r 
1 
2 
3 
4 
urc'- 
am quis 
quis msdi 
oci'i- 
Dili 
git^ tu- 
tus caret 
obso” 
Sordi 
hus ic- 
cti, caret 
invi- 
SAP 
&c. and is usually begun five or six fatlioms 
from the saliant angle of the glacis. 
SAPPHIC, in poetry, a kind of verse 
much used by the Greeks and Latins, deno- 
minated from the inventress Sappho. The 
sappliic verse consists of five feet, whereof 
the first, fourth, and fifth, are trochees, the 
second a spondee, and the third a dactyl ; 
as in . 
5 
tatent 
leti 
denda. 
and after every three sapphic verses there 
is generally subjoined an adonic verse, as 
Sohrius aulA. 
SAPINDUS, in botany, soap-berry-tree, 
a genus of the Octandria Trigynia class and 
order. Natural order of Trihilatae. Sa- 
pindi, Jussieu. Essential character : calyx 
ibur-leaved ; petals four ; capsule fleshy, con- 
nate, ventricose. There are thirteen species ; 
of which we shall notice the S. saponaiia, 
with winged leaves, which grows naturally 
in the islands of the West Indies, where it 
rises with a woody stalk from 20 to 30 feet 
high, sending out many branches with wing- 
ed leaves, composed of sever al pair of spear- 
shaped lobes. The flowers are produced 
in loose spikes at the end of the branches ; 
they are small and white, so make no great 
appearance. These are succeeded by oval 
berries as large as middliirg cherries, some- 
times single, at others, two, three, or four 
are joined together; these have a sapona- 
ceous skin or cover, which incloses a very 
smooth roundish nut of the same form, of a 
shining black when ripe. The skin, or pulp, 
Vvhich surrounds the nuts, is used in America 
to wash linen ; but it is very apt to burn 
and destroy it if often used, being of a very 
acrid nature. 
SAPONARIA, in botany, soap-wort, a 
genus of the Decandria Digynia class and 
order. Natural order of Caryophyllei. 
Caryophylleas, Jussieu. Essential charac- 
ter : calyx one-leafed, naked ; petals five, 
clawed; capsule oblong, one celled. There 
are nine species. S. officinalis, a British 
plant, has a creeping root, so that in a short 
time it would fill a large space of ground. 
The stalks are above two feet high, and of a 
purplish colour. The foot-stalks of the 
flowers arise from the wings of the leaves 
opposite; they sustain four, five, or more 
purple flowers each, which have generally 
two small leaves placed under them. Tlie 
SAR 
stalk is also terminated by a loose bunch of 
flowers growing in form of an umbel ; they 
have each a large swelling cylindrical em- 
palement, and five broad obtuse petals, 
which spread open, of a purple colour. 
These are succeeded by oval capsules, with 
one cell filled with small seeds. The decoc- 
tion of this plant is used to cleanse, and 
scour woollen cloths : the poor people in 
some countries use it instead of soap for 
washing; from which use it had its name. 
SAPPHIRE. SeeCoRONDUM, where we 
have given the analysis of the blue corun- 
dum, or sapphire. Itis infusible without ad- 
dition before the blow-pipe, but with borax 
it melts with effervescence. Sapphire, and 
oriental ruby, of which an analysis is also 
given in the article Corundum, are next to 
the diamond, the most valuable of precious 
stones, and are used in the finest kind of 
jewelry. The oriental ruby differs from the 
sapphire in its colour : it is also softer and 
of less specific gravity. In its geognostic 
character, it differs also from the ruby, as 
it occurs sometimes imbedded in corun- 
dum, which is an inmate of primitive moun- 
tains, while sapphire appears to be a pro- 
duction of a later period. The violet- co- 
loured sapphire is the oriental amethyst: 
the yellovy, the oriental chrysolite and 
topaz; and the green,- the oriental emerald. 
SARACA, in botany, a genus of the Dia- 
delphia Hexandria class and order, Na- 
tural order of Lomentacem. Essential 
character : calyx none ; corolla funnel- 
form, four-cleft ; filaments three on each 
side the throat; legume pedicelled. There 
is but one species, viz. S. indica, a native of 
the East Indies. 
SARCOCOL, in chemistry, ^ gum resin, 
supposed to be the product of the penaea 
sarcocolla. It is brought from Persia an^l 
Arabia, in the form of small grains : they 
have sweet and bitterish taste, and are 
very soluble in water. 
.SARMENTACACEjE, in botany, the 
name of the eleventh class in Linnmus’s 
Fragments of a Natural Method, consisting 
of plants that have climbing stems and 
branches, which like the vine attach them- 
selves to the bodies in^ their neighbourhood 
for the purpose of support. 
SAROTHRA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Trigynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Rotacere. Caryophylleae, 
Jussieu. Essential character : calyx, five 
parted ; corolla five petalled ; capsule one- 
celled, three-valved, coloured. There is 
but one species, viz, S. gentianoides an an- 
