Fixed (fÄkst), a.
1. Securely placed or fastened; settled;
established; firm; imovable; unalterable.
2. (Chem.) Stable; non-
volatile.
Fixed air (Old Chem.), carbonic acid
or carbon dioxide; -- so called by Dr. Black because it can be
absorbed or fixed by strong bases. See Carbonic acid,
under Carbonic. -- Fixed alkali (Old
Chem.), a non-volatile base, as soda, or potash, in
distinction from the volatile alkali ammonia. -- Fixed
ammunition (Mil.), a projectile and powder
inclosed together in a case ready for loading. -- Fixed
battery (Mil.), a battery which contains heavy
guns and mortars intended to remain stationary; -- distinguished from
movable battery. -- Fixed bodies,
those which can not be volatilized or separated by a common
menstruum, without great difficulty, as gold, platinum, lime,
etc. -- Fixed capital. See the Note under
Capital, n., 4. -- Fixed
fact, a well established fact. [Colloq.] --
Fixed light, one which emits constant beams; --
distinguished from a flashing, revolving, or intermittent light.
-- Fixed oils (Chem.), non-volatile,
oily substances, as stearine and olein, which leave a permanent
greasy stain, and which can not be distilled unchanged; --
distinguished from volatile or essential oils. --
Fixed pivot (Mil.), the fixed point
about which any line of troops wheels. -- Fixed
stars (Astron.), such stars as always retain
nearly the same apparent position and distance with respect to each
other, thus distinguished from planets and comets.