Cooley's Cyclopaedia of Practical Receipts Volume Ii Part 194

FIG. 2.--Coats _in situ_ from without, 170. _a_, External; _b_, Middle; _c_, Internal coat; _d_, Starch grains, 108.]

=RYE.= _Syn._ SECALE, L. The seed of _Secale cereale_, a gramineous plant, the native country of which is undetermined. It is a more certain crop and requires less culture and manure than wheat, and is hence largely cultivated in Germany, Russia, and in the northern parts of Europe, where it is extensively employed for bread. When roasted it is occasionally used as a subst.i.tute for coffee. It furnishes an excellent malt for the distillation of spirit, and is much used in the making of Hollands.

Rye bread is very likely to cause diarrha in those unaccustomed to partake of it. By continued use, however, this inconvenience disappears.

Rye bread is acid and dark in colour. It is about equal in nutritive power to wheat. It is less abundant than wheat in fibrin, but richer in casein and alb.u.men.

The foregoing plate represents the microscopic appearance of rye.

Sommer recommends the microscopic examination of rye flour to be conducted as follows:--The flour is placed on a gla.s.s slide, and moistened with water; a single drop of oil of vitriol is added, and a small disc is laid upon it. If, now, it be viewed with a magnifying power of 200, the starch grains of wheat and rye are seen to dissolve in a uniform manner, but the grains of barley starch, after losing their external coat, break up into a number of polyhedrons before their solution is completed.

=Rye, Spurred.= See ERGOT.

=SABADIL'LA.= _Syn._ CEBADILLA, CEVADILLA, SABADILLA (B. P., Ph. E.), L.

The dried fruit (_Asagraea officinalis_). A drastic and dangerous cathartic, occasionally used in tapeworm; and, externally, to destroy pediculi, but, even for this purpose, when the scalp has been denuded or ulcerated, it has sometimes caused death. It is now used chiefly as a source of VERATRINE.

=SA'BLE.= The _Mustella Zibellina_ (Linn.), a small quadruped of the martin-cat family, found in Northern Asia. Its fur is remarkable for its fine quality and rich colour, and for the hairs turning with equal ease in every direction. The skins of the rabbit, cat, &c., dressed, painted, and l.u.s.tred, are sold under the name of COMMON or MOCK SABLE.

=SABOTIeRE.= [Fr.] An apparatus of peculiar construction, employed by the French confectioners for making ices. It consists of a pail to contain a freezing mixture, and an inner vessel for the creams to be iced. It may be used with a mixture of pounded ice and salt, or any other freezing mixture. The pail and cream vessels being loaded, and closely covered, an alternate rotatory motion is given to the apparatus by means of the handle, for 10 or 15 minutes, care being taken to occasionally sc.r.a.pe down the frozen portion of the cream from the sides, by means of a wooden spoon. See ICES and REFRIGERATION.

=SACCHAR'IC ACID.= _Syn._ OXALHYDRIC ACID. A compound, resulting from the action of dilate nitric acid on sugar.

=SAC'CHARINE.= The technical name of the uncrystallisable sugar found in malt-wort.

=SACCHARINE FERMENTATION.= This occurs during the germination and kiln-drying of grain in the operation of malting, and in the mas.h.i.+ng of malt in brewing. The sweetening of bread during its exposure to heat in the oven is also included under this head by many writers.

The substance which most powerfully excites the sugar fermentation was first shown by Payen and Persoz to be a peculiar principle to which they have given the name of 'DIASTASE,' This is always present in good malt, and possesses the singular property of converting STARCH successively into gum (dextrin) and sugar, at a temperature ranging between 149 and 168 Fahr. During the action of this substance on starch it is itself decomposed; and when the sugar fermentation ceases it is found to have entirely disappeared. It is the presence of diastase in malt which alone converts the starch of the grain into sugar during the operation of mas.h.i.+ng with hot water; and hence the absolute necessity of employing water at the proper temperature, as on this depends the strength and sweetness of the wort, and consequently its fitness for undergoing the vinous fermentation, and for making beer. Vegetable alb.u.men and gluten also possess the property of exciting the saccharine fermentation, but in a considerably inferior degree to diastase.

The sugar formed during the germination of seeds containing starch results from the action of diastase, and disappears as soon as the woody fibre (lignin), which has a similar const.i.tution, is developed, forming the skeleton of the young plant. (Liebig.) See BREWING, DIASTASE, DEXTRIN, &c.

=SACCHAROM'ETER.= An instrument similar in principle to the common spirit hydrometer, but so weighted and graduated as to adapt it for the indication of the richness of malt-worts in sugar, or saccharine, expressed in pounds per barrel, or the excess of gravity over that of water, the last being taken at 1000. See BREWING, SYRUP, WORT, &c.

=SACH'ET.= _Syn._ SACCULUS, L. Sachets (SACCULI) are little bags containing dry substances, used for the external medication of parts, or for communicating agreeable perfumes to wearing apparel, drawers, furniture, &c. Those belonging to perfumery are commonly filled with mixtures of fragrant vegetable substances, reduced to coa.r.s.e powder, and differ from those employed for _pot pourri_ chiefly in being used in the dry state. Sacculi are now seldom employed in this country in legitimate medicine. See POWDERS (Scented), &c.

=Sachet, Ammoniacal.= _Syn._ SACCULUS AMMONIACALIS. _Prep._ Equal parts of sal ammoniac and quicklime are mixed, and sprinkled between cotton wadding, which is to be quilted in muslin.

=Sachet, Anodyne.= (Quincy.) _Syn._ SACCULUS ANODYNUS. _Prep._ Chamomiles, 1 oz.; bay berries, 1 oz.; lavender flower, 1/2 oz.; henbane seed, 1 dr.; opium, 1 dr. To be dipped in hot spirits.

=Sachet, Anti-phthisic.= _Syn._ SACCULUS ANTI-PHTHISICUS, L. _Prep._ Dissolve of aloes, 1 oz., in strong decoction of fresh rue, 1/2 pint; next fold a piece of soft muslin in eight folds large enough to cover the chest and part of the stomach; steep this in the decoction, and dry it in the shade; lastly, place in a small bag, one side of which is formed of scarlet silk or wool, and the other, intended to be worn next the skin, of the finest net or gauze. A celebrated domestic remedy for consumption and asthma. It is intended to be constantly worn on the chest.

=Sachet, Resolv'ent.= _Syn._ MELTING BAG; SACCULUS RESOLVENS, L. _Prep._ 1. (Dr Breslau.) Iodide of pota.s.sium, 1 part; sal ammoniac, 8 parts; dry, and reduce each separately to fine powder; mix them, and enclose 1/2 oz.

to 1 oz. of the mixed powder in a small bag of linen or silk. Used as a resolvent to indolent tumours, especially goitres and scrofulous indurations. It should be worn on the part night and day for some time.

The part next the skin should be well p.r.i.c.ked with a needle, and the powder shaken up and readjusted every 2 or 3 days; and it should be renewed about once a fortnight.

2. (Trousseau & Reveil.) Iodide of pota.s.sium, 1 part; burnt sponge, 4 parts; fine sawdust, 5 parts; as before.

=Sachet, Sponge.= _Syn._ SACCULUS SPONGII, COLLIER DE MORAND. _Prep._ Muriate of ammonia, chloride of sodium, burnt sponge, of each 1 oz.; mix, sprinkle the powder on a piece of cotton wool, and quilt between muslin, in the form of a cravat. To be worn constantly in goitre or bronchocele, renewing it every month.

=Sachet, Stomachic.= (Fuller.) _Syn._ SACCULUS. _Prep._ Mint, 4 drm.; wormwood, thyme, red roses, each 2 drm.; balastines, angelica root, caraway seed, nutmeg, mace, cloves, of each 1 drm. Coa.r.s.ely powder the ingredients, and put them into a bag, to be moistened with hot red wine when applied for flatulence.

=SACK.= (From SEC, Fr., dry.) A wine used by our ancestors, supposed by some to have been Rhenish or Canary; but, with more probability, by others, to have been dry mountain--vin d'Espagne; vin sec--(Howell, 'Fr.

and Eng. Dict.,' 1650). Falstaff[140] calls it 'sherris sack' (sherry sack), from Xeres, a sea town of Corduba, where that kind of sack (wine) is made. (Blount.) At a later period the term came to be used as a general name for all sweet wines.

[Footnote 140: In Shakespeare's day sack was occasionally adulterated with lime, as we learn from Falstaff's speech to the Drawer: "You rogue, there's lime in this sack."]

=SAF'FLOWER.= _Syn._ b.a.s.t.a.r.d SAFFRON, DYER'S S.; CARTHAMUS, L. The florets of _Carthamus tinctorius_, a plant cultivated in Spain, Egypt, and the Levant. It contains two colouring principles--the one yellow, and the other red. The first is removed by water, and is rejected. The second is easily dissolved out by weak solutions of the carbonated alkalies, and is again precipitated on the addition of an acid. This property is taken advantage of in the manufacture of rouge, and in dyeing silk and cotton.

The most lively tints of cherry, flame, flesh, orange-red, poppy, and rose colour, are imparted to silk by the following process, modified to suit the particular shade required:--The safflower (previously deprived of its yellow colouring matter by water) is exhausted with water containing either carbonate of soda or of pota.s.sa, in the proportion of about 5% of the weight of the prepared dye-stuff acted on; the resulting liquid is next treated with pure lemon juice until it acquires a distinct and rich red colour; the silk is then introduced and turned about as long as it is perceived to take up colour, a little more lemon juice being added as may appear necessary; for deep shades this is repeated with one or more fresh baths, the silk being dried and rinsed between each immersion; it is, lastly, brightened by turning it for a few minutes through a bath of warm water, to which a little lemon juice has been previously added. For flame colour the silk should receive a slight shade with annotta before putting it into the safflower bath. For the deeper shades, when expense is an object, a little archil is commonly added to the first and second bath.

See CATHARMIN.

=SAF'FRON.= The prepared stigmata or stigmas of the _Crocus sativus_, or saffron crocus. There are two princ.i.p.al varieties known in commerce:--

1. (SAFFRON, HAY'S.; CROCUS IN FNO, C. HISPANIOLUS, CROCISTIGMATA; CROCUS--B. P., Ph. L., E., & D.) This consisted of the stigmas, with part of the styles, carefully picked from the other parts of the flowers, and then dried on paper by a very gentle heat, generally in a portable oven constructed for the purpose.

2. (CAKE SAFFRON; CROCUS IN PLACENTa.) This, professedly, merely varies from the last, it being compressed into a cake after it has become softened by the fire, and being then dried in that condition. The 'cake saffron' of commerce is now, however, mostly, if not entirely, composed of safflower made into a paste with some sugar and gum water, rolled out on paper into oval cakes 10 to 12 inches long, 9 or 10 broad, and about 1/8th of an inch thick, and then dried. "I can detect neither saffron nor marigold in them." (Dr Pereira.)

_Pur._ Saffron, of all the articles of commerce, except French brandy, is, perhaps, the one most largely and constantly adulterated. Abroad it is frequently mixed with safflower, and in England with 'prepared marigolds,'

or 'French (mock) saffron.' These frauds may be detected by the inferiority of the colour, and by soaking the leaves in water, when the stigmas of the _Crocus sativus_ may be readily distinguished from the florets of safflower and the petals of marigolds. Winckler and Gruner proposed to detect these substances by means of a solution of nitrate of silver or of sesquichloride of iron. The infusion of true saffron is not altered by those reagents, but that of either of the above-mentioned adulterants is rendered opaque, and is at length precipitated. "It consists of tripart.i.te filaments, of an orange-red colour, with the small filaments towards the apex dilated." (Ph. E.) In the wholesale drug trade prepared marigolds are not only employed to mix with genuine saffron, but are extensively sold to the country dealers for that purpose. Old and dry saffron is 'freshened up' by rubbing it between the hands slightly oiled, and then repicking it.

The late Mr D. Hanbury, F.R.S., found that the article known in commerce as alicante saffron was largely sophisticated with carbonate of lime, which he says had been made to adhere to the thread-like saffron without in the least altering its general appearance. To ascertain the amount of earthy matter thus fraudulently added, he subjected several specimens of saffron to incineration, each having in the first instance been dried in warm air until it caused it to lose its weight. The result indicated that while good Valentia saffron yields from 4 to 6 per cent. of ash, the alicante furnishes from 12 to 28 per cent. The method of taking a sample of saffron for earthy adulteration which Mr Hanbury recommends is this:--Place in a watch gla.s.s a small quant.i.ty (say 1 grain) of the saffron, and drop upon it 8 or 10 drops of water; lightly touch the saffron with the tip of the finger, so as to cause the water to wet it. If the drug is free from earthy matter, a clear bright-yellow solution will be immediately obtained; if adulterated, a white powder will instantly separate, causing the water to appear turbid; and if a drop of hydrochloric acid be now added, a brisk effervescence will take place.

Mr Hanbury says that saffron almost always contains a few of the pale yellow stamens, accidentally gathered; but the pollen from them which is detached when the drug is wetted, but which is minute in quant.i.ty, is easily distinguished from carbonate of lime, by not dissolving when hydrochloric acid is added. Moreover, the form of pollen grains may be easily recognised under the microscope.

Mr Hanbury furthermore states that an effectual method of examination is to scatter a very small pinch of saffron on the surface of a gla.s.s of warm water. The stigma of the saffron-crocus immediately expands, and exhibits a form so characteristic that it cannot be confounded with the flowerets of safflower, marigold, or arnica, or with the stamens of crocus itself.[141]

[Footnote 141: 'Pharm. Journ.']

_Prop., &c._ Saffron is anodyne, cordial, emmenagogue, and exhilarant; but is now seldom employed, except as an adjuvant, in medicine. Amongst cooks, confectioners, and liquoristes, it is largely used on account of its fine colour.

=Saffron, Mead'ow.= See COLCHIc.u.m.

=SAGAPE'NUM.= This substance is described in the London Pharmacopia as a gum resin, the production of an uncertain species of _Ferula_. The ma.s.s of the sagapenum sold to the retail trader is, however, a fact.i.tious article, formed by softening a mixture of a.s.saftida, 3 parts, and galbanum, 15 parts, over a water or steam bath, and then stirring in about 1/17th of their weight of oil of turpentine, with a little oil of juniper. This mixture is labelled 'Gum Sagapeni Opt.' an inferior sort being made by adding sundry portions of yellow resin and paste of gum tragacanth to the above.

PREPARED SAGAPENUM (SAGAPENUM PRaePARATUM--Ph. L.) is ordered to be prepared in the same manner as 'prepared ammoniac.u.m.'

_Obs._ Sagapenum is the feeblest of all the fetid gum resins.--_Dose_, 5 to 15 gr., made into pills; as an antispasmodic and emmenagogue.

=SA'GO.= _Syn._ SAGO (Ph. L., E., & D.), L. "The faecula (starch) from the stem of _Sagus lvis_, _S. Rumphii_, and, perhaps, of other species of palms." (Ph. L.) It forms the princ.i.p.al portion of the pith of the Sago palms, the Gommuti palm, the Talipot palm, and other allied trees. Its properties and uses, for the most part, resemble those of arrow-root. It is used for making puddings, jellies, &c.

Under the microscope the starch-grains of sago present an elongated form, rounded at the larger ends, and compressed at the smaller. They differ altogether in appearance from potato starch.

The pilum of the sago starch-grains is a point, or, more frequently, a crop, slit, or star, and is seated at the smaller end, whilst in the marsanta arrow-root the pilum is situated at the larger end. Rings are more or less clearly seen.

=Sa'go, To Prepare.= Wash an ounce of pearl sago in cold water; then boil it very gently in a pint of fresh water, stirring it frequently till dissolved. It may be flavoured with wine, spices, and sugar. For children, and for consumptive and debilitated persons, it will be found advantageous to subst.i.tute milk for water. The common sago being in larger grains, more time is required to dissolve it, and it is usually steeped for some hours before boiling it.

=Sa'go Milk.= (See _above_.)

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sago of commerce, magnified 147 times.]