into the body, as well as by actual contact.—See also Contagion, and Infection.
SALLOW, or Withen, Salix capreata, L. is an indigenous species of the willow, which, though it will vegetate in damp situations, requires a drier ground than any other of that genus. In a good soil, it attains the height of thirty feet.—The tender shoots and suckers of this tree are, on account of their flexible nature, useful for baskets and wicker-work.—In Sweden, the young rind is not only employed with advantage by tanners, but also by dyers, for striking a deep black on linen-yarn, in combination with alder-bark. The former has likewise been profitably converted into Paper.—See vol. iii. p. 335.
Sallow-thorn. See Buck-thorn, the Sea.
SALMON, or Salmo, L. a genus of fish comprising twenty-nine species, of which the following are the principal, viz.
1. The fario. See Trout.
2. The alpinus. See Charr.
3. The eperlanus. See Smelt.
4. The salar, or Common Salmon, inhabits the British seas and rivers, where it is caught in great numbers, the largest weighing from 30 to 40lb., though sometimes upwards of 70. These fish form, in several countries, a considerable branch of commerce, and are cured in various ways, by salting, pickling, and drying. Hence, in Iceland, Norway, and the Baltic, as well as at Coleraine in Ireland, at Berwick-upon-Tweed, and some of the Scotch rivers, certain stationary fisheries are established, which prove uncommonly productive.
The salmon frequents both salt and fresh waters, quitting the former in the spring, for the purpose of depositing its spawn in the gravelly beds, remote from the mouths of rivers. Towards autumn, they again resort to the ocean.
Salmon is a very general and favourite article of food, and is used at the table, either fresh, cured, or smoked; in which last state, however, it is exceedingly unwholesome. The flesh of salmon, while fresh, is tender, flaky, and nutritive; but, being rather oily, it is difficult of digestion. In the spawning season, its flavour and tint are much impaired: when boiled or salted, it acquires a fine red colour. Those of a moderate size and middle age, are in the greatest perfection, both with respect to their taste and salubrity.—Salmon-trout are chiefly distinguished from the common fish of that name, by their soft and gelatinous nature.
SALT is one of the component parts of animal, vegetable, and mineral bodies. It may be distinguished from other matters, such as earths, by its solubility in less than 200 times its weight of boiling water; by affecting the organs of taste; and being capable of crystallization, either by itself, or in combination with several earths or alkalies.
Salts are divided into two principal classes, namely, acid and alkaline: from the mutual combination of both, there is formed a third kind, known under the name of neutral salts.
I. Acid salts, possess a sour taste, and change the blue colour of vegetable pigments into red. They are divided, according to the three kingdoms of Nature, into vegetable, animal, and mineral;
