SAVU' ISLANDS, Tim, lie in the Indian Ocean. Pop, 35,000. They are small except Savu, in 121°45' to 122°7' e, long. and 10°25' to 10°36' s. lat.; area 237 sq. miles. It is healthy and moderately fertile, the thermometer ranging from 76° to Str Fakir. by day and 68° to 70° by night. The products are those of the Archipelago, including tobacco and horses, but ships from Timor no longer call for horses. The five rajahs have relations with the Dutch Indian government, whose post-holder resides at Seba, the rajah of which possesses much influence, is a Christian, and has a missionary on the island. There is good anchorage at Seba. The Savunese are of Malay race— brave, and feared by their neighbors. Their religion is a traditionary heathenism, in which the offering of sacrifices of dogs is frequently practiced.
SAW, one of the most important tools used in working timber. It usually consists of along strip of thin steel, with One edge cut into a continuous series of sharp teeth. Not withstanding the great simplicity of the principle upon which the saw is made, it admits of great variation, and modern carpentry has brought into use a great many kinds of saws adapted to different purposes. The most common is the kand-saw in general use. For this the blade is broader at one end than the other, and a wooden handle is fixed to the broader end, without which it could not lie used. This kind of saw is varied by the manner in which the teeth are cut and set, and in the shape and width of the blade, as in annpass or kcy saws for cutting small holes. Other kinds of hand-saws, such as the back-saw and the tenon-saw have straight blades, and the back is guarded and strength ened by a piece of brass or iron bent over it. The bow-saw is used for a variety of pur
poses; the blade, which is always thin, is stretched like a bowstring to an iron frame. The frame-saw, chiefly used in sawpits and mills for cutting timber longitudinally, is similar in shape to the ordinary hand-saw, but much larger, with holes tit each ebd, for fixing it in the frame by which it is moved up and down. For cutting timber trans versely, the cross-erst-saw is used; this differs not only in shape, but in the set of the teeth from other saws. Within the present century, the circular-sew has come into universal use wherever machinery can be had for working it. It is generally so fitted as to he worked under a flat bench; a part only of the blade projecting through a narrow slit cut in the top of the bench. It is made to revolve with great rapidity, and the wood resting on the bench is pushed against the saw in the direction it is intended to be cut The rapididity with which wood is cut by the circular-saw is truly marvel ous. The .riblvm-saw is comparatively a new invention. It consists of a very long band —or web, as it is called—of steel, usually very narrow, and with finely cut teeth. The two ends are joined together so as to form an endless band, which is passed over two revolving drums, one above, and the other below the working bench, through holes in which the saw passes. With this work, the finest patterns open work may he cut out with great ease and rapidity. Numerous other kinds of saws are in use, but these are the chief.