Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/559

* SQUIRKEL. 479 SBINAGAB. three other species of gray squirrel ocour in the Southwestern United States and California, of which the chestnut-backed gray squirrel (Hciurus Ahcrti) is notable for having the ears tufted as in the chickaree. This is a very handsome species, with a broad band of chestnut on the back and a black stripe on each side ; nielanistie specimens are common. The California gray squirrel {Sciurus fossoi') is remarkable for its large size and black tail. Of the remaining sixty or seventy members of the genus Sciurus the most important is the com- mon squirrel of Europe {t^ciurus vulgaris), which ranges from Ireland to Japan and from Northern Italy to Lapland. It is a little larger than the chickaree, and, like that species, it is brownish red above and white beneath. In winter it undergoes some change of pelage, becoming gray or even almost white. The ears are tufted with little pencils of hair. A handsome Oriental squirrel (.Sciurus cunicei)s) is remarkable as the only known instance among mammals of the temporary assumption during the breeding sea- son of a distinctly ornamental pelage. During most of the 3-ear this squirrel is gray, but in December the back becomes a beautiful orange yellow, which becomes gray again late in March, after the breeding season is over. Of the other five genera one contains only a single species, a large and very handsome Bornean species i,Phi- ihrosciurus rnacrotis), which is very remarkable for certain peculiarities of the skull and particu- larly for the vertical grooves on the front sur- face of the incisors. The tail is also unusually long, the ears have long tufts, and the coloration is peculiar, the sides being banded with black and white. The genus Xerus includes four species known as 'spiny squirrels,' on account of the pelage, which is coarse and priekly, the hairs being intermingled with spines. They are ground- loving species, and live in burrows w'hieh they themselves dig. Thej' are somewhat larger than the chickaree and are all natives of Africa. The genus Tamias includes the small ground squir- rels, chiefly American, which connect the tree squirrels with the spermophiles. They are all similar in size and habits to the common chip- munk (q.v. ). The remaining genera, mainly Old World species, are remarkable for their powers of sailing from one tree to another. They are described in the article Flying Squirrel. Consult: Cones and Allen, Monograph of North American Rodentia (Washington, 1877); Stone and Cram, Ajiierican Animals (New York, 1902). SQUIRREL-FISH (so called from the sound made by the fish when taken from the water, which resembles the bark of a squirrel). Any of several brilliantly colored tropical fishes. One group is the family Holocentridte, allied to the mullets, many species of which abound about coral reefs and are numerous in American trop- ical waters. The best-known species ( Holocen- trus Ascensionis) is about two feet long and bright red, with shining streaks along the rows of scales. Another group is the genus Diplectrum of the sea-bass family, among which one very handsome species (Diplectrum formosum) is com- mon from Charleston to Montevideo, and is also called 'sewano' and 'sandfish.' It is about a foot long and brownish, with many blue markings. SQUIRREL-MONKEY. One of the names applied to certain small, active, bushy-tailed tropical American monkeys of the marmoset group, and especially of the golden-haired genus Chrysothrix, because of their squirrel-like size, manners, and appearance. -V well-known species is one of the titis (Chrysothrix sciurcus), whose crown, muzzle, and rings about the ej'cs are black, giving a comical likeness to a human skull, so that it is known as the death's-head squirrel- monkey. SRADDHA, shriid'ha (Skt. sruddha, faith, connected with Lat. credere, to believe). The funeral ceremony of the Hindus, in which balls of rice are olTered to the deceased ancestors of the sacrificcr, or to the pitris (q.v.) collectively. It is especially performed for a parent recently deceased, or for three paternal ancestors, repre- sented by three Brahinans, and secures the resi- dence of the souls of the dead in the heaven of the pitris at the end of a year. The term sraddha is also applied to the daily offer- ings to the manes in general, and to offerings jjerformed on various domestic occurrences, as on the birth of a son. There are likewise voluntary sraddhas performed for a special object, such as the hope of religious merit. The presentation of the ball of food to the deceased, and to his progenitors in both lines, is the office of the nearest male relative. If, however, sons have divided their patrimony contrary to their father's wishes, they may be excluded from the sraddha. The widow can inherit only on condition that she has the ceremony duly per- formed. The sraddha is still offered in certain parts of India, as at Gaya in Behar. The entire ceremony is based on the fear of malignant ghosts, since if the sraddha is not performed, the dead man will return to seek revenge for the neg- lect shown him. See Ghosts. Consult: Caland, Ueber Todtenverehrung bei einigcn der indoger- manischen Viilker (Amsterdam, 1888) ; id., Alt- indischer Ahnenkult (Leyden, 1893) ; Jolly, Recht und Sitte ( Stras.sburg, 1896) ; Hillebrand't, Ritual-Litteratur (ib., 1897). SRAVAKA, shrii'va-ka (Skt. iravaka, Pali sfuaka, disciple, from iru, to hear). Originally any true disciple of Buddha. The term was later applied to those who were on the four-fold road to Nirvana (q.v.). The four classes of sravakas are the srotupannas (Pali sOtnpanna), neophytes or converts; the sakariigumiiias (Pali safco- dugamin), who are so far purified that they need be reborn on earth only once: the amlgaminas (Pali also ano gamin), who will be reborn in a Brahmaloka, not in an inferior heaven or on earth; and the arhats (Pali arahfi), who have attained such sanctity that they are freed from reincarnation. The general name among the Northern Buddhists for the Southern sect is sravakas. SRINAGAR, sre'na-gfir'. or SERINAGUR, sf-re'na-gur'. The capital of the native State of Kashmir, India, on the Jhelam River, 193 miles by rail northeast of Rawal Pindi (Map: India, C 2 ). It is in the 'Vale of Kashmir,' a region noted for its picturesque lakes, lofty mountain peaks, and interesting ruins. The Jhelam River flows through the city, and the numerous canals extend in all directions. Within the wall-girt citadel are the city fort and a summer residence of the Maharaja. Dal Lake, a beautiful sheet of water on the eastetn border of the city, was