SUN 



SUR 



of sulphur; in contact with oxygen 



and moisture', it readily bpcomcs 

 changed into sulphuric acid. See 

 Sulphur. 



SULPHUR SALTS. A class of 

 salts in which the acid and base both 

 contain sulphur in the place of oxy- 

 gen, or as their electro-positive ele- 

 ment. 



S U M A C H. (See Rhus.) " The 

 powder of the loaves, flower stems, 

 and young branches of the Rlin.'! ro- 

 nana and Rhus cottnus, shrubs which 

 grow in Hungary and the Illyrian 

 Provinces. Both kinds contain tan- 

 nin, with a little yellow colouring 

 matter, and are a good deal employed 

 for tanning light-coloured leathers : 

 but the first is the best. With mor- 

 dants, it dyes nearly the same colours 

 as galls. In calico printing, sumach 

 affords, with a mordant of tin, a yel- 

 low colour ; with acetate of iron, 

 weak or strong, a gray or black ; and 

 with sulphate of zinc, a brownish yel- 

 low. A decoction of sumach red- 

 dens litmus paper strongly ; gives 

 white flocks with the proto-muriate 

 of tin ; pale yellow flocks with alum ; 

 dark blue flocks with red sulphate of 

 iron, with an abundant precipitate. 

 In the south of France, the twigs and 

 leaves of the Coriaria niyrlifolia are 

 used for dyeing, under the name of 

 redoul or rodou.'' 



The common sumach (/?. glahnim) 

 of the United States is extensively 

 used by dyers and leather dressers ; 

 it is more valuable from the South 

 than North, but is inferior to the R. 

 coriaria, or Italian sumach of Sicily 

 and the south of Europe. This plant 

 is propagated by layers, as it does not 

 mature fruit. 



SU.\L\IER FALLOW. A fallow 

 made during the warm months to kill 

 weeds — a green fallow. 



SUNFLOWER. HcUanthus an- 

 nuvs. A well-known, large compos- 

 ite plant, yielding an abundance of 

 seeds, which are excellent for feed- 

 ing poultry. It requires a good soil 

 of a clayey basis, but will grow on 

 most tilled lands. It is raised in 

 France for oil, and should be sown 

 broad-cast and thinly, or in rows 18 

 770 



inches apart. It soon grows suffi- 

 ciently to cover weeds. An acre will 

 carry 25,000 plants 12 inches apart, 

 and yield 50 bushels of seeds, and 

 u|)ward of 50 gallons of good oil, val- 

 uable for the table, lamps, or soap 

 making. The cake is one of the 

 most nutritious fodders known : 1500 

 pounds will be obtained from the 

 above crop. The leaves are also 

 eaten by cattle, and the young plants 

 removed in thinning form good prov- 

 ender. The stalks are rich in pot- 

 ash, yielding from eight to ten per 

 cent, of it in their ash, but should be 

 returned to the land as manure. It 

 also contains a large proportion of 

 nitrate of potash (nitre). The young 

 plants form as good a crop to plough 

 in as the Jerusalem artichoke, which 

 is indeed of the same genus as the 

 sunflower. 



SUPPOSITORY. A solid medi- 

 cine introduced into the rectum to 

 produce purgation. 



SUPPURATION. The common 

 healthy termination of inflammations 

 of the cellular tissues, in which pus 

 is formed. It should be thoroughly 

 evacuated as soon as formed. 



SUPRACRETACEOUS. The 

 formations above the chalk, now call- 

 ed tertiary. 



SURFEIT. See Horse. Diseases of. 



SURVEYING. In agriculture, the 

 determination of the contents of any 

 piece of ground or estate ; it is usual- 

 ly done in a rough way by a compass 

 with sights, or a plane tabic and 

 chain of 100 links, or 22 yards. The 

 external boundaries of the field are 

 measured by the chain along straight 

 lines determined by setting up the 

 compass, level, and a staff. The dis- 

 tance between these is ascertained in 

 chains and links ; every turn or angle 

 of large size is determined by its 

 bearing with the compass and staff, 

 and a measurement of the length of 

 the straight line, made as often as 

 there are sides or angles. In this 

 way a plan is obtained, giving the 

 angles, bearings, and lengths of the 

 sides bounding the field. This is 

 plotted, and a calculation made of the 

 contents by the ordinary rules of 



