Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/835

* SWABIA. 733 SWALLOW. enmerce, and for a time it was nearly independ- ent. In 919 Swabia was constituted one of the great duchies of the German Kingdom. It comprised the region between the Rliine and the Lech and part of Switzerland. The office of duke was fre- quently kept in the royal family. In 1079 the duchy passed to the House of Holienstaufen, being bestowed by the Emperor Henry IV. upon Fred- erick of Staufen. Under the rule of this house, which occupied the Imperial throne of Germany from 1138 to 1254, Swabia was the most wealthy and powerful of the German duchies. In 1090 Frederick of Staufen was compelled to give up to Berthold of Ziihringen the Breisgau and the Imperial bailiflship in Zurich. On the extinc- tion of the Hohenstaufen dynasty in 12G8 disin- tegration took place and the ducal vassals (cities, prelates, counts, etc.) claimed independence ex- cept for their allegiance to the emperors. The Count of Wiirttemberg occupied the leading place among the petty rulers. The numerous lesser lords were for the most part obliged to accept the overlordsliip of the House of Ziihrin- gen or of Austria. The cities, of which many had become wealthy and powerful, were striving for local independence. In 1376 some of them formed the first Swabian League, which extended beyond the bounds of Swabia. In 1405 Wiirt- temberg, Baden, and seventeen cities joined to- gether in the League of JIarbach. The two Leagues were of little importance as political powers, but they paved the way for the Great Swabian League, formed in 1488, which und r the leadership of the Count of Wiirttemberg exer- cised administrative and judicial authority over the whole country. During this long period of strife a consideraljle portion of old Swabia had passed into the power of Bavaria. In 1512 Swa- bia became one of the ten circles into which Ger- many was divided for administrative piirjioses by Maximilian I. The dissolution of the Great Swabian League took place in 1533. Among the many citj* commonwealths which arose in Swa- bia were Augsburg, Ulm, and Constance. The southwestern Ciovernment District of Bavaria bears the name of Swabia (or Swabia and New- burg). Its capital is Augsburg. The best gen- eral history is Stiilin, Oesehichte W'Urttemberr/s (Gotha, 1882-87). SWADLINCOTE, swod'lin-kot. A town in Deriiysliire, England. 4 miles southeast of Bur- ton-upon-Trent. Its industries comprise coal- mining and the various branches of earthenware manufacture. Population, in 1891. 13.889; in 1901, 18,014. SWAHILI, swa-he'le. A Bantu people of the Kau District, Tana-Ozi Delta, British East Af- rica, mingled more or less in blood with Semites. They are Mohammedans and difl'er little from the .Arabs in general culture. They number about one million. They are noted traders, and their lan- guage, the Kiswahili. is the great medium of intei'conrse throughout east Central Africa. Consult: Biittner, Worterbiich der Suahelispraclre (Berlin, 1890); Seidel, G-rammatik der Suaheli- sprache (Vienna, 1891) ; Steere, Haiidbook. of the Sirahili Language (4th ed.. London, 1894) ; Krapf, Dutionarii of the Suithili Lanqunqe (ili., 1882) : Miidan. English-Swahili Dlrtionari/ (Ox- ford, 1894) : Delaunay, Grammaire Kiswahili (Paris, 1898). SWAIN, Charles (1801-74). An English writer known as 'the Manchester poet.' He was born in Manchester, and lived all his life in England. For fiairteeu years he was a clerk in the dye house of his uncle; he afterwards carried on a business in engraving and lithographing. Between 1827 and 1807 he jjublished several volumes of verse, among which are Drtjhurgh Abbey (1832), an elegy on Sir Walter Scott; English Melodies (1849); and the more ambi- tious The Mind and Other Foems (1832). Sev- eral of his songs, which have been set to music, are well known, as "Somebody's Waiting for Somebody" and "Tapping at the Window." Con- sult the edition of his poems, with portrait and introduction by C. C. Smith (Boston, 1857). SWAIN, Geokge FiLLMOEE (18.')7— ). An American civil engineer. He was born in San Francisco and was educated at the Massachu- setts Institvite of Teclmology, where he gradu- ated in 1877. He then .studied three years in the Government engineering school at Berlin, Germany. tJpon his return he settled in Boston, where in 1887 he became professor of civil engi- neering at the Institute of Technology, and engi- neer to the Massachusetts Railroad Commission. In 1894 he was also made a member of the Boston Transit Commission. His most important publication is a "Report on the Water Power of the Atlantic Watershed" (vol. xvii. of Tenth United States Census). SWAIN, Joseph (1857 — ). An American educator, born at Pendleton, Ind. He graduated at Indiana L'niversity in 1883 ; studied in the University of Edinburgh, and with the astrono- mer royal of Scotland in 1885-80; was professor of mathematics in his alma mater from 1886 till 1891; and in the latter year was called as professor of mathematics to Leland Stanford University. Two years afterwards he returned to Indiana University as president, and remained in that position unlil 1902, when he accepted the presidency of Swarthmore College in Penn- sylvania. SWAIN'SON, William (1789- 1855). An English naturalist, born in Liverpool. He trav- eled in South America, and on his return to Eng- land began the publication of wiu'ks on natural history. In 1841 he emigrated to New Zealand, where he became Attorney-General. Important among his works are: Zoologieal Illustrations (1820-23; 1829-.33) ; Exotic Conrhologg (1821- 22); Ornithologieal Drawings (1834-41); liirds of Western Africa (1837); The Xaturalist's Guide, etc. (1840). SWALLOW (AS. su-, allci/on, Lat. alcedo, kingfisher). A passerine bird of the family llirundinidir. a fam- ily represented by many similar species in almost ail parts of the world. This family consists of birds which prey on insects, catching them in the air. They have remarkable powers of fligbt, now soaring to a great height, now skimming near the surface of the ground or of the water, and wheeling with great rapidity. The bill is short and weak, broad at the base, and deeply cleft, so that the gape is wide; the wings are very long, pointed, and more or less sickle-shaped when expanded, and have only nine primaries; the legs are short and weak. The tail is gener-