Or arranging the agents destructive of the life of delicate fishes into three classes, we find the most detrimental are 1. Sulphate of copper, the mineral acids, the sulphates of alum and iron, iodine, bromine, caustic potash, the chloride and oxymuriate of tin, the heavy and light pitch oils, chloride of lime (saturated solution), and carbolic acid. These all destroy minnow life when existing in very small proportions, varying from 1 in 100,000 parts of water to 1 in 10,000 parts. 2. The next destructive are such as garancine, madder, sumach, catechu, acetic acid, citric acid, arsenious acid, gallic acid. These are all fatal when existing in the proportion of from 1 to 7000 of water, to from 1 to 3500. 3. The least destructive but yet poisonous agents are tartaric acid, salts of soda and potash, hydrate of lime, ammonia, bisulphide of carbon, sulphide of ammonium, sulphuretted hydrogen, foundry-cake, furnace cinders, bleach liquor, and spent galls. These different substances are fatal to minnow life, when existing in water in proportions varying from 1 in 2000 to 1 in 80. The substances which are powerfully polluting and yet have little influence on fish life, except in large quantities and in a state of decomposition, are blood and urine. Large quantities of linseed and olive oils also did not appear to have any appreciable effect on the fish submitted to experiment. In all probability there will be legislation on the subject of rivers shortly, and it is likely that on local authorities will be cast some duties and powers of supervising the streams in their district. The following enactment gives power to local authorities when necessary to proceed in cases of stream pollution : Any local authority, with the sanction of the Attorney-General, may, either in their own name or in the name of any other person, with the consent of such person, take such proceedings by indictment, bill in Chancery, iction, or otherwise, as they may deem advisble for the purpose of protecting any watercourse within their jurisdiction from pollutions rising from sewage either within or without beir district; and the costs of and incidental o any such proceedings, including any costs hat may be awarded to the defendant, shall e deemed to be expenses properly incurred y such authority in the execution of the ublic Health Act. - (P. H., s. 69.) See EWAGE, WATer. Roads-See HIGHWAYS. with tea; the constituents are alcohol, sugar, tannin, ash, water, and extractive matter. The ash contains manganese derived from the tea. Roofs-See HABITATIONS. Rooms-See DISINFECTION, HABITATIONS, OVERCROWDING, VENTILATION, &c. Rosemary-The flowering tops of Rosmarinus officinalis. The oil possesses some antiseptic properties. Rowing-See HEART DISEASE. Rudesheimer-A German red wine. Sce WINE. Rue-The leaf of the Ruta graveolens. The oil of rue contains slight antiseptic properties. Rue has been criminally employed for It is antispasmodic, procuring abortion. diuretic, stimulant, nervine, and emmena gogue. Rum-An ardent spirit obtained by distillation from the fermented skimmings of the sugar-boilers (syrup-scum), the drainings of the sugar-pots and hogsheads (molasses), the washings of the boilers and other vessels, together with sufficient recent cane juice or wort prepared by mashing the crushed cane to impart the necessary flavour. Like other spirits, rum is colourless when it leaves the still, and is tinged with partially burnt sugar, &c., to suit the taste of the consumer. Rum is greatly improved by keeping, whereby it acquires a fine, mellow, soft flavour. As imported into this country, it has an average strength of 20 under proof. The best comes from Jamaica; and it is usual there to put a few slices of pine-apple into the best qualities of this spirit, hence the term pine-apple rum. The flavour of rum is due to a volatile oil and butyric acid. From a knowledge of this fact has proceeded the manufacture of a butyric compound (essence of rum), by the aid of which the dealer is enabled to manufacture a fictitious rum from malt or molasses spirit. The following statement shows the characteristics of rum : The late Dr. Edward Smith spoke of rum as being a true restorative, sustaining and increasing the vital powers; and he considered the old-fashioned combination of rum-and Robur-This is a strong spirit flavoured milk a most powerful restorative. For the general effects of spirits, &c., see ALCOHOL, ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, ALCOHOLISM, &c. Adulterations. A flavouring has been prepared to imitate that of the pine, and is now extensively employed in this country, not only to convert ordinary rum, but even ordinary spirit, into "pine-apple rum." This flavouring may be prepared by distilling butter with sulphuric acid and alcohol, or by combining amylic or potato ether with butyric acid, and then dissolving it in alcohol. Other adulterations which have been discovered in rum are water, cayenne pepper, Cocculus Indicus, sugar, lead, &c. For methods of detecting these adulterations, see ALCOHOLOMETRY, BEER, BRANDY, GIN, &c. Rye The seed of the Secale cereale, a gramineous plant which is cultivated extensively on the Continent, and forms the chief food of northern nations, and though now rarely used here, was once a common article of diet amongst ourselves. The ordinary food of the lower orders throughout Holland, Germany, &c., is a dark-looking, sour-tasting bread made from this grain. Rye resembles wheat more nearly than any of the other cereals, but it is slightly less nutritious, smaller in size, and darker in colour. Ryeflour is less rich in nitrogenous principles than wheat-flour, but it contains more sugar. The "soluble gluten" of rye-flour may be obtained in the following manner: Wash its paste frequently in water until it breaks up and becomes diffused throughout the liquid, the bran only being left behind; the milky liquid (after having deposited the starch and after the separation of the albumen) may be evaporated, when the residue will consist of sugaroil and the so-termed "soluble gluten," which may be dissolved out by means of alcohol. The nitrogenous matter of rye consists of fibrine, gluten, and albumen. Rye taken by those unaccustomed to its use causes diarrhoea, but custom soon overcomes this effect. Ryebread contains less vegetable fibrine and more caseine and albumen than wheaten bread, and a peculiar odorous substance. The testa of rye differs from the tests of wheat in having the cells of the first and second coats smaller and much more delicately beaded. Those of the third coat are also smaller, and of a somewhat different form. The smaller starch grains are much smaller than the cor responding ones in rice, and several of the larger granules of rye-starch are furnished with a three or four-rayed hilum. Examired with the polariscope they exhibit a very strongly-marked cross. None of the cereals are so liable to become ergotised-i.e., become the seat of growth of a parasitic fungus-as rye. The affected grain becomes considerably larger, and may attain upwards of four times its ordinary size; hence it can readily be sifted from tha unaffected grain, and care should be takim, that it is so separated, or serious consequer c may arise. See ERGOT. Roasted rye is occasionally used as a sab stitute for coffee, and it is also employed the adulteration of chicory, annatto, liquo &c. It furnishes an excellent malt for tie distillation of spirit, and is much used in t making of hollands. S. Saccharometer-An instrument exactly similar in principle to the lactometer and hydrometer, but it is weighted and graduated expressly for saccharine solutions, and is of considerable and extensive technical use in ascertaining the richness of malt worts. Saffron-The prepared stigmata or st of the Crocus sativus or saffron crocus. Th stigma, and part of the style of the few form a thin filament broad at one end an tripartite, of an orange-red colour. carefully, it forms the hay safron, and win packed and pressed into parcels, cake saffron. | the root and split perpendicularly. Adulterations.-The adulterations of saffron are numerous. Some traders steep it in water, or put it in damp places, in order to increase its weight. Saffron thus treated acquires a peculiar odour, rapidly becomes mouldy, and more readily stains the fingers than good saffron. Another adulteration undertaken for the same purpose is the addition of oil, easily detected by the greasy stains left when the stigmas are pressed on paper. Under the name of Persian saffron, Hagar (Pharm. Central Halle, 1870, No. 40, p. 364) has described oily cakes, containing scarcely any stigmatas, but chiefly consisting of petals impregnated with a thick fixed oil, supposed to be olive oil coloured with curcuma. This species of fraud may be recognised by its appearance, its chemical properties, and by the fact that it yields to petroleum its colouring matter, which true saffron does not. Spanish saffron is frequently adulterated with honey in order to increase its weight. This may be detected by treating the mass with water, and then estimating and detecting the sugar in the usual way. But far the most frequent method of sophisticating saffron is the substitution of the stigmata, the petals, or the leaves of other plants. The flowers of Carthamus tinctorius (natural order, Composite), the corollas of the Lyperia crocea (natural order, Scrophularsaceae), the flowers of Calendula arvensis (natural order, Composita), of arnica, of saponaria, and of fuminella, the young shoots of carex (probably Carex pulicaris or C. expillaris), variously treated so as to imitate saffron, have been found. To complete the list of the above adulterations must be added the débris from the wood of campeche, and of Rhus Cotinus, ingeniously mixed and twisted together and impregnated with syrup, calcareous earth, chalk, glucose, and glycerine. Sago The fæcula (starch) from the stem of Sagus lævis, S. Rumphii, and perhaps of other species of palms. The sago is obtained from the central or nedullary part, commonly called pith, of the tems of several species of palm. When the ree is sufficiently mature it is cut down near The medullary matter is extracted, reduced to powder, mixed with water, and strained through a sieve. From the strained liquid the starch is deposited, and after washing with water and drying, forms the sago flour or meal of commerce. Granulated sago is prepared from sago-flour by mixing it with water into a paste and then granulating. The starch of sago examined with the microscope is seen to consist of granules of considerable size and elongated form, being usually rounded at the larger end, and owing to the mutual pressure of the particles truncate at the other extremity. Sometimes the fucette is single, when the granules are more or less muller-shaped ; in others there is a double fucette. The hilum when perfect is circular, but it is often cracked, when it appears as a cross-slit or star. Surrounding the hilum a few indistinct rings may usually be perceived. In some of the granules examined with the polariscope the particles usually exhibit a black cross, the hilum being the centre. In the granulated sago the starch granules are much larger and less regular, effects due to the heat employed in its preparation.-(HASSALL.) See fig. 74. SAGO 200TH INCH Fig. 74. starch, this admixture may readily be detected Sago is principally adulterated with potatoby the microscope. See STARCH, &c. Sainfoin (Rhinanthus major and minor, yellow rattle; natural order, Scrophulariaceœ) This has been found in bread; it probably gets accidentally mixed with wheat. Bread containing sainfoin is described as having a bluish-black colour, a moist sticky feeling, and a disagreeable sweet taste; it is not known to be injurious. == Salicine (C6H18O14 = 286)-Fusing-point, | liquid secreted from the parotid, sublingual, 248° F. (120° C.) Salicine is contained in the and submaxillary glands. The parotid secre bark of most of the willows, and confers upon tion is the most watery, and the sublingual them their peculiar bitterness. It may be least so, while the consistence of the secretion obtained by the cautious evaporation of the from the submaxillary gland is intermediate cold aqueous infusion of willow bark. It between the two. Ptyalin is contained in forms white silky needles and plates; is soluble these two latter secretions. Human saliva in 5 parts of water at 60°, and in much less has a specific gravity of 1005, and the follow at 212°; is insoluble in ether, but readily dis- ing is given as its composition:— solves in alcohol. Heated in close tubes, it gives off acid vapours; when strongly heated, it is wholly dissipated; when kindled, burns with a bright flame, leaving a bulky charcoal. Its solution is almost neutral to test-paper. Concentrated sulphuric acid causes it to agglutinate into resin-like lumps, with the accession of an intense blood-red colour. An aqueous solution mixed with some hydrochloric acid or dilute sulphuric acid, boiled for a short time, suddenly becomes turbid, and deposits saliritine under the form of a granular crystalline precipitate, which is its most characteristic reaction. Water Organic matter Sulpho-cyanide of potash Mixture of epithelium 995-16 1:34 0:06 0.93 084 162 1000 00 As much as from 1 to 3 lbs. of saliva are secreted in the twenty-four hours. Its funetions are to assist articulation, mastication, and deglutition. It assists the sense of taste, and it also carries oxygen to the stomach'; but its greatest action is the conversion of starch first into dextrine and then into grape-sugar. This metamorphosis is accomplished by means of the ptyalin. One part of ptyalin will, according to Mialhe, convert 8000 parts of insoluble starch into soluble glucose. This is probably an exaggeration, but we know that 1 part of the ferment will convert 2000 parts of starch into sugar. Gastric juice is said to interfere with this conversion. Saliva has no action on fat or fibrine or albuminous bodies. An artificial saliva may be prepared from seeds which have sprouted or fermented, in which the diastase is abundant. See PTYALIX. Salmon-The Salmo salar (Linn.) is a well-known, soft-finned, abdominal fish. Its normal locality is at the mouth or estuary of the larger rivers of the northern seas. In the summer months, during the breeding season, it ascends these rivers against all obstacles and deposits its spawn. The flesh of salmon ap Salicylic Acid(HC-H5O3)--This substance presents itself in the form of needle-shaped crystals, sparingly soluble in water, devoid of odour, and free from unpleasant taste. Its only source until recently was the oil of wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), which consists almost entirely of salicylate of methyl; but lately it has been discovered that it may be produced artificially from carbolic acid by the action of carbonic acid on the former in the presence of caustic soda at a high temperature. Half of the carbolic acid passes over, and the other half becomes converted into salicylate of sodium, which upon decomposition by an acid yields salicylic acid. Although the acid itself is so sparingly soluble in water, it forms salts with soda, potash, &c., of great solubility. So far as is known it is not poisonous. From the experiments of Rolbe, Kiersch, and Godef-proaches meat in redness, and in sustaining froy, it would appear that its disinfectant and antiseptic powers are great. According to Dr. Godeffroy (Pharmaceutical Journal, May 1, 1875), it is three times more powerful than carbolic acid in preventing fermentation; for 1 gramme of salicylic acid is capable of hindering the fermentative action of 18 grammes of yeast entirely; 36 grammes, fourteen hours; 72 grammes, one hour. And the same quantity of carbolic acid is capable of hindering the fermentative action of 5 grammes of yeast entirely; 17 grammes, twelve hours; 10 grammes, one hour. The antiseptic and disinfectant properties of salicylic acid appear to be confined to the acid itself, and, so far as is at present known, are not shared by its salts. Saliva-A slightly alkaline, thin, glairy properties resembles it more closely than any Composition of Salmon. 1000 Salt-See SODIUM. Salting Provisions, &c.—The process | Local Government district is situated within of salting articles of food renders them hard a borough, the remaining part of such Imand difficult of digestion, food which has provement Act district or of such Local Gobeen so treated should therefore be avoided vernment district so partly situated within a by the dyspeptic. An exception must, how-borough shall for the purposes of this Act ever, be made in the case of bacon, which is usually more digestible than pork or other pig-meat. For salt beef, sec MEAT. Saltpetre - Nitrate of potassium. POTASSIUM. See 1. Any borough, the whole of which is included in and forms part of a Local Government district or Improvement Act district, and any Improvement Act district which is included in and forms part of a Local Government district and any Local Government district which is included in and forms part of an Improvement Act district, shall for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be absorbed in the larger district in which it is included, or of which it forms part; and the Improvement Commissioners or local board, as the case may be, of such larger district, shall be the urban authority therein; and 2. Where an Improvement Act district is coincident in area with a Local Government district, the Improvement Commissioners, and not a local board, shall be the urban authority therein; and 3. Where any part of an Improvement Act district is situated within a borough or Local Government district, or where any part of a continue subject to the like jurisdiction as it would have been subject to if this Act had not been passed, unless and until the Local Government Board by provisional order otherwise directs. For the purposes of the Public Health Act, the boroughs of Oxford, Cambridge, Blandford, Calne, Wenlock, Folkestone, and Newport, Isle of Wight, are not to be deemed boroughs. The borough of Cambridge is to le deemed to be an Improvement Act district, the borough of Oxford is to be included in the Local Government district of Oxford, and there is a special provision in the case of the borough of Folkestone. An English rural sanitary district and authority are thus defined (P. H., s. 9) :— The area of any union which is not coincident in area with an urban district, nor wholly included in an urban district (in this section called a rural union), with the exception of those portions (if any) of the area which are included in any urban district, shall be a rural district, and the guardians of the union shall form the rural authority of such district: provided that 1. An ex-officio guardian resident in any parish or part of a parish belonging to such union, which parish or part of a parish forms or is situated in an urban district, shall not act or vote in any case in which guardians of such union act or vote as members of the rural authority, unless he is the owner or occupier of property situated in the rural district of a value sufficient to qualify him as an elective guardian for the union. 2. An elective guardian of any parish belonging to such union, and forming or being wholly included within an urban district, shall not act or vote in any case in which guardians of such union act or vote as members of the rural authority. 3. Where part of a parish belonging to a rural union forms or is situated in an urban district, the Local Government Board may by order divide such parish into separate wards, and determine the number of guardians to be elected by such wards respectively, in such manner as to provide for the due representation of the part of the parish situated within the rural district; but until such order has been made, the guardian or guardians of such parish may act and vote as members of the rural authority in the same manner as if no part of such parish formed part of or was situated in an urban district. |