Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/496

 SME

S M I

which arc what we ufually meet with under the name of I Occidental emeralds, are from the mines of Germany. The fcarcity of emeralds from the Eaft-Indies has fo gene- rally confirmed the opinion of there being none there, that the moft fkilful of our dealers in gems generally tell us, . that there is no 'fuch (lone as an Oriental emerald, but that the fine ones are all from Peru ; and Tavernier fuppofes that many emeralds, which, in the memory of the jewellers in his time, had certainly been brought from the Eaft-Indies, were originally brought from Peru ; and to fupport this, he gives us an account of the Peruvians trading by the South- Sea to the Eaft-Indies before the Europeans difcovered Ame- rica : but this is a far-fetched conjecture, as no footftep of fuch a trade fubfrfts. The truth, in regard to the prefent fcarcity of the Oriental emeralds with us, feems to be this ; that though the people of the Eaft-Indies were once in an humour to part with their emeralds, they have fince chofe fo keep them in their own hands ; as it is well known to travellers, that the princes of the Ealt are at leaft as well ac- quainted with the value of gems as we, and are willing to purchafe thole, which are not of the produce of their own country, at as great a price. Hill's Hift. of Foff. p. 597.

SMARIS, in zoology, the name of a fmall fifh caught in the Mediterranean, and common in the markets of Rome,

. Venice, and elfewhere, and fold to the poorer fort of peo- ple at a very fmall price.

It is feldom of more than a finger's length, and of a round, not flatted body, of a dufky blackifh green on the back and fides, and not marked with any variegations, but having on each fide, near the middle of the body, one large black fpot. Its gill-fins and tail are of a faint red. The iris of the eyes is of a brownifh white, and the tail is forked. Gefner, de Pifc. p. 6 1 6.

SMATCH, in zoology, a name by which the common ce- nanthe is called in many parts of England. See the article Oenanthe.

SMECTIS, in natural hiftory, a name ufed by feveral authors for the common fuller's earth, more commonly called ci- malia purpurafcens. Hilts Hift. of Foff. p. 49. See the ar- ticle Fux.lf.rV earth.

The fuller's earth of England is a much more valuable arti- cle of commerce, than many would believe. It has the property of imbibing oil or greafe, or any other fat fub- ftance ; and the great ufe that is made of it, is for the clean- fing of woollen-cloth. Every one knows, that tar is often employed in the external diftemperatures of fheep, as are alfo tallow, greafe, and many other fatty and unctuous fub- ftances. The wool itfelf, after (hearing, cannot be worked up without being firft oiled, or greafed. For thefe, and many other reafons, all our woollen-cloth muft neceffarily be greafed, but then all this greafe muft neceffarily alfo be taken out of it again, before it can be fold or worn, and nothing yet known ferves to this purpofe fo well as this earth.

Thefullcr's earth is very plentiful in England, and as much excels that of all other nations in goodnefs, as in quantity and cheapnefs, and this is one great reafon why we have the advantage of other nations in the woollen manufacture ; to preferve and fecure this to us, the fuller's earth is forbid to be exported, under large penalties, by Act of Parliament. This earth is one great initance of the value of the Englifh forms ; and Dr. Woodward's love for his native country has carried him fo far, as to make him affirm, from his own ob- fervation, that this ifland wants no foffile fuhitance known in the world, except diamonds, and fome other gems, and quickfilver ores. Woodward's Cat. Foff. Vol. 1. p. 8.

SMEGMA, a kind of wafh in ufe among the antients. See the article Detersorium.

SMELL, (Cycl.) is ufed as the name of a peculiar fort of wine, of which there are two fpecies ; the one fort is very fragrant, mufcatelline, and aromatic ; this is called fimply the fmell-wine : but the other, which is very rank and offenfive to the nofe, is called by the Germans fmel-bruntzer. Many have been the conjectures about the occafion of the rank fmcll of this ■wine, it not being owing to the grape it is made from, thofe of the lame vineyard often affording the aromatic, and often the rank wine : fome have imputed the ltranee diffe- rence to the veJfel, others to the vine, and others to the earth it grows in ; but the firft of thefe is too trifling a caufe for fuch an effect, and the others are confuted by experience of the fame vine, in the fame place, yielding both. The opinion of Portzius, that the ranknefs of the fmell of fome of this wine is owing to fome irregularities in the working ; this is certain, that it never is perceived before the working. The fmell is truly urinous, and is that of a volatile alkali ; which not being embodied in, or fubdued by the acid of the grape in this imperfect fermentation, fhews itfelf in this rank manner. It is evident that the fmell is of a volatile nature, for it is often loft in the drawing the wine feveral times out of one veffel into another, evaporating during the time of the drawing it out. Portzius, de Vin. Rhen. SMELLING {Cyd.)— The fenfe of fmelling feems extremely fine in fome infects. It is reported of bees, that they will fmell honey or wax above a mile ; and on this quality, in

that little creature, is founded a very profitable fort of hunt- ing in the woods in New-England,- and fome other places for the honey which the wild bees collect. Thefe infects are very numerous in the woods there, and have great ftores of wax and honey ; but it was always very difficult to find them, till this method was invented.

The hunter always choofes for his purpofe a fine, clear and fun-fhiny day : he then goes out into the woods with a trencher in his hand, on which there is fome honey ; this he fets down upon the ftump of a tree. The bees foon find this out, and come to feed on it : as foon as three or four are come about it, he catches them feverally in little boxes, and after a few minutes he lets them out one by one, and obferves their courfe. The creature always mounts to a little height in the air, and then goes directly forward in a ltrait line to the tree in which the hive is. As the hunter cannot purfue this little creature in her flight through a thick wood, he always takes with him his pocket-compafs, rule, and other inftruments, with a fheet of paper, and on this he fets down the courfe ; fuppofe it, for inftance, to be weft. By this he is certain, that the tree where the hive is muft be fomewhere jn a line due weft from the place where he is ; but he wants to know the exact diftance from his ftation. In order to do that, he makes an off-fet, either fouth or north, fuppofe north, of an hundred perches, or rods ; if it be more, it will be ftill more exact, becaufe the angle will not be fo acute. Then he goes to this fecond ftation, and lets out another bee, and obferves its courfe alfo very carefully ; for being loaded it will certainly, after mounting to a fmall height in the air, fly direflly to the hive as the former did. This fecond courfe the hunter finds to be fouth fifty four degrees weft; then there remains nothing but to find out where the two courfes inlerfect, for in that place the tree, and the hive in it, certainly is. The foundation of all this, is the ftrait or direct motion of bees, which, when loaded with honey, always fly directly to their hive ; and this is found to be an unalterable law of nature in thefe animals, fo that the hunter is never difap- pointed, when he takes his meafures rightly, and vaft quan- tities of honey are thus taken every year. One very remarkable part of this hiftory is, that though the bees are now fo vaftly plentiful in this part of the world, they are not natives there, and are only the produce of fuch bees as were carried thither from England about an hundred and fifty years ago : for the firft planters never faw a bee in the woods till long after the place was fettled, and hives of bees, among other things, had been brought from us. What is a greater proof of this, is, that the natives of the place knew nothing of the bee till they faw ours ; they have no word in their language to exprefs that creature, but commonly called it, for a long time, the Englijhmau's fly. Before this method of finding the hives was brought into practice, the planters ufed to watch the bees which they found in the woods by the eye, and after obferving feveral, one after another, fly the fame way, they would fometimet hit upon the place ; but it was with great uncertainty, as well as great difficulty. It is obferved of the bees in that part of the world, that in fwarming they never move northward, but always either due fouth, or iomething inclining that way. Philof. Tranf. N° 367.

SMELT, apua phalerica, in ichthyology. See Apua. Thefe fifh will live almoft any where, but they are very apt to degenerate. They are common in the rivers of New- England, and are as large as with us, often weighing two ounces and a half; but a pail-full of thefe being taken from one of their rivers, and put into an adjoining pond, they all degenerated in fuch a manner, that they were afterwards found fo fmall, that the largeft did not weigh more than five pennyweights. Though thus fmall, however, they are much valued, and are better tafted than the others. They are very tranfparent, and of a beautiful fhining pearl co- lour. Philof. Tranf. N° 374. p. 232. They are called fmelts, becaufe they melt, as it were, or diflblve between the fingers in handling them.

Smelt, among the fifhermen in Yorkfhire, and fome other parts of England, is alfo a name given to the falmon while in its firft year. Willughby's Hift. Pifc. p. 189. See the ar- ticle Salmon.

SMELTING (Cycl.) — SMElTlUG-houfe, a houfe where they run and melt the ore into lead ; one of thefe will run a ton in ten or twelve hours ; a fodder is their ufual day's work, that is, twenty two hundred and an half weight. Hough- ton's Compl. Min. in the Explan. of the Terms.

SMEW, in zoology, the Englifh name of the common mer- gus, known among authors by the namea&//ai, and mergus arratus. See Mergus.

SMILAX, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the cha- racters of which are thefe. The flower is of the rofaceous kind, being compofed of feveral petals arranged in a circular form. The piftil finally becomes a foft roundiftt berry, containing a roundifh or oval feed.

The fpecies of fmilax, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe. 1 . The rough fmilax with red berries. 2. The rough fmilax with fewer prickles, and with black fruit, 3. The

rough