SAC 



SAI 



this disease would be comparatively 

 trilling; but this fungus, wiien taken 

 internally, mixed with the rye flour 

 converted into bread, has a most 

 powerful and deleterious effect on 

 the animal frame. "When taken in 

 any considerable quantity, it produ- 

 ces the most dreadful diseases. This 

 was first observed in Franco, where 

 a great scarcity from the failure of 

 the crops, accompanied with a more 

 than usual production of the ergot in 

 rye, obliged the poorer inhabitants 

 of certain districts to make bread 

 from diseased rye. The consequen- 

 ces were horrid to behold ; their 

 limbs rotted and separated from the 

 trunk before death relieved them from 

 their misery. The ignorant ascri- 

 bed it to witchcraft, but experiments 

 made on animals by feeding them on 

 ergotted rye soon showed the real 

 cause. 



" The extraordinary effects of the 

 ergot of rye have ntade it the subject 

 of experiments in medicine, and it 

 has been found extreitiely useful in 

 certain cases of protracted labour. 

 It is consequently become an article 

 of commerce as a drug." 



RYE GRASS. See Grasses. 



SACCHARIC ACID. Anuncrys- 

 tallizable acid, produced by the action 

 of nitric acid on sugar. Its salts are 

 called saccharates. 



SACCHAROMETER. An imple- 

 ment for taking the specific gravity 

 of sirups and worts. Baume's hy- 

 drometer is chiefly used. 



SACCHAROULMIX and ULMIC 

 ACID. A brown, brilliant substance 

 obtained by digesting sugar for a long 

 time in dilute nitric or sulphuric acid. 



S.\CCHOLACTIC ACID. Mucic 

 acid, obtained by treating sugar of 

 milk with nitric acid. 



SACK. A coarse, large bag ; a 

 measure of three bushels. 



SAC OF THE EMBRYO. In bot- 

 any, the small enclosed body in which 

 the embryo is placed during its 

 growth. 



SAC RUM. The lowest portion of 

 the spine. 



I SAFFLOWER. Tlie Cartfiaimis 

 I tinctorius, bastard saffron. An an- 

 I nual of the family Composila, the 

 j flowers of which yield a rich red col- 

 our when treated with solution of 

 I carbonate of soda. Rouge is made 

 from them. There is no difficulty in 

 i their cultivation. 



i SAFFRON. Crocus sativiis. A 

 I bulbous plant with purple flowers, the 

 i stamens of which yield a bright yel- 

 j low colour to hot water. They are 

 j used in medicine, but are of no im- 

 portance. The cultivation presents 

 no difliculties. The stamens, or in- 

 ternal, thread-like parts of the flow- 

 er, are to be collected when of the 

 brightest colour, and dried loosely 

 without compression. The bulbs are 

 placed in a fair soil six inches apart, 

 in June, and the flowers gathered in 

 September, the stigmas being pluck- 

 ed out and dried in a warm room. 

 The first year the yield does not ex- 

 ceed three pounds, but in the second 

 and third twenty-four are obtained. 

 The bulbs are taken up and divided, 

 the third year. 



SAFFRON, MEADOW. Colchi- 

 cum. 



SAGAPENUM. A fcetid gum res- 

 in from a species of ferula. 



SAGE. Salvia officinalis. A well- 

 known aromatic perennial. The soil 

 should be dry, and tolerably rich. It 

 is propagated by splitting the roots, 

 or by root shoots. 



SAGITTATE. Shaped like an ar- 

 row head. 



SAGO. A starchy farina from the 

 pith of several palm-trees, as the Sa- 

 g7is farinifera, lihumphii, &c. It is a 

 good, wholesome food, and much es- 

 teemed for puddings and gruel. In 

 England a gruel of sago is often giv- 

 en to horses after a hard run. The 

 Florida arrow-root is a kind of sago 

 obtained from the pith of the Zamia 

 intcgrifolia and pumila, indigenous 

 plants. 



SAINFOIN. Hcdysarum onobri- 

 ckis (Fig), esparcetle. A long-rooted, 

 perennial, leguminous plant with red 

 flowers. It is native in calcareous 

 soils. 



" There are few plants which have 



679 



