Chapter LXXII: Part 72
SAFETY LAMP, name of a variety of lamps for safety in coal-mines against "fire-damp," a highly explosive mixture of natural gas apt to accumulate in them; the best known being the "Davey Lamp," invented by Sir Humphrey Davy; the "Geordie," invented by George Stephenson, both of which, however, have been superseded by the Gray, Muesler, Marsant, and other lamps; all are constructed on the principle discovered by Davy and Stephenson, that a flame enveloped in wire gauze of a certain fineness does not ignite "fire-damp."
SAFFI, or ASFI (9), a decayed seaport of Morocco, on the Mediterranean coast, 120 m. NW. of the city of Morocco; has ruins of a castle of the Sultans and of the old Portuguese fortifications; has still a fair export trade in beans, wool, olive-oil, &c.
SAGAR, a low island at the mouth of the Hûgli, a sacred spot and a place of pilgrimage to the Hindus; mostly jungle; sparsely peopled.
SAGAS, a collection of epics in prose embodying the myths and legends of the ancient Scandinavians, originally transmitted from mouth to mouth, and that began to assume a literary form about the 12th century.
SAGASTA, PRAXEDES MATEO, Spanish statesmen of liberal sympathies; took part in the insurrections of 1856 and 1866, and was for some time a fugitive in France; entered Prim's Cabinet, supported the elected King Amadeus, and since his abdication has led the Liberal party; has twice been Prime Minister; _b_. 1827.
SAGHALIEN (12), a long narrow island belonging to Russia, situated close to the E. coast of Siberia, from which it is separated by the so-called Gulf of Tartary; stretches N. from the island of Yezo, a distance of 670 m.; is mountainous and forest-clad in the interior; has excellent coast fisheries, but a cold, damp climate prevents successful agriculture; rich coal-mines exist, and are wrought by 4000 or 5000 convicts. Ceded by Japan to Russia in 1875.
SAGUENAY, a large and picturesque river of Canada; carries off the surplus waters of Lake St. John, replenished by a number of large streams, and issuing a full-bodied stream, flows SE. through magnificent forest and mountain scenery till it falls into the St. Lawrence, 115 m. below Quebec, after a course of 100 m.; is remarkable for its depth, and is navigable by the largest ships.
SAGUNTUM, a town of ancient Spain, was situated where now stands the town of Murviedro, 18 m. NE. of Valencia; famous in history for its memorable siege by Hannibal in 219 B.C., which led to the Second Punic War.
SAHARA, the largest desert region in the world, stretches E. and W. across Northern Africa, from the Atlantic to the valley of the Nile, a distance of 3000 m., and on the N. is limited by the slopes of the Atlas Mountains, and on the S. by the valleys of the Senegal and Niger Rivers. The surface is diversified by long sweeps of undulating sand-dunes, elevated plateaux, hill and mountain ranges (8000 ft. highest) furrowed by dried-up water-courses, and dotted with fertile oases which yield date-palms, oranges, lemons, figs, &c. The most sterile tract is in the W., stretching in a semicircle between Cape Blanco and Fezzan. Rain falls over the greater part at intervals of from two to five years. Temperature will vary from over 100°F. to below freezing-point in 24 hours. There are a number of definite caravan routes connecting Timbuctoo and the Central Soudan with the Niger and coast-lands. Dates and salt are the chief products; the giraffe, wild ass, lion, ostrich, python, &c., are found; it is chiefly inhabited by nomadic and often warlike Moors, Arabs, Berbers, and various negro races. The greater part is within the sphere of French influence. "When the winds waken, and lift and winnow the immensity of sand, the air itself is a dim sand-air, and dim looming through it, the wonderfullest uncertain colonnades of sand-pillars whirl from this side and from that, like so many spinning dervishes, of a hundred feet of stature, and dance their huge Desert waltz there."
SAHARANPUR (59), a town in the North-West Provinces of India, 125 m. N. of Delhi, in a district formerly malarious, but now drained and healthy; the population principally Mohammedans, who have recently built in it a handsome mosque.
SAHIB (i. e. master), used in India when addressing a European gentleman; Mem Sahib to a lady.
SAIGON (16), capital of French Cochin-China, on the river Saigon, one of the delta streams of the Mekhong, 60 m. from the China Sea; is handsomely laid out with boulevards, &c.; has a fine palace, arsenal, botanical and zoological gardens, &c.; Cholon (40), 4 m. SW., forms a busy trading suburb, exporting rice, cotton, salt, hides, &c.
SAINT, a name applied to a holy or sacred person, especially one canonised; in the plural it is the name assumed by the Mormons.
ST. ALBANS (13), an old historic city of Hertfordshire, on an eminence by the Ver, a small stream, which separates it from the site of the ancient Verulamium; has a splendid ancient abbey church, rebuilt in 1077; industries include brewing, straw-plaiting, silk-throwing, &c.; scene of two famous battles (1455 and 1461) during the Wars of the Roses.
ST. ALOYSIUS, Italian marquis, who renounced his title, became a Jesuit, devoted himself to the care of the plague-stricken in Rome; died of it, and was canonised (1568-1591).
ST. ANDREWS (7), a famous city of Fife, occupies a bold site on St. Andrews Bay, 42 m. NE. of Edinburgh; for long the ecclesiastical metropolis of Scotland, and associated with many stirring events in Scottish history; its many interesting ruins include a 12th-century priory, a cathedral, "robbed" in 1559, a castle or bishop's palace built in the 13th century; has a university (St. Salvator's 1521 and St. Leonard's 1537) the first founded in Scotland, and is still an important educational centre, having several excellent schools (Madras College the chief); since the Reformation its trade has gradually dwindled away; fishing is carried on, but it depends a good deal on its large influx of summer visitors, attracted by the splendid golf links and excellent sea-bathing.
SAINT ARNAUD, JACQUES LEROY DE, a noted French marshal, born at Bordeaux; was already a distinguished soldier when he entered actively into the plans of Louis Napoleon to overthrow the Republic; assisted at the _coup d'état_, and was created a marshal in reward; commanded the French forces at the outbreak of the Crimean War, and took part in the battle of the Alma, but died a few days later (1796-1854).
ST. ASAPH (2), a pretty little city in Flintshire, 6 m. SE. of Rhyl; its cathedral, the smallest in the kingdom, was rebuilt after 1284, mainly in the Decorated style.
ST. BEES (1), a village on the Cumberland coast, 4 m. S. of Whitehaven; has a Church of England Theological College, founded in 1816 by Dr. Law, bishop of Chester; designed for students of limited means; a ruined priory church of Henry I.'s time was renovated for the accommodation of the college.
ST. BERNARD, the name of two mountain passes in the Alps: 1, GREAT ST. BERNARD, in the Pennine Alps, leading from Martigny to Aosta, is 8120 ft. high, near the top of which stands a famous hospice, founded in 962, and kept by Augustinian monks, who, with the aid of dogs called of St. Bernard, do noble service in rescuing perishing travellers from the snow; 2, LITTLE ST. BERNARD, in the Graian Alps, crosses the mountains which separate the valleys of Aosta and Tarantaise in Savoy. Hannibal is supposed to have crossed the Alps by this pass.
ST. BRIEUC (16), capital of the dep. of Côtes du Nord, Brittany, on the Gouet, and 2 m. from its mouth; has a 13th-century cathedral, ruins of an interesting tower, lyceum, &c.; at the mouth of the river is the port Le Ligné.
ST. CHRISTOPHER or ST. KITTS (30), one of the Leeward Islands, in the West Indies archipelago, 45 m. NW. of Guadeloupe; a narrow mountainous island, 23 m. long; produces sugar, molasses, rum, &c.; capital is Basse-terre (7).
ST. CLAIR, a river of North America, flowing in a broad navigable stream from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, which in turn pours its surplus waters by means of the Detroit River into Lake Erie.
ST. CLOUD (5), a town in the dep. of Seine-et-Oise, France; occupies an elevated site near the Seine, 10 m. W. of Paris; the fine château, built by Louis XIV.'s brother, the Duke of Orleans, was for long the favourite residence of the Emperor Napoleon, since destroyed; a part of the park is occupied by the Sèvres porcelain factory.
ST. CYR (3), a French village, 2 m. W. of Versailles, where Louis XIV., at the request of Madame de Maintenon, founded an institution for the education of girls of noble birth but poor, which was suppressed at the time of the Revolution, and afterwards converted into a military school by Napoleon.
SAINT-CYR, LAURENT GOUVION, MARQUIS DE, marshal of France, born at Toul; joined the army in 1792, and in six years had risen to the command of the French forces at Rome; fought with distinction in the German and Italian campaigns, and in the Peninsular War; won his marshal's baton during the Russian campaign of 1812; was captured at the capitulation of Dresden in 1813, much to the regret of Napoleon; created a peer after the Restoration, and was for some time Minister of War; wrote some historical works (1764-1830).
ST. DAVIDS (2), an interesting old cathedral town in Pembrokeshire, on the streamlet Alan, and not 2 m. from St. Brides Bay; its cathedral, rebuilt after 1180 in the Transition Norman style, was at one time a famous resort of pilgrims. On the other side of the Alan stand the ruins of Bishop Gower's palace.
ST. DENIS (48), a town of France, on a canal of the same name, 4 m. N. of Paris, noted for its old abbey church, which from the 7th century became the burying-place of the French monarchs. During the Revolution in 1793 the tombs were ruthlessly desecrated; there is also a school for the daughters of officers of the Legion of Honour, founded by Napoleon; manufactures chemicals, printed calicoes, &c.
ST. ELIAS, MOUNT, an isolated, inaccessible volcanic mountain in the extreme NW. of Canada, close to the frontier of Alaska, 18,010 ft. high; has never been scaled.
ST. ELMO'S FIRE. See ELMO'S FIRE, ST.
ST. ÉTIENNE (133), a busy industrial town of France, capital of department of Loire, on the Furens, 36 m. SW. of Lyons; has been called the "Birmingham of France"; is in the centre of a rich coal district, and produces every kind of hardware; the manufacture of ribbons is also an important industry; there is a school of mines.
SAINT-ÉVREMOND, CHARLES MARGUETEL DE SAINT-DENIS, SEIGNEUR DE, a celebrated French wit and author; won distinction as a soldier, and rose to be a field-marshal; his turn for satiric writing got him into trouble, and in 1661 he fled to England, where the rest of his life was spent; wrote charming letters to his friend Ninon de l'Enclos; enjoyed the favour of Charles II., and published satires, essays, comedies, &c., which are distinguished by their polished style and genial irony; was buried in Westminster (1613-1703).
ST. GALL (230), a NE. canton of Switzerland, on the Austrian frontier; its splendid lake and mountain scenery and mineral springs render many of its towns popular holiday resorts; the embroidery of cottons and other textiles is an important industry. ST. GALL (28), the capital, is situated on the Steinach, 53 m. E. of Zurich; is a town of great antiquity, and celebrated in past ages for its monastic schools; its magnificent mediæval cathedral has been restored; the old Benedictine monastery is used now for government purposes, but still contains its famous collection of MSS.; embroidering textiles is the chief industry.
ST. GOTHARD, a noted mountain in the Lepontine Alps, 9850 ft. high, crossed by a pass leading from Lake Lucerne to Lake Maggiore; since 1882 traversed by a railway with a tunnel through from Göschenen to Airolo, a distance of 9¼ m.
ST. HELENA (4), a precipitous cliff-bound island lying well out in the Atlantic, 1200 m. off the W. coast of Africa; belongs to Britain; celebrated as Napoleon Bonaparte's place of imprisonment from 1815 till his death in 1821. Jamestown (2), the capital, is a second-class coaling station for the navy, and is fortified.
ST. HELENS (71), a thriving manufacturing town of Lancashire, on Sankey Brook, a feeder of the Mersey, 21 m. W. by S. of Manchester; is the chief centre of the manufacture of crown, plate, and sheet glass.
ST. HELIER (29), capital of Jersey Island, on St. Aubin Bay, on the S. side; is well fortified by Fort Regent and Elizabeth Castle, on a rocky islet near the shore; has a college, public library, &c.; fishing and shipbuilding are important industries.
ST. IVES, 1, a town in Cornwall, 8 m. N. of Penzance, the inhabitants of which are chiefly engaged in the pilchard fisheries. 2, A town in Huntingdonshire, on the Ouse, 5 m. E. of Huntingdon, where Cromwell lived and Theodore Watts the artist was born.
ST. JAMES'S PALACE, an old, brick-built palace in Pall Mall, London, originally a hospital, converted into a manor by Henry VIII., and became eventually a royal residence. It gives name to the British court.
ST. JOHN, a river of North America, rises in the highlands of North Maine and crosses the continent in an easterly direction and falls into the Bay of Fundy after a course of 450 m., of which 225 m. are in New Brunswick; is navigable for steamers as far as Fredericton.
ST. JOHN (39), embracing the adjacent town of Portland, chief commercial city of New Brunswick, on the estuary of St. John River, 277 m. NW. of Halifax; has an excellent harbour; shipbuilding, fishing, and timber exporting are the chief industries; has a great variety of prosperous manufactures, such as machine and iron works, cotton and woollen factories, &c.; does a good trade with the West Indies.
ST. JOHNS (26), capital of Newfoundland, situated on a splendid harbour on the peninsula or Avalon, in the E. of the island: is the nearest port of America to the continent of Europe; has oil and tan works, &c.
ST. JOSEPH (103), a city of Missouri, on the Missouri River (here spanned by a fine bridge), 110 m. above Kansas City, is an important railway centre; as capital of Buchanan County it possesses a number of State buildings and Roman Catholic colleges; does a large trade in pork-packing, iron goods, &c.
SAINT-JUST, LOUIS FLORELLE DE, a prominent French Revolutionist, born at Decize, near Nevers; as a youth got into disgrace with his family and fled to Paris, where, being bitten already by the ideas of Rousseau, he flung himself heart and soul into the revolutionary movement, became the faithful henchman of Robespierre, and finally followed his master to the guillotine, having in his zeal previously declared "for Revolutionists there is no rest but in the tomb"; "he was a youth of slight stature, with mild mellow voice, enthusiast olive-complexioned, and long black hair" (1767-1794).
ST. KILDA. See KILDA, ST.
ST. LAWRENCE, one of the great rivers of North America; issues in a noble stream from Lake Ontario, and flowing due NE. discharges into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, forming a broad estuary; is 750 m. long and from 1 to 4 m. broad; the scenery in parts is very grand, notably in the expansion--the Lake of the Thousand Isles; is navigable for large steamers as far as Montreal: the Ottawa is its chief tributary; in winter navigation is suspended on account of the ice.
ST. LÓ (10), a town in Normandy, on a rocky eminence 60 m. SE. of Cherbourg; has textile manufactures; was the birthplace of Leverrier.
ST. LOUIS, 1, One of the great commercial cities (575) of the United States, capital of Missouri State; situated on the Mississippi (here spanned by two fine bridges), 21 m. below its confluence with the Missouri; is a handsomely built city, and equipped with every modern convenience, entirely lit by electric light, &c.; has spacious parks, two universities, public libraries, &c.; is a centre for 18 railroads, which with the great river-way enables it to carry on a vast trade in grain, cotton, wool, furs, live stock, &c.; its tobacco manufacture is the greatest in the world. 2, Also capital (17) of the French colony of Senegal, in West Africa.
ST. LUCIA (42), a rocky, forest-clad island in the West Indies, the largest of the Windward group; exports sugar, cocoa, logwood, &c.; capital is Castries (8).
ST. MALO (12), a strongly fortified seaport of France, on the Brittany coast (department of Ille-et-Vilaine), at the mouth of the Ranee; the old town is built over the Rocher d'Auron, an islet connected with the mainland by a causeway 215 yards long; there is a good harbour, and a considerable amount of shipping is done; potatoes, dairy-produce, and some cereals are exported. It was the birthplace of several distinguished French authors and sailors.
ST. MICHAEL'S (126), the largest and most fertile of the Azores, 40 m. long by from 5 m. to 10 m. in breadth; is of volcanic origin; yields cereals, oranges, &c.
ST. MICHAEL'S MOUNT, an islet, forming a precipitous granite mass, in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, connected with the mainland by a low causeway passable only at low tides; a fine old castle crowns its rocky height, and a small fishing village lies sheltered on the northern side.
ST. MICHEL, MONT, a remarkable islet in St. Michel Bay, SW. corner of Normandy, 18 m. W. of Avranches; is formed of a single cone of granite, 242 ft. high, crowned by a historic Benedictine monastery; on the lower slopes is built a little fortified town; a causeway 1 m. long joins it to the mainland.
ST. NAZAIRE (26), a flourishing seaport of France, on the Loire, 40 m. W. of Nantes, where large sums have been expended in improving its spacious docks to accommodate an increasing shipping-trade; its exports, brandy, coal, wheat, &c., are mainly from Nantes and the interior.
ST. NEOTS (4), an old market-town of Huntingdonshire, on the Ouse, 8 m. SW. of Huntingdon; has an interesting old parish church, a corn exchange, and iron and paper works.
ST. NICHOLAS, the patron saint of boys, who was fabled to bring presents to good children on Christmas eve; was bishop of Myra in the 4th century, and had taken a special interest in the young.
ST. OMER (20), a fortified town of France, on the Aa, 26 m. SE. of Calais; has a fine old Gothic cathedral, a ruined Benedictine abbey church, a Catholic college, arsenal, &c.; manufactures embrace light textiles, tobacco pipes, &c.
ST. PAUL (168), capital of Minnesota State, finely situated on the Mississippi, a little below the mouth of the Minnesota River; in 1849 a village of 500 inhabitants; is now a beautiful and spacious city, equipped with colleges, libraries, government buildings, electric street-railways, &c.; is a centre for 10 railways, and carries on a large trade in distributing groceries and dry goods throughout the State.
ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL, at West Kensington, London, a famous charity school founded by JOHN COLET (q. v.), dean of St. Paul's, for children of "every nation, country, and class"; originally stood in St. Paul's Churchyard, but was burned out by the Great Fire of 1666; the present building was opened in 1884. The endowment amounts to £10,000 a year, and 1000 boys and 400 girls are provided with education and board. There are a number of Oxford and Cambridge exhibitions.
ST. PETERSBURG (1,036), capital of Russia, an imposing city, occupying a dreary, isolated site at the head of the Gulf of Finland, on the banks and delta islands (100) of the Neva, founded in 1702 by Peter the Great; a large number of bridges span the main stream and its numerous divisions; massive stone quays hold back the waters, but a rise of 12 ft. floods the city (a yearly occurrence in the poorer parts); the river is ice-bound nearly half the year, and is given over to sleighing, &c.; the short summer is hot; covers nearly 48 sq. m.; its palaces and government buildings for number and grandeur are unsurpassed; Neva View is the finest street in Europe; is the centre of Russian political, literary, scientific, and artistic life; has a university, numerous academies, cathedral, technical and training colleges, and libraries (the Imperial Public Library contains 1,200,000 vols.); connected with the Volga basin by a canal, and the centre of four railways, it is the commercial metropolis and chief port of Russia, and carries on half the foreign trade; exports one-fifth of the corn of Russia, besides flax, linseed, leather, petroleum, &c.; imports coal, machinery, &c.; principal manufactures are cotton goods and other textiles, leather, sugar, porcelain goods, &c.
ST. PIERRE, HENRI BERNARDIN DE, French novelist, born at Havre; an engineer by profession, was a disciple of Rousseau both sentimentally and speculatively; his chief work, "PAUL AND VIRGINIA" (q. v.), shows here as in his other writings, says Professor Saintsbury, "a remarkable faculty of word-painting, and also of influencing the feelings" (1737-1814).
ST. QUENTIN (48), a manufacturing town of France, on the Somme, 95 m. NE. of Paris; manufactures all kinds of cotton and woollen goods, machinery, paper, &c.; has a fine old Gothic church and town-hall; here the French were routed by the Spaniards in 1557, and by the Germans in 1871.
ST. RÉAL, ABBÉ DE, historian, born at Chambéry, where he settled in 1679, and where he died; was historiographer to the Duke of Savoy, and wrote the "History of the Conspiracy of Spain against Venice," a masterpiece of its kind, and modelled on Sallust (1639-1692).
SAINT SAËNS, CHARLES CAMILLE, a French musician, born in Paris; for 19 years organist of the Madeleine; composer of a number of operas (e. g. "Henri VIII.") indifferently successful, and of much orchestral and chamber music of a masterly kind; is held to be one of the greatest of living pianists and organists; also noted for his musical critiques; _b_. 1835.
ST. SIMON, CLAUDE HENRI, COMTE DE, founder of French Socialism, and of a sect called after him St. Simonians, born in Paris, of an old noble family; grand-nephew of the succeeding, but renounced his title and devoted his life and all his means of living to the promotion of his Socialist scheme, reducing himself in the end to utter penury; he made few disciples, though some of them were men of distinction; he is credited by Carlyle with having discovered, "not without amazement, that man is still man, of which forgotten truth," he bids us remark, "he had made a false application"; that is, we presume, by reorganisation from without instead of regeneration from within; his scheme was a reconstruction of society by the abolition of the hereditary principle, and the vesting of the instruments of production in the State and the administration of these for the welfare of all its members (1760-1825).
ST. SIMON, LOUIS DE ROUVROY, DUC DE, French courtier and diplomatist in the reign of Louis XIV.; left "Memoirs" in record of the times he lived in, depicting with remarkable sagacity the manners of the Court and the characters of the courtiers (1676-1755).
ST. SIMONIANS. See ST. SIMON, COMTE DE.
ST. TAMMANY, an American-Indian chief, popularly canonised as a saint, and adopted as the tutelary genius by a section of the democratic party in the States; his motto was "Unite in peace for happiness; in war for defence."
ST. THOMAS, 1, an unhealthy volcanic island (20) in the Gulf of Guinea, belonging to Portugal; produces coffee, cocoa, and some spices; chief town, St. Thomas (3), a port on the NE. 2, One of the Virgin Islands (14), 37 m. E. of Porto Rico; belongs to Denmark; since the abolition of slavery its prosperous sugar trade has entirely departed; capital, St. Thomas (12), is now a coaling-station for steamers.
ST. THOMAS'S, a handsome hospital on the S. side of the Thames, opposite Westminster, founded in 1553, and with an annual revenue of £40,000.
SAINT-VICTOR, PAUL DE, an ornate French writer, born in Paris; from 1851 was engaged in dramatic and other criticism, and established his reputation as a stylist of unusual brilliance. "When I read Saint-Victor I put on blue spectacles," said Lamartine; author of several works on historical and æsthetic subjects (e. g. "Anciens et Modernes," "Hommes et Dieux") was for a number of years General Inspector of Fine Arts (1827-1881).
ST. VINCENT (41), one of the Windward Islands, in the West Indies, 105 m. W. of Barbadoes, belongs to Britain; a coaling and cable station; mountainous and volcanic; warm, but healthy climate; exports sugar, rum, spices, &c.; chief town is Kingston (6), a port on the SW. coast.
ST. VINCENT, CAPE, a lofty and rugged headland in the extreme SW. of Portugal, off which have been fought several naval battles, the most memorable being the great victory on February 14, 1797, when Jervis and Nelson annihilated the Franco-Spanish fleet.
ST. VINCENT, JOHN JERVIS, EARL, a noted English admiral, born at Meaford Hill, Staffordshire; ran away to sea when a boy, and by gallantry at Quebec in 1759 and otherwise rose rapidly in the service; commanded the naval attack upon the French West Indies (1793), and four years later, as admiral of the Mediterranean fleet, shared with Nelson the honours of a brilliant victory over the combined fleets of France and Spain off Cape St. Vincent; was created an earl in reward; during 1801-1804 was a successful First Lord of the Admiralty (1734-1823).
SAINTE-BEUVE, CHARLES AUGUSTIN, the greatest of French literary critics, born at Boulogne-sur-Mer; adopted medicine as a profession in deference to the wishes of his widowed mother, and for some years studied at Paris, but even as a student had begun his career as a literary critic by contributions to the _Globe_ newspaper; in 1827 became acquainted with Victor Hugo, whose commanding influence drew him into the Romantic movement, and determined for him a literary career; a critical work on French poetry in the 16th century (1828), two volumes of mediocre poetry (1829-1830), and a psychological novel, "Volupté" (1834), the fruit of spiritual and mental unrest, preceded his lectures at Lausanne on Port-Royal (1837), which, afterwards elaborated and published, contain some of his finest writings; an appointment in the Mazarin Library, Paris (1840), brought him a modest competence, and allowed him during the next 8 years to contribute without strain or stress to the _Revue des Deux Mondes_; was elected in 1845 to the Academy; three years later lectured for a session at Liège University; during 1849-1869 he contributed a weekly literary article to the _Constitutionnel_; these form his famous "Causeries du Lundi" and "Nouveaux Lundis," which, for variety of human interest, critical insight, and breadth of sympathy, remain unsurpassed; was appointed professor of Latin in the Collège de France (1854), but his unpopularity with the students, owing to his support of Napoleon III., led to his resignation; as a senator in 1865 his popularity revived by his eloquent advocacy of freedom of thought, and on his decease some 10,000 people attended his funeral (1804-1869).
SAINTE-CLAIRE DEVILLE, HENRI ÉTIENNE, a noted French chemist, born in St. Thomas, West Indies; occupied for many years the chair of Chemistry in the Sorbonne, Paris; his important contributions to chemical knowledge include a process for simplifying the extraction of aluminium and platinum (1818-1881).
SAINTES (15), an interesting old town in West France, dep. Charente-Inférieure, on the Charente, 28 m. SE. of Rochefort; known in ancient times as Mediolanum; has some splendid Roman remains, a cathedral, &c.; manufactures copper and iron goods, leather, &c.
SAINTSBURY, GEORGE, literary critic, born at Southampton; graduated at Merton College, Oxford; was engaged in scholastic work for a number of years at Manchester, Guernsey, and Elgin; in 1876 settled in London, and made a reputation for vigorous and scholarly criticism, devoting much of his time to French literature; elected to the Chair of English Literature in Edinburgh University, 1895; is the author of a "Short History of French Literature," a "Short History of English Literature," besides several volumes of essays, &c.; _b_. 1845.
SAÏS, a city of ancient Egypt, on the delta, on the right bank of the W. branch of the Nile; gave name to two Egyptian dynasties founded by natives of it, was a religious centre, and eventually for a time capital, the temple of which was said to contain a veiled statue which became a subject of legend.
SAIVAS, in the Hindu religion the worshippers of Siva, one of the two great sections of the Hindus, the worshippers of Vishnu being the other.
SAKI, a beer of alcoholic quality made in Japan from rice by fermentation. It is drunk hot at meals, and is in a small way intoxicating.
SAKUNTALA, in Hindu mythology a benignant female character, made the subject of a famous drama of KÁLIDÁSA (q. v.), translated in 1789 by Sir William Jones.
SAKYAMUNI (i. e. the solitary of the Sakyas), the name given to Buddha, one of the tribe of the Sakyas in Northern India.
SALA, GEORGE AUGUSTUS, a well-known journalist, born in London, of Italian and English parentage; had some training in art before he began writing for Dickens's _Household Words_, &c.; lived a busy, rambling life; founded and edited _Temple Bar;_ acted as war-correspondent for the _Daily Telegraph_; author of several popular novels, "Captain Dangerous" and "Quite Alone" among them, and books of travel, "A Trip to Barbary" and "America Revisited" (1828-1895).
SALAAM, an Oriental term of salutation meaning "Peace," especially among the Mohammedans.
SALADIN, sultan of Egypt and Syria, the hero of the third crusade on the Saracen side; a man of noble and chivalrous character; served first as a soldier under Nureddin; rose to be vizier of Egypt, and ultimately sovereign in 1174; distinguished himself by the capture of Damascus, Aleppo, &c., and entering the Holy Land defeated the Christians at Tiberias, thereafter taking Jerusalem and laying siege to Tyre; found in Richard Coeur de Lion a foeman worthy of his steel, concluded a truce in 1192, and died the year after (1137-1193).
SALAMANCA (22), an interesting old city of Spain, capital of a province of the same name, occupies a hilly site on the Tormes, here spanned by a Roman bridge, 110 m. NW. of Madrid, long famous for its university, which in its heyday (16th century) numbered 8000 students, now fallen to 400; holds within its surrounding walls many fine old cathedrals, colleges, and other buildings; its industries are greatly fallen off, and consist mainly of cloth, linen, leather, and pottery manufacturing; in this neighbourhood Wellington won a great victory over the French on July 22, 1812.
SALAMANDER, an elemental spirit conceived in the Middle Ages as an animal that lived in the fire as its proper element.
SALAMIS, a mountainous island of Greece, on the NW. coast of Attica, the strait between which and the mainland was the scene of a naval victory over the armament of Xerxes by the combined fleets of Athens, Sparta, and Corinth in 480 B.C.
SALDANHA OLIVEIRA E DAUN JOÃO CARLOS, DUKE OF, Portuguese statesman and soldier, played an honourable and patriotic part in many wars and crises of his country, notably in Brazil in the struggle between Dom Pedro and Dom Miguel, and during his occupancy of the Premiership on three several occasions between 1846-70; proved a mild constitutionalist, and enjoyed the confidence and support of England; was created a duke in 1846 (1790-1876).
SALE, GEORGE, Orientalist, born in Kent, and bred for the bar, contributed to the "Universal History" and the "General Dictionary," but is best known as the translator of the "Korân," with a preliminary dissertation and notes; he left a body of MSS. behind him (1690-1736).
SALE, SIR ROBERT HENRY, British general; saw a great deal of fighting; was distinguished in the Burmese War of 1824-25, and in the war against Afghanistan in 1834, in both of which he was wounded, and afterwards in the latter country during 1841-42; he was killed at the battle of Mudki fighting against the Sikhs (1782-1865).
SALEM, 1, a city (36) and seaport of the United States, founded in 1626 on a peninsula in Massachusetts Bay, 15 m. NE. of Boston; its foreign trade has fallen away, but a good coasting trade is done in ice and coal; manufactures include cottons, jutes, shoes, &c. 2, Capital (5) of Oregon, on the Willamette River, 720 m. N. of San Francisco.
SALERNO (22), a city of South Italy, on a gulf of the name, 33 m. SE. of Naples; has some fine Gothic buildings, notably the cathedral of St. Matthew; had a European fame in the Middle Ages for its medical school and university, closed in 1817; cotton-spinning is the chief industry; in the neighbourhood are the ruins of Pæstum and an old Norman castle.
SALETTE, LA, a French village amid Alpine scenery, 28 m. SE. of Grenoble; has become a place of pilgrimage, since the alleged appearance of the Virgin to two peasant children on 19th September 1846.
SALFORD (198), a suburb of Manchester, with cotton factories and iron-works, and with Manchester forms the second largest city in England.
SALIC LAW, a law which obtained among the Salian Franks, as also in certain German States, which excluded females from succession to the throne.
SALICYLIC ACID, produced in commercial quantities from carbolic acid; is a white crystalline powder, soluble in water, odourless, of a sweetish acid taste; largely used as an external antiseptic, and internally in the form of salicylate of sodium as a febrifuge and cure for acute rheumatism.
SALISBURY (17), a cathedral city, and capital of Wiltshire, 84 m. WSW. of London; the cathedral, founded in 1225, and frequently added to and restored, is one of the finest specimens of Early English architecture; has a number of other interesting old buildings--churches, almshouses, inns, an endowed school, &c.; agriculture is the staple industry; also called New Sarum, and a mile to the N. is the half-obliterated site of Old Sarum, with many interesting historical associations; while round the neighbourhood sweeps the wide, undulating, pastoral Salisbury Plain, with its Druidical circle of STONEHENGE (q. v.).
SALISBURY, ROBERT ARTHUR TALBOT GASCOIGNE CECIL, MARQUIS OF, statesman, educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford; as Lord Cecil, represented Stamford in Parliament in 1853; was, as Lord Cranborne, Secretary for India in 1866 under Lord Derby; entered the House of Lords as Lord Salisbury in 1867, and distinguished himself as foremost in debate; became Secretary for India under Disraeli in 1874, and Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1881, in which latter year he, on the death of Beaconsfield, became leader of the Conservative party; after this he was three times raised to the Premiership, the last time on Lord Roseberys retirement in 1890, by coalition with the LIBERAL UNIONISTS (q. v.); was at one time a contributor to the _Saturday Review_, and is interested in scientific pursuits, chemistry in particular; _b_. 1830.
SALLUST, Roman historian, born at Amiternum, in the territory of the Sabines, and attained the quæstorship and the tribunate, though a plebeian; for a misdemeanour was expelled the Senate; joined Cæsar's party in the Civil War, and became governor of Numidia; enriched himself by extortions, and returned to Rome a rich man, and gave himself to literature; wrote the "Catiline Conspiracy," and the "War with Jugurtha," among other works, in a terse and forcible style, and was the precursor of Livy and Tacitus; as a writer he affects the moralist, though he lived in vice (86-35 B.C.).
SALMASIUS, eminent French scholar, learned in Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and other languages; succeeded Scaliger at Leyden, and associated with Casaubon, Grotius, and other scholars; embraced Protestantism; wrote a number of learned works, but his "Defence of Charles I." proved a failure, and provoked from Milton a crushing reply; died a disappointed man, though he refused to sell his literary talent for money, when Richelieu tried hard to bribe him (1588-1653).
SALMON, GEORGE, mathematician and divine, born in Dublin, and there in 1839 graduated with mathematical honours at Trinity College; became a Fellow, entered the Church, and in 1866 was elected regius professor of Divinity, becoming provost of the college in 1888; has carried on with eminent success his dual studies, mathematics and theology, and has published some notable works in both sciences, e. g. in theology, "Non-Miraculous Christianity," "Gnosticism and Agnosticism," a scholarly and popular "Introduction to the New Testament," and in mathematics "Analytic Geometry," "The Higher Plane Curves," &c. _b_. 1819.
SALOMON, JOHANN PETER, a violinist and composer, born at Bonn; was in his youth attached, to the court of Prince Henry of Prussia, at which time he wrote some operas; came to London, and is remembered for the great stimulus he gave to musical culture, and especially the study of Haydn in England by his Philharmonic Concerts (1790) and production of that great master's symphonies; composed songs, glees, violin pieces, &c.; buried in Westminster Abbey (1745-1815).
SALONICA or SALONIKI (122), the Thessalonica of the Scriptures, the second port and city of Turkey in Europe; occupies a bold and rocky site at the head of the Gulf of Salonica, 370 m. SW. of Constantinople; is surrounded by walls, is well laid out, drained, &c.; contains many fine old mosques; has an increasing commerce, exporting corn, cotton, opium, wool, &c.; founded in 315 B.C., and has ever since been a place of considerable importance.
SALSETTE (108), an island N. of Bombay, and connected with it by a causeway, with richly cultivated fields and rock temples among other ruins.
SALT, SIR TITUS, English manufacturer, born near Leeds; introduced the manufacture of alpaca, planted his factory at Saltaire, near Leeds, which he made a model village for his workers as a philanthropic employer of labour (1803-1876).
SALT LAKE CITY (53), the capital of Utah, a high-lying city and stronghold of Mormonism, 11 m. from Great Salt Lake; contains the Mormon temple, which it took 40 years to build, and it has besides many fine churches, and the university of Deseret.
SALT RANGE, a tract of lofty tableland buttressed on either side by mountain ranges 3000 to 5000 ft. high, and stretching across the Punjab E. and W., between Jhelum and Indus Rivers; derives its name from the remarkably rich deposits of rock-salt, which are extensively worked.
SALTS, in chemistry an important class of compound substances formed by the union of an acid with a metal or a base, that is, a substance having, like a metal, the power of replacing in part or in whole the hydrogen of the acid employed.
SALTUS, EDGAR, an interesting American writer, born in New York; a busy writer in fiction, biography (Balzac), and philosophy, e. g. "The Philosophy of Disenchantment" and "The Anatomy of Negation," studies in a somewhat cheerful pessimism; _b_. 1858.
SALVADOR (780), the smallest but the most densely populated of the republics of Central America, about one-sixth the size of England and Wales; has a western foreshore between Guatemala (N.) and Nicaragua (S.), fronting the Pacific for 140 m.; slopes up from rich alluvial coast-lands to high plateaus, which stretch, seamed and broken by rivers and volcanoes, to the Cordillera frontier of Honduras on the E.; soil is extremely fertile and naturally irrigated by numerous streams, and produces in abundance coffee and indigo (chief exports), balsam, tobacco, sugar, cereals, &c.; has a warm, healthy climate. The natives are chiefly Indians of Aztec descent, but speaking Spanish. The government is vested in a president and chamber of deputies. Education is free and compulsory. Broke away from Spanish control in 1821; was a member of the Central American Confederacy, but since 1853 has enjoyed complete independence. Capital, SAN SALVADOR (q. v.).
SALVATION ARMY, a modern religious organisation and propaganda, remarkable alike for its novel methods and phenomenal expansion; assumed its present quasi-military form in 1878, but is in reality the outgrowth of a mission founded in London in 1865 by the Rev. WILLIAM BOOTH (q. v.), and nobly furthered by his wife. It is in essence a protest against the older conventional methods of propagating the Christian religion, and would seem by its remarkable success to have ministered to some latent and wide-spread need among the poorer classes. In 1895 it numbered 500,000 enrolled soldiers, 25,126 local officers, and 11,740 officers; these are spread over 35 countries. The members assume semi-military attire, march through the streets to the sound of musical instruments, displaying banners; but while these and other sensational devices bring its purposes home to the hearts of the people, its vitality rests upon the real spiritual devotion and self-sacrifice of its members. Various agencies of a more directly philanthropic kind (homes of rest, rescues, workshops, farms, etc.) have become attached to it, and are generously supported by the public. Funds are raised by means of the _War Cry_ and other periodicals.
SALVINI, TOMMASO, a celebrated Italian tragedian, born, the son of an actor, at Milan; was trained to the stage, and joined Ristori's company; served with distinction in the revolutionary war of 1849, and returning to the stage won for himself a European fame, appearing in France, Spain, United States, England, &c.; achieved his greatest success in "Othello"; retired after 1884, and published "Leaves from My Autobiography"; _b_. 1830.
SALWEEN, a river of Asia whose source is still uncertain; forms in its lower part the boundary between Siam and British Burma, and falls into the Gulf of Martaban; its upper course traverses the northern Shan district; only 80 m. of it are navigable.
SALZBURG (174), a western province and duchy of Austria, borders on Bavaria between the Tyrol and Upper Austria; is woody and mountainous, especially in the S., where fine scenery is formed by the Alps; excellent meadowland favours a prosperous industry in the rearing of cattle and horses. The inhabitants, being Protestants, were severely persecuted by the Church, and 30,000 of them emigrated in 1730, and on the invitation of Frederick William of Prussia settled in Lithuania, that had been desolated by plague. Salzburg (28), the capital, occupies a fine site on the hill-girt banks of the Salzach (crossed by 3 bridges), 80 m. E. by S. of Münich; is a handsome and interesting city, with many fine old buildings, including a cathedral, archbishop's palace, imperial palace, monasteries, &c.; has a theological college, libraries, &c.; birthplace of Mozart; manufactures musical instruments, &c.
SALZKAMMERGUT (18), a beautiful mountain district of Austria, between Salzburg (W.) and Styria (E.); salt mines and springs give a rich yield of salt.
SAM SLICK. See SLICK.
SAM WELLER. See WELLER.
SAMARCAND (33), a city of West Turkestan, situated at the western base of the Tian-Shan Mountains, 130 m. SE. of Bokhara. Suffered at the hands of Genghis Khan in the 13th century; was Timur's capital in the 14th century, and has since been held sacred by the Moslems. Captured by the Russians in 1868, who have improved it, and built a handsome suburb on the west. Manufactures silk, cotton, paper, &c.
SAMARIA, a city of a district of the name between Judea and Galilee in the Holy Land, and which became the capital of the North Kingdom of Israel after the revolt from the Southern; was desolated by the hosts of Assyria in 720 B.C., and repeopled afterwards by Assyrian settlers, who were converted to the Jewish faith, and ministered to by a Jewish priest; when the Jews rebuilt the Temple of Jerusalem, the Samaritans' offer to aid was rejected, and the refusal led to a bitter hostility between the Jews and Samaritans ever after.
SAMARITAN PENTATEUCH, a version of the Pentateuch in use among the Samaritans, and alone accepted by them as canonical. It is of value from its independence of other versions.
SAMARITANS. See SAMARIA.
SAMAVEDA, the section of the Veda that contains the chants, intended for singers.
SAMIAN SAGE, name given to Pythagoras as a native of Samos.
SAMNITES, a warlike people of ancient Italy in territory SE. of Rome; gave the Romans much trouble till, after two successive wars in 343 and 327 B.C., they were subdued in 290 B.C. A revolt in 90 B.C. led to their extermination as an nation.
SAMOA, or NAVIGATORS' ISLANDS (36), a group of 14 volcanic islands in the W. Pacific, of which three alone are of any size--Savaii, Upolu, and Tutuila; all are mountainous and richly wooded; climate is moist and warm; copra is the chief export, and cotton, coffee, tobacco, &c., are grown; the natives, a vigorous Polynesian race, have been Christianised; the islands are under the joint suzerainty of Britain, Germany, and the United States; the chief town of the group is Apia (2), at the head of a pretty bay in Upolu; near here R. Louis Stevenson spent the last five years of his life.
SAMOS, a fertile island in the Ægean Sea, about 30 m. long and 8 wide, separated from the coast of Ionia, three-quarters of a mile wide; had an extensive trade with Egypt and Crete; came through various fortunes under the chief Powers of ancient and mediæval Europe till it became subject to Turkey; had a capital of the same name, which in the fifth century B.C. was one of the finest cities in the world.
SAMOTHRACE, a mountainous, bleak island in the Ægean Sea, NW. of the mouth of the Dardanelles; has only one village of 2000 inhabitants; was in ancient times place of CABIRI WORSHIP (q. v.).
SAMOYEDES, a people of the Mongolian race, occupying the N. shores of Russia and Siberia from the White Sea to the Yenisei; live by hunting and fishing, and are idol-worshippers; they are fast disappearing.
SAMPSON, DOMINIE, a character in Scott's "Guy Mannering."
SAMSON, ranked as judge of Israel, but the story of his life is as of a Jewish hero, distinguished for his feats of strength; employed in the service of his country against the Philistines.
SAMSON AGONISTES, the strong man of a nation or race caught in the net of his and their enemies, and, encompassed by them, wrestling in his soul's agony to free himself from them; the imagery here being suggested by the story of Samson in the hands of the Philistines.
SAMUEL, a Jewish prophet, born, of the tribe of Levi, about 1155 B.C.; consecrated by his mother from earliest years to the service of the Lord; who became a judge when he was 40, anointed first Saul and then David to be king over the till then disunited tribes of Israel, and thus became the founder of the Jewish monarchy.
SAMUEL, BOOKS OF, two books of the Old Testament, originally one, and divided in the Septuagint into two, entitled respectively the First and Second Books of Kings; the narrative embraces a period of 125 years, and extends from the time of the Judges to the close of the reign of David, including the intermediate judgeship of Samuel and the reign of Saul, with the view of exalting the prophetic office on the one hand and the kingly office on the other.
SAN ANTONIO (53), the second city of Texas, of Spanish origin, on a river of the name, 80 m. W. of Austin; has a Catholic college, cathedral, arsenal, &c.; does a good trade in the produce of a fertile neighbourhood, and manufactures flour, leather, beer, &c.
SAN DIEGO (16), a thriving port in S. California, situated on a handsome bay of the same name, 124 m. SE. of Los Angeles; wool is the chief export.
SAN DOMINGO (25), capital of the Dominican Republic, a fortified port on the S. coast of Hayti; has a 16th-century Gothic cathedral, college, hospital, &c.; founded by Columbus.
SAN FRANCISCO (342), capital of California, and commercial metropolis of the W. coast of America; occupies the NE. corner of a tongue of land stretching between the Pacific and San Francisco Bay, which, with San Pablo Bay and Suisun Bay--extensions to the N.--forms a handsome land-locked sheet of water 65 m. long, communicating with the ocean by Golden Gate Strait; has practically sprung into existence since the discovery of gold in 1847, and is now a spacious and evenly laid-out city, with every modern convenience--electric light, cable tramways, &c.; many of the dwelling-houses are of wood, but marble and granite give dignity to Government buildings, hotels, theatres, &c.; there is a remarkable number of religious sects; has a fine park, many free schools, a number of colleges, and a university; as the western terminus of the great continental railroads and outlet for the produce of a rich wheat district it has a large shipping trade; important industries are shipbuilding, whale-fishing, sugar-refining, iron-works, &c.
SAN JOSÉ (18), a city of California, and capital of Santa Clara county, on the Guadalupe River, 50 m. SE. of San Francisco; has a couple of Catholic colleges, a Methodist university, pretty orchards, &c.; fruit-canning and the manufacture of flour and woollen goods are the chief industries. The name also of small towns in Guatemala, Lower California, and Uruguay.
SAN JOSÉ (19), capital of Costa Rica, situated on a fertile and elevated plain between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific; grain, the vine, and many fruits are grown in the neighbourhood; flour-milling and distilling (Government works) are the principal town industries; there is a university.
SAN JUAN (125), a mountainous province of the Argentine Republic, on the Chilian border; is rich in metals, but, save coal, not worked; agriculture is the chief industry. San Juan (12), on a river of the same name, is the capital, lies 98 m. N. of Mendoza; has public baths, a bull-ring, library, &c.; exports cattle and fodder, chiefly to Chile. The name of numerous other towns in different parts of Spanish South America.
SAN MARINO (8), a little republic of Europe which has maintained its independence since the 4th century; comprises a town (same name) and several villages occupying rocky and elevated sites on the eastern slopes of the Apennines; some agriculture and cattle-rearing are done; is under the friendly protection of Italy.
SAN REMO (12), a town in Northern Italy, on a bay in the Gulf of Genoa, in the Riviera, 26 m. NE. of Nice; is sheltered by a semicircle of hills, and from its mild climate is a favourite winter resort; trades in olive-oil, palms, and lemons.
SAN SALVADOR (20), capital of SALVADOR (q. v.), situated on a fertile and elevated plain at the base of an extinct volcano; has suffered frequently and severely from earthquakes, and after the disaster of 1854 a new town, Nueva San Salvador, was built 12 m. to the SW., only to suffer a similar fate.
SAN SEBASTIAN (30), a fortified seaport of North Spain, on a small peninsula jutting into the Bay of Biscay, 10 m. from the French frontier; is guarded by a strong citadel, and since its bombardment by Wellington in 1813 has been spaciously rebuilt; has a beautiful foreshore, and is a favourite watering-place; has a fair export trade.
SAN STEFANO, a Turkish village, a few miles W. of Constantinople, where a preliminary treaty was signed between Turkey and Russia after the war of 1877-78.
SANCHEZ, THOMAS, a Spanish casuist, born at Cordova; author of a treatise on the "Sacrament of Marriage," rendered notorious from the sarcastic treatment it received at the hands of Pascal and Voltaire (1550-1610).
SANCHO PANZA, the immortal squire of Don Quixote. See PANZA, SANCHO.
SANCHONIATHON, a Phoenician historian of uncertain date; author of a history of Phoenicia, of which only a few fragments remain, and that of a translation into Greek; he is supposed to have lived in the time of Semiramus.
SANCROFT, WILLIAM, an English prelate, born in Suffolk; rose through a succession of preferments to be Archbishop of Canterbury; was with six other bishops committed to the Tower for petitioning against James II.'s second Declaration of Indulgence; refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and was driven from his post, after which he retired to his native place (1616-1693).
SAND, GEORGE, the assumed name of Aurore Dupin, notable French novelist, born in Paris; married Baron Dudevant, a man of means, but with no literary sympathies; became the mother of two children, and after nine years effected a separation from him (1831) and went to Paris to push her way in literature, and involved herself in some unhappy _liaisons_, notably with ALFRED DE MUSSET (q. v.) and Chopin; after 1848 she experienced a sharp revulsion from this Bohemian life, and her last twenty-five years were spent in the quiet "Châtelaine of Nohant" (inherited) in never-ceasing literary activity, and in entertaining the many eminent _littérateurs_ of all countries who visited her; her voluminous works reflect the strange shifts of her life; "Indiana," "Lélia," and other novels reveal the tumult and revolt that mark her early years in Paris; "Consuelo," "Spiridion," &c., show her engaged with political, philosophical, and religious speculation; "Elle et Lui" and "Lucrezia Floriani" are the outcome of her relations with Musset and Chopin; the calm of her later years is reflected in "La Petite Fadette," "François le Champi," and other charming studies of rustic life; her "Histoire de ma Vie" and posthumous letters also deserve notice; her work is characterised by a richly flowing style, an exuberant imagination, and is throughout full of true colour and vivid emotion (1804-1876).
SANDEAU, LÉONARD JULES, French novelist, born at Aubusson; gave up law for literature; was George Sands first "friend" in Paris, and wrote with her "Rose et Blanche"; contributed to the _Revue des Deux Mondes_; wrote many novels and plays, and was elected to the Academy (1858), and during his later life held the librarianship at St. Cloud (1811-1883).
SANDEMANIANS. See GLASSITES.
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The Nuttall encyclopædiaChapter LXXII: Part 72
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