80C ( 



milfoil, the Achiliea ptarmica. It is so 

 called because the powder of the dried root 

 excites sneezing when applied to the nose. 



SNIPE. In ornithology, see SCOLOPAX. 



SNOW, Sax. snaw, Goth, snaiws. 1. 



Frozen vapour. 2. A vessel equipped 



with two masts, resembling the main and 

 foremasts of a ship, and a third small 

 mast just abaft the main-mast, carrying 

 a try-sail. 



SNUFF. Pulverised tobacco, variously 

 prepared, scented, and distinguished by 

 numerous names. 



SOAPS. Chemical compounds of fats and 

 oils with soda and potash, distinguished 

 into two sorts, hard and soft. The former 

 is made of soda and tallow or oil, and the 

 latter of similar oily matters and potash. 

 AVhen prepared of soda and tallow only it 

 is white soap : when the tallow is mixed 

 with a large proportion of rosin, palm- 

 oil, &c., it is yellow soap. A great many 

 fine varieties of soap are prepared for the 

 toilet; all these, however, differ from 

 each other, chiefly in the kind of perfume 

 and colouring matter which they con- 

 tain, and are generally inferior to good 

 u-hite soap. 



SOAP'STONE. Another and descriptive 

 name for steatite (q.v.). 



SO'AVE, 1 (It.}. Sweet, sweetly. In 



SOAVEMENT'E. ) music, denoting that the 

 music is to be played sweetly. 



SO'BRIQUET (Fr.). A burlesque appel- 

 lation or nickname. 



Soc, ]Sax., from socan, to follow. 



SOKE. / 1. Properly the sequela, secta, 

 or suit, of the body of suitors; hence the 

 power or privilege of holding a court in a 

 district, as in a manor: jurisdiction of 

 causes, and the limits of that jurisdiction. 

 2. Liberty or privilege of tenants ex- 

 cused from customary burdens. 3. An 



exclusive privilege, claimed by millers, of 

 grinding all the corn growing within the 

 manor in which the mill stands, or of be- 

 ing paid for the same as if actually ground. 

 The payment is claimable in kind. 



SOC'AGE, ) From soc. A tenure of lands 



SOC'CAGE. J and tenements by a certain 

 and determinate service, distinct from 

 knight-service. It is of two kinds: free 

 socage, where the services are certain and 

 honourable ; and villein socage, where the 

 services, though certain, are of a baser 

 nature. 



SOCI'ETY, Lat. tociiu,a. companion. An 

 association formed for the promotion of 

 some object, literary, religious, benevo- 

 lent, political, or convivial. Societies 

 formed for commercial purposes are 

 termed companies. 



SOCIN'IANISM. The tenets or doctrines 

 of Socinus, who held that Christ was 

 merely a man inspired, denied the divi- 

 nity and atonement, and the doctrine of 

 original depravity. 



53 SOF 



SOCK'ET CHIS'EL. A chisel used in mor- 

 tising. 



SO'ULE (French). A plinth. See ZOCLE- 



SO'DA (Arabic). The mineral alkali. 

 Pure soda is an oxide of sodium. See SO- 

 DIUM. It is not, however, found in nature 

 in this state, being always in combina- 

 tion. Like potash, it is procured in an 

 impure state, by lixiviating the ashes of 

 burned plants, but only from those which 

 grow upon the seashores, as the different 

 species of salsola and salicornia. See BA- 

 RILLA and KELP. It is now, however, 

 almost entirely procured by the decom- 

 position of sea-salt (chloride of sodium). 

 The salt is first converted into sulphate of 

 soda (Glauber's salt), which by a subse- 

 quent process is converted into a crude 

 carbonate of soda, which, by lixiviation, 

 &c. is converted into a dry white soda- 

 ash, or into crystallised carbonate of soda. 

 Soda is of great use in the arts, in the ma- 

 nufacture of glass, soap, &c., and has, to 

 a great extent, superseded potash. Its 

 most common salts are the acetate, borate, 

 carbonate and bicarbonate, phosphate, 

 sulphate, tartrate, and common culinary 

 salt, which when dry is a chloride, and 

 when in solution is a hydrochlorate. 



SOD'ALITE. A variety of lapis lazuli, 

 which contains about 25 per cent, of soda. 

 It is found in Greenland, and at Vesuvius. 



SO'DA POW'DERS are sold as an extem- 

 poraneous substitute for soda-water. 

 Like Seidlitz-powders, they are put up in 

 two papers, and managed in the same 

 way, but their solution is a tartrate of 

 soda, and although they form a saline and 

 refreshing draught, their frequent use is 

 not commendable. 



SO'DA WA'TER. A refreshing drink, 

 formed by dissolving carbonate of soda in 

 water, and super-saturating the solution 

 with carbonic acid under pressure. 



SOD-BURN'ING. Burning the turf of old 

 pasture lands for the sake of the ashes as 

 manure, &c. 



SO'DIUM. The metallic basis of soda, dis- 

 covered by Sir H. Davy in 1807, a few 

 days after the discovery of potassium. It 

 is procured exactly in the same way as 

 potassium ; and bears a great analogy to 

 that metal. It is white like silver, pos- 

 sesses great lustre, and is a good conductor 

 of electricity. It fuses at 200 F., and 

 when heated strongly in oxygen or chlo- 

 rine, it burns with great brilliancy. 

 When thrown upon water, it effervesces 

 strongly, but does not inflame, unless the 

 water be raised to the temperature of 

 120, or so. Like potassium, it is best pre- 

 served under naphtha. Sp. gr. 0'972 at 

 59 F. 



SO'FA. An elegant long seat, usually 

 with a stuffed bottom, and mahogany or 

 rosewood frame of six feet in length. The 

 sofa of the Orientals, from whom we haft 



