1690.—"... Souy, the choicest of all Sawces."—Ovington, 397.
1712.—"Hoc legumen in coquinâ Japonicâ utramque replet paginam; ex eo namque conficitur: tum puls Miso dicta, quae ferculis pro consistentiâ, et butyri loco additur, butyrum enim hôc coelô res ignota est; tum Sooju dictum embamma, quod nisi ferculis, certè frictis et assatis omnibus affunditur."—Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. p. 839.
1776.—An elaborate account of the preparation of Soy is given by Thunberg, Travels, E.T. iv. 121-122; and more briefly by Kaempfer on the page quoted above.
[1900.—"Mushrooms shred into small pieces, flavoured with shoyu" (soy).—Mrs. Frazer, A Diplomatist's Wife in Japan, i. 238.]
SPIN, s. An unmarried lady; popular abbreviation of 'Spinster.' [The Port. equivalent soltera (soltiera) was used in a derogatory sense (Gray, note on Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. ii. 128).]
SPONGE-CAKE, s. This well-known form of cake is called throughout Italy pane di Spagna, a fact that suggested to us the possibility that the English name is really a corruption of Spanish-cake. The name in Japan tends to confirm this, and must be our excuse for introducing the term here.
1880.—"There is a cake called kasateira resembling sponge-cake.... It is said to have been introduced by the Spaniards, and that its name is a corruption of Castilla."—Miss Bird's Japan, i. 235.
SPOTTED-DEER, s. Axis maculatus of Gray; [Cervus axis of Blanford (Mammalia, 546)]; Hind. chītal, Skt. chitra, 'spotted.'
1673.—"The same Night we travelled easily to Megatana, using our Fowling-Pieces all the way, being here presented with Rich Game, as Peacocks, Doves, and Pigeons, Chitrels, or Spotted Deer."—Fryer, 71.
[1677.—"Spotted Deare we shall send home, some by ye Europe ships, if they touch here."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 140.]