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the learned languages. He Was early admitted into the mi¬ 
nistry, but from the freedom of his discourses he was obliged 
to quit the country, and in 1683 he went to Geneva. From 
thence he removed to Berne, where he was appointed pastor 
.of the church of Bercher. Here he lived very peaceably till 
he ventured to preach against some of the established doc¬ 
trines of the church, to which he had with'difficulty con¬ 
formed. By .this conduct, he raised a storm among the 
neighbouring clergy, which threatened his personal safety. 
Under these circumstances he withdrew to Holland, and, 
disgusted with the conduct of his own brethren, he resolved 
to renounce the Protestant communion, and to embrace that 
of Rome. Having informed M. Bossuet, the bishop of 
Meaux, of his intention, he was encouraged by that prelate 
to visit him at one of his country houses, and make an ab¬ 
juration before him. This was in the year 1690. This 
change in his religious profession, he carefully concealed till 
he could have an opportunity of withdrawing his wife from 
Switzerland; the report, however, was soon made known, 
and in bringing away his lady, they were both arrested on 
-the frontiers. By the interposition of Lewis XIV., they 
soon obtained their liberty. He now fixed his residence at 
.Paris, was received under the most flattering auspices, and 
was introduced by Bossuet to the king, who almost imme¬ 
diately settled a pension upon him. He now devoted him¬ 
self chiefly to mathematical pursuits, and acquired a high 
reputation from the important papers which, from time to 
time, he contributed to the Journal des Savans. and the 
Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences. In 1707, he was 
.admitted a member of the Academy in the quality of geo¬ 
metrician. He died in 1737, at the age of 78. His mathe¬ 
matical and philosophical papers in the “ Memoires” of the 
Academy, are to be found in the volumes published between 
the years 1709 and 1727. 
SAURIN (Bernard-Joseph), a dramatic writer, son of 
the last, was educated for the profession of the law, which 
he deserted for the more pleasant studies of polite literature. 
He pract.sed some time as an advocate, and afterwards be¬ 
came a member of the French Academy, He was author of 
a tragedy entitled “ Sparfacus,” which was acted with great 
applause at the theatres. This was followed by a comedy in 
prose, entitled “ Mceurs du Temps,” in which he painted, 
with great success, the manners of the higher ranks of the 
times in which he flourished. Of his other pieces, the fol¬ 
lowing may be mentioned; “ Blanche et Richard,” being 
an imitation from Thomson’s “ Edward and Eleanora 
“Beverley,” from the Gamester;” “ L’Anglomane;” and 
“ Le Marriage de Julie.” Saurin was the intimate friend of 
Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Helvetius, the latter of whom 
gave him a pension of a thousand crowns, and upon his 
marriage presented him with a sum equal to the capital of 
that annuity. He died at Paris, at a great age, in the year 
1781. He was a member of the French Academy. The 
“ Theatre de Saurin” was printed in 2 vols. 8vo. His songs 
have been inserted in several collections. 
SAURITES, a stone mentioned by Pliny, and supposed 
by the ancients to be found in the belly of a lizard. It seems 
to have been a kind of cornelian, of a pale flesh-colour. 
SAURURUS [from Sanyo?, a lizard, and ooya, a tail. 
So named from its long narrow spike of flowers], in Botany, 
a genus of the class heptandria, order trigvnia, natural order 
ol piperitae ; naiades (Juss.) —Generic Character Calyx: 
ament oblong, covered with floscules. Perianth proper, 
one-leafed, oblong, lateral, coloured, permanent. Corolla 
none. Stamina : filaments seven, capillary, long. Anthers 
oblong, erect. Pistil: germs four, ovate, acuminate. Style 
none. Stigmas oblong, fastened to the inner apex of the 
germ. Pericarp: berries four, ovate, one-celied. Seed 
single, ovate.— Essential Character. Calyx: an ament 
with one-flowered scales. Corolla none. Germs four. Ber¬ 
ries four, one-seeded. 
. Saururus cernuus, or lizard’s tail.—Root fibrous, peren¬ 
nial : stalks generally trailing, and seldom rising more than 
two feet high, having some longitudinal furrows. Leaves 
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heart-shaped and smooth, about three inches long, and two 
broad at their base, ending in obtuse points. Spikes axil- 
lary towards the top of the stalk, taper, and about two 
inches long. They appear in July, but are not followed by 
seeds in England. The stalk decays in autumn.—Native of 
Virginia. 
Propagation and Culture .—Part the roots in autumn, 
soon after the stalks decay, or in the spring, before the 
roots begin to shoot. It loves a moist soil, and a shady si¬ 
tuation. 
SAURUS, the lizard-fish. See Trachurus. 
SAUSAGE, s. [ saucisse , Fr.] A roll of pork, veal, of 
beef, stuffed in the membrane of a gut. 
SAUSAGE, or Saucisse, a long train of powder 
sewed up in a roll of pitched cloth, and sometimes of leather, 
about two inches in diameter; serving to set fire to mines 
or caissons. It is usually placed in a wooden pipe, called an 
auget, to prevent its growing damp. 
The length of the saucisse is to extend from the chamber 
of the mine to the place where the engineer stands to spring 
it. There are usually two saucisses to every mine; that if 
one should fail, the other may take effect. 
SAUSE-VAUSSAY, a small town in the west of France, 
department of the Two Sevres, with 1300 inhabitants. 
SAUSSURE (Horace Benedict de), born at Geneva, in 
the year 1740, was the son of Nicholas de Saussure, a mem¬ 
ber of the Council of Two Hundred', known by his works on 
agriculture. From his father, and other distinguished natu¬ 
ralists, who adorned his native place, the subject of this 
article imbibed a great ardour for the study of nature, and 
he made so rapid a progress, that, at the age of 22, he ob¬ 
tained the professorship of philosophy at Geneva, which he 
held with high reputation during a period of 25 years. His 
vacations from public duty were employed in travels, which, 
however, were devoted to the improvement of his mind, and 
to the increase of his stock of knowledge. He visited France 
twice; the first time for the purpose of examining some ex¬ 
tinct volcanoes in different parts, and the second time in 
order that he might study the principles of aerostation. He 
also came over to England, became acquainted with Frank¬ 
lin, and went to Holland for scientific purposes. The struc¬ 
ture and elevation of mountains were the especial objects of 
his enquiries, and upon a journey to Italy he carefully exa¬ 
mined the curious iron mines of the now celebrated island of 
Elba, ascended Vesuvius with Sir W. Hamilton, and he mea¬ 
sured the height of Mount Etna. Botany was likewise one 
of his pursuits, and he discovered several new species of 
lichens, and two kinds of tremella, having an oscillatory 
motion. In a correspondence with Spallanzani, he commu¬ 
nicated to him several observations on infusory animalcules, 
in order to prove that they follow the law of polypes in their 
reproduction. His ingenuity was displayed in the invention 
of several delicate instruments, such as a “ cyanometer,” to 
ascertain the degree of blue colour in the sky; an “ ane¬ 
mometer;” an “electrometer;” an instrument to detect the 
presence of iron in minerals; and another to determine the 
force of magnetism; an “ heliothermometer,” and a hair 
“ hygrometer,” which is much in use, and which is reckoned 
the most ingenious of all his inventions. It was, however, 
chiefly as an explorer of mountains that Saussure rendered 
his name celebrated. In 1760, he visited the glaciers of 
Chamouni; and from this time he resolved to make annual 
journeys in the Alps, till he had pursued their chains in 
every direction. In 1779, he had crossed them fourteen 
times, in eight different tracks. The first volume of his 
travels through the Alps, published in this year, contains a 
circumstantial description of the environs of Geneva, and of 
an excursion as far as Chamouni, a village at the foot of 
Mont-Blanc. During the troubles of Geneva, in 1782, he 
made a vast number of curious and interesting experiments, 
of which he published an account in 1783. This has been 
thought to be his best work. De Saussure resigned his chair 
to Pictet, who discharged the duties of his office with high 
reputation. Still the philosopher was interested on the sub- 
