sales tax Levy imposed on the sale of goods and services. A sales tax on the manufacture, purchase, sale, or consumption of a specific com¬ modity is known as an excise tax. Though excise taxes have been used since ancient times, the general sales tax is a comparatively recent inno¬ vation. Sales taxes are ad valorem taxes, imposed “according to the value” (i.e., monetary value) of the taxable commodity. They are classified according to the levels of business activity at which they are imposed— production, wholesale, or retail. They account for significant portions of the revenue of most U.S. states and Canadian provinces. A variation of the sales tax, the value-added tax, became popular in western European countries and is widely used. Most sales taxes are borne by the consumer, since even where they are levied on production or wholesale goods, part or all of the cost is shifted to the consumer in the form of higher prices. Because the retail sales tax is considered a regressive tax, essential goods such as food, clothing, or drugs are sometimes exempted or taxed at a lower level. See also income tax; progressive tax.
Salesbury \'salz-,ber-e\ A William (b. c. 1520, Cae Du, Llansannan, Denbighshire, Wales—d. c. 1584, Llanrwst) Welsh lexicographer and translator. He spent most of his life at Llanrwst, Wales, following anti¬ quarian, botanical, and literary pursuits. His collection of Welsh proverbs, The Whole Sense of a Welshman’s Head (1546), may be the first book printed in Welsh. Salesbury compiled the first Welsh-English dictionary (1547) and, with Richard Davies, translated the New Testament into Welsh
(1567).
Salgado, Sebastiao (b. Feb. 8, 1944, Aimores, Braz.) Brazilian pho- tojoumalist. He briefly pursued a career as an economist before switch¬ ing his focus to photography in 1971. Over the next decade he photographed stories such as the famine in Niger and the civil war in Mozambique. In 1979 he joined the prestigious Magnum Photos coop¬ erative for photojournalists, and two years later he gained prominence as a result of his photograph of John Hinckley’s attempt to assassinate U.S. Pres. Ronald Reagan. By the mid 1980s Salgado devoted himself almost entirely to long-term projects that told a story through a series of images, often focusing on the homeless and downtrodden. Among his critically acclaimed books of photographs are Other Americas (1986), Workers (1993), and Migrations: Humanity in Transition (2000).
salicylic \,sa-b-'si-lik\ acid White, crystalline solid organic compound used chiefly to make aspirin and other pharmaceutical products, including methyl salicylate (oil of wintergreen, for medicines and flavourings), phe¬ nyl salicylate (for sunburn creams and pill coatings), and salicylanilide (a cutaneous fungicide). Its molecular structure, with the formula C 6 H 4 (OH)COOH, consists of a six-membered aromatic ring (see aromatic compound) having a hydroxyl group (—OH) and a carboxyl group (—COOH) bonded to adjacent carbon atoms; as such, it is both a phenol and a carboxylic acid. It and certain derivatives occur naturally in some plants, particularly species of Spiraea and Salix (willow). Large amounts are used in producing certain dyes.
Salieri \sal-'yer-e\, Antonio (b. Aug. 18, 1750, Legnago, Republic of Venice—d. May 7, 1825, Vienna, Austria) Italian composer. He moved to Vienna in 1766 with the imperial court composer Florian Gassmann (1729-74), and he remained there most of his career. On Gassmann’s death, Salieri became composer and conductor of the Italian opera at the imperial court, and later court kapellmeister (1788). Vienna’s most popu¬ lar - opera composer for much of the last quarter of the 18th century, he had many important students, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schu¬ bert, and Franz Liszt. In addition to his more than 40 operas, he wrote much other secular and sacred music. Though he and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart were rivals, there is no basis to the story that he poisoned Mozart, and it is unlikely that he claimed to have done so.
Salinas \s3-'le-n9s\ City (pop., 2000: 151,060), western California, U.S. Located in the Salinas valley east of Monterey, it was a crossroads on El Camino Real, the old Spanish trail between San Diego and San Francisco. It was settled in 1856 and became a cattle centre. The arrival of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1868 stimulated agricultural development. Salinas was the birthplace of John Steinbeck, who often referred to it in his books, especially in East of Eden.
Salinas \sa-'le-nas\ (de Gortari), Carlos (b. April 3, 1948, Mexico City, Mex.) President of Mexico (1988-94). Son of a Mexican senator, Salinas earned a Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University and held vari¬ ous governmental posts until he was elected president in 1988 by a slim margin; vote fraud was widely charged. He pursued a program of eco¬ nomic retrenchment and privatization, selling off hundreds of inefficient state-owned corporations and spending part of the proceeds on infrastruc¬ ture and social services. In 1991-92 his government co-negotiated the North American Free Trade Agreement. The economic collapse immediately following his term made him the target of bitter criticism. The assassina¬ tion of his party’s nominee as his successor was linked to Salinas’s asso¬ ciates, and Salinas fled to the U.S. and eventually Ireland. His brother Raul, widely suspected of extensive corruption, was convicted in 1999 of complicity in another assassination.
Salinger Vsa-lin-jorV J(erome) D(avid) (b. Jan. 1, 1919, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. writer. He began to publish short stories in periodicals in 1940. After World War II his stories, some based on his army experi¬ ences, appeared increasingly in The New Yorker. His entire literary out¬ put comprises 13 stories and novellas— collected in Nine Stories (1953), Franny and Zooey (1961), and Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters, and Seymour: An Introduction (1963)—and The Catcher in the Rye (1951), a novel of adolescent anguish that won great critical and popular admiration, especially among college students. He retreated into a mys¬ terious seclusion in New Hampshire and ceased to publish.
Salisbury See Harare Salisbury, Earl of See Robert Cecil
Salisbury Vsolz-bo-reV Harrison E(vans) (b. Nov. 14, 1908, Min¬ neapolis, Minn., U.S.—d. July 5, 1993, near Providence, R.I.) U.S. author and journalist. He was a reporter with United Press (1930—48) before join¬ ing The New York Times, where he won a 1955 Pulitzer Prize. He later held editorial positions with the Times, rising to associate editor (1972-74). The first Western journalist to visit Hanoi during the Vietnam War, he wrote eyewitness accounts that contributed to skepticism in the U.S. about the war’s purpose. His 29 books include 10 on Russia and 6 on China.
Salisbury, Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd mar¬ quess of (b. Feb. 3, 1830, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Eng.—d. Aug. 22, 1903, Hatfield) British prime minister (1885-86, 1886-92, 1895-1902). He served in Benjamin Disraeli’s government as secretary for India (1874- 78) and foreign secretary (1878-80), helping to convene the Congress of Berlin. He led the Conservative Party opposition in the House of Lords, then became prime minister on three occasions beginning in 1885, usu¬ ally serving concurrently as foreign secretary. He opposed alliances, main¬ tained strong national interests, and presided over an expansion of Britain’s colonial empire, especially in Africa. He retired in 1902 in favour of his nephew, Arthur James Balfour.
Salishan Vsa-li-shonN languages Family of about 23 North Ameri¬ can Indian languages, spoken or formerly spoken in the Pacific Northwest and adjoining areas of Idaho, Montana, and southern British Columbia. Today Salishan languages are spoken almost exclusively by older adults. They are remarkable for their elaborate consonant inventories and small number of vowels.
saliva Thick, colourless fluid constantly present in the mouth, composed of water, mucus, proteins, mineral salts, and amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starches. One to two litres are produced daily by the salivary glands. Small amounts are continually discharged into the mouth, but the presence, smell, or even thought of food increases flow. Saliva’s main function is to keep the inside of the mouth moist, making speech more fluid, dissolving food molecules for taste, and easing swallowing. It also helps control the body’s water balance, since lack of it stimulates thirst when water intake has been low. Saliva reduces dental caries and infec¬ tion by removing food debris, dead cells, bacteria, and white blood cells.