any soil or position, and when once planted should be left to themselves.
SNOW-LEOPARD, or Ounce (Felis uncia) a large member
of the cat family, from the high mountain regions of Central Asia.
It resembles the leopard in general conformation, but has longer
fur, grey in colour, marked with large dark rosettes. The
dimensions of the head and body are about 4 ft. 4 in., tail 3 ft.,
and the height 2 ft. This animal lives among rocks, and preys
upon wild sheep and goats, and probably large rodents or birds.
It carries off sheep, goats and dogs from villages, and even kills
ponies, but, it is said, has never been known to attack man
(Blanford). Examples Shown in the Zoological Gardens of
London have been fairly tame and playful.
SNOW-LINE. In the higher latitudes, and in the most
elevated parts of the surface of the earth, the atmosphere may be
normally so cold that precipitation is chiefly in the form of snow,
which lies in great part unmelted. The snow-line is the imaginary
line, whether in latitude or in altitude, above which these
conditions exist. In the extreme polar regions they exist at sea-level,
but below lat. 78° the snow-line begins to rise, since at the
lower elevations the snow melts in summer. In N. Scandinavia
the line is found at about 3000 ft. above the sea, in the Alps
at about 8500 ft., and on high mountains in the tropics at about
18,000 to 19,000 ft. These figures, however, can only be approximate,
as many considerations render it impossible to employ the
term " snow-line " as more than a convenient generalization.
SNOW-SHOES, a form of footgear devised for traveling over
snow. Nearly every American Indian tribe has its own particular
shape of shoe, the simplest and most primitive being those of the
far north. The Eskimos possess two styles, one being triangular
in shape and about 18 in. in length, and the other almost circular.
Southward the shoe becomes gradually narrower and longer, the
largest being the hunting snow-shoe of the Crees, which is nearly
6 ft. long and turned up at the toe. Of snow-shoes worn by
people of European race that used by lumbermen is about 3½ ft.
long and broad in proportion, while the tracker's shoe is over
5 ft. long and very narrow. This form has been copied by the
Canadian snow-shoe clubs, who wear a shoe about 3½ ft. long
and 15 to 18 in. broad, slightly turned up at the toe and terminating
in a kind of tail behind. This is made very light for racing
purposes, but much stouter for touring or hunting.
Snow-shoes are made of a single strip of some tough wood, usually hickory, curved round and fastened together at the ends and supported in the middle by a light cross-bar, the space within the frame thus made being filled with a close webbing of dressed caribou or neat's-hide strips, leaving a small opening just behind the cross-bar for the toe of the moccasined foot. They are fastened to the moccasin by leather thongs, sometimes by buckles. The method of walking is to lift the shoes slightly and slide the overlapping inner edges over each other, thus avoiding the unnatural and fatiguing " straddle-gait " that would otherwise be necessary. Immoderate snow-shoeing leads to serious lameness of the feet and ankles which the Canadian voyageurs call mal de raquette. Snow-shoe racing is very common in the Canadian snow-shoe clubs, and one of the events is a hurdle-race over hurdles 3 ft. 6 in. high. Owing to the thick forests of America the snow-shoe has been found to be more suitable for use than the Norwegian ski, which is, however, much used in the less-wooded districts.
SNUFF (from " to snuff, " i.e. to inhale, to draw in through the
nose; cf. Dutch snuf, scent, Ger. Schnupfen, a cold, catarrh, and
Eng. " snuffle, " " sniff, " &c.), the name of a powdered preparation
of tobacco used for inhalation (for the manufacture see
Tobacco). The practice of inhaling snuff became common in
England in the 17th century, and throughout the 18th century
it was universal. At first each quantity inhaled was fresh grated
(Fr. ráper), whence the coarser kinds were later known as
" rappee. " This entailed the snuff-taker carrying with him
a grater with a small spoon at one end and a box to hold the
grated snuff at the other. Early 18th-century graters made
of ivory and other material are in existence. Later the box and
the grater were separated. The art and craft of the miniature
painter, the enameller, jeweller and gold- and silver-smith was
bestowed upon the box. The humbler snuff-takers were content
with boxes of silver, brass or other metal, horn, tortoise-shell or
wood. The mull (q.v.), a silver-mounted ram's head, is a large
table snuff-box. Though " snuff-taking " ceased to be fashionable
at the beginning of the 19th century, the gold and jewelled
snuff-box has continued to be a typical gift of sovereigns to those
whom they delight to honour.
This, word " snuff " must be distinguished from that meaning the charred inch of a candle or lamp, which is a variant of " snip " or " snop, " to cut off, trim, cf. Dan. snubbe. Constant trimming or snuffing of candles was a necessity until obviated by the modern methods of candle manufacture, and the snuffers consisted of a pair of scissors with a closed box forming a receptacle for the charred wick cut off; the snuffers usually had three small feet which allowed them to stand on a tray. Made of silver, silver-gilt or other metal, " snuffers " were formerly a decorative article of plate in the equipment of a household. There is a beautiful example of silver snuffers with enamel decorations in the British Museum. These belonged to Cardinal Bainbridge and date from the reign of Henry VIII.
SNYDERS, FRANZ (1579–1657), Flemish painter of animals
and still life, was born and died at Antwerp. In 1593 he was
studying under Pieter Breughel the younger, and afterwards
received instruction from Hendrick van Balen, the first master
of Van Dyck. He devoted himself to painting flowers, fruit and
subjects of still life, but afterwards turned to animal-painting,
and executed with the greatest skill and spirit hunting pieces
and combats of wild animals. His composition is rich and varied,
his drawing correct and vigorous, his touch bold and thoroughly
expressive of the different textures of furs and skins. His
excellence in this department excited the admiration of Rubens,
who frequently employed him to paint animals, fruit and still life
in his own pictures, and he assisted Jordaens in a similar manner.
In the lion and boar hunts which bear the name of Snyders the
hand of Rubens sometimes appears. He was appointed principal
painter to the archduke Albert, governor of the Low Countries,
for whom he executed some of his finest works. One of these, a
" Stag-Hunt," was presented to Philip III., who commissioned
the artist to paint several subjects of the chase, which are still
preserved in Spain.
SOANE, SIR JOHN (1753–1837), English architect and art
collector, was born near Reading of a humble family whose name
of Swan he afterwards altered to Soan or Soane. His talent as
a boy attracted the attention of George Dance, junior, the architect,
who with other friends helped him on. He won the Royal
Academy's silver (1772) and gold (1776) medals, and a travelling
studentship, and went to Italy to study (1777–1780). Returning
to England he got into practice as an architect, and in 1784
married a rich wife. He became architect to the Bank of England,
which he practically rebuilt in its present form, and did other
important public work. He became an A.R.A in 1795, and R.A.
in 1802, and professor of architecture to the Royal Academy in
1806. In 1831 he was knighted. In his house in Lincoln's Inn
Fields he brought together a valuable antiquarian museum (now
the Soane Museum) , which in 1835 he presented to the nation with
an endowment; and there he died in 1837. (See Museums.)
SOAP, a chemical compound or mixture of chemical compounds
resulting from the interaction of fatty oils and fats with alkalis.
In a scientific definition the compounds of fatty acids with basic
metallic oxides, lime, magnesia, lead oxide, &c., should also be
included under soap; but, as these compounds are insoluble in
water, while the very essence of a soap in its industrial relations
is solubility, it is better to speak of the insoluble compounds
as " plasters," limiting the name " soap " as the compounds of
fatty acids with soda and potash. Soap both as a medicinal and
as a cleansing agent was known to Pliny (H.N. xxviii. 51),
who speaks of two kinds—hard and soft—as used by the Germans.
He mentions it as originally a Gallic invention for giving a bright
hue to the hair (" rutilandis capillis "). There is reason to
believe that soap came to the Romans from Germany, and
that the detergents in use in earlier times and mentioned as soap
