mephitises

Noun

mephitis (countable and uncountable, plural mephitises)

1. A poisonous or foul-smelling gas, especially as emitted from the earth; an unpleasant smell.
   • The Abbe had, in the district of Latera, observed that in a mephitis of hydrogenous sulphurated or hepatic gas, a slow combustion of phosphorus took place, with the same resplendence as in the atmospheric air.1822, Samuel Griswold Goodrich, Cabinet of curiosities: natural, artificial, and historical, page 140

   Synonyms:

   malodour, stench, reek, mephitism

2. A dilution of fluids derived from skunks or polecats.
   • Mephitis, in water, did not at first relieve the cough, so that I was compelled to prescribe another remedy; but after taking this for a short time, the father averred that he thought the first remedy, Mephitis, had a better effect than the last.1854, C. Neidhard, “Mephitis Putorius and Other Remedies in Hooping Cough”, in The British Journal of Homoeopathy, page 436