Svastika
a religious symbol used by early races of Aryan stock_from Scandinavia to Persia and India. It consists of a Greek cross , either inclosed in a circle the circumference of which passes through its extremities or with its arms bent back, and was intended to represent the sun, being found invariably associated with the worship of Aryan sun gods (Apollo, Odin). Similar devices occur in the monumental remains of the ancient Mexicans and Peruvians , and on objects exhumed from the prehistoric burial mounds of the United States.
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Sveaborg
a fortress in Finland; sometimes called " the Gibraltar of the North," protects the harbor and town of Helsingfors, from which it is 3 miles distant. The fortifications were planned and first prepared by Count Ehrensvärd in 1849, and there are an arsenal, docks, slips, and a monument to the "father" of the fortress. The fortifications were betrayed into the hands of the Russians by the Swedish commandant in 1808. It was captured by Finnish forces after the Russian revolution of 1917. Pop. about 1,000.
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Svendsen
JOHAN SEVERIN, a Swedish composer; born in Christiania, Norway, Sept. 30, 1840. He studied at Leipsic, Paris, and in Italy, conducted concerts in his native town and in 1883 became master of the Chapel Royal, Copenhagen. His works comprise symphonies, an overture, and quartets, quintets, and concertos for strings.
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Sverdrup
OTTO, a Norwegian explorer, born in the District of Helgeland, in 1855. At the age of 17 he began his career at sea, and for a time commanded a merchant vessel. In 1888 he joined Nansen's expedition to Greenland, and in 1893 started with that explorer to the North Pole as commander of the Fram. He remained with this ship when it was abandoned by Nansen in 1895, and reached Norway by drifting through the ice in the years following. From 1898 to 1902 he led another expedition in the Fram in an attempt to circumnavigate Greenland. This he found impossible, but continued his explorations, and made discoveries of great value. These included Heiberg and Ringnes Land. In 1914 and 1915 he commanded an expedition for the relief of missing Arctic explorers. He wrote "New Land: Four Years in the Arctic Regions" (1904).
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Swab
A substitute for a brush; a hemp contrivance for holding and delivering water, made either by wrapping one end of a piece of rope and combing out the rest, or from new hemp, which needs only to be wrapped at the end. Large ones serve to moisten joints, etc.; small ones are useful to hold in the hand, and by a gentle pressure cause a fine stream of water to flow upon an edge, etc. Swabs are extremely useful for spreading blackening upon dry-sand moulds made from soft friable sands, as they do not tear up the surface in the manner a bristle brush invariably does. Dealers supply good swabs at a price slightly in excess of what the best hemp costs.
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Swahili
the name given to the people of Zanzibar and the opposite coast belonging to the Bantu stock, with an Arab infusion, and speaking a Bantu tongue modified by Arabic. The Swahili are intelligent and enterprising, and are in demand as porters by travelers into Central Africa. There is a collection of Swahili folk tales (1869) and a handbook by Bishop Steere (1871); and a dictionary by Krapf (1882).
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Swain
JOSEPH, an American educator; born in Pendleton, Ind., June 16, 1857; was graduated at the Indiana University in 1883, and taught there first as instructor in biology, then as assistant Professor of Mathematics in 1883-1886. and finally as full professor in 1886-1891. He was called to fill a chair in the Leland Stanford University in 1891, and continued there till 189 1893, when he was made president of the Indiana University. He is the author of numerous scientific papers and has been prominent in connection with various educational organizations. He has been president of Swarthmore since 1902. President of the National Educational Association 1913- 1914.
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Swallow
in ornithology, any one of the numerous passerine birds of the family Hirundinadæ. In the United States the best known species are the barn swallow; the cliff, eaves, or chim ney swallow; the white bellied or tree swallow, and the bank swallow. The species usually described by naturalists as the type of the family is Hirundo rustica, a well-known European visitor, whose arrival from Africa (usually about the middle of April) is eagerly looked for as a sign of approaching summer. Swallows us usually arrive in pairs -a male and a female-though several pairs often form a small flight. They return with unfailing regularity to their old haunts, and in May commence building their nests. The eggs, from four to six in number, are white, spotted with a purple-red. The food of the swallow consists entirely of winged insects. These are captured as the birds fly with open mouth, the bristles with which the gap is supplied and the viscid saliva assisting to retain the prey. Like owls, swallows reject the undigested portions of their food in small pellets or castings. The male is about 8 inches long, beak black, forehead, chin, and throat, chestnut; head, neck, back, rump, and upper tail coverts steel-blue; tail very much forked; under surface buffy-white, legs and toes slender and black, claws black and sharp. In the female the tail feathers are not so long.
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Swallow Shrike
in ornithology, a popular name for any individual of the family Artamidæ. They resemble swallows in their actions and general mode of life, while in the shape of their bills they exhibit great affinities to some of the shrikes and crow shrikes.
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Swamp Deer
in zoölogy, the Rucervus duvaucelli, from India and Assam. It is about 4 feet in height, rich light yellow in color, and congregates in large herds in moist situations. The antlers are large, with a long beam, which branches into an anterior continuation of the main portion, and a smaller posterior tyne which is bifurcated.
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Swampscott
a town of Massachusetts, in Essex co. It is on the Boston and Maine railroad. From its attractive situation it is a favorite summer resort. Fishing is an important industry. There are parks, and a public library. It is ent to the seat of the Phillips School. Pop. swan (C. nigricollis), from South Amer- (1910) 6,204; (1920) 8,101.
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