tlantic south of the
Azores, which is not subject to currents, and which is called the
Sargasso Sea.

SARKELLUS. An unlawful net or engine for destroying fish. (_Inquisit.
Justic. anno 1254._)

SAROS. _See_ CYCLE OF ECLIPSES.

SARRAZINE. A rough portcullis.

SARRE. An early name for a long gun, but of smaller dimensions than a
bombard.

SASH. A useful mark of distinction worn by infantry and marine officers;
it is made of crimson silk, and intended as a waist-band, but latterly
thrown over the left shoulder and across the body. Also, now worn by the
naval equerries to the queen. Serjeants of infantry wear it of the same
colour in cotton.

SASSE. A kind of weir with flood-gate, or a navigable sluice.

SATELLITES. Secondary planets or moons, which revolve about some of the
primary planets. The moon is a satellite to the earth.

SATURN. One of the ancient superior planets remarkable for the luminous
rings with which his globe is surrounded, and for his being accompanied
by no fewer than eight moons.

SAUCER, OR SPINDLE OF THE CAPSTAN. A socket of iron let into a wooden
stock or standard, called the step, resting upon, and bolted to, the
beams. Its use is to receive the spindle or foot on which the capstan
rests and turns round.

SAUCER-HEADED BOLTS. Those with very flat heads.

SAUCISSON, OR SAUCISSE. A word formerly used for the _powder-hose_, a
linen tube containing the train of powder to a mine or fire-ship, the
slow match being attached to the extremity to afford time for the
parties to reach positions of safety.

SAUCISSONS. Faggots, differing from fascines only in that they are
longer, and made of stouter branches of trees or underwood.

SAUVE-TETE. _See_ SPLINTER-NETTING.

SAVANNAH [Sp. _Sabana_]. A name given to the wonderfully fertile natural
meadows of tropical America; the vast plains clear of wood, and covered
in general with waving herbage, in the interior of North America, are
called _prairies_ (which see).

SAVE-ALL, OR WATER-SAIL. A small sail sometimes set under the foot of a
lower studding-sail.

SAW-BILL. A name for the goosander, _Mergus merganser_.

SAW-BONES. A sobriquet for the surgeon and his assistants.

SAW-FISH. A species of shark (_Pristis antiquorum_) with the bones of
the face produced into a long flat rostrum, with a row of pointed teeth
placed along each edge.

SAY-NAY. A Lancashire name for a lamprey.

SAYTH. A coal-fish in its third year.

SCAFFLING. A northern