Page:EB1911 - Volume 24.djvu/72

 Tormes been evacuated by its Spanish garrison without Wellington's knowledge.

Salamanca was a brilliant victory, and followed as it was by the capture of Madrid, it severely shook the French domination in Spain.

 SALAMANCA, a village in Cattaraugus county, New York, U.S.A., in the township of Salamanca, about 52 m. S. by E. of Buffalo. Pop. (1900), 4251, of whom 789 were foreign-born; (1910, census), 5792. Salamanca is served by the Erie, the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg and the Pennsylvania railways, and by interurban electric lines connecting with Olean, N. Y., Bradford, Pennsylvania, and Little Valley (pop in 1910, 1368), the county-seat, about 8 m. N. The village is built on both sides of the Allegany river. The agricultural and industrial development of the region has been retarded by its being within the Allegany Indian Reservation (allotted originally to the Seneca Indians by the Big Tree Treaty of 1798 and still including the valley of the Allegany river for several miles above and below Salamanca); but land is now held under a 99 year lease authorized by Congress in 1892. The village is a railway centre and division terminal, and has repair shops of the Erie and the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburg railways. The first settlement in the district (which was included within the "Holland Purchase" of 1792–1793) was made in 1815 near the site of West Salamanca (pop. in 1910, 530), 1 m. W. of Salamanca, and in the same township. Salamanca (until 1873 known as East Salamanca) was incorporated in 1879, taking its name from the township, which was erected in 1854 as Buck Tooth Township and in 1862 was renamed in honour of a Spanish banker who was a large stockholder of the Atlantic & Great Western railway, built through the township this year, and later merged with the Erie railway.

See History of Cattaraugus County, New York (Philadelphia, Pa., 1879).

 SALAMANDER. Salamanders in the restricted sense (genus Salamandra of N. Laurenti) are close allies of the newts, but of exclusively terrestrial habits, indicated by the shape of the tail, which is not distinctly compressed. The genus is restricted in its habitat to the western parts of the Palaearctic region and represented by four species only: the spotted salamander, S. maculosa, the well-known black and yellow creature inhabiting Central and Southern Europe, North-West Africa and South-Western Asia; the black salamander, S. atra, restricted to the Alps; S. caucasica from the Caucasus, and S. luschani from Asia Minor. Salamanders, far from being able to withstand the action of fire, as was believed by the ancients, are only found in damp places, and emerge in misty weather only or after thunderstorms, when they may appear in enormous numbers in localities where at other times their presence would not be suspected. They are usually much dreaded by country people, and although they are quite harmless to man, the large glands which are disposed very regularly on their smooth, shiny bodies, secrete a very active, milky poison which protects them from the attacks of many enemies.

 SALAMIS, an island of Greece in the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, extending along the coasts of Attica and Megaris, and enclosing the Bay of Eleusis between two narrow straits on the W. and S. Its area is 36 sq. m., its greatest length in any direction 10 m.; its extremely irregular shape gives rise to the modern popular name , i.e. baker’s crescent. In Homer Salamis was the home of the Aeginetan prince Telamon and his sons Ajax and Teucer, and this tradition is confirmed by the position of the ancient capital of the island opposite Aegina. It subsequently passed into the hands of the Megarians, but was wrested from them about 600 by the Athenians under (q.v.) and definitely awarded to Athens by Sparta's arbitration. Though Attic tradition claimed Salamis as an ancient possession the island was not strictly Athenian territory; a 6th-century inscription shows that it was treated either as a cleruchy or as a privileged foreign dependency. The town of Salamis was removed to an inlet of the E. coast opposite Attica. In 480 Salamis became the base of the allied Greek fleet after the retreat from Artemisium, while the Persians took their station along the Attic coast off Phalerum. Through the stratagem of the Athenian Themistocles the Greeks were enclosed in the straits by the enemy, who had wheeled by night across the entrance of the E. channel and detached a squadron to block the W. outlet. The Greeks had thus no resource but to fight, while the Persians could not utilize their superior numbers, and as they advanced into the narrow neck of the east strait were thrown into confusion. The allies, among whom the Athenians and Aeginetans were conspicuous, seized this opportunity to make a vigorous attack which probably broke the enemy's line. After waging a losing fight for several hours the Persians retreated with the loss of 200 sail and of an entire corps landed on the islet of Psyttaleia in the channel; the Greeks lost only 40 ships out of more than 300. During the Peloponnesian War Salamis served as a repository for the country stock of Attica. About 350 Salamis obtained the right of issuing copper coins. In 318 Cassander placed in it a Macedonian garrison which was finally withdrawn through the advocacy of the Achaean statesman Aratus (232). The Athenians thereupon supplanted the inhabitants by a cleruchy of their own citizens. By the 2nd century the settlement had fallen into decay. In modern times Salamis, which is chiefly peopled by Albanians, has regained importance through the transference of the naval arsenal to Ambelaki near the site of the ancient capital. Excavations in this region have revealed large numbers of late Mycenaean tombs.

 SALAMIS, the principal city of ancient Cyprus, situated on the east coast a little north of the river Pedias (Pediaeus). It had a good harbour, well situated for commerce with Phoenicia, Egypt and Cilicia, which was replaced in medieval times by Famagusta (Ammochostos), and is wholly silted now. Its trade was mainly in corn, wine and oil from the midland plain (Mesaoria), and in salt from the neighbouring lagoons. Traditionally, Salamis was founded after the Trojan War (c. 1180 ) by Teucer from Salamis, the island off Attica, but there was an important Mycenaean colony somewhat earlier. The spoils of its tombs excavated in 1896 are in the British Museum.