138 SALVING OF SHEEP. 
destroys the natural juice in the wool, and is in- 
capable of again closing it against winter. By 
the destruction of the natural yolk, the filaments 
of wool have not only lost their original connec- 
tion, but, in order to deposit the artificial salve, 
the wool must be perfectly and completely opened 
to the bottom, where the thin white salves are 
employed. This opening never again closes up. 
The superior flakes of wool, indeed, overlie the 
inferior; but they never coalesce and inter- 
mingle as they did formerly. From these state- 
ments may be inferred the extreme necessity 
there is for using a right salve, or one which will 
keep the poor creature warm and comfortable 
through winter; and its wool being rendered 
compact and firm around it, contributes more to 
this purpose than any other means which can be 
employed.” 
“ As a remedy to many of the evils incident to 
the prevailing modes of salving sheep,” said Mr. 
Robert Boyd, of Innerleithen, in 1843, “ Mr. Bal- 
lantyne of Holylee, a zealous labourer for the 
improvement of the fleece, has, for the last two 
years, salved his flocks, which amount to up- 
wards of 163 scores, with the following composi- 
tion :— 
30 lbs. of butter, , 5d. £012 6 
14 ‘* rough turpentine, Ld ORGS 
3 ‘* black soap, 4d 0 1 0 
DE ceMSOUAPASD Wma ate aie ld. Onn? 
5 bottles refined spirit of tar, 7d. Wo Bit 
£018 4 
To this 21 pints of water are added, to assist in 
the equal spreading of the mixture. The above 
composition is found sufficient to salve 100 sheep, 
which is at the rate of 24d. a-head. It requires 
to be applied to the fleece at a temperature a 
little above blood-heat. When we consider the 
chemical nature of this composition, it will ap- 
pear that the most appropriate name which can 
be given to it, as a new salve, is ‘ artificial yolk,’ 
for it is of the same nature, and possesses the 
same properties, as the natural yolk existing in 
the wool. It is known that the conducting 
powers for heat, both of animal and vegetable 
oils, are very materially diminished when sa- 
ponified; this is owing to the compound being 
thus rendered porous. The soda-ash contained 
in the above composition has the effect of saponi- 
fying the whole mass; consequently, the con- 
ducting power for heat of the animal oil con- 
tained in it is greatly diminished, and a degree 
of comfort obtained for the animal to which the 
composition is applied which could not result 
from the use of oils which had not undergone 
the process alluded to. It was supposed by some 
that, owing to the saponaceous nature of this 
composition, it would, in some measure, be liable 
to be washed off by rain. This, however, has 
been proved not to be the case; for it was found, 
on the strictest examination, that no aqueous 
matter had been able to penetrate the fleece dur- 
ing its growth. Mr. Ballantyne considers the arti- 
SAMPHIRE. 
ficial yolk salve decidedly superior to any other he 
has ever used as a defence to the sheep. In ad- 
dition to this, it is calculated, in my opinion, to 
produce a fleece unequalled in the history of 
salves. In this estimate of its value, I have the 
concurring testimony of Mr. Barff, wool-stapler, 
Wakefield, whose extensive experience entitles 
his opinion to great weight. He has been the 
purchaser of Holylee clip for the last twenty 
years ; and he affirms that the salve used by Mr. 
Ballantyne for the last two years has had the 
effect of producing upon the fleece an indescrib- 
able kindliness to the touch, and that its felting 
properties were also very materially improved. 
In consequence of these advantages, he has al- 
lowed Mr. Ballantyne the highest price he gives 
for the purest unlaid wood, which is the best 
evidence that can be adduced of his high opinion 
of its value. It may be further added, that the 
opinion of the English wool-staplers appointed to 
decide upon the merits of the Leicester fleeces, 
shown in competition at Edinburgh in 1841, was 
expressed in terms of commendation in reference 
to the fleeces in question.” 
SAMBUCUS. See Erpzr. 
SAMOLUS. See Brooxwenp. 
SAMPHIRE,—botanically Crithmum. A small 
genus of herbaceous plants, of the umbelliferous 
order. The common or sea samphire, Crithmum 
maritumum, is a perennial-rooted indigen of the 
coast-rocks and sea-cliffs of Britain. The root 
comprises many strong fibres, which penetrate 
deep into the crevices of the rocks; several 
fleshy, succulent, leaf-garnished stems rise from 
the root to the height of 12 or 20 inches; the 
leaves are twice ternate, and stand on sheathing 
footstalks ; the leaflets are lanceolate, acute, 
fleshy, and nearly half an inch long; and the 
flowers are produced in dense circular umbels at 
the top of the stems, and have yellow anthers 
and white petals, and bloom from July till Sep- 
tember. This plant has very long been in high 
request for making an agreeable pickle, and pro- 
voking an appetite for food, and has also the re- 
putation of being a diuretic and of removing ob- 
structions of the viscera. It commonly grows 
on spots which cannot easily be reached ; and is 
often gathered by poor peasants or fishermen, 
who scramble perilously on the cliffs, or are still 
more perilously let down by ropes; and, at a time 
when it was regularly supplied to the markets of 
large towns, it was frequently and even com- 
monly substituted by plants which resemble it 
in appearance but are totally destitute of its 
good properties. Some serious consequences 
have followed the practice of pickling and cooling 
it in copper pans, It cannot without difficulty 
be preserved in gardens, and will nowhere grow 
so vigorously in them as on sea-clifis, yet may be 
kept for some years, and made to thrive tolerably 
well, by being planted on a moist gravelly soil. 
It can be propagated either by radical division 
or from seeds, 
