Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/527

SAINT VINCENT. 4T3 SAKA. cently suffered from two disasters following in rapiti succession. In 1808 it was swept liy an unusually violent liurrieane, and in May. I'.tOJ, large (larts uf it were devastated liy the eruption of La Soutl■ri^re ((|.v,). occurring simultaneously with that of .Mont I'elee (<i.v.) in -Martinique. About one-third of the i>land was laid waste. Several villages were destroyed, and about 1500 persons were killed. SAINT VINCENT, Cape. See Cape Sai:«t ViNCKN'T. SAINT VINCENT, Jonx Jervis. Earl of. A British admiral. See Jekvis. .John. SAINT VINCENT DE PAUL, s-In vaN'siLN' dr ]irpl. Society of. A society of Catholic laymen toundcd in Paris in ISS.i liy Frederic Ozanaiii (ij.v. I, with the object of visiting the poor and sullering at their dwellings and dispensing to them relief, promoting the elementary and re- ligious instruction of poor children, distributing moral and religious books, and undertaking any other charitable work to which its resources are adequate. It is entirely unsectarian in its meth- ods of operation. The headquarters are in Paris, where the afi'airs of the society are administered by a president-general and a council-genefal. There are other subdivisions of the society, such as the sujierior council, the central council, and the particular council, each having its sphere of authority strictly defined. The superior coun- cil has jurisdiction over countries or sections thereof, into which the society has been intro- duced: the particular council is subject to the superior council, and generally has supervision over the affairs of a diocese, while the con- ference has charge of i^arish work. SAINT VITXJS'S DANCE. See Chokea. SAINT VLAD'IMIR, l{uss. pron. vla-dye'- nier. Order of. A Russian civil order of merit with four classes, founded by Catharine II. in 1782. The decoration is a red cross with the initial of the saint. SAINT VLADIMIR, University of. See Kiev. SA'IS (Lat.. from Gk. Sciis, Coptic Soil. A city of ancient Egj'pt, on the right bank of the Canonic branch of the Nile, in latitude 30° 57' N., near the site of the modern village of Sa el-Hager. It was the capital of the Saitic nonie, and is mentioned in very early times as the seat of worship of the god- dess Xeith (q.v. ), whom the Greeks identified with Athene. Under the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, founded by Psammetichus I. ( q.v. ) . the city be- came the capital of Egypt, and was adorned with many splendid buildings. Herodotus speaks with special admiration of a shrine or chapel, hewn from a single block of granite, which Aalmies II. caused to be made near Elephantine and trans- ported to Sais. In the remarkable revival of art. letters, and ancient religious cus- toms which took place under the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, Sais became famous as a centre of cul- ture and as the seat of an important theological school. The Bool< of Ihe Dead (q.v.) seems to have been the subject of special study, and in the Saitic revision of this interesting collection the chapters composing it were for the first time ar- ranged in a fixed order. Under the Ptolemies the city declined in importance, though it was prob- ably an episcopal sec in early Christian times. The buildings of tlie Saitic Pharaohs are now marked by heaps of rubbish, anil -Marietlc's excavations upon the site were unproductive. Consult: Wil- kinson, MuiiiHis and Vusloiiis of I lie Ancient i^gyijlitiiis (London. 1878); Wiedemann, Acgyp- lisclic (Icschultic (Gotha, 1884-88) ; Uudge, A Uisloiy of Etjyi)t (New York, 1902). SAIVAS, shi'viiz. Worshipers of the Hindu deity Siva (q.v.). They are divided into many sects, m(>st of which represent decadent schools of philosophy. Jlost of the Yogins, or ascetic philosophers^ were and are Saivas, and the ascetics called Urdhvuhiihux and Akuidmukli- us (i.e. those who held up the arins and the face respectively till they became still) are usu- ally of this class. On the other hand, many of the so-called Saivas, such as the./(;)i,(7«Hii/.s- (Wan- derers) and Oaittliiis ( .Stallbearcrs) , are not necessarily such. In the earliest ])criod there are noticeable two marked tendencies in the Saiva cult, its democratic disregard of caste and its psychic philoso])liy. The Saiva sects have been drawn for the most part from the two extremes of India's social life. The lowest and most unin- telligent mendicants, understanding only asceti- cism, generally belong to this, as do, for the rea- son just slated, the iiltilosopliers; while the rich middle classes, especially those of North India, are followers of 'ishnu (q.v.). The Parama- liansa, 'highest-soul' Saivas, are the most spir- itual, though the modern representatives are often more conspicuous for nudity and stolidity than for anything else. One of the oldest of the Saiva sects is that of the Aghoris, cannibals de- voted to the most disgusting practices, but known as Saivas for fifteen centuries. Many of the Saivas are Saktas (q.v.). Consiilt: Wilson, t<k'ctch of the Iteligiuus .S'cc^s' of ihe Hiinliis (Cal- cutta, 1840) ; Barth, Religions of India (Boston, 1882) : Hopkins, Religions of India (ib., 1895). SAJOTJS, sa'zh(5o'. Chari.es Eichariste (1852 — ). An American physician, born at sea, otf the coast of France. He came to America in 18t)l. and studied medicine at .Icfferson .Medical College, Philadelphia. Professor of laryngology at the Penn.sylvania School of Anatomy ( 1880- 84), he lectured on the same sidijeet at the clinic of the Jefl'erson Medical College from 18S4 to 1890, but his more important work, beginning in 1888, was as editor-in-chief of the Annual and Analytical Ci/rloixrdia of Prartical Medicine. In his especial branch, laryngology. Dr. Sajoua wrote Diseases of the Soxe and Throat (1886), and invented several valuable operating tools. SAKA, shii'ka. An important system of reck- oning Jime in India, used over practically the entire country, and the one exclusively em- ployed in astronomical works. According to native tradition it was invented by King .Sali- vahana, also called Saka, in a.d. 78. and the era is consequently sometimes called by his name. It begins, like the Samvat (q.v.) year, on the full moon of the month Chaitra, which corre- sponds to March-.pril, is hini-solar in character, and is generallj' reckoned in expired years, so that the Sak.a date given represents the year last cnmjdeted. Christian dates arc reduced to Saka by the sul)tractinn of 78 from the Christian year. Consult Sewcll and Dikshit, The Indian Calendar (London, 1896).