niology of the word is said to be Chaldean, signifying restitution,or return of eclipses ; that is, conjunctions of the sun ami moon innearly 1 he same place of the ecliptic. The Saros was a cycle likethat < f Meto.
SAROTHRA, Bastard Gentian ; in botany, a genus of thetrigynia order, and pentandna class of plants ; natural order, Ro-tates 1 . Calyx, five-parted; corolla iive-petaled ", capsule one-ceiled, thrce-valved, coloured. There is but one species, viz. S.genlianoidcs, an annual plant of Virginia.
SARP, or'NARPEN, a town of Norway, in Christiansand ,near a tremendous cataract, ten miles W. S. VV. of I’recler'ckstadt.l.on. 10. 47. E. Lat. 59.9. N.
SARPEDON, in fabulous history, the son of Jupiter by Eu-ropa, and younger brother of Minos , with whom lie stood compe-titor for the kingdom of Crete .. Failing' in that attempt, he wentto Caria, and built Miletus .
• Sarpedon, another son of Jupiter by Laodamia, daughter ofBellerophon , flourished about a century later than the brother ofMinos .
SARPLAR OF WOOL, a quantity of wool, otherwise calleda pocket, or half-sack ; a sack containing eighty tods; a tod twostones; and a stone fourteen pounds. In Scotland it is called sar-pliath, and contains eighty stones.
SARRACENA, or SARRACONTA, .Side-saddlf.-Flower ;in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and polyandria classof plants; natural order, Miscellanea;. Calvx double, three-leaved, and live-leaved; corolla, live-petaled; capsule, five-celled, with the style having a clypeate stigma. There are fourspecies, all natives of North America .
SARRASIN, or SARRAZIN, in fortification, a kind port-cullis, otherwise called a herse, which is hung with ropes over thegate of a town or fortress, to be let fall in case of a surprise.
SAR11E, a department of France , one of the four departments,into which the conquered German territories on the left or W.bank of the Rhine , were divided in 1798. Treves is the ca-pital.
SARREAL, a town of Spain, in Catalonia , seated on the Fran-coli. Lon. 2. 0. E. Lat. 41. 30. N.
■ SARSANA, SARS1NA, or ZARS1NA, a town of Italy , inthe department of the Rubicon, and late province of Romagna ,20 miles S. W. of Rimini. 1
SARSAPARILLA, in pharmacy, the root of the rough srnilaxof Peru , consisting of a great number of long strings hanging fromone head : these long roots, the only parts made use of, are aboutthe thickness of a goose-quill, or thicker, flexible, and composedof fibres running their whole length; they have a bitterish but not11 ngrateful taste, and no smell : and as to their medicinal virtues,they are sudorific and attenuant, and should be given in decoction,or by way of diet-drink.
SARTE, a river of France , which rises near Sees, in the de-partment of Orne, passes bv Alenqon, and falls into the Loire .
.Sarte, a department of France , comprehending the late pro-''nce of Maine , and bounded on the N. by the department of theIdrne. Mans is the capital.
SARTORIUS, in anatomy. See Anatomy.
SARVAR, or SARW'AR, a town and fort of Hungary , 48^des S. S. li. of Vienna, and 37 S. S. E. of Presburg . Lon. 16.4 s -L. Lat. 47. 30. N.
s j AR VERDEN, a town of France , in the department of Mo-Y e > and late province of Lorrain; ten miles from Sarbruck.lj0n - ?• 10. E. Lat. 48. 59. N.
,»ARUM, Oi.d, an ancient borough of England, in Wiltshire ,
2 l 'I ? ne mile N. of New Sarum, or Salisbury .
Pp AS, or SAS DE GH ENT, a town and fort of France , in the1 J lar -V" e,lt of the Scheldt, and late province of Austrian Flanders ;
ASERAM, a large town of Hindoostan, in Bengal, 55 milesoi °f Renares, and 75 S. W. of Patna . Lon. 86. 44. E. Lat.>0. N.
Ila ,- *HES, in military dress, are worn by the officers of mostf or '?, ns ’ '-‘Aier round their waist, or over their shoulders. Thosearm,,' 6 .d’ s h army are made of crimson-silk : for the Imperialsilver* T"n n for the Prussian army, black silk and
with blue ta°seb iaUS ’ yelIow silk ’ the Portuguese , crimson-
SASSAFRAS, in botany. See Laurus,
SASSARI, a city of Sardinia , on the river Torres, the capitalof the territory of Lugari ; 6 miles N, of Algher, 54 N. of Oris-tagni, and 88 N. N. W. of Cagliari . Lon. 8. 39. E. Lat. 40.46. N. : ■
SATABAGO, a province of Asiatic Turkey, on the banks ofthe Kur, S. of Imiretta. It is fertile, and abounds in cattle, wine,and honey.
SATALIA, or SATTALIA, an ancient, large, and strong, sea-port-town of Asiatic Turkey, in Nalolia; 150 miles Vt . by S. ofCogni, and 265 S. by E. of Constantinople . Lon. 32. 21. E.Lat. 37. 1. N. •
SATAN, [Ileb.] in scripture, is the name of the chief of thefallen angels. See Devil.
SATELLITE, in astronomy, the same with a secondary planet,or moon ; so called from its continually waiting upon, or revolv-ing round, one of the primary planets. See Astronomy.
SATGONG, or SATAGONG, an ancient city of Hindoostan,in Bengal, four miles N. W. of Hoogly .
SATIN, a glossy kind of silk-stuff, die warp of which is veryfine, and stands so as to cover the coarser woof.
SATINET, a slight thin kind of saltin, commonly striped, andordinarily used by the ladies for summer-night-gowns.
SATIRE. See Satyr , and Poetry.
SATRAP, SATRAPA, or SATRAPES, in Persian antiquity,denotes an admiral; hut more commonly the governor of a pro-vince.
SATTARAII, a town of Hindoostan, in Visiapoiw, 50 milesS. of Poonah, and 77 W, of Visiapour. Lon. 74. 8. E. Lat. 17.45. N.
SATURATION, in chemistry, a combination of bodies inwhich the ingredients have such proportions as that each is- unitedwith as much as it can take up of tiie other. When, for instance,a salt is dissolved in water, as common salt, the water combinesonly with a certain proportion ; and whatever quantity of salt isused beyond this proportion, it falls to the bottom umlissolved.The reason of this is, that the particles of the salt are held togetherby their affinity for each other, that is, by the force of cohesion.Now, before any combination can be effected between the par-ticles of salt and the water, this force must be overcome. Theforce of affinity, therefore, between the water and the particles ofsalt is greater than that between the particles of salt themselves ;and thus they are separated and dissolve in the water: but thisforce of affinity between the water and the salt is limited ; andwhen it has arrived at its utmost limit, the action between the twobodies ceases. The two forces which were opposed to each other,that is, the force of affinity between the water and the salt on theone hand, and the force of cohesion between the particles of thesalt on the other, are balanced. The water in this case is said tohe saturated with salt.
SAT URDAY, the seventh day of the week, is so called fromthe idol Sealer, worshipped on this day by the ancient Saxons , andthought to be the Saturn of the Latins'.
SA I UREIA, Savory ; in botany, a genus of the gvmnospet-mia order, and duly namia class of plants; natural order Yertidl-latae. Corolla with segments nearly equal ; stamina distant.There are eight species.
S. Hortensis, or Summer-Savory, is an annual plant, whichgrows naturally in the south of France and Italy , but is cultivatedin this country both for the kitchen and medicinal use.
S. Montana, or Winter-Savory, a perennial plant, growingnaturally in the south of France and Italy , but is cultivated in gar-dens both for culinary ami medicinal purposes. Both kinds arepropagated by seeds.
SATURN ', in astronomy, one of the planets of our solar sys-.tern, revolving at the distance of more than 906 millions of milesfrom the sun. See Astronomy.
Saturn , in chemistry, an appellation given to lead.
Saturn , in heraldry, denotes the black colour in blazoning thearms of sovereign princes.
Saturn , in the ancient mythology, one of the principal of thePagan deities, was the son of Coal us and Terra, and the father ofJupiter, Neptune, and Pluto.
SATURNALIA, in Roman antiquity, a festival observed aboutthe middle of December, in honour of the god Saturn , whom Lu-
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