662 
SAP 
SAP 
knowledge.—By sapience, I mean what the ancients did by 
philosophy; the habit or disposition of mind which im- 
porteth the love of wisdom. Grew. 
Sapience and love 
Immense, and all the Father in him shone. Milton. 
O sovran, virtuous, precious of all trees 
In Paradise! of operation blest 
To sapience. Milton. 
SA'PIENT, adj. [ sapiens , Lat.] Wise; sage.—Where 
the sapient king held dalliance. Milton. 
SAPIENTIAL, adj. [from sapieiitia, Lat.] Affording 
lessons of wisdom. 
SAPIENTIAL, or Sapientialis, is also an epithet ap¬ 
plied to certain books of Scripture, calculated for our instruc¬ 
tion and improvement in prudence, or moral wisdom: they 
are thus called in contradistinction to the historical and pro¬ 
phetical books. 
The sapiential books are Proverbs, Canticles, Ecclesiastes, 
the Psalms, and Job; though some reckon this last among 
the historical books. 
SAPIENZA, three small islands of Greece, on the south 
coast of the Morea, opposite to Modon, and only a few miles 
from tli,e shore. The largest, anciently called Sphacteria, was 
famous for a naval victory obtained there by the Athenians, 
over the Lacedemonians. 
SAPINDI [so called from one of the leading genera, sa¬ 
pindus'], in Botany, is the 65th natural order in Jussieu’s 
system, the 5th of his 13th class. The order is thus defined. 
Calyx either of many leaves; or of one leaf, often deeply 
divided. Petals four or five, inserted into the receptacle of 
the flower; sometimes naked; sometimes villous or glan¬ 
dular in the middle, on the inner side ; occasionally bearing 
an internal scale, called by Linnaeus a nectary. Stamens 
mostly eight, with distinct filaments, inserted into the re¬ 
ceptacle of the flower. Germen simple; style one or three; 
stigma one, two, or three. Fruit either drupaceous or cap¬ 
sular, with one, two, or three cells; or of one, two, or three 
single-seeded grains or lobes. Seeds attached to the inner 
corner of each cell. Corculum destitute of albumen, the 
radicle incurved upon the lobes. Stem arboreous or 
shrubby, rarely herbaceous. Leaves alternate. 
Sect. 1. Petals double, or bearing an internal scale upon 
the inner side of the claw. 
Cardiospermum; Paullinia; Seriana; Sapindus; Talisia 
of Aublet; and Aporetica of Forster. 
Sect. 2. Petals simple. 
Schmidelia; Ornitrophe of Commerson; Euphoria of Com- 
merson, which is Scytalia of Gsertner; Melicocca; Toulicia 
of Aublet, which is Schreber’s Ponaea ; Trigonis of Jacquin ; 
Molinsea of Commerson, referred by Lamarck to Cupania; 
and Cossignia of Commerson. 
Sect. 3. Genera akin to Sapindi. 
Matayba of Aublet, which is Schreber’s Ephielis; Enourea 
of Aublet; Cupania; Pekea of Aublet, which is Rhizobolus 
of Gsertner and Schreber. 
Aesculus, though referred by Jussieu to his next order 
Acera, is, as he remarks, nearly allied to the Sapindi. 
SAPINDUS [q. Sapo Indus ; the rind of the fruit serving 
for soap],' in Botany, a genus of the class octandria, order 
trigynia, natural order of tribilatae sapindi (Juss.) —Generic 
Character. Calyx: perianth four-leaved, spreading : leaflets 
subovafe, almost equal, flat, spreading, coloured, deciduous ; 
two of them exterior. Corolla-, petals four, ovate, claw-ed ; 
two of them more approximating. Nectary of four oblong, 
concave, erect leaflets, inserted into the base of the petals. 
Glands four, roundish, inserted also into the base of the 
petals. Stamina : filaments eight, length of the flower. 
Anthers cordate, erect. Pistil: germ triangular. Styles three, 
short. Stigmas simple, obtuse Pericarp: capsules three, 
fleshy, globular, connate, inflated. Seed: nut globular 
(two-celled, G.) The three capsules seldom all come to matu¬ 
rity : Houston remarks that two are commonly abortive. It 
seems allied to paullinia and cardiospermum.— Essential 
Character. Calyx four-leaved. Petals four. Capsule fleshy, 
connate, ventricose. 
1. Sapindus saponaria, or common soap-berry tree.— 
This sort grows naturally in the islands of the West Indies, 
where it rises with a woody stalk from twenty to thirty feet 
high, sending out many branches towards the top, which are 
garnished with winged leaves, composed of three, four, or 
five pair of spear-shaped leaflets, which are from three to 
four inches long, and an inch and a quarter broad in the 
middle, drawing to a point at both ends. The midrib has a 
membranaceous or leafy border running on each side, from 
one pair of leaflets to the other, which is broadest in the 
middle between the leaflets; they are of a pale green colour, 
and are pretty stiff; 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 succeded by oval 
berries as large as middling cherries, sometimes single, at 
others two, three, or four are joined together; these have a 
saponaceous skin or cover which incloses a very smooth 
roundish nut of the same form, and of a shining black when 
ripe. These nuts were formerly brought to England for 
buttons to waistcoats, some were tipped with silver, and 
others with different metals; they were very durable, as they 
did not wear, and seldom broke. The skin or pulp which 
surrounds the nuts, is used in America to wash linen, but it 
is very apt to burn and destroy, if often used, being of a very 
acrid nature. 
2. Sapindus longifolius, or long-leaved soap-berry tree.— 
Leaves pinnate, leaflets lanceolate, smooth, one terminating, 
rachis simple. Unarmed. Leaflets five pairs. Flowers 
clustered, on very short pedicels. Calyx tomentose-hoary, 
four-leaved: leaflets ovate, acute.—Native of the East 
Indies. 
3. Sapindus spinosus, or thorny soap-berry tree.—Leaves 
abruptly pinnate, stem very thorny. This species is very 
remarkable for the prickliness of its trunk, which seldom ex¬ 
ceeds seven or eight feet in height, and two or three inches 
in diameter.—Native of Jamaica; called there the Licca 
Tree. 
4. Sapindus laurifolius, or bay-lsaved soap-berry tree.— 
Leaves pinnate, leaflets ovate-oblong, attenuated, smooth, 
rachis simple, petals tomentose at the edge. Branches round, 
striated, smooth.—Native of Malabar. 
5. Sapindus emarginatus, or notch-leaved soap-berry tree. 
—Leaves pinnate, leaflets oblong, emarginate, villose be¬ 
neath, rachis simple, petals tomentose at the edge. Unarmed. 
Branches round, almost as thick as the little finger, smooth, 
gray. Raceme terminating, superdecompound, large. Pe¬ 
duncles and pedicels spreading, pubescent.—Native of the 
East Indies. 
6. Sapindus rubiginosus, or rusty soap-berry tree.—Leaves 
pinnate, leaflets oblong, lanceolate, acute, villose beneath, 
rachis simple, petals smooth. Trunk perfectly erect, of con¬ 
siderable length and thickness. Branches numerous, ascend¬ 
ing. Panicle terminating, large, erect, composed of simple 
racemes.—Native of the East Indies. 
7. Sapindus tetraphyllus, or four-leaved soap-berry tree. 
—Leaves pinnate, leaflets lanceolate-oblong, smooth, rachis 
simple, racemes almost simple, petals smooth. Unarmed. 
Branches round, smooth, gray.—Native of the East Indies. 
8. Sapindus rigidus, or ash-leaved soap-berry tree.— 
Leaves pinnate, leaflets ovate-oblong, rachis simple, corollas 
and fruits smooth. Unarmed. Branches round, gray, smooth. 
Raceme terminating, superdecompound, a foot long: 
branches and branchlets spreading.—Native of the West 
Indies. 
9. Sapindus arborescens, or arborescent soap-berry tree.— 
Leaves pinnate, leaflets ovate, acuminate, smooth, panicle 
axillary, simple. A tree of about seven or eight feet in 
height, and branching at the top: diameter eight or nine 
inches: bark rough and gray; wood whitish: branches 
knotty, and subdivided; spreading on all sides.—Native of 
Guiana. 
10. Sapindus frutescens, or frutescent soap-berry tree.— 
Leaves pinnate, leaflets alternate, lanceolate, acuminate, 
smooth. 
