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SARDINE

1680

SARDOU

if any, real king of Assyria is referred to under this Greek name ^ He perhaps was Asurbanipal, who began his reign in 668 B. C.

Sar'dine, a small fish of the herring family. It received its name from being taken abundantly off the coast of Sardinia. The true sardine is a tunny. They are abundant in the Mediterranean and off the coasts of Spain and Portugal. They are salted, boiled in oil and packed in flat, tin boxes containing oil. In this form they are exported as a delicacy to all countries. The supply of true sardines is now considerably reduced and is not sufficient to supply the market. As a result, sprats, pilchards and Bother small herring have been preserved in oil and sold under the name of sardines.

Sardinia (sar-din'i-a), an island of Italy, after Sicily the largest in the Mediterranean, is 135 miles southwest of the^ Tiber and is south of Corsica, from which it is separated by the Strait of Bonifacio, seven and one half miles wide. In the south is the Gulf of Cagliari, a deep, wide bay, and in the north the Gulf of Porto Torres. The island is 170 miles long and 75 wide, and covers 9,306 square miles. The country is generally mountainous, the highest peak being Gen-nargentu (6,233 feet). The grotto of Neptune on the west coast is one of the finest in Europe. Sardinia in early times was a granary of Rome, and was renowned for its mines. It has a rich soil, valuable mines, large forests and important fisheries, but these resources are only partially used. The main produce is wheat, barley, beans, potatoes, wine, olive-oil, oranges, lemons, tobacco and flax. Large numbers of horses, cattle, sheep, swine and goats are bred. Lead and zinc are the chief metals mined; granite, marble and clay for pottery are quarriedJ and convicts manufacture salt from sea-water. The fisheries yield tunny, sardines, anchovy and coral. There are a number of good ports — Cagliari (the capital), Porto Torres, Terranova, Tortoli and others. The people mostly are mixed races, Spanish and Italian. Italian is spoken by the educated, but the common language is a mixture of Latin, Italian and Spanish. Eighty-three per cent, of the population cannot read or write; there are universities at Cagliari (founded in 1626, with 254 students to-day), and Sassari (founded in 1677, with 200 students). The vendetta and brigandage, once common, have almost wholly stopped. The first people of Sardinia seem to have been Iberians. These were conquered by the Phoenicians, but little is known of them before the conquest by the Carthaginians in 512 B. C., wno ruled tyrannically till displaced by the Romans in the 30. century B. C. After the fall of the Roman empire Sardinia was overrun by Vandal, Goth, Saracen, Byzantine and papal soldiers. After a twenty years* struggle the Pisans and Genoese orove out the Saracens, and ia 1299

divided the island between them. Its later masters were the Aragonese, Spaniards and Austriahs, and in 1720 it was exchanged for Sicily and, with Savoy and Piedmont "became the kingdom of Sardinia under the rule of the house of Savoy. Except for the short time it was annexed to France under Napoleon, this family continued in power. After the French Revolution Sardinia became of importance among the smaller European states and took part in the Crimean War. Victor Emmanuel II became king of united Italy and its later history is Italian. Population 852,934. See C. Edwardes* Sardinia and the Sardes.

Sar'dis, the capital of ancient Lydia in Asia Minor, stood at the foot of Mount Tmolus (5,906 feet). Its people were rich. They wove luxurious, woolen stuffs and carpets and carried on a large trade between the highlands and the coast. It, moreover, was the capital of fabulously wealthy Croesus. Its wealth was tempting; 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 an earthquake in the reign of Tiberius. Both Xerxes and Cyrus the Great lived here before setting out on their famous expeditions. Sardis lost its trade as Byzantium grew, and now only a small village, called Sart, stands on the ancient site.

Sardonyx (sdr'do-mks), a variety of onyx or stratified chalcedony, exhibiting white layers alternating with those of a red or brown color. It has always been a favorite stone with the cameo-engraver, and hence the stone has been imitated artificially by spurious fabrications. The sardonyx usually is composed of two strata, a thin layer of white chalcedony resting upon a ground of either carnelian or sard; though more rarely it presents three layers —a superficial stratum of red, an intermediate band of white and a base of dark-brown chalcedony. The stone is to^be distinguished from jasper, an opaque variety of chalcedony, and from the Mexican onyx, a form of aragonite or carbonate of lime. The sardonyx derives its name from Sardis, reputed to be its original locality.

Sardou (sar'ddd), Victorien, French dramatist, was born at Paris, Sept. 7, 1831. His first production was a failure, but in 1860 he met with success in Monsieur Garat and Les pres Saint-Gervais. Even better received was his comedy Les Pattes de Mouche, as were his numberless dramatic compositions for Madame Bernhardt and others — Fedora, Theodora, La Tosca, Gismonda. Other of his notable productions are Nos Intimes, La Famille Benotton, Divorgons, Belle-Maman, Pamela, Cleopatra and La Marquise. In 1899 he wrote a pla^ for Henry Irving on the theme of Robespierre, followed by one on Dante. He died on Nov. 8, xgoSb