Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/552

SALONIKI. 494 SALT. abounding in wellprescivcd monuments of an- tiiiuiiy, is of great aiclupoloHioal interest. The triuniplial arch across tlic loriiier Via Egnatia is variously ascribed to C'oustautinc and Thcodu- sius. and 'consists of three archways of bride covered with marble slabs and decorated with bas-reliefs. The otlicr arch, attributed to Ves- pasian, was demolished in 1867. The jjortico with caryatides, known as Las Ineantadas. is be- lieved to' be the entrance to a hippodrome. The walls of the city along the water liave been de- molished and replaced by a niapniliccnt quay, at the eastern end of which is the White Tower or the Tower of Blood, a remnant of the ancient fortifications. The mosques of Salonilci are mostly of Byzantine origin and are characterized by great splendor. The Jlosquc of Saint Sophia is modeled after the famous mosque of the .same name in Constantinople, and is crowned by a vast dome with iK-autiful mosaics. The Rotonda, the former Church of Saint George, also deserves es- pecial mention for its mo.saics. Saint Demetrius is interesting for the originality of its interior arrangement. The principal manufactures are morocco leather and leather products, cutlery and arms, flour, cotton yarn, bricks and tiles, and soap. By its situation Saloniki is remarkably well adapted for a great commercial seaport. The new harbor opened in 1901 is protected by a breakwater over 1800 feet long, and has a quay over 1470 feet long, with a long pier at each end. The chief exports of Saloniki are grain, animals and ani- mal products, silk cocoons, wool, tobacco, opium, manganese, etc. The chief imports arc textiles, sugar, coffee, tobacco, chemicals, and iron goods. The commerce of Saloniki (excluding the coast- ing trade) amounted in 1000 to nearly .$18,400,- 000. of W'hich the exports represented about $6,000,000. The trade is chiefly with Great Britain and Austria-Hungary. The population is estimated at about 100.000. of whom the Jews form over 50 per cent, and the Mohammedans about one-third. The pre- dominating language is Ladino, a corrupted Span- ish, introduced by the Jews. Saloniki is the ancient Thessalonica (q.v.). Throughout nearly the whole of the iliddle Ages it belonged to the Byzantine Empire. It has been in the hands of the Turks since 1430. SA'LOP. A colloquial name for the English county of Shropshire (q.v.). SALPA (Lat., from Gk. (riXirri, salpe, sort of stock-fish). A barrel-shaped ascidian existing either as .small, separate individuals or forming a colony or chain consisting of large individuals. Salpa is pelagic, one species occurring in abun- ■d.ince off the shores of southern Xew England, while the others mostly live on the high seas all over the tropical and subtropical regions of the globe. The hermaphroditic aggregated or chain salpa differs from the solitary asexual form in being less regularly barrel-shaped and without the two long posterior appendages of the latter. Salpa reproduces parthenngenetically, as in some crustaceans and insects, exhibiting; a true case of alternation of generations (q.v.) of the kind called 'metagenesis.' Consult Brooks. "The Genus Salpa." in Memoirs of the Biolof/lcal Lnhoratonf of Johns Hopkins University, vol. ii. (Baltimore, 1893). SALPETRIERE, sarpa'trt-'fir'. An old ladies' home and hospital in Paris. Begun by Louis Xi'. in lUoU upon the site of the Petit Arsenal, the SalpOtri^re has been added to con- tinually, until to-day the forty-tive buildings which cover its grounds accommodate over 5000 people — proliably the largest institution of its kind in Europe. A large part of its population are superannuated female employees of the Gov- ernment and there are a very large number of in- sane women. The hospital was used as a prison during the French Revolution. SAL PBUNELLE. See Saltpetre. SALSETTE'. An island on the west coast of British India, situated immediately north of Bora- bay, with which it is connected by a causeway, and separated from the mainland by a channel less than a mile wide. The area is about 241 square miles. It is chiefly notable for a number of renuirkable caves found at Kenery in the middle of the island. They are nearly a hundred in number, are all excavated in the face of a single hill, and contain elaborate carvings, espe- cially representations of Buddha, many of them of colossal size. SALSIFY (Fr. salcifis, dialectic sercifi. OF. sercifi, cerchefi, from It. sassafrica, goat's-beard, from Lat. saxiim, rock -|- fricare, to rub) , Oyster Pl- t, or Vegetable Oy.ster ( 7'ragopogon porri- f alius) . A biennial plant of the natural order Compositfe, indigenous to the Mediterranean re- gion and cultivated in Europe, America, and Australia for its edible spindle-shaped root, 8 to 12 inches long and al)Out an inch in diameter at the top. It requires a deep, rich soil, and is cultivated like parsnips, like which it may be left in the ground during the winter. In the second season 'it produces many-branched flower stalks three or four feet high bearing terminal heads of purplish flowers. A yellow-flowered variety of salsify (Tragopogon pratensis) is a weed Ijoth in Europe and America. SALT (AS. sealt, Goth, salt, OHG. sah, Ger. Salz, salt; connected with Lat. sal, Gk. fiXs, hnls, Olr. salann, Lett, suls, OChurch Slav. soil. salt). The chloride of sodium, known mineralogically as halite (q.v.), containing 60.41 per cent, of clilorine and 39.50 per cent, of sodium. The prin- cipal sources of salt are the ocean, salt lakes, subterranean brines, and deposits of rock salt. Since all river waters carry alkalies in solution, the accumulation of dis.solved materials may be- come very great when the rivers enter a reservoir which has no other outlet than by evaporation. It is in this way that the brines of salt lakes have been formed, and the salt of the ocean probalily has been derived also from the wash of the lands. The degree of concentration of such brines depends upon a number of factors, such as the volume of the reservoir, amount of water supplied, rate of evaporation, and the time during which the process has been carried on. In the Caspian Sea the dissolved salt amoimts to only 0.63 per cent., while the Mediterranean con- tains 3.37 per cent., the Atlantic Ocean (aver- age) 3.63 per cent., and the Dead Sea 22.30 per cent. When the water evaporated exceeds that entering the reservoir, the solution may become satiirated. and the salts will then be deposited in the order of their solubility, such slowly soluble substances as gypsum being precipitated