SOLUTION, in chemistry, denotes an intimate mixture of solid bodies with fluids, so as seemingly to form one homogeneous liquor: the dissolving fluid is termed the dissolvent or menstruum.
The most celebrated chemists have asserted, that water is capable of dissolving a certain proportion of salt without having its bulk increased thereby in the least; but, from some late experiments, this is contradicted; and it is maintained, that all salts, in whatever proportion they may be added, do actually increase the bulk of the solution, though, when the salt is at first thrown in, the bulk is constantly diminished. From these experiments it is also affirmed, that when water is completely saturated with one kind of salt, it will not take up any more of another, without letting fall some of the former.