Also 7 capsul; and in Latin form capsula, pl. -æ. [a. F. capsule, ad. L. capsula small box or case, dim. of capsa box, repository.]
† 1. gen. A little case or receptacle. Obs.
1652. Urquhart, Jewel, Wks. (1834), 233. Brought their disorderly raised spirits into their former capsuls.
1713. Derham, Phys.-Theol., x. note 1 (R.). The little cases or capsules which contain the seed in this species [the fern].
2. Phys. A membranous integument or envelope; a bag or sac.
a. 1693. Urquhart, Rabelais, III. xxxi. 262. The left Capsul of the Heart.
1738. Med. Ess. & Observ. (ed. 2), IV. 193. When this Capsule is opened the Crystalline escapes.
1804. Abernethy, Surg. Obs., 13. The tumour will … acquire for itself a kind of capsule.
1855. Owen, Skel. & Teeth, 167. The capsule of the eye-ball … is a fibrous membrane.
1866. Huxley, Phys., v. The tubules [of the kidney] … terminate in dilatations … called Malpighian capsules.
3. Bot. a. A dry dehiscent seed-vessel, containing one or more cells, and opening when ripe by the separation of its valves. b. Applied to certain kinds of perithecia or receptacles in Fungi.
1693. Anth. Van Leeuwenhoek, in Phil. Trans., XVII. 705–6. So soon as the Capsula breaks upon the ripening of the Seed, spreads its self every way.
1776. Withering, Bot. Arrangem. (1796), I. 96. A Capsule with two boat-shaped Valves, and one Cell; the Valves opening length-ways.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 182. The dehiscence of their capsule.
1874. Lubbock, Wild Flowers, iii. 77. The seed capsules, when ripe, burst open if touched.
4. Chem. A shallow saucer, for roasting samples of ores, or for evaporating.
1727–51. Chambers, Cycl., Capsula, in chymistry, is an earthen vessel, in form of a pan; wherein things are frequently placed, that are to undergo very violent operations of the fire.
1727. Bradley, Fam. Dict., s.v. Distilling, Two Bars of Iron … to support the Retort or Capsula.
1853. W. Gregory, Inorg. Chem., 181. If we heat a capsule of platinum a little beyond 212°, and drop water into it.
1873. W. Lees, Acoustics, III. v. 111. A small capsule containing water.
5. Med. A small envelope of gelatine to enclose a dose of nauseous medicine.
1875. H. C. Wood, Therap. (1879), 503. When patients object to the taste, the drug may be given in gelatine capsules.
6. A metallic cap or cover for a bottle.
1858. in Simmonds, Dict. Trade.
7. A percussion cap; the shell of a metallic cartridge. [Fr.]
In mod. Dicts.
