Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/841

* SWARTH. 1865 to 1884 she lived at Brussels, and after pub- lisliing two volumes of poems in French, Flcurs (III rive (1S7!M and Ijts Print (inicres (1882), todk high rank among the younger generation of poets in Holland with the lyrics, mostly in son- net form, Blituice Blocmcn (1884), licelden en Stoiimni {1SS7 ), Sneenuwlokkeii (ISSS) , I'assie- hloeiiuii (1891), and other collections. She also wrote sketches in prose, such as Fronisch en tra- (jisch (1895), '(t>i Vronicnlced and Van Vrou- 'irriilol {S'M:). Eiiist (1002), ;ind others. SWAETH'MORE COLLEGE. A co-educa- tional institution at Swavthmore, Pa., 12 miles west-southwest of Philadelphia. It was founded in 1804 by members of the Society of Friends, to secure to the youth of the Society higher educa- tional training imder instructors of their own faith. The college conferred the degrees of bachelor of letters and bachelor of science until 1903. when the degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of science in engineering were made the only ones given. The work is partially elective, and special courses of study are pro- vided. The master's degree in arts, letters, and science and the degrees of civil, mechanical, and chemical engineers are given for advanced work. In 190.3 there were 205 students in all depart- ments, with 25 instructors. The college library contained 22,100 volumes. The productive fmids amounted to $300,000, the income to $100,000, and the total valuation of the college property to $800,000. SWASTIKA (Skt., weal-making). A fylfot or 'four- loot' cross, a monogrammatic sign having four branches, of which the ends are bent, gen- 737 SWASTIKA. period) in Persia. It was particularly adopted liy liuddhisni and its presence in China, Japan, and Tibet can easily be explained as due to tbat religion. The swastika is unknown in early In- dia (all evidence to the contrary rests on false assiunptions) and when (c.30O B.C.) it lirst ap- pears. It is as a simple cross, as in crossed arms. sign of benediction or of good luck, and in one form or another has been used as a symbol of welfare from a very early time. The sign ap- pears in a variety of modifications, often con- nected in a continuous scroll, of which there are two well-defined types, forming on the one hand tlie European and Asiatic series, and on the other hand the American series, as illustrated by the following diagrams : y^S^jf^jf^ + + /^.-■^'Q^^^..<(m}Mmm^ ^y^^]^^mi ETJKOPEAN AND ASIATIC SERIES. Though the swastika has been found in Europe, Asia, and America, yet it is unknown to many races. There is, for example, no evidence to show that it was current as a native symbol in Egypt, Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, or (till a late y^s^m ^F^Eiy^Rja^ y^^X^jmim^Vv^ □ ^^P^Zm^sCT^^ p ^ y v ^^> r>^ II — — II derive erally at right angles, thus ' — — i or i — h— '. It is a ^ ^ sign of benediction or of good luck, and in one -C/ AMEHICAN SEniES. Many of the swastikas found at Hissarlik (Troy) are now acknowledged to be no true sw'astikas. 'I'hey are not found before the third city. Its original place and significance are alike unknown, but it has been the object of endless speculation. Some scholars see in the swastika a solar symbol, which represents, in its so-called female and male forms, I— L-j and j— ',— ' respectively, the annual cir- cuits of the sun to north and south. It has been derived from the triskalion or 'three-leg' symbol, but this sign is of later origin. The swas- tika has also been interpreted in other ways, as a wind-symbol, an carth-.synibol, an emblem of productivity, a phallic emblem, etc. Temple re- gards it as in origin merely decorative, and sug- gests that the running design may have been taken from a coil of string. In the opinion of d'Alviella, who calls it, from its shape, gam- madion, the swastika was chiefly talismanic. The swastika has been derived by some from the cross ; by others, from the circle ; it has been re- garded as an evolution from the lotus-petal in architecture; and as a mystic design it has been associated with fire and with water. The sun and fecundity are its most jirobable sources, if it had any meaning beyond that of an ornament becoming a mystic sign. The swastika appeared first in the Bronze Age, and occurs in the Swiss lake-dwellings. In the historic period it is found in .Tapan, Korea, China, Tibet, Armenia, Asia Minor, Greece and its islands (especially Cyprus and Rhodes), Italy, France, Oermany, Scandi- navia, Great Britain (perhaps only under Scan- dinavian influence). North America (e.g. Ohio. Tennessee, Mississippi, Alaska), Mexico, and South America (e.g. Brazil). In assigning its original home, it must be remembered that no case of Oriental swastikas precedes the period of Greek influence in India. It seems probable that d'Alviella may be right in ascribing an eastern emigration from a western centre, if not from Troy itself. It is said that there is in Tiliet a sect of rationalists called Swastikas, but this is prob- ably an error, and the sect meant is that of the Jains.