The thick liquid used to be called "oil of vitriol," since it was originally made by the distillation of "green vitriol," or iron sulfate as we know it today.聽 It was so corrosive and nasty that...
In the Sherlock Holmes story, The Case of the Illustrious Client, a former paramour seeks revenge on the dastardly Baron Adelbert Gruner by splashing the Baron鈥檚 face with sulphuric acid, which at...
Sulphuric acid, which has the traditional name, 鈥渙il of vitriol.鈥 It is a nasty, corrosive liquid, making 鈥渧itriolic鈥 an apt term for virulent language. At first it may seem odd that the term ...