deflagrating spoon

plural deflagrating spoons

1. chemistryA long-handled spoon with a cover, lowered into a glass vessel filled with a gas to demonstrate deflagration.

   A piece of metal (sodium) of the size of a pea is placed in a deflagrating spoon, and heated in the blowpipe-flame to redness. Suddenly immersed into a jar containing half a pint of chlorine-gas, it burns with a bright yellow flame to chloride of sodium.

   1854, Albert James Bernays, Household chemistry; or, rudiments of the science applied to every-day life

   1 more example

   Take a deflagrating spoon. This is a little brass ladle, attached to the end of an iron wire. It is very commonly used for burning things in gases, for which purpose it is best to push the wire through a flat bung, protected on the lower side by a piece of tin-plate, which may prevent the gas from passing out of the bottle.

   1861, Charles William Heaton, The threshold of chemistry