Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/106

* SHERWOOD FOREST. 82 SHIDZUOKA. between Nottiiisliai" and Worksop, about 25 miles from north to south and to S miles from ea^^t to west. It was formerly a royal hunting forest, and the traditional scuiie of many of the exploits of Rohin Hood and his followers. It is now al- most wholly denutled and is occupied by gentle- men's seats, parks, and farms. The town of ilansfield and a number of villages are situated within the ancient bounds. Consult White, Xot- tiiighamshire and Sherwood Forest (Worksop, 1875). SHE'SHONK. King of Egypt. See Shishak. SHE STOOPS TO CONQUER. A comedy by Oliver Goldsmith, among the three or four plays of the period which still hold the stage. It w^as first performed at Covent Garden in 1773, with immediate success. SHET'LAND (or ZETLAND) ISLANDS (anciently llialtland, the Latin Ulliiiin Tlndr) . A group of about 100 Scottish islands. 2.3 of which are inhabited, lying between the Atlantic and the North Sea. 50 miles northeast of the Orkneys, and 210 miles west of Norway (Map: Scotland, F 1). The largest is JIainland, which embraces about half the entire area and population ; others are Unst. Yell, Fetlar, Bressay, Whalsay, Papa Stour, Barra, and Foula. The total area of the group is about 5.50 square miles. Population, in 1891, 28,711; in 1901, 28,195. Lerwick (q.v.), on Mainland,, is the chief town. The surface is rug- ged and wild ; the coasts are abrupt and indented with deep bays or voes. The rocks are mainly gneiss, clay-slate, sandstone, and granite. The highest hill is Eonas, 1500 feet. The climate is moist and variable and snow and frost are of short duration. Fishing for cod, ling, and herring is the chief industry; seals and bottle-nosed whales are often caught. Much attention is given to the rearing of cattle, sheep, and ponies, the little Shetland ponies being famous. Almost all the small tenants practice spade cultivation. Oats and barley are the only grain crops : pota- toes and turnips are grown. The manufactures are chieliy hosiery and shawls, and the exports, besides these, are cattle, fish, and eggs; the chief imports are oatmeal, flour, tea, tobacco, spirits, sugar, cottons, woolens, timber (chiefly from Norway), tar. salt, etc. • Though little is known of the original inhab- itants of Shetland, the physiognomy, character, and language point to a Norse or Scandinavian origin. In Unst cairns have been fovmd over long and short stone coffins, with skeletons, clay urns, weapons, and stone vessels. Tunnili are frequent and contain remains of rude buildings and stone implements. Circular strongholds of unhewn stone, called burghs or 'broughs,' are very nmnerous, generally on a cliff or headland, but also on artificial islands in fresh-water lochs. Mouse Isle has the most perfect 'brough' known. Consult Hibbert, The Shetland Islands (new ed., Edinburgh, 1802). SHETLAND PONY, or Sheltie. See Pont. SHEWBREAD. An expression used in the English Bible for the 12 loaves which, according to the Pentateuchal codes, were placed on a table of acacia wood in the Holy of Holies. They were made of flne flour, rmleavened, and sprinkled w ith frankincense ; they were arranged in two rows of six loaves each, and the bread was changed every Sabbath -. when the change was made, frankincense was burned and the old bread was given to the priests to be eaten in the holy place (Ex. xxv. 23-30; Lev. x.viv. 5-9; .Josephus, Ant. iii. 10, 7 ). The term 'slicw- bread' was used by Tyndale in his translation of the New Testament (Heb. is. 5). The Hebrew name means 'bread of the presence.' Other ex- pressions are used as 'holy bread' (I. Sam. xxi. (i), "pile bread' (1. Chron. ix. 32). The refer- ence in I. Samuel, where the shewbread of the sanctuary at Nob in the days of David is referred to, indicates the antiquity of the rite. Similar rites are found among various nations of an- tiquity. Thei'e is a Babylonian phrase which is identical with the Hebrew (cf. Zimmern, Bci- tvilge zur Kenntnis dcr hahylonischen Rclirjion, Leipzig, 1896-1900), and references are found in Babylonian literature to the piling up of loaves on a table set before a divinity, the number of such loaves being 12, 24, or 30. The inclusion of the rite in the post-exilic regu- lations of the Jewish cult is an instance of survival, though naturally an interpretation was given in accordance with more advanced ideas. Great care was bestowed upon the prep- aration of the shewbread. According to the Talmud the flour must be sifted II times and thfi kneading and baking were intrusted to a special priestly family in whose hands the priv- ileges generally remained for several generations. Consult the Hebrew archjeologies of Benzinger and Nowack. SHIAHS, she'az. See SnnTES. SHIB'BOLETH (Heb., ear of corn, stream). The test-word used by the Gileadites under Jcph- thali after their victory over the Ephraimites, recorded in Judges xii. G. It appears that the latter could not pronounce the sh, and, by saying sibboleth, betrayed themselves, and were slaugh- tered mercilessly. It may be noticed that all those Hebrew names in the Old Testament which begin with the sh have now, through the inability of the Septuagint to render this sound in Greek, become familiar to us, through the versions that flowed from it, as beginning with the simple s, e.g., Simon, Sama.ria. Solomon, Saul. etc. The word shibboleth is used in modern languages in the sense indicated, viz. a test of speech and manners of a certain party or class of society. SHICHI-TO, she'che'to' (Jap., Seven Islands). A group of small islands southeast of the pen- insula of Idzu, Central Hondo, Japan ( Map : .Japan, F G). The most important member of the group is called Vries Island by foreigners and Oshima (large island) by the Japanese. Its centre is an active volcano. The other islands are Rishima, Nishima, Shikineshima, Kautsu- shima, Miyakeshima, and Mikurashima. The islands were used as convict settlements until the end of the eighteenth century. SHIDZUOKA, shez'wo'ka. The capital of the prefecture of the same name in Japan, near the southern coast of Hondo, 120 miles by rail south- west of Tokio (Map: .Japan. F 6). It is a well- built industrial town Avith manufactures of lacquer ware and basketwork. In the vicinity is produced one of the best kinds of tea found in Japan. The Buddhist temple of Rinzaiji, a short distance from the city, is noted principallv on account of its association with the Shogun Iveyasu (1542-lfil6). the first shogiui of the Togugawa dynasty, who resided at Shidzuoka un-