from the contrast-filled large bowel. (05 Mar 2000) |
| soap | A substance which dissolves in water, thus forming a lather, and is used as a cleansing agent. Soap is produced by combining fats or oils with alkalies or alkaline earths, usually by boiling, and consists of salts of sodium, potassium, etc, with the fatty acids (oleic, stearic, palmitic, etc). See the Note below, and cf. Saponification. By extension, any compound of similar composition or properties, whether used as a cleaning agent or not. In general, soaps are of two classes, hard and soft. Calcium, magnesium, lead, etc, form soaps, but they are insoluble and useless. "The purifying action of soap depends upon the fact that it is decomposed by a large quantity of water into free alkali and an insoluble acid salt. The first of these takes away the fatty dirt on washing, and the latter forms the soap lather which envelops the greasy matter and thus tends to remove it." (Roscoe & Schorlemmer) Castile soap, a fine-grained hard soap, white or mottled, made of olive oil and soda; called also Marseilles, or Venetian, soap. Hard soap, any one of a great variety of soaps, of different ingredients and colour, which are hard and compact. All solid soaps are of this class. Lead soap, an insoluble, white, pliable soap made by saponifying an oil (olive oil) with lead oxide; used externally in medicine. Called also lead plaster, diachylon, etc. Marine soap. See Marine. <alchemy> Pills of soap, pills containing soap and opium. Potash soap, any soap made with potash, especially. The soft soaps, and a hard soap made from potash and castor oil. Pumice soap, any hard soap charged with a gritty powder, as silica, alumina, powdered pumice, etc, which assists mechanically in the removal of dirt. Resin soap, a yellow soap containing resin, used in bleaching. Silicated soap, a cheap soap containing water glass (sodium silicate). <botany> See Quillaia bark. Soap bubble, a hollow iridescent globe, formed by blowing a film of soap suds from a pipe; figuratively, something attractive, but extremely unsubstantial. "This soap bubble of the metaphysicians." (J. C. Shairp) Soap cerate, a cerate formed of soap, olive oil, white wax, and the subacetate of lead, sometimes used as an application to allay inflammation. Soap fat, the refuse fat of kitchens, slaughter houses, etc, used in making soap. <alchemy> Soap liniment, a liniment containing soap, camphor, and alcohol. Soap nut, the hard kernel or seed of the fruit of the soapberry tree, used for making beads, buttons, etc. <botany> Soap plant, same as Soapberry tree. Soda soap, a soap containing a sodium salt. The soda soaps are all hard soaps. Soft soap, a soap of a gray or brownish yellow colour, and of a slimy, jellylike consistence, made from potash or the lye from wood ashes. It is strongly alkaline and often contains glycerin, and is used in scouring wood, in cleansing linen, in dyehouses, etc. Figuratively, flattery; wheedling; blarney. Toilet soap, hard soap for the toilet, usually coloured and perfumed. Origin: OE. Sope, AS. Sape; akin to D. Zeep, G. Seife, OHG. Seifa, Icel. Sapa, Sw. Spa, Dan. Sbe, and perhaps to AS. Sipan to drip, MHG. Sifen, and L. Sebum tallow. Cf. Saponaceous. (11 Mar 1998) |
| soapsuds enema | An enema of shredded or powdered soap in warm water. (05 Mar 2000) |
| soft soap | A soap made with vegetable oils, potassium hydroxide, oleic acid, glycerin, and purified water; used as a stimulant in chronic skin diseases. Synonym: green soap, soft soap. (05 Mar 2000) |
| soluble soap | Any soap made with potassium, sodium, or ammonium hydroxide: ordinary animal soap, Castile soap, green soap, etc. (05 Mar 2000) |
| superfatted soap | A soap containing an excess (3 to 5%) of fat above that necessary to completely neutralise all the alkali; used in the manufacture of medicated soap, and in the treatment of skin diseases. (05 Mar 2000) |
| nutrient enema | A rectal injection of predigested food. (05 Mar 2000) |
| domestic soap | Soap made with sodium hydroxide and a purified animal fat consisting chiefly of stearin; used in pharmacy in the preparation of certain liniments. Synonym: curd soap, domestic soap, tallow soap. (05 Mar 2000) |
| double contrast enema | After evacuation of a barium enema and injection of air into the rectum, radiographs show fine details of mucosa of the rectum and colon. (05 Mar 2000) |
| insoluble soap | Soap made with a fatty acid and an earthy or metallic base (iron or calcium salts of fatty acids). (05 Mar 2000) |
| oil retention enema | A rectal injection of mineral oil, introduced at low pressure and retained for several hours before expelling, to soften faeces. (05 Mar 2000) |
| tallow soap | Soap made with sodium hydroxide and a purified animal fat consisting chiefly of stearin; used in pharmacy in the preparation of certain liniments. Synonym: curd soap, domestic soap, tallow soap. (05 Mar 2000) |
| enema | <procedure> A clyster or injection, a liquid injected or to be injected into the rectum. (18 Nov 1997) |