SAD tt 



SAC'COPHA'RYNX. The generic name of 

 a fish, discovered by Mitchell, in the At- 

 lantic Ocean, floating on the surface, by 

 the dilatation of its throat: hence the 

 name from sacco, to strain, and pharynx 

 (q. v.j. 



SA'CER MOR'BCS (Lat). Sacred disease. 

 An old term for epilepsy and other dis- 

 orders. 



SACK. 1. Sax. saec, sack. A large bag 

 made of coarse hempen cloth (sacking), 

 used for conveying corn, wool, hops,&c., 

 in. A sack of wool in England is 308 Ibs. ; 

 in Scotland it is 384 Ibs. A sack (more 

 commonly a bag] of cotton, varies from 



150 Ibs. to 400 lb. 2. Fr. sec, idc/ie.dry. 



The name of a wine used by our ances- 

 tors, called by Howell in his French and 

 English Dictionary (1650) Vin d'Espagne, 

 rm sec, and was probably the wine called 

 dry mountain. By some, however, it is 

 taken to be Khenish, and by others to be 



Canary wine. 3. "Wei. segan, a cloak of 



a square form, worn by our ancestors. It 

 was originally made of skin, afterwards 

 of wool. 



SACK'BUT. A musical instrument of the 

 wind kind. It is a sort of trumpet, which 

 is so contrived that it can be lengthened 

 or shortened according to the tone re- 

 quired; hence called schuif-trompet by the 

 Dutch. The name is compounded of 

 sacco, to strain, and btixtts, a box. 



SA'CRAMENT. 1. The military oath 

 taken by Roman soldiers to obey their 



commanders. 2. In theology, the name 



of the distinctive ceremonies of the Chris- 

 tian faith, baptism, and the Lord's supper. 



SACRAMENTA'LIA. Certain sacramental 

 offerings formerly paid to the parish priest 

 at Easter, &c. 



SAC'RISTY, Lat. sacer, sacred. In archi- 

 tecture, an apartment attached to the 

 church, in which the services, &c., are 

 deposited. 



SAC'RO. A prefix for sacrum, used in 

 anatomy 



SA'CRUM, Lat., from sacer, sacred. In 

 anatomy, the os sacrum is that bone which 

 forms the basis of the vertebral column, 

 and derives its name from its being 

 offered in sacrifice by the ancients. 



SAD'DA. A work in the Persian tongue, 

 boing a summary of the Zendavesta or 

 sacred books. 



SAD'DLE, Sax. sadel. 1. The seat adapted 



to a horse's back. 2. In ships, a cleat or 



block of wood, nailed on the lower yard- 

 arms, to retain the studding-sail booms 

 in their place. The name is also given 

 to other circular pieces of wood. 



SAD'DLE-SHAPED. In geology, an epithet 

 applied to strata when bent on each side 

 of a mountain, without being broken at 

 the top. 



SAD'DVCEES. A sect of Deists among the 

 ftrcient Jews, who denied the re*urrec- 



1 SAP 



tion, a future state, and the existence of 

 angels. 



SAFE CONDUCT. A special pass or war- 

 rant of security, under the Great Seal, to 

 protect a person in an enemy's country, 

 or in a foreign country. 



SAJE'TY LAMP. The miner's lamp, in- 

 vented by Sir H. Davy, to prevent the, 

 fatal explosions which have 

 arisen from use of the com- 

 mon lamp in coal mines. It 

 transmits its light through a 

 cylinder of iron or copper 

 wire -gauze, the apertures of 

 which are about a thousand 

 in the square inch. It is based 

 upon the fact, that carbu- 

 etted hydrogen is not ignited 

 through wire-gauze ; but, ac- 

 cording to the old construc- 

 tion, the safety-lamp was no 

 protection against a mixture 

 of pure hydrogen and atmo- 

 spheric air. This has led to 

 certain improvements, as the 

 covering of the c;i;;e with 

 glass ; and Messrs. Upton and 

 Boberts's new patent safety- 

 lamp is perhaps the most 

 omplete of the kind. The figure shows the 

 original Davy-lamp, of which all the others 

 are merely modifications. Its principal 

 parts are a brass cistern containing the oil, 

 the rim on which the wire-gau/e cover is 

 fixed, an aperture for supplying the oil, 

 a central aperture for the wick, and the 

 wire-gauze cylinder. 



SAFE'TY-VALVE. The valve usually em - 

 ployed in the boilers of steam-engines to 

 prevent explosions. It is constructed in 



such a manner that the power of the 

 steam opens it, before it is of a higher 

 pressure than the boiler is calculated to 

 bear, whereby the surplus power escapes, 

 and the valve again closes. 



SAF'FLOWER. Bastard Saffron. Called 

 also Spanish Red, and China Lake. The 

 red fecula separated from the flowers 

 of the Carthamns tinctorins, an annual 

 plant, common in warm climates. Used 

 in dyeing, but is fugitive. The vege- 

 table ronye is extracted from safflower, 

 by dissolving it in carbonate of soda, and 

 precipitating the rouge by citric acid. 



S.-.F'FRON, Fr. and Ger. saffran. 1. A fila- 

 mentous cake, prepared from the stigmata, 

 with a portion of the style, of the flowers 

 of the Crocus sativns, a perennial bulbous 

 plant, cultivated in Ensland, and other 

 parts of Europe. It has a rich, deep 

 orange-red colour, an agreeable smell, 



