(Encyclopedia) safety valve, device attached to a boiler or other vessel for automatically relieving the pressure of steam before it becomes great enough to cause bursting. The common spring-loaded…
(Encyclopedia) wandering jew, common name for several creeping plants of the genus Tradescantia (including Zebrina) in the spiderwort family. T. pendula is most commonly cultivated in window boxes…
(Encyclopedia) sorrel tree, common name for a variety of plants, including the Australian hibiscus, Hibiscus heterophyllus, of the mallow family. The staggerbush, Lyoma mariana, and the sourwood,…
(Encyclopedia) strangler fig, common name for a number of tropical plant species, most of them are in the family Moraceae (fig family). They include the golden fig, Ficus aurea, of the SE United…
(Encyclopedia) tallow, solid fat extracted from the tissues and fatty deposits of animals, especially from suet (the fat of cattle and sheep). Pure tallow is white, odorless and tasteless; it…
(Encyclopedia) spectrophotometer, instrument for measuring and comparing the intensities of common spectral lines in the spectra of two different sources of light. See photometry; spectroscope;…
(Encyclopedia) spiderwort, common name for some members of the Commelinaceae, a family of tropical and subtropical succulent herbs found especially in Africa and the Americas. Species of the…
(Encyclopedia) spinel, magnesium aluminum oxide, MgAl2O4, a mineral crystallizing in the isometric system, usually as octahedrons. It occurs as an accessory mineral in basic igneous rocks, in…
(Encyclopedia) broom rape, common name for plants of the Orobanchaceae, the broom rape family. They are parasitic on the roots of other plants; they have small leaves and little or no green color. In…
(Encyclopedia) aukaukôk [key], common name for a member of the family Alcidae (alcid family), swimming and diving birds of the N Atlantic and Pacific, which includes the guillemots and puffins. Their…
