Sable
in heraldry, black, one of the tinctures used in blazonry. In engraving it is expressed by perpendicular crossed by horizontal lines.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: S (2)
These 10 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Sable, Sable Island, Sacbut.
Sable Island
a low-lying island in the Atlantic; in lat. 44° N. and lon. 60° W.; 110 miles E. of the central part of Nova Scotia (and not near Cape Sable , at the S. E. corner of Nova Scotia , where there is also a Sable Island). It consists of two parallel sand ridges , with a lagoon between them. Scrubby grass, cranberries, etc., grow on the island, which is so dangerous to navigation , and has so frequently been the scene of wrecks , as to be called "the sailor's grave." The Canadian Government maintains two lighthouses here. The island is gradually sinking. Early in the 19th century it was 40 miles long; it is now reduced to 20 miles. Near it there are sandbanks.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Sables D'Olonne
LES, a seaport of France; department of Vendée ; on the Atlantic coast, 50 miles S. by W. of Nantes. It owes its early importance to Louis XI., who excavated (1472) the port and erected the fortifications . There is a trade in grain, wine, salt , cattle, timber, and tar. Salt making, shipbuilding , and fishing (sardines and oysters) are the chief occupations. The town is visited for its sea-bathing. Pop. about 15,000.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Sacbut
or SACKBUT, a musical instrument of the trumpet kind with a slide; in fact an old variety of TROM- BONE (q. v.). The instrument called sabbeka in the Hebrew Scriptures has been erroneously rendered as sacbut by the translators. The exact form of the sabeka has been much disputed, but that it was a stringed instrument is certain, for the name passed over into Greek and Latin in the forms sambuke , sambuca, a harplike instrument of four or more strings.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Saccharin
in chemistry, C7H5NO3S=C6H4<GO> NH; a sweet substance which was discovered by Fahlberg and Remsen in 1879 , and named by them anhydro-orthosulphaminebenzoic acid. It may be prepared by oxidizing orthotoluene with potassium permanganate. It forms white crystals, soluble in hot water, alcohol, and ether, and melts at 220° with pa partial decomposition. Its sweetness exceeds that of cane sugar about 500 times. When taken into the system it passes through unchanged. It is used to disguise the taste of medicines and in cases of diabetes where sugar is prohibited. It was used extensively ir place of sugar during the World War.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Saccharum
sugar cane; a genus of grasses, tribe Andropogoneæ; inflorescence in loose panicles, with lanceolate spikelets; glumes two-valved, two flowered, enveloped in long wool; lower neuter with one pale, upper hermaphrodite with two; mostly tropical or sub-tropical; known species about 32. S. officinarum is the common sugar-cane. Other Indian species-S. fuscum, S. mara, S. munja, S. semidecumbens, S. canaliculatum , and 1 S. spontaneum-have fibers used in the manufacture of ropes, strings, mats, and paper. The leaves and seeds are employed for thatch, and the culms of some for native pens. In chemistry, a term formerly synonymous with sugar, but now used almost exclusively to denote an invert sugar prepared from cane sugar by the action of acids. It is largely used by brewers.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Sacheverell
HENRY, an English clergyman; born in Marlborough, England, in 1674. While preacher at St. Saviour's, Southwark, he in 1709 delivered two bitter sermons against dissent and accused the existing Whig ministry of jeopardizing the safety of the Church. He was impeached in the House of Commons, tried in the spring of 1710, and suspended for three years. This persecution secured him at once the character of a martyr, and helped to stimulate the already fierce passions which then divided the Whig and Tory party. Sacheverell became the popular hero of the hour; while the Godolphin (Whig) ministry was overthrown. Parliament thanked him for his defense of the Church, and as soon as his suspension expired, Queen Anne presented him with the rich living of St. Andrew's, Holborn. Sacheverell, having no merit to keep him permanently before the public, now fell back into obscurity. He died in London, June 5, 1724.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Sack
the name of a certain light colored wine. The word is from the French see, meaning dry. Sack, accordingly, is a dry wine, that is to say, a strong alcoholic wine free from sweetness or fruity flavor. The term was applied originally to strong white wine brought to England from Spain and the Canary Islands . It was used by way of distinction from the wines of the Rhine and the red wines of France. Shakespeare's plays are full of reference to a cup of sack, etc. It was the favorite beverage of Falstaff. See Wine ; Alcohol
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Sackville
THOMAS, Lord Buckhurst and Earl of Dorset, an English statesman; born in Buckhurst, England, 1536. At Oxford and Cambridge he distinguished himself by his Latin and English poetry, and as a student of the Inner Temple he wrote, in conjunction with Thomas Norton, the tragedy of "Gorboduc," or "Ferrex and Porrex" (published in 1561), remarkable as the first example in English of regular tragedy in blank verse. The "Mirror of Magistrates," and the "Complaint of Henry, Duke of Buckingham," contain fine passages. He took a prominent and creditable part in some of the chief events of Elizabeth's reign. He was a member of the court which tried Mary Queen of Scots; he succeeded Lord Burleigh as lord high treasurer; and presided at the trial of the Earl of Essex. From 1587 1588 he suffered imprisonment at the instigation of the queen's favorite Leicester. In 1566 he had succeeded to his father's ample estate; was raised to the peerage as Baron Buckhurst shortly afterward; and James I. created him Earl of Dorset in 1604. He died in London, April 19, 1608, and was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Sackville, Thomas
Thomas (1536-1608), an English statesman and poet, and the author of the first regular English tragedy. He was a native of Sussex. He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge. Gorborduc, or Ferrex and Porrex , was the name of his first tragedy. The plot is laid in the legendary days of Britain. King Gorborduc divides his kingdom between Ferrex and Porrex, his two sons. The sons quarrel and Porrex kills Ferrex. The mother slays Porrex in revenge. The people rise in indignation and put the mother and father to death. Then the nobility collect an army to put down the rebels and all fall to destroying one another. It was written in blank verse, but is unimaginative and the dialogue is stilted and unnatural.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia