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of organization" of the proposed operations | the judgment of two or more arbiters of ununder the 9th section, which was adopted, and questionable competence and impartiality. The still constitutes the basis of management. He volumes thus far issued form a series for the suggested that men of talent and erudition publication of which no learned society in this should be afforded the means of conducting country possessed the means, and which have researches, and stimulated to exertion through only been equalled by foreign societies when facilities of publication and occasional com- aided by their governments. They have been pensation; and for its diffusion, the publica- distributed gratuitously among all the importion of such works as, while adding materially tant libraries and learned associations of the to the sum of human knowledge, would not world, and have afforded the means of obtainfind a remunerative sale in the ordinary chan- ing by exchange those invaluable sets of the nels of trade. He insisted that it ought to be "Transactions" of foreign learned societies, a rule of the institution to do nothing which not otherwise to be found in this country. can be equally well done by any organization The "Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections," or instrumentality already in action. The re- an occasional series comprising meteorological sults are as follows: 1. Researches. The claims and physical tables, treatises on subjects of of different classes of scientific research to the practical or scientific interest, and manuals for countenance and aid of the institution have the collection and preservation of objects of always been pressing and difficult of adjudica- natural history, as well as methods for various tion; yet a preference has been given to those physical observations. This series includes 12 of widest influence and benefit to the race. octavo volumes. 3d. The "Annual Reports" Ethnology was believed to be one of these, to congress, which, besides a popular analysis and a valuable and expensive memoir on the of the memoirs to be contained in the sevarchæology of the Indian tribes was the first eral forthcoming volumes of the "Contributo receive assistance. In connection with this, tions," are accompanied by a synopsis of lecaid was extended to the compilation of a Da- tures and original or translated articles, which kota grammar and dictionary, and a grammar introduce the student to information and topics of the Yoruba language. The circulation of of discussion much above the range of those these has led to other researches in ethnol- usually presented even to the educated public. ogy and kindred branches of science, some These are printed at the expense of congress, of which are receiving or will receive assis- and are circulated through the members of tance. Astronomy has also engaged the ear- both houses, as well as by the institution itnest and continued efforts of the institution self. 3. Exchanges. The institution now acts for its promotion theoretically and practically, as the principal, and is gradually becoming the and pecuniary assistance has been furnished exclusive means of communication between to expeditions undertaken with a view to as- the literary and scientific associations of the tronomical and other observations. It has not old and the new world. 4. Scientific Correonly furnished instruments for physical obser- spondence. The correspondence of the Smithvation to expeditions, but in most cases has sonian institution with all quarters of the defrayed the expense of the reduction and globe is vast and constantly increasing. Alpublication of the results. In meteorology it most every day brings narratives of real or had for many years 500 regular observers scat- supposed discoveries which are referred to the tered over every part of the continent, and institution, inquiries on scientific topics of all accumulated data through this and other mea- kinds, or unusual phenomena, &c. These letsures steadily and systematically pursued for ters are all answered.-In 1865 a residuary developing the laws which govern the phe- legacy of Smithson was received, amounting nomena of the weather. In accordance with to $26,210 63; and in 1874 a bequest of $1,000 the plan of cooperation adopted, this sys- from James Hamilton of Carlisle, Pa. With tem has been transferred to the United States these, and savings of income and increased signal service. The natural history, geogra- value of investments, the total permanent phy, climatology, geology, mineralogy, bot- Smithson fund in the United States treasury, any, and archæology of this continent have drawing interest at 6 per cent. in gold, now through its aid received a greater impulse, and amounts to $651,000. There are besides demore material has been collected for increas- preciated investments valued in January, 1875, ing and diffusing the knowledge of them than at $35,000, which with a cash balance on hand through all other instrumentalities during the of $15,909 99 made the total resources at that national existence. 2. Publications. These time $701,909 99. are of three classes. 1st. "The Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge," comprised up to 1875 in 20 large quarto volumes, and in many cases expensively illustrated. No memoir is admitted into this series which rests on unverified hypothesis, or which does not offer some positive addition to the sum of existing knowledge; and the pretensions of each in this respect are decided by submission to

SMOKE TREE. See SUMACH.

SMOLENSK. I. A W. government of Russia, bordering on Tver, Moscow, Kaluga, Orel, Tchernigov, Mohilev, Vitebsk, and Pskov; area, 21,637 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 1,140,015. The surface is an elevated undulating plain, broken occasionally by low hills. The chief rivers are the Dnieper and Desna. It is interspersed with numerous small lakes and morasses; and there

are immense forests of excellent timber, which | a liberal reward from her. He now resumed abound with game. The soil is generally pro

ductive. Great numbers of cattle and of the celebrated Lithuanian horses are raised. Much attention is given to raising bees, and honey and wax form important articles of export. Iron, copper, and salt are found. Linen and woollen goods are manufactured, and fine carpets are exported. II. A city, capital of the government, on both sides of the Dnieper, 230 m. W. S. W. of Moscow; pop. in 1867, 22,977. It is considered the key to Moscow, and is strongly walled and fortified. It is the seat of a bishop, and has a remarkable cathedral and more than 20 other Greek churches. Its manufactures consist chiefly of linen and woollen cloths, leather, hats, and soap. It was important in the 9th century, and was long independent under its own princes. The Tartars, Lithuanians, and Russians afterward held it successively; and in the 16th and 17th centuries it was the scene of conflicts between the Poles and Russians, often changing masters, but finally taken by the latter in 1654. On Aug. 17, 1812, was fought the battle of Smolensk, between the French and the Russians. In the night the Russians abandoned the town, and on the morning of Aug. 18 it was occupied by the French, who next marched upon Moscow, leaving most of Smolensk in ashes. The town was subsequently rebuilt and greatly embellished.

SMOLLETT, Tobias George, a British author, born in Dalquhurn house, parish of Cardross, Dumbartonshire, in 1721, died at Monte Nero, near Leghorn, Oct. 21, 1771. He was educated at the grammar school of Dumbarton and at the university of Glasgow, and was apprenticed to a medical practitioner. When his apprenticeship expired, in his 19th year, he set out for London, carrying with him a tragedy entitled "The Regicide," which he vainly attempted to produce on the stage. Thwarted in his purpose, he accepted in 1741 the post of surgeon's mate on an 80-gun ship, and sailed on the disastrous expedition against Cartagena, which he has described in "Roderick Random,' and with more detail in the "Compendium of Voyages." He left the navy at Jamaica, and while there became acquainted with Anne Lascelles, whom he married in 1747. Returning to England in 1746, after the battle of Culloden, he produced anonymously "The Tears of Scotland," an ode lamenting the atrocities of the royal army. He also published "Advice, a Satire" (1746), and "Reproof, a Satire" (1747), and wrote "Alceste, an Opera," for the Covent Garden theatre, which was withdrawn in consequence of a quarrel with the manager. In 1748 appeared the first of his novels, "The Adventures of Roderick Random." He made a short visit to Paris in 1750, and in 1751 published "The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle," which is disfigured by an episode detailing the intrigues of Lady Vane, for inserting which he is said to have received

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the medical profession, settled at Bath, and published in 1752 "An Essay on the External Use of Water." Obtaining no practice, he removed to Chelsea, and devoted himself again to literary pursuits. In 1753 appeared his "Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom." In 1755 he published by subscription his translation of "Don Quixote," more animated and elegant but less accurate than that of Jarvis, on which it was founded. Afterward he undertook the management of the "Critical Review." His irritable temper and capricious tastes involved him in numerous vexations and quarrels; a contemptuous critique on the "Rosciad" provoked against him the spleen of Churchill; and in 1759 an attack on Admiral Knowles, one of the commanders at Cartagena, caused him to be arraigned for libel and sentenced to a fine of £100 and three months' imprisonment. He had meantime produced a "Compendium of Authentic and Entertaining Voyages" (7 vols., 1757), a comedy entitled "The Reprisals," which Garrick brought out on the stage, and a Complete History of England" (4 vols., 1757-'8), written in 14 months, which became very popular. While in prison he wrote "The Adventures of Sir Launcelot Greaves," a sort of travesty of "Don Quixote," which appeared in the "British Magazine" in 1760-'61. He afterward contributed the accounts of France, Italy, and Germany to the "Modern Universal History," and continued his "Complete History of England," bringing the narrative down from 1748 to 1764. The whole work was in 16 vols. 8vo, of which only the last 5 vols., forming a continuation to Hume, are now read. On the accession of George III. he undertook to defend the administration of Lord Bute in a weekly paper entitled "The Briton." He was effectively and abusively answered by Wilkes in his "North Briton," and his services being unpaid, and his side most unpopular, he withdrew from the contest. His health was shattered by this discomfiture, by his labors on a translation of the works of Voltaire and on a compilation entitled "The Present State of All Nations," and by the death of his only child; and in 1763 he went abroad for two years. In 1766 he published "Travels through France and Italy," which was ridiculed by Sterne in his "Sentimental Jour ney." On returning from Italy he visited Scotland, resided at Bath during the following year, and there wrote "The Adventures of an Atom," a political satire, in which he assailed Lord Bute and the earl of Chatham. His broken health obliged him again to seek a milder climate, and he went to Italy in 1770, beginning on his way to write "The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker," which appeared in 1771, just before his death.-His life has been written by Thomas Roscoe, Dr. Moore, and others. One of the best editions of his works appeared in 1873 (8 vols. 8vo, London).

SMYRNA (Turk. Ismir), a town of Asiatic Turkey, capital of the vilayet of Aidin, near the head of the gulf of Smyrna, on the W. coast of Asia Minor, 210 m. S. W. of Constantinople; pop. (according to the Austrian consul general Scherzer's estimate in 1873) about 155,000, including 75,000 Greeks, 45,000 Turks, 15,000 Jews, 10,000 Roman Catholics, 6,000 Armenians, and 4,000 Europeans and Americans. Another estimate places the population at 180,000. Owing to the large preponderance of the Christians, it is called by the Turks the Giaour city. It stands upon a plain between the ancient Mt. Pagus and the sea, part of it on the slope of the hill. The streets are generally narrow and dirty. An interesting locality is the so-called caravan bridge, with adjoining grounds for the accommodation of camels during the night. Along the shore and in its vicinity reside the Christians, excepting the

Armenians, whose quarter is partly on the lower slopes of the hill, the upper slopes being occupied by the Turks; and in the region between the Armenians and Turks live the Jews, who are chiefly of Spanish descent and mostly poor. On the summit of the hill is a castle. A quay is in course of construction. Smyrna contains a governor's palace, churches for various denominations, a convent, and several schools, that of the Prussian deaconesses being the best. A large Roman Catholic cathedral is in course of construction. An archæological school was projected in 1874 for promoting excavations at the site of ancient Ephesus, adjoining a station on the Smyrna and Aidin railway. Another line to Ala-Shehr (the ancient Philadelphia) was extended from Kassaba in 1875. A Turkish governor general, and Greek, Armenian, and Roman Catholic archbishops reside in the city; and there are

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American and other missionaries. In the adjoining villages of Burnabad and Budja are fine villas. Smyrna is an important station for steamers and a great commercial emporium; the harbor is magnificent, and at all times crowded with shipping. The entrances in 1873 were 630 steamers and 785 sailing vessels, tonnage 659,247; clearances, 627 and 693, tonnage 648,579. The imports, chiefly cotton and other manufactured goods, amounted to $23,332,780, and the exports, including cotton, figs, raisins, opium, sponges, and valonia, to $20,794,332. The shipments of cotton, now so important, were insignificant previous te the American civil war. In 1873-4 the imports from the United States, chiefly petroleum, were valued at $300,000, and the exports to the United States, including opium, figs, liquorice root, wool, and rags, at $2,234,344.-Smyrna was probably colonized by Eolians from Cyme, 749

VOL. XV.-9

but early fell into the hands of the Colophonians, and in the 7th century B. C. formed the 13th city of the Ionian league. According to Strabo, it was destroyed by Sadyattes of Lydia about 627, and remained in ruins for several centuries. It was rebuilt and enlarged by Antigonus and Lysimachus, successors of Alexander the Great, and became one of the first cities of that era. One of the seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation was at Smyrna, and Polycarp was its first bishop. The town was destroyed by an earthquake in A. D. 178, and rebuilt by Marcus Aurelius. It afterward had many changes of fortune; and being occupied by a Seljuk chieftain about the end of the 11th century, it was nearly destroyed by the Byzantine fleet. It was again rebuilt, and subsequently the Genoese held it for a long period. In the latter part of the 14th century it was taken by the Turks, in whose

possession it ultimately remained, after being captured in 1402 by Tamerlane. Among its many calamities in modern times were the conflagration of 1841 and the earthquake of 1846. In July, 1853, Martin Koszta was delivered here from the hands of the Austrians by Capt. Ingraham.-See Scherzer's La province de Smyrne (1875).

SMYTH, a S. W. county of Virginia, bounded S. E. by the Iron mountain range and drained by the head streams of Holston river; area, about 500 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 8,898, of whom 1,244 were colored. The surface is an elevated valley between the Iron mountain range and Walker's mountain; the soil is very fertile. Limestone, gypsum, and salt are found. It is traversed by the Atlantic, Mississippi, and Ohio railroad. The chief productions in 1870 were 44,681 bushels of wheat, 96,829 of Indian corn, 66,323 of oats, 3,327 tons of hay, 1,575 lbs. of tobacco, 10,514 of wool, 64,910 of butter, 26,820 of cheese, 3,113 of flax, and 9,897 of honey. There were 1,595 horses, 1,846 milch cows, 3,193 other cattle, 4,553 sheep, and 4,059 swine. Capital, Marion.

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and Hydrography of Sicily and its Islands,
interspersed with Antiquarian and other No-
tices" (4to, 1824). He afterward completed
the survey of the shores of the Adriatic, and
was employed in 1823 and 1824 in a survey of
the coasts of Sardinia, and published a "Sketch
of the present State of the Island of Sardinia "
(8vo, 1828). He attained the rank of post
captain in February, 1824, and settled soon
after at Bedford, where he built a small ob-
servatory, and in 1844 published a Cycle of
Celestial Objects, for the use of Naval, Mili-
tary, and Private Astronomers" (2 vols. 8vo).
In 1853 he attained the rank of rear admiral,
and in 1857 he was appointed hydrographer
to the admiralty. His most valuable work is
entitled "The Mediterranean, a Memoir, Physi-
cal, Historical, and Nautical" (8vo, 1854), in
which he gives in systematic and condensed
form the results of his numerous surveys and
observations on the physical geography of that
sea. He also wrote "Sidereal Chromatics
(1864), and "The Sailor's Word Book" (1867).
II. Charles Piazzi, son of the preceding, has held
the post of astronomer royal for Scotland.
In 1856 he transported a large collection of
meteorological, magnetical, and astronomical
instruments to the peak of Teneriffe, where he
selected two stations, one 8,840, and the other
10,700 ft. above the sea, and obtained impor-
tant results detailed in his "Teneriffe, an As-

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has since written "Three Cities in Russia" (1862); “Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid" (1864; new ed., 1874); "Life and Work at the Great Pyramid" (1867); "On the Antiquity of Intellectual Man, from a Practical and Astronomical Point of View" (1868); and

SMYTH, Thomas, an American clergyman, born in Belfast, Ireland, June 14, 1808, died in Charleston, S. C., Aug. 20, 1873. He was educated in Belfast and London, and in 1830 entered the theological seminary at Princeton, N. J. From 1832 till his death he was pastor of the second Presbyterian church in Charles-tronomer's Experiment" (London, 1858). He ton, S. C. Among the numerous works of Dr. Smyth are: "Lectures on the Prelatical Doctrine of Apostolic Succession" (Boston, 1841); "The Ecclesiastical Catechism" (1841); "Ecclesiastical Republicanism" (1843); "Presbytery and not Prelacy the Scriptural and Primitive Polity" (1843); "Calvin Defended" (Phil-"Equal Surface Projection for Maps of the adelphia, 1844); "The Rite of Confirmation" (1845); "The Name, Nature, and Functions of Ruling Elders" (1845); "The History, Character, and Results of the Westminster Assembly of Divines" (New York, 1847); "The Unity of the Human Races proved to be the Doctrine of Scripture, Reason, and Science" (1850); "Nature and Claims of Young Men's Christian Associations" (Philadelphia, 1857); "Faith the Principle of Missions " (1857); "The Well in the Valley" (1857); and "Obedience the Life of Missions" (1860).

SMYTH. I. William Henry, a British naval officer, born in Westminster, Jan. 21, 1788, died near Aylesbury, Sept. 9, 1865. He entered the navy in 1805, and rendered important aid in the defence of Cadiz in 1810. He became lieutenant in 1813, and soon afterward was appointed to a command in the flotilla under Sir Robert Hall detailed for the defence of Sicily. By order of the lords of the admiralty he made an elaborate survey of Sicily and the adjacent islands, which occupied him for several years, and resulted in the publication by the admiralty of an atlas of Sicily. As an accompaniment to this, he published a "Memoir descriptive of the Resources, Inhabitants,

World" (1871). He maintains that the pyramids are memorials of a system of weights and measures intended to be perpetual.

SNAIL, the common name of the helicida, a large family of gasteropod mollusks, terrestrial and air-breathing. The number known is now so large that the treatment of the subfamilies and genera would require a volume. Restricting the name helicide to such as have a weil developed external spiral shell, the snails may be characterized as animals breathing air by means of branchial vessels spread like a network over the internal walls of a cavity in the anterior part of the body, covered by the shell, and communicating with the atmosphere by a small valvular opening on the right side; they have four retractile tentacles, the upper two the largest and having eyes at the apex; there is a dentated horny jaw on the upper lip, which is opposed by the tongue; the gullet is wide, with large white salivary glands on its sides, and the liver is well developed; the whole body is very glutinous; the locomotion is slow, by means of the ventral foot; they are hermaphrodite, with reciprocal impregnation. The shells are always external, vary much in form, and contain the entire animal;

they have no operculum, the opening during hibernation being closed by a secretion from the mantle, which hardens into what is called the epiphragm; the shell is generally turned from left to right, the free edge to the right, but they are often reversed; the newly hatched young resemble their parents, and have a shell of one whorl and a half. They are sensitive to cold, and like moist places; the sense of touch is acute, especially in the tentacles, and they appear to have a sense of smell; they are nocturnal, and feed principally on plants, though sometimes devouring each other. The reproductive season is toward the end of spring; the eggs, to the number of 30 to 100, are deposited in moist places, in natural or artificial holes; the young come out in 20 to 30 days. Snails are distributed very widely, from the northern limit of trees to Tierra del Fuego, from the hot and moist plains to a height of 11,000 ft. on mountains; some are cosmopolite, ranging wherever their food is found, and others are restricted within narrow limits. About 1,500 species have been described, some of which from their voracity are very injurious to vegetation, and some useful to man as food; they are very tenacious of life, and able to resist long droughts. A specimen of the desert snail of Egypt (helix desertorum), which remained dormant in the British museum four years, afterward lived in the possession of one of the curators more than two years.-The genus helix (Lam.) is the type of the family. The Roman or vineyard snail (H. pomatia, Linn.) is a large species, reddish brown with paler bands; these snails were used as food by the ancient Romans, who reared them in parks, and fattened them on cooked meat and flour, obtaining them from the islands of the Mediterranean; they are still eaten in many countries of Europe, especially by Roman Catholics during Lent, being considered as fish; great numbers are eaten in France; they are also recommended as an ingredient in soups for consumptive persons. The reproductive internal organs, in the apex of the shell, consist of many parallel cæca, each of which has an external layer producing eggs, and an internal sac producing semen; the apparatus is very complex. The H. aspersa (Linn.), or common garden snail, originally from Europe, but now naturalized in most parts of the globe, is also used as food, when boiled in milk, for consumptives. These species when abundant are very destructive, laying waste whole gardens in a single night, always attacking the tenderest and most succulent plants; besides their natural enemies, mammals and birds, great numbers are killed by fires, inundations, sudden changes of temperature, felling of forests, cultivation of the land, and by hogs and poultry following the plough; the remedies for their depredations are the same as for the slugs. The largest of the American snails is the H. albolabris (Say), of a yellowish horn color, with white, broadly reflected lip; the shell has five or six

whorls, with minute revolving lines and the umbilicus closed; in October they cease feeding, and select a place under some log or stone, where they fix themselves for the winter,

American Snail (Helix albolabris).

mouth upward. For details on the American species, see Dr. A. Binney's "Terrestrial Airbreathing Mollusks of the United States" (3 vols., Boston, 1851, and vol. iv., a continuation by G. W. Binney, Boston, 1859). SNAKE. See SERPENT. SNAKE BIRD.

See DARTER.

SNAKE RIVER (also called Lewis fork or river, Saptin river, and Shoshone river), a tributary of the Columbia, rising in the Rocky mountains in N. W. Wyoming, near the sources of the Yellowstone and Madison rivers, at an elevation of about 8,000 ft. above the sea, about lat. 44° N., lon. 110° 30′ W. It flows N. W. to the junction of Lewis fork, the outlet of Shoshone and Lewis lakes; then S., expanding in its course into Jackson lake, and again N. W. to the junction of Henry's fork (a total course of nearly 200 m.) in Idaho, about lat. 43° 15', lon. 112°. Henry's fork rises in Henry lake (6,443 ft. above the sea, about lat. 44° 30', lon. 111° 30') in E. Idaho, on the border of Montana, near the head waters of Jefferson river, and has a S. course. From the junction the Snake describes a curve of more than 350 m. through S. Idaho, flowing S. W. and then N. W., and strikes the Oregon border in about lat. 44° 40'; it then flows N. about 200 m., separating Idaho from Oregon and Washington territory, when in about lat. 46° 30' it turns W. into Washington, and after a further course of about 150 m. falls into the Columbia about 20 m. above the Oregon boundary, about lat. 46° 15', lon. 119°. Its total length is upward of 900 m. Steamers ascend to Lewiston on the Idaho border; navigation is then impeded for more than 100 m. by shallows and rapids, above which the river is again navigable for 150 or 200 m. In its course through S. Idaho, the Snake flows through a vast cañon, varying in depth from 100 to 1,000 ft.; many of its tributaries sink, and, passing under the strata of lava, fall from the sides of the cañon into the main stream; and here occur the American, Shoshone, and Salmon falls, for an account of which see IDAHO, vol. ix., p. 167. Its chief tributaries on the right bank are the Malade from the north; the Boisé, Payette, Weiser, Salmon, and Clearwater (which enters at the point where the Snake leaves the Idaho boundary) from the east; and the Palouse (in

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