SNOWDROP. 



SOLA. 



ii 



form U changed, and they become the elongated bciogi described 

 nd figured by Ebrenberg. 



From these researches it U very trident that red mow U not 

 dependent on one form of organic existence, but that several specie* 

 of plants and miiniaU contribute to its production. It may however 

 be remarked that it u probable that a species of plant is first 

 developed, and it is not impossible that all the forms of animalcules 

 described, except Pti<lud\a, may turn out to be formi of the same 

 specie* of plunt. 



SNOWDROP. [GALAXTHUS.I 



SOAP-BERRY. [SAPIKDOS.] 



SOAPSTONE. (STEATITE.! 



80APWORT. [SAPONABIA.] 



SOAPWORTS. [SAPlXDACTUt] 



SOCOTRINE ALOES. [ALOK.] 



SODA. [SODIUM.] 



SODA ALUM U a Mineral occurring in white fibrous misses. The 

 outer fibres opaque by decomposition, infernally tranparent, and 

 exhibiting a glossy or silky aspect. It is not scratched by the nail. 

 Specific gravity V8S. It U found at San Juan in South Americx Its 

 analysis by Thomson give* 



Sulphuric Acil 33'5 



Alumina 12-0 



Soda 7-5 



Water 42-0 



100; 



with a little silica, lime, iron, and manganese. 



SODA'DA, a genus of Plants named from ' Sodad,' the Arabic name 

 of a shrub found in Egypt, as well as everywhere in the province of 

 Yemen in Arabia. It was considered by Forskal, the discoverer, to 

 be a distinct genus belonging to the natural family of Capparidacea. 

 It is now arranged only as a sub-genus under Capimru [CAPPARIDACE.F.], 

 distinguished by having concave leaflets of the calyx, stamens indefi- 

 nitely numerous, berry ovate. It requires mention only as the unripa 

 fruit is cooked, and forms an article of diet among the Arabs. The 

 same plant is known in Egypt by the name Uombac. It forms a shrub 

 with thorny nearly leafless branches. 



SODAL1TE, a Mineral occurring crystallised and massive. Its 

 primary form is the cube, but it is usually met with in rhombic 

 dodecahedrons, parallel to the planes of which it is cleavable. Fracture 

 couchoidal, uneven, with a vitreous lustre. Hardness sufficient to 

 cratch glass easily. Colour white, gray, grayiih-green, and green. 

 Streak white. Lustre vitreous. Transparent, translucent Opaque. 

 Specific gravity 2'295 to 2'37. 



Massive varieties amorphous. Structure granular, compact. 



When heated by the blow-pipe, the edges are rounded with difficulty, 

 and without any other alteration. With borax dissolves into a 

 colourless transparent gloss with great difficulty. It is found in Green- 

 land, in Mount Vesuvius, and in Siberia. An analysis of the Vesuviou 

 mineral by Arfwedson gave 



Silica 85-99 



Soda 26-55 



Alumina 32-69 



Muriatic Acid 6'30 



100-43 



SODIUM, a Metal, the base of the alkali Soda. It was discovered 

 at the same time with potassium by Sir Humphrey Davy. It oxidises 

 so readily when exposed to the nir, or any substance containing oxygen, 

 that it is never found free in nature. Soda, the oxide of sodium, 

 occurs naturally in combination with sulphuric acid, nitric acid, car- 

 bonic acid, and boracic acid. [GLAUBER SALT; QLAUBKRITK; BOROX- 

 So ru LITE.] 



Sodium, in combination with chlorine, forms Chloride of Sodium, or 

 Common Salt, the principal ingredient in sea-water. 



Sea-water contains 82 to 37 parts of solid substances in solution in 

 1000 parts of water. The largest amount in the Atlantic, 30 6 parts, 

 is found under the equator, away from the land or the vicinity of fresh- 

 water streams ; and the smallest in narrow straits, as Dover Straits 

 where there are only 32 5 parts. In the Baltic and the Black Sea the 

 proportion i only one-third that in the open ocean. Of the whole, 

 one-half to two-thirds is common salt (chloride of sodium). The 

 other ingredients are magnesian salt', chloride and sulphate, amount- 

 ing to four-fifths of the remainder, with sulphate and carbonate of 

 lime, and traces of bromides, iodides, phosphates, and fluorides. The 

 waUr of the British Channel affords water 9647 parts in 1000, 

 chloride of sodium 27'1, chloride of potassium 0'8, chloride of mag- 

 nesium 87, sulphate of magnesia 2'30, sulphate of lime 1-4, carbonate 

 of lime 0'03, with some bromide of magm-sium, and probably traces 

 of iodides, fluorides, and phosphates. The bitter taste of sea-water 

 is owing to the salts of migneaia present 



The waters of the Dead Sea contain 200 to 250 parts of solid matter 

 in 1000 parts (or 20 to 25 per cent), including 7 to 10 per cent of 

 common salt, the same proportion of magnesian salts, principally the 

 chloride, U to 1} Mr cent of carbonate and sulphate of lime, besides 

 some bromides and alumina. The density of these waters is owing to 

 this large proportion of saline ingredients. The brine-springs of 

 England and America an well known sources of salt. Many of the 



spring* afford bromine and iodine, and Urge quantities of it are 

 manufactured for making Daguerreotype plates and other purposes. 



Chloride of Sodium crystallises in cubas, and its prwii-' 

 or the secretions of animal bodies may eaiily be detected by ovapo 

 and submitting the crystals to the microscope. Salt is originally 

 associated with gypsum and clay, and sandstone (New U-d-San i 

 It is necessarily a constituent to a greater or less extent of all a 

 formed from the bed of the ocean. It occurs in extensive be.ls in 

 Spain, forming hills 300 or 400 feet high ; also in Poland, the Tyrol, 

 Bavaria, Saltzborg, Upper Auitria, Stiria, Hungary, Transylvania, 

 Wallaohia, Gallioia, Upper Silesia ; at Vic and Dieuze in France ; at 

 Bex in Switzerland ; in Cheshire, England; in Africa, Persia, India, 

 China and Asiatic Russia, in South America, in Peru and the Cordil- 

 leras of New Granada. 



The most remarkable deposits are those of Poland and Hungary. 

 The former, near Cracow, has been worked since the year 1251, and 

 it is calculated that there is still enough salt remaining to supply the 

 whole world for many centuries. The deep subterranean regions are 

 excavated into homes chapels, and other ornamental forms, the roof 

 being supported by pillars of salt ; and when illuminated by lamps and 

 torches they form objects of great splendour. 



The salt is often impure with clay, and is purified by dissolving it 

 ia large chambers, drawing it off after it has settled, and evaporating 

 it agiin. The salt of Northwich (ia Cheshire) is in masses 5 to 8 feet 

 in diameter, which are nearly pure, and it is prepared for use by 

 crushing it between rollers. 



Beds of salt have lately been opened in Virginia in Washington 

 county, where as usual it is associated with gypsa in. The S 

 Mountains of Oregon also afford rock-salt 



Salt-beds occur in rocks of various ages : the brines of the United 

 States come from a Red-Sandstone below the coal ; the beds of North- 

 wich, England, occur in Magnesian Limestone; tho-e of the Vosges 

 in marly Sandstone beds of the Lower Secondary ; that of Bex in 

 the Lias or Middle Secondary ; that of the Carpathian Alps in the 

 Upper Oolite ; that of Wieliczka, Poland, and the Pyrenees, in the 

 Cretaceous Formation or Upper Secondary ; that of (.'ataloui.i in 

 Tertiary : and moreover there are vast deposits that are still more 

 recent, besides lakes that are now evaporating and producing salt 

 depositions. 



Vast lakes of salt-water exist in many parts of the world. Lake 

 Timpauogos, or Youta, called also the Great Salt Lake, has an area of 

 2000 square miles, and is remarkable for its extent, considering that 

 it is situated towards the summit of the Rocky Mountains at an 

 elevation of above 4000 feet above the sea. The state of California 

 abound* in salt hills and lakes. In the north of Africa large lakes 

 and hills of salt abound, and the deserts of Africa are frequently 

 found covered with an efflorescence of salt 



Corbonate of Soda, or Natron, occurs in white efflorescent crusts, 

 sometimes yellowish or grayish. It is abundant in the soda lakes of 

 Egypt, situated in a barren valley call, d Bahr-bela-ma, about 30 miles 

 west of the Delta. Also in lakes at Debreczin in Hungary ; in Mexico, 

 north of Zacatecas, and elsewhere. It is sparingly dissolved in the 

 Seltzer and Carlsbad waters. 



Trona is a Sesquicarbonate of Soda. In the province of Suokena 

 in Africa, between Tripoli and Fezzan, it forms a fibrous layi-r an 

 inch thick beneath the soil, and several hundred tons are collected 

 annually. At a laka in Maracaibo, 43 miles from Merida, in South 

 America, it is very abundant. 



It is mostly obtained for commercial purposes from chloride of 

 sodium by the addition of charcoal. 



Nitrate of Soda is found native, in the district of Tarapaca, in 

 South America ; the dry pampa, for an extent of 40 leagues, is 

 covered with beds of this salt, mixed with gypsum, common salt, 

 sulphate of soda, and remains of recent shells. It is found in other 

 parts of the world, and is used for many of the purposes to which 

 nitrate of potass is put, especially in making nitric acid. 



(Dana, Manual of Mincraloyy.) 



SOJA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Lejuminotir. 

 Soja hitpida (Mosnch), .S'. Japonica (Savi), the JMichot Kuja (Linn.), 

 is a native of Japan and the Moluccas, and abundant in the penin- 

 sula of India, though probably introduced there. The seeds resemble 

 those of the haricot, French or kidney bean, and are used by the 

 Chinese to "form a favourite dish, called 'teu-hu,' or 'tau-lm,' which 

 looks like curd, and which, though insipid in itself, yet with proper 

 seasoning is agreeable and wholesome." The Japanese call the seeds 

 'Miso,' and put them into soup, of which they sometimes partake 

 three times a day. They likewise prepare with them the sauce termed 

 'Sooja,' which has been corrupted into 'Soy.' Soy is only sparingly 

 used as a sauce in this country. It has the character of being a 

 useful stomachic, but not more so than any of the other condiments 

 when used with moderation. 



SOLA, frequently Sliola, is the narno of a Plant common in moist 



f laces, and in the rainy season iu many parts of the plains of India. 

 I belongs to the genus ^Ktchynomene, and has been called .K. aapera 

 by Linnoous, from the lower part of the stem being rough and scabrous, 

 as well as the legumes. It has been called *tt. laycnaria, both by 

 Loureiro and Roxburgh. The plants are remarkable for their light 

 and spongy texture, and seem indeed to be composed almost entirely 



