Efflorescence, in Chemistry, is the term applied to the appearance of a white incrustation on the surface of certain bodies, as when a salt loses its water of crystallisation, and presents a white powdery appearance on the surface. Common washing-soda exposed to the air affords a good illustration of this phenomenon.
Efflorescence
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 228
Source scan(s): p. 0237