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black], a game at cards in which persons play against the owner of the bank; -- so called because the table around which the players sit has certain compartments colored red and black, upon which the stakes are deposited. Hoyle.

A top; a platform at a masthead; -- so called because formerly round in shape.

ooting at rovers. See def. 5 (a) above. Addison. Bound down on every side with many bands because it shall not run at rovers. Robynson (More's Utopia).

A piece of gold money; -- probably because the gold of coins was often reddened by copper alloy. Called also red ruddock, and golden ruddock. [Obs.] Great pieces of gold . . . red ruddocks. Florio.

n of parks. Walpole. Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his own vast superiority to the common run of men. Prof. Wilson. His whole appearance was something out of the common run. W. Irving. -- To let go by the run (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely, as li…

A country dress; -- so called because often of a russet color. Dryden.

nut above, white beneath. -- Sable iron, a superior quality of Russia iron; -- so called because originally stamped with the figure of a sable. -- Sable mouse (Zoöl.), the lemming.

ined from the saccharinates and regarded as the lactone of saccharinic acid; -- so called because formerly supposed to be isomeric with cane sugar (saccharose).

The threshold of a door, when a separate piece from the floor or landing; -- so called because it spans and covers the joint between two floors. Saddle bar (Arch.), one the small iron bars to which the lead panels of a glazed window are secured. Oxf. Gloss. -- Saddle gall (Far.), a sore or gall upon a horse's back, ma…

Illust. 6, under Cross. -- Saint Anthony's fire, the erysipelas; -- popularly so called because it was supposed to have been cured by the intercession of Saint Anthony. -- Saint Anthony's nut (Bot.), the groundnut (Bunium flexuosum); -- so called because swine feed on it, and St. Anthony was once a swineherd. Dr. Pr…

oyed as a source of ammonia, as a reagent, and as an expectorant in bronchitis. So called because originally made from the soot from camel's dung at the temple of Jupiter Ammon in Africa. Called also muriate of ammonia. -- Sal catharticus Etym: [NL.] (Old Med. Chem.), Epsom salts. -- Sal culinarius Etym: [L.] (Old Ch…

. Saliferous rocks (Geol.), the New Red Sandstone system of some geologists; -- so called because, in Europe, this formation contains beds of salt. The saliferous beds of New York State belong largely to the Salina period of the Upper Silurian. See the Chart of Geology.

assium oxalate, or potassium quadroxalate, used as a solvent for ink stains; -- so called because found in the sorrel, or Oxalis. Also sometimes inaccurately called salt of lemon. -- Salt of tartar (Old Chem.), potassium carbonate; -- so called because formerly made by heating cream of tartar, or potassium tartrate. […

Called also cubic niter. -- Saltpeter acid (Chem.), nitric acid; -- sometimes so called because made from saltpeter.

t (Aspidiotus perniciosus) that infests the apple, pear, and other fruit trees. So called because first introduced into the United States at San José, California.

r the chancel arch, in mediæval churches, but a hand bell is now often used; -- so called because rung at the singing of the sanctus, at the conclusion of the ordinary of the Mass, and again at the elevation of the host. Called also Mass bell, sacring bell, saints' bell, sance- bell, sancte bell.

the yellow-bellied woodpecker (S. varius) of the Eastern United States. They are so named because they puncture the bark of trees and feed upon the sap. The name is loosely applied to other woodpeckers. -- Sap tube (Bot.), a vessel that conveys sap.

A species of limestone used among the Greeks for making coffins, which was so called because it consumed within a few weeks the flesh of bodies deposited in it. It is otherwise called lapis Assius, or Assian stone, and is said to have been found at Assos, a city of Lycia. Holland.

or's muscle, which arises from the hip bone and is inserted just below the knee. So named because its contraction was supposed to produce the position of the legs assumed by the tailor in sitting.

The avocet; -- so called because it scoops up the mud to obtain food.