The fourth fort grows naturally in Crete •, the lower 
leaves of this are fmaller than thofe of the firll fort, 
and are more like thofe of Smallage ; the ftalk rifes 
higher, and grows more erefil than thofe of the firft ; 
the leaves on the lower part of the ftalk are large, and 
fawed on their edges •, they ftand by threes round 
' the ftalk at the joints ; their feafe fet clofe, having no 
foot-ftalks ; the upper part of the ftalk and branches 
are garnilhed with leaves of the fame form, which 
ftand by pairs. The umbels of flowers are much 
fmaller, and the feeds are lefs. 
Thefe forts are moft of then! biennial, perilling after 
their feeds are ripe ; they flower in June, and their 
feeds ripen in Auguft. 
The firft of thefe forts is that ordered by the College 
for medicinal ufe, but is feldom now prefcribed ; and 
at prefent is feldom cultivated in gardens, though 
formerly it was greatly ufed in the kitchen, before 
Celery was fo much cultivated, which hath taken 
place of Alexanders, and entirely fupplanted it. The 
other forts are preferved in botanic gardens for vari- 
ety, but may either of them be cultivated for the ufe 
of the kitchen. The fecond fort is much preferable 
* to the firft for blanching, as I have tried, and will be 
tenderer, and not quite fo ftrong. 
All thefe plants may be propagated by flowing their 
feeds upon an open (pot of ground in Auguft, as foon 
as they are ripe ; for if they are preferved till fpring, 
they often mifcarry, or at leaft do not come up until 
the fecond year ; whereas thofe fown in autumn rarely 
fail of coming up in the fpring, and will make much 
ftronger plants than the other. 
The common fort, when cultivated for the table,- 
fhould be treated in the following manner : 
In the fpring the plants ftiould be hoed out, fo as to 
leave them ten inches or a foot apart each way ; and, 
during the following fummer, they muft be conftantly 
cleared from weeds, which, if permitted to grow 
amongft them, will draw them up (lender, and render 
them good for little. In February following the plants 
will (hoot up again vigoroufly, at which time the earth 
muft be drawn up to each plant, to blanch them, and 
in three weeks after they will be fit for ufe, when 
they may be dug up, and the white part preferved, 
which may be ftewed and eaten as Celery. 
SNA P-D R A G O N. See Antirrhinum. , 
SNEEZWORT. See Achillea. 
SNOW is defined to be a meteor formed in the mid- 
dle region of the air, of vapour raifed by the aftion of 
the fun, or fubterraneous fire there congealed, its 
parts conftipated, its fpecific gravity increafed, and 
thus returned to the earth in the form of little villi or 
flakes. 
The Snow we receive may properly enough be af- 
cribed to the coldnefs of the atmofphere through 
which it falls ; when the atmofphere is warm enough 
to diflolve the Snow before it arrives at us, we call it 
rain ; if it preferves itfelf undiflolved, we call it Snow. 
Snow is very ufeful ; it fru&ifies the ground; it 
guards Corn, or other vegetables from the intenfer 
cold of the air, efpecially the cold piercing winds. _ 
It is fuppofed to abound with falific and fertile parti- 
cles, as much or more than rain ; however, it is ac- 
counted more ponderous, and by that means finks 
deeper into the ground than rain does, and therefore 
is in fome cafes of more benefit to planting; for 
which reafon, fome lay heaps of Snow round the feet 
of their foreft-trees, efpecially in hot burning lands. 
Monf. le Clerc fays, that fome parts of a cloud which 
fhould turn to rain, are fometimes prevented by 
the cold, and formed into a confidence which we call 
Snow, which appears to be formed from watery par- 
ticles, from hence, that when it diflolves, it turns into 
water ; fo that we may eafily conceive Snow to be 
made of watery particles, hardened by cold and ga- 
thered into flakes, in fuch a manner as to leave large 
interftices between one another ; which Snow is not 
tranfparent, as the water, becaufe the more rigid 
particles, being huddled together by chance, do not 
*• 
leave ftrait pores between one another, arid fokeetf 
out the matter of light. 
But when it happens; that the region of the air undey 
the cloud is very cold, the drops of tain are congealed 
as they fall, and come down In lumps, which are 
called hail ; and thefe lumps are greater or lefs, ac- 
cording to the bignefs of the rain drops of which they 
are formed, and thefe lumps of hail are alfo varioufly 
figured. 
Dr. Grew, in a difcourfe of the nature of Snow, ob- 
ferves, that many parts thereof are of a regular figure, 
for the rhoft part, being, as it were, fo rririny little 
rowels or ftars, of perfect tranfparent ice ; upon each 
of which points are fet other collateral points; at the 
fame angles as the main points themfelves ; amofl^ft 
thefe are divers other irregular, which are chiefly 
broken points and fragments of the regular ones % 
others alfo, by various winds, feem to have been thaw- 
ed, and frozen again into irregular clufters, fo that 
it feems as if the whole body of Snow were one entire 
mafs of icicles irregularly figured ; that is, a cloud 
of vapours being gathered into drops, the faid drops 
do forthwith defcend, and in their defcent meeting 
with a freezing air as they pafs through a colder region, 
each drop is immediately frozen into an icicle, (hoot- 
ing itfelf forth into feveral points ; but (bill continuing 
to defcend, and meeting with fome intermitting gales 
of warmer air, or by their being continually wafted 
to and fro, touching upon one another, fome are a 
little thawed, blunted, and again frozen into clufters, 
or entangled, fo as to fall again into what we call 
flakes ; although Snow is firm ice, and the lightnefs 
of it is owing to the excefs of its furface, in compa- 
rifon to the matter contained in it ; as gold itfelf may- 
be extended in furface, till it will ride upon the leaft 
breath of air. 
SNOWDROP. SeeGALANTHus. 
SOIL. See Earth. 
SOLANOIDES. See Pierce a. 
SOLANUM. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 148. tab. 62. Lin. 
Gen. Plant. 224. [fo called of folari, Lat. to comfort, 
becaufe this plant fweetens the humours.] Night- 
lhade ; in French, Morelle. 
The Characters are, 
The empalement of the flower is permanent , of 7 ke leaf 
cut half through into jive acute fegments. ‘The flower 
has one wheel-Jhaped petal , having a very Jhort tube ; 
thtf brim is large , fpreading , and five-pointed. It has five 
flmall awl-Jhaped ftamina , terminated by oblong fummits 
which ftand together , and a roundijh germen fupporting a 
fender flyle longer than the ftamina , crowned by an obtufe 
fligma. The germen afterward turns to a roundijh berry 
with two cells , having a convex flejhy receptacle , and 
filled with roundifij comprejfed feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the firft feftion of 
Linnaeus’s fifth clafs, which contains thofe plants 
whofe flowers have five ftamina and one ftyle. 
The Species are, 
1. Solanum ( Nigrum ) caule inermi herbaceo, foliis 
ovatis decemangularibus umbellis nutantibus. Lin. 
Sp. 2 66. Nightfhade with an herbaceous unarmed ftalk , 
having ten angles and nodding umbels. Solanum offici- 
narum, acinis nigricantibus. C. B. P. 166. Comynon 
Nightfhade of the Jhops with a black fruit. 
2. Solanum {Villofum ) caule inermi herbaceo ramis te- 
retibus foliis angulatis, umbellis nutantibus. Night- 
fisade with a woolly , herbaceous , unarmed ftalk , oval in- 
dented leaves which are taper, and nodding umbels. So- 
lanum officinarum, acinis puniceis. C. B. P. 166. 
Nightfhade with red fruit. 
3. Solanum ( Luteum ) caule inermi herbaceo, foliis 
ovato-lanceolatis acuminatis tomentcfis, umbellis nu- 
tantibus. Nightfhade with an herbaceous unarmed ftalk , 
oval , [pear-fhaped , acute-pointed , indented , woolly leaves , 
and nodding umbels. Solanum officinarum, acinis luteis; 
C. B. P. 166. Nightfhade with yellow berries. 
4. Solanum ( Rubrum) caule inermi herbaceo glabro, 
foliis oblongo-ovatis acuminatis dentatis glabris, um- 
bellis jiutantibus. Nightfhade with an herbaceous , un- 
armed. 
