THE 
BRITISH ENCYCLOPEDIA. 
s. 
SAB 
O f, or s, the eighteenth letter, and 
’ fourteenth consonant of onr alphabet ; 
the sound of which is formed, by driving the 
breath through a narrow passage between 
the palate and the tongue elevated near it, 
together with a motion of the lower jaw and 
teeth towards the upper ; the lips being a 
little way open, with such a configuration of 
every part of the mouth and larynx, as 
renders the voice somewhat sibulous and 
hissing. Its sound however varies, being 
strong in some words, as this, thus, &c. and 
soft in words which have a final e, as muse, 
wise, &c. It is generally doubled at the 
end of words, whereby they become hard 
and harsh, as in kiss, loss, &c. In some 
words it is silent, as isle, i3lu7id, viscount, &c. 
Used as a numeral, S anciently denoted 
seven ; in the Italian music, S signifies solo ; 
and in books of navigation, S stands for 
south ; S. E. for south-east ; S. W. for 
south-west ; S. S. E. for south south-east ; 
S. S. W. for south south- west, &c. 
SABBATARIANS, a sect of Christians, 
chiefly Baptists, who observe the Jewish or 
Saturday Sabbath, from a persuasion that, 
it being one of the ten commandments, 
which they contend are all in their nature 
moral, was never abrogated by the New Tes- 
tament. They say that Saturday must at 
least be deemed of equal validity for public 
worship with any day never particularly set 
apart by Jesus Christ and his Apostles. Thos^ 
of this sect w'lio are what are denominated' 
Particular Baptists, hold, in common with 
most other Christians of the present day, all 
VOL. VI. 
SAB 
the other doctrines of grace, as they are 
sometimes called, vk. the J'rinity, Atone- 
ment, Predestination, &c. &c. 
In our own countiT, this sect is by no 
means numerous. They have only two 
congregations in London ; the one of Gene- 
ral Baptists, and the other of Particular, or 
Calvinistic Baptists. In America, however, 
as we are informed by Morse, author of the 
American Geography, there are many 
Christians of this persuasion, particularly in 
Rhode Island, New Jersey, and at Ephrate 
in Pennsylvania. 
This tenet, frivolous and unimportant as 
it may appear, has contributed its quota to 
the odium theologicum of modern divinity, 
and has been productive of several weighty 
controversies. Drs. Chandler and Kenni- 
cott ; Messrs. Amner, Palmer, and Estlin, 
in behalf of the Sunday Christians ; and Mr. 
Cornthwaite on the side of the Sabbata- 
rians, have all displayed their ingenuity 
and talents on this very important ques- 
tion. 
SABELLA, in natural, history, a genus of 
the Vermes Testacea class and order. Ge- 
neric character: animal a nereis, with a 
ringent mouth, and two thicker tentacula 
behind the head ; shell tubular, composed 
of particles of sand, broken shells and vege- 
table substances, united to a membrane by 
a glutinous cement. There are twenty;five 
species ; of which we may notice S. sciu- 
posa ; shell solitary, loose, simple, curved, 
with lentiform glossy granulations. It in- 
habits India and the American islands. The 
B 
