SATIN WOOD 257 SATURN SATIN WOOD, an ornamental cabi- net-wood from the West and East Indies. The former is the better kind, and is chiefly derived from Ferolia guianesis. That from the East Indies is less white, and is produced by Chloroxylon sivietenia, which also yields wood oil. SATIRE, keenness and severity of re- mark ; sarcasm ; trenchant wit ; biting rid- icule; incisive humor; pungent irony; de- nunciation and exposure to derision or reprobation. In literature, the represen- tation of follies or vices in a ridiculous form, either in discourse or dramatic ac- tion. The Romans were the first to distin- guish themselves in this species of litera- ture. Horace is the great master in this art, whose humorous and playful raillery of the follies and foibles of mankind are ever fresh and ever true. Juvenal is much more serious and declamatory. He has more strength and fire, and more eleva- tion of style than Horace, but is at the same time greatly inferior to him in gracefulness and ease. Persius is a nerv- ous and lively writer, but has more of the fire and force of Juvenal than of the politeness of Horace. Though the name satire usually is confined to poetical com- positions, prose works of a satirical char- acter are frequently included under the same head. Among the French may be mentioned Rabelais, Montaigne, and Vol- taire; in England, Pope, Swift, Fielding, Byron, Thackeray, Carlyle, Samuel But- ler, and Shaw; and in the United States, Irving, Holmes, Mark Twain, Dunne ("Mr. Dooley"), etc. SATOLLI, FRANCIS, a Roman Cath- olic delegate; born in Merciano, Perugia, Italy, July 21, 1831 ; was educated for the Church; appointed Professor of Dog- matic Theology at Urban College of the Propaganda, Rome; and was made arch- bishop in June, 1888. He was created president of the Academy of Noble Ec- clesiastics; represented the Pope at the centenary of the Roman Catholic hierar- chy in the United States in 1889; and was appointed the first apostolic delegate to the United States in 1893, continuing un- til 1896. He died Jan. 8, 1910. SATRAPS, in the ancient Persian em- pire, the governors of the provinces which were called satrapies. The power of the satrap, so long as he retained the favor of his sovereign, was absolute; he levied taxes at his pleasure and aped the capri- cious tyranny of his master unchecked. SATSUMA WARE, a fine kind of pot- tery or semi-porcelain made in Japan, having a felspathic glaze of a light straw color, the surface of which is covered with a net-work of fine cracks. Red and green colors and dulled gold are employed for decorating the ware, a favorite ornament being the chrysanthemum, and pheasants and other fowls are also frequently in- troduced. Fine old Satsuma ware is highly esteemed by collectors. SATURATION, the act of saturating, penetrating, or impregnating completely; the state of being saturated. In chemis- try, that point at which a substance ceases to have the power of dissolving or combining with another. SATURDAY (from Anglo-Saxon Sse- terdseg, Sseterndxg — Saeter, Ssetern, for Saturn, and d&g, a day — the day presided over by the planet Saturn), the seventh or last day of the week; the day of the Jewish Sabbath. SATURN, in mythology, the youngest son of Coelus (Uranus) and Gsea, the god- dess of the earth. Being banished by Jupiter from heaven, he fled to Latium, and was received by Janus, King of Italy, who made him his partner on the throne. Saturn occupied himself in softening the barbarous manners of the people of Italy, and in teaching them agriculture and the useful and liberal arts. His reign there was so mild and beneficent that mankind have called it the Golden Age, to intimate the happiness and tranquillity which the earth then enjoyed. He is generally iden- tified with the Greek Kronos (Time), and the festival in his honor, called "Satur- nalia," corresponded with the Greek "Kro- nia." He is generally represented as an old man, bent through age and infirmity, holding a scythe in his right hand. His temple was the state treasury. SATURN, in astronomy, the 6th of the major planets in order of distance from the sun, and the outermost known to the ancients. With its ten satellites and SATURN wonderful ring system it is to be regarded as the most remarkable body in the solar system, as well as the most beautiful. The ball of the planet itself has a density of only five-sevenths that of water, rotates
