Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Absorption

ABSORPTION, the act, operation, or process of absorbing, sucking in, or swallowing anything, or otherwise causing it to disappear in another body. Absorption by organized bodies is the taking up or imbibing, by means of their tissues, of material suitable for their nourishment.

In chemistry, absorption is the taking up of a gas by a liquid, or by a porous solid; and in natural philosophy it is the taking up rays of light and heat by certain bodies through which they are passing.

Absorption of heat is the retention and consequent disappearance of rays of heat in passing into or through a body colder than themselves.

Absorption of the earth is a term used by Kircher and others for the subsidence of tracts of land produced by earthquakes or other natural agencies.

Source: Collier's New Encyclopedia 1. (1921) New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company. 12.