Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/662

 638 SASSANTDJ3 SATSUMA SASSANID.E, a dynasty of Persian kings found- ed by Ardeshir, called by the Greeks Artax- erxes, and considered the son of Babek arid the grandson of Sassan, who overthrew the rule of the Arsacidse, in A. D. 226. (See ARDESHIR, and PERSIA..) Under the Sassanian kings, and especially under Sapor (Shapur) I., Sapor II., Ohosroes (Khosru) I., and Chosroes II., long and successful wars were carried on against the Roman and Byzantine emperors, the Persian empire was extended and consoli- dated, and the Zoroastrian religion was re- stored and maintained. The dynasty closed with Yezdegerd III., who in 641 was beaten by the caliph Omar in the battle of Nehavend, into which the Persians wont 150,000 strong; he was murdered in 651 while asleep, for the sake of his splendid garments, by a miller in whose mill he had hidden. From the coins of this dynasty, of which an almost complete series has been gathered, it appears that the kings were men of extraordinary personal beauty, with large eyes, prominent well form- ed nose, and firm chiselled mouth. On some of the coins an eldest son or a queen is as- sociated with the monarch. On the reverses are fire altars, which were apparently carried before the kings in processions. See Tho- mas, " Early Sassanian Inscriptions, Seals, and Coins" (London, 1868). SASSARI. I. A province of the kingdom of Italy, forming the N. portion of the island of Sardinia, bounded S. by Oagliari, and on all other sides by the sea; area, 4,142 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 243,452. It is mountainous through- out. It is watered by the Tirso, Ooghinas, Posada, and other small rivers. Wheat, bar- ley, and cattle abound, and cheese and butter are largely exported. The province is divided into the districts of Alghero, Nuoro, Ozieri, Sassari, and Tempio Pausania. II. A city, capital of the province, on the Turritano, 10 m. from its mouth in the gulf of Sassari and 102 ra. N. N. W. of Oagliari ; pop. in 1872, 82,674. It is the seat of an archbishop, and contains an old fortified castle, a cathedral, a small university, which in 1875 had 66 students, a theological seminary, and other schools, the Vallombrosa and other palaces, and fine gar- dens. Oil is the chief article of trade. Its seaport is the neighboring Porto Torres. SASSOFEEEATO (GIOVANNI BATTISTA SALVI), an Italian painter, born in the castle of Sas- soferrato, near Urbino, July 11, 1605, died in Rome, Aug. 8, 1685. He is frequently con- founded with an earlier artist of the same name, who imitated Raphael. In style he fol- lowed the Oarracci, with sweetness and deli- cacy. He painted landscapes, sacred portraits, and more rarely historical pieces. The Berlin museum contains many of his best pictures. SATAN. See DEVIL. SATIN BOWER BIRD. See BOWER BIRD. SATIN SPAR, a name applied to two distinct minerals, which have a similar fibrous struc- ture. The most common is a variety of gyp- sum, the other a carbonate of lime. The gyp- sum mineral, softer than the other, is found in the counties of Nottingham, Derby, and Glou- cester, England, near Carrickfergus in Ireland, and in gypsum beds in other localities. It is sometimes made into beads which have some resemblance to " cat's eye," but the latter is a hard quartz mineral. (See CAT'S EYE.) Beau- tiful specimens of carbonate of lime satin spar, of snowy whiteness, are found in Cumberland, Devonshire, and Buckinghamshire, England, and at Lead Hills in Scotland. SATIN WOOD, a name for several woods of commerce, which when polished present a pe- culiar lustre; the principal kinds are the In- dian and West Indian, or Bahaman. The In- dian satin wood is produced by chloroxylon Sirietenia, of the meliacece, and related to the mahogany tree ; it is 50 or 60 ft. high, found along the Coromandel coast and other parts of India ; the wood is hard and yellow, somewhat resembling box wood, but darker. The West Indian wood is superior to the other, being of a light canary yellow ; though considerable quantities are exported from the Bahamas, the tree which furnishes it is still uncertain ; it has been conjectured that it is the wood of a spe- cies of miiba, one of the ebony family. In some cases the wood is handsomely curled and mottled, and such pieces are cut into veneers for choice cabinet work ; the ordinary kinds are chiefly used for the backs of brushes. SATSUMA, the name of a province in the S. part of Kiushiu, Japan, and of the most noted of all the feudal clans in the empire. The fijef of the daimio of Satsuma comprised Sat- suma proper, Osumi, Hiuga, and the Loo Choo islands. Satsuma now forms the Kagoshima ken or district ; pop., 1,183,000. The sur- face is mountainous, and the soil indifferent. Commerce, mineral wealth, and manufactures, especially of porcelain, have made this one of the richest provinces of Japan. The history of the clan dates from 1571, when Shimadzu Yoshihisa became daimio. After the battle of Sekigahara, the daimio of Satsuma was al- lowed by lyeyasu to retain his territory. In 1609 lyehisa, one of the Shimadzu family, conquered the Loo Choo islands, which the shogun allowed him to retain as part of his fief. The Satsuma clan has long been pre- eminent for the ability of its leaders, and for military ardor and prowess. During the To- kugawa shogunate they were the most restive under its rule, rendering only nominal obedi- ence. The last but one of the daimios of Satsuma, who died in 1858, was the first to develop the impulse toward occidental civil- ization. He introduced foreign learning and measures when the shogun endeavored to re- press such tendencies, and diligently prepared the way for the revolution of 1868. On Sept. 12, 1862, Shimadzu Saburo, his younger broth- er, having left Yedo with a grudge against the shogun, and cherishing a desire to em- broil him with foreigners, was met on the