SAND. 



SASSAFRAS. 



return the article to the seller. (M'Culloch's 

 Com. Dirt.) 



SAND (Germ.). Finely divided silicious 

 matter constitutes common river and sea-sand : 

 particles of other substances are often blended 

 with it, and sometimes it becomes calcareous 

 fp'tn the prevalence of carbonate of lime. 



Sand is often employed as a manure by the 

 cultivator of the poor, hungry clays, especially 

 if he can obtain calcareous sand. See EARTHS, 

 Mi XT i - HE OF SOILS. 



SAND WORT. See CHICK WEED, (jirenaria, 

 from nrena. sand ; referring to the sandy situa- 

 tion in which most of the species are found.) 

 This is an extensive genus of herbs, of humble 

 growth, with numerous slender stems, opposite, 

 mostly narrow, entire, undivided leaves, and 

 small, white or reddish, inodorous flowers, with 

 coloured anthers. This succulent vegetable 

 hear- a great resemblance to samphire, and 

 considerable quantities of it are pickled and 

 sold for that plant. 



SANICLE (Saniiula, from sano, to heal.) 

 The wood sanicle (S. Europea) is a mere pe- 

 rennial weed, growing in woods and groves 

 abundantlv, about a foot high, flowering in 

 May. The root is tufted, with fleshy fibres. 

 The leaves are chiefly rp.dical, simple, with 

 deeply cleft lobes, veiny, ar.d of a deep shining 

 green. Flowers creanr -coloured, in capitate 

 umbels, in an irregular, wice compound, partly 

 umbellate panicle. The herb is bitter, with an 

 acrid, somewhat aromatic pungency. Its re- 

 puted vulnerary qualities are no longer be- 



N A !'. In botany, the fluid which is absorbed 

 by the root? from the earth, and undergoes the 

 first action of the vital chemistry of the plant, 

 is called the sap. It is formed as the absorbed 

 fluid ascends upwards into the stem. It is 

 afterwards conveyed to the leaves, where it is 

 exposed to the influence of light and air, loses 

 a large portion of its water, undergoes a che- 

 mical change, and, being returned to the 

 branches and stem, it is analogous to the blood 

 in animals; all the secretions being formed 

 from it. Changed in the leaf into proper juice, 

 it is assimilated to the various parts of the 

 plant. In its crude state it consists of little 

 except water, holding earthy and gaseous mat- 

 ler in solution, especially carbonic acid; but 

 as it rises through the tissue of the stem, it dis- 

 solves the secretions it meets with in its course, 

 and thus acquires new properties, so that by 

 the time it reaches the leaves it is entirely dif- 

 ferent from its state when it first entered the 

 root. The course taken by the sap in its pas- 

 sage through the stem, is by the whole of the 

 tissue included within the bark, provided it is 

 all permeable ; but as, in many plants, the 

 central part of the stem becomes choked up 

 with solid matter deposited in the tissue, it 

 usually happens, especially in trees, that the 

 course of the sap is confined to the outer part 

 of the wood, hence called sapwood. It is not 

 certainly known through what kind of tissue 

 the upward motion of the sap takes place, but 

 it is probable that it is carried onwards through 

 all the tubes and vessels of the wood, and their 

 intercellular passages. The dotted vessels of 

 the wood seem more especially destined to 



fulfil this office when the sap is in rapid mo 

 tion ; but as they afterwards become empty, 

 while the ascent of the sap continues, there can 

 be no doubt that the woody tubes or pleuren- 

 chyma offer the most constant means by which 

 the sap is conveyed. See ALBURNUM. 



SAP-SAGO. A kind of cheese made in 



I Switzerland, having a dark olive-green colour 



and agreeable flavour, derived chiefly, if not 



entirely, from the addition of mellilot. See 



CHEESE and ZABZIECER. 



SAVIN. See JUNIPER. 



SAW-DUST. The refuse or waste powder 

 obtained from saw-pits, after any wood or tim- 

 ber has been separated or cut asunder by the 

 saw. If fresh oak saw-dust be scattered on. 

 gravel walks it effectually prevents the growth 

 of weeds, and when mixed with blood and 

 quicklime it forms an excellent manure for the 

 garden. This substance has lately been brought 

 prominently into notice as an adjunct to other 

 manures. There can be no doubt of its use- 

 fulness when made into compost with putres- 

 cent manures, saline substances, and organic 

 matters. A compost of this kind, which has 

 been well mixed and decomposed, and turned 

 over with the spade at proper time, will pro- 

 duce an excellent crop of turnips. 



SASSAFRAS (Laurus sassafras}. This, on 

 account of its sensible qualities, and real or 

 supposed active medical virtues, was among 

 the first American trees which became known 

 to Europeans. In the United States, the 

 neighbourhood of Portsmouth, New Hamp- 

 shire, in latitude 43, may be assumed as one 

 of the extreme points at which it is found 

 towards the northeast. But here it is only a 

 tall shrub, rarely exceeding 15 or 20 feet in 

 height, whilst in the Middle States it attains a 

 height of 50 or 60 feet, being still more stately 

 farther south. It is found in the Western and ex- 

 treme Southern States, and in the low, maritime 

 parts of Virginia, of the two Carolinas, and of 

 Georgia. The sassafras is observed to grow 

 of preference about plantations and in soils 

 which have been exhausted by cultivation and 

 abandoned. The old trees give birth to hun- 

 dreds of shoots which spring from the earth at 

 little distances, but which rarely rise higher 

 than 6 or 8 feet. Though this tree is common 

 on poor land, and blooms and matures its seed 

 at the height of 15 or 20 feet, yet it is never of 

 very ample dimensions except in fertile soils, 

 such as form the declivities which skirt the 

 swamps, and such as sustain the luxuriant 

 forests of Kentucky and West Tennessee. 

 About New York and Philadelphia the sassa- 

 fras is in full bloom in the beginning of May, 

 and six weeks earlier in South Carolina. The 

 wood stripped of its bark is very durable, strong, 

 and resists worms, &c. It forms excellent posts 

 for gates. Bedsteads made of it are never 

 infested with bugs. It is, however, only occa- 

 sionally employed for any useful purpose, and 

 never found in the lumber-yards of large towns. 

 The pith and dried leaves of the young branches 

 of the sassafras contain much mucilage, resem- 

 bling that of the okra plant, and are extensively 

 used in New Orleans to thicken potage, and 

 make the celebrated gumbo soup. In Virginia and 

 other Southern States, the inhabitants make a 



979 



