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* SORBONNE. 348 SORGHUM. !M. Gr^arcl publislied a noteworthy pamphlet, en- titled yos adieux a la ricille Sorboniic. The changes in the interior administration due to the progress of science and to the increase of funds are too complex for presentaticm here. The most radical aie the disappearance, after the French Revolution, of the Faculty of Theology, which was once the sole authority, so that a Sor- bonnist was of course a theologian ; the conse- quent suprenuicy of literature and science, evinced by the organization of the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, and by the founding of libraries and seminaries; and likewise by the establish- ment, in the immediate neighborhood, of schools of medicine and law. The faculties of Science and Letters of the University of Paris are in- stalled in the New Sorbonne and Minerva for l!l01-02 reports that their libraries contain 263,- 590 volumes. At a recent date, connected more or less closely with the New Sorbonne, there were 10.000 stu- dents, 100 professorships, and many accessory positions for associates and assistants. In addi- tion to the works above named, consult Franklin, L(i Sorbonne: ses originrx, s« bihiiotheque, etc, (Paris, 1875). SORCERY. See Witchcraft. SORDELTLiO. An Italian troubadour of the thirteenth century who wrote in Provencal, He was a native of Goito, Mantua. The earliest mention of him has reference to a tavern brawl, which took place about 1220, and the last docu- ment in which his name appears is dated 1209. Wliile living at the Court of Richard of San Bonifazio, he carried off his master's wife, Cunizza, at the instigation of her brother, Ezzo- lino da Romano. Soon afterwards he fled to Provence, where, with the exception of visits to Spain and Portugal^ he seems to have spent the greater part of his life. Here he took part in important public events, his name appearing as that of a witness in various treaties and other documents. In his old age he returned to Italy as a knight in the train of Charles of Anjou, and received from him several castles in Abruzzo as a reward for his services. As a poet he rises little above mediocrity. His political, moral, and personal sirventes show vigor and spirit, but his love songs are purely conventional, and his didactic poem Documentum Honoris has no unusual merit. His great reputa- tion depends upon Dante's treatment of him in Piiryatorio, vi. and vii., where he becomes a type of high-minded nobility and patriotism. This conception is founded upon a sirvente on the death of Blacatz, in which Sordello imagines his patron's heart divided among the various princes who need its virtues. Dante has put into the mouth of his shade in Purgatory a similar in- vective. The poem of Browning which bears his name has but the slightest historical foundation. Consult: Cesare de Lollis. Vita e poesie di Sor- dello di Goito (Halle, 1896). SOREL'. The capital of Richelieu County, Quebec, Canada, on the Richelieu River at its mouth in Lake Saint Peter, and on the Montreal and Sorcl Railroad, 45 miles northeast of Mon- treal (Map: Quebec, C 4). It has large ship- building and manufacturing interests. It derives its name from the captain of a French regiment, who established a fort here in 1665. Population, in 1891, 0669; in 1901, 7057. SOREL. A river of Canada. See Richelieu. SOREL, Agnes. Mistress of Charles VII. of France. See Agnes Sobel. " SOREL,. Albert (1842—). A French author, born at Honfleur. He became professor of diplo- matic history in the School of Political Sciences at Paris in 1872. In 1896 he was made a member of the French Academy. Some of his works are La grande falaise (1871), Histoire diplomatique de la guerre franco-allemande (1875), La ques- tion d'Orient au XYIII. siecle (1878), L'Europe et la revolution frangaise (1885), Montesquieu (1887), Madame de Stael (1890), and Bonaparte et Uoche en 1191 (1896). SOREL, Charles (c.I599-1674). A French burlesque romancer, of whose life little is known. In 1622 appeared anonymously his Histoire co- mique de Francion, hrst in seven, later ( 1641 ) in eleven books. This work, reprinted more than forty times in the seventeenth century, made merry with the pastoral and chivalric romances then so popular. In Le berger extravagant (1021), an imitation of Don Quixote, Sorel like- wise mocked the 'ideal' romance. His Polyandre (incomplete, 1648) portrays the well-to-do Parisian bourgeoisie with some accuracy. Con- sult Kiirting, Geschichte des franzosischen Ro- mans im XYII. Jahrhundert (Leipzig. 1885), and Roy, La vie et les ceuvres de Sorel (Paris, 1853), SORGHTJM (Neo-Lat. sorghum, sorgutn, from Sp. sorgo, ML. surgum, surcum, s^icricum, Indian millet, sorghum, probably of Oriental origin ) , Sorghum vulgare or Andropogon sorghum, var. saceharatus. A tall, earless maize-like grass with a terminal head of small seeds. It is sup- posed to be a native of Africa, but has long been cultivated in Southern Europe and China as a forage plant (see below), and for the syrup made from its sweet juice, which does not yield a profit- able quantity of sugar. See Sugar, paragraph Maniifaelure. Sorghum, Non-saccharine. A group of varie- ties of sorghum, deficient in sugar. The plants, which are very leafy, grow from 4 to 8 feet high and are cultivated for food and forage. All va- rieties are closely allied and belong to the above- named species. The most common varieties are Kafir corn, millo maize, durra, Egvptian rice corn, Jerusalem corn, and broom corn (q.v.). They are extensively grown in Africa, India, and China for the seed, which forms a staple human food. In Europe they are sometimes planted, but they do not ripen seed in regions remote from the Mediterranean countries. In the United States they are growm as forage plants in the semi-arid Western States, where, owing to their drought-resisting qualities, they have become im- portant crops. Soil, climatic requirements, and cultural methods are practically the same for all varieties. Kafir corn, the most important variety for the American farmer, was introduced by the United States Department of Agriculture about 1885 and widely distributed. It has become a valuable and important crop in California, Kansas, and Okla- homa, It succeeds on a variety of soils, but the best returns are obtained on rich soils suitable for corn. Profitable yields, however, are often