SWITZERLAND 1275 SYMMES plot of ground, and there are no great | Jesuits. The Catholic cantons formed estates or powerful landowners. There is no standing army, but every citizen is obliged to serve as a soldier. Of every 1,000 Swiss, 702 speak German, 226 French, 55 Italian and 17 Romaunsh, a Latin dialect which still lingers in the Grisons. Basel, Bern and Geneva are the centers of the Protestant part of Switzerland. The Alpine region is almost wholly Catholic. Three years schooling is required for every child. The leading universities are those of Basel, Bern and Zürich. The first people of Switzerland were the Helvetii in the northwest, and the Ræthians in the southeast, both of which races were conquered by the Romans, and had parts of their territories settled by Burgundians, Alemanni and Goths. From the 5th to the 7th century, Christianity was adopted. In the early part of the middle ages the country formed part of the German Empire. In the 13th century civil wars broke out, during which many of the towns obtained special rights and charters. The attack of the emperor, Albert I., on the great towns caused the men of the Forest cantons, in 1307, to begin a war against Austria, which gained them freedom in 1315. A league of eight cantons was formed in 1352, followed by other wars with Austria, ending with the famous Swiss victory of Sempach. In 1415 Aargau and Thurgau were conquered from Austria, and Ticino, beyond the Alps, was annexed three years later. In 1476 the battles of Granson and Morat were won from Charles the Bold, and in 1499 the emperor, Maximilian, was defeated in six engagements. Zürich, under the preaching of Zwingli, became a Protestant city in 1523, followed by Bern and other northern cantons. A religious war was waged against the Catholic Forest cantons, in which the Catholics were successful. In the treaty of Westphalia at the end of the thirty years' war in 1648, the European states acknowledged the independence of Switzerland. The French seized Switzerland in 1798, but it recovered its freedom in 1814. Since that time the chief events have been local rebellions and other attempts of the people in the various cantons to get back powers which they had gradually lost to corporations and great families. In 1844 the radical party organized bodies of armed men, called the Free Corps, for the purpose of driving out the in their defense the league called the Sonderbund. After several town revolutions, a majority of the federal diet declared against the Jesuits and the Sonderbund, and waged a successful civil war against the Catholic cantons. The present constitution was chosen in 1848. Population, 2,917,740. See Zschokke's History of Switzerland (English translation). Sword Fish, a class of fishes related to the mackerel. They have a long sharp nose, which gives them their name. The common variety, found from Nova Scotia to New York, is from 12 to 20 feet long, dark blue above, and silver white below, with the sword dark brown. They are swift swimmers and follow the schools of mackerel on which they feed. The flesh is good for food either fresh or salted. Sycamore, the common name in the United States of the plane or buttonwood tree, well-known for its white bark and broad leaves, and round balls. The true sycamore is a species of fig, common in Egypt. The wood is so lasting that it was used for mummy cases. It is the tree mentioned in the Bible. Sydney, a city of Australia, the capital of New South Wales, is on Port Jackson, a bay of the Indian ocean. The city looks like an old English town with some fine public buildings, as the exchange, government house, and the parliament houses, the treasury, the university and two cathedrals. It has several fine parks and a botanical garden of 38 acres. There are four colleges connected with the university, and a free museum, free public library and an observatory. It has a fine harbor, with extensive shipyards and docks, and defended by several forts and batteries. Population, 234,314. Symmes, JOHN CLEVES, an American pioneer, was born on Long Island, in 1742. He obtained from congress in 1788, a grant of 1,000,000 acres along the Ohio, between the two Miami rivers, and a colony from New Jersey made the first settlement on the land, naming the town Losantiville, which was changed by Governor St. Clair to Cincinnati. Symmes City was also founded at North Bend, a few miles below, and for some years was a rival of Cincinnati, until Fort Washington was established at the upper town. Symmes, JOHN CLEVES, nephew of the above, was born in 1780, in New Jer | SYRIA had joined the Carthaginians, was conquered by the Romans. It was burnt by the Saracens in 878, and has been three times nearly destroyed by earthquakes. sey. He was in the war of 1812, and afterwards settled in Newport, Kentucky, where he developed in lectures and writings, his idea that the earth is a hollow globe and can be inhabited. | He died May 28, 1829. Syracuse, a city of New York, is on Onondaga lake, about half way between Albany and Buffalo. It is a handsome city, with broad, shaded streets, and ornamental squares. The state armory, asylum for idiots and one for orphans, a home for aged women, savings bank, court house, etc., are among the fine buildings. The great industry is the manufacture of salt, which has been made in the region since 1654, when the springs were visited by Jesuit missionaries and the salt carried to Quebec. There are a large number of companies engaged in the business, and several millions of bushels of salt are yearly produced. Other manufactures are extension tables, musical instruments, picture frames, mowers and reapers, boots and shoes, hardware and cigars, with Bessemer steel works, blast furnaces, foundries, etc. Syracuse University is on a hill overlooking Lake Onondaga, was found Synagogue, the name of the Jewish house of worship, or church. Synagogues were first established in Judæa, when the country was under the Greek and Persian rule; they were sometimes used for schools. The synagogue has seats and desks on the floor for the men and galleries for the women. There is an ark containing the Hebrew copies of the books of Moses, and a platform for the reader, and a smaller platform for the preacher or lecturer. The congregation must face the east while certain prayers are recited. Modern synagogues have arrangements for a choir and are more like Christian churches. Syracuse, a city, once the largest city of Sicily, its walls being 22 miles around, and its inhabitants numbered anywhere from 500,000 to 1,000,000. It was formed of five towns, and was sometimes called Pentapolis. Ortygia, the first part of Syracuse, was built on a small island, connected with the main-ed land by a causeway. The modern city is fortified, and has palaces, churches, convents, and a fine cathedral, built on the site of the ancient temple of Minerva. There are many ruins of the ancient city-the old theater, cut out of the rocks, with sixty rows of seats, for 24,000 spectators; ancient quarries, 60 to 80 feet deep, sometimes used as prisons, one of them being called "the ear of Dionysius;" a great aqueduct, and extensive catacombs. The fountain of Arethusa, on the island of Ortygia, has been restored by the city. The trade of the city is in wine, brandy, oil, fruits, salt, saltpeter and sulphur. Syracuse was founded by the Corinthians in 734 B. C., and grew rapidly, sending out several colonies. The government was in the hands of a few leading families, and in 487, after a revolution in 486, in which the people had driven them out, they returned, and the despot or "tyrant," Gelon, became master of Syracuse. He was a great ruler and the city prospered under him, as also under the reign of his successor, Hiero. In 466 Thrasy bulus was expelled and the city enjoyed a free government for sixty years, during which it was victorious over Athens. Dionysius restored the "tyranny" and strengthened the city, and overcame Carthage. In 212 B. c. the city, which by the Methodists in 1870, and has three departments, liberal arts, fine arts and medicine. There is a hall of languages, the Holden observatory, and a library building containing Leopold Von Ranke's fine historical collection of books. Syracuse was first settled by an Indian trader in 1787. In 1789, it was called Salt Point, and the manufacture of salt begun by white settlers. The place was soon called Salina, and grew slowly until it was incorporated as a village in 1825. In 1847 Salina and Syracuse, which were rival villages, were united with the name Syracuse. Population, 88,387. Syria, a division of Turkey, lying on the Mediterranean sea, between Asia Minor and Arabia, including about 70,650 square miles. The country is crossed from north to south by a double mountain chain, Lebanon, the highest part, having its summit 10,000 feet above the sea. The valley between the two ranges, Lebanon and Anti-Libanos, is about 2,300 feet above the sea, and was the site of the cities of Heliopolis and Baalbek. This valley separates into two parts, through one of which the Leontes river makes its way to the Mediterranean, and the other descends rapidly to the valley of the Jordan. At the Lake of Tiberias, the valley is 650 feet below the level of the sea, and at the Dead sea, 60 miles below, it is 1,300 feet below sea level. The region around the Dead sea is full of salt, and without vegetation. The coast line of Syria is broken by the bays of Tripoli, Beyrout, Acre and Saida. The Jordan, Litany (Leontes), Asi (Orontes), Barada and Awaj (the Abana and Pharpar of the Bible) are the principal rivers, with the Euphrates on the eastern border. The plains of Esdraelon, Sharon and Gaza are level tracts, and the region around Damascus is a sandy desert in which are the ruins of Palmyra. Iron, quicksilver, coal, salt and bitumen, are the minerals of the country. The climate varies from the cool summers of the slopes of Lebanon, to the tropical heat of the Jordan valley, with a dry season from April to October. In spite of the imperfect methods and ancient implements used in agriculture the crops are large. Wheat, barley, rice, cotton, hemp, indigo, tobacco, are important crops, while all kinds of fruit are grown. Vineyards cover the hills, and forests of cedar and pine the mountains. The horses are very strong and handsome; the broad-tailed sheep is found only here; cattle are small and poor, and wild animals abound in the mountains. The manufactures of the country are unimportant, though the rearing of silk worms is carried on extensively. SYRIA guage of the remnants of the Christian churches of Syria and Asia Minor, though it is practically a dead language to the best educated among them. The oldest book in Syriac still existing is a translation of the Bible, made about 200 a. D. The kingdom of Damascus, which occupied the central part of Syria, was conquered by the Assyrians about 740 B. C. Along the Mediterranean was Phoenicia, with such cities as Tyre and Sidon, the greatest commercial nation of the ancients, but conquered also by the Assyrians. Anakims, Canaanites, Ammonites and Moabites were tribes living beyond the Jordan and in the southwestern parts of Palestine. The entrance of the Israelites into Palestine took place about 1500 or 1300 B. C., and their power lasted 1500 years. A part of the nation, the ten tribes, were taken captive by the Assyrians in 721, the Samaritans found in the country at the time of Christ being descendants of the remnant of the Israelites and the colonists from Babylonia, that took the place of the captives. Judah fell before Nebuchadnezzar, but the people were restored to their land after seventy years of exile, though the country was still governed by Persian rulers. The battle of Issus (333) gave Syria to Alexander the Great, but at his death the country was divided, Egypt holding The people of Syria are of many Palestine and Seleucus Nicator, northraces and sects. The Mohammedans ern Syria, where he built Antioch, for are mostly Arabs, though there is a many centuries one of the greatest of small proportion of Turks, which is the eastern cities. Syria was conquered by ruling race. The Mohammedans, Dru- the Romans about 63 B. C., and ruled by ses, Maronites, Greeks, that is adhe- Roman officers. In the 7th century A. D. rents of the Greek Church, Armenians, it became a part of the Mohammedan Catholics, Protestants and Jews repre- empire, and in the 11th century was in sent the religious divisions. The schools the hands of the Seljuk Turks, whose are carried on mainly by the Greeks, cruel treatment of Christian pilgrims Catholics, and especially by the Prot- led to the crusades. The Christian prinestant missionaries, the college at Bey- ces ruled only a short time, the land rout having been founded by them. The being overrun by the Mamelukes and Syriac language belongs to the Semitic the opposing forces of Tamerlane. Since group, and is an Aramaic dialect. The 1517 it has belonged to the Ottoman ancient Syriac is still the sacred lan-empire. Population about 1,500,500. T TABERNACLE-TACITUS Tabernacle, was the tent first | It was renowned from early times as raised by Moses in the desert as a sign of God's presence among the people. It was divided into the sanctuary proper, which formed the front part, and the holy of holies. A sort of court yard, formed by curtains hung between columns, ran round the tabernacle. The entrance was towards the rising sun, and was shut in by another costly curtain, into which, like the first covering, figures of cherubim were woven. The court was much larger on the eastern side, for here the people gathered to worship. Here also stood the altar, made of acacia wood, on which a fire always burned, and the brazen laver or basin. The sanctuary contained the gilded table holding the showbread, the golden candlestick or rather candelabra, and in the center the golden altar of incense, upon which the high priest burned incense morning and evening. In the holy of holies was kept the ark of the covenant, an acacia wood box, gold-plated and goldlined, in which was kept the two tables of the Ten Commandments. On top of the ark were the two cherubim, and between them the symbolical presence of the Jehovah-the Shechinah. Only once a year, on the Day of Atonement, did the high priest enter the holy of holies, while the sanctuary was the ordinary place of the priests, and the court that of the Levites. The Levites had charge of the tabernacle, carrying it from place to place on the march of the Israelites. The tabernacle was permanently set up in Shiloh, and was probably removed to Nob and thence to Gibeon, from which Solomon seems to have carried it away in order that all the nation might worship at Jerusalem. Tabor, a celebrated mountain of northern Palestine, rising from the plain of Esdraelon to a height of 1,000 feet and commanding the widest and finest view in Palestine. It is thickly clad with forests of oak and other trees. the place of Christ's transfiguration, but it is now believed that at one time a city stood on its summit. In the times of the crusades Tabor was studded with churches and monasteries. Here Deborah and Barak summoned the warriors of Israel before the battle with Sisera. Ten thousand Jews were slain near by in a battle against the Romans in 55 B. C.; and at its foot Napoleon gained a great victory over the Turks. Tabriz (ta-breez'), an old city of Persia, on the Aji river, 40 miles from Lake Urumiah. A ditch and a brick wall with seven gates surround the city. Water, a rare thing in the east, is plentiful. The fine ruin, the "Blue Mosque," is covered in part with arabesqued blue tiles. The citadel is a brick building, whose walls have been cracked by earthquakes. The chief manufactures are leather, silk and gold and silversmithing. Tabriz is on a caravan route, and is a city of business importance, doing a large trade with Russia. Tabriz, the ancient Tauris, became the capital of Armenia in 297 a. D. Zobeida, the wife of Haroun-al-Raschid, greatly enlarged it. It was sacked by Timour in 1392, and after being held by the Turkomans, was taken by the Persians in 1500. The place has often been damaged by earthquakes, that of 1721 causing, it is said, the death of 80,000 persons. Population, 165,000. See Eastwick's Three Years' Residence in Persia. Tacitus (tas'-i-tus), CAIUS CORNELIUS, the Roman historian, was born probably about 55 A. D. He enjoyed the favor of the emperors Vespasian, Titus and Domitian, and married a daughter of Agricola. He held several public offices, became known as an or ator, and became a close friend of the younger Pliny, through the appoint ment of the two to carry on the prose cution of Marius. Eleven of his letters are addressed to Pliny. Tacitus prob TACOMA 1279 TAI-PINGS ably lived for a time after Hadrian | etc., are also sent out. The place is came to the throne. His Life of Agri- strongly fortified and is the main port cola is one of the finest biographies of the sea of Azov. Alexander I. built which has yet been written. His other a beautiful palace and has a monument works are Histories, Annals, Germany, here. Other buildings are the admirand his first and less valuable Dialogue alty, cathedral, and marine hospital. on Orators. These histories are the French and English gunboats damaged most trustworthy sources of the knowl- Taganrog by bombardment in 1855. edge of the times of which they treat, Population, 63,025. and have given their author high rank among the world's historians. Tacoma ( ta - ko' - ma), a city of Washington, is on Puget Sound, at the head of navigation. The sound which is from three to five miles wide, narrows near Tacoma to an inlet less than a mile wide and five miles long. The city is built on a bluff 200 feet high, overlooking the sound, and the Cascade range, with the snowy peaks of Mount Tacoma in the distance. The city was laid out by the Tacoma Land Company, organized by the managers of the Northern Pacific railroad, which bought in 1873 16,000 acres near the little village of Tacoma, consisting of one sawmill and the houses of its workmen. They made it the terminus of their road and have built there two hotels, the last one costing three-quarters of a million of dollars. The salmon fisheries of Puget Sound, the hop fields Puyallup valley, the great forests of. white pine and cedar on the neighboring mountains, and the coal and iron and other minerals of the region, furnish the materials of the large trade of the city. A regular transport service has been established between Tacoma and London, trains laden with hops meeting the steamers at New York. The works of the Tacoma Lumber Company cover 80 acres in the city, and they own 150,000 acres of timber land and 5,000 acres of coal land. The lumber and other products are loaded at the wharves of the city for China, Japan and Australia. There are also large smelting works and wheat elevators. Population, 36,000. Tadolini (tad-o-lee' -nee), ADAMO, an Italian sculptor, born in Bologna in 1789. In 1812 his Dying Ajax gained him a grand prize. The Abduction of Ganymede, A Bachante, and Statue of Washington, are others of his sculptures. He died in 1872. Taganrog, a seaport of south Russia, stands on the north shore of the sea of Azov. It was founded by Peter the Great in 1696. The shallow harbor forces ships to unload into barges half a mile from the quay. Wheat is the chief export, but linseed, skins, wool, Taglioni ( tahl - yo' - nee ), MARIA, perhaps the world's greatest dancer, was born in Stockholm about 1804. Her father was a noted Italian ballet master, and under his guidance she first danced at Vienna in 1822. Five years later Paris went wild over the accomplished ballet girl. She married Count Gilbert de Voisin, and in 1847 left the stage. She died in 1884. Tagus, the largest river of the Spanish peninsula, rises on the frontier of New Castile and Aragon, flows through the Spanish and Portuguese territory, and after a course of 540 miles, falls into the Atlantic by an inlet, at some places five miles broad. Near its source, and also near Toledo, the river runs between rock walls several hundred feet high. The navigable part of the river, 115 miles, is wholly within Portugal. Lisbon and Toledo are on the Tagus. Tailor Bird, a class of birds, having many kinds, which are natives of the East Indies. Their flight is fast and wavy, and they seldom go higher than the lower branches of trees. In making their nests, two leaves at the end of a twig are sewed together, or sometimes the edges of one leaf are sewed up. The holes are made by the bill and fibers are used for thread. The nest is then lined with a cottony substance to receive the eggs. Taine, HIPPOLYTE ADOLPHE, a wellknown French critic, was born at Vouziers, France, April 21, 1828. He studied at the Bourbon College, and in 1864 was made professor of the history and æsthetics of art in the school of arts. One of his first essays was crowned by the French Academy. His most important work is his English Literature, in which he writes of literature on a new plan. This book has been translated into English, and is perhaps the most valuable history of our literature. Died March 5, 1893. Tai-pings, the name given to the Chinese rebels who rose in 1850 and laid waste some of the best provinces of China. The capture of Pekin by French and English troops in 1860, fol |