SAT 
SASSAFRAS, the wood of an American 
tree. See Laurus. It is said to be warm, 
aperient, and corroborant 5 and frequently 
employed as an infusion, in the way of tea, 
is a very pleasant drink: its oil is very fra- 
grant, and possesses most of the virtues of the 
wood. 
SATELLITE. See Astronomy. 
SATRAP A, or Satrapes, in Persian an- 
tiquity, denotes an admiral, but more com- 
monly the governor of a province. 
SATURATION, like most other technical 
terms introduced into chemistry before the 
science had acquired much precision, has 
been used with a great deal of latitude, being 
sometimes taken in one sense and sometimes 
in another. But in order to be understood, 
it is necessary to use the word with some de- 
gree of precision. 
If we make the attempt, we shall find that 
water will not dissolve any quantity of salt 
that we please. At the temperature of 60°, 
it dissolves only 0.354 parts of its weight of 
salt ; and if more salt than this is added, it 
remains in the water undissolved. When 
water has dissolved as much salt as possible, 
it is said to be saturated with salt. This 
sense is at least analogous to the original 
meaning of the word. ' Whenever, then, a 
substance A refuses to combine with an ad- 
ditional quantity of another body B, we may 
say that it is saturated with B. It takes place 
whenever the affinity of the water and salt, 
is balanced by the cohesion of the particles of 
the salt, and therefore indicates that these 
two forces are equal. 
In the same manner, water, after having 
absorbed a certain quantity of carbonic acid 
gas, refuses to absorb any more. We may 
indeed pass carbonic acid gass through wa- 
ter in this state, but it makes its escape unal- 
tered. Water which refuses to absorb car- 
bonic acid gas is saturated with that acid. 
This saturation takes place when tire affinity 
between the gas and the water is balanced by 
the elasticity of the gas, and indicates of 
course that these two forces are equal. 
In these two instances the saturation is oc- 
casioned by opposite causes. The salt re- 
fuses to dissolve in the water when the cohe- 
sion of its particles equals its affinity for the 
water ; the carbonic acid gas, when the re- 
pulsion of its particles equals its affinity for 
water. In the first case, it is the attractive 
force of cohesion which opposes farther solu- 
tion ; in the second case, it is the repulsive 
force of elasticity. Hence the different me- 
thod which must be followed to diminish these 
forces, and enable the water to dissolve a 
greater proportion of these respective bodies. 
Heat, by diminishing the force of cohesion, 
enables water to dissolve a greater propor- 
tion of saline bodies. Accordingly we find 
that in most cases hot water dissolves more 
salt than cold water. Common salt is almost 
the only exception to this general law. On 
the other hand, cold, by diminishing the 
elasticity, or at least the expansibility of ga- 
seous bodies, enables water to dissolve a 
greater proportion of them. Thus the colder 
the water is, the greater a proportion of car- 
bonic acid is it capable of dissolving. The 
freezing point of water limits this increase of 
solubility, because at that point the cohesive 
force of the particles of water becomes so 
great as to cause them to cohere, to the ex- 
SAT 
elusion of those bodies with which they were 
formerly combined. Hence the reason, that 
most bodies separate from water when it 
freezes. But they generally retard the freez- 
ing considerably, by opposing with all the 
strength of their affinity the cohesion of the 
water. The consequence is, that the freez- 
ing point of water, when it holds bodies in 
solution, is lower than the freezing point of 
pure water. A table of the freezing points 
of different saline solutions would be a pretty 
accurate indication of the affinity of the dif- 
ferent salts for water : for the affinity of each 
salt is of course proportional to the degree of 
cold at which it separates from the water, 
that is, to the freezing point of the solution. 
In this sense of the word saturation, which 
is certainly the only one that it ought to bear, 
it may be said with propriety that there are 
certain bodies which cannot be saturated by 
others. Thus water is capable of combining 
with any quantity whatever of sulphuric acid, 
nitric acid, and alcohol ; and all bodies seem 
capable of combining with almostany quantity 
whatever of caloric. Several of the metals, 
too, are capable of combining with any quan- 
tity whatever of some other metals. In ge- 
neral, it may be said that those bodies called 
solvents are capable of combining in any 
quantity with the substances which they hold 
in solution. Thus water may be added in 
any quantity, however great, to the acids, and 
to "the greater number of salts. 
If we take a given quantity of sulphuric 
acid diluted with water, and add to it slowly 
the solution of soda by little at a time, and 
examine the mixture after every addition, we 
shall find that for a considerable time it will 
exhibit the properties of an acid, reddening 
vegetable blues, and having a taste percep- 
tibly sour ; but these acid properties gradu- 
ally" diminish after every addition of thealkaline 
solution, and at last disappear altogether. If 
we still continue to add the soda, the mixture 
gradually acquires alkaline properties, con- 
verting vegetable blues to green, and mani- 
festing an urinous taste. These properties 
become stronger and stronger the greater the 
quantity of the soda is which is added. Thus 
it appears that when sulphuric acid and soda 
are mixed together, the properties either of 
the one or the other preponderate according 
to the proportions of each; .but that there 
are certain proportions, according to which 
when they are combined, they mutually de- 
stroy or disguise the properties of each other, 
so that neither predominates, or rather, so 
that both disappear. 
When substances thus mutually disguise 
each other’s properties, they are said to neu- 
tralize one another. This property is common 
to a great number of bodies ; but it manifests 
itself most strongly, and was first observed, in 
the acids, alkalies, and earths. Hence the 
salts which are combinations of these different 
bodies received long ago the name of neutral 
salts. When bodies are combined in the 
proportion which produces neutralization, 
they are often said to be saturated ; but in 
this case the term is used improperly. It 
would be much better to coniine the word 
saturation to the meaning assigned to it in the 
beginning of this article, and to employ the 
term neutralization to denote the state in 
which the peculiar properties of the compo- 
nent parts mutually disappear ; for very fre- 
quently neutralization and saturation by no 
SAU 621 
means coincide, d hus in tartrite of potass 
the acid and alkali neutralize each other ; yet 
it cannot be said that the potass is saturated ; 
for it is still capable of combining with more 
tartarous acid, and of forming supertartrite of 
potass, a compound in which the ingredients 
do not neutralize each other ; for the salt has 
manifestly a preponderance of the properties 
of the acid. 
SATUREIA, savoury, a genus of thegym- 
nospermia order, in the didynamia class of 
plants, and in the natural method ranking 
under the 42d order, verticillatae. The seg- 
ments of the corolla are nearly equal ; tfeo 
stamina standing asunder. r l here are eight 
species; the most noted are: 1. The hor- 
tensis, or summer savoury, is an annual plant, 
which grows naturally in the south of France 
and Italy, but is cultivated in this country 
both for "the kitchen and medicinal use. 2. 
The montana, or winter savoury, a perennial 
plant, growing naturally in the south of 
France and Italy, but is cultivated in gardens 
both for culinary and medicinal purposes. 
Both kinds are propagated by seeds. Sum- 
mer savoury is a very warm pungent aromatic, 
and affords in distillation with water a subtile 
essential oil, of a penetrating smell, and very 
hot acrid taste. It yields little of its virtues 
by infusion to aqueous liquors; rectified spirit 
extracts the whole of its taste and smell, and 
elevates nothing in distillation. 
SATURN. See Astronomy. 
SATYR, or Satire. See Poetry. 
SATYR IUM, a genus of the diandria 
order, in the gynandria class of plants ; and 
in the natural method ranking under the 42d 
order, verticillatae. The nectarium is scroti- 
form, or inflated double behind the flower. 
There are 2 1 species. 
SAUCISSON, in fortification, a mass of 
large branches of trees bound together; and 
differing only from a fascine, as this is com- 
posed of small branches of twigs. 
SAVIN. See Juniferus. 
SAVIOUR, Order of St. a religious or- 
der in the Romish church, founded by St. 
Bridget, about the year 1345 ; and so called 
from its being pretended that our Saviour 
himself dictated to the foundress its constitu- 
tions and rules. 
According to the constitutions, this order 
is principally founded for religious women 
who pay a particular honour to the holy 
virgin ; but there are some monks of the or- 
der, to administer the sacraments, and spiri- 
tual assistance to the nuns. The number of 
nuns is fixed at sixty in each monastery ; and 
that of the religious priests at thirteen, ac- 
cording to the number of the apostles, of 
whom St. Paul was the thirteenth. There 
are also four deacons, representing the four 
doctors of the church, St. Ambrose, St. 
Augustin, St. Gregory, and St. Jerome ; and 
eight lay-brothers; who altogether make up 
the number of the thirteen apostles, and the 
seventy-two disciples of Jesus Christ. The 
nuns are not admitted till eighteen years of 
age, nor the friars before twenty-five ; aud 
they are to perform a year’s novitiate. 
SAUNDERS. See Sant alum. 
SAURURUS, a genus of the tetragynia 
order, in the heptandria class of plants ; and 
in the natural method ranking under the se- 
cond order, piperita?. The calyx is a catkin^ 
with unifiorous scales; there is no corolla j 
