SNAKE-ROOT. See Senega. For ‘Virginian snake-root’ see Serpentary. Snakeweed (Bistortæ radix) is the root of Polygonum Bistorta (Linn.).
SNIPE. The Scolopax Gallinago, a well-known bird indigenous to this country. It is fine-flavoured, but rather indigestible.
SNOW, Foreign Bodies in. M. Bondier[170] having lately made an examination of snow, records that of the solid matters floating in the air and retained in the snow, the most abundant was found to be soot; next some cells of Protococcus virictis, and spores and filaments of other cryptograms; then granules of starch and cells and fibres of various plants. Epithelial cells and hairs of animals were also present, as well as fibres of wool and silk. These last, being dyed, indicated the presence of man, as did also the fibres of hemp, cotton, and indigo. The amount of foreign matter was greatest in the snow collected at the lowest levels, especially in the vicinity of human habitations and of woods, which are both fertile sources of floating particles. Permanganate of potassium was used to estimate the amount of organic matter dissolved by the filtered snow water.
[170] ‘Journ. Ch. Soc.’
Immediately mixed with the soot were the ferruginous corpuscles observed by Tissandier. These are regarded by the author, in opposition to the opinion of Tissandier, as of terrestrial origin.
SNUFF. Syn. Pulvis tabaci, L.; Tabac en poudre, Fr. A powder, prepared from tobacco, for the purpose of being sniffed up the nose as a stimulant or intoxicant.
The finer kinds of snuff are made from the soft portions of the best description of manufactured leaf-tobacco, separated from the damaged portion; but the ordinary snuffs of the shops are mostly prepared from the coarser and damaged portions, the mid-ribs, stems, or stalky parts that remain from the manufacture of ‘shag tobacco,’ the dust or powder sifted from the bales, and the fragments that are unfit for other purposes.
Prep. The proper material being chosen, and if not in a sufficiently mature state rendered so by further fermentation, they are sufficiently dried by a gentle heat or exposure to the air to admit of being pulverised. This is performed, on the large scale, in a mill, and on the small scale, with a kind of pestle and mortar. During the operation the tobacco is frequently sifted, that it may not be reduced to too fine a powder, and is several times slightly moistened with rose or orange-flower water, or eau d’ange, which are the only liquids fit for the superior kinds of snuff. In preparing the dry snuffs no moisture is used. The scent or other like matters are next added, and, after thorough admixture, the snuff is packed in jars or canisters.
Adult. During the grinding of tobacco it is frequently mixed with dark-coloured rotten wood, various English leaves, colouring, and other matter. Ammonia, hellebore, euphorbium, and powdered glass are common additions to snuffs to increase their pungency. We have seen powdered sal ammoniac sent by the hundredweight at one time to a certain celebrated London tobacconist. The moist kinds of snuff are generally drugged with pearlash, for the triple purpose of keeping them damp and increasing their pungency and colour. The dry snuffs, especially ‘Scotch’ and ‘Welsh,’ are commonly adulterated with quicklime, the particles of which may be occasionally distinguished even by the naked eye. This addition causes their biting and desiccating effect on the pituitary membrane. “We were once severely injured by taking snuff which, after our suspicions were awakened, we found to contain a mixture of red lead and umber.” (Cooley.)
The following circumstance related by Dr Garrod[171] in a lecture at King’s College Hospital leads to the inference that the custom of packing snuff in lead is not free from danger. The doctor says:—A gentleman, a resident in India, began to suffer some time since from nervous exhaustion, anæmia, and debility of both extremities; he was a great snuff taker, taking on an average as much as an ounce in the course of a day. He consulted several medical men in India, and they attributed his symptoms to inordinate snuff taking. He, however, continued to take snuff and to get worse, and at last came to England to seek further advice. When Dr Garrod saw him he discovered a blue line on the gums. His