ZIRKNITZER SEE. 783 ZITTEL. some nf which are alxive the lake-level in the snr- roundini; liills. In the autumn, when the rain- fall is slight, the lake is completely drained into the reservoirs lyint; helow its levid. and its bed is speedily covered with rich lierl)ai,'e. With the returninji; heavy rains the siirronndinj; liif,dier reservoirs are lilled and discharge suddenly through the suhterranenn passages into the lake, so that the latter very ra])idly regains its ordi- nary volume and may even inundate the sur- rounding country. The changes in level are, however, very irregular. Sometimes the lake does not disappear for several years, and once, in 18.34-35, it remained dry for over a year. It is rich in fish, which disappear and return with the water. ZISKA, zis'ka, Boh. ZIZKA, zhizh'ka, John (c. 1300-1424). A famous leader of the Huss- ites. He was born at Trocnoy. near Budweis, Bohemia. He became a page to King Wenceslas of Bohemia, and spent his youth at Prague. In 1410 he took part as a volunteer on the side of the Teutonic Knights in the great battle of Tannenberg. Later he fought against the Turks and at the battle of Agineourt. Returning to Bohemia, soon after the burning of John Huss, he became prominent among the leaders of the Hussites. In 1419 the Hussites took up arms against the Emperor Sigismnnd, and Ziska dis- played e.vtraordinary activity in organizing their forces. He Mas soon recognized as their leader. He built a mountain stronghold which he named Tabor, whence the extreme party among the Huss- ites took the name of Taliorites (q.v.). In 1420 he took up a strong position near Prague on an eminence since known as the 'Zizkaberg,' and with a few thousand men beat off an annv of 30.000 (July 14th). On November 1st he 'won a victory over the Emperor Sigismund and again on .Januarv' 8, 1422, he was victorious at Deutsch- brod. His course was everywhere marked by the destruction of monasteries, the burning of priests' houses, and the introduction of the communion with both elements. (See UxRAQUlSTS.) As the leader of the Taborites, Ziska waged a relentless war against the section of the Hussites known as the Calixtines. In 1424 it is said that Sigis- nuind proposed an arrangement with the Huss- ites, by which full religious liberty was to be allowed and Ziska, who had an interview with the Emperor on the footing of an independent chief, was to be appointed Governor of Bohemia and her dependencies, but if this is true, the war- worn old chief did not, live long enough to com- plete the treaty, for while besieging the castle of Pfibyslav he was seized with the plague, and died October 11, 1424. He was buried in a church at Czaslav, and his iron war-club was hung up over his tomb. A story was long cur- rent that, in accordance with Ziska's express in- junctions, his skin was tlayed off, tanned, and used as a cover for a drum, which was after- wards employed in the Hussite army, in order that even when dead lie might be a terror to liis I'nemies. From early boyhood Ziska had been blind in one eye and he lost his other eye in 1421. As he has become a popular hero, it is difficult in many parts of his life to separate fact from fiction. Meissner was the author of an epic poem on Ziska which has passed through more than a dozen editions; and George Sand wrote a jirose Life. Consult Millauer, Diplomatisch-his- toriache Aufsiitze iibcr Johann Zixka ( I'rague, 1824) ; Tomck, Juhrinn Ziska (Ger. ed., Prague, 1882). ZITELMANN, tsifel-man. Kcnb^vd (1854- 07). . (Jcrman poet and novelist who wrote under the pseudonym of Konrad Telmann. He was born at Stettin, and studied law and political science at the universities of Leipzig. Heidelberg, Berlin, and Greifswald. He lived alternately in Italy and Germany, devoted to literary pursuits. He possessed the gift of lyric and narrative ex- pression to a remarkable degree. His works in- clude: In der Einsamkeit (187t!), Mceresioellen ( 1884), and Aus der Fremde (1889), volumes of verse; In Pommern (1875) ; Lichter und Hchat- ttii (1884) ; Sphinx und andrre XoL-ellen ( 1SS6) : Disnuiianzen und Accorde (1888); collections of short stories; and (Jotter und Gotzen, (1884), Moderne Ideale (1886), Dunkle Exist enzen (1886). Voin Stamm der Ikariden (1891), Lu- cr-rtia (1S96), Gotthcynadet (1897), etc., novels. ZITHER (Ger. 7Ather, Cither, 0H(4. zitera, cithar, from La^. cilhara, from Gk. Ki.0i.pa, kithara, lyre). A musical instrument, the mod- ern representative of the ancient cithura (q.v.). In its modern form it is derived from a peasant instrument of the German Aljis. It is a flat stringed instrument, with a shallow resonance box, provided with a sound-hole and 32 or more strings. On the side nearest the player is a fretted fingerboard, while near the right end is a low bridge. Above the fingerboard are five melody' strings made of metal and tuned: g
t
E^ =t f These are stopped with the left hand and plucked by means of a ring with a projecting spur, worn on the thumb of the right hand. The 'accompaniment' strings, tuned in fourths, are made of gut or silk and are plucked by the first three fingers of the right hand. There have been various modifications of the zither, among them the double zither and the bow zither. The lat- ter is merely a variety of the viol, having a short neck, fretted fingerboard, and four strings, but it is played with one end resting on a table while the body rests on the lap of the player. ZITTAU, tsit'tou (Slav. Zitnira) . A town of the Kingdom of Saxony, 49 miles southeast of Dresden, near the Bohemian frontier, on the left bank of the Mandau, near its confluence with the Neisse ( llap : Germany, F 3 ) . The town has the notable Byzantine Cluirch of Saint John, finished in 1837; a splendid court-house, one of the finest in Saxony, finished in 1845; and a good library of 40,000 volumes, in conjunction with a museum. Zittau is the centre of the linen and damask manufacture of Saxony. There are bleach fields, d.ye works, and paper, oil. and saw mills, and there are manufactures of machinery, bicycles, woolens, felt goods, window shades, chemicals, and wooden wares. Population, in moo. 30.921. ZITTEL, Karl Alfred xos (1839-1904). A German geologist and paleontologist, born at Bahlingen, Baden, son of Karl Zittel (1802-71, leader of the Liberal Church Party in Baden). After studying at Heidelberg and in Paris, he was
