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SULPHUR

1846

SUMATRA

SIR ARTHUR  SULLIVAN

his   songs    and    burlesque    operas. The operas were written in connection with W.

S. Gilbert and were very popular, especially H. M. S. Pinafore, which ran for 700 nights, and The Mikado. Later he wrote the opera of Ivanhoe. He re-cei ve d many honors, and in 1883 was knighted. He died on

NOV. 22,   IQOO.

Sulphur (suV-fur), one of the nonmetallic elements. It is found very widely distributed in the mineral knigdom, partly free, partly in combination with other elements. It is usually abundant in volcanic districts, large quantities coming from Sicily. It is found in many parts of the United States, but this cannot compete with that, from Sicily. Free sulphur is found mixed with earthy matter or pure in the shape of crystals. In combination it is found with iron and copper as iron and copper pyrites; with lead in galena; with zinc in blende. It is also found in the form of sulphates, as the sulphates of lime and magnesia. In vegetables it exists in the proteids or albuminoids of seeds, in the oils of mustard, garlic and asafcetida and in the juices of some plants. In animals it is found in the tissues, hair, saliva etc. Sulphur is a solid, brittle, yellow substance, without taste or smell, and will not dissolve in water. When heated, it forms a thin yellow liquid; heated to boiling-point, it forms a yellow vapor. This vapor condenses into a fine powder, called flowers of sulphur. When it is melted, it is poured into molds, which make the common roll-sulphur or brimstone. When heated in the air it takes fire, burning with a blue flame, and changes into sulphurous acid with suffocating fumes. Sulphur is used in making matches and gunpowder and, as sulphurous acid, in bleaching, in the destruction of insects and the germs of disease and in the manufacture of sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol, which is a compound of sulphur, oxygen and hydrogen. Large quantities of the acid are used in preparing sodium sulphate from common salt as a preliminary step in one of the processes for making soda.

Sulu (soo-loo') Islands, Philippine Group, acquired by the United States from Spain by the terms of treaty of peace, Dec. 10, i8g8. The Sulu archipelago extends from the southwestern peninsula of Mindanao Island to the northeastern angle of Borneo

and between the Sulu and Celebes Seas, the latter an eastern inlet of the Pacific. The larger islands are mountainous and of volcanic origin; the smaller ones are chiefly coral islets, covered with verdure. There are five chief islands, the dominant race being the Moros, speaking the Sulu tongue, which is akin to that of the Malays. The inhabitants ' are hardly civilized yet, and consequently piracy was common among them even under Spanish rule. The staple growths include corn, rice, coffee, chocolate, sesame, saffron, cotton and hemp. The Chinese formerly did considerable barter with the islands, exchanging opium, tobacco and general merchandise for pearl-shell, coral, sharks' fins and native cordage. Estimated population 51,400, of whom less than 1,300 were civilized in 1903.

Su'mac, species of the genus Rhus, which contains over TOO species, chiefly tropical. In the United States there are about ten species, some of them well-known shrubs or small trees, with leaves which show bright red to purple coloration in autumn. The common poison-oak or poison-ivy (R. Toxicodendron) is a sumac whose foliage is very poisonous. The most common form is R. glabra or smooth sumac, a shrub which often covers large and especially barren areas, with large compound leaves and dense, crimson, velvety clusters of fruit. See POISONOUS PLANTS.

Suma'tra (soo-ma'tra), one of the largest islands of the Indian Archipelago, lies on the equator. It is 1,115 miles long and 275 broad, and is a dependency of the Netherlands. The Chain Mountains in several ranges, from 7,000 to 10,000 feet high, cross the island, with seven or eight active volcanoes and a number of mountain lakes. There are large rivers on the western side of the island, and the forests are so thick that it is said an ape can travel across the island from tree to tree without once descending to the ground. A Dutch expedition in 1877, exploring only a small part of the western side, collected 400 varieties of timber. The animals of the eastern side differ entirely from those on the western side. The orang-outang (q. v.) and the bru are the most common apes. The bru is employed by the natives to gather their cocoanuts. The tiger, Malay bear, hog, two-horned Sumatrar rhinoceros and elephant are among the best-known animals. The python, 15 to 20 feet long, cobra and crocodile are found; and 250 species of spiders have been discovered since 1858. Gold and coal are mined; rice, sugar, coffee, pepper, cocoanut, sago, orn and sweet potatoes are cultivated. The people are of different tribes of the Ma%iy family. The island became known in 1508 to Europeans through a Portuguese explorer, and Portuguese trading-stations were formed on the coasts. The Dutch drove out the Portu-