Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/166

 158 SOLOMON ISLANDS under the abbreviation Rxsm (the initials of the Hebrew H.Mi shtlomoh Yitz'haki), a Jew- ish commentator of the Bible and Talmud, born in Troves, France, about 1040, died there, July 13, 1105. His comments on the Talmud have never been excelled, and they accompany all i'diti'iis of the text. Those on the Bible have been translated into Latin by Breithaupt (8 vols., Gotha, 1710-'14). A German transla- tion of the commentary on Genesis was made t> 1 lay man (Bonn, 1833), and one of the whole Pentateuch by Lucas (Prague, 1833-'8). SOLOMON ISLANDS, a group of the S. Pacific lying S. E. of New Britain and E. of New Guinea, extending in a S. E. direction from lat. 4 50' to 11 50' S., and from Ion. 154 30' to 162 30' E. The group is composed of the islands Bougainville, Choiseul, Malayta, Santa Isabella, New Georgia, Guadalcanar, San Cris- toval, and several smaller ones, the area of the whole being estimated at 10,000 sq. in. Moun- tains, often of considerable height, traverse them. The shores are generally low, and in some places bordered with mangrove swamps. They are watered by numerous streams, and the temperature is cooled by copious rains. They are very fertile; bananas, yams, sugar cane, and ginger are cultivated ; and the bread- fruit, cacao, and clove trees abound. They are inhabited by negrillos and Malays. The population is very irregularly distributed, the northern islands being more populous than the others. The islands were discovered and ex- plored in 1568 by the Spanish navigator Men- dafla, sent out by his uncle Lope do Castro, viceroy of Peru. He named them Solomon islands on the pretence that the riches of Sol- omon's temple were brought from them. He died in Santa Cruz group in 1595, while on his way to colonize them, and they were not again visited till rediscovered by Carteret in 1767. Some partially successful missionary efforts have recently been made there. SOLOMON'S SEAL, the common name for spe- cies of polygonatum (Gr. n-oMf, many, and y6w, knee, the stems having numerous joints), a genus of the lily family, closely related to asparagus, and having thick, knotted, horizon- tal rootstocks, which show upon their upper Solomon'* Seal. Rhizome. showing stem, bud, and scars of former stems. snrface deep scars left by the falling away of the stems of previous years, a character which gave rise to the popular name. Each root- stock bears a single leafy stem ; in front of it SOLON and behind it are the scars of former stems ; the stems, 1 to 4 ft. high, are gracefully curved, and clothed with nearly sessile or half clasping, strongly nerved leaves, from the axils of which appear the drooping greenish flowers ; the pe- rianth is cylindrical, six-lobed at the summit, with six stamens inserted near the middle of the tube; the three-celled ovary ripens to a globular black or blue berry with two to six seeds. The great Solomon's seal (P. gigan- teum) and the smaller (P. "biflorum) are com- mon species, while the remaining one, the broad-leaved (P. latfolium is very local. Several species are found in Europe, which were formerly used medicinally, and ours have a reputed value as diuretics. The young shoots are cooked and eaten in Turkey like asparagus, and the roots, which contain a considerable quantity of starch, have been used in Europe as food in times of scarcity. They are inter- esting but not showy garden plants. Species of the related genus smilacina are called false Solomon's seal ; they have their flowers in ter- minal racemes, and mostly red berries. SOLON, the Athenian lawgiver, born about 638 B. C., died in Athens about 559. He was a lineal descendant of Codrus. In his youth he visited many parts of Greece and Asia as a merchant, gained distinction by his poems, and from his reputation for political wisdom was reckoned one of the seven sages. Returning to Athens, he began his political career by recovering Salamis from the Megarians. The Athenians had repeatedly failed in their at- tempts upon this island, and had prohibited any citizen on pain of death from proposing a renewal of the enterprise. Solon counterfeited madness, and in apparent frenzy read in the agora a short poem, the effect of which was that the law was rescinded, war was declared, and he himself was appointed to the command of it. In a single campaign (about 600) the Megarians were expelled from the island, but a tedious conflict ensued, which was finally settled in favor of Athens by the arbitration of Sparta. Soon after, in the Amphictyonic council, he moved the decree by which the Athenians espoused the cause of the Del- phian oracle against Cirrha. In 594 he was called by all parties to the archonship, with powers substantially dictatorial, and chiefly with authority to confirm, repeal, or modify the Draconian laws. The constitution of Solon (see ATHENS, vol. ii., p. 55), which made prop- erty instead of birth the title of citizenship, and which was the prelude to the subsequent democracy, was by a solemn oath of the gov- ernment and people declared valid without alteration for ten years. He obtained leave of absence for that period, visited Egypt, and went thence to Cyprus, where he persuaded the prince of yEpea to change the site of the town, and himself made the regulations for the prosperity of the new establishment, which in his honor was called Soli. He returned to
 * is a bud to continue the growth another year,