Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

THE

BRITISH ENCYCLOPEDIA.

S.

S,

SAB

f, or s, the eighteenth letter, and fourteenth consonant of our alphabet; the sound of which is formed, by driving the breath through a narrow passage between the palate and the tongue elevated near it, together with a motion of the lower jaw and teeth towards the upper; the lips being a little way open, with such a configuration of every part of the mouth and larynx, as renders the voice somewhat sibulous and hissing. Its sound however varies, being strong in some words, as this, thus, &c. and soft in words which have a final e, as muse, wise, &c. It is generally doubled at the end of words, whereby they become hard and harsh, as in kiss, loss, &c. In some words it is silent, as isle, island, viscount, &c. Used as a numeral, S anciently denoted seven; in the Italian music, S signifies solo; and in books of navigation, S stands for south; S. E. for south-east; S. W. for south-west; S. S. E. for south south-east; S. S. W. for south south west, &c.

SABBATARIANS, a sect of Christians, chiefly Baptists, who observe the Jewish or Saturday Sabbath, from a persuasion that, it being one of the ten commandments, which they contend are all in their nature moral, was never abrogated by the New Tes tament. They say that Saturday must at least be deemed of equal validity for public worship with any day never particularly set apart by Jesus Christ and his Apostles. Those of this sect who are what are denominated, Particular Baptists, hold, in common with most other christians of the present day, all VOL. VI.

SAB

the other doctrines of grace, as they are sometimes called, viz. the Trinity, Atonement, Predestination, &c. &c.

In our own country, this sect is by no means numerous. They have only two congregations in London; the one of Gene. ral Baptists, and the other of Particular, or Calvinistic Baptists. In America, however, as we are informed by Morse, author of the American Geography, there are many christians of this persuasion, particularly in Rhode Island, New Jersey, and at Ephrate in Pennsylvania.

This tenet, frivolous and unimportant as it may appear, has contributed its quota to the odium theologicum of modern divinity, and has been productive of several weighty controversies. Drs. Chandler and Kennicott; Messrs. Amner, Palmer, and Estlin, in behalf of the Sunday christians; and Mr. Cornthwaite on the side of the Sabbatarians, have all displayed their ingenuity and talents on this very important question.

SABELLA, in natural history, a genus of the Vermes Testacea class and order. Ge.' neric character: animal a nereis, with a ringent mouth, and two thicker tentacula behind the head; shell tubular, composed of particles of sand, broken shells and vegetable substances, united to a membrane by a glutinous cement. There are twenty-five species; of which we may notice S. scru posa; shell solitary, loose, simple, curved, with lentiform glossy granulations. It inhabits India and the American islands. The

B

7

shell is subulate, obtuse at the tip, as thick as a swan's quill, and composed of equal white grains of sand. S. alveolata, has numerous parallel tubes communicating by an aperture, forming in the mass the appearance of honey-combs. This is described by Ellis and Pennant. It is found on Euro pean coasts, covering the rocks for a considerable space, and easily breaking under the feet. The shell is composed chiefly of sand, and very fine fragments of shells; the tubes straightish, two or three inches long.

SABLE. See MUSTELA.

SABLE, in heraldry, denotes the colour black, in coats of arms belonging to gentle men; but in those of noblemen it is called diamond; and in those of sovereign princes, saturn. It is expressed in engraving by perpendicular and horizontal hatches crossing one another.

SABRE, a kind of sword, or scimetar, with a very broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and a little falcated, or crooked towards the point. It is generally worn by the heavy cavalry and dragoons. The gre nadiers, belonging to the whole of the French infantry, are likewise armed with sabres. The blade is not so long as that of a small sword, but it is nearly twice as broad. French hussars wear the curved ones somewhat longer than those of the grenadiers. Perhaps it may be in the contemplation of his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief, to arm the British gre nadiers with this useful and formidable weapon.

SACCHARUM, in botany, sugar-cane, a genus of the Triandria Digynia class and order. Natural order of Gramina, Grami. neæ, or Grasses. Essential character: calyx two-valved, involucred with a long lanugo; corolla two-valved. There are eleven species; among which we shall notice the S. officinarum, common sugar-cane, the root of this plant is jointed, like that of other sorts of cane, or reed; from this root arises four, five, or more shoots, proportionable to the age or strength of the root, eight or ten feet high according to the goodness of the ground; in very good rich soils, canes have been measured nearly twenty feet in height, these are not so much esteemed as those of a middling growth, abounding in juice, and having little of the essential salt.

The canes are jointed, more or less distant according to the soil; a leaf is found at each joint, the base of which embraces

the stalk to the next joint above its insertion, before it expands; from hence to the point it is three or four feet in length, on the under side is a deep whitish furrow, or hollowed midrib, broad and prominent; the edges are thin, and armed with small sharp teeth, which are scarcely to be discerned with the naked eye; the flowers are produced in panicles, at the top of the stalks, from two to three feet long, composed of many spikes, nine or ten inches in length; these are again subdivided into smaller spikes, having a long down inclosing the flowers, so as to hide them from sight; the seed is oblong, pointed, and ripens in the valves of the flower. It has been asserted that the sugar-cane is not indigenous of America; but that it migrated through the Europeans from Sicily and Spain to Madeira and the Canary islands, afterwards to the West Indian islands, to Mexico, Peru, and Brazil.

SACCOLATES, in chemistry, salts form. ed from the SACLACTIC acid, which see. SACERDOTAL, something belonging to

priests.

SACK of wool, a quantity of wool containing just twenty-two stone, and every stone fourteen pounds. In Scotland, a sack is twenty-four stone, each stone containing sixteen pounds.

SACKS of earth, in fortification, are canvas-bags filled with earth. They are used in making intrenchments in haste, to place on parapets, or the head of the breaches, &c. to repair them, when beaten down.

SACKBUT, a musical instrument of the wind kind, being a sort of trumpet, though different from the common trumpet both in form and size: it is fit to play a bass, and is contrived to be drawn out, or shortened, according to the tone required, whether grave or acute.

SACLACTIC acid. To this acid Fourcroy has given the name of mucous acid, because it is obtained from gum arabic and other mucilaginous substances. This acid may be obtained by the following process: To one part of gum-arabic, or other mucilaginous substance, add two parts of nitric acid in a retort, and apply a gentle heat. There is at first disengaged a little nitrous gas and carbonic acid gas, after which let the mixture cool. There is then precipitated a white powder which is slightly acid. This powder is the saclaetic acid. Thus obtained, saclactic acid is a little gritty, and with a weak acid taste. It is readily decomposed by heat, and yields anacid liquor which

crystallizes by rest in the shape of needles. It is partly sublimed in needles, or brown plates, with an odour similar to that of benzoic acid. Saclactic acid, in the state of powder, is not very soluble in water. Cold water does not take up more than 200 or 300 parts of its weight; boiling water does not take up above one half more. On cooling, the acid is deposited in brilliant scales, which become white in the air. The solution has an acid taste. It reddens the tincture of turnsole. Its specific gravity at the temperature of 590 is nearly the

same as that of water. This acid enters into combination with earths, alkalies, and metallic oxides; and the salts which it forms are known by the name of saccolates.

SACRAMENT, signifies, in general, a sign of a thing sacred and holy; and is defined to be an outward and visible sign of a spiritual grace. Thus there are two objects in a sacrament, the one the object of the senses, and the other the object of faith. Protestants admit only of two sacraments, baptism and the eucharist, or Lord's supper: but the Roman Catholics own seven, viz. baptism, confirmation, the eucharist, penance, extreme unction, ordination, and marriage.

SACRIFICE, a solemn act of religious worship, which consisted in dedicating or offering up something animate or inanimate on an altar, by the hands of the priest, either as an expression of gratitude to the deity for some signal mercy, or to acknowledge a dependance on him, or to conciliate his favour.

SACRILEGE, is church robbery, or a taking of things out of an holy place, as where a person steals any vessels, ornaments, or goods of the church.

SADDLE, is a seat upon a horse's back, contrived for the conveniency of the rider. The ancient Romans are supposed not to have made use of saddles and stirrups, and it is thought that they did not come into use till the time of Constantine the Great, A. D. 340, as appears from the Greek historian, Zonaras, who (through his whole history) makes no mention of a saddle for a horse, before such time as Constans, attempting to deprive his brother Constantine of the empire, made head against his army, and entering into the squadron where he himself was, cast him beside the saddle of his horse.

SAFE conduct, in law, is a security given by the King, under the Great Seal, to a

stranger, for his safe coming into, and pass. ing out of the realm. Passports, however, under the King's sign manual, or licences from his ambassadors abroad, which are now more usual, are obtained with greater facility.

SAFFRON. See CROCUS.

Saffron is cultivated in fields for use, and is no where raised with so much success as in England, the English saffron being generally The usual way of propagating it is by the allowed to be greatly superior to any other. bulbs, of which it annually produces new ones. These are planted out in trenches at five inches distance, or less, and they seldom fail. They produce only leaves the first year, but in September, or October, of the year following, they flower. The saffron is gathered as soon as the flowers open, and is then separated from all filth, and formed into cakes by a very careful pressure and gentle heat. At the end of October, when the flowering scason is over, the bulbs are taken out of the ground and hung up in a dry place, and in spring are put into the ground again.

It is not, however, the entire flower of the plant that produces it, but only some of its internal parts. It is met with in the shops in flat and thin cakes, into which it has been formed by pressing, and which consist of many long and narrow filaments, that are smallest in their lower part, where they are of a pale yellow colour; in their upper, part they are broader and indented at their edges, and of a very strong and deep orange colour, approaching to redness. They are somewhat tough, moderately heavy, very easily cut, of an acrid, penetrating, but not unpleasant smell, somewhat affecting the head, and of a bitterish and hot, but highly cordial taste. Thrown into water, they almost instantaneously give it a strong yellow or reddish colour, according to the quantity used. These filaments are the cristated capillaments, into which the pistil of the flower divides at its head; they are of a deep reddish orange colour, while growing, and there are only three of them in each flower.

Hitherto saffron has not been subjected to a correct chemical analysis. From the experiments of Neumann, it does not appear that any volatile oil can be procured from it by distillation. It is probable, however, that it owes its strong smell to such a principle, though in too small a quantity to be easily obtained separate. The colouring

matter of saffron is equally soluble in alcohol and water.

SAGAPENUM. See GUM resin.

SAGE. See SALVIA.

SAGINA, in botany, pearl-wort, a genus of the Tetrandria Tetragynia class and order. Natural order of Caryophyllei, or Caryophylle. Essential character: calyx four-leaved; petals four; capsule one-celled, four-valved, many seeded. There are five species, of which the most remarkable is the sagittafolia, growing naturally in many parts of England. The root is composed of many strong fibres, which strike into the mud; the footstalks of the leaves are in length proportionable to the depth of the water in which they grow; so they are sometimes almost a yard long: they are thick and fungous; the leaves, which float upon the water, are shaped like the point of an arrow, the two ears at their base spreading wide asunder, and are very sharp pointed. There is always a bulb at the lower part of the root, growing in the solid earth beneath the mud. This bulb consti tutes a considerable part of the food of the Chinese; and upon that account they culti vate it. Horses, goats and swine eat it; cows are not fond of it.

SAGITTA, in astronomy, the arrow, or durt, a constellation of the northern hemisphere, near the eagle, consisting of five stars, according to Ptolemy and Tycho; but in Mr. Flamsteed's catalogue, of no less than twenty-three.

SAGITTA, in geometry, a term used for the absciss of a curve.

SAGITTA, in trigonometry, the same with the versed siue of an arch.

SAGITTARIA, in botany, arrow-head, a genus of the Monoecia Polyandria class and order. Natural order of Tripetaloideæ. Junci, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx three-leaved; corolla three-petalled; male, filaments commonly twentyfour: female, pistils many; seeds many, naked. There are five species.

SAGITTARIUS, the archer, in astronomy, the ninth sign of the zodiac. The stars in this constellation in Ptolemy's catalogue are thirty-two, in Tycho's sixteen, and in Mr. Flamsteed's fifty-two.

SAGO, a simple brought from the East Indies, of considerable use in diet as a restorative.

Sago and salop are vegetable fecula. The former is the produce of the cycas circinalis, and is extracted from the pith of the stem and branches, by maceration in wa.

fer; it is washed, passed through a perfo rated copper plate, so as to reduce it to grains, which are dried. Salop is the produce of the orchis mascula. The lately introduced arrow root powder is said to be the produce of the maranta arundinacea. Cassava is prepared from the tuberose root of the manise (jatropha manihot). With the fecula of this root, there is associated an acrid and poisonous juice, which is, however, completely separated by washing, in the process by which it is extracted. The roots of the bryonia alba, and the arum maculatum, are likewise composed principally of fecula, associated with acrid matter, which is separated in the process by

which the fecula is extracted from them. These two were formerly prepared for medicinal use. Wheat affords, perhaps, a larger quantity of fecula than any other vegetable substance, and in a state of perfect purity. A very pure fecula, in large quantity, is also extracted from the potatoe, the root being peeled, well cleansed, and rasped, the pulp placed on a hair sieve, and water poured on it until the fecula is extracted, which, after being deposited, is washed and dried.

SAHLITE, in mineralogy, a species of the Talc genus, of a light greenish-grey colour; it occurs massive; externally it is shining and splendent; its principal frac ture is foliated; fragments frequently rhomboidal; consists of very coarse granular distinct concretions: it is translucent on the edge; semihard, brittle, and easily frangible; specific gravity 3.21. It is found at Sahlberg in Sweden.

SAICK, or SAIQUE, a Turkish vessel, very common in the Levant for carrying of merchandize.

SAIL, in navigation, an assemblage of several breadths of canvass, sewed together by the lists, and edged round with a cord, fastened to the yards of a ship, to make it drive before the wind. Every yard in a ship has its proper sail, except the crossjack, which takes its name from the yard: and those which are not bent to the yard, are the flying jib, fore, foretop, main, maintop, maintop-gallant, mizeu, mizentop-mast, stay-sails, main and maintop studding sails.

SAILING, properly denotes the art of navigating and working a ship, or of causing her to observe such motious and directions as are assigned by the navigator; in which sense, sailing differs from navigation, and must be learned by practice on shipboard. See NAVIGATION.

« ForrigeFortsett »