of some alpine plants. It is now known to be of common occurrence in those mountains during the spring months, and it is also found in the mountains of the arctic regions. The coloring matter is in fine grains of a lively red, which penetrate 2 or 3 inches into the snow, and occur chiefly where the snow lies in sheltered depressions, deepest near the centre and disappearing toward the borders. It has been examined by many naturalists, and Dr. Wollaston first ascertained that it was composed of minute spherical globules, having a transparent covering, and divided into 7 or 8 cells filled with a red, oily-like liquid, which is insoluble in water. The size of the globules is from 565 to of an inch in diameter. Within the liquid have been observed moving spores. The substance appeared to be the same, according to Mr. Bauer ("Philosophical Transactions,' 1820), whether collected on the shores of Baffin's bay or in New Shetland; and he considered it to be a fungous growth of the genus uredo, which he named U. nivalis. By later investigations the substance has been shown to include several species of animalcules, among which the most abundant is that named philodina roseola by Ehrenberg. The globules seen through the transparent body are the ova.The snow line upon mountains, which is the lowest limit in which the snow continues permanently in all seasons, though obviously dependent for its elevation upon the contour of the surface, the situation of the slope with respect to the incidence of the sun's rays, and the character of the surrounding country, and being also variously affected by the nature of the prevailing winds and other atmospheric agencies, is still approximately represented for the different latitudes by a diagram of two lines, one horizontal standing for the level of the sea, and divided in each direction from the centre toward the extremities or poles into spaces of 10° each, and the other being an arc of an ellipsoid rising from lat. 80°, where the snow line is at the general surface of the earth, to 1,000 feet at 70°, 5,000 at 60°, 6,500 at 50°, 10,000 at 40°, 13,000 at 30°, 15,000 at 20 and 10°, and at the centre or equator to 16,000 feet. The local variations from this are often very striking. Thus on the Andes the height of the snow line is sometimes 16,500 feet at 10° from the equator, and 17,000 at 20°, from which greatest elevation it descends to 14,000 feet at 30° and to 16,000 at the equator. In lat. 33° S., in Chili, it was found to be at 14,500 to 15,000 feet, and in the island of Chiloe, in lat. 43°, 6,000 feet, facts which are explained by the different character of the climate of the two regions as to clouds and moisture. Still more remarkable discrepancies have been noticed in the Himalaya. Upon some of the peaks on the S. side of the chain, as in Sikkim, in lat. 27° 30', the snow level has been found at 16,000 feet and even less; while on the mountains near the Karakorum pass, in lat. 35° 30', Dr. Thomson found the show line at 20,000 feet,

and vegetation up to 18,500 feet. This appears to be owing to the exposure of the southern portion of the range to the moist winds of the S. W. monsoon, which thus receives profuse supplies of snow and rain that give fertility to the districts below, so that they are covered with heavy forests and grassy lands. A covering of this nature is unfavorable to the absorption of the heat of the sun, and little warmth is reflected to the hilly districts above. But on the N. side of the range a powerful influence is felt from the proximity of the barren and arid wastes of Thibet, and the heat reflected from the burning sands is most rapidly absorbed by the snows of the mountain sides, causing them to disappear and the snow line to reach its highest level. A similar effect was noticed by Humboldt in the Andes of Chili, where on the E. side, exposed to the moist S. E. trades, he found the snow line at 15,900 feet, and on the W. side, over the arid region stretching from the Andes to the Pacific, it reached an elevation of 18,500 feet.

SNOW BIRD, a well known member of the finch family, and genus junco (Wagler). With the general characters of the finch family, the middle toe is shorter than the short tarsus, the outer the longest; the wings are rather short, and the tail slightly notched; the 2d quill is the longest. The common snow bird (J. hyemalis, Sclater) is about 6 inches long, and 9 in alar extent; the upper parts are nearly uniform dark plumbeous, darkest anteriorly, without any red in the interscapular region; lower parts white; the external 2 tail feathers white, the 3d white margined with black. It is found from the eastern United States to the Missouri and the Black hills of the west, and from Louisiana to the fur countries. It appears in New England from the south early in April, while the ground is covered with snow, going north to breed, and returning south late in autumn; from its gentleness and tameness it is looked upon here much as the robin is in England. They are found in small families, which usually keep by themselves, often visiting farm yards and hopping after domestic poultry, and in cold weather retiring into holes in hay stacks. They are fond of grass seed and berries; the flesh is delicate and juicy, and is often sold in the New Orleans market; the spring notes are agreeable. The nest is made upon the ground, the entrance generally concealed; the eggs are 4, by of an inch, yellowish white with numerous small reddish brown dots. A nearly allied species in the Rocky mountains is the J. caniceps (Baird), having a reddish spot in the interscapular region but not on the wings. On the Pacific coast is the J. Oregonus (Sclat.), head and neck sooty black, a chestnut patch on the back and wings, and the belly pure white. SNOW BUNTING. See BUNTING. SNOW SHOE. See Sпoe.

SNOWBALL, in botany, the sterile cymes of the flowers of the riburnum opulus (Linn.), produced by cultivation and continuing perma

nent, and known as the V. o. var. sterilis of De Candolle. Its cymes or flower heads become on expansion globular by the pressure of the florets against each other, and readily suggest the trivial name. In this condition they contrast finely with the abundant foliage, and render the shrub, when trained to a single stem like a small tree, very ornamental. Ordinarily the species produces its cymes with only a single exterior row of barren flowers, the remainder being small and fertile and succeeded by an abundance of bright red berries or drupes which are ovoid in shape and 1-celled and 1seeded. They contain a thin acid pulp, and are used as a substitute for cranberries, from which circumstance the plant is known as the cranberry tree or high bush cranberry. The snowball viburnum is one of many species of a genus of the rubiaceæ. It is a native both of Europe and North America. A garden variety with variegated yellow and white foliage is known. The species are raised from seeds, and the varieties from layers and suckers.

SNOWBERRY (symphoricarpus racemosus, Mx.), an elegant American shrub of the honeysuckle family or caprifoliacea, much prized in gardens. Its stem is slender, 2 to 4 feet high, and has numerous slender branches, the leaves 1 to 2 inches long, broadly ovate, smooth above and pubescent beneath; the flowers produced in close clusters, the calyx persistent, the corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed, stamens 5, ovary 4celled, berry brilliant white, 2-seeded. It is easily raised from the seed or from suckers, which spring profusely from the roots. It occurs naturally in the northern and western states.

SNOWDROP (galanthus nivalis, Willd.), a pretty and favorite early flower belonging to the amaryllids, indigenous to Europe in meadows and on river banks. There are 3 varieties, the single, semi-double, and double, and they are cultivated for their charming effect, blossoming from the last of February to the beginning of April. The snowdrop has a small white bulb, 2 erect, obtuse, keeled, glaucous leaves, from the midst of which issues a slender flower stalk 5 or 6 inches high, bearing a solitary white blossom of 6 parts, 3 of which are shorter, heart-shaped, and striped interiorly with greenish lines. The bulbs should be planted in the autumn in clumps of 6 or 8, or set in rows on some sunny bank where they will be conspicuous in the spring. Every few years they will need lifting from the ground and resetting on account of their rapid increase. Another species with plaited leaves (G. plicatus, Bieberstein), is a native of the Crimea.

SNOWDROP TREE (Halesia, Linn.), the common name of a genus of fine deciduous shrubs or small trees with large leaves and showy white flowers, belonging to the natural order styracea, and found in rich woods and on river banks westward and southward. There are 3 species noticed by botanists, of which the 4-winged (H. tetraptera, Linn.) is more commonly seen in cultivation. Its flowers appear VOL. XIV.-48

from March to May before the leaves, and are bell-shaped in form, the corolla consisting of 4 divisions or petals united at base and inserted on an obconical toothed calyx. The fruit is a dry 4-winged drupe, with 1 to 3 cylindrical seeds. It grows rapidly under cultivation, preferring a moist soil, and is readily raised from fresh seeds, layers, or suckers.

SNOWFLAKE, the common name of elegant bulbous garden flowers of the order of amaryllids and genus leucojum (Linn.), natives of Europe. In general aspect they resemble the snowdrop, but beside being of larger dimensions they have specific differences. The summer snowflake (L. astivum) is most commonly scen in the flower border, having many lanceolate linear leaves issuing from a sheath, in the midst of which rises the flower stalk bearing several blossoms, the sepals and petals 6 in number, distinct to the base, and of equal length. The spring snowflake (L. vernum) is similar, but bears a solitary flower; the autumnal (L. autumnale) is a more delicate species, and difficult of cultivation. The prevailing quality of the snowflakes is narcotic. In cultivation they are treated like the narcissus. SNUFF. See TOBACCO.

SNYDER, a new central co. of Pennsylvania, formed out of part of Union co., bounded E. by the Susquehanna river; area, about 260 sq. m.; pop. in 1860, 15,035. The surface is hilly and the soil fertile. Iron ore and coal are found in great abundance. There are 5 newspaper offices, and in 1860 there were 4,285 pupils attending public schools. The only railroad is that of the Trevorton coal company. Capital, Middleburg.

SOAP (Lat. sapo), a chemical compound of vegetable or animal fatty substances with soda or potash, employed, on account of its property of loosening and dissolving greasy and other matters, as a detergent or cleansing article for the toilet, for washing clothes, and similar purposes. When the method of making it became known is not ascertained. In the Old Testament mention is made of soap in Jer. ii. 22 and Mal. iii. 2; but the Hebrew words thus translated mean respectively the lye salt potash, commonly made from the ashes of plants, and the salt soda, better known as a mineral product. Lyes or solutions of these salts were used for the sake of their active detergent qualities, as we now use the soaps, before the method of softening down their too great causticity by causing them to combine with oils or grease was discovered. A natural alkaline water found in Armenia is said by Strabo to have been used for washing clothes; and with the alkali obtained from such waters the ancients prepared ointments by the intermixture of oils, thus approaching very closely to the invention of soap. The want of this material was supplied by earthy matters, as the clays which have the property of absorbing grease from other substances, and are still used by fullers in cleansing cloths. Ammoniacal waters pro

duced from urine, which was generally collected for this purpose, were known to have a powerful detergent action, and were largely employed by the scourers of clothes who carried on their occupation in the vicinity of the cities. The juice of a certain plant called by the Romans struthium was also used to some extent for the sake of its saponaceous qualities. Even the ancient Egyptians, so well skilled in numerous other useful arts, appear to have been unacquainted with soap; and the first certain reference to it in history is by Pliny, who ascribed its invention to the Gauls, and gave to the Germans the credit of manufacturing both the hard and soft varieties. Through them the Romans learned the art of making it, but for a long time the material seems to have been valued more as a wash for the hair than for its general detergent applications. Pliny names the materials employed, as tallow and the ashes of the beech and yoke elm in preference to those of any other woods. The inhabitants of Pompeii possessed at least one complete soap boiling establishment, which, when brought to view after having been buried more than 1,700 years, was found to contain soap still in good preservation. Some natural productions possess the qualities of soap; such are the berries of the soap tree, sapindus saponaria of South America and the West Indies, and the bark of the quillaja saponaria of the spiraea, which has been imported to some extent into Liverpool from South America for washing woollens, and found to be quite equal in strength to the best yellow soap. The bark is remarkably heavy, containing 14 per cent. of ashes, of which 2.6 per cent. are small crystalline needles of carbonate of lime. The mucilaginous juice of the soapwort, saponaria officinalis, a common plant along the roadsides, and known as bouncing bet, forms a lather with water; and in England the plant is sold for scouring and cleaning dresses. Other plants of the same natural order, caryophyllacea, possess the same property, as some belonging to the genera dianthus and silene. In California a small shrub, phalangium pomaridianum, grows abundantly all over the country, which is in general use for soap, and is even preferred to the artificial product. It never grows more than a foot high; the leaves and stalks fall off in May, and the bulbs remain in the ground all summer. They are dug up, stripped of their husks, and rubbed upon the clothes when these are in the water to be washed. A thick lather is produced, and the odor is like that of new brown soap. From the roots of the soap plants a peculiar substance called saponine has been extracted, to which a property of making emulgents is attributed. It has also been found in the bark of the quillaja saponaria of Peru. See a paper by Ferdinand Lebeuf in the Comptes rendus, vol. xxxi. p. 652, in which it is recommended for pharmaceutical and other uses. In the Malayan islands the bark of the gogo tree (entada vursætha) is much prized for toilet use.

The principle upon which the manufacture of soap, or "saponification," is based, is the decomposition of the oily body by the alkali, and the combination of the latter with the oily acids, the glycerine which was previously combined with these, acids being set free and lost, at least in the hard soaps. Thus the soaps are salts, and may be designated as stearates and oleates of soda or of potash, or margarates and oleates of these alkalies, according to the character of the fats employed in their manufacture. Some liniments and other pharmaceutical compounds of the fatty acids with bases have also been known as soaps; such are the preparations of ammonia and olive oil, known as volatile liniment, of oxide of lead and olive oil, constituting the plaster diachylon, &c. But the name soap is now limited exclusively to those compounds used for washing purposes. The various sorts possess the following general qualities: a taste slightly alkaline, especially in the soft soaps; a peculiar smell; a greater density than that of water, in which fluid they consequently sink; solubility in water and alcohol, greater in hot than in cold, and most decided with the potash soaps; and the production when beaten up with a little water of a white lather or froth, which consists of thin films of soap separated by air bubbles. Their aqueous solutions are decomposed by acids, which seize upon the alkali, and displace the oily acids, and these being diffused through the water give to it a milky appearance. Various salts of lime, magnesia, and of the metals also decompose the soaps; and their presence is the cause of the peculiar effect called hardness noticed in many natural waters, when an attempt is made to produce a lather in them with soap. The alcoholic solution, called the tincture of soap, is a convenient test for determining the presence of lime in water, or rather the degree of hardness from whatever foreign admixture; and a special table has been prepared by Prof. Clark of England, by which, with the use of a tincture of known strength, added in known quantities until the hardness disappears and a lather is produced, the relative hardness of the water is determined and is expressed by its appropriate figure. The processes of manufacture of the different sorts of soap are very various, as are also the materials employed. The alkali used in the United States is often caustic soda, which is directly dissolved in water to give a lye of the desired strength. This, unquestionably the simplest plan, is not practised in Europe. The method there, and in general in this country also, is to employ a carbonated alkali, as soda ash, and first obtain from it a caustic lye by the action of quicklime in removing and appropriating its carbonic acid. The lime and soda are introduced in alternate layers into iron tanks provided with a false bottom which is perforated with holes, and the whole is then filled with water and left for 12 to 18 hours. The liquor is then drawn through at the bottom

and preserved, and the process is several times repeated with fresh portions of water until the soda is exhausted. So when crude ashes are used to produce the lye, quicklime is introduced with them into casks and water is passed through the mixture, as practised in the manufacture of potash. (See POTASH, vol. xiii. p. 517.) It is stated that the alkaline constituents of sea weeds have been conveniently extracted for the manufacture of soap without first reducing them to ashes, but by merely dissolving them in alkaline lyes. Of the two alkalies used in making soap, soda is employed for the hard soaps, and potash is more particularly fitted for making the soft, semi-fluid varieties. But it is not upon the alkali alone that the soaps depend for their degree of hardness. The more solid fats, as tallow and suet, whose melting points are the highest, must be used with soda for the hardest kinds of soap, while the more fluid varieties, which contain the most oleic acid, will give softness even to the soda soaps, and with potash furnish products of the thinnest consistency. The soaps made with what are called weak goods, as kitchen fat, bone fat, horse oil, &c., require to be hardened, and a method was discovered by Dr. Normandy of doing this by the introduction of a small quantity of fused crystals of sulphate of soda. The reverse process of softening the too hard soaps is effected by the introduction of rape oil or linseed oil, or the addition of rosin to the tallow used in the manufacture. Rosin alone has the property of forming a viscid soapy mass with soda; but it cannot neutralize the caustic properties of the alkali, and can therefore be used only as an auxiliary, taking the place of a portion of the grease. In the manufacture of what is called yellow or rosin soap, a proportion of rosin equal to or the weight of the tallow is added in the latter stage of the process in the condition of a coarse powder, and is well incorporated into the boiling caustic lye by stirring. All soaps retain a considerable proportion of water, the least quantity, as in the foreign Castile soap sold by the apothecaries, being about 14.5 per cent., and in other soaps varying from 25 to 50 per cent. Cocoanut oil gives to soaps made with it an extraordinary capacity for absorbing water, and yet remaining solid. The composition of a variety made in London has been found to be: water 73.5, cocoanut lard 22.0, and soda 4.5. With this peculiar soap linen could be washed in sea water. In consequence of this property of cocoanut oil, it has been extensively introduced into the manufacture of soap of late years, enabling the producer to dispose of large quantities of water at the price per pound of soap. Ordinarily good hard soaps contain from 30 to 35 per cent. of water, 60 to 70 per cent. of fatty acids and rosin, and 6 to 8 per cent. of soda. As the soap dries by age it loses weight by the evaporation of the water, and improves in quality as it gains in hardness to a certain extent, and becomes less soluble. If it become too dry,

it may be rendered softer by exposing it for a time in moist place. The manufacturer finds it for his interest to introduce all the water it will contain, weigh the soap as soon as made, and pack it in boxes which are marked with the original number of pounds. In the soda or hard soaps the water is chiefly held in chemical combination, rendering the salts hydrates. In the soft soaps the condition of the water is more that of mechanical mixture. In the manufacture of soap upon a large scale, the fatty substances are selected rather according to the abundance of the several sorts than with reference to their special qualities. In the S. of Europe the inferior sorts of olive oil are most advantageously applied to the manufacture of hard soap, but in the northern countries tallow is more readily obtained. This is largely imported into England from Russia, and is used with soda for the white soaps, from 10 to 14 cwt. being required for every ton of soap. Palm oil is also imported for the same use. In the United States sperm and fish oils of different sorts have been found among the cheapest materials; but the inferior kinds of soft soap made with them are apt to retain a disagreeable smell, which is imparted to the clothes washed with the soap, and can neither be masked nor removed until they are washed again. The same objection must attend this application of the rock oil or petroleum. Lard oil, which is nearly pure oleine, is also very extensively used in the United States. Many of the vegetable oils beside those of the palm and olive are used in different countries for making soap, and some are selected on account of their peculiar properties; thus, hempseed oil has been much employed in Europe on account of a favorite greenish color it gives to the soap, and sweet almond oil for the sake of the pleasant odor it imparts. Castor oil and spermaceti produce soaps resembling those made with palm oil, emollient and well suited for the toilet. Lard soaps are very white and solid, and are also among the most esteemed toilet soaps. The drying oils generally make inferior kinds of soap, soft and flabby. For ordinary soft soaps all sorts of greasy matters are largely collected. The manufacturing process for the white hard soaps, as very generally conducted, commences with the introduction of about a ton of the fatty material, together with about 200 gallons of the weakest of the soda lyes (of specific gravity 1.040), into one of the large boilers, which by steam heat is gradually brought to the boiling point. After boiling 3 or 4 hours the contents of the caldron have become viscid, so that portions taken out may be drawn into threads; the lye has yielded its alkali to the grease, and is said to be spent. The addition of a quantity of common salt causes it to separate from the soapy compound, which is quite insoluble in the saline solution upon the top of which it collects. The fluid portion can then be drawn off, carrying with it the glycerine and soluble salts as waste, after

which a fresh supply of stronger lye is introduced; and the operation is thus repeated about 3 times a day for several days, with lyes of increasing strength, the last having a specific gravity of 1.160. When at last it is found that a portion of the mass taken out and squeezed between the thumb and finger presents no appearance of grease and has a slightly alkaline taste, the saponification is known to be completed. If yellow soap is to be made, the powdered rosin is now introduced to the extent of or of the fatty materials, and the boiling is renewed with a fresh portion of strong lye, accompanied by stirring with a rake. The settlings caused by the rosin are washed down by successive applications of weak lyes, and form an impure soapy layer, which remains by itself at the bottom and is known as "niger." Palm oil tends to correct the peculiar odor of the rosin in soap, and so does rancid tallow, either of which may be advantageously employed for this purpose among the other greasy materials. As the completion of the saponifying process does not leave the soap in proper condition for the market, it has to be subjected to another process called "fitting." When separated from the last strong lye, it is again dissolved by boiling in a weak lye or in water; and when this is done very strong lye is added and the boiling is continued for a considerable time, during which the workmen are occupied with shovels in beating down the frothing mass. By this operation the colored impurities settle to the bottom, and when the frothing has subsided the soap assumes a uniform pasty consistence. The lid of the boiler is then shut down, the fire extinguished, and the contents are left to cool and settle for 2 or 3 days. The semifluid soap is finally ladled out into rectangular receptacles or moulds called frames, made of cast iron or of wooden bars, the latter being built up crossing each other at the 4 corners till the well thus enclosed sometimes reaches a height of 12 feet, and contains as much as 2 tons of soap. It is left to cool and solidify into large blocks in these frames, though to give it a finer grain, and prevent its becoming too hard, water is sometimes introduced in small quantity, and the mass is vigorously stirred with a wooden paddle or crutch until it is nearly cold. When it has hardened so that it will not yield to the pressure of the finger, the iron sides or wooden bars of the frames are loosened from their fastenings and taken off, leaving the great blocks standing upon the floor, about 45 inches in length, 15 in width, and from 5 to 12 feet high. Each mass is then marked round in lines with a toothed instrument like a rake, and is cut into smaller blocks by drawing a wire through. These blocks are then subdivided in the same way till they are reduced down to the size of the bars required. These are then piled upon each other crosswise in an open manner, and left in the drying room. The soap well known in England as mottled or marbled soap is made by omitting the fitting

process, and pouring the viscid mixture directly into the frames. The impurities called niger, which are of a ferruginous character derived from a trace of sulphuret of iron in the last lye, remain diffused through the mass in streaks or veins of a bluish color, and their presence was formerly regarded as a guaranty that no undue quantity of water had been introduced, as this would inevitably destroy the marbling. In other soaps water is sometimes added in considerable quantities after they have been introduced into the frames, The mottled appearance is however ingeniously imitated by the introduction of ultramarine or of oxide of manganese in soaps made with cocoanut oil. The well known Castile soap, which is made with olive oil and soda, is prepared both white and colored. The best kinds of the former contain about 21 per cent. of water; the marbled is a stronger and more economical soap, containing only 14 per cent. of water, is harder, more alkaline, and more constant in its composition than the other; but it retains the impurities from which the other is free. The fancy or toilet soaps are generally prepared directly from their ingredients, except in Great Britain, where the process employed in their manufacture consists of remelting and clarifying curd or white soap, and adding such perfumes, colors, &c., as may be required. The original Windsor soap was manufactured with mutton tallow, but on the continent from 20 to 35 per cent. of olive oil is mixed with the tallow. The perfumes are 6 parts of oil of caraway and 2 of oil of bergamot to 1,000 parts of the soap. Soaps are colored by mixing mineral paints into the melted mass, as vermilion for the pink varieties, artificial ultramarine for the blue, ochres for the brown, &c. In marbling the fancy soaps vermilion or ultramarine is rubbed with olive oil or soap, and a small portion taken up with a palette knife is pushed into the melted mass and moved about. Transparent soap is made from the kidney fats and pure soda, dissolving the soap in alcohol, filtering, and evaporating to the proper consistency for moulding. It is often colored with turmeric. Soap balls are prepared by dissolving soap in a small quantity of water, and then working it up with starch into a mass of the proper consistency. The popular shaving soap known as Naples soap is said to be prepared by first saponifying mutton tallow with lime, decompos ing the compound thus formed by adding a mineral acid, which unites with the lime, setting the fatty acids free, and then causing these to combine with caustic potash by ebullition. The composition of this soap is thus given for 100 parts: fatty acids, 57.14; potash combined with fatty acids, 10.39; sulphate of potash, chloride of potassium, with a trace of carbonate of potash, 4.22; silica, &c., 0.46; water, 27.68; loss, 0.11. Several improvements in the manufacture of soaps have been recently patented by Mrs. Rowland of London. These consist chiefly in the introduction of certain chemicals into ordinary