8 A J 



63* 



SAL 



with a bitter pungent taste. It is used 

 by painters and dyers, and also in medi- 

 cine, and often to colour cheese and 



butter. 2 In botany, see CROCUS, CAR- 



THAMUS, and COLCHICUM. 



SA'GA. The general name of the ac- 

 .counts of the ancient history and mytho- 

 logy of the northern European races. 



SAGAPE'NCM. A concrete gummi-resin- 

 ous juice, the produce of an unknown 

 umbelliferous plant, which grows in 

 Persia, where it is named Sugabenage. 

 Its virtues are similar to those of assa- 

 fcetida, but weaker. 



SAG'OER. A clay used in making the 

 pots in which earthenware is baked. 



SAG'GING TO LEEWARD. "When a ship 

 makes a considerable lee-way. 



SAGIT'TAL, Lat. sagittalis. Arrow- 

 shaped : sagitta, an arrow. That, suture 

 which unites the two parietal bones is 

 named the sagittal suture. 



SAGITTA'BIUS. The Archer. In astro- 

 nomy, one of the signs of the zodiac, the 

 ninth in order, marked 



SAGIT'TATE, Lat. sagittatus. Arrow- 

 shaped: applied to leaves, &c., which 

 are triangular, and hollowed out much at 

 the base. 



SA'GO, Malay and Javanese, saju. A 

 species of meal or granulated paste, im- 

 ported from the Eastern Islands, where it 

 supplies the principal part of the farina- 

 ceous food of the inhabitants. It is the 

 pith or medullary part of the Xetroxylon 

 sayu, a tree which attains to a height of 

 30 feet, and from 18 to 22 inches diameter. 



SAGOTJ'INS. Monkeys of America, which 

 have slender tails, not prehensile, and of 

 which the teeth do not project. They 

 constitute the genus Callithrix, Geoff. 

 The masked monkey, C. personata, Geoff., 

 is a well-known example. 



SA'GUM. The military dress of the 

 Roman magistrates and dignitaries: a 

 cloak fastened at the breast with a clasp. 



SA'GCS. The Sago-palm. A genus of 

 palms of the East Indies, and Eastern 

 Islands. Honoecia llerandria. 



SA'IC. A Turkish or Grecian vessel, 

 very common in the Levant. It is a sort of 

 ketch, which has no top-gallant-sail, nor 

 mizzen-topsail. 



SAIL. 1. A sheet of canvas extended on 

 a stay , yard, &c., for the purpose of receiv- 

 ing the pressure of the wind, and thereby 

 communicating the motion of the wind to 

 the vessel, machinery, &c., to which it is 

 attached. The sails of a ship derive par- 

 ticular names from the mast, yard, or 



stay, upon which they are extended. 



2. Sail is also applied to a vessel seen at 

 a distance under sail, as a sail N.E., i.e., 

 a ship on the N. E. point of the compass. 



SAII/ING, in navigation, is distinguished 

 >y different names, according to the 



principles upon which the computations 

 are founded, as plane sailing, middle laf. 

 tude sailing, Mercator's sailing, globttlar 

 sailing, &c. ; the last named properly 

 comprehends parallel, Hcrcator, midiilt 

 latitude, and great circle sailing, 



SAJOUS. A division of American mon- 

 keys, generally called the weeping mon- 

 keys, from the plaintiveness of their voice. 

 Their dispositions are gentle and mild ; 

 their motions quick and light ; and they 

 are easily tamed. 



SAL. The Latin word for salt, from 

 As, salt. 



SALAMAN'DRA. Salamanders. A genas 

 of Batraehians, divided into two sub- 

 genera ; the Salamandra, Laurent, com- 

 prehending the terrestrial salamanders ; 

 and the Triton, Laurent, comprising the 

 aquatic salamanders. The salamanders 

 have nearly the form of the lizard, and 

 were hence placed in the genus Lacerto 

 by Linne. The vulgar story of their 

 being able to endure tire was propagated 

 by Aristotle and Pliny ; but there does 

 issue from the skin a quantity of milky 

 fluid, when the animal is irritated, and 

 it sometimes happens that this is suffi- 

 cient to extinguish a weak fire, and allow 

 the animal to escape. Skeletons of a 

 salamander, three feet in length, have 

 been discovered among the schist of 

 (Eningen : one of them is the pretended 

 fossil man of Scheucher. 



SAL AMMO'NIAC. Muriate of ammonia. 

 The Secret sal ammoniac is sulphate of 

 ammonia. 



SAL'AM-STONE. A variety of sapphire, 

 which consists of small transparent crys- 

 tals, generally six-sided prisms, of pale- 

 reddish and bluish colours. Salam is an 

 oriental word for peace or safety. 



SAL'EP, said to be a Turkish word, 

 written also salop. saloop, and saleb. A 

 powder prepared from the dried roots ol 

 the Orchis mastnila, a plant which grows 

 in Persia, Asia Minoi , &c., and is said to 

 thrive in England, but is not cultivated 

 to any extent. Salep is used as an article 

 of diet : it is light, bland, and nutritious, 

 but little known. 



SAI/ICINE. A bitter febrifuge substance, 

 obtained in white pearly crystals from 

 the bark of some species of :he willow . 

 especially from the bark of the whiu> 

 willow (Salix alba), and aspen tree (Sal\r. 

 helix). 



SAL'IC LAW, Sax. salica. A fundamen- 

 tal law in France, by virtue of which 

 males only can inherit the throne. The 

 origin of the word salic is not ascertained. 



SA'LIENT, Lat. saliens. 1. Leaping: 



moving by leaps. 2. In fortification, 



&c., projecting. Thus, a salient angle 

 points outwards, and is opposed to a re- 

 entering, which points inward. 3. In 



heraldry, an epithet applied to a beast of 



