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 taken place, i.e. the snow in its descent must have encountered an air-temperature slightly above the freezing-point.

SLEEVE (0. Eng. slieve, slyf, a word allied to " slip," cf. Dutch sloof, apron), that part of a garment which covers the arm, or through which the arm passes or slips. The pattern of the sleeve is one of the characteristics of fashion in dress, varying in every country and period. Various survivals of the early forms of sleeve are still found in the different types of academic or other robes (g.v.). Where the long hanging sleeve is worn it has, as still in China and Japan, been used as a pocket, whence has come the phrase " to have up one's sleeve," to have something concealed ready to produce. There are many other proverbial and metaphorical expressions associated with the sleeve, such as "to wear one's heart upon one's sleeve," " to laugh in one's sleeve," &c. In technical usage a " sleeve " is a tube into which another tube is inserted, which in the case of small tubes is called a thimble.

SLEIDANUS, JOHANNES (1506-1556), German historian, the annalist of the Reformation, was born at Schleiden near Aix-la-Chapelle. He studied ancient languages and literatures at Liége and Cologne, and law and jurisprudence at Paris and Orleans. Whilst among the humanists of Liége, he had adopted Protestant opinions, and entering the service of Cardinal du Bellay, was employed in the futile negotiations of the French court to make an alliance with the German Protestants against the emperor Charles V. In 1542 he settled at Strassburg. Sleidanus had been accustomed to copy all papers bearing upon the Reformation to which he had access, and Martin Bucer, who had seen his collection, proposed to Philip of Hesse to appoint him historian of the Reformation, giving him a salary and access to all necessary documents. After some delay the heads of the league of Schmalkalden agreed to the proposal, and Sleidanus began his great work, finishing the first volume in 1545. In that year he was recalled to diplomacy, and went to England in a French embassy to Henry VIII. While there he collected materials for his history. On his return he represented Strassburg at the diets of Frankfort and Worms, and went on to Marburg to explore the archives of Philip of Hesse. The war of the league of Schmalkalden interfered with this work, and also prevented the payment of Sleidanus, who in his difficulties applied to England for aid, and at Cranmer's intercession received a yearly pension from Edward VI., which, however, was not long continued. In 1551 Sleidanus went to the council of Trent as representative from Strassburg, charged also with full powers to act for the imperial cities of Esslingen, Ravensburg, Reutlingen, Biberach and Lindau. He was afterwards appointed professor of law in Strassburg, and finished his great task in 1554, though lack of money and other misfortunes compelled him to delay printing. Sleidanus died in poverty at Strassburg in October 1556. The book appeared in the preceding year &mdash; Commentariorum de statu religionis el reipublicae, Carolo V. Caesare, libri XXVI.; it was translated into English by John Daws in 1560 and by G. Bohum in 1689. It was so impartial that it pleased no one, not even Melanchthon. It remains the most valuable contemporary history of the times of the Reformation, and contains the largest collection of important documents.

SLEIGH, Sled or Sledge (Dan. slaede, Dutch slede, akin to "slide"), a vehicle on runners instead of wheels, for travelling over snow or ice. Various forms are used according as the object is utility or sport. The sleighs used in Coasting are referred to in the article under that heading; but for ordinary means of conveyance horse-drawn sleighs are employed as carriages in countries such as Russia, Scandinavia, and North America, where the roads are snow-bound in the cold season; and in the Arctic regions dogs are harnessed to them.

SLIDELL, JOHN (1793-1871), American political leader and diplomatist, was born in New York City in 1793. He graduated from Columbia College in 1810, engaged in business for a short time, then studied law, and became one of the leaders of the bar at New Orleans, Louisiana, where he settled permanently in 1825. He was a member of the national House of Representatives as a state's rights Democrat from 1843 to 1845, when he resigned and was sent by President Polk on a secret mission to Mexico, with power to adjust the difficulties growing out of the annexation of Texas to the United States, and to acquire by purchase both New Mexico (including the present Arizona.) and Upper California. He was not, however, received by the Mexican government. From 1853 to 1861 he was a representative of Louisiana in the United States Senate, and was an influential working member of important committees, though he seldom took part in debate. During this period he was intimately associated with James Buchanan, and is supposed to have had an important part in bringing about Buchanan's nomination for the presidency in 1856. When Louisiana seceded in 1861, Slidell withdrew from the Senate, and late in 1861 was sent by the Confederate Government as commissioner to France. With James M. Mason (q.v.), the Confederate commissioner to England, he was taken from the British steamer " Trent " by Captain Charles Wilkes of the United States navy, and was imprisoned at Fort Warren in Boston harbour. In January 1862, at the demand of England, the Confederate commissioners were released, and Slidell proceeded to France. His mission there was to secure the recognition of the Confederate States; in this he was unsuccessful, but he was able to keep France sympathetic, and to help to secure supplies for the Confederate army and navy. After the war he remained abroad, settling in England, and his daughter married a French nobleman. He died in London on the 29th of July 1871.

SLIGO, a county of Ireland in the province of Connaught, bounded N. by the Atlantic, E. by Leitrim, S.E. by Roscommon, and S. and W. by Mayo. The area is 452,356 acres or about 707 sq. m. The coast-line is very irregular, and in some places rises into grand escarpments and terraces. The principal inlets are Killala Bay and Sligo Bay, the latter subdivided into Brown Bay, Drumcliffe Bay and Ballysadare Bay. Near the coast are the islands of Inishmurray and Coney and other smaller islets. Though Sligo cannot be compared for scenery with the western parts and north coast of County Mayo, it is well wooded and possesses several beautiful lakes and rivers and some ranges of hills finely situated and grouped. In the north are the lime- stone elevations of Ben Bulbin (1712 ft.) and Knocknarea (1078), contrasting with the adjacent rugged gneiss mountains, among which are King's Mountain (1527) and Gullogherboy (1430). On the boundary with Leitrim, Truskmore reaches a height of 2ri3 ft. In the west are the ranges of the Slieve Gamph and Ox Mountains, upwards of 1300 and 1600 ft. respectively. The Curlew Mountains, an abrupt ridge of limestone gravel, upwards of 800 ft. in height, with flattened summit, separate Sligo from Roscommon. The principal rivers are the Moy, forming for a part of its course the boundary with Mayo, and flowing south-westward and then northward into Killala Bay; the Easky, flowing northward from Lough Easky; and Ballysadare, with its branches the Owenmore, Owenbeg, and Arrow, or Unshin; and the Garvogue, or Garavogue, flowing from Lough Gill. Except the finely-situated Lough Gill (extending into Leitrim), Lough Arrow, and Lough Gara, all of which exceed 3000 acres in extent, none of the lakes has so large an area as 400 acres. The salmon, sea-trout and trout fishing is generally excellent in these waters, especially during the autumn, but Lough Arrow also provides sport during the Mayfly season.

This county essentially consists of Carboniferous Limestone, broken by the Dalradian axis of the Ox Mountains. The gneisses of this range, which obviously result from the intermingling of granite and a series of schists and quartzites, form a ridge of rocky hills, smoothed by glaciation, on the flanks of which Carboniferous shales rest. Above these, the limestone is boldly developed, forming great scarped tablelands north of Sligo, with some sandstone on the summit of Truskmore. Knocknarea, conspicuous from Sligo, is an outlier of the Upper Limestone. Lough Gill is picturesquely bounded by the gneissic range on the south and these high carboniferous masses on the north. The limestone also produces fine features in the south of the county, in Keishcorran and round Lough Arrow. East of this point, it forms the slopes of the Leitrim and Roscommon