Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/580

 556 SAKI SALADIN arm will seam paralyzed. The articulation is impeded and painful, the temper variable, and the patient exceedingly sensitive. Occasion- ally the action is more violent. If watched or noticed, the spasmodic action is invariably aggravated. The most frequent predisposing causes are the changes which take place at pu- berty. Among the exciting causes are fright, irritation of the stomach and bowels, improper diet, and disordered menstruation. Chorea is not usually dangerous or even obstinate, al- though cases have been known in which the involuntary movements were so violent and continuous as to exhaust the strength of the patient and produce death. As a general rule it is simply a manifestation of functional dis- turbance of the nervous system, dependent on the changes of approaching puberty; and it usually disappears spontaneously after a few weeks or months, when these changes have become fully established. The most effective treatment is hygienic : exercise in the open air, a healthy mental and bodily occupation, simple and nutritious food, the shower bath, and in some cases tonic medicines. SAKI. See MONKEY. SALA, George Angutns Henry, an English au- thor, born in London in 1828. He is the son of an Italian gentleman and an English singer of West Indian extraction. He was educated for an artist, but became a literary contributor to " Household Words," the " Welcome Guest," " Illustrated London News," and " Cornhill Magazine." In 1860 he established " Temple Bar," a monthly magazine, and was its editor. In 1863 he was the correspondent in the Uni- ted States of the London "Telegraph," and he has written for that journal from Algeria in 1864, from the Paris exposition in 1867, from the field of war in France in 1870, from Rome in the autumn of that year, and from Madrid, Venice, Algeria, and Morocco in 1875. He has published "A Journey due North, being Notes of a Residence in Russia in the Summer of 1856" (London, 1858); "Twice round the Clock, or the Hours of the Day and Night in London" (1859);*' Seven Sons of Mammon" (1861); " Strange Adventures of Captain Dan- gerous " (1863) ; " My Diary in America in the Midst of War" (1865); "From Waterloo to the Peninsula " (1866) ; " Notes and Sketches of the Paris Exposition " (1867) ; " Rome and Venice" (1869); "Under the Sun: Essays mainly written in Hot Countries " (1872) ; and "Cookery in its Historical Aspects" (1875). SALADIN (MALEK AL-NASIR SALAH ED-Dix ABU MODHAFEB YtTscp), sult;in of Egypt and Syria, born in the castle of Tekrit on the Ti- gris in 1137, died in Damascus, March 4, 1193. He was the son of Ayub, a Kurd in the ser- vice of the famous Noureddin, sovereign of Syria, and in 1163 accompanied his uncle Shir- kuh to Egypt as an officer in the army des- tined to reinstate the emir Shawer, and ulti- mately to reduce the country to the sway of Noureddin. During three campaigns he dis- played great military capacity. In 1168 Shir- kuh, having reduced the country, became Nour- eddin's lieutenant, and on his death in the same year his authority devolved upon Sala- din, who paid nominal deference to Noured- din, but strengthened his own power. The death of Noureddin in 1173 or 1174 left him absolute master of Egypt, with abundant re- sources ; and taking advantage of the dis- turbances which convulsed Syria, he invaded that country under pretence of delivering the youthful heir of Noureddin from the unjust tutelage of the regent Shems ed-Din. The latter was defeated in several great battles, and within four years Saladin made himself master of southern Syria and a considerable portion of Mesopotamia. After devoting sev- eral years to the affairs of Egypt, he com- pleted in 1182-'4 the conquest of Syria; his brother subdued the richest portions of Ara- bia, and by 1185 his empire extended from Tripoli in Africa to the Tigris, and from Ye- men on the Arabian sea to the Taurus, the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem being alone in- dependent of him. The violation by Reginald de Chatillon of a truce concluded in 1186 be- tween the Latins and Saladin, afforded the latter a pretext for invading the Holy Land with an army of 80,000. The Christian army was overthrown at the famous battle of Tibe- rias (July 4, 1187), with a loss of 30,000 men. Guy de Lusignan, king of Jerusalem, captured by Saladin, was treated with courtesy ; but Reginald de Chatillon, his fellow captive, was decapitated, and the captured knights tem- plars and hospitallers were massacred. Acre, Ascalon, and other important towns were speedily subdued, and on Oct. 2, 1187, Jeru- salem surrendered to him after a siege of two weeks. The inhabitants were offered their freedom at a moderate ransom, several thou- sand of the poorer classes being exempted from payment, and many being aided by the alms of the conqueror. Tyre, reenforced by Conrad of Montferrat, held out against him, and Saladin, after an unsuccessful siege, made a disgraceful retreat to Damascus. The third crusade (1189) aroused him to the defence of his new possessions, and for two years (1189- '91) he thwarted every attempt of the crusa- ders to retake Acre. When the city finally ca- pitulated to Richard Coeur de Lion and Philip Augustus, the former, left by the departure of the French king sole commander of the Chris- tian hosts, led the crusaders down the coast to Ascalon, his march of 100 miles being, as Gibbon says, " a great and perpetual battle of eleven days." At the battle of Arsuf, fought on St. George's day, in which the Moslems were routed, Saladin, seeing Richard fighting on foot, is said to have sent him his own horse as a present. Ascalon having fallen, the cru- saders in the spring of 1192 advanced within a day's march of Jerusalem, but were induced by dissensions in their own ranks to retreat when the city seemed fairly within their grasp.