SAT 



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S C A 



SATELLITE, (satellite, Fr. sattellite, It.) 

 A small body revolving about a planet. 

 The moon is a satellite to the earth. The 

 moon is so near the earth, that the reci- 

 procal attraction between each of her 

 particles, and each of the particles in the 

 prominent mass at the terrestrial equator, 

 occasions considerable disturbances in 

 the motions of both bodies ; for the action 

 of the moon on the matter at the earth's 

 equator, produces a nutation in the axis 

 of rotation, and the re-action of that 

 matter on the moon, is the cause of a 

 corresponding nutation in the lunar orbit. 

 Mrs. Somerville. 



SA'TIN SPAR. A fibrous variety of calca- 

 reous spar. It is susceptible of a fine 

 polish, and exhibits the lustre of satin, 

 from which circumstance it has obtained 

 its name. Its colours are grey and pale 

 rose-red. Very fine specimens are met 

 with in Cumberland. 



SAU'RIA. (from travpoc, a lizard, Gr.) 

 The second order in the class Reptilia. 

 This order, according to Cuvier's ar- 

 rangement, includes six families, name- 

 ly, Crocodilida, Lacertinida, Iguanida, 

 Geckotida, Chamseleonida, and Scin- 

 coide. 



SAU'RIAN. A reptile belonging to the 

 order Sauria. 



SAU'RIAN REMAINS. The oldest strata in 

 which any remains of saurians have been 

 found, are those connected with the mag- 

 nesian limestone formation. The bones 

 and entire skeletons of reptiles allied to 

 the class Reptilia occur in the lower part 

 of the secondary strata, and are very 

 abundant in the lias. Many of these 

 animals were different from any known 

 existing genera. " The species of fossil 

 saurians are exceedingly numerous, at- 

 taining in many instances a magnitude 

 unknown among the living orders of that 

 class, and which seem to have been 

 peculiar to those middle ages of geologi- 

 cal chronology that were intermediate 

 between the transition and tertiary for- 

 mations. During these ages of reptiles, 

 neither the carnivorous nor the lacus- 

 trine mammalia of the tertiary periods 

 had begun to appear ; but the most for- 

 midable occupants both of land and wa- 

 ter, were crocodiles, and lizards ; of 

 various forms, and often of gigantic sta- 

 ture, fitted to endure the turbulence, and 

 continual convulsions of the unquiet sur- 

 face of our infant world." Upon the 

 whole, it is in the oolitic period, between 

 the eras of the red sandstones and the 

 greensands, that the gigantic saurians 

 existed in greatest abundance about the 

 shores, in the rivers, and on the land, in 

 these now cold regions of the globe. 

 Some of the saurians were exclusively 



marine ; others amphibious ; others were 

 terrestrial, ranging in marshes and jungles, 

 clothed with a tropical vegetation, or 

 basking on the margins of estuaries, 

 lakes, and rivers. Even the air was 

 tenanted by flying lizards, under the dra- 

 gon form of pterodactyles. Professors 

 BucJcland and Phillips. 



SAUROCE'PHALOUS. A fossil saurian, found 

 in the oolite, and by M. Agassiz ranked 

 among fishes. Its form was adapted for 

 swimming. 



SAU'ROID. (from aavpa, a lizard, and 

 tlSoz, form, Gr.) The name given to a 

 group of fishes found in great abundance 

 in the carboniferous and secondary for- 

 mations. The sauroid fishes, says Prof. 

 Buckland, occupy a higher place in the 

 scale of organization, than the ordinary 

 forms of bony fishes. In the tertiary 

 strata the sauroids almost disappear, and 

 are replaced by less complex forms, and 

 present only two genera among existing 

 fishes. 



SAU'SSURITE. A combination of crys- 

 tallized serpentine with jade or felspar. 

 It is thus named after Saussure, who first 

 described it. It is the jade de Saussure 

 of Brongniart. In its external characters 

 it differs but little from nephrite, but in 

 its composition it by no means resembles 

 it. It was first noticed by Saussure near 

 the lake of Geneva, scattered about in 

 rounded pieces and loose blocks. Its 

 colours are green, greenish grey, or white 

 with a slight tinge of green or blue. Its 

 specific gravity is about 3'35. Before 

 the blow-pipe it fuses. It consists of 

 silex 49-0, alumine 24'0, lime 10'5, 

 soda 5'5, magnesia 3'75, oxide of iron 

 6'5. By many mineralogists, saussurite 

 is included under nephrite. 



SAXICA'VA. A genus of bivalves, belonging 

 to the family Lithophagi, or stone-eaters. 



SAXICA'VOUS. Animals which make holes 

 in the rocks, either by boring them, by 

 means of some auger-like process they 

 possess ; or by dissolving the rock, by 

 some acid which it secretes. 



SCA'BROUS. (from scabrosus, Lat. rough ; 

 scabreux, Fr.) 



1 . In entomology, applied to the surface 

 of an insect when covered with small and 

 slight elevations. 



2. Applied to shells, when rough, rugged, 

 harsh, or like a file. 



3. In botany, applied to the stems that 

 are rough, from any little inequalities or 

 tubercles. 



SCA'GLIA. (Ital.) A mode of chalk, of a 

 red colour. In an interesting paper, by 

 Prof. Sedgwick and R. J. Murchison, 

 Esq. published in the Philosophical Ma- 

 gazine for June 1829, on the relations of 

 the secondary and tertiary strata on the 



