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Webster 1913 Edition
Valeric
Va-ler′ic
,Adj.
(Chem.)
Valerianic; specifically, designating any one of three metameric acids, of which the typical one (called also
inactive valeric acid
), C4H9CO2H
, is obtained from valerian root and other sources, as a corrosive, mobile, oily liquid, having a strong acid taste, and an odor of old cheese. Active valeric acid
, a metameric variety which turns the plane of polarization to the right, although formed by the oxidation of a levorotatory amyl alcohol.