764 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



being well-known examples. The rose of Prov- 

 ence yields honey of roses and conserve of n 

 Rose-water is obtained by distilling the petals 

 of a number of species with water. 



Sable. A carnivorous mammal, nearly allied 

 to the common marten and pine marten, found 

 chiefly in Siberia and Kamtchatka. and hunted 

 for its fur. Its length, exclu-ive of the tail, is 

 about eighteen inches. Its fur. which i- 

 tremely lu.-trous. and hence of the very highest 

 value, is generally brown, grayish-yellow on the 

 throat, and with small grayish-yellow spots scat- 

 tered on the sides of t he neck. It is densest dur- | 

 inir winter, and owing to the mode of attachment 

 of the hairs to the skin it may be pressed or 

 smoothed in any direction. Two other species 

 of sable are enumerated, the Japanese sable and 

 a North American species. The Tartar sable is 

 the name given to a species of the weasel genus 

 found in Northern Russia and Siberia, and the 

 pekan of North America is sometimes known as 

 the Hudson's Bay sable. The skins of all these 

 varieties are frequently dyed and otherwise 

 manipulated to imitate the true Russian sable. 

 Sable hair is also used in the manufacture of 

 artist's pencils. Sable fur has been of great 

 value from very early times. 



Sago. A starchy product obtained from the 

 trunk of several species of a genus of palms. 

 The one from which the finest sago is prepared, 

 forms immense forests on nearly all the Moluccas, 

 each stem yielding from 100 to 800 pounds of 

 sago. The tree is about thirty feet high, and 

 from eighteen to twenty- two inches in diameter. 

 It is cut down at maturity, the medullary part 

 extracted and reduced to powder like sawdust. 

 The filaments are next separated by washing, and 

 the meal laid to dry. For exportation the finest 

 meal is mixed with water, and then rubbed 

 into small grains of the size and form of coriander 

 seeds. The Malays have a process for refining 

 sago, and giving it a fine pearly luster, the method 

 of which is not known to Europeans; but there 

 are strong reasons to believe that heat is employed, 

 because the starch is partially transformed 

 into gum. The sago so cured is in the highest 

 estimation in all the European markets. Sago 

 forms a light, wholesome, nutritious food, and 

 may be used to advantage in all cases where a 

 farinaceous diet is required. It is also largely 

 used in the manufacture of soluble cocoas, and 

 for adulterating the common sorts of arrowroot. 



Salmon. A well-known fish, forming the 

 of the family Salmonidae. The salmon 

 bits both salt and fresh waters, and ranks 

 prominent among the food-fishes of the United 

 States and other countries. It generally at- 

 tains a length of from three to four feet, and an 

 average weight of from twelve to thirty pounds, 

 but these limits of size and weight are frequently 

 exceeded. The typical color of the adult fish is 

 a steel-blue on the back and head, becoming 

 lighter on the sides and belly. It usually con- 

 tinues in the shallows of its native stream for 

 two years after hatching, and during this period 

 it attains a length of eight inches. When the 

 season of its migration arrives, generally between 

 March and June, the fins have become darker 

 and the fish has assumed a silvery hue. It is 

 now known as a smolt or salmon fry. The 



type 

 inha 



smolts now congregate into shoals and proceed 

 leisurely seaward. On reaching the estuary 

 they remain in its brackish water for a short 

 time and then make for the open sea. Leaving 

 its native river as a fish, weighing it may be nut 

 more than two ounces, the smolt, after three 

 months' absence, may return to fresh water aa a 

 f/r/7.sr, weighing four or five pounds. In the. 

 gril>e stage or x<tlnton />!, as it is sometimes 

 called, the fish is capable of depositing e;gs. 

 After spawning in the fresh water the grilse 

 again seeks the sea in the autumn, and when its 

 second stay in the ocean is over it returns after 

 a few months' absence as the adult salmon. 

 weighing from eight to ten pounds. The salmon 

 returns as a rule to the river in which it passed 

 its earlier existence. The fertility of the fish is 

 enormous. Salmon are caught by the rod. and 

 by means of nets. For purposes of commercial 

 supply they are taken in nets of special con- 

 struction and of various forms, the fishings being 

 regulated by law not only as to their seasons and 

 times, but also as to the forms and dispositions 

 of the machines for the capture of the fishes. 

 There are important fisheries in some European 

 and North American rivers. In Europe the fish 

 is found between the latitudes of 45 and 7.V. 

 in North America in corresponding latitudes. 

 The flesh of the salmon when fresh is of a bright 

 orange color, and is of highest flavor when taken 

 from the sea-feeding fish. In the waters of 

 Northwestern America are several salmon be- 

 longing to a distinct genus, including the quinnat, 

 or king-salmon, blue-back salmon or red-fish, 

 silver salmon, dog salmon, and humpback salmon. 

 The quinnat has an average weight of twenty- 

 two pounds, but sometimes reaches 100 pounds. 

 Both it and the blue-back salmon are caught in 

 immense numbers in the Columbia, Sacramento, 

 and Frazer (especially in spring), and are pre- 

 served by canning. 



Salt, Common. A substance in common 

 use as a seasoner and preserver of food from the 

 earliest ages. It exists in immense quantities 

 dissolved in sea-water, and also in the waters of 

 salt springs, and in solid deposits, sometimes on 

 the surface, sometimes at greater or less depths, 

 in almost every geological series. Rock-salt,, 

 that is salt in the crystalline or solid form, is 

 found in great abundance in England. It is also 

 found in abundance in nearly every country of 

 Europe. The supply in other continents is 

 equally great. The basin of the Indus and 

 other parts of India possess extensive salt plains. 

 In China deep salt wells abound. The Sahara 

 and Central and Southern Africa afford inex- 

 haustible supplies. Most of the South America n 

 Republics, the West Indies, and the Vnited 

 States also have large natural supplies. Salt 

 manufactured from sea-water is produced exten- 

 sively along the Mediterranean anjl Atlantic 

 sea-boards of Europe as well as in America. It 

 is chiefly made by natural drying in shallow 

 reservoirs, but also by boiling. Sun-dried salt 

 is the purest. Salt from sea-water is usually 

 known as bay-salt. Most salt, however, is pro- 

 duced from rock-salt or from brine springs, t In- 

 latter being due to the melting of rock-salt by 

 water. The salt-mines of Wielicza in Galicia 

 were worked in the Twelfth Century, and are the 



