ketchup, of each 1/2 pint; cloves and shallots, of each 1 doz.; cayenne
pepper, 1-1/2 oz.; mix, and digest for 14 days.
=Sauce, Shrimp.= From shrimps or prawns, as ANCHOVY SAUCE.
=Soy.= See that article.
=Sauce, Superlative.= From port wine, and mushroom ketchup, of each 1
quart; walnut pickle, 1 pint; soy, 1/2 pint; powdered anchovies, 1/2 lb.;
fresh lemon peel, minced shallots, and scraped horseradish, of each 2 oz.;
allspice and black pepper (bruised), of each 1 oz.; cayenne pepper and
bruised celery seed, of each 1/4 oz. (or currie powder, 3/4 oz.); digest
for 14 days, strain, and bottle. Very relishing.
=Sauce, Toma′to.= From bruised tomatoes, 1 gall.; good salt, 1/2 lb.; mix,
in 3 days press out the juice, to each quart of which add of shallots, 2
oz.; black pepper, 1 dr.; simmer very gently for 20 to 30 minutes, strain,
and add to the strained liquor, mace, allspice, ginger, nutmegs, and
cochineal, of each 1/4 oz.; coriander seed, 1 dr.; simmer gently for 10
minutes, strain, cool, and in a week put it into bottles.
=Sauce, Waterloo.= From strong vinegar (nearly boiling), 1 quart, port
wine, 3/4 pint; mushroom ketchup, 1/2 pint; walnut ketchup, 1/4 pint;
essence of anchovies, 4 oz.; 8 cloves of garlic; cochineal (powdered), 1/2
oz. (or red beet, sliced, 3 oz.); let them stand together for a fortnight
or longer, occasionally shaking the bottle.
=Sauce, White.= _Syn._ BUTTER SAUCE, MELTED BUTTER. From good butter, 4
oz.; cream, 2-1/2 oz.; salt (in very fine powder), 1/2 teaspoonful; put
them into a pot or basin, set this in hot water, and beat the whole with a
bone, wooden, or silver spoon, until it forms a perfectly smooth,
cream-like mixture, avoiding too much heat, which would make it run oily.
A table-spoonful of sherry, marsala, lemon juice, or vinegar, is sometimes
added; but the selection must depend on the dishes the sauce is intended
for. Used either by itself, or as a basis for other sauces. Beaten up with
any of the ‘bottled sauces,’ an excellent compound sauce of the added
ingredient is immediately obtained.
=Sauces, American.= White vinegar, 15 gall.; walnut ketchup, 10 gall.;
Madeira wine, 5 gall.; mushroom ketchup, 10 gall,; table salt, 25 lbs.
(troy); Canton soy, 4 gall.; powdered capsicum 2 lbs. (troy); allspice,
powdered, coriander powder, of each 1 lb. (troy); cloves, mace, cinnamon,
of each 1/2 lb. (troy); assafœtida, 1/4 lb. (troy); dissolved in brandy, 1
gall.; 20 lbs. of hog’s liver is boiled for 12 hours with 10 gall. of
water, renewing the water from time to time. Take out the liver, chop it,
mix it with water, and work it through a sieve; mix with the sauce.
2. White vinegar, 240 gall.; Canton soy, 36 gall.; sugar-house syrup, 30
gall.; walnut ketchup, 50 gall.; mushroom ketchup, 50 gall.; table salt,
120 lbs. (troy); powdered capsicum, 15 lbs. (troy); allspice, coriander,
of each 7 lbs. (troy); cloves, mace, cinnamon, of each 4 lbs. (troy);
assafœtida, 2-1/2 lbs. (troy), dissolved in St Croix rum, 1 gall.
3. White vinegar, 1 gall. Canton soy, molasses, of each 1 pint; walnut
ketchup, 1-1/2 pint; table salt, 4 oz.; powdered capsicum, allspice, of
each 1 oz.; coriander, 1/2 oz.; cloves, mace, of each 1/2 oz.; cinnamon, 6
dr., assafœtida 1/4 oz. in 4 oz. of rum.
=SAUERKRAUT.= [Ger.] _Prep._ Clean white cabbages, cut them into small
pieces, and stratify them in a cask along with culinary salt and a few
juniper berries and caraway seeds, observing to pack them down as hard as
possible, without crushing them, and to cover them with a lid pressed down
with a heavy weight. The cask should be placed in a cold situation as soon
as a sour smell is perceived. Used by the Germans and other northern
nations of Europe, like our ‘pickled cabbage,’ but more extensively.
=SAU′SAGES.= From the fat and lean of pork (PORK SAUSAGES), or of beef
(BEEF SAUSAGES), chopped small, flavoured with spice, and put into gut
skins, or pressed into pots or balls (SAUSAGE MEAT). Crum of bread is also
added. Their quality is proportionate to that of the ingredients, and to
the care and cleanliness employed in preparing them.
A pea sausage, composed of pea flour, fat pork, and a little salt, was
largely consumed by the German soldiers during the Franco-German campaign.
Dr Parkes found 100 parts of this sausage to consist of——16·2 parts of
water, 7·19 of salts, 12·297 of albuminates, 33·65 of fat, and 30·663 of
carbohydrates. It is ready cooked, but can be made into soup, although
much relished for a few days. The soldiers soon became tired of it. In
some cases it gave rise to flatulence and diarrhœa. See MEAT.
=SAV′ELOYS.= Pork sausages made in such a way that they keep good for a
considerable time. _Prep._ (Mrs Rundell.) Take of young pork, free from
bone and skin, 3 lbs.; salt it with 1 oz. of saltpetre, and 1/2 lb. of
common salt, for 2 days; then chop it fine, add, 3 teaspoonfuls of pepper,
1 doz. sage leaves, chopped fine, and 1 lb. of grated bread; mix well,
fill the skins, and steam them or bake them half an hour in a slack oven.
They are said to be good either hot or cold.
=SAV′INE.= _Syn._ SAVIN; FOLIA SABINÆ, SABINA (Ph. L., E., & D.), L. “The
recent and dried tops of _Juniperis sabina_, Linn.,” or common savine.
(Ph. L.) It is a powerful stimulant, diaphoretic, emmenagogue, and
anthelmintic; and, externally, rubefacient, escharotic and vesicant. In
large doses it is apt to occasion abortion, and acts as a poison. SAVINE
POWDER mixed with verdigris is often applied to corns and warts. It is now
chiefly used in the form of ointment.——_Dose_, 5 to 15 gr., twice or
thrice daily (with care), in amenorrhœa and worms. See CERATE.
=SAVONETTES.= [Fr.] _Syn._ WASH BALLS. These are made of any of the mild
toilet soaps, scented at will, generally with the addition of some
powdered starch or farina, and sometimes sand. The spherical or spheroidal
form is given to them by pressure in moulds, or by first roughly forming
them with the hands, and, when quite hard, turning them in a lathe.
According to Mr Beasley, “they are formed into spherical balls by taking a
mass of the prepared soap in the left hand, and a conical drinking-glass
with rather thin edges in the right. By turning the glass and ball of soap
in every direction, the rounded form is soon given; when dry, the surface
is scraped, to render it more smooth and even.”
_Prep._ 1. Take of curd soap, 3 lbs.; finest yellow soap, 2 lbs. (both in
shavings); soft water, 3/4 pint; melt by a gentle heat, stir in of
powdered starch (farina), 1-1/2 lb.; when the mass has considerably
cooled, further add of essence of lemon or bergamot, 1 oz., and make it
into balls.
2. (CAMPHOR.) Melt spermaceti, 2 oz.; add camphor (cut small), 1 oz.;
dissolve, and add the liquid mass to white curd soap, 1-1/2 lb.,
previously melted by the aid of a little water and a gentle heat, and
allowed to cool considerably as above. These should be covered with
tin-foil.
3. (HONEY.) From the finest bright-coloured yellow soap, 7 lbs.; palm oil,
1/4 lb.; melt, and add of oil of verbena, rose-geranium, or ginger-grass,
1 oz.; as No. 1. Sometimes 1/2 oz. of oil of rosemary is also added.
4. (MOTTLED.)——_a._ RED. Cut white curd or Windsor soap (not too dry) into
small square pieces, and roll these in a mixture of powder bole or rouge,
either with or without the addition of some starch; then squeeze them
strongly into balls, observing to mix the colour as little as
possible.——_b._ BLUE. Roll the pieces in powdered blue, and proceed as
before.——_c._ GREEN. Roll the pieces in a mixture of powder blue and
bright yellow ochre. By varying the colour of the powder, mottled
savonettes of any colour may be produced.
5. (SAND.) From soap (at will), 2 lbs.; fine siliceous sand, 1 lb.; scent,
q. s.; as No. 1. For the finer qualities, finely powdered pumice-stone is
substituted for sand.
6. (VIOLET.) From palm-oil soap, 4 lbs.; farina, 2 lbs.; finely powdered
orris root, 1 lb. Sometimes a little smalts, or indigo, is added.
=SAWDUST, Preparation of Alcohol from.= M. Zetterland[146] states that he
has obtained alcohol from sawdust by the following process:——Into an
ordinary steam-boiler, heated by means of steam, were introduced 9 cwt. of
very wet sawdust, 10·7 cwt. of hydrochloric acid (sp. gr. 1·18), and 30
cwt. of water; after eleven hours boiling there was formed 19·67 per cent.
of grape sugar.
[Footnote 146: ‘Chemical News,’ xxvi——181.]
The acid was next saturated with chalk, so as to leave in the liquid only
a small quantity (1/2 degree by Ludersdorf’s acid areometer); when the
saccharine liquid was cooled down to 30° yeast was added, and the
fermentation finished in twenty-four hours. By distillation there were
obtained 26·5 litres of alcohol of 50 per cent. at 15°, quite free from
any smell of turpentine, and of excellent taste. It appears that the
preparation of alcohol from sawdust may be successfully carried on
industrially when it is precisely ascertained what degree of dilution of
acid is required, and how long the liquid has to be boiled.
If all the cellulose present in sawdust could be converted into sugar, 50
kilos of the former substance would yield, after fermentation, 12 litres
of alcohol at 50 per cent.
=SCAB′IES.= See ITCH.
=SCAB IN SHEEP.= This disease, corresponding to mange in the dog, the
horse, or in cattle, is caused by a species of acaris, a minute insect
which burrows under the skin of the sheep, and sets up therein a
considerable amount of irritation, which is followed by an irruption of
pimples, accompanied with scurf, but frequently the wool comes off from
the affected part.
The following are some of the numerous remedies employed for this
disease:——
1. Quicksilver, 1 lb.; Venice turpentine, 1/2 lb.; rub them together until
the globules are no longer visible; then add 1/2 pint of oil of
turpentine, and 4 lbs. of lard. The mode of applying this ointment is as
follows:——Begin at the head of the sheep, and proceeding from between the
ears along the back to the end of the tail, divide the wool in a furrow
till the skin can be touched; and let a finger, slightly dipped in the
ointment, be drawn along the bottom of the furrow. From this furrow
similar ones must be drawn along the shoulders and thighs to the legs, as
far as the wool extends. And if much infected, 2 or more should also be
drawn along each side, parallel with that on the back, and one down each
side before the hind and fore legs. It kills the sheep-fag, and probably
the tick and other vermin. It should not be used in very cold or wet
weather. (Sir Joseph Banks.)
2. Tar oils. Tobacco juice. Stavesacre. (Finlay Dun.)
3. Strong mercurial ointment, 1 part; lard, 5 parts; mix. (Youatt.)
4. Quicksilver, 1 lb.; Venice turpentine, 1/2 lb.; spirit of turpentine, 2
oz., lard, 4-1/2 lb.; to be made and used as No. 1. In summer 1 lb. of
resin may be substituted for alike quantity of lard. (Clater.)
5. Strong mercurial ointment, 1 lb.; lard, 4 lbs.; oil of turpentine, 8
oz.; sulphur, 12 oz.——WHITE.
6. _Mild._ Flowers of sulphur, 1 lb.; Venice turpentine, 4 oz.; rancid
lard, 2 lbs.; strong mercurial ointment, 4 oz.; mix well.——CLATER.
7. Lard or other fat, with an equal quantity of oil of
turpentine.——DAUBENTON.
8. _Without mercury._ Lard, 1 lb.; oil of turpentine, 4 oz.; flowers of
sulphur, 6 oz.——WHITE.
9. Strong mercurial ointment, 1 lb.; lard, 4 lbs.; Venice turpentine, 8
oz.; oil of turpentine, 2 oz. If mixed by heat, care must be taken not to
use more heat than is necessary, and to add the oil of turpentine when the
other ingredients begin to cool and to stir till cold.——M’EWEN.
10. Corrosive sublimate, 2 oz.; white hellebore, 3 oz.; fish oil, 6
quarts; resin, 1/2 lb.; tallow, 1/2 lb. The sublimate and then the
hellebore to be rubbed with a portion of the oil till perfectly smooth,
and then mixed with the other ingredients melted together.——STEVENSON.
11. The following once had considerable local celebrity, but it obviously
requires to be used with caution. Dissolve 2-1/4 oz. of corrosive
sublimate in the same quantity of muriatic acid, and beat up the solution
with 6 lbs. of strong mercurial ointment; put in a large pan, and pour on
it 19-1/2 lbs. of lard, and 1-1/2 lb. of common turpentine, melted
together and still hot, and stir the whole continually until it becomes
solid.
12. Castor-oil seeds well bruised and steeped for 12 hours in sour milk,
after straining rub the liquid briskly into the skin. (An Indian remedy.)
=SCAGLIO′LA.= A species of plaster or stucco, made of pure gypsum, with
variegated colours, in imitation of marble. In general, the liquid
employed is a weak solution of Flanders glue; and the colours, any which
are not decomposed or destroyed by admixture with sulphate of lime and
exposure to the light. The composition is often applied upon hollow
columns formed of wood, or even of laths nailed together, and the surface,
when hard, is turned smooth in a lathe, and polished.
=SCALES.= A special article under the head of “BALANCE” has been devoted
to the scales employed by the chemist and analyst.
But although these claimed from their greater complexity of structure and
the extreme delicacy of movement required of them a separate notice, every
pharmacist and apothecary will recognise the importance of bestowing an
equal amount of attention upon his dispensing scales; and, to ensure
accurate weighing by them, will take care to keep them scrupulously clean,
and properly poised.
For dispensing purposes, scales fitted with glass pans (or at least with
one glass pan, in which medicinal substances can be weighed) should always
be employed. The beams should be of steel, and the attachments of one
piece of brass only, in preference to chains, or supports of silken
thread. The beams are best cleaned with sand paper, or rotten stone, and
may be protected from rust by being rubbed over with a little almond oil.
=SCALD-HEAD.= See RINGWORM.
=SCALDS.= See BURNS AND SCALDS.
=SCALL.= _Syn._ SCALD. The popular name of several skin diseases
distinguished by scabs or scurfiness, whether dry or humid. See ERUPTIONS,
RINGWORM, &c.
=SCAM′MONY.= _Syn._ SCAMMONIUM (B. P., Ph. L., E., & D.), L. The “gum
resin emitted from the cut root of _Convolvulus Scammonia_, Linn.” (Ph.
L.), or Aleppo scammony plant.
There are three principal varieties or qualities of scammony known in the
market; viz. VIRGIN (sp. gr. 1·21); SECONDS (sp. gr. 1·460 to 1·463); and
THIRDS (sp. gr. 1·465 to 1·500). The best, and that only intended to be
used in medicine, is imported from Aleppo.
_Pur._ Scammony is not only largely adulterated in the country of its
production, but again after its arrival in England. SMYRNA SCAMMONY, a
very inferior variety, is also commonly dressed up, and sold as Aleppo
scammony. In many cases substances are sold at the public sales in London,
and elsewhere, as scammony, which contain only a mere trace of that
article. This is all ground up to form the scammony powder of the shops.
(_Vide_ ‘Evid. Com. Ho. Com.,’ 1155.) PURE SCAMMONY has a peculiar cheesy
smell, and a greenish-grey colour. It is “porous and brittle, and the
freshly broken surface shines; hydrochloric acid being dropped on it, it
emits no bubbles; nor does the powder digested in water, at heat of 170°
Fahr., become blue by the simultaneous addition of iodide of potassium and
dilute nitric acid. Out of 100 gr., 78 (80——Ph. E.) should be soluble in
ether.” (Ph. L.) The tincture of pure scammony is not turned green by
nitric acid. If the powder effervesce with dilute acids, it contains
chalk.
_Uses, &c._ Pure scammony is a powerful drastic purgative and
anthelmintic, inadmissible in inflammatory conditions of the alimentary
canal, but well adapted for torpid and inactive conditions of the
abdominal organs. Associated with calomel, rhubarb, or sulphate of
potassa, it is useful in all cases in which an active cathartic or
vermifuge may be required, especially for children.——_Dose._ (For an
adult) 5 to 15 gr., in powder, or made into a bolus or emulsion.
=SCARLATI′NA.= See SCARLET FEVER.
=SCAR′LET DYE.= _Proc._ (Poërner.)——_a._ The ‘Bouillon.’ Take of cream of
tartar, 1-3/4 oz.; water, q. s.; boil in a block-tin vessel, and when
dissolved, add of solution of tin (made by dissolving 2 oz. of grain tin
in a mixture of 1 lb. each of nitric acid and water, and 1-1/2 oz. of sal
ammoniac), 1-3/4 oz.; boil for 3 minutes, then introduce the cloth, boil
for 2 hours, drain it, and let it cool.——_b._ The ‘Rougie.’ Next take of
cream of tartar, 1/4 oz.; water, q. s.; boil, and add powdered cochineal,
1 oz.; again boil for 5 minutes, then gradually add of solution of tin, 1
oz., stirring well all the time; lastly, put in the goods and dye as
quickly as possible. The quantities given are those for 1 to 1-1/4 lb. of
woollen cloth. The result is a full scarlet. To make the colour turn on
the ‘ponceau’ or poppy, a little turmeric is added to the bath.
_Obs._ Scarlet is red with a tinge of yellow; it is nearly always produced
by cochineal. See RED DYE.
=SCARLET FE′VER.= _Syn._ SCARLATINA, FEBRIS SCARLATINA, L. A highly
contagious disease, so named after the peculiar eruption or efflorescence
of the skin which accompanies it. The milder form of this disease
(SCARLATINA SIMPLEX, S. MITIS) comes on with languor, chilliness
alternated by fits of heat, nausea, vomiting (frequently), and other
common symptoms of fever; followed, on the third or fourth day, by a
scarlet efflorescence upon the skin, which after three or four days ends
in the cuticle or scarf-skin peeling off in branny scales. Dropsical
swelling of the whole body sometimes follows the disappearance of the
eruption; but this, with the febrile symptoms, and the soreness of the
throat (if any), then give way, and the patient gradually regains his
former health and strength. In the _malignant form_ of scarlet fever
(SCARLATINA CYNANCHICA, S. ANGINOSA, S. MALIGNA) the febrile symptoms,
from the first, are more alarming; there is bilious vomiting, great
soreness and ulceration of the throat, the pulse is small and quick, and
the breathing laborious. These symptoms rapidly increase on the appearance
of the eruption; the body then becomes swollen, the nose and eyes
inflamed, the breath fetid, the throat suppurates, putrid symptoms ensue,
and the patient is either suddenly cut off or recovers very slowly.
The early symptoms of scarlet fever are distinguished from those of the
MEASLES and SMALLPOX by the greater extent and want of elevation of the
eruption, and by its not congregating into patches. Nor are there the
cough or running from the eyes and nose which usher in the measles.
The treatment of the milder form of scarlet fever, especially that of
childhood, may consist of the administration of an emetic, followed by a
saline aperient, to clear the bowels; the latter being repeated as
occasion may require. The patient should be kept in a cool and
well-ventilated room, the diet should be light and farinaceous, and the
use of diluent drinks copiously indulged in. If the febrile symptoms are
severe, or the throat much affected, small doses of some mild mercurial,
as calomel, mercurial pill, or quicksilver with chalk, may be
administered, either separately or combined with antimonial diaphoretics
or Dover’s powder. In malignant scarlet fever a smart emetic should be
given early, and mercurials and diaphoretics at once freely exhibited.
Acidulated gargles may be used for the throat, and, when the heat of the
body is much above the natural standard, sponging the whole body with cold
water, or with vinegar and water, may be had recourse to. If the malignant
symptoms run high, and assume a typhoid or putrid character, the system
must be supported with stimulant tonics as wine, bark, capsicum, &c.
According to Hahnemann, Koreff, and Randhahn, belladonna is a prophylactic
against scarlet fever. The homœopathists also hold it to be almost a
specific in the disease.
Dr Renfrew’s medicinal treatment consists in the administration of a
mixture consisting of tincture of perchloride of iron and chlorate of
potash. He contends that the chlorine which the mixture contains destroys
the blood poison, that the hydrochloric acid supplies a desirable
ingredient for the blood, that the iron improves the impaired red blood
disks and assists in forming new ones, whilst the chlorate of potash is a
source of oxygen whereby the disintegrated matters floating in the blood
are burnt up and destroyed.
Scarlet fever is common to all ages of life, but children and young
persons are the most subject to it. Unlike the smallpox, it occasionally
attacks the same person more than once. It is most common in dirty, close,
damp situations.
_In horses_, the commencing symptoms are very similar to those in
man——indisposition to movement, febrile symptoms as indicated by a hot and
dry skin, and sore throat, the glands about the head and neck being
frequently tender and swollen. The respiration becomes quickened and the
pulse thready. In about 48 hours scarlet spots about the size of a pea
show themselves on the mucous membrane about the lips and nostrils, the
spots after a time becoming confluent. Except the attack be a very mild
one, similar spots spread all over the body, but are most plentiful about
the animal’s head and neck. After about a fortnight or three weeks, the
hair leaves the parts on which the spots are, and then desquamation sets
in, and bare bald patches are left. The after results bear a great
resemblance to those which frequently follow an attack of the same disease
in the human being. The best treatment consists in placing the animal in a
cool, well-ventilated loose box, applying bandages to the legs, and a
linen cover to the body, with a warm rug over that.
A dose of nitre and Mindererus spirit should be given in water three times
a day, combined with mild tonics, stimulants, and diuretics. See
DISINFECTANTS.
=SCENE′-PAINTING.= A variety of distemper painting employed in theatres,
&c., governed by perspective, and having for its object the production of
striking effects when viewed at a distance. Water, size, turpentine, and
the ordinary pigments, are the materials used for the purpose.
=SCENT BAGS.= See SACHETS.
=SCENT BALLS.= _Syn._ PASTILLES DE TOILETTE ODORANTES, Fr. These are
prepared from any of the materials noticed under POT POURRI, SCENTED
POWDERS, and SACHETS, made into a paste with mucilage of gum tragacanth,
and moulded into any desired forms, as that of balls, beads, medallions,
&c. The larger ones are frequently polished.
=SCENTED CAS′SOLETTES.= See POT POURRI, and _above_.
=SCENTS (Pommade).= _Prep._ 1. (COWSLIP.) From essence of bergamot, 8 oz.;
essence of lemon, 4 oz.; oil of cloves, 2 oz,; essence de petit grain, 1
oz.
2. (JONQUILLE.) From essence of bergamot and lemon, of each 8 oz.; oils of
orange peel and cloves, of each 2 oz.; oil of sassafras, 1 oz.; liquid
storax, 1/2 oz,; digest, with warmth and agitation, for a few hours, and
decant the clear portion in a week.
3. (MILLEFLEUR.) From essence of ambergris (finest), 4 oz.; essence of
lemon, 3 oz.; oil of cloves and English oil of lavender, of each 2 oz.;
essence de petit grain, essence of bergamot, and balsam of Peru (genuine),
of each 1 oz.; as the last.
_Obs._ The above are employed to scent pomatums, hair oils, &c. 1 oz. of
any one of them, dissolved in one pint of the strongest rectified spirit,
produces a delicious perfume for the handkerchief.
=SCENTS (Snuff).= _Prep._ 1. Essence of bergamot, 2 oz.; otto of roses and
neroli, of each 1 dr.
2. Oil of lavender, 1 oz.; essence of lemon, 2 oz.; essence of bergamot, 4
oz.
3. To the last, add of oil of cloves, 2 oz.
4. Essence of musk and ambergris, of each 1 oz.; liquor of ammonia, 1/2
dr. See SNUFF, &c.
=SCHEELE’S GREEN.= See GREEN PIGMENTS.
=SCHLIPPE’S SALT.= Sulphantimoniate of sodium. See ANTIMONY,
SULPHANTIMONIATE.
=SCHWARTZ’S DROPS.= See DROPS, WORM.
=SCIAT′ICA.= See RHEUMATISM.
=SCIENCE.= “Man,” says Whewell, “is the interpreter of nature. Science the
right interpretation. The senses place before us the _characters_ of the
‘Book of Nature,’ but these convey no knowledge to us till we have
discovered the alphabet by which they are to be read.”
Various classifications of the sciences have been proposed by different
authors. Dr Neil Arnott conceived that the object of all the sciences,
viz. a knowledge of nature, might be best attained by the study of
physics, chemistry, life and mind, including under this latter the laws of
society, or the modern science of sociology.
As to mathematics he regarded it as a system of “technical mensuration,”
invaded by the mind in order to enable it to study the other sciences. In
his ‘Cours de Philosophie Positive,’ Comte traverses the entire circle of
the theoretical, abstract, or fundamental sciences, and divides them into
mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, biology, and sociology. He
admits no distinct science on psychology or the science of mind.
Mr Herbert Spencer proposes to classify the sciences into three groups;
viz.:——1. Abstract science, which treats of the forms of phenomena
detached from their embodiments. 2. Abstract concrete science, or the
phenomena of nature analysed into their separate elements. 3. Concrete
science or natural phenomena in their totalities.
“For the classification of the sciences it is convenient to prepare the
way by distinguishing between theoretical sciences which are the sciences
properly so called, and practical science. A theoretical science embraces
a distinct department of nature, and is so arranged as to give in the most
compact form the entire body of ascertained (scientific) knowledge in that
department, such as mathematics, chemistry, physiology, and zoology. A
practical science is the application of scientifically obtained facts and
laws in one or more departments to some practical end, which end rules the
selection and arrangement of the whole; as for example, navigation,
engineering, mining, and medicine. Another distinction must be made before
laying down the systematic order of the theoretical sciences.
“A certain number of these sciences have for their subject-matter each a
separate department of natural forces or powers; thus, biology deals with
the department of organised beings, psychology with mind. Others deal with
the application of powers elsewhere recognised to some region of concrete
facts or phenomena. Thus, geology does not discuss any natural powers not
found in other sciences, but seeks to apply the laws of physics,
chemistry, and biology to account for the appearance of the earth’s crust.
“The sciences that embrace peculiar natural powers are called abstract,
general, or fundamental sciences; those that apply to the powers treated
of under these, to regions of concrete phenomena, are called concrete,
derived, or applied sciences.”[147]
[Footnote 147: ‘Chambers’s Encyclopædia.’]
The separation of the sciences into these two sections is that now
generally accepted.
The first section, that of the abstract or theoretical sciences, is
subdivided by almost common consent into mathematics, physics, chemistry,
biology (vegetable and animal physiology), psychology (mind), and
sociology (the laws of society).
The second section, that of the concrete sciences, includes meteorology,
mineralogy, botany, zoology, geology, and geography.
The order in which the abstract sciences are arranged above has also been
found to best illustrate the sequence in which they may be most
advantageously studied.
=SCIL′LITIN.= _Syn._ SCILLITINA, SCILLITITE. A whitish, resinous,
translucent, bitter, deliquescent substance, obtained by Vögel from
squills. It is soluble in water, alcohol, and acetic acid, and is
purgative, acrid, and poisonous.
=SCORBU′TUS.= See SCURVY.
=SCO′′RIA.= Dross; the refuse or useless part of any substance, more
especially that left from bodies which have been subjected to the action
of fire. It is frequently used in the plural (SCORIÆ).
=SCOTT’S DROPS.= See PATENT MEDICINES.
=SCOUR′ING.= The common method of cleaning cloth is by heating and
brushing it, unless it be very dirty, when it undergoes the operation of
scouring. This is best done on the small scale, as with ARTICLES OF
WEARING APPAREL, as follows:——A little curd soap is dissolved in water,
and, after mixing it with a little clarified ox-gall, is applied to all
the spots of grease, dirt, &c., and well rubbed into them with a stiff
brush, until they appear to be removed; after which the article is well
cleaned all over with a brush or sponge dipped into some warm water, to
which the previous mixture and a little more ox-gall has been added. The
cloth is next thoroughly rinsed in clean water, and hung up to dry. For
dark-coloured cloths, some fullers earth is often added to the mixture of
soap and gall. When the article is nearly dry, the nap is laid smooth, and
it is carefully pressed (if with a hot iron, on the wrong side), after
which a soft brush, moistened with a drop or two of olive oil, is
frequently passed over it, to give it a finish and gloss.
Cloth is also cleaned in the dry way:——The spots being removed, as above,
and the wetted parts having become dry, clean damp sand is strewed over
it, and beaten into it with a brush, after which the article is well gone
over with a hard brush, when the sand comes out, and brings the dirt with
it.
BUFF and DRAB CLOTH is generally cleaned by covering it with a paste made
with pipe-clay and water, either with or without a little umber to temper
the colour, which, when dry, is rubbed and brushed off.
When the article requires renovation as well as scouring, it is placed,
whilst still damp, on a board, and the threadbare parts are rubbed with a
half-worn hatter’s card filled with flocks, or with a teasel, or a prickly
thistle, until a nap is raised; it is next hung up to dry, after which it
is ‘finished off’ as before. When the cloth is much faded, it is usual to
give it a ‘dip,’ as it is called, or to pass it through a dye bath to
freshen up the colour. BLACK and DARK BLUE CLOTH, if rusty or faded, is
commonly treated to a coat of ‘reviver,’ instead of being ‘re-dipped,’ and
is then hung up until next day, before being pressed and finished off.
See SPOTS and STAINS.
=SCOURING IN ANIMALS.= See DIARRHŒA.
=SCOURING DROPS.= See DROPS.
=SCROFULA.= _Syn._ KING’S EVIL, STRUMA, STRUMOUS DISEASE. By modern
pathologists scrofula is regarded as a constitutional tendency to form and
deposit in various tissues and organs of the body a substance called
_tubercle_.[148] The _tendency_ may, however, in some cases only exist
without any actual tuberculous deposit taking place. Sir James Paget thus
describes scrofula as generally understood to be a “state of constitution
distinguished in some measure by peculiarities of appearance even during
health, but much more by peculiar liability to certain diseases, including
pulmonary phthisis. The chief of these ‘scrofulous’ diseases are various
swellings of the lymphatic glands, arising from causes which would be
inadequate to produce them in healthy persons.
[Footnote 148: See Phthisis.]
“The swellings are due sometimes to mere enlargement, as from an increase
of natural structure, sometimes to chronic inflammation, sometimes to an
acute inflammation or abscess, sometimes to tuberculous disease of the
glands.
“But besides these it is usual to reckon as ‘scrofulous’ affections
certain chronic inflammations of the joints; slowly progressive carious
inflammations of bones; chronic and frequent ulcers of the cornea;
ophthalmia attended with extreme intolerance of light, but with little, if
any, of the ordinary consequences of inflammation; frequent chronic
abscesses; pustules or other cutaneous eruptions frequently appearing upon
slight affection of the health or local irritation; habitual swelling and
catarrh of the mucous membrane of the nose; habitual swelling of the upper
lip.”
Scrofula is a disease which almost always shows itself during childhood,
and rarely after maturity has been attained.
Scrofulous children, or those of scrofulous diathesis, are frequently
narrow-chested, or their chests present that projecting appearance known
as ‘pigeon-breasted,’ their abdomens are also unnaturally large, and their
limbs emaciated. Their circulation is languid, and they are very generally
attacked with chilblains during inclement weather. They also suffer from
obstinate indigestion. Bearing in mind the fact that scrofula is
frequently induced, irrespective of hereditary taint, in the children of
the poor by bad and damp air, insufficient food and clothing, exclusion
from sunshine, and such like insanitary surroundings, the chief treatment
that will suggest itself will consist in remedying these adverse
conditions. Hence the patient should live on generous but digestible food,
partaking of meat twice a day. Milk and eggs also form an excellent diet
for the scrofulous. A scrofulous mother should refrain from suckling her
offspring, and procure a wet-nurse for that purpose. Flannel should be
worn both summer and winter. Various medicines have been employed in this
disease, including cod-liver oil, sarsaparilla, bark, syrup of iodide of
iron, the alkalies, and mineral acids. Of these cod-liver oil and syrup of
iodide of iron deservedly enjoy the highest reputation.
=SCUDAMORE’S LOTION.= See LOTION, GOUT.
=SCURF.= _Syn._ FURFURA. Scurf “is a natural and healthy formation, and
though it may be kept from accumulating, it cannot be prevented. It is
produced on every part of the body where hair is found, although, from the
more active growth of hair on the scalp, the facilities for collecting,
and the contrast of colour, it strikes the eye most disagreeably in that
situation. This will show how futile any attempt must be which shall have
for its object to prevent the formation of the scurf. It may be removed,
and should be removed, every day, with the hair-brush; but prevention is
impossible, inasmuch as it is opposed to a law of nature. Occasionally, as
a morbid action, an unusual quantity of scurf is produced, in which case
medical means may be adopted to bring the scalp into a more healthful
state.” (Eras. Wilson.) In such cases the daily use of some mild
stimulating or detergent wash, with due attention to the stomach and
bowels, will generally abate this annoyance.
=SCURF POWDER——Grindpulver= (Mahon, Paris). Three powders which, according
to Chevalier and Figuier, are nothing but wood ashes. Buchner found no
alkalies, but announced the following composition:——Organic calcium
carbonate (oyster shells, egg shells, crab shells), with a little gypsum,
charcoal powder, and more or less brick-dust, powdered, mixed, and exposed
to a moderate red heat in a covered crucible, till part of the chalk is
converted into quicklime, and the gypsum reduced by the charcoal powder to
calcium sulphide, which in its turn is gradually converted by the air into
calcium sulphite. All three powders are made of the same ingredients, but
in different proportions. No. 1 has more gypsum and charcoal powder; No. 2
less charcoal and more chalk; and No. 3 more brickdust. (Wittstein.)
=SCURF SALVE——Grinsalbe.= In France it is generally a mixture of 2 parts
slaked lime, 5 parts soda crystals, and 25 parts fat. (Hager.)
=SCUR′VY.= _Syn._ SCORBUTUS, L. This disease commences with indolence,
sallow looks, debility, and loss of spirits; the gums become sore and
spongy, the teeth loose, and the breath fetid; the legs swell, eruptions
appear on different parts of the body, and, at length, the patient sinks
under general emaciation, diarrhœa, and hæmorrhages.
The treatment of ordinary cases of this disease mainly consists in
employing a diet of fresh animal and green vegetable food, with mild ale,
beer, or lemonade, as beverages; scrupulously avoiding salted and dried
meat. The fresh-squeezed juice of lemons is, perhaps, of all other
substances, the most powerful remedy in this disease in its early stages,
and is useful in all of them. Effervescing draughts formed with the
bicarbonate of potassa (not soda) are also excellent.
In former years, before the nature of this malady had been intelligently
investigated, and the proper preventive methods and remedial measures for
combating it were unknown, scurvy was not only a very common but a very
fatal disease in our own navy, as well as in the navies of other powers.
Of 961 men who constituted Anson’s fleet sent out during our war with
Spain in 1742, 626 died of scurvy in nine months; whilst Sir Gilbert Blane
records that in the year 1780, out of a fleet composed of between 7000 and
8000 men, more than 1000, or one in seven, perished from the same cause.
Sir Richard Hawkins, one of the naval celebrities of Elizabeth and James’
reign, affirmed that daring twenty years he had known 20,000 sailors fall
victims to scurvy alone; and a Portuguese writer, quoted by Sir Charles
Blane, speaking of the number of victims from scurvy, during a naval
exploring expedition of his own country men, says “that if the dead who
from this cause had been thrown overboard between the coast of Guinea and
the Cape of Good Hope, and between that Cape and Mozambique, could have
had tombstones placed for them, each on the spot where he sank, the whole
way would have appeared one continued cemetery.”[149]
[Footnote 149: Dr Guy.]
The statistical report of the navy for 1871 offers a gratifying contrast
to the above figures. From this document it appears that out of a total
force of 4720 sailors, only four were affected with scurvy during that
year. The much greater number of men attacked by the disease on board
merchant ships appears to be due to the inferior or worthless character of
the lime or lemon juice purchased by them.
Writing on the hygienic condition of the merchant marine in 1867, Mr Harry
Leach says:——
“We are prepared to maintain, from the following table (and other
statistics from which these have been taken), that the want of good lime
or lemon juice was distinctly the cause of scurvy in the vessels below
mentioned.
No. of Hands Cases of Result of examination
Name of Ship. (all told). Scurvy. of Lime juice.
Hermione 17 5 Sulphuric acid.
Merrie England 29 10 Stinking.
Stirling Castle 32 6 Very weak.
Hoang-Ho 21 5 Acetic acid.
Blanche Moore 35 8 Musty and nauseous.
St Andrew’s Castle 19 7 Citric acid.
Tamerlane 21 4 Nauseous.
Marlborough 23 8 Very weak.
Galloway 29 6 Short allowance.
Tamar 17 2 Very weak.
French Empire 27 7 or 8 Citric acid.
Eaglet 14 3 Thick and nasty.
Geelong 14 9 Taken irregularly.
Thorndean 35 2 Spoiled (short supply of
provisions).
Taken with ships that, with others, have arrived in the port of London
during the past two years with cases of scurvy.
“Of direct causes this is undoubtedly first and foremost; but of indirect
causes we have a few words to say. Dirt, bad provisions, and any form of
disease to which sailors, in common with other men, are subject, will
predispose to scurvy. This cannot and should not be denied, but it affords
to parsimonious captains a very large peg whereon to hang sundry
invectives as to the cry lately made about the continued prevalence of
this disease in the mercantile marine. Such captains, with pardonable
ignorance, consider scurvy a form of venereal disease, give the wretched
subject thereof mercury, and bring him into port salivated as well as
scorbutic.”
Mr Leach further adds:——
“In summing up statistics of scurvy for the past year (1867), we find that
a total of 235 accredited cases were admitted into British hospitals,
giving no account of those who convalesced in sailors’ homes or elsewhere.
“To this we may add, that seven sailors were left at St Helena, from a
ship recently arrived in the Thames; that a vessel put into Falmouth on
the 29th ult., with no less than sixteen severe cases of scurvy on board,
and that between twenty and thirty cases have arrived in this port during
the present month. It would be well (as a supplementary aid to the
prevention of scurvy by inspection of lime juice) that the dues levied for
the St Helena Hospital should be abolished. It was stated to us some weeks
ago by a very old inhabitant of that Island, that this fact alone caused
many ships to pass without calling for needful supplies of antiscorbutic
material.
“I would however remark, that if the system proposed by the Seamen’s
Hospital Society were put in force, no such aid to the prevention of this
disease would be required, inasmuch as every ship would then be supplied
with good lime juice.”
The following figures, giving the number of patients suffering from scurvy
admitted into the Seamen’s Hospital, shows a decrease in the disease,
since the publication of the above:——
In 1865, from British vessels, 101; foreign do. 1
” 1866 ” ” 96 ” 5
” 1867 ” ” 90 ” 4
” 1868 ” ” 64 ” 10
” 1869 ” ” 31 ” 9
” 1870 ” ” 30 ” 21
” 1871 ” ” 24 ” 16
=SEAL′ING WAX.= See WAX.
=SEA SICKNESS.= The most effectual preventive of sea sickness appears to
be the horizontal position. When there is much pain, after the stomach has
been well cleared, a few drops of laudanum may be taken, or an opium
plaster may be applied over the region of the stomach. Persons about to
proceed to sea should put their stomach and bowels in proper order, by the
use of mild aperients, and even an emetic, if required, when it will
generally be found that a glass of warm and weak brandy-and-water, to
which 15 or 20 drops of laudanum, or, still better, 1 or 2 drops of
creasote, have been added, will effectually prevent any disposition to sea
sickness, provided the bowels be attended to, and excess in eating and
drinking be at the same time avoided. A spoonful of crushed ice, in a
wine-glassful of cold water, or weak brandy-and-water, will often afford
relief when all other means fail. Smoking at sea is very apt to induce
sickness. M. F. Curie, in the ‘Comptes Rendus,’ asserts that drawing in
the breath as the vessel descends, and exhaling it as it ascends, on the
billows, by preventing the movements of the diaphragm acting abnormally on
the phrenetic nerves, prevents sea sickness. On this Mr Atkinson, at one
of the meetings of the British Association, observed that——if a person,
seated on board ship, holding a tumbler filled with water in his hand,
makes an effort to prevent the water running over, at the same time
allowing not merely his arm, but also his whole body, to participate in
the movements, he will find that this has the effect of preventing the
giddiness and nausea that the rolling and tossing of the vessel have a
tendency to produce in inexperienced voyagers. If the person is suffering
from sickness at the commencement of his experiment, as soon as he grasps
the glass of liquid in his hand, and suffers his arm to take its course
and go through the movements alluded to, he feels as if he were performing
them of his own free will, and the nausea abates immediately, and very
soon ceases entirely, and does not return so long as he suffers his arm
and body to assume the postures into which they seem to be drawn. Should
he, however, resist the free course of his hand, he instantly feels a
thrill of pain, of a peculiarly stunning kind, shoot through his head, and
experiences a sense of dizziness and returning nausea.
Dr Doring, a Viennese physician, states that an ordinary dose of chloral
hydrate is an unfailing remedy for sea sickness. In various cases recorded
by him it seems to have been of the greatest service, even during long sea
voyages, ensuring a good night’s rest, arresting violent sickness when it
has set in, and preventing its return.
=SEDATIVE PILLS, Gunther’s.= These are composed of the following
ingredients:——Assafœtida powder, 50 parts; extract of valerian, 50;
extract of belladonna, 3; oxide of zinc, 1 part; castor, 2 parts. Make
into a pill-mass, to be administered in doses of 3 to 10 grains, twice
daily, in chorea, &c.
=SED′ATIVES.= _Syn._ SEDATIVA, L. Medicines and agents which diminish the
force of the circulation or the animal energy, and allay pain. Foxglove,
henbane, tobacco, potassio-tartrate of antimony, and several of the
neutral salts and acids, act as sedatives. Cold is, perhaps, the most
powerful agent of this class.
=SEED.= _Syn._ SEMEN, L. The seeds of plants are conspicuous for their
vast number and variety, and their extreme usefulness to man. The seeds of
certain of the _Graminaceæ_ furnish him with his daily bread; some of
those of the _Leguminosæ_ in either the immature or ripe state, supply his
table with wholesome esculents, or provide a nourishing diet for his
domestic animals; whilst those of numerous other plants, dispersed through
every class, orders, and family, yield their treasures of oil, medicinals,
or perfumes for his use.
=SELEN′IC ACID.= H_{2}SeO_{4}. _Syn._ ACIDUM SELENICUM, L. _Prep._ By
fusing selenium with nitrate of potassium or of sodium, acting on the
fused mass with water, precipitating the resulting solution with acetate
or nitrate of lead, and decomposing the precipitate (selenate of lead),
diffused in water, with sulphuretted hydrogen. The selenic acid, thus
obtained, may be cautiously concentrated in a glass vessel, if necessary;
but if this be pushed too far, it is resolved into selenious acid
(H_{2}SeO_{3}) and oxygen.
_Prop., &c._ Hydrated selenic acid is a colourless liquid, closely
resembling sulphuric acid; its salts (selenates) bear the closest analogy
to the sulphates.
SELENIC ACID (H_{2}SeO_{4}). No selenic anhydride is known. Selenic acid
may be obtained in solution by deflagrating selenium or a selenite with
potassic nitrate. The residue dissolved in water is mixed with a solution
of plumbic nitrate, an insoluble plumbic seleniate being precipitated. The
plumbic seleniate is suspended in water and decomposed by means of a
current of sulphuretted hydrogen. Plumbic sulphide is precipitated, and
the liberated selenic acid separated by filtration is concentrated until
it acquires a sp. gr. of 2·6; if heated above 554° F. it decomposes into
selenious anhydride, water, and oxygen. Selenic acid has a great
resemblance to sulphuric acid. It acts upon the metals in the same manner,
and even dissolves gold. The seleniates are also very similar in
properties to the sulphates, and both classes of salts are isomorphous.
The seleniates give the same characteristic odour before the blowpipe as
the selenites. Their solutions give white precipitates with the salts of
barium, strontian and lead, insoluble in nitric acid. If a soluble
seleniate is boiled with hydrochloric acid, selenic acid is set free, and
is reduced to selenious acid, sulphurous acid will then precipitate
reduced selenium from the solution. Baric seleniate may be also decomposed
in a similar manner, and this reaction distinguishes it from baric
sulphate.
=SELE′NIUM.= Se. A rare chemical element, discovered by Berzelius in 1817
in the refuse of a sulphuric acid manufactory near Fahlun, in Sweden, it
having been derived from the pyrites employed in the manufacture of the
acid. Hence the pyrites of Fahlun forms the chief source of this rare
body, although it exists, but less abundantly, in combination with a few
other metals, termed selenides. Selenium is chiefly interesting to the
chemist from its remarkable analogy in chemical properties to sulphur.
Like this latter element, it is capable of assuming three allotropic
forms——the amorphous, the vitreous, and the crystalline.
The latter variety of selenium, like the crystalline form of sulphur,
dissolves in bisulphide of carbon, but much less readily. Selenium boils
below a red heat and becomes converted into a deep yellow vapour, which,
when heated, is subject to the same anomalous expansion as sulphur vapour.
It is not so combustible as sulphur, which it still further resembles by
burning with a blue flame when ignited in the air. During combustion it
gives off a peculiar and characteristic smell, resembling that of putrid
horse-radish. Heated with strong sulphuric acid, selenium forms a green
solution. If this solution is poured into water, the selenium separates
and is thrown down. Selenium is without taste or smell, is insoluble in
water, and in its normal state is a non-conductor of heat and electricity.
Selenium may be extracted from the Fahlun residue by the following
process:——It should be first boiled with sulphuric acid, diluted with an
equal volume of water, and nitric acid should then be added in small
quantities until the oxidation of the selenium is accomplished, which may
be known when red fumes cease to be cooled. The solution which contains
selenious (SeO_{2}) and selenic (SeO_{3}) acid is then to be largely
diluted with water, filtered, the filtrate mixed with about one fourth of
its bulk of hydrochloric acid, and then concentrated a little by
evaporation, the result of which is that the hydrochloric acid reduces the
selenic to selenious acid. A current of sulphurous acid being then passed
through the solution, the selenium is precipitated in red flakes, which
form into a dense black mass when the liquid is gently heated. The
following equation illustrates the reaction:——
H_{2}O,SeO_{2} + H_{2}O + 2SO_{2} = 2(H_{2}SO_{3}) + Se.
Like sulphur, selenium combines with oxygen and forms an anhydride
corresponding to sulphurous anhydride. SELENIOUS ANHYDRIDE (SeO_{2}) may
be obtained by burning selenium in a current of oxygen; it is, however,
more easily prepared by boiling selenium with nitric acid or with aqua
regia, the excess of acid being expelled by heat, the selenious anhydride
is left as a white mass. When this is dissolved in water it yields a
crystalline hydrate of selenious acid (H_{2}SeO_{3}). The salts formed by
selenious acid (selenites), with the exception of those of the alkali
metals, are mostly insoluble in water. They are easily known by the
peculiar odour of selenium which they give off when heated on charcoal in
the reducing flame of the blowpipe; solutions of the selenites give a
reddish-brown precipitate when treated with sulphurous acid.
=Seleniuretted Hydrogen= (H_{2}Se). This may be obtained in a precisely
similar manner, namely, by acting on selenide of iron or potassium with
diluted sulphuric or hydrochloric acid. Seleniuretted hydrogen is soluble
in water, and precipitates many metals from their salts as selenides. The
solution is feebly acid, and, like its analogue solution of sulphuretted
hydrogen, if exposed to the air, absorbs oxygen and deposits selenium. The
selenides of the alkali metals are soluble in water. The selenides of
cerium, zinc, and manganese are flesh-coloured; most of the others are
black. This gas is inflammable like sulphuretted hydrogen; it has,
however, a still more offensive smell than this latter gas, Berzelius lost
his sense of smell for several hours by the application to his nose of a
bubble of seleniuretted hydrogen not larger than a pea. There are two
chlorides of selenium——a dichloride (Se_{2}Cl_{2}), a volatile liquid of a
brown colour, and a tetra-chloride (SeCl_{4}), which occurs as a white
crystalline solid. Selenium unites with sulphur, forming a bisulphide
(SeS_{2}) and a tersulphide (SeS_{3}). A very curious physical property of
selenium when exposed to the action of light was first noticed in 1873 by
Mr May, assistant chemist at the Telegraph Station at Valentia, in
Ireland, who observed that a stick of crystallised selenium which had been
used for some time in telegraphy, where high electrical resistance was
required, offered a considerably diminished resistance to the current when
exposed to the light than when kept in the dark. Mr May’s discovery, which
was at first received with some amount of incredulity, has since been
amply corroborated by the observations and researches of many physicists,
amongst them by Professor Werner Siemens, the result of whose experiments
on this interesting subject we quote from a lecture delivered at the Royal
Institution by his brother, Dr William Siemens, in February, 1876. After
describing the method by which his brother arranged the selenium, so that,
when inserted in the galvanic current of a single Daniell’s cell, the
surface action produced by the light upon it attained a maximum effect,
and thereby did away with the necessity of employing a large galvanic
battery, and at the same time allowed an ordinary galvanometer to be used
instead of a delicate one, as hitherto employed, Dr Siemens proceeded to
illustrate the action of light upon the element by experiment. “I here
hold,” he said, “an element so prepared of amorphous selenium, which I
place in a dark box, and insert in a galvanic circuit comprising a
Daniell’s cell and a delicate galvanometer, the face of which will be
thrown upon the screen through a mirror by means of the electric light.
“In closing the circuit it will be seen that no deflection of the needle
ensues. We will now admit light upon the selenium disc and close the
circuit, when again no deflection will be observed, showing that the
selenium in its present condition is a non-conductor both in the dark and
under the influence of light. I will now submit a similar disc of selenium
which has been kept in boiling water for an hour and gradually cooled to
the same tests as before. In closing the circuit while the plate is in the
dark a certain deflection of the galvanometer will be discernible, but I
will now open the lid of the box so as to admit light upon the disc, when
on again closing the circuit a slight deflection of the galvanometer
needle will be observed. In closing the box against the light this
deflection will subside, but will again be visible the moment the light is
readmitted to the box. Here we have, then, the extraordinary effect of
light upon selenium clearly illustrated.
“I will now insert into the same circuit another selenium plate which has
been heated up to 210° C, and, after having been kept at that temperature
for several hours, has been gradually cooled; it will be observed that
this plate is affected to a greater extent than the former by the action
of light, and other conditions, to which I shall presently allude, prove
the selenium heated to a higher temperature to be in other respects
dissimilar to the other two modifications of the same. These differences
will be best revealed in describing my brother’s experiment. He placed one
of his amorphous preparations of selenium in an air-bath heated above the
melting point of selenium (to 260° C.), while the connecting wires were
inserted in a galvanic circuit consisting of only one Daniell’s element
and a delicate reflecting galvanometer, and every five minutes the
temperature and conductivity of the selenium were noted. Up to the
temperature of 80° C. no current passed; from this point onward the
conductivity of the material rapidly increased until it obtained its
maximum at the temperature of 210° C., being nearly its melting point,
after which an equally rapid diminution of conductivity commenced,
reaching a minimum at a temperature of about 240° C., when the
conductivity was only such as could be detected by a most delicate
galvanometer. In continuing to increase the temperature of the fluid
selenium very gradually but steadily, its conductivity increased again.
The interpretation of these experiments is as follows: Amorphous selenium
retains a very large amount of specific heat, which renders it a
non-conductor of electricity: when heated to 80° this amorphous solid mass
begins to change its amorphous condition for the crystalline form, in
which form it possesses a greatly reduced amount of specific heat, giving
rise to the increase of temperature beyond that of surrounding objects
when the change of condition is once set in. If care is taken to limit the
rise of temperature of the selenium to 100° C., and if it is very
gradually cooled after being maintained for an hour or two at that
temperature, a mass is obtained which conducts electricity to some extent,
and which shows increased conductivity under the influence of light. But
in examining the conductivity of selenium so prepared at various
temperatures below 80°, and without accession of light, it was found that
its _conductivity increases with rise of temperature_, in which respect it
resembles carbon, sulphide of metals, and generally electrolytes. This my
brother terms his first modification of selenium.
But in extending the heating influence up to 210°, and in maintaining that
temperature by means of a bath of paraffin for some hours before gradually
reducing the same, he obtained a second modification of selenium, in which
its conductivity increases with fall of temperature, and in which
modification it is, therefore, analogous to the metals. This second
modification of selenium is a better conductor of electricity than the
first, and its sensitiveness to light is so great that its conductivity in
sunlight is fifteen times greater than it is in the dark, as will be seen
from the following table, in which is given the effects of different
intensities of light on selenium (Modification II) obtained at Woolwich on
the 14th of February, 1876:——
---------------------------------------------------------------
Selenium in |Relative Conductivities. | Resistance in
|-------------------------| Ohms.
|Deflections. | Ratio. |
| | |
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Dark | 32 | 1·0 | 10,070,000
2. Diffused | | |
daylight. | 110 | 3·4 | 2,930,000
3. Lamplight | 180 | 5·6 | 1,790,000
4. Sunlight | 470 | 14·7 | 680,000
---------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, however, the second modification is not so stable as the
first; when lowered in temperature parts of it change back into the first
or metalloid modification by taking up specific heat, and in watching this
effect a point is discovered at which ratio of increase of conductivity
with fall of temperature changes sign, or where the electrolyte substance
appears to predominate over the metallic selenium. If cooled down to 15°
C., the whole of the metallic selenium is gradually being converted back
into the first variety. The physical conclusions here arrived at may be
said to be an extension of Helmholtz’s theory that the conductivity of
metals varies inversely as the total heat contained in them. Helmholtz had
only the sensible heat of temperature (counting from the absolute zero
point) in view, but it has already been shown by Hittorf and Werner
Siemens that it applies in the case of tin and some other metals, also to
specific heat and to the latent heat of fusion. In selenium the specific
heat is an extremely variable quantity, changing in the solid mass at
certain temperatures, and, it is contended, under the influence of light.
Aided by these experimental researches, my brother arrives at the
conclusion that the influence of light upon selenium may be explained by a
“_change of its molecular condition near the surface, from the first or
electrolyte into the second or metallic modification_, or in other words,
by a _liberation of specific heat upon the illuminated surface of
crystalline selenium_, which liberated heat is reabsorbed when the
liberating cause has ceased to act.” Professor Adams, who has likewise
investigated this singular action of light upon selenium, ascribes it to a
different cause. He says:——
1. That the light falling on the selenium causes an electromotive force in
it in the same direction as the battery current passing through it, the
effect being similar to the effect due to polarisation in an electrolyte,
but in the opposite direction.
2. That the light falling on the selenium causes a change on its surface
akin to the change which it produces on the surface of a phosphorescent
body, and that in consequence of this change the electro-current is
enabled to pass more readily over the surface of the selenium.
=SEM′OLA (Bullock’s).= This preparation consists of wheaten flour deprived
of much of its starch by washings with water, and contains the largest
amount (48 per cent.) of nitrogenous or albumenoid principles consistent
with its adaptability to culinary purposes. It is specially intended as a
food for infants, weakly children, and invalids.
=SEMOLI′NA.= _Syn._ SÉMOULE, SEMOULINA. The large hard grains of wheat
flour retained in the bolting machine, after the fine flour has passed
through its meshes. “The best sémoule is obtained from the wheat of the
southern parts of Europe. With the sémoule the fine white Parisian bread
called ‘_gruau_’ is baked.” (Ure.)
=SEN′EGA.= _Syn._ SENEKA, SNAKEROOT, RATTLESNAKE R.; SENEGÆ RADIX (B. P.);
SENEGA (Ph. L., E., & D.), RADIX SENEGÆ, L. “The root of the _Polygala
Senega_, Linn.” (Ph. L.) A stimulating diaphoretic, and expectorant; in
large doses diuretic, cathartic, and emetic. In America it is used as
an antidote to the bite of the rattlesnake. Drs Chapman and
Hartshorne extol it as an emmenagogue. Dr Pereira says that it is an
exceedingly valuable remedy in the latter stages of bronchial or
pulmonary inflammation, when this disease occurs in aged,
debilitated, or torpid constitutions.——_Dose_, 10 to 30 gr., in
powder or decoction (combined with aromatics, opium, or camphor),
thrice daily.
According to Patrouillard senega is occasionally adulterated with the
roots of _Asclepias vincetoxicum_. The branches of the latter root are
cylindrical, very white, and almost devoid of taste; those of senega, on
the contrary, are yellowish and twisted, and have a very acrid taste. The
froth produced by shaking an infusion of senega keeps much longer than
that produced by an infusion of the adulterant. In other respects there is
a great resemblance between the two roots.
=SEN′EGIN.= _Syn._ POLYGALIN, POLYGALIC ACID. A white odourless powder,
discovered by Gehlin in the bark of seneka root (_Polygala Senega_).
=SEN′NA.= _Syn._ SENNA, SENNÆ FOLIA, L. There are three principal
varieties:——
1. ALEXANDRIAN SENNA (SENNA ALEXANDRINA——B. P., Ph. L., E., & D.),
referred in the, Ph. L. to _Cassia officinalis_ and _Cassia obovata_, in
the Ph. D. to _Cassia acutifolia_ (Delile), and in the Ph. E. to various
species of cassia. The leaves are “unequal at the base, ovate acute, or
obovate mucronate.” (Ph. L.) It is generally mixed with the leaves of
_Solenostemma Argel_ (argel leaves), the presence of which is often the
occasion of much griping. The leaf of argel is fully an inch long, warty,
regular in its formation, and the lateral nerves are imperfectly seen on
the under side; whilst that of the true Alexandrian senna never exceeds
3/4 inch in length, is oblique, and the nerves on the under side are very
conspicuous.
2. INDIAN SENNA (SENNA INDICA——B. P.; Ph. L., & E.) is referred to _Cassia
officinalis_ in the Ph. L., and in the Ph. E. & D. to _Cassia elongata_
(Lemaire, Lisancourt). The leaf is “unequal at the base,” and
“Lanceolate.” (Ph. L.)
3. TINNEVELLY SENNA, forming the finest Indian, now introduced into the
Ph. D., is therein described as composed of the leaflets of _Cassia
oblongata_. These are pale green, thin, flexible, and from 1 to 2 inches
long, and nearly 1/2 inch broad. This variety is equal in medicinal virtue
to the best Alexandrian, and is to be preferred, on account of its being
imported perfectly free from adulteration.
Senna is purgative in doses of 10 to 30 gr., either in powder or made into
an infusion of tea with Water, combined with ginger, caraways, or some
other aromatic, to prevent griping. It acts chiefly on the small
intestines, and generally effects its purpose within 4 hours after being
taken.
=SE′′PIA.= A pigment prepared from the ‘ink’ or black fluid secreted by
_Sepia officinalis_ (Linn.), and several other varieties of cuttle-fish.
The contents of the ‘ink bags’ are inspissated as soon as possible after
collection, and then form the crude sepia of commerce. This is prepared
for artists by boiling it for a short time in a weak lye of caustic
alkali, precipitating the solution with an acid, and well washing and
carefully drying the precipitate by a gentle heat. It possesses a fine
brown colour, and is used like Indian ink.
=SER′PENTARY.= _Syn._ VIRGINIAN SNAKE-ROOT; SERPENTARIA RADIX (B. P.),
SERPENTARIÆ RADIX, SERPENTARIA (Ph. L. & E.), ARISTOLOCHIA SERPENTARIA
(Ph. D.), L. An excellent stimulating diaphoretic and tonic; in typhoid
and putrid fevers, dyspepsia, &c. It is admirably suited to check vomiting
and to tranquilise the stomach, particularly in bilious cases. (Dr
Chapman.)——_Dose_, 10 to 20 gr., every third or fourth hour, its use being
preceded by an aperient.
=SE′′RUM.= _Syn._ SERALBUMEN. The clear pale fluid in which the
blood-globules float, and which separates from blood during its
coagulation. It is, essentially, a feebly alkaline solution of albumen.
See ALBUMEN.
=SESQUI-.= See NOMENCLATURE.
=SE′TON.= _Syn._ SETACEUM. An artificial ulcer, made by passing a portion
of silk or thread under the skin by means of a seton needle, a part of
which is drawn through daily, and thus keeps up a constant irritation.
Occasionally the thread is anointed with some irritating substance for the
purpose of increasing the discharge.
=SEVEN SEALS, or Golden Wonder——Dr Radcliffe’s Great Remedy.= According to
the prospectus, this remedy is good for cholera morbus, dysentery,
diarrhœa, burns, sprains, rheumatism, warts and corns, and all diseases.
In a quadrangular bottle we find about 95 grammes of a brownish-orange
clear fluid, which is a spirituous tincture of cayenne pepper mixed with
ether, chloroform, American oil of peppermint, and a little camphor. The
proportion of these ingredients is, approximately, 4 grammes ether, 6
grammes chloroform, 4 gramme camphor or camphoraceous oil, 2 grammes oil
of peppermint, 35 grammes tincture of capsicum. 50 grammes spirit of wine
(90 per cent.) (Hager.)
=SE′VUM (Prepared).= _Syn._ SEVUM PRÆPARATUM (B. P.), SEVUM MAGNETICUM, L.
_Prep._ 1. (‘Pharm. Journ.’) Mould candles, at least 2 years old, melted
by a very gentle heat, and strained from the wicks.
2. As MAGNETIC ADEPS. Used to make mercurial ointment. Triturated with 8,
12, or 16 times its weight of quicksilver, the globules are completely
extinguished in from 10 to 15 minutes.
=SEWAGE, Removal and Disposal of.= The waste and putrescible refuse
discharged from dwelling-houses by house-pipes and drains into sewers may
be said, in general terms, to consist, besides human fæces and urine,[150]
of the dirty water and soapsuds arising from washing our bodies, our
houses, and linen, more or less foul, as well as the water which, having
been used for cooking operations, necessarily contains variable quantities
of mineral and vegetable matter.
[Footnote 150: In the drainage of some towns the fæces are not allowed to
enter the sewers. This, however, is the exception.]
The above statement will have prepared us not only for the complex nature
of sewage water as shown in the following tables, but also for the
variability in the amount of its constituents, this latter condition
depending upon locality, and, as experiment shows, the hour of the day at
which the sewage was collected.
_Composition of Sewer Water_ (WAY).
+-------------------------------+----------------------------------+
| | Grains per Gallon. |
| +--------+-------+-------+---------+
| | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. |
+-------------------------------+--------+-------+-------+---------+
|Organic matters (soluble) | 19·40 | 41·03 | 12·30 | } 9·20 |
|Organic matters (suspended) | 39·10 | 17·00 | 24·37 | } |
|Lime | 10·13 | 14·71 | 12·52 | 11·25 |
|Magnesia | 1·42 | 1·82 | 1·59 | 1·35 |
|Soda | 4·01 | 2·40 | 2·41 | 1·89 |
|Potash | 3·66 | 3·57 | 3·31 | 1·09 |
|Chloride of Sodium | 26·40 | 22·61 | 34·30 | 5·58 |
|Sulphuric Acid | 5·34 | 5·31 | 6·40 | 3·43 |
|Phosphoric Acid | 2·63 | 5·76 | 2·48 | 0·64 |
|Carbonic Acid | 9·01 | 8·92 | 11·76 | } |
|Silicia {Oxide of Iron} | 6·20 | 13·55 | 6·46 | } 4·77 |
| {Oxide of Zinc} | | | | |
|Ammonia | 7·48 | 8·43 | 7·88 | |
| +--------+-------+-------+---------+
| |134·78 |145·11 |125·78 | 39·20 |
+-------------------------------+--------+-------+-------+---------+
_London Sewer Water_ (LETHEBY).
+-----------------+---------------------------------------------+
| | Grains per gallon. |
| +--------------+--------------+---------------+
| | Day Sewage. | Night Sewage.| Storm Sewage. |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+
|Soluble matters | 55·74 | 65·09 | 70·26 |
|Organic matters | 15·08 | 7·42 | 14·75 |
|Nitrogen | 5·44 | 5·19 | 7·26 |
|Mineral matters | 40·66 | 57·67 | 55·71 |
|Phosphoric acid | 0·85 | 0·69 | 1·03 |
|Potash | 1·21 | 1·15 | 1·61 |
|Suspended matters| 38·15 | 13·99 | 31·88 |
|Organic | 16·11 | 7·48 | 17·55 |
|Nitrogen | 0·78 | 0·29 | 0·67 |
|Mineral | 22·04 | 6·51 | 14·33 |
|Phosphoric acid | 0·89 | 0·64 | 0·98 |
|Potash | 8·08 | 0·04 | 0·16 |
+-----------------+--------------+--------------+---------------+
Letheby states that the sewer water in towns with water-closets has the
following average composition per gallon:
Organic matter 27·72
Nitrogen 6·21
Phosphoric acid 1·57
Potash 2·03
Sewer water placed under the microscope reveals various dead decaying
matters, besides swarms of bacteria, ciliated infusoria, amœbiform bodies,
and fungi, consisting of spores and mycelium. The rotifera, diatoms, and
desmids are few in number.[151] That a fluid having a composition such as
sewage water has been shown to possess, when mixed with solid excreta,
would, from the decomposition that so soon takes place in it, seriously
endanger the health of those in whose habitations it was allowed to
remain, is so self-evident to the sanitarian and pathologist that it is no
wonder every civilised community should endeavour to get rid of this
refuse from their habitations as speedily and effectively as possible. But
the removal of the home sewage is a proceeding as illogical as it is
imperfect if we afterwards neglect so to dispose of it as to render it
innocuous or devoid of danger to the public health. The old method of
getting rid of sewage (even when deprived of the fæcal matter) by turning
it into rivers and streams, has, more particularly since the Report of the
Rivers Pollution Commissioners in 1870, been gradually abandoned. That
when sewer water passes into a river it undergoes a great amount of
purification from oxidation, subsidence, and the agency of water-plants is
undeniable.
[Footnote 151: Parkes.]
Letheby considered that if sewage mixed with twenty times its bulk of
water flowed for nine miles it would be perfectly oxidised. It appears,
however, from the experiments of Frankland, that so far as sewage when
mixed with twenty times its volume of water being oxidised during a flow
of ten or twelve miles, scarcely two thirds of it would be so destroyed in
the flow of 168 miles, at the rate of one mile per hour, or after the
lapse of a week. The results of Frankland’s experiments led him to infer
that there is no river in the United Kingdom of sufficient length to
effect the destruction of sewage by oxidation; and he adds, “there is no
process practicable on a large scale by which the noxious material (sewage
matter) can be removed from water once so contaminated, and, therefore, I
am of opinion that water which has been once contaminated by sewage or
manure matter is thenceforth unsuitable for domestic use.”
The discharge of sewage water, whether with or without solid excreta, into
our springs and rivers, was a practice so dangerous and prejudicial to
health that it is no cause for wonder the Legislature should, during the
session of 1876, have passed a measure the object of which was after the
lapse of one year to facilitate legal proceedings being instituted against
persons who permitted sewage or other deleterious refuse to flow into
rivers or streams. This measure, known as the “Rivers Pollution Prevention
Act,” is now in force, and permits offenders to be proceeded against; but
it still leaves unsolved the important hygienic problem——How are we
ultimately and with safety to the community to dispose of our sewage?
The numerous processes (the chief of which will be brought under notice)
proposed for the attainment of this end have been divided by writers and
authorities on sanitary science into——
1. WET METHODS.
2. DRY METHODS.
1. WET METHODS. These comprise the removal of excreta——(1) By discharging
it into running water. (2) By storage in tank with overflow. (3) By
carrying it into the sea. (4) By precipitation. (5) By irrigation and
filtration.
(1) _By discharging it into running water._ Our previous remarks have
already shown in what respect this proposal is fallacious, and why it has,
therefore, been discontinued.
(2) _By storage in tank with overflow._ In this process the sewage runs
into a well-cemented tank fitted with an overflow pipe, which sometimes
leads into a second tank arranged in the same manner; the solids subside,
and are removed from time to time, whilst the liquid is allowed to run
away. Instead of permitting the liquid to escape into a ditch or stream,
it has been proposed to carry it into drain pipes, which are buried from
half a foot to a foot in the subsoil, where it will be readily sucked up
by the roots of grasses. This plan is only suited for small villages, or
for a single house or mansion.
(3) _By carrying it into the sea._ The precautions to be observed in the
working of this system are, wherever possible, to let the outlet or
discharge pipe, which conveys the sewage to the sea, be always under water
even at ebb tide, and to take special care that the wind does not blow up
the sewers. A tide-flap, opening outwards, which is usually fixed by a
hinge on the sewer at its outlet, will obviate this last contingency. At
high water the tide will fill the outfall sewers to its own level, and to
that extent will check the discharge of sewage, and thus cause a deposit
in the sewers filled with mixed sea water and sewage. It is most important
that this should be removed.
“If the sewage cannot be got well out to sea, and if it issues in narrow
channels, it may cause a nuisance, and may require to be purified before
discharge.”[152]
[Footnote 152: Parkes.]
(4) _By precipitation._ The simplest of the plans proposed for this method
of removal is by subsidence only, and would afterwards permit the
discharge of the supernatant sewage water into running water or over the
land. The removal of the solid material is effected in a manner somewhat
similar to that followed in plan No. 2, but as the thin water which runs
off must, when poured into rivers or streams, be almost as dangerous as
the sewage itself, the process of precipitation by settlement alone has
little to commend it over the old rude and objectionable practice, a
circumstance that in these days will doubtless lead to its entire
prohibition.
In order to ensure greater purification the sewage in the subsiding tanks
is now usually mixed with certain chemical reagents, which, it is
believed, have the effect not only of speedily precipitating the solid
materials, but also carrying down injurious matters suspended in the
sewage water, thus rendering it sufficiently pure to be discharged without
risk to health into any watercourse.
Of the numerous precipitants employed for this purpose, we may mention the
following:
_Lime and salts of lime._ Quicklime, in the proportion of 8 gr. to a
gallon of water; or 1 lb. to about 600 galls. of sewage; lime, with the
addition of about a fortieth of its weight of chloride of lime; calcic
phosphate dissolved in sulphuric acid; Whitehead’s patent, which consists
of a mixture of mono- and dicalcic phosphate; chloride of calcium.
_Aluminous compounds._ Bird’s process——A mixture of aluminous earths and
sulphuric acid. Andersons and Lenk’s——Impure sulphate of alum; refuse of
alum works, either alone or mixed with lime or charcoal. Scott’s cement
process——Clay mixed with lime; natural phosphate of aluminium dissolved by
sulphuric acid and mixed with lime.
The quantities of the above substances when used as precipitants vary, in
some of them fifty, and in others eighty grains to a gallon of sewer water
being employed.
_Magnesium salts._ Impure chloride of magnesium mixed with superphosphate
of lime.
_Carbon._ As vegetable charcoal, peat, seaweed charcoal, carbonised tan,
lignite, and Boghead coke.
_Iron._ In the form of sulphate. Ellerman’s and Dale’s——Perchloride; the
sulphate is sometimes mixed with coal dust.
_Manganese._ Condy’s fluid.
_Zinc._ As sulphate and chloride.
_Sillar’s process._ The A. B. C. process, so called because composed of
alum, blood, charcoal, and clay.
_Hill’s process._ Lime and tar are the precipitants. The effluent water is
filtered through charcoal. The question now arises as to whether the sewer
water after treatment with any of the above substances is in a fit
condition to be poured into a stream or river. The Rivers Pollution
Commissioners in their first and second reports give a number of analyses,
from which it appears that on an average the chemical treatment removes
89·8 per cent. of the matters suspended in the sewage waters, but only
36·6 per cent. of the organic nitrogen is dissolved in them.
Of the A. B. C. process, Mr Crookes states that, when properly carried
out, it removes all the phosphoric acid; and Professor Voelcker’s analysis
of the effluent water from sewage treated by the acid phosphate of alumina
process gives more ammonia than the original sewer water, less organic
nitrogen by one half, and less phosphoric acid. Such a water is said by
some authorities to be pure enough to be discharged into streams.
_General Scott’s process._ General Scott proposes to treat the sewer water
with lime and clay, and instead of employing the precipitate obtained by
this means as a manure, would, after burning it, use it as cement. He
argues that the deposit contains so much combustible matter as to
considerably reduce the quantity of coal usually expended in the
manufacture of cement, and consequently the cement could be sold at a
remunerative price.
This, like the ‘carbonisation’ process, possesses the merit of effectually
destroying any noxious principles present in the deposit.
Commenting on the various precipitation processes Dr Parkes writes:——“When
the sewer water is cleared by any of these plans is it fit to be
discharged into streams? In the opinion of some authorities, if the
precipitate is a good one it may be so, and it appears certain that in
many cases it is chemically a tolerably pure water, and it will no longer
silt up the bed nor cause a nuisance. But it still contains, in all cases,
some organic matter, as well as ammonia, potash, and phosphoric acid. It
has, therefore, fertilising powers certainly, and possibly it has also
injurious powers. No proof of this has been given, but also no disproof at
present, and when we consider how small the agencies of the specific
diseases probably are, and how likely it is that they remain suspended, we
do not seem to be in a position to expect that the water, after subsidence
of the deposit, will be safe to drink.
(5) _By irrigation and filtration._ By this process is meant the passing
of the sewer water over and through soil, with the object not only of
effecting its purification to such an extent as to render it fit to be
discharged into a river or stream, but also of employing it as a valuable
manure. In the present article we shall treat only of the application of
the process to the first of these purposes.
There is ample evidence to show that, if carried out with due attention to
detail, no process for the treatment of effluent sewage water, so as to
render it innocuous, is equal to that which subjects it to irrigation and
filtration.
The Rivers Pollution Commissioners thus report on it:——“We are, therefore,
justified in recommending irrigation as a safe as well as profitable and
efficient method of cleansing town sewage.”
The conditions necessary for the successful carrying out of this system
are thus stated by Mr T. J. Dyke, in explaining “the process of the
downward intermittent filtration of sewage at Troedyrhiw, near Merthyr
Tydvil:”——“1. The soil of the land to be used must be porous. 2. A main
effluent drain, which must not be less than six feet from the surface,
must be provided. 3. The surface of the soil to be so inclined as to
permit the sewage stream to flow over the whole land. 4. The filtering
area should be divided into four equal parts, each part to be irrigated
with the sewage for six hours, and then an interval of eighteen hours to
elapse before a second irrigation takes place; each of the four parts
would thus be used for six hours out of the twenty-four. An acre of land
so prepared would purify 100,000 gallons of sewage per day.” At Troedyrhiw
the sewage has lime added to it, and the mixture is strained through
cinders into tanks. From the tank it flows on to the conduit, by which it
is conveyed to the filtering areas.
“These consist of about twenty acres of land, immediately adjoining the
road on which the tanks are placed, and have been arranged into filtering
areas or beds on a plan devised by Mr J. Bayley Denton. The land is a
loamy soil, eighteen inches thick, overlying a bed of gravel. The whole of
these twenty acres have been underdrained to a depth of from five to seven
feet. The lateral drains are placed at regular distances from each other,
and run towards the main or effluent drain. This is everywhere six feet
deep. The surface of the land is formed into beds; these have been made to
slope towards the main drain by a fall of 1 in 150.
“The surface is ploughed in ridges; on these vegetables are planted or
seeds sown. The line of the ridged furrow is in the direction of the under
drain. Along the raised margin of each bed, in each area, delivering
carriers are placed, one edge being slightly depressed.
“The strained sewage passes from the conduits into the delivery carriers,
and as it overflows the depressed edges runs gently into and along the
farrows down to the lowest and most distant part of the plot. The sewage
continues to be so delivered for six hours, then an interval of rest of
eighteen hours takes place, and again the land is thoroughly charged with
the fertilising stream. The water percolates through the six feet of
earth, and reaches the lateral drains, which convey it to the main
effluent drain.
“The result of this plan of disposing of sewage by downward intermittent
filtration, may be seen in samples of the effluent water taken from the
outlet of the main drain. Such water is bright, perfectly pellucid, free
from smell, and tastes only of common salt. It may be safely drunk——in
fact, is used by the workmen employed on the farm. During the process of
irrigation no nuisance is caused, for the soil quickly absorbs all the
fluids passed on to it; in fact, in two or three hours after the water has
ceased to flow on the land, an observer would say that the ground had not
been wetted for days. The workmen say that no unpleasant smell is noticed,
nor has the health of the persons employed, in any one instance, been
affected by any presumed poisonous exhalation.
“The only imperfection of the plan is that, at the end of the furrows
nearest the lowest corner of a plot, a slight deposit of scum is formed.
This scum is formed by the fine insoluble precipitate caused mainly by the
addition of lime to the sewage stream.”
The table below, taken from the report of the Rivers Pollution
Commissioners, gives the composition of the effluent water after it has
passed through the soil.
If those results be compared with the condition of the supernatant sewage
water, after treatment by any of the chemical precipitants already
enumerated, the inferiority of these latter as methods of removal of the
organic impurity of the sewage water will be evident.
The best of these precipitants give a removal of only 65·8 per cent. of
organic nitrogen, whilst the A. B. C. process shows a diminution of 58·9
only. It appears from the first and second reports of the Rivers Pollution
Commissioners, that on an average the precipitation processes remove 89·8
per cent. of the suspended matters, but only 36·6 per cent. of the organic
nitrogen dissolved in the liquid.
The effects of a soil upon sewage water passing through it are the
following:——
1. The filtering property of the soil mechanically arrests and retains the
suspended particles of the sewage.
2 and 3. The porosity and physical attraction of the soil lead to the
oxidation of the organic matter contained in the sewage, as instanced in
the discovery of nitrates and nitrites in the effluent water, which did
not exist previous to filtration.
4. A chemical reaction takes place between the constituents of the sewage
and those of the soil.
If the charges brought against the system of irrigation, viz. that it is
detrimental to the health and comfort of those who reside near sewage
farms cannot be denied, it seems pretty certain that, in most cases, any
ill effects arising from the method may be traced to its defective
management. The selection of the soil which is to receive the sewage is a
highly important consideration. The best for this purpose seems to be a
loose marl, containing oxide of iron and alumina; but sand, as well as
chalk, are both said to answer excellently.
+-------------------------------------------+-----------------------+----------+
| |Percentage of dissolved|Percentage|
| |Organic Pollution |suspended |
| | removed. |Organic |
|Results of irrigation, in part per 100,000.+----------+------------+Pollution |
| | Organic | Organic |removed |
| | Carbon. | Nitrogen. | |
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+----------+
| | | | |
|On fallow land at Chorley (adhesive loam) | 62·3 | 70·2 | 100· |
|At Edinburgh (both sand and clay) | 45·3 | 81·1 | 84·9 |
|Barking (gravelly soil) | 65·8 | 86·2 | 100· |
|Aldershot (light sand)—— | | | |
| Best result | 91·8 | 87·3 | 99·7 |
| Worst result | 69·9 | 82·9 | 87·7 |
| Average result | 80·9 | 85·1 | 93·7 |
|Carlisle (light loam) | 77·9 | 59·8 | 100· |
|Penrith (light loam) | 75·0 | 77·2 | 100· |
|Rugby (adhesive soil) | 72·3 | 92·9 | 96·0 |
|Banbury (principally clay)—— | | | |
| Best result | 87·8 | 91·3 | 96·0 |
| Worst result | 64·1 | 80·1 | 90·3 |
| Average result | 76· | 85·7 | 93·2 |
|Warwick (stiff clay) | 71·7 | 89·6 | 100· |
|Worthing (loam) | 42·7 | 85·3 | 100· |
|Bedford (light gravelly soil), | | | |
| average result | 71·6 | 81·3 | 100· |
|Norwood (clay), average result | 65·0 | 75·1 | 100· |
|Croydon (gravelly soil)—— | | | |
| Best result | 73·2 | 93·2 | 100· |
| Worst result | 61·6 | 90·4 | 100· |
| Average result | 67·4 | 91·8 | 100· |
+-------------------------------------------+----------+------------+----------+
If the soil be of a stiff clayey nature it must be broken up and mixed
with sand, lime, or ashes. The upper parts must be comminuted and
rendered porous, and it must be efficiently and deeply drained. At
Troedyrhiw, as we have seen, the effluent drain is six feet deep.
The sewer water should be poured over the land in as fresh a condition as
possible, having been previously deprived of any solid or grosser parts by
straining. At Carlisle, decomposition of the sewage during its flow is
prevented by adding carbolic acid to it. Lastly, it is of the utmost
consequence that the amount of land used as the filtering medium shall be
large. Letheby has shown that where this precaution is neglected, not only
is the purification of the sewage incomplete, but the plan becomes a
public nuisance. The amount of filtering earth should not be less than one
cubic yard for eight gallons of sewage in twenty-four hours, in properly
prepared soils; in some soils more than a cubic yard is required.
The late Dr Parkes has given a summary of various reports that have from
time to time been issued as to the effects of sewage farms upon the public
health and comfort. He says:——“That sewage farms, if too near to houses,
and if not carefully conducted, may give off disagreeable effluvia is
certain; but it is also clear that in some farms this is very trifling,
and that when the sewer water gets on the land it soon ceases. It is
denied by some persons that more nuisance is excited than by any other
mode of using manure. As regards health, it has been alleged that these
farms may——1st, give off effluvia which may produce enteric fever or
dysentery, or some allied affection; or, 2nd, and in the spread of
entozoic diseases; or, 3rd, make ground swampy and marshy, and may also
poison wells, and thus affect health.”
The evidence of Edinburgh, Croydon, Aldershot, Rugby, Worthing, Romford,
the Sussex Lunatic Asylum, is very strong against any influence in the
production of typhoid by sewage farms effluvia. On the other hand, Dr
Clouston’s record of the outbreak of dysentery in the Cumberland Asylum is
counter evidence of weight, and so is one of the cases noted by Letheby of
typhoid fever outbreak in Copley, when a meadow was irrigated with the
brook water containing the sewage of Halifax.
The negative evidence is, however, so strong as to justify the view that
the effluvia from a well-managed sewage farm do not produce typhoid fever,
or dysentery, or any affection of the kind. In a case at Eton in which
some cases of enteric fever were attributed to the effluvia, Dr Buchanan
discovered that the sewer water had been drunk; this was more likely to
have been the cause.
With regard to the second point, the spread of entozoic diseases by the
carriage of the sewer water to the land, has been thought probable by
Cobbold, though as solid excreta from towns have been for some years
largely employed as manure, it is doubtful whether the liquid plans would
be more dangerous. The special entozoic diseases which, it is feared,
might thus arise, are tapeworms, round worms, trichina, Bilharzia, and
distoma hepaticum in sheep. Cobbold’s latest observations show that the
embryos of Bilharzia die so rapidly, that even were it introduced into
England there would be little danger.
The trichina disease is only known at present to be produced in men by the
worms in the flesh of pigs which is eaten, and it seems doubtful whether
pigs receive them from the land. There remain, then, only tapeworms and
round worms for men and distoma hepaticum for sheep to be dreaded. With
regard to these, the evidence at present is negative; and though much
weight must be attached to any opinion of Cobbold’s, this argument against
sewage irrigation must be admitted to want evidence from experience.
The third criticism appears to be true.
The land may become swampy and the adjacent wells poisoned, and disease
(ague, and perhaps diarrhœa and dysentery) be thus produced. But this is
owing to mismanagement, and when a sewage farm is properly arranged it is
not damp, and the wells do not suffer.[153]
[Footnote 153: ‘Practical Hygiene.’]
The foregoing processes for the removal of excreta from dwellings
necessitates the joint employment of sewers and large quantities of water.
It may, however, sometimes happen that the adoption of either of these
appliances may be not only difficult, but altogether impracticable; as for
instance, in localities where a sufficient fall cannot be obtained for the
sewers; or where the supply of water is not adequate; or when the severity
of the climate at certain times is such, that for months in the year the
water is frozen. Under these conditions the excreta must either be allowed
to accumulate about houses, or else be removed by methods other than those
we have described, at more or less short intervals. Of course their speedy
removal is the best and safest; but in cases where they are permitted to
accumulate, it is essential they should be mixed with deodorants, and
confined in properly constructed receptacles (as far as possible from
dwellings), from which category such pre-eminently unsanitary arrangements
as cesspools and dead wells must be excluded.
When excreta are got rid of from houses by other means than those of
sewers and water, the processes employed are termed,
2. DRY METHODS. These comprise——
1. Removal of the excreta without admixture.
2. Removal of the excreta after treatment with deodorising and
anti-putrescent substances.
1. _Removal without admixture._ In some cases boxes and tanks receive the
ordure and urine, and these are changed more or less frequently.
In Glasgow the excreta from a part of the city containing eighty thousand
people is thus collected and removed without admixture,[154] daily.
[Footnote 154: Except that from the garbage of the houses.]
In Edinburgh there are also many closets supplied with movable metal
pails, which are likewise removed daily. Many large dwelling-houses in
this latter city are entirely without water-closet accommodation; hence
the custom of placing pails full of excrement, urine, &c., outside the
houses to be taken away by the scavenger. In Rochdale the excrement, &c.,
is collected in tubs, with tight-fitting lids, which are emptied twice or
thrice a week. These tubs are manufactured out of disused paraffin casks.
In Leeds, also, the excreta are collected in boxes without being subjected
to admixture. In some towns in the north of England the excreta fall into
receptacles constructed upon what is termed the ‘Goux’ principle. In this
system the pails or receptacles are lined with some absorbent lining,
which abstracts the urine;[155] another contrivance is to have the
receptacle fitted with a pipe or drain; the object in each case being to
render the fæces drier and to delay their decomposition.
[Footnote 155: The refuse of cloth manufacturers is chiefly used for this
purpose.]
The pail or tub system (Fosses Mobiles) which is employed in Belgium, has
for its object the collection of the fæces in a state of purity, without
admixture with water, in a clean and odourless condition.
The apparatus for carrying it out consists of——
1. _The seat._ This consists simply of a soil-pan of stoneware or
_faïence_, without woodwork, the soil-pan merely projecting from the top
of the descent pipe. Its borders are furnished with a groove filled with
water or sand, into which the raised rim of the lid fits.
2. _The connecting pipe._ This pipe is straight without a syphon, and
joins the descent pipe at the very acute angle of 22°, and is about 4
inches in diameter inside. It is, like the next, made of stoneware, glazed
inside.
3. _Descent pipe._ This is from 6 to 8 inches in internal diameter; it is
vertical, and is composed of a series of pipes, connected with each other
by dry sand joints, without cements, fixed to the wall by iron bands.
It rests at the ground-floor level on a strong flagstone. Its prolongation
through and below this stone consists of a sliding pipe of wrought copper
capable of being lengthened or shortened, and solidly fixed to the stone
by a cast-iron connector. A sort of circular shallow dish (_ecuelle_),
which can be hung under this last part of the descent pipe, serves at a
given moment to shut its lower orifice.
4. _Tub_ (Tonneau). The excremental matters coming down the descent pipe
fall into a tub of from 2 to 3 hectolitres (44 to 66 gallons), in a hole
in the top of which the lower part of the pipe fits tightly. A cover
fitted with a spring serves to shut and lute the tub when it is full.
Placed on a stand furnished with wheels, the tub is easily managed.
When filled it is immediately replaced by another similar contrivance. If
the tub is underground, the rails (on which the stand moves) should be
placed on an incline, so that the removal and replacement may be easily
effected. The underground chamber must be isolated, and the entrance to it
placed outside the building. The thorough tarring of the interior of the
tub not only preserves the staves, but also partly neutralises the effect
of the mephitic gases which the excremental matters discharge.
_Ventilation pipe._ To prevent the smells and gases which are given off
from the mouth of the tub from spreading themselves (in the house) by
means of the opening in the privy seat, at the upper extremity of the
descent pipe, is fixed a ventilation pipe, which rises above the coping of
the roof, and the action of which is increased by means of a vane, or any
other contrivance producing the same effect.[156]
[Footnote 156: Corfield.]
It is said that in the working of any of the above processes, little or no
nuisance ensues, if only ordinary care and intelligence are used. In many
cases the excreta collected by the methods above specified is conveyed to
manufactories and then converted into manure.
It does not appear that in England the health of the workmen employed in a
manure manufactory or of those who live in the neighbourhood of it suffers
in consequence.
_Removal of the excreta after treatment with deodorising and
antiputrescent substances._ This is the method usually adopted when the
dry process is followed; the excreta mixed with the deodorising substance
when removed from the house being at once applied to the land.
_a._ _Coal and wood ashes._ It is a common practice in the north of
England to throw coal ashes on the excreta, which fall into closets made
with hinged flaps or seats for the purpose of admitting the ashes, as at
Manchester and Salford. Wood ashes are far more effective deodorisers than
coal ashes, but they are seldom procurable. “In some towns there are
receptacles called ‘middens,’ intended both for excreta and ashes;
sometimes these are cemented, and there may be a pipe leading into a sewer
so as to dry them. The midden system is a bad one; even with every care,
the vast heaps of putrefying material which accumulate in some of our
towns must have a very serious influence on the health, and the sooner the
middens are abolished the better.”[157]
[Footnote 157: Parkes.]
_b._ _Deodorising powders._ At some of the Indian stations deodorants,
such as M’Dougall’s, or Calvert’s carbolic acid powders, have been
successfully employed, a comparatively small quantity being mixed with the
excreta.
In Germany a mixture of lime, chloride of magnesium, and tar is largely
used for the same purpose, and is known as Süverns’ deodoriser.”
Another deodoriser (the Müller Schür), also used in the dry method, is
composed of lime, 100 lbs.; powdered wood charcoal 20 lbs.; peat powder or
sawdust, 10 lbs.; and carbolic acid (containing 60 to 70 per cent. of real
acid) 1 lb. After having been mixed, the mass is placed under cover for a
night to avoid any chance of spontaneous ignition, and when dry it is
packed in barrels.
_c._ _Charcoal._ The powerfully deodorising properties of charcoal
obviously adapt it for the removal of excreta in the dry state, after the
admixture with them. But the comparatively high price of animal charcoal,
although nearly six times the value of dry earth as a deodorant, prohibits
its being extensively used. Peat is, however, cheaper than animal
charcoal. To obviate the objection of cost, Mr Stanford, in 1872, proposed
to make charcoal for this purpose from seaweed. The charcoal obtained from
this source is said to be cheap and of great service as an excretal
deodoriser. The mixed charcoal and sewage is sufficiently odourless to be
stored for some months in a convenient receptacle outside a
dwelling-house.
After the seaweed charcoal has become thoroughly impregnated with fæces
and urine, the mixture is recarbonised in a retort, and the carbon can be
again used; the distilled products (ammoniacal liquor, containing acetate
of lime, tar, and gas) are sufficient to pay the cost, and it is said even
to yield a profit.[158]
[Footnote 158: About the same time carbonisation of sewage in retorts,
with or without previous admixture with charcoal, was proposed by Mr
Hickey, of Darjeeling. There can be little doubt that, regarded in a
purely sanitary point of view, carbonisation of sewage matter is an
excellent plan. Mr Hickey proposed the utilisation of the ammoniacal
products resulting from his process.]
_d._ _Dried earth._ The Rev. Mr Moule was the first to direct attention to
the value of dried earth as a deodorant of excreta.
Mr Moule’s ‘earth closet’ consists of a box with a receptacle below for
the excreta. By pulling a plug dried earth, which is placed in a hopper
above, enters the closet and falls upon the excreta, thus disinfecting and
deodorising it. The consumption of earth averages from 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 lb.
a day. The slop water should not be thrown into the closet, but disposed
of in some other way. In another plan, as in Taylor’s improved closet, the
urine is carried off without mixing at all with the fæces.
Clay, marl, and vegetable humus form the best kind of earths. When dried
the clay may be easily reduced to powder. Chalk and sand are comparatively
useless. The receptacle is emptied from time to time, the contents forming
a valuable manure.
The earth closet is more particularly adapted for small villages and
isolated mansions. One difficulty of its application by cottagers consists
in the necessity of collecting, drying, and storing the earth; the
cottager’s mostly limited space in his dwelling not permitting this. One
great obstacle to the effective carrying out of this system amongst
extensive communities is the difficulty of procuring the large supply of
earth that its adoption necessitates. With proper supervision and care the
‘earth system’ answers admirably; but if these are not bestowed on it, it
as signally fails. It has been adopted with great success in many schools,
barracks, and other large buildings.
“It is coming into great use in India, and is carried out with great
attention to detail. In those European stations where water is not
procurable Mr Moule’s invention has been a boon of great value, and
medical officers say that nothing has been done in India of late years
which has contributed so much to the health and comfort of the men. The
plan of separating the urine from the fæces has been strongly advocated by
Dr Cornish, of Madras, and would, no doubt, be attended with great
advantages in India if there are means of disposal of the urine. The chief
difficulty in the European barracks in India is felt during the rainy
season, when the mixed excreta and earth cannot be kept sufficiently dry.
In the case of natives of India, however, a serious difficulty arises in
the use of the earth system, in consequence of the universal use of water
for ablution after using the closet. Every native takes with him a small
vessel holding ten to twenty ounces of water, so that a large amount of
fluid has to be disposed of. The usual earth closet does not suffice for
this. Mr Charles Turner, C.E., of Southampton, has contrived a closet
suitable for the native family; it is unfortunately too costly, and
possibly a simple iron box, with a pipe to carry off the urine and
ablution water, would be better suited for the poorer classes.”[159]
[Footnote 159: Parkes.]
_e._ _Captain Lieurnur’s pneumatic plan._ This process, the invention of a
Dutch engineer, is in use at Amsterdam, Leyden, Drodrecht, and a few other
Continental towns. It is also known as the ‘aspiration plan.’ Its outlines
are as follows:——“The pipes and, tubes leading from the various
water-closets and privies peculiar to the system are connected with street
mains, which mains again communicate with underground horizontal cast-iron
cylinders or tanks, these tanks being directly connected with a powerful
air-pump worked by steam. Communication between the main and the tanks, as
well as between the tanks and the pump, can be made or broken by means of
stopcocks. Hence it follows that when access is allowed between one of the
tanks and the air-pump, this latter will, when put into action, produce a
vacuum in the tank, and if the stopcock of the main leading to the tank be
then opened, the contents of all the privies and water-closets, the pipes
of which run into the main, will be removed by being swept into the tank
by pneumatic force. In this manner each tank is treated in succession.
Similarly the sewage is carried to the large reservoirs of a manure
manufactory. It is here mixed with a little sulphuric acid to prevent the
formation of ammonia, and being evaporated down _in vacuo_ becomes
converted, when sufficiently dry, into poudrette. In Lieurnur’s process
all deodorants are dispensed with, and its mixture with water is prevented
by means of porous drain pipes laid above the sewers, by which contrivance
the subsoil water is kept out of the sewers.
=Sewage, Utilisation of.= “Mr Peregrine Birch read before the Institution
of Surveyors a paper on ‘The Use of Sewage by Farmers,’ which embodied
some facts that deserve to be noticed, as bearing on a question we have
repeatedly discussed. It appears that there are at the present time
‘upwards of one hundred owners and occupiers of land in Great Britain who
use sewage for the sake alone of what they can get out of it by
agricultural means.’ Of these ‘more than sixty are tenant farmers, who
continue to use it although they have, annually at least, the option of
ceasing to do so,’ It seems five out of six of the tenant farmers purchase
the sewage they employ, so that their adhesion to the method proves
conclusively that it _pays_. Nearly four thousand acres of land are under
regular cultivation with sewage. Mr Birch is of opinion that ‘advocates of
sewage precipitation processes should not regard sewage farmers as their
rivals, for a chemical process might be very largely used with advantage
when farmers are being persuaded or taught to use sewage. But this should
be the distinct aim of all cultivation, for there is no chemical process
that could not be worked to greater advantage during two months of the
year than twelve, or applied to a small quantity of sewage at less cost
than to a large.’ Our primary interest is to see the utilisation of sewage
generally adopted; the method employed must be determined by experience on
the grounds of cheapness and expediency.”——_Lancet._
=SHAD′DOCK.= A large species of orange, the fruit of _Citrus Decumana_
(Linn.).
=SHAGREEN′.= This is prepared from the skins of the horse, wild ass, and
camel, as follows:——The skin, freed from epidermis and hair by soaking in
water, and, after dressing with the currier’s fleshing-knife, is sprinkled
over, whilst still wet and stretched, with the seeds of a species of
chenopodium, which are imbedded in it by strong pressure, and in this
state it is dried; the seeds are then shaken off, and the surface rubbed
or shaved down, nearly to the bottom of the seed-pits or indentations; it
is next soaked in water, by which the skin swells, and the recently
depressed surface rises into a number of minute prominences; it is,
lastly, dyed and smoothed off. Black is given to it with galls and
copperas; blue, with a solution of indigo; green, with copper filings and
sal ammoniac; and red, with cochineal and alum. Shagreen was formerly very
extensively used for covering the cases of watches, spectacles, surgical
instruments, &c.
=SHALLOT′.= _Syn._ ESCHALOT. The _Allium ascalonicum_ (Linn.), a plant
allied to the onion, the bulb of which is much used as a sauce or
pot-herb.
=SHAMPOO′ING.= A practice common in the East, having for its object the
increase or restoration of the tone and vigour of the body, or the
mitigation of pain. It is applied either in the bath or immediately after
quitting it, generally the latter, and consists in pressing and kneading
the flesh, stretching and relaxing the knee-joints, and laboriously
brushing and scrubbing the skin.
=SHARPS.= See FLOUR.
=SHA′VING.= The following are Mr Mechi’s instructions for this, to many
persons, troublesome operation:——Never fail to well wash your beard with
soap and cold water, and to rub it dry, immediately before you apply the
lather, of which the more you use the easier you will shave. Never use
warm water, which makes a tender face. Place the razor (closed, of course)
in your pocket, or under your arm, to warm it. The moment you leave your
bed is the best time to shave. Always put your shaving-brush away with the
lather on it.
The razor (being only a very fine saw) should be moved in a sloping or
sawing direction, holding it nearly flat to your face, care being taken to
draw the skin as tight as possible with the left hand, so as to present an
even surface and throw out the beard. The practice of pressing on the edge
of a razor in stropping generally rounds it; the pressure should be
directed to the back, which must never be raised from the strop. If you
shave from heel to point of the razor, strop it from point to heel; but if
you begin with the point, then strop from heel to point. If you only once
put away your razor without stropping or otherwise cleaning the edge, you
must no longer expect to shave well, the soap and damp so soon rust the
fine teeth or edge. A piece of plate leather should always be kept with
the razors.
=SHAVING FLUID.= See ESSENCE OF SOAP.
=SHAWLS, To Scour.= Scrape one pound of soap into thin shavings, and let
it be boiled with as much water as will convert into a thin jelly. When
cold, beat it with the hand, and mix with it three tablespoonfuls of oil
of turpentine, and one of hartshorn. Let the shawl be well washed in this
mixture, and afterwards rinsed in cold water, so as to get rid of all the
soap.
Next let the shawl be rinsed in salt and water, then wring out the water
from it, and fold it between two sheets, being careful not to allow two
folds of the shawl to lie together; finally mangle, and iron with a cool
iron.
=SHEEP.= _Syn._ OVIS, L. The _Ovis aries_, an animal domesticated almost
everywhere. Its flesh supplies us with food, its skin with leather, its
fleece with wool, and its intestines with catgut. Its fat (sevum) is
officinal. See MUTTON, SUET, &c.
=Sheep Washes.= 1. Arsenious acid in powder, carbonate of potash, of each
6 oz.; water, 14 gall. Boil together for half an hour.
2. Arsenious acid in powder, soft soap, and carbonate of potash, of each 6
oz.; sulphur, 4 oz.; bruised hellebore root, 2 oz.; water, 14 gall. Boil
the ingredients in a portion of the water for half an hour, or until the
arsenic is dissolved, then add the remainder of the water, and strain
through a coarse sieve. Mr Youatt says:——“More care than is usually taken
should be exercised in order that the fluid may penetrate to every part of
the skin, and which should be ensured by a previous washing in soap and
water. The arsenic that necessarily remains about the wool when the water
has dried away would probably destroy the acari as fast as they are
produced. When a greater quantity of arsenic has been used, or the sheep
has been kept too long in the water, fatal consequences have occasionally
ensued.”
3. A sheep-dipping composition employed on the Continent is:——Arsenious
acid, 1 lb.; sulphate of zinc, 10 lbs.; dissolved in 25 gallons of water.
4. The Australian sheep farmers use a weak solution of bichloride of
mercury (1 oz. of the bichloride to 4 gall. of water).
5. Water, 40 parts, at the temperature of 50° to 57° C.; to this add 1
part of soluble glass (the soluble silicates). This is recommended as a
very efficient and perfectly safe sheep wash by Messrs Baerle and Co., of
Worms. In washing the sheep with this preparation care should be taken to
cover the eyes of the animal with a bandage, to perform the washing with
the solution instantaneously, and to remove the surplus with tepid water.
“Yards into which newly clipped sheep are to be turned should be
previously cleared of all green food, hay, and even fresh water; if
perfectly empty they are still safer. When the dipping is finished they
should be cleaned, washed, and swept, and any of the unused dipping
solution at once poured down the drains. Dipped sheep should remain, if
possible, in an open exposed place, as on a dry road, or in a large open
yard. Over-crowding should be avoided, and every facility given for rapid
drying, which is greatly expedited by selecting for the operation fine,
clear, drying weather. On no account should sheep be returned to their
grazings until they are dry, and all risk of dripping over.[160]
[Footnote 160: Finlay Dunn.]
=SHELL-FISH.= The common name for the Crustacean and Molluscous animals
that are used for food. ‘Shell-fish’ are extremely liable to disturb the
functions of the stomach and bowels. The oyster (_Ostrea edulis_), and
the cockle (_Cardium edule_), are, perhaps, the least objectionable. The
crab (_Cancer pagurus_), the crayfish (_Astacus fluvialis_), the lobster
(_Homarus vulgaris_), the mussel (_Mytilus edulis_), the prawn (_Palæmon
serratus_), the periwinkle (_Littorina littorea_), and the shrimp
(_Crangon vulgaris_), with the exception of the claws of the first three,
are always suspicious, particularly in hot weather, and often absolutely
poisonous. We have seen the most alarming, nay, fatal symptoms, follow the
use of mussels, even amongst those habitually accustomed to take them;
whilst it is a well known fact that the luscious bodies of the crab and
lobster have too often formed the last supper of the epicure. See OYSTER,
&c.
=SHEL-LAC.= See LAC.
=SHELLS (Prepared).= _Syn._ TESTÆ PRÆPARATÆ (Ph. L. 1836), L. _Prep._ (Ph.
L. 1836.) Wash oyster-shells (OSTRÆ——Ph. L.) with boiling water, having
previously freed them from extraneous matters; then prepare them in the
manner directed for chalk. The product is similar in constitution and
properties to prepared chalk.
=Shells, To Polish.= 1. The surface of the shell should be first cleaned
by rubbing it over with a rag dipped in hydrochloric acid, till the outer
dull skin is removed. It must be then washed in warm water, dried in hot
sawdust, and polished with chamois leather. Those shells which are
destitute of a natural polished surface, may be either varnished or rubbed
with a mixture of tripoli powder and turpentine applied by means of a
wash-leather, after which fine tripoli alone should be used, and, finally,
a little olive oil, the surface being brought up with the chamois leather
as before.
2. “The shells are first boiled in a strong solution of potash, then wound
on wheels, sometimes through one strata to show an underlying one, then
polished with hydrochloric acid and putty powder. In this operation the
hands are in great danger. Shell grinders are generally almost all
cripples in their hands. (Spon.)
=SHER′BET.= [Pers.] A cooling drink, used in the East, prepared with the
juices of fruit, and water, variously sweetened and flavoured. The word
has been, of late years, commonly employed in these countries in a similar
manner. See LEMONADE, ORANGEADE, and POWDERS.
=SHER′RY.= _Syn._ SHERRY WINE, SHERRIS; VINUM XERICUM (Ph. L.), VINUM
ALBUM (Ph. E.), VINUM ALBUM HISPANICUM (Ph. D.), L. This is the only wine
ordered in the British Pharmacopœias. See WINES.
=SHERRY-COBBLER.= _Prep._ (Redwood.) Half fill a tumbler with clean
pounded ice; add a table-spoonful of powdered white sugar, a few thin
slices of lemon with the peel (or some strawberries or other similar
fruit, bruised), and a wine-glassful or more of sherry wine; mix them
together (lightly), and as the ice melts, suck the liquor through a straw
(or a small tube of silver or glass).
_Obs._ A favourite American drink; very refreshing in hot weather.
=SHIN′′GLES.= _Syn._ ZOSTER, HERPES ZOSTER, HERPES ZONA, L. A local
variety of herpes or tetter, remarkable for forming a kind of belt round
or partly round some part of the trunk of the body, chiefly the waist or
abdomen. See TETTERS.
=SHODDY.= The epithet (we believe of American origin) is applied to the
old, used-up wool and cloth, fraudulently mixed with fresh woollen
fabrics. A plan for the examination of a fabric suspected of containing
shoddy has been given by a German chemist, Herr Schlesinger, and is as
follows:——Examine it with the microscope and note if it contains cotton,
silk, or linen, as well as wool. If so dissolve them by ammoniacal
solution of copper. A qualitative examination is thus obtained. Then
direct attention to the wool. In shoddy both coloured and colourless
fibres are often seen, the fibres having been derived from different
cloths which have been partially bleached; the colouring matter, if any,
instead of consisting of one pigment, will be composed of two or three
different kinds, such as indigo, purpurin, or madder. Again, the diameter
of the wool is never so regular as in fresh wool, but is seen to vary
suddenly or gradually in diameter, and suddenly widens again with a little
swelling, and tapers off again, besides which the cross markings or scales
are almost always absent. When shoddy-wool is placed in liquor potassæ it
is much more speedily attacked than new wool.
=SHOT METAL.= _Prep._ From lead, 1000 parts; arsenic, 3 parts. When the
lead is coarse, 6 to 8 parts of metallic arsenic are required to fit it
for this purpose.
=SHOW BOTTLES.= The large ornamental carboys and jars filled with coloured
liquids, and displayed in the shop-windows of druggists, may be noticed
under this head. They are striking objects when the solutions they contain
are bright and of a deep pure tint, especially at night, when they are
seen by transmitted light. The following formulæ for the solutions have
been recommended by different persons:——
AMBER. From dragon’s blood (in coarse powder), 1 part; oil of vitriol, 4
parts; digest, and, when the solution is complete, dilute the mixture with
distilled or soft water, q. s.
BLUE.——_a._ From blue vitriol, 2 oz.; oil of vitriol, 1/2 oz.; water, 1
pint.——_b._ A solution of indigo in sulphuric acid, diluted with water,
q. s.——_c._ A solution of soluble Prussian blue in either oxalic or
hydrochloric acid, slightly diluted, and afterwards further diluted with
water to the proper shade of colour.
CRIMSON.——_a._ From alkanet root, 1 oz.; oil of turpentine, 1 pint. Used
chiefly for the bull’s eyes of lamps.——_b._ As PINK (_b_), _below_.
GREEN.——_a._ From sulphate of copper, 2 oz.; bichromate of potash, 1 dr.,
or q. s.; water, 1 pint.——_b._ A solution of sulphate of copper, 2 oz.;
chloride of sodium, 4 oz.; water, 1 pint, or q. s.——_c._ A solution of
distilled verdigris in acetic acid, diluted with water, q. s.——_d._
Dissolve blue vitriol in water, and add nitric acid until it turns green.
LILAC.——_a._ Dissolve crude oxide of cobalt (zaffre) in nitric or
hydrochloric acid, add sesquicarbonate of ammonia, in excess, and
afterwards sufficient ammonio-sulphate of copper to strike the
colour.——_b._ As the purple, but more diluted.
MAGENTA. Acetate of rosaniline, dissolved in water, q. s.
OLIVE. Dissolve sulphate of iron and oil of vitriol, equal weights, in
water, and add of nitrate of copper, q. s. to strike the colour.
ORANGE.——_a._ A solution of bichromate of potash in water, either with or
without the addition of some hydrochloric or sulphuric acid.——_b._
Dissolve gamboge or annotta in liquor of potassa; dilute with water, and
add a little spirit.
PINK.——_a._ To a solution of chloride or nitrate of cobalt, in water, add
sesquicarbonate of ammonia, q. s. to dissolve the precipitate at first
formed.——_b._ From madder (washed with cold water), 1 oz.; sesquicarbonate
of ammonia, 4 oz.; water, 3 pints; digest, with agitation, for 24 hours,
then dilute with more water, and filter.
PURPLE.——_a._ A solution of sulphate of copper, 1 oz., in water, 1 quart,
or q. s., with the addition of sesquicarbonate of ammonia, 1-1/2 oz.——_b._
To the last add a sufficient quantity of the first pink (_above_) to turn
the colour.——_c._ To an infusion of logwood, add carbonate of ammonia or
of potassa, q. s.——_d._ Sugar of lead, 3 oz.; powdered cochineal, 1 dr.;
water, q. s.——_e._ Add sulphate of indigo, nearly neutralised with chalk,
to an infusion of cochineal, till it turns purple.
RED.——_a._ Dissolve carmine in liquor of ammonia, and dilute with
water.——_b._ Digest powdered cochineal in a weak solution of ammonia or of
sal ammoniac, and afterwards dilute with water.——_c._ Add oil of vitriol,
4 oz., to water, 1 gall., and digest dried red rose leaves, 8 oz., in the
mixture for 24 hours.——_d._ Dissolve madder lake in a solution of
sesquicarbonate of ammonia, and dilute the solution with water.
VIOLET. To a solution of nitrate of cobalt in a solution of
sesquicarbonate of ammonia, add solution of ammonio-sulphate of copper,
q. s. to strike the colour.