1354

GLOSSARY.
water, and it is doubted by some practitioners wliether it can ever be freed from particles
of salt, which would prevent the plaster or cement drying.
Sandstone. In mineralogy, a stone principally composed of grains, or particles of sand,
. either united with other mineral substances or adhering without any vis'ble cement.
The grains or particles of sandstone are generally quartz, sometimes intermixed with
feldspar or particles of slate. AVhen lime is the cementing matter the stone is called
calcareous sandstone. The cementing matter is not unfrequently oxide of iron inter-
mixed with alumine. The particles of sand in these stones are of various sizes, soma
being so small as to be scarcely visible.
Sap. The juice or pith of trees that rises from the earth and ascends into the arms,
branches, and leaves, to feed and notirish them. Also that part of the stem or wood of
the body of a tree that is soft, white, etc. The term is used also as a verb, to denote
the undermining a wall by digging a trench under it.
Saracenic Aechitecttjre. See Moresque Architecture.
Sarcophagus. (2a/)|, flesh, and cpayw, to eat.) A tomb or coffin made of one stone. From
Pliny it appears to have been originally applied as the name of a stone found in the
Troad, which, from its powerful caustic qualities, was selected for the construction of
tombs. From its frequent application to this purpose the name became at length used
for the tomb itself. Sarcophagi were made of stone, marble, alabaster, porphyry, etc.
The Greeks sometimes made them of hard wood, as oak, cedar, or cypress, which resisted
moisture
;
sometimes of teri-a cotta, and oven of metal. The form was usually a long
square, the angle being rounded. The lid varied both in shape and ornament. Those
of the primitive Christians often enclosed several corpses, and were ornamented with
several sets of bassi relievi. Those of higher antiquity were frequently sculptured with
great taste and beauty of design, the figures being tlioso of the deceased, or parties con-
nected with them, allegorical or mytliological. Tiie Egj'ptian sarcophagi are sculp-
tured Avith hieroglyphics. Those of the Greeks and Romans sometimes represent Sleep
and Death with their legs crossed, one hand supporting the head and the other liolding
an inverted torch
;
sometimes Mercury is represented conducting the Souls, and Charon
ferrying them over in his barque. Occasionally groups of bacchanals and bacchie scenes
are found upon them.
Sarking. Thin boards for lining, etc. Boarding for slating is so called in Scotland.
Sash. (Fr. Chassis, a frame
;
more probably the Dutch Sas, a gate.) A frame for
holding the glass of windows, and so formed as to be raised and depressed by means of
pulleys. Sashes are single or double hung
; the casement is hung with hingis.
Sash Frame. The frame in which the sashes ai'c fitted for the convenience of sliding up
and down. See Casement.
Sash lines. The rope by which a sash is suspended in its frame. They are often madf
of common cord, which soon untwists and breaks
; the "imperial patent flax sash lines"
are made in four qualities. Tiie sash lines made of jute have neither strength nor
durability. The modern brass chains are liable to break with sudden jerks.
Saw. (Dutch, Sawe.) A tool made of a thin plato of steel, formed on the edge into
regular teeth for cutting wood, stone, etc. Saws are of various kinds.
Sa"w-pit. a pit excavated for sawing timber. The sawing is performed by two persons
called sawyers, one standing above and the other below. Much of the labour, however,
is saved by the use of a saw-mill, or machine moving a circular saw, wiiich by its
revolutions and keeping the timber close up, performs the work quicker and better than
can be done by the labour just described.
Saxon Architecturr. The term used to designate the early architecture used in England
before the introduction of the Romanesque or N.irman. The long and short work is
considered the mode of building of that period.
Seefff
1412.
ScABELLUM. (Lat.) A specics of pedestal anciently used to support busts or statucs. It
was high in proportion to its breadth, ending in a kind of sheath, or in the manner of a
baluster.
Scaffold. (Fr. Echaufaud.) An assemblage of planks or boards sustained by pieces of
wood called ^j^/o^s or putlocks placed on others called Ledgers, which are made fast
to vertical poles called standards, by means of which workmen carry up a building of
brick, or plasterers complete their work in the interior of houses. Stone-faeeil build-
ings have an inner and outer series of standards and ledgers, so that the work shall not
be injured. Framed scaffolding is much used in large works, which is formed of square
timbers, and on these a tram is placed for a moveable platform, or a steam crane.
Suspended scaffolds are useful in repairing or painting a front. They arc formed of a
sort of open trough for the workmen to stand in, who raise and lower it by means of
ropes attached to pulleys fixed at the end of beams secured out of upper windows or to
the roof.
ScAGLiOLA. (Ital.) A species of plaster or stucco invented at Carpi, in the .state of
Modena, by Guido Sassi, between IGOO and 1649. It is sometimes called v.ischia, from