Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/675

 S AP

the Pleurify without bleeding ; and that it diflblves the Stone in the Bladder, by taking it in Vehicles proper tor thole Difeafes. To be good, 'tis to be extremely hard and difficult to pulverize.

SANGUIS-DRACONIS, in Pharmacy. See Dra- gons-Blood.

ft SANHEDRIN, or Synedrin, among the Ancient Jews, the Supreme Council, or Court of Judicature of their Republic ; wherein were difoatch'd all the great Affairs botli of Religion, and Policy. Many of the Learned agree, That it was instituted by Afofes, and confuted at firlt of Seventy Perfons, all inipired of the Holy Ghoit, who judged finally of all Caules and Affairs ; and that jt f'ublittcd, without Intermiffion, from Silofes to Efdras. Others will haw it, That the Council of Seventy Elders, ettabl ilhed by Mofes, Numb. Cap. xi. was Temporary, and did not hold after his Death; adding, That we find no Sign of any luch perpetual and infallible Tribunal throughout the whole Old fejlaweut. The Jews, how- ever, contend ftrenuoufly for the Antiquity of their Great Sanhedrin j M. Simon backs and defends their Proofs, and M. le Clerc attacks them. Be the Origine and Eftablifh- ment of the Sanhedrin how it will, 'tis certain it was fub- fiiKng in the Time or our Saviour; that it was held at r /e- rufatewt j and that the Decifion of all the moft important Affairs belonged to it. The Prefident of this Aflembly was called 2$sJ$: There were feveral inferior SanhedrinS in 'Palepue, all depending on the Great Sanhedrin at Jerufakm. The inferior Sanhedrim confided each of Twenty-three Perfons ; and there was one in each City and Town, Some fay, That to have a Right to hold a Sanhedrin, 'twas requisite there were One Hundred and Twenty Inhabitants m the Place. Where the Inhabitants came fhorr of the Number of One Hundred and Twenty, they only eitablilli'd Three Judges. Into the great as well as the inferior SanhedrinS were admitted Priefts, Levites, and Laymen, of all the Tribes, provided they were of noble Extraction, Rich, Prudent, without any Blemifb. of Body, and expert inMagick; whkli laft was effeemed a neceffary Qualification, to enable them to obviate and deftroy it : Very old People andjrtinuchs were excluded. In each Sanhedrin there "were two Scribes ; the one to write down the Suffrages of thofe who condemned ; the other to take down the Suffrages of thofe who acquitted.

Selden has a very Learned Work on the Subject of the jfe-xvijh SanhedrinS, de Synedriis, Printed ztLondon in 1635', in three Volumes gkiarto. The Word is derived from the Greek Eui4d1e«j' a Council, AiTembly, or Company of Peo- ple fitting together, from nv ecu together, and wlgss Seat, of ££«, I place.

SANIES in Medicine, a thin, ferous Matter, i (filing out of Wounds and Ulcers. Galen compares it to Whey. It differs from c Pm, which is thicker and whiter: The Greeks call it jp^p crude Blood.

SVNTALUM, Sautal, Sandal or Saunders, a hard, heavy, odoriferous, medicinal Wood, brought from the Eajl-Indies. There are of three different Colours, Citron, White, and Red. The Trees whence they are taken are a-.l of the fame Kind ; and 'tis fuppofed their different Colours only anfe from the Difference of Climates where they grow. ! Tis about the Height of the liuropea.n Walnur-tree. Its Leaves refemble thofe of the Lentisk, its Flowers Blue, bordering on Black 5 its Fruit of the fize of our Cherry, green at fir ft, but blackening as it ripens, and of a faint Tafte. The Citron Santalh effeem- cd the beif. 'Tis brought from China, and Siam : Is yellow, heavy, and of a good Smell 5 'tis ufed in Medi- cine, as alio by the Perfumers. The White.Santal is lefs odoriferous ; 'tis brought from the Ifle of 'Timor. The Red-Sdntal has the leaft Smell of the Three : 'Tis brought from the Ifland \tama-jfarin, and the Coaft of Coromo7i- del. The Santals are all held to be a iitrle Aftringent, to rtrcngrhen the Heart and Brain, and to flop Vomiting; and are frequently ufed in Diet-drinks, and medicated Ales, againfi: Scorbutic!: Complaints.

SAP, or Sapp; to Sap a Wall, £$r. is to dig or open a Hole in the Ground at the Foot of a Wall, («?& to bring it down all at once for want of Supporr. To Sap, according to Da-viler, is to undermine a Work with Hammers, Clubs, Pickaxes, Matrocks, gefc. viz. A Bank, ©r Hillock, by propping it up, digging underneath it, and then burning the Props, or Stays ; or a Rock, by digging a Mine underneath it. To dernolim the thick, firm Walls of old Caftles, &c. Sapping is much the readieft Way. See Sapping.

SAPHJENA, in Anatomy, a Vein which arifing over the Mallechs Intemus, up along the Leg, and the inner Part of the Thigh, di {charges it felf, near the Groin, into the Crural Vein. 'Tis the Vein they ufually open when they bleed in the Foot. Ir has its Name, probably, from cap^j mtlnifejtv.s, as lying plain in Sight.

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SAP

SAPHETA, in Ajchitefture, is the Board over the Top of a Window, placed parallel and oppoiite to the Window. Board at the Bottom.

SAPHIC, in Poetry, a kind of Verfe much ufed by the Greeks, and Latins ; denominated from the Inventrels Sapbo. TheSapbic Verfe confiiis of Kiev en Syllables, or Five Feet, whereof rhe Firlt, Fourth, and Fifth, are Trochees, the Second a Spondee, and the Thitd a Dactyl, as in

Integer Vit# fcelerifq; punts.

Three Verfes of this Kind, clofed with an Adonick. Verfe, confuting of a Dafiyl and Spondee, ufually make a Strophe. Though we have fome Chorus's in the Anci- ent Tragic Poets, containing a much greater Number of Sapbicks fucceflively. They generally run rough, unlefs they have a C.xlure after the Second Foot.

SAPIENi'AL, an Epithet applied to certain Books of Scripture, calculated for our Inttrucfion and Improve- menr in Prudence, or Moral Wifdom; thus called, in Contra-diflinaion to Jjiflorical and 'Prophetical Books. The Sapiental Books are 'Proverbs, Canucks, Ecclejiajles, Mcclefiafticus the •Pfalms, and Job ; though fome reckon this laft among the Hijlorical Books.

SAP1ENTUE DENTES, Teeth, thus called becaufe they appear not till Perfons are grown. See Teeth.

SAPPHIRE, or Saphir, a precious Stone of a beautiful Azure, or Sky-blue Colour. The Saphir is tranfparent, yet exceedingly hard, fo as fcarce to hear being Engraven. Different Colours conftirute different Kinds thereof; the deeped Blues being elieemed Males, and the whireft Females. The Saphirs of Pegu are the moft efleem'd. They are found in the fame Mines with the Rubies. There are fome alio brought from the Kingdom of Calecut, Cananor, and Ceylon ; from which laft Place we fhould be furnifhed with abundance, if the King of the Iiland did not prohibit all Commerce thereof with Fo- reigners. The fbft Water Saphirs of Bohemia and Silefla are of fome Account, though far inferior to the Oriental ones. Many People value the Saphir beyond the Ruby and give it the fecond Place among precious Stones, •am. rhat next the Diamond : Others give that Place to the Ruby. Some Authors affirm, That a Saphir being heated to a certain Degree, between two Crucibles luted together, lofes all its Colour, and becomes perfectly White-; fo as to deceive even the Jewellers themfelves, and make it pais for a Diamond.

The Chymifts make feveral Preparations of Saphir ;. as a Salt, a Tincture, an Effence, a Water, an Oil, fgc. and there are few Difeafes but they pretend themfelves able to cure by Remedies compofed thereof. The Su- perflitious attribute ftill more ftrange Virtues to it ; as, that it grows foul, and lofes its Beauty, when wote by a Perfon that is letcherous, (gc. The Rabbins hold, That Mofes's Rod, and the Tables he received on Mount Sinai, were of Saphir. The Word is derived hence, that in the Hebrew the fineft Things are all called Saphirs ; whence, in Scripture, the Throne of God is faid to re- femble a Saphir.

Our Druggifts fell two Kinds of Saphirs ufed in the Confection of Hyacinth : The one red, the other blackifh. The laft, by reafon of the deep Tinclure they give that Medicine, are very improperly ufed there : The former are little reddifli Stones, of the Size of Pins-heads, very hard, and difficult to pulverize.

There is a particular Kind of Saphir, called, by the Latins, Oculits Felis, Cats-Eye, remarkable for a fine Di- verfity of Colours, as well as for its Hardnefs, which bears a Polifh equal with that of the true Saphir.

Saphir-Rubies are certain precious Stones, between blue and red, which, in effect, are nothing but Rubies, whofe Colour is not yet perfectly form'd. See Ruby.

SAPPING, in War, a Working under Ground, to gain the Defcent of a Ditch, Counterfcarp, ($c. and the At- tacking of a Place. 'Tis performed by digging a deep Trench, defending by Steps from Top to" Bottom, un- der a Corridor, carrying ir as far as the Bottom of the Ditch, when that is dry, or the Surface of the Water when wet. When the Cover'd way is well defended by Musketeers, the Befiegers make their Way down into it by Sapping. When they ate got near the Foot of the Glacis, the Trench is carried on direcfly forwards ; the Workmen covering themfelves with Blinds, Wool- packs, Sand-bags, and Mantelets upon Wheels. They alfb make Epaulements, or Traverfes, on each Side to lodge a good Body of Men : The Sop is made five or fix Fathom from the Saliant Angle of the Glacis, where the Men are only covered fide-ways, wherefore they lay Planks over- head with Hurdles, and Earth above them. When they have forced the Enemy to quit the Covered-way, the Pioneers immediately make a Lodgment, and cover

themfelves