Bone ash is the white, material produced by the calcination of bones. It is primarily composed of calcium phosphate. It is commonly used in fertilizers, polishing compounds and in making ceramics such as bone china. It also has historical uses in the manufacture of baking powders and assay cupels.
Although synthetic alternatives, such as dicalcium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate, have been produced, the majority of bone china is still made using natural bone ash. Synthetic bone ash has also found use as a mold release agent for the casting of non-ferrous metals such as copper.
Famous quotes containing the words bone and/or ash:
“Sang a bone upon the shore;
“A child found all a child can lack,
Whether of pleasure or of rest,
Upon the abundance of my breast”:
A bone wave-whitened and dried in the wind.
”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“For it’s home, dearie, home—it’s home I want to be.
Our topsails are hoisted, and we’ll away to sea.
O, the oak and the ash and the bonnie birken tree
They’re all growing green in the old countrie.”
—William Ernest Henley (1849–1903)