S A \V 
S A K 
S C A 
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Nor war, which is covered with forests, had j 
the first saw-mill about the year 1530. This 
mode of manufacturing timber was called the 
new art ; and because the exportation of 
deal' was by these means- increased, that cir- 
cumstance gave occasion to the deal-tythe, 
Introduced bv Christian III. in the year 1545. 
Soon after the celebrated Henry Canzau 
caused the first mill of this kind to be built in 
Holstein. In 1552 there was a saw-mill at 
Joachimsthal, which, as we are told, belonged 
to Jacob Geusen, mathematician. In the 
year 1555 the bishop of Ely, ambassador 
from Mary queen of England to the court of 
Home, having seen a saw-mill in the neigh- 
bourhood of Lyons, the writer of his travels 
thought it worthy of a particular description. 
In the sixteenth century, however, there 
were mills with different saw-blades, by which 
a plank could be cut into several deals at the 
same time. The first saw-mill was erected in 
Holland at Saardam, in me year 1596; and 
the invention of it is ascribed to Cornelius 
Cornelissen. Perhaps he was the first person 
who built a saw-mill at that place, which is a 
village of great trade, and has still a great 
many saw-mills, though the number of them 
is becoming daily less , for within the last 
thirty years a hundred have been given up. 
The first mill of* this kind m Sweden was 
erected in the year 1653. At present, that 
kingdom possesses the largest perhaps ever 
constructed in Europe, where a water-wheel, 
twelve feet bioad, drives at the same time 
seventy-two saws. 
In England saw-mills had at first the same 
fate that printing had in Turkey, the ribbon- 
loom in the dominions of the church, and the 
crane at Strasburgh. When attempts were 
made to introduce them, they were violently 
opposed, because it was apprehended that the 
sawy ers would be deprived by them of their 
means of getting a subsistence. For this 
reason, it was found necessary to abandon a 
saw-mill erected by a Dutchman near Lon- 
don, in 1663; and in the year 1700, when one 
Houghton laid before the nation the advan- 
tages of such a mill, he expressed his appre- 
hension that it might excite the rage of the 
populace. What lie dreaded was actually 
the case in 1767 or 1768, when an opulent 
timber-merchant, by the desire and approba- 
tion of the Society of Arts, caused a saw-mill, 
driven by wind, to be erected at Limehouse, 
under the direction of James Stansfield, who 
had learned, in Holland and Norway, the art 
of constructing and managing machines of 
that kind. A mob assembled, and pulled the 
mill to pieces; but the damage was made 
good by the nation, and some of the rioters 
were punished. A new mill was afterwards 
erected, which was suffered to work without 
molestation, and which gave occasion to.the 
erection of others. It appears, however, that 
this was not the only mill of the kind then in 
Britain; for one driven also by wind had 
been built at Leith, in Scotland, some years 
before. 
The mechanism of a sawing-mill may be 
reduced to three principal things: the first, 
that the saw is drawn up and down as long 
as is necessary, by a motion communicated 
by water to the wheel: the second, that the 
piece of timber to be cut into boards is ad- 
vanced by an uniform motion to receive the 
strokes of the saw; for here tire wood is to 
meet the saw, and not the saw to follow the ] 
wood, therefore the motion of the wood and j 
that of the saw ought immediately to depend 
the one on the other: the third, that when 
the saw lias cut through the whole length of 
the piece, the whole machine stops of itself, 
and remains immoveable; for fear, lest having 
no obstacle to surmount, the force of the wa- 
ter should turn the wheel with too great ra- 
pidity, and break some part of the machine. 
The upper part of Plate Saw-mill, &c. re- 
presents the circular saw-mill introduced by 
Mr. George Smart, and used by him in Ins 
manufactory at Ordnance-wharf, Westmin- 
ster-bridge. ABD, fig. 1, is a strong bench, 
similar to those used by carpenters. In the 
middle of this, is an opening through which 
the saw E comes. The saw L, tigs. 1 and 2, 
is a circular plate of steel, with teeth like 
those of a large pit-saw on its circumference, 
and a round hole in the middle of it, through 
which the spindle E, fig. 2, of the saw passes. 
It is prevented from slipping round it, by a 
flanch e fixed to the spindle E, and another, 
f, which slips on the spindle, and is pressed 
against the saw by a nut b, screwed on the 
end of the spindle, so as to hold the saw tight 
between the Handles, and by unscrewing the 
nut, the saw can be taken off to be sharpened, 
and another put in its place in a very short 
time. The ends of the spindle are brought 
to points, which work in small holes in the 
, nds of screws, one of which is seen at d, fig. 
1 : the other screw is put through a piece of 
wood F, supported by the two uprights GG, 
and can be raised or lowered at pleasure by 
wedges, so as to bring the plane of the saw 
exactly at right angles. To the surface of 
the bench the saw is turned round with a 
great velocity by a strap passing round the 
rigger 11 and the wheel I, which receives its 
motion from a horse-wheel 
The piece of wood to be sawn is guided by a 
straight bar K, which is always made to move 
parallel to the plane of the saw by two iron 
coupling-rods h/i, so that it can be set at any 
distance from the saw, according to the width 
of the piece to be cut, and held there by 
screws. 
The machine before us is chiefly used for 
ripping up three-inch deal planks. The bar 
K is set the proper distance from the saw, 
and screwed fast. The workman takes the 
plank, and laying its edge against the bar K, 
shoves it endways against the saw, which, as 
it turns, cuts the wood with surprising quick- 
ness. 
SAXIFRAGA, saxifrage, a genus of the 
digynia order, in thedecandria class of plants ; 
and in the natural method ranking under the 
13th order, succulent®. The calyx is quin- 
qu partite; the corolla pentapetalous ; the 
capsule bi rostrated, unilocular, and poly- 
spermous. 
There are 50 species, of which the most 
remarkable are, 1 . The granulata, or white 
saxifrage, which grows naturally in the mea- 
dows in many parts of England. The roots 
of this plant are eke grains of corn, of a red- 
dish colour without: there is a variety of this 
with double flowers, which is very orna- 
mental. The leaves are tongue-shaped, 
gathered into heads, rounded at their points, 
and have cartilaginous and sawed borders. 
'The stalk rises two feet and a half high, 
branching out near the ground, forming a na- 
tural pyramid to the top. The flowers have 
five white wedge-shaped petals, and ten sta- 
mina, placed circularly the length of the 
tube, terminated by roundish purple summits. ' 
When these plants are strong, they produce 
very large pyramids of flowers. 2. The um- 
brosa, commonly called London pride, or 
none-so-pretty, grows naturally on the Alps, 
and also in great plenty on a mountain of Ire- 
land, called Mangerton, in the county of Ker- 
ry, in that island. The roots of this are per- 
ennial. 3. The oppositifolia grows natu- 
rally on the Alps, Pyrenees, and Helvetian 
mountains : it is also found pretty plentifully 
growing upon Ingieborough hill, in York- 
shire; Snowdon, in Wales ; and some other 
places. It is a perennial plant, with stalks 
trading upon the ground. The flowers are 
produced at the end of the branches, of a 
deep blue. 
SAY, or Saye, in commerce, a kind of 
serge, or woollen stuff, much used abroad for 
linings, and by the religions for shirts: with ns 
it is used for aprons by several sorts of artifi- 
cers, being usually dyed green. 
SCABBARD, to, to punish with the 
scabbard of a bayonet. Infantry soldiers are 
sometimes scabbarded, under the sanction of 
the captains of companies, for slight offences 
committed among themselves. A court- - 
martial is held in the serjeant’s room or tent, 
to ascertain the culprit’s guilt; it having been 
previously left to him to abide by the judg- 
ment of his comrades, in this manner, or to 
he tried by a regimental court-martial. 
The word scabbard has been sometimes 
used in a figurative sense, to distinguish those 
persons who have obtained rank and promo- 
tion in the army without seeing much hard 
service, from those who have fought their 
way through all the obstacles of superior in- 
terest, &c. Hence the favourite expression 
of the late sir William Erskine : “ Some rise 
by the scabbard, and some by the sword ;” ' 
which means more than we are at liberty 
to illustrate, but which may be easily applied 
to cases in point. 
SCABIOSA, scabious, a genus of the mo- 
nogynia order, in the tetrandria class of 
plants ; and in the natural method ranking 
under the 48th order aggregate. The com- • 
mon calyx is polyphyltous ; the proper one is 
double, superior; the receptacle is paleaceous 
or naked. There are 42 species. The most 
remarkable are, 1. The arvensis, or meadow- 
scabious, grows naturally in many places of 
Britain. The flowers are produced upon 
naked footstalks at the ends of the branches ; 
they are of a purple colour, and have a faint 
odour. 2. The succisa, or devil’s bit, grows 
naturally in woods and moist places. This 
has a short tap-root, the end of which ap- 
pears as if it was bitten or cut off, whence the 
plant has taken its name. Roth these have 
been recommended as aperient, sudorific, and 
expectoraut ; but the present practice has no 
depen dance on them. 
ACT VO LA, a genus of the monogynia 
order, in the pentandria class of plants. The 
corolla is monopetulous ; the tube slit longi- 
tudinally; the border quinquefid and lateral. 
The fruit is a prism inferior and monosperm- 
ous; the nucleus bilocular. There are three 
species. 
SC ALA. See Anatomy, Ear. 
SCALDS, in the history of literature, a 
