Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAR'Y-TA, or BAR'Y-TES, n. [Gr. βαρυς, heavy; βαρυτης, weight.]

Ponderous earth; so called from its great weight, it being the heaviest of the earths. Spec. grav. about 4. Recent discoveries have shown that baryta is an oxyd, the basis of which is a metallic substance called barytum. It is generally found in combination with the sulphuric and carbonic acids, forming the sulphate and carbonate of baryta, the former of which is called heavy spar. – Cleaveland. Thomson.