SNAKE-WOOD. 
SOLANUM. 
SKULLCAP.—See ScuTeLLa‘Ria. 
RIA. 
Stues.—See Li'max. 
Smitax.—Smildcee.— Evergreen 
monocotyledonous, dicecious, climb- 
ing shrubs, with curiously-ribbed 
ee and numerous _ tendrils, 
ich they twine round every ob- 
ject within their reach. The roots 
are thick and fleshy, and from them 
(and particularly those of one spe- 
cies) the drug called sarsaparilla is 
made. The flowers are small and 
whitish ; and those of the female 
plants are succeeded by red or black 
berries. 'The handsomest species is 
_S. riibens, the tendrils of which are 
of a bright red; and the next is SV. 
excélsa, from the large size of its 
leaves. All the species may be 
grown in the common garden soil ; 
but they should be planted in a 
shady situation, and kept rather 
moist. S. China and some other 
Species are rather tender, and re- 
quire protection from severe frosts. 
Snaits.—See He’.rx. 
SNAIL-FLOWER.—Phaséolus Ca- 
racalla.—A climbing plant, a native 
of India, with lilach flowers, nearly 
allied to the Scarlet-runner. 
SNAKE-GourD. — Trichosanthes 
anguina.— A very curions plant, 
with white flowers, every petal of 
which appears surrounded with long 
knotted fringe. The leaves‘and ten- 
drils resemble those of the common 
Cucumber ; but the fruit is curious- 
ly striped, and is so long and nar- 
row as toresemblea snake. Speci- 
mens have indeed been grown more 
than six feet long, and not thicker 
than the body of a common s ‘ 
The plant is an annual, a native of 
China, and it should be grown in a 
frame like a common Cucumber or 
Melon. It is of no use, and only 
worth cultivating as an object of 
curiosity. 
SNAKE-woop.— Ceanothus colu- 
brina. 
SNAP-DRAGON. — See ANTIRRHI's 
SNowsBaLL TREE.—See Vinv’r- 
NUM. 
Snowserry.—See SymPHorica’ Rr. 
PUS. 
Snowprop.—See Gaa‘nTHUus. 
SnowpRop TREE.—See Hate'st. 
SNowFLAKE.—See Leuco‘sum. 
Soap-BerRY.—See Sari’/Npbus. 
Soap-wort.—See Sapona'ria. 
Sorts—are of two kinds, the sur- 
face soils, and the subsoils ; the first 
being what are generally understood 
by the word soils, and the second 
being properly designated earths. 
Soils, according to this definition, 
consist of the crumbling surface of 
one of the primitive earths, mixed 
with decayed animal or vegetable 
matter, and perhaps with particles 
of some other earth which may have 
been washed down by rains, or oth- 
erwise accidentally mingled with it. 
Thus clay is one of the primitive 
earths ; but loam, which is com- 
pounded of the crumbling surface 
of the clay, mixed with decayed 
animal and vegetable substances, is 
a soil. In the like manner, lime is 
an earth, but chalk isa scil. When 
several kinds of soil are mixed to- 
gether, and intermingled with ma- 
nures, the mixture is called a com- 
post. All soils which contain a 
considerable portion of sand or peat 
are ealled light ; and all soils con- 
taining clay are called loamy. What 
is called a light rich soil, is gene- 
rally composed of very sandy loam, 
mixed with vegetable mould, or the 
sifted remains of an old hotbed. 
Sora‘num. — Solandcee. — The 
Nightshade. The flowers of the 
plants belonging to this extensive 
genus all more or less resemble 
those of the common Climbing 
Nightshade, or Bitter-sweet of the 
hedges, and indeed those of the Po- 
tato, which belongs to this genus. 
They are all rather pretty, but their 
foliage is too coarse to be ornamen. 
