The history of our symbol S is easy up to a certain point. It is the rounded form of 5, rounded at a very early period for convenience of writing, for the change is apparent in the old Italian alphabet of Caere, and still more on the recently discovered vase of Formello; and even in the scribbling of the Greeks at Abu Simbel—the oldest, or nearly the oldest, bit of Greek epigraphy—perfectly rounded forms stand side by side with the angular ones. The common Greek form Σ was obtained by adding a fourth stroke, and gradually making the top and bottom ones horizontal. When, however, we wish to identify the Greek symbol of three strokes with its Phoenician counterpart, the difficulty begins. The Phoenicians had four symbols for sibilants, known in Hebrew as Zayin, Samekh, Ṣade, and Shin; the last of these at a very early date represented two sounds, the English sh, and another sound which resembled that of Samekh and ultimately became indistinguishable from it, both being pronounced as the English s. The Greeks did not want all these symbols, consequently in different parts of Greece one or other— not the same—Phoenician symbol fell into disuse. One of these, M or N, called San, though lost in Ionic, appears in old Doric inscriptions, as those of Thera, Melos, and Crete, Argos, Corinth, and Corcyra; but the later Doric form is the usual Sigma; probably San was too like the nasal M. There is no doubt that in form Zeta represents Zayin, and that Xi represents Samekh. Moreover, Zeta and Zayin stand seventh in the Greek and Phoenician alphabets respectively, and Xi and Samekh each fifteenth. Again, the form of San with three strokes corresponds fairly with Ṣade, and Sigma is moderately like Shin; but here the evidence of position comes in again to strengthen a somewhat weak case, for in the old Italian alphabets San has the place of Ṣade, the simpler form occurring in the Caere alphabet, the fuller in that of the Formello vase; in both Sigma (rounded in form) has the place of Shin. These identifications would be certain if the names corresponded as well as the forms; but they clearly do not: Zeta and Ṣade (not Zayin) seem to hold together in sound, and Sigma (as has often been suggested) looks like a “popular etymology” for Samekh. But the objection from difference of names is not fatal. All names which are thought of habitually in rows or sets tend to be modified under the influence of analogy; and analogy has certainly been at work here, for Xi, which is a purely Greek name, is, like Psi, and like Chi and Phi, due to the older Pi. Similarly Eta and Theta have probably made Zeta; but it must be allowed that the metamorphosis of Ṣade is more intelligible (as a matter of sound-change) than that of Zayin. Probably we must have recourse to a different principle to explain at least some part of our difficulty. We may suppose that in some part of Greece the sounds denoted originally by Ṣade and Zayin became indistinguishable; there would then exist for a time one sound but two names. It would be a matter of little moment which name should survive; thus Ṣade (or Zeta) might supersede Zayin, or one name might survive in one district—as San in the Doric, but Sigma in the rest of Greece. This suggestion is made by Dr Taylor (The Alphabet, ii. 100). The history of the sounds, as well as of the forms, of the Greek sibilants is difficult. Probably Sigma was generally hard—our s in sign. But Zeta did not originally denote the corresponding z : rather it was dz; some say dj, as in “John,” but this is not likely. Xi was probably a strong sibilant with a weak guttural, as X was in Latin. If the sound z existed in Greek, as is probable, it was denoted by Sigma. In Italy, also, we must infer that the soft sibilant was heard too little to need a special symbol, because z , which exists in the old alphabets of Caere and Formello, was lost early enough to leave a place for the newly-made Italian symbol G. When Z was restored, it was placed at the end of the alphabet and doubtless with the value of Greek Z in the Greek words in which alone it was used. One Latin s— probably z— became the trilled r between two vowels,— e.g., in "Papirius” for “Papisius,” “arboris” for “arbosis.”

In English the symbol s alone existed till z was introduced from France with words of French origin, as “zeal,” “zone.” An attempt was made to employ it at the end of plural nouns, where the sound is regularly heard except when the last sound of the noun is hard, e.g., “ bedz” (beds), but “hops”; but this was not maintained, nor even consistently done, for the symbol was used even when the sound must have been s. We regularly write s for both sounds,— e.g., in “lose” and “loose,” “curs” and “curse,” “hers” and “hearse.” When there is a distinction in spelling the s commonly has the value of z ,— e.g., “vies” and “vice,” “pays” and “pace,” “his” and “hiss.” S has the sound of sh in “sure,” “sugar,” and some other words; this is due to the palatal sound heard before the u. Sh, in spite of its spelling, is a single sound, the position of which differs from that for s only in a slight retraction of the point of the tongue; it is commonly found in English words which originally had sk,—e.g., “shall,” O.E. seeal ; “shabby,” a doublet of “scabby”; “fish,” O.E. fisk. The sound is the same as that of French ch in “chateau,” “chef,” “sécher,” where it is due to assibilation of original k.

The experience of the world gained during his travels, his intimate acquaintance with the various countries he had visited, his insight into human character, its grandeur and its littleness, which a thirty years’ intercourse with men of all ranks and of many nationalities had fully matured, together with an inborn loftiness of thought and the purest moral standard, made it easy for Sa'di to compose in the short space of three years his two masterpieces, which have immortalized his name, the Bústán or “Fruit-garden” (1257) and the Gulistán or “Rose-garden” (1258), both dedicated to the reigning Atábeg Abúbakr. The former, also called Sa'dínáma, is a kind of didactic epopee in ten chapters and double-rhymed verses, which passes in review the highest philosophical and religious questions, not seldom in the very spirit of Christianity, and abounds with sound ethical maxims and matchless gems of transcendental speculation. The latter is a prose work of a similar tendency in eight chapters, interspersed with numerous verses and illustrated, like the Bústán, by a rich store of clever tales and charming anecdotes; it discusses more or less the same topics as the larger work, but has acquired a much greater popularity in both the East and the West, owing to its easier and more varied style, its attractive lessons of practical wisdom, and its numerous bon-mots. But Sa'di’s Diwán, or collection of lyrical poetry, far surpasses the Bústán and Gulistán, at any rate in quantity, whether in quality also is a matter of taste. Other minor works are the Arabic kasídas, the first of which laments the destruction of the Arabian caliphate by the Mongols in 1258 (656 a.h.) ; the Persian kasídas, partly panegyrical, partly didactical; the maráthí, or elegies, beginning with one on the death of Abúbakr and ending with one on the defeat and demise of the last caliph, Musta'sim; the mulamma'át, or poems with alternate Persian and Arabic verses, of a rather artificial character; the tarjí'át, or refrain-poems; the ghazals, or odes; the sáhibiyyah and mιιkatta'át, or moral aphorisms and epigrams; the rubá'iyyát, or quatrains; and the mufradát, or distichs. Sa'di’s lyrical poems possess neither the easy grace and melodious charm of Hafiz’s songs nor the overpowering grandeur of Jelál-uddín Rumi’s divine hymns, but they are nevertheless full of deep pathos and show such a fearless love of truth as is seldom met with in Eastern poetry. Even his panegyrics, although addressed in turn to almost all the rulers who in those days of continually changing dynasties presided over the fate of Persia, are free from that cringing servility so common in the effusions of Oriental encomiasts.

The first who collected and arranged his works was 'Alí b. Ahmad b. Bísutún (1326-1334; 726-734 A.H.). The most exact information about Sa'di’s life and works is found in the introduction to Dr W. Bacher’s Sa'dî’s Aphorismen und Sinngedichte, Strasburg, 1879 (a complete metrical translation of the epigrammatic poems), and in the same author’s “Sa'di Studien,” in Z.D.M.G., XXX. pp. 81-106. Sa'di’s Kulliyyát or complete works have been edited by Harington, Calcutta, 1791-95 (with an English translation of some of the prose treatises and of Daulat Shah’s notice on the poet, of which a German version is found in Graf's Rosengarten, Leipsic, 1846, p. 229 sq.) ; for the numerous lithographed editions, see Rieu’s Pers. Cat. of the Brit. Mus., ii. p. 596. The Bústán has been printed in Calcutta (1810 and 1828), as well as in Lahore, Cawnpore, Tabriz, &c.; a critical edition with Persian commentary was published by K. II. Graf at Vienna in 1850 (German metrical translations by the same, Jena, 1850, and by Schlechta-wssehrd, Vienna, 1852; English translation by W. Clarke, London, 1879; French translation by Barbier de Meynard, Paris, 1880). The best editions of the Gulistan are by A. Sprenger (Calcutta, 1851) and by Platts (London, 1874); the best translations into English by Eastwick (1852) and by Platts (1873); into French by Defrémery (1858); into German by Graf (1846); see also S. Robinson’s Persian Poetry for English Readers, 1883, pp. 245- 366. Select kasídas, ghazals, elegies, quatrains, and distichs have been edited, with a German metrical translation, by Graf, in the Z.D.M.G., ix. p. 92 sq., xii. p. 82 sq., xiii. p. 445 sq., xv. p. 541 sq., and xviii. p. 570 sq. On the Súfic character of Sa'di in contrast to Hafiz and Jelál-uddín Rúmí, comp. Ethé, “Der Sûfismus und seine drei Hauptvertreter,” in Morgenländische Studien, Leipsic, 1870, pp. 95-124.

The numerous works which are ascribed to him may be conveniently divided into four classes.

I. Genuine and still extant Works.— (1) Arabic translations of, and in part commentaries on, books of the Bible: («) the Pentateuch (printed in Hebrew characters, Constantinople, 1546, fol., and in Arabic characters in the Paris and London polyglotte); (δ) Isaiah (printed in Arabic characters from Hebrew letters of the Bodleian MS. Uri 156, by Paulus, Jena, 1790-91, 8vo); (c) Psalms (Ewald, lieber die arabisch geschriebenen Werke jüdischer Sprachgelehrten, Stuttgart, 1844, 8vo); (d) Proverbs (Bodleian MS. Uri 15); (e) Job (Uri 45); (∕) Canticles (Merx, Die Saadjanische Ucber-setzung des Hohen Liedes ins Arabische, Heidelberg, 1882, 8vo). (2) Hebrew Lexicography: Seventy (90 or 91) aπaξ λeγl>μeva to be found in the Bible, published from the Bodl. MS. Hunt. 573, by Dukes (Z. K. Μ., v. 6) and by Benjacob (Debarim Attikim, i., Leipsic, 1844). (3) Talmudic Literature: (a) Decisions (incorpo rated in 'Ittur, Venice, 1608, fol.; and in the book of Responsa, Sha'are Sedek, Salonica, 1792, 4to); (5) On the laws of inheritance (Bodl. MS. Hunt. 630). (4) Liturgy, both in prose and poetry:

(a) Siddur (Bodleian MS. Uri 261); (δ) Arabischer Midrasch (!) zu den Zehn Geboten, in Hebrew letters (MS. Jellinek of Vienna, with Hebrew and German translation by W. Eisenstädter, Vienna, 1868, 8vo). (5) Religious Philosophy: (a) Commentary on the Sepher Yesirah, MS. Uri 370 (Opp. Add., 4to, 89), contains the earlier part of a Heb. trans, in a modern hand; (5) Kitab al-Amdnât wa'l-Γtiqdddt (Landauer, Leyden, 1880,8vo), translated into Hebrew by Yehudah Ibn Tibbon (editio princeps, Constantinople, 1562, 4to), and by R. Berekhyah Hannakdan, author of the Mishele Shu'alim (printed only in part; see Dukes, Beiträge, pp. 20, 22); nine chapters have been translated into German (Fürst, Leipsic, 1845, 12mo), and parts into English (Two Treatises, by P. Allix, London, 1707, 8vo).

II. Works now lost, but the existence of which is testified to by contemporary and later authors.— (1) An Arabic translation of, and in part commentary on, most, if not all, the other books of the Bible. (2) Lexical Treatises: Book of Interpretations (Sepher Pithronim, or Collection (Iggeron). s (3) Grammatical Treatises: (a) Elegancy of the Hebreλv Tongue—(a) Treatise on the Changes, (β) Treatise on the Combinations, (γ) Treatise on Dagesh and Rapheh, (δ) Treatise on the Letters]), Π, ∏, N; (b) Treatise on Punctuation; (c) Treatise on Right Reading;—it is not impossible that the first four constituted one work and the last two another work. (4) Talmudic Literature: (a) Translation of the Mishnah ; (b) Methodology of the (Babylonian) Talmud; (c) Treatise on Bills; (d) Treatise on Deposits; (e) Treatise on Oaths; (f) Treatise on Prohibited Degrees; (g) Treatise on Imprura et Pura, including Hilekhoth Niddah l β ;—it is very possible that those marked e to f constituted one book, just as the treatise marked g constituted one book. (5) Calendarie Literature: Sepher Haibbur (Treatise on Intercalation). (6) Apologetics: Treatise on Investigations. (7) Polemics: (αj against Karaism—(α) ‘Anan, (β) Ibn Sakkawiyyah, ° (γ) Ibn Zitta (or Zutta); (δ) against the Rabbanite Hivvi al-Balkhi; (c) against the Karaite Ben Asher (the completer of the Massoreth ; see L.-B. d. Or., x. 684). (8) The nature of the Sepher Haggalui cited by Rabad II. and Ab. b. Hiyya in his Sepher Ha'ibbur is not clear.

III. Works ascribed to Se'adyah the authorship of which is not sufficiently proven. —(1) The commentary on Canticles edited by Yishak Ibn 'Akrish (Constantinople, 1577, 4to), and that published by L. Margaliyyoth at Frankfort-ön-Oder, 1777. (2) The well-known piece of didactic poetry which gives account of all the letters of the Bible, how many times they occur, &c. (editio princeps, Venice, 1538, at the end of Elias Levita’s Massoreth Hammass f.

IV. Works ascribed to Se'adyah by mistake. — (1 ) The Commentary on Daniel commonly found in the Rabbinic Bibles belongs to another Rab Se'adyah, who lived at least two hundred years later, and was a native either of France or the south of Germany. (2) The Commentary on the Sepher Yesirah, printed with the text and three other commentaries at Mantua in 1562, 4to. (3) The Book on Lots (Sepher Haggoraloth), often printed separately and in conjunction with similar works. (4) Eben Happilosophim (Lapis Philosophorum), ascribed to him by R. Mosheh Butrial (Mantua edition of the Sepher Yesirah as above).

(S. Μ. S. - S. )

Springing up under the wing of the Sorbenburg, Saalfeld early became an imperial demesne, and received various benefits at the hands of successive emperors. After a somewhat chequered career, the town became the capital of the duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld, founded in 1680 by the youngest son of the duke of Gotha; but in 1735, when the succession to the duchy of Coburg was assigned to the dukes of Saalfeld, their residence was removed to Coburg. In 1826 the united duchies merged by inheritance in the duchy of Saxe-Meiningcn.

Till 1233 Saarbrücken was in the possession of the old counts of Ardennes; from 1381 till 1793 it was the residence of the princes Of Nassau-Saarbriicken; from 1793 till 1815 it was in the possession of the French; and since 1815 it has been Prussian. St Johann is said to have been founded as an outwork to Saarbrücken in 1046, and to have received town-rights in 1321. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 Saarbrücken was seized by the French on 2d August 1870, but the first German victory, on the heights of Spicheren, 3 miles to the south, relieved it four days later.

The great central feature of Sabah is the magnificent mountain of Kinabalu (compare Borneo) or Nabalu, built up of porphyritic granite and igneous rocks to a height of 13,698 feet, and dominating the whole northern part of the island, with all its profusion of lesser mountains and hills. Kinabalu, which has the appearance of two mountains, unites towards the east by a low ridge with “Nonohan t’ agaioh (the great Nonohan) and the terminal cone Tumboyonkon (Tamboyukon).” These two summits are respectively 8000 and 7000 feet high, and there are others of considerable elevation in the same neighbourhood. At some 15 or 20 miles to the north rises Mount Madalon (5000 feet), separated from Kinabalu and the other igneous and metamorphic hills by a wide valley, and consisting of those aqueous rocks, limestones, sandstones, and clays which appear to occupy the whole country to the north. Westward from Kinabalu are hills between 1000 and 2000 feet in height, and about 40 or 50 miles south-east is an important group on the north side of the Labuk valley known as the Mentapok Mountains (3000- 8000 feet). The whole surface of the country is channelled by countless streams whose precipitous ravines, boulder-strewn rapids, and enormous beds of rolled pebbles bespeak the denuding energy of tropical rains. The coasts are generally low and flat, and to a great extent lined with casuarina trees, with here and there a stretch of mangrove, a low sandstone or limestone cliff, or a patch of that great forest which in the interior still covers so large a portion of the territory. In the low grounds along the coast and also inland among the hills are vast swamps and watery plains, which in the rainy season, when the rivers rise 20 or 30 feet above their usual level, are transformed into lakes. On the west side of Sabah the principal rivers are the Padas and the Klias, debouching opposite Labuan, but quite unexplored in their upper courses; the Papar (Pappar or Pappal), which passes the village of that name and enters the sea at Papar Point; the Tampassuk, one of the first to be explored (see St John’s Life in the Forests of the Far East) and remarkable for the waterfall of Pandassan or Tampassuk (1500 feet high, and thus one of the highest in the world), formed by its headwater the Kalupis. The Sekwati, a comparatively small river farther north, is well known for its oil-springs. At the northern extremity of the island the deep inlet of Marudu Bay receives the waters of the Marudu or Maludu river, which rises on the west side of Mount Madalon. On the east coast are the Sugut, which has its headwaters in the hills to the east of Kinabalu, and forms its delta in the neighbourhood of Torongohok or Purpura Island; the Labuk, debouching in Labuk Bay, and having its sources in the highlands about 70 miles inland; the Kinabatangan, with a longer course than any yet mentioned, rising probably between 116° and 117° E. long., and forming at its mouth a very extensive delta to the south of Sandakan Harbour; and finally the Segama, the scene of Frank Hatton’s death (1883). Farther south, and inland from Darvel Bay and Sibuco (or St Lucia) Bay, there are no doubt other rivers of equal, it may be superior, importance; such, to judge by its delta, is the Kalabakong, debouching opposite Sebattik Island. Most of the rivers mentioned are navigable for steam launches of light draught, but their value is frequently impaired by a bar near the mouth. Several of the natural harbours of North Borneo, on the other hand, are at once accessible, safe, and commodious. Sandakan Harbour, on the north-east coast (5° 40' N. lat. and 118° 10' E. long.), runs inland some 17 miles, with a very irregular outline broken by the mouths of numerous creeks and streams. The mouth, only 2½ miles across, is split into two channels by the little island of Balhalla. The depth in the main entrance varies from 10 to 17 fathoms, and vessels drawing 20 feet can advance half-way up the bay. Just within the mouth, on the north side, lies Elopura (see below). At Silam, on Darvel Bay, farther south, there is good anchorage. Kudat (discovered by Commander Johnstone, of H.M.S. “Egeria,” in 1881) is a small but valuable harbour in Marudu Bay running inland for 2 or 3 miles, but rapidly shoaling after the first mile to 1 and 2 fathoms. It affords anchorage for vessels of any draught, but the frontage available for wharves is limited to some 1500 feet. In Gaya Bay, on the west coast, any number of vessels may lie in safety during either monsoon, the depths varying from 6 to 16 and 17 fathoms.

The climate of North Borneo is of course tropical, with a very equable temperature. The lowest minimum of the thermometer recorded in 1883 at Sandakan was 68°·5 in December. The greatest interval without rain was eight days in March. The rainfall was 34½ inches (157 in 1880) at Sandakan, 129 at Papar, and 120 at Kudat. In the interior it must often be much above these figures.

That North Borneo should prove rich in minerals was supposed probable from the character of some other parts of the island; but hitherto investigations have not in this matter proved very successful. Coal or lignite exists, but most frequently in thin seams and insignificant pockets; the petroleum springs cannot come into any true competition with those worked elsewhere; gold has been discovered (1885) in the Segama river and may prove a stimulus to immigration; iron-ores appear both abundant and at times productive; and there are indications of the existence of copper, antimony, tin, and zinc ores. As yet the wealth of the country lies in its timber and jungle products (camphor and gutta-percha in great quantities), and in its edible nuts, guano, sago, sugar, tobacco, coffee, pepper, and gambier. Tobacco is most successfully grown by the natives in the inland districts of Mansalut, Kandassang, Koporin-gan, Gana-Gana, Tomborongo, Karnahan, Penusak, Tiong-Tuhan, &c.; and its cultivation has been taken up by several foreign companies. The birds’-nest caves of Gomanton (Gormanton) near the village of Malape on the Kinabatangan yield the Government a revenue of from $6000 to $7000; and other caves of the same kind are still unworked. As the natives (Dusuns, Tagaas-Bajaus, Idaan, &c.) are scattered, mostly in small villages, throughout the unexplored as well as the explored districts, their number can only be guessed, but it is usually stated at 150,000. Since the formation of the company there has been a steady immigration, especially of Chinese from Singapore. At Elopura, the capital of the territory and of its East Coast residency, the inhabitants in 1883 numbered 3770 (1500 being Chinese and 1085 Sulus). Hong-Kong and Singapore steamers now call regularly at Sandakan, Gaya, and Kudat. In 1885 the territory was divided into Alcock province (in the north), Keppel province (along the west coast as far north as Kimanis Bay), the East Coast residency (to the south-east of Alcock and Keppel provinces), and Dent province (to the south-west of the East Coast residency with the coast from Kimanis Bay to Brunei Bay).

In 1865 an American company started by Mr Torrey obtained from the sultan of Brunei certain concessions of territory in North Borneo; but this enterprise proved a financial failure and the settlement formed on the Kimanis river broke up. The rights of the American company were bought up by the Austrian Baron von Overbeck and the English merchant Mr Alfred Dent, who further obtained from the sultan of Brunei and the sultan of Sulu a series of charters conferring on them the sovereign authority in North Borneo under the titles of maharajah of Sabah, rajah of Gaya and Sandakan and Data Bandahara. In spite of the opposition of Spain, which claimed that the sultan of Sulu being a Spanish vassal could not dispose of his territory without her consent, the English company organized by Mr Dent succeeded in obtaining a charter of incorporation under Act of Parliament, 1st November 1881, as the “British North Borneo Company,” with right to acquire other interests in, over, or affecting the territories or property comprised in the several grants.

The text of the charter will be found in the London Gazette, 8th November 1881 and in the appendix to Mr Joseph Hatton's New Ceylon (1881); see also Frank Hatton, North Borneo, 1885; the Century Magazine, 1885; the Edinburgh R eview, 1882; and the English Illustrated, Magazine, 1885.