Sardis
the capital of ancient Lydia in Asia Minor; stood at the N. foot of Mount Tmolus (5,906 feet), 2½ miles S. of Hermus. Through its market place flowed the Pactolus over sands rich in gold, an allusion in all probability to the wealth of the inhabitants, who wove woolen stuffs and carpets, and organized the traffic between the highlands of the interior and the coast; it was, moreover, the grand and luxurious capital of Cresus, a monarch of fabulous wealth. In spite of the strength of its citadel it was destroyed by the Cimmerian Gauls in the 7th century B. c., by the Athenians in the 6th, by Antiochus the Great in 215 b. c., and by Timur in 1402; besides this it was overwhelmed by earthquakes in the reign of Tiberius. Both Xerxes and Cyrus the Great resided here before setting out on their great expeditions. As Byzantium rose to importance, Sar dis lost the advantages of its situation on the great land route between Persia and Rome, and gradually declined. At the present day there is nothing left at its site, Sart, except a small village and ruin mounds.
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Sardius
This gem resembles the cornelian, and is an antidote to the onyx. It prevents unpleasant dreams, makes its possessor wealthy, and sharpens the wit.
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Sardou, Victorian
The famous French dramatist was a keen student of occultism, and studied spiritualism with Allan Kardec (q.v.). He achieved great facility as a medium for spirit drawings, and many of the examples by his hand are of great merit artistically as well as from an occult point of view. Some of them are reproduced in M. Camille Flammarion's book Mysterious Psychic Forces. (See France .)
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Sargasso Sea
a name applied to large areas of the ocean covered with floating seaweed, Sargassum bacciferum. The best known Sargasso Sea lies in the North Atlantic Ocean, between the Azores and Antilles, its position being determined by the central whirl of the Gulf Stream. It was noticed by Columbus, who recorded on his first voyage of discovery (1492) that his whole course was through masses of these weeds, from Sept. 16 to Oct. 12. There is a smaller Sargasso Sea off the coast of Lower California, in the Pacific Ocean. Another lies between Australia and the Falkland Islands in the Antarctic waters.
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Sargassum
a genus of Algæ. S. bacciferum is the gulf-weed of the Atlantic. Its stems are much employed in South America, under the name of goitresticks, in the treatment of goitre. Their beneficial effects are due to the large proportion of iodine existing in the plant,
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Sargent
CHARLES SPRAGUE, an American arboriculturist, born in Boston in 1841. He graduated from Harvard in 1862. He served during the Civil War, and in 1872 became professor of horticulture at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. In 1873 he was director of the arboretum, and from 1879 was professor of arboriculture at Harvard. He was chairman of the commission for the preservation of the Adirondack forests, in 1885, and also acted as chairman of the commission appointed by the National Academy of Sciences for the establishment of a forest policy for the United States. He was an officer and member of many foreign and American societies and wrote: "The Woods of the United States"; "The Forest Flora of Japan"; "Manual of the Trees of North America' (1905); and many reports.
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Sargent (EPES an American author born)
EPES, an American author; born in Gloucester, Mass., Sept. 27, 1813. His works include: "Change Makes Change," a comedy; "The Priestess," a tragedy; "Wealth and Worth" (1840), a novel; "Peculiar: A Tale of the Great Transition" (1863); "Life of Henry Clay." "Songs of the Sea" and "A Life on the Ocean Wave" are the most popular of his verses. His "Cyclopædia of English and American Poetry" was published in 1883. He died in Boston, Dec. 31, 1880.
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Sargent (II)
DUDLEY ALLEN, an American physical director, born at Belfast, Me., in 1849. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1875 and from the medical department of Yale in 1878. From 1879 he was director of the Hemenway Gymnasium at Harvard. From 1881 to 1916 he was director of the Normal School of Physical Training, Cambridge, Mass., and from the latter year was president of the Sargent School for Physical Education. He was the inventor of many pieces of modern gymnasium apparatus. He wrote "Health, Strength and Power" (1904).
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Sargent (JOHN SINGER an American artist)
JOHN SINGER, an American artist; born in Florence, Italy, in 1856; studied art under Carolus Duran; received a second-class medal at the Paris Salon in 1881; took a medal of honor at the Paris Exposition in 1889; and was elected an academician of the Royal and of the Academy, England, in 1 1897, National Academy of Design in New York in 1897. His works include the figure pieces: "Fishing for Oysters at Cancale"; "Neapolitan Children Bathing," and "El Jaleso"; the portraits: "Doctor Pozzi"; "Portrait of a Young Lady"; "Madam G."; "Henry Marquand"; and numerous sketches, ideal figures, etc., portraits of Theodore Roosevelt, and other eminent Americans. His mural decorations are notable, especially those in the Public Library of Boston. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
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Sark
or SERCQ, one of the Channel Islands, situated about 6 miles from Guernsey. It is divided into Great Sark and Little Sark, the connection between these being a narrow neck of land called Coupée; length about 5, and breadth about 3 miles. The island is surrounded by almost inaccessible rocks, and the carriage roads are steep. Fishing is the chief employment; and the manufactures are principally stockings, gloves, etc.
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Sarmatia
2026 Editor's Note: This page uses language about other peoples, religions, or nationalities that was commonplace when the book was published and is offensive by today's standards. The text has been left exactly as it was printed, rather than cut or softened, so that the historical record — including how ordinary such language once was — is preserved. (Ed: ET 2026-07-22) a name given by the Romans to all the country in Europe and Asia between the Vistula and the Caspian Sea. The people inhabiting this country were usually called Sauromatæ by the Greeks, and Sarmatæ by the Romans. The Sarmatians began to threaten the Roman empire in the reign of Nero (54-68). Since that time they figure promiscuously among the barbarians who vexed the N. E. frontier of the Roman empire. They were finally subdued by the Goths, with whom, in process of time, they were amalgamated.
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