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LEFT SHAKESPEARE CONTROVERSY 370 SHALLOT basis for the study of his development as an artist. No short statement can do justice to the many-sidedness of his achievement, the musical quality of his verse, his mastery of language, the bril- liance of his dialogue, the variety and profundity of his knowledge of human nature as exhibited in his characters. His work stands unsurpassed among the few greatest expressions of the genius of the race. SHAKESPEARE-BACON CONTRO- VERSY, a controversy resulting from the contention that William Shakespeare (q. v.) did not write the plays which are at- tributed to him. The beginning of this controversy dates back to 1848, and since that time there have appeared a compara- tively large number of books, articles, and pamphlets on the subject. Most of these, at least as far as they deny Shakespeare's authorship, attempt to prove that the real author of Shakespeare's plays was Francis Bacon (q. v.). The question in- volved has never been solved, and it is doubtful if it ever will be. There are only two principal points on which the contention, that Shakespeare did not write the plays, is based. Neither one of these points is subject to definite proof. For, while it is claimed that it is most unlikely that a country boy with as moderate an education as we know Shakespeare to have possessed, could have developed the genius and could have dis- played the learning which his plays show, it is just as likely that Shakespeare should have succeeded in this as any other English boy. A second point which makes much of the fact that, as compared with Shakespeare's literary importance, we know very little regarding his life, is equally slight evidence. For the truth is that we know more about Shakespeare's life than about the life of any other Elizabethan dramatist, with the possible exception of Ben Jonson, and furthermore what we do know regarding Shakespeare's life indicates more or less clearly that the former country boy from Stratford and the author of the famous plays were one and the same. The positive evidence that Bacon wrote the plays is equally slight. The similarities which are pointed out between Shakespeare's plays and Ba- con's works are chiefly phrases of com- mon usage, and they are to be found with equal frequency in the works of many other writers than Bacon. The cryptograms, which are claimed to be se- cret signatures of Bacon, prove nothing, if considered with a fair amount of rea- son and logic. For, if they really meant what their supporters claim for them, they could be used with equal facility to prove Bacon's authorship of works which were definitely known to have been writ- ten both before and after his death. Gen- erally speaking, the controversy has not been supported by any scholar definitely trained for literary investigation, and it is reasonably sure that the theoretical limits within which the controversy has been carried on will never be passed. SHALE, a cod or pod; a shell; a husk; as the shale of a bean. In geology, an indurated clay, which often forms beds in the coal measures. It is chiefly com- posed of silica and alumina, in variable proportions, but also frequently contains a considerable amount of carbonate of lime and oxide of iron. It is of a gray or grayish-black color, or brownish-red when containing much iron. Its structure is more or less slaty. It is soft, and easily reduced to powder. It is used for making slate pencils. When free from lime and iron, it is reduced to powder, and used for making fire bricks, for which it affords an excellent material. Shale very often contains a notable quan- tity of bitumen and is then known as bituminous shale, and from it may be distilled an oil known as shale oil, used for illuminating purposes. SHALER, NATHANIEL SOUTH- GATE, an American geologist; born near Newport, Ky., Feb. 22, 1841. He served two years as an artillery officer in the Union army during the Civil War; was instructor in zoology and geology at the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard, in 1868-1872; Professor of Palaeontology in 1868-1887; then Professor of Geology; dean of Lawrence Scientific School; and after 1884 geologist in charge of Atlantic Division United States Geological Survey. Among his works are the "Kentucky Geo- logical Reports and Memoirs" (7 vols., 1876-1882) ; "On the Nature of Intellec- tual Property and its Importance to the State" (1878) ; "Aspects of the Earth" (1889); "The Story of our Continent" (1892) ; "Nature and Man in North America" (1892); "The Interpretation of Nature" (1895) ; "Sea and Land" (1894) ; "The United States of America" (2 vols., 1893); "The Individual: Study of Life and Death" (1900); "The Citi- zen," "The Neighbor" (1904) ; "Man and the Earth" (1905) ; and reports of United States Geological Survey on Marine Marshes, Fresh-Water Swamps, Soils, Harbors, etc. He died in 1906. SHALLOP, a light fishing-vessel with two masts and carrying lug or fore-and- aft sails; also a sloop or a boat for one or two rowers. SHALLOT, a plant, the Allium asca- lonicum, a species of garlic, the mildest cultivated. It is sufficiently hardy to en-