SAC 
as before ; by which means the liquor was 
Tendered capable of yielding crystals again ; 
and by one distillation more, with more ni- 
trous acid, the whole of the liquor was con- 
verted into crystals. These crystals, added 
together, weighed five drachms ; and were 
found, upon trial, to have the properties of 
the oxalic acid. 
.Mr. Scheele next examined the proper- 
ties of the white powder, and found it to be an 
I acid of a peculiar nature; he therefore called 
[ it the acid of sugar of milk. It was after- 
! wards called Saclactic acid by the French 
| chemists. Fourcroy has lately given it the 
name of mucous acid, because it is obtained 
by treating gum arabic, and other mucilagi- 
nous substances, with nitric acid. 
Mr. Hermstadt, of Berlin, had made simi- 
lar experiments on sugar of milk at the same 
time with Scheele, and with similar results; 
but he concluded that the white powder 
which iie obtained was nothing else than ox- 
' alat of lime with excess of acid, as indeed 
Scheele himself did at first. After he became 
i acquainted with Scheele’s conclusions, he 
published a paper in defence of his own opi- 
nions; but his proofs are very far from estab- 
| lisliing it, or even rendering its truth proba- 
j ble. Me acknowledges himself, that he has 
; not been able to decompose this supposed 
j salt: he allows that it possesses properties 
j distinct from the oxalic acid; but he ascribes 
] this difference to the lime which it contains^ 
J yet all the lime which he could discover in 
j 240 grains of this salt was only 20 grains ; 
and if the alkali which he employed was a 
j carbonat (as it probably was), these 20 must 
j be reduced to 11. Now Morveau has 
shewn, that oxalic acid, containing the same 
quantity of lime, exhibits very different pro- 
I perties. Besides, this acid, whatever it is, 
I when united with lime, is separated by the 
oxalic, and must therefore be different from 
it : as it would be absurd to suppose that an 
] acid could displace itself. The saclactic acid 
must therefore he considered as a distinct 
j acid, since it possesses peculiar properties. 
1 . Saclactic acid may he obtained by the 
j following process: Upon one part of gum 
arabic, or other similar gum, previously put 
into a retort, pour two parts of nitric acid. 
Apply a slight heat for a short time, till a 
little nitrous gas and carbonic acid gas comes 
over; then allow the mixture to cool. A 
! white powder gradually precipitates, which 
may easily be separated by filtration. This 
powder is sadactric acid. 
2. Sadactric add, thus obtained, is under 
i the form of a white gritty powder, with a 
I slightly acid taste. 
Meat decomposes it. When distilled, 
there comes over an acid liquor which crys- 
i tallizes in needles on cooling, a red-coloured 
) acrid oil, carbonic acid gas, and carbureted 
hydrogen gas. There remains in the retort a 
large proportion of cliarcoal. 
Saclactic acid, according to Scheele, is so- 
luble in 60 parts of its weight of boiling wa- 
ter ; but Messrs. Hermstadt and Morveau 
found, that boiling water onlv dissolved 
| -g—th part: it deposited about ^th part on 
J cooling in the form of crystals. 
1 he solution has an acid taste, and reddens 
| the infusion ot turnsole. Its specific gravity, 
| at the temperature of 53. V, is 1.0015. The 
| compounds which it forms with earths, alka- 
lies and metallic oxides are denominated sac- 
colats. 
SAFFRON. See Crocus. 
SAGAPENUM, gum resins. See Phar- 
macy. 
SAGATHEE, in commerce, a slight kind 
of woollen stuff, serge, or ratteen, sometimes 
mixed with a little silk. 
SAGE. See Salvia. 
SAGENE, a Russian long measure, five 
hundred of which make a wend. The sagene 
is equal to seven English, feet. 
SAGENILE. See Ruthile. 
SAG 1 N A, pearlm ist, a genus of the te- 
tragvnia order, in the tetrandia class of plants, 
and iu the natural method ranking under the 
22d order, earyophyllei. The calyx is te- 
traphyllous; the petals four ; the capsule is 
unilocular, quadrivalved and polyspennous. 
There are 3 species. 
SAG ITT A, in astronomv, the arrow or 
dart, a constellation of the northern hemi- 
sphere, near the eagle. See Astronomy. 
Sagitta, in trigonometry, the same with 
the versed sine of an arch. 
SAG 1' IT ARIA, arrow-head, a genus of 
the polyandria order, in the moneccia class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the fifth order, tripetaloideae. The 
male calyx is triphyllous ; the corolla tripe- 
talous; the filaments generally about 14: the 
female calyx is triphyllous ; the corolla tri- 
petaious; many pistils; and many naked 
seeds. There are five species, of which the 
most remarkable is the sagittifoiia, growing 
naturally in many parts of England. The 
root is composed of many strong fibres, which 
strike into the mud ; the footstalks of the 
leaves are in length proportionable to the 
depth of the water in which they grow; so 
they are sometimes almost a yard long: they 
are thick and fungous : the leaves, which 
float upon the water, are shaped like the point 
of an arrow, the two ears at their base spread- 
ing wide asunder, and are very sharp-point- 
| ed. There is always a bulb at the lower part 
j of the root, growing in the solid earth be- 
neath the mud. This bulb constitutes a con- 
siderable part of the food of the Chinese; and 
upon that account they cultivate k. Horses, 
goats, and swine, eat it; cows are not fond 
of it. 
SAGITTARIUS, the archer, in astro- 
nomy, the ninth sign of the zodiac. See 
Astronomy. 
SAGO, a simple brought from the East 
Indies, of considerable use in diet as a resto- 
rative. It is produced from tiie pfth-ef a kind 
of palm which grows in the East Indies, called 
the cycas circinalis. See Cycas, Starch, 
&c. 
SAHLITE, another name for malacolite, 
which see. 
SAIL, in navigation. See Ship-building. 
SALE. If a man agrees for the purchase 
of goods, he shall pay for them before he car- 
ries them away, unless some term of a credit 
is expressly agreed upon. 
If one man says the price of an article is 
100/. and the other says I will give you 100/. 
but does not pay immediately, it is at the 
option of the seller whether he shall have it or 
no, except a day was given for the payment. 
If a man upon the sale of goods, warrants 
them to be good, the law annexes to this con- 
tract a tacit warranty, that if they are not so, 
he shall make compensation to the purchaser; 
4 Ii 2 
SAL on 
such warranty, however, must be on the sale- _ 
But if the vendor knew (he goods to be 
unsound, and has used any art to disguise 
them, or if in any respect they differ from 
what lie represents them to be to the pur- 
chaser, lie will be answerable for tiieir good- 
ness, though no general warranty will extend 
to those defects that are obvious to the senses, 
If two persons come to a warehouse, and 
one buys, and the other to procure him 
credit, promises thesuller, if he does not pay 
you, I will ; this is a collateral undertaking, 
and void without writing, by the statutes of 
frauds ; but if he says, let him have the goods, 
I will be your pay-master, this is an absolute 
undertaking as for himself, and he shall be in- 
tended to be the real buyer, and the other to 
act only as his servant. '2 T. R. 73. 
After earnest is given, the vendor cannot 
sell the goods to another without a default in 
tile vendee ; and therefore if the vendee does 
not come and pay, and take the goods, the 
vendor ought to give him notice for that pur- 
pose; and then it he does not come and pay, 
and take away the goods in convenient time, 
the agreement is dissolved, and he is at liberty 
to sell them to any other person. 1 Salk. 1 13. 
An earnest only r binds the bargain, and 
gives the party a right to demand ; but de- 
mand without payment of money is void. See 
also Auction, Contrast, &e. 
SALEP. See Starch. 
SALIAN 1 , in fortification, denotes pro- 
jecting. 1 here are two kinds of angles: the 
one sal i ant, which are those tlvat present their 
poiut outwards ; the other re-entering., which 
have their points inwards. Instances of both 
kinds we have in tenailles and star-works, 
SALIENT. See Heraldry. 
SALIC, or Saliq.ue Law, lex saiica, an 
antient and fundamental law of the kingdom 
ot France, usually supposed to have been 
made by Pharamond, or at least by Clovis, 
in virtue of which males are only to inherit. 
I)u Haillan, after a critical examination, de- 
clares it to have been an expedient of Philip 
the Long, in 1316, for the exclusion of the 
daughter of Lewis Hutin from inheriting the 
crown. Father Daniel, on the other hand, 
maintains that it is quoted by authors more 
antient than Philip the Long, and that Clovis 
is the real author of it. This law lias not any 
particular regard to the crown of Fiance; it 
only imports, in general, that, in salic land no 
part of the inheritance shall fall to any female, 
but the whole to the male sex. By salic 
kinds, or inheritances, were antiently de- 
noted, among us, all lands, by whatever 
tenure held, whether noble or base, from the 
succession to which women were excluded bv 
the salic law ; for they were by it admitted to 
inherit nothing but moveables arid purchases 
wherever there were any males. 
SAL1BURIA, a genus of the class and 
order monavia polyandria. The male is an 
ament; anthera: incumbent; female solitary; 
cal^ x fom -cleft, drupe. I here is one species, 
a tree of Japan. 
SALICORNIA, jointed glass-wort, or 
salt-wort, a genus of the monogvnia order 
in the monandria class of plants,* and in the 
natural method ranking under the 12th order 
holoraceae. d he calyx is ventricose, or a 
little swelling out and entire; there are no 
petals, and but one seed. There are nine 
species, of which the most remarkable are : 
1. The fruticosa, with obtuse points, giows 
