modern Syriac alphabet is an adaptation of the Estranghelo to an easier and more rapid style of writing; it began to come into use in the 5th and 6th centuries, and by degrees crowded out its predecessor, which was at last employed only for headings and similar purposes. The Estranghelo is also the parent of the Cufic, from which the modern forms of the Arabic are derived. Finally, we have the Nestorian character, still in common use with modern Nestorian Christians; it is heavier and squarer than the last named, and less altered from their common mother, the. Estranghelo. All the Syriac alphabets contain the same 22 characters with the Phoenician and the Hebrew. The Syriac contains many Greek and Latin words, chiefly nouns; it has also partly filled out the scanty structure of the Semitic verb with forms of periphrastic origin. Thus, besides the usual perfect and imperfect (or preterite and future), each of which is capable of standing for time past, present, or future, it has a distinctive present, formed by a participle and following pronoun; an imperfect, formed of a participle and the verb to be; a pluperfect, formed of the perfect (or preterite) and the verb to be; and even a future, with the adjective ready, about to. Of the Semitic conjugations, the Syriac has but three, each with its passive; the second and third are hardly distinguished in meaning, both expressing intensive or causative action. The dual number has entirely disappeared. The ancient Syriac was a vernacular dialect during the first centuries after Christ; after being raised to the rank of a cultivated literary language, it maintained itself as such, unaltered, throughout the whole period of growth of the Syriac literature; and it is still the sacred language of the scattered bodies of Christians in Asia representing the ancient Syriac church. It is no longer properly understood, however, even by the best instructed among them. The vernacular dialect of the once powerful and active sect of Nestorians has been lately, by the efforts of the American missionaries at Urumiah, raised to the rank of a printed language, with a Christian literature, school and scientific books, periodicals, &c. (See NESTORIANS, and PERKINS, JUSTIN.) The Syriac literature is Christian, composed under Greek influence and after Greek models; and besides the important part it has played as the intermediary between Greek and Moslem science and philosophy, it is a source of valuable historical information. The oldest Syriac work still existing is the translation of nearly the whole Bible, of unknown authorship, commonly called the Peshito; it is supposed to have been made not later than about A. D. 200. The earliest authors whose names, with fragments of their works, have come down to us, are a few years older; they are Bardesanes and his son Harmonius. Besides philosophical works, they composed the first hymns in the language, and fixed its poetic style, giving it a properly met

rical form, dependent on accent and number of syllables, with occasional rhyme; it was the first time that any Semitic dialect had been subjected to such rules. But the most prominent early Syriac author is St. Ephraem, or Ephraem Syrus, of the middle of the 4th century; with him begins the full career of the Syriac literature, which continued uninterrupted until the 9th century. A great part of this literature has been lost, and what remains has as yet been but partially worked up and made accessible. It may be said to have done its principal work in the 8th and 9th centuries, in introducing classical learning to the knowledge of the Arabs. The grammatical study and culture of the Syriac began after the founding of the famous school of Edessa, long a chief centre of oriental learning, in the 5th century. The works of previous laborers in this field were effaced by those of Jacob of Edessa, of the 7th century, whose authority gave the classical and sacred dialect its final form. From his time the series of native grammarians and lexicographers is almost unbroken; of most note among the former are Elias of Nisibis (11th century), John Bar-Zugbi (beginning of the 13th century), and Bar-Ilebræus, known also as an Arabic author by the name of Abulfaraj (13th century); of the latter the most important are Bar-Ali and Bar-Bahlul, of the 9th and 10th centuries. Bar-Hebræus, who is distinguished by both his Syriac and Arabic works, and in various departments of knowledge, is the last great name in Syriac literary history. The study of Syriac was introduced into Europe in the 15th century, and the names of Ambrosius, Widmanstad, the two Ecchellenses, and Assemani are prominent among its cultivators. The only comprehensive dictionary is that contained in Castell's polyglot lexicon, and published separately by Michaelis (Göttingen, 1788). Of the Latin grammar of Hoffmann (Halle, 1827), an English abridged translation has been published by Cowper (London, 1858); it has also been worked over and much extended and altered by Merx (1867). The German one of Uhlemann (Berlin, 2d ed., 1857) includes also a chrestomathy and glossary; this, too, has been reproduced in English in this country by E. Hutchinson (2d ed., New York, 1875). Among the other chrestomathies published, the most useful are those of Rödiger (Halle, 1838) and Kirsch, edited with a glossary by Bernstein (Leipsic, 1832). A complete lexicon was begun by Bernstein, but interrupted by his death; his collections and Quatremère's have since passed into the hands of Dean R. Payne Smith, who is now (1876) publishing a very full and learned dictionary. Besides Dean Smith, Cowper and Cureton are the best English cultivators of the study, and the latter especially has done great service by the publication of extracts from the precious collection of MSS. some time since acquired for the British museum from the convent of St.

Maria Deipara in Egypt. A grammar of the dialect of Urumiah, by the Rev. D. T. Stoddard, was published in 1856 by the American oriental society. Nöldeke has produced a fuller and more learned one, founded on this and on the texts published by the missionaries, entitled Grammatik der neusyrischen Sprache (Leipsic, 1868). Dr. Adalbert Merx has published a Neusyrisches Lesebuch: Texte im Dialekte von Urmia (Breslau, 1874).

SYRINGA. See LILAC, and PHILADELPHUS.
SYROS. See SYRA.

SYRTIS MAJOR and Syrtis Minor, the ancient names of two large gulfs on the N. coast of Africa, now called respectively the gulf of Sidra and the gulf of Cabes or Gabes. These gulfs were dangerous on account of their shallowness, the number of quicksands, and the uncertainty of the tides. The Greater Syrtis, or gulf of Sidra, is on the N. coast of Tripoli, and extends from the promontory of Boreum (now Ras Teyonas) on the E. side to that of Cephala (Ras Kasr Hamet) on the W. The distance between the two promontories is about 270 m., and the greatest extension of the gulf inland is 110 m. The Lesser Syrtis, or gulf of Cabes, indents the E. coast of Tunis, between the island of Jerbah on the south and Caput Vadorum (Ras Kapudiah) on the north; its width is about 100 m., measuring from these points. The region between the two gulfs, formerly called Syrtica, is most ly a narrow sandy or marshy strip of land, now belonging to Tripoli. In ancient times it was peopled by the Lothophagi, Macæ, Psylli, Nasamones, and other Libyan tribes, besides Egyptians and Phoenicians on the coast. Cyrene and Carthage contended for it, the latter winning, it is said, through the self-sacrifice of two brothers, the Philæni.

SZABADKA (Ger. Maria-Theresiopel), a town of S. Hungary, in the county of Bács, 96 m. S. S. E. of Pesth; pop. in 1870, 56,323. Its inhabitants are mostly agriculturists, but there is also considerable trade in cattle, tobacco, and other products.

SZABOLCS, & N. E. county of Hungary, in the Trans-Tibiscan circle, the Theiss constituting the N. and part of the W. frontier; area, 2,304 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 265,584, chiefly Magyars. It is a wide, sandy plain, with large marshes, especially in the north and west, but the soil is fertile. The chief products are cattle, grain, tobacco, and wine. Capital, Nagy-Kálló.

SZALA. See ZALA.

SZALAY, László, a Hungarian historian, born in Buda, April 18, 1813, died in Salzburg, July 17, 1864. He studied at the university of Pesth, was admitted to the bar in 1833, was a member of the diet of 1839-'40, and prepared with Deák and others the penal code adopted by the lower house. Having edited for some time the Themis, and subsequently the Budapesti szemle (" Buda-Pesth Review "), he succeeded Kossuth in July, 1844, as editor of the Pesti hirlap ("Pesth Journal"). In 1847-'52

he published Statusférfiak könyve ("The Book of Statesmen "), a collection of political biographies. In 1848 he was sent by the Batthyányi ministry as envoy to the provisional central government of Germany at Frankfort, whence he soon after retired to London, and subsequently resided in Switzerland, until allowed to return to Hungary about the beginning of 1861, where he became a prominent member of the diet at Pesth. His principal work is Magyarország története ("History of Hungary," 6 vols., Leipsic and Pesth, 1850-'63; German ed., 1866 et seq.).

SZATMÁR, or Szathmár. I. A N. E. county of Hungary, in the Trans-Tibiscan circle, bounded N. by the Theiss, and intersected by the Szamos; area, 2,260 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 280,568, chiefly Magyars. The E. part is mountainous, and contains the gold and silver mines of Nagy-Bánya; the remainder is level and partly marshy. The climate is healthful and mild, and the soil fertile, producing corn, maize, hemp, flax, wine, and tobacco. Cattle, swine, sheep, and bees are raised in great numbers. II. A town, capital of the county, 65 m. E. N. E. of Debreczin; pop. in 1870, 18,353. It consists of two parts, Németi on the N. bank of the Szamos, and Szatmár on an island in the river. It is the seat of a Catholic bishop, and has a Catholic gymnasium, a lyceum, a seminary, and Greek and Protestant churches. A considerable trade is carried on in wine, linen, and woollen fabrics.

SZÉCHENYI, István, count, a Hungarian statesman, born in Vienna, Sept. 21, 1791, died by his own hand at Döbling, April 8, 1860. He was the son of Count Francis Széchenyi, the founder of the national museum at Pesth, served in the last campaigns of Austria against Napoleon, and in 1825 took his seat in the upper house of the Hungarian diet. He contributed the sum of $30,000 toward the foundation of the Hungarian national academy, and was its vice president; and as leader of the national party he carried through a grand series of public enterprises. To popularize his schemes of reform, he published Hitel ("Credit," Pesth, 1830), and Világ ("Light," 1832). Frightened by Kossuth's radical agitation, he wrote against him his Kelet népe ("People of the East," 1840), and combated him in the diet of 1847; but in 1848 he yielded to the current, and entered the Batthyányi-Kossuth cabinet as minister of public works. On the outbreak of the war he became insane, and was taken to an asylum at Döbling near Vienna, in which, though he recovered after some time, he spent the remainder of his life. In March, 1860, his abode and papers were searched by the Austrian police, and shortly after he shot himself.

SZEGEDIN (Hun. Szeged), a city of Hungary, capital of the county of Csongrád, on the right bank of the Theiss, opposite the mouth of the Maros, 55 m. W. of Arad and 96 m. S. E. of Pesth; pop. in 1870, 70,179, chiefly Magyars

1837-'9), and Friedrich, Symbolik der mosaischen Stiftshütte (Leipsic, 1841).

TABERNACLES, Feast of (Heb. 'hag hassukoth), one of the three great festivals of the Jews, observed after harvest, and beginning on the 15th day of the month Tisri. It commemorated God's protecting care over his people while they dwelt in the wilderness. It was also a harvest feast or thanksgiving. It continued eight (among the exiled Jews nine) days, the first and last (in exile the first two and last two) of which were the most important. To the ceremonies of the festival belongs the waving toward the four quarters of the world of fine fruits and leafy branches, with the singing of liturgical songs, commonly called, from the repetition of the words hosia' na (Oh save!), Hosanna. On the seventh day this was repeated, for the last time, with greater solemnity. During the first seven days the living in booths was obligatory, which is still partially observed by the Jews in most countries. Sacrifices took place in the temple, and in later times also a ceremony of "pouring water" on the sacrifice, and a great illumination of the outer court, with dances by torchlight.

TABOR, Mount (Gr. 'Araßiptov; now Jebel etTur), an insulated eminence in the plain of Esdraelon, about 6 m. S. E. of Nazareth, in Galilee, commonly regarded as the scene of the transfiguration of Christ. It is about 1,800 ft. high, composed entirely of limestone, and its sides are covered up to the summit with the valonia oak, wild pistachios, myrtles, and other shrubs. Its summit is a plateau about 600 yards in extent from N. to S. and 300 yards across. All around this plain are traces of an ancient wall, and below it on the S. E. side of the hill are the ruins of a fortification, a gateway of Saracenic architecture called "the gate of the wind," and a small vault where the Latin monks from Nazareth annually celebrate the transfiguration. Among the ruins of a church on the N. side of the mountain the Greeks observe the same festival. Tabor is several times mentioned in the Old Testament, and upon it Deborah and Barak assembled the warriors of Israel previous to the battle with Sisera. There was upon it a city of the Levites of the tribe of Zebulon, which was taken and fortified by Antiochus the Great, 218 B. C. In 55 B. C. a battle was fought near it between the Romans under the proconsul Gabinius and the Jews under Alexander the son of Aristobulus, in which 10,000 Jews were slain. Tabor is not named in the New Testament, and was first mentioned as the place of the transfiguration in the 4th century. At the foot of it the crusaders several times fought the Moslems, and Napoleon gained a victory over the Turks. TABORITES. See HUSSITES.

TABRIZ, Tebriz, or Tauris, a walled city of Persia, capital of the province of Azerbijan, in lat. 38° 4' N., lon. 46° 15' E., near the river Aji; pop. about 120,000. It stands on a wide plain, 4,944 ft. above the sea, enclosed on all

| sides but the west by low mountains or hills. The vicinity is very fertile, and beautified by innumerable fruit gardens, celebrated for their peaches and apricots, and producing grapes from which is made a wine resembling Marsala. The wall of sun-dried bricks is about 3 m. in circuit. The streets are narrow and tortuous, and the houses low and flat, but there is a large square, and the bazaars are numerous and spacious. The most remarkable buildings are the citadel, a lofty structure with massive brick walls; the Blue mosque, built in the 17th century by Abbas the Great, but now in ruins; and the villa of the heir apparent to the Persian throne, who resides here as governor of Azerbijan. Tabriz is one of the most important commercial cities in Persia. It is on the caravan route between the interior and Trebizond and Tiflis, and carries on a large foreign trade, also maintaining manufactories

of silk and cotton goods.-According to Persian tradition, Tabriz was founded by Zobeida, wife of Haroun al-Rashid; but the town existed in antiquity, and under the name of Gazaca was the capital of the Median province of Atropatene. At a later period it was the capital of Tiridates III., king of Armenia. It was visited by Marco Polo about 1293, and in 1320 there appear to have been Venetians settled there, and a Genoese factory in 1341. The present number of European inhabitants probably does not exceed 100. Tabriz has frequently been captured by the Turks, and it has often been damaged by earthquakes. The Anglo-Indian telegraph line passes through the city.

TACHÉ, Alexandre, a Canadian archbishop, born at Kamouraska, Lower Canada, in 1822. He graduated at the college of St. Hyacinthe, became an Oblate of the Immaculate Conception, and in 1843 asked to be sent to the Red River mission. He was ordained priest at St. Boniface, and devoted himself to the Indian tribes beyond the civilized regions of Canada, especially along the valley of the Saskatchewan. He was among the first to penetrate into the unexplored portions of the northwestern territory, and contributed toward the colonization and progress of Manitoba. He was consecrated