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LEFT SAFETY VALVE 176 SAGA the questions involved were efficiently controlled by private companies interested in marine insurance. These companies based their rates for insurance upon re- quirements of their own making which covered primarily matters involved in the safety of the ship and cargo, but which at the same time covered, necessarily, safety of life, though omitting many de- tails now covered by laws which make safety of life their first concern. The principal companies of this kind are the following: The Bureau Veritas, French (1828) ; Lloyd's Register, British (1834) ; The German Lloyd, German (1867) ; and The American Bureau of Shipping (1867). These companies will doubtless continue their existence and activities, which are purely commercial, not humani- tarian, although their work is to a great extent duplicated by the governmental agencies above described. SAFETY VALVE, a valve which au- tomatically opens to permit steam to escape or air to enter the boiler in order to prevent its explosion or collapse. Of these there are two kinds, the one in- ternal, opening to the inner side when the pressure of steam is less than a given weight; the other opening to the outside when the pressure of steam exceeds a given weight. SAFFI, or ASFI, a seaport of Moroc- co, on a bay on the Mediterranean coast, 102 miles W. N. W. of the city of Mo- rocco. It is a compactly built place, dominated by a fine ruined castle of the Sultans of Morocco dating from the 16th century. The place was held by the Portu- guese for several years; they abandoned it in 1648. The fortifications they built still stand in part. The shrine of the Seven Sleepers here is visited by both Moslems and Jews. Saffi was at one time the chief seat of the trade of Morocco with Europe, and, though it has declined since the rise of Mogador, it still exports beans, maize, peas, wool, olive oil, and imports cottons, sugar, etc. SAFFLOWEB, or BASTARD SAF- FRON (Carthamus tinctorius), a large thistle - like plant with orange - colored flowers, natural order Composite. It is cultivated in China, India, Egypt, and in the S. of Europe. An oil is expressed from the seeds, which is used as a lamp oil. The dried flowers afford two color- ing matters (also called saffiower), a yellow and a red, the latter (carthamine) being that for which they are most val- ued. They are chiefly used for dyeing silk, affording various shades of pink, rose, crimson, and scarlet. Mixed with finely-powdered talc, saffiower forms a common variety of rouge. In some places it is used in lieu of the more expensive saffron, and for adulterating the latter. The oil, in large doses, acts as a purga- tive. SAFFORD, WILLIAM EDWIN, an American botanist, born at Chillicothe, Ohio, in 1859. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1880 and took post-graduate studies at Yale and Harvard. From 1880 to 1902 he was engaged in collecting for the United States National Museum in the depart- ments of ethnology and ethnobotany. From 1902 to 1915 he was assistant bot- anist, and from the latter date was eco- nomic botanist of the Department of Agriculture. He conducted an expedition to South America for the Chicago Expo- sition. In 1898-90 he was vice-governor of the Island of Guam. He was a mem- ber of many learned societies. His writ- ings include: "A Year on the Island of Guam" (1904); "An Aztec Narcotic" (1915) ; "Natural History of Paradise Key and the Nearby Everglades of Flor- ida" (1919) ; and articles on botanical subjects to several encyclopaedias. SAFFRON, in botany, the Crocus sati- vus, a species with light purple flowers which come out in autumn. It grows in the S. of Europe and in parts of Asia. It is extensively cultivated in France, Austria and Spain, as it formerly was in England. The Spanish variety is the best for commercial purposes, though it is said that 100,000 flowers are necessary to produce one pound of saffron. The stigmas of the flower are from 1 to x k inches in length, narrow and rounded where they are attached to the style, but spreading and club-shaped near the ex- tremity, which is truncated. They have an orange or brownish-red color, yellow in the narrower part, and an agreeable aromatic odor. The dried stigmas of the saffron crocus are sometimes used in dye- ing and for coloring tinctures. They have a bitter taste, and impart a yellow color to water, alcohol, and oils. It was formerly met with in two forms, viz., hay saffron and cake saffron, but the former is now alone in demand. Saffron is slightly stimulant. It is used in the treatment of exanthemata, but chiefly as a coloring agent in preparing medicines and in cookery. The natives in India use saffron as a remedy in fever, melan- cholia, catarrhal affections of children, and as a coloring matter in some dishes. SAGA, an ancient Scandinavian tale, legend, or tradition, of considerable length, and relating either historical or mythical events ; a tale, a history, a story, a legend. The Scandinavian sagas were compiled chiefly in the 12th and three fol-