SHALLOON-SHAMMAL

rich in carbon and hydrogen-form another class of these bodies which have, in recent years, attracted much notice as sources of oil for illuminating purposes. It is now (1865) more than twenty years since a Frenchman, named Du Buisson, introduced

SHA'LLOP (Fr. chaloupe), a large, open, oldfashioned boat, carrying two masts, rigged as in a schooner. Its principal use was in the fisheries, but it has now nearly given place to luggers and yawls. SHA'LLOT (Allium Ascalonicum), a species of a method of distilling certain bituminous shales in Allium (q. v.), a native of the East, introduced into France, at a comparatively low temperature, so as to obtain burning oil and other products. The pro--and much cultivated for its bulbs, which are Europe by the Crusaders-from Ascalon, it is said cess was afterwards tried in England, being used used like those of the onion, and sometimes for its for a time in distilling a Dorsetshire bituminous leaves, which are used like those of the chive. The shale, sometimes called Kimmeridge coal.' From leaves grow in tufts like those of the chive, but are this mineral, a burning oil, a lubricating oil, and a naphtha for dissolving caoutchouc, were obtained. cloves, which are planted just beneath the surface larger. The S. is generally propagated by the But neither in France nor in England did the of the ground, or only partially beneath it, in spring, attempt to make a profitable manufacture succeed and the crop is ready for gathering in July or in the former country, the poverty of the shales was the chief drawback; in the latter, the disagreeable is much milder. In the vineyards of Italy the S. is August. The flavour resembles that of garlic, but smell of the oil, which could not be effectually removed, prevented it from obtaining favour in the market.

naturalised.

Nor are there fixed

SHA'MANISM is the ancient religion of the On account of these failures, the process fell into Tartar, and some of the other Asiatic, tribes. It abeyance, until it was revived again by the success is a belief in sorcery, and a propitiation of evil of the well-known patent of Mr James Young (see demons by sacrifices and frantic gestures. The NAPHTHA), secured in 1850 for the production of following account of it is extracted from the Asiatic paraffin and paraffin oil from coal. With the excep- Journal. The priests are men or women, married tion of the solid paraffin, which Mr Young was the or single. The character is acquired by pretending first to obtain on the large scale, and the employ- that the soul of a deceased priest has appeared to ment of coal instead of shale, the processes of Du the individual in a dream, appointing him or her Buisson and Young are essentially the same. The his successor. If the priests are in function, they merit of this process is very great, because not only wear a long robe of elk-skin, hung with small has it created a new and rapidly-increasing branch and large brass and iron bells; moreover, they of industry, in the case of the distillation of carry staves carved at the top into the shape paraffin oils from coal, but it has within these few of horses' heads, also hung with bells; and with years been applied again, and with great success, to the assistance of these staves, they leap to an the obtaining of the same products from shale. extraordinary height. The followers of the Shaman Those who have paid any attention to the various religion have neither altars nor idols, but perform beds of minerals which go to form what is geologi- their sacrifices in a hut raised on an open space cally called the Coal Measures, are aware that in a forest or on a hill. it is only the seams of coal, ironstone, fire-clay, periods for the performance of their ceremonies; sandstone, and limestone, which until very lately births, marriages, and sickness, uncommon appearhave been looked upon as of any industrial importances in the atmosphere, or public calamities, are ance. Interstratified between these and the other generally the occasions which call for them. The minerals of the series, are numerous hitherto un- animal to be sacrificed is generally fixed upon by cared-for beds of carbonaceous or bituminous shale. the Shaman or the donor; and after the persons Many of these shales were found upon trial to yield uniting in the ceremony have assembled, the Shaman from 30 to 50 gallons of crude oil per ton; and enters the hut, chanting certain words, sprinkles on works-several of them of great size-have accord- all the sides of the hut, and over the fire, spirits and ingly been started in many places over the entire milk, and then orders the animal to be killed, which area of the coal formation in Scotland, and also at is done by its heart being torn out. The skin of various localities in England and Wales, for the the victim is then stripped off, and its flesh, with manufacture of paraffin and paraffin oil from this the exception of a few pieces which are thrown into material. These products, moreover, happen to be the fire, is consumed by the persons assembled. See obtained with greater facility in a pure state from also LAMAISM. shale than from coal, so that it is not unlikely the use of coal, as a source of them, will sooner or later be abandoned. Some of the lias shales have likewise been profitably distilled for oil, as well as those of the carboniferous age; and it is thought highly probable that several of the older Silurian and Old Red Sandstone shales may also prove valuable for this purpose. Quite recently, a shale, very rich in oil, has been sent from a country so distant as Brazil for trial in England. It happens that in the manufacture of parathin oil from coal or shale a good deal of coal-gas is unavoidably produced and wasted; and proposals have already been made to convey this from various large oil-works for consumption in towns. In these days of the wondrous utilisation of waste materials, the obtaining of an illuminating gas as a collateral product of the manufacture of mineral oil, will probably prove before long to be not the least curious.

SHALLOO'N, a light worsted cloth, said to have been first made at Chalons in France, and to have derived its now corrupted name from that place.

SHAMMAI (not, as has often been done, to be confounded with Sammeas), an eminent doctor of the Jewish law at the time of Herod, head of a most important school, and supreme judge of the Sanhedrim (Ab-Beth-Din) during the presidency of Hillel (q. v.), along with whom he is, indeed, generally mentioned, and of whom he was, as it were, the very counterpart. Very little is known of the history of his life. He most probably was born in Palestine, and most energetically participated in all the political and religious complications of the country. There was a harshness and rigidity in his character, which contrasts most strikingly with Hillel's proverbial patience. His religious views were painfully strict, and he even tried to extend the rigour which he imposed upon himself, to the youngest children; but the zealotism with which later times have charged him, is not his, but his school's, 'the House of Shammai,' as it was called. This seems, under the adverse circumstances of the commonwealth-sedition within, and the approaching enemy without-to have developed a fanatical zeal that at times surpassed all bounds,

SHA'MMOY. See LEATHER.

SHAMMOY-SHAMYL.

SHA MO, SHA-MOH, or GOBI, words signify ing Sandy Sea or Desert. Geographers divide the region so called into an eastern and western portion. The eastern part of this great desert stretches from the eastern declivity of the Thian-Shan Mountains in long. 96° to 120° E., and about lat. 40 N., as far as the Inner Hing-an; and its width between the Altai and the In-shan range varies from 500 to 700 miles. Through the middle of this tract extends the depressed valley, to which more properly the term Sandy Floats' is particularly applicable; it is from 150 to 200 miles across, its lowest depression being from 2600 to 3000 feet above the sea. Sand almost entirely covers the surface of this valley, generally level, but sometimes rising into low hills. Such vegetation as occurs is scanty and stunted, affording indifferent pasture, and the water in the numerous streamlets is brackish and unpalatable. The western portion of this desert, lying east of the Tsung Ling, and north of the Koulkoun, between long. 72-96° E., and in lat. 36-37° N., is about 1200 miles in length, and between 300 and 400 across. This region is an unmitigated waste, and north of Koko-nor assumes its most terrific appearance, being covered with dazzling stones, and rendered insufferably hot by the reflection of the sun's rays from these and numerous mountains of sand, which are said to move like waves of the sea. The limits of the western portion of the desert are not easily defined, for near the base of the mountain-ranges, streams and vegetation are usually found. entire area of S. is about 1.200,000 sq. miles. The general features of this portion of the earth's surface are less forbidding than Sahara, but more so than the steppes of Siberia, or the pampas of Buenos Ayres-Williams's Middle Kingdom; Huc's

arms of the mountaineers. General Ivelitch was

and chiefly tended to foster that exceptional exclu- Caucasus, was born at Aul-Himry, in Northern siveness which proved both the bane and the Daghestan, and belonged to a wealthy L saving of Judaisin. The discussions of the two family of rank. He was one of the zealous d rival schools, of which that of S. preponderated of Kasi-Mollah, the great apostle of Murkilom, and long after the master's death, turned exclusively ably seconded his endeavours to compose the runupon points of positive law. There is only one ous feuds of the various Caucasian tribes, and in te curious metaphysical debate recorded, viz., whether, them in a bond of antagonism to their con as one school held, it was better for man to have enemy, the heretical Russians. He was one of the been created or not; or, as the other asserted, it foremost in the defence of Himry against the E would have been better if he never had been sians, October 30, 1832, and after the fall of Lin created. Finally, they both agreed in the latter chief, Kasi-Mollah, and most of his a resta axiom, but with the addition-but since he is now fought his way alone and severely woun le i throngt in this world, let him be careful in his actions.' the besiegers' ranks. After the assassination of We need hardly point to the strange light which | Hamzad-Bey, the successor of Kasi Mollah, m the this discussion and final decision throw upon the end of 1834, S. was unanimously electesi ‘iman' times of unequalled national misery that begot them. and being absolute temporal and spiritual erat f the tribes who acknowledged his authority, he made numerous changes in the religious creed ani political administration, for the purpose of re fully concentrating in himself the whole power These changes were certainly the chief cane tẻ the great successes which subsequently atten el te mountaineers, but it is none the less cert, that they produced that sudden collapse of the sort d independence which took place when the great iemir was removed. S.'s change of military tactics, freez open warfare to surprises, ambuscades, &c., broact numerous, and sometimes great successg to the severely defeated in 1837, the worst reverse the Russians had yet sustained, and his coalj itor Hit was forced to make a disastrous retreat. succeeded, however (1839), in hemming 8. t Akulgo, in Daghestan, took the fortress by stom and put every one of the defenders to the sword order to be quite certain that S. should not ex are. How he did so is not known, his own flowing and the Russians believed him to be deal, when, to the joy of the one and the bitter confus of the other, he suddenly appeared, preaching with m vigour than ever the holy war against the heret s' In 1843, he conquered all Avares, besieged M1 K. foiled the Russians in their subsequent earpa 2, and gained over to his side the Caucasian ting which had hitherto favoured Russia. This pres sion of power rendered necessary some cha is the government; a civil and a criminal code wer promulgated, a regular system of taxation estab lished, and Dargo was made the capital of t Caucasian monarchy, the population of which now (1844) exceeded 1,000,000. But the Russians, unbeg Prince Woronzoff, having changed ther tart, assailed the country on varions points at the same time, and the advance gained was secured by chins of forts. The fortune of war, however, steady altere nated till 1852, when Bariatinsky compelled to ~~ fine himself to the defensive, and deprived hem of za victorious prestige. Some of the tribes now ret med under Russian authority, and S. (proba' ly ow az to his diminished power and resources) was sto take advantage of the diversion in Es far r afforded by the Crimean War; after the concise a of which the Russians resumed their atta ks with more energy, opened a road over the menta thus cutting off one portion of the patrisite, compelling their submission. The following was still more disastrous; 100 villages were i troyed, the inhabitants transplanted to Bue districts, and S. himself defeated. August 11 April 12, 1859, his chief stron hold Weden was taken after a seven weeks' siege, and his ant except over the small band of followers who devotedly adhered to him, was wholly deste For several months he was a mere gair a chef, hunted from fastness to fastness, till at last tember 6, 1859) he was surprised on the plateau of

Travels.

The

SHAMROCK, a national emblem of Ireland, a leat with three leaflets, or plant having such leaves, sometimes supposed to be the Wood Sorrel, but more generally believed to be some species of Clover, or perhaps some common plant of some of the nearly allied genera, as the Bird's Foot Trefoil, or the Black Medick. It is not improbable that the name has a sort of general reference to plants with trifoliolate leaves, and that a more exact determination of the species may be as difficult as the attainment of botanical accuracy in regard to the emblematic thistle of Scotland.

The small-leaved clover (Trifolium repens) has had a superstitious respect attached to it from early times. According to the elder Pliny, no serpent will touch it. It is said to have been first assumed as the badge of Ireland, from the circumstance that St Patrick made use of it to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. See TREFOIL

SHAMYL, or SCHAMYL (Eng. 'Samuel'), the celebrated leader of the independent tribes in the

SHANGHAI-SHANNON.

Gounib, and after a desperate resistance, in which-police, public improvements, and repairs requiring

his 400 followers were reduced to 47, he was captured. His wives and treasure were spared to him, and he was sent to St Petersburg, where he experienced a generous reception from the czar. A few days afterwards, he was assigned a residence at Kaluga, with a pension of 10,000 roubles. Since this period, nothing is known of him; though a rumour of his death was current in Western Europe about three years ago.

much management, and entailing much expense,
the funds for which are obtained by taxation. S.
is also the seat of various missions for converting
the natives, the schools, dispensaries, and other
benevolent objects meeting with generous support
from foreign merchants. The products of S. itself
are not of much value, but the city is a most im-
portant entrepôt for goods passing between the
north and south provinces of China, as well as for
the imports and exports from and to foreign coun-
tries. The trade of the port increased threefold
between the years 1860 and 1863; and this increase
is due in a great measure to the large and increasing
trade from the ports opened on the Yangtse in
Chinese produce of all descriptions. In 1860, the
entrances and clearances at the port were 1979
vessels of 597,722 tons; in 1863, 6947 vessels of
1,961,199 tons. In 1860, the imports amounted to
£13,000,000; in 1863, they amounted to £29,709,575;
and in the latter year, the exports and re-exports
together amounted to about £30,000,000. The
articles of import and export are of a most miscel-
laneous description; the chief articles (of import)
being opium and treasure, and (of export) tea and
silk. Great quantities of the opium and treasure
imported into S. are re-exported to the other parts
of China, to Japan, &c. The mercantile importance
of S. promises to increase greatly through the open-
ing of the Yangtse River to commerce.
China (Shanghai) Herald, and Commercial Reports,
1862-1864.

North

SHANGHAI, the most important maritime city of China, situated on the left bank of the Hwang. poo or Woosung River, 12 miles from where it debouches into the southern portion of the mouth of the Yangtse-kiang, in lat. 31° 10' N., and long. 121° 30′ E. It is a heen or district city, having a wall 3 miles in circuit, through which 6 gates open into extensive suburbs. The low alluvial plain on which it is situated is of great extent, and intersected by innumerable streamlets and canals, which environ the walls, and permeate the city in various directions. It is a dirty, poorly-built town, the houses are mostly brick, the streets are very narrow, and constantly crowded with people. Few of the buildings rise above the low walls of the city; the only conspicuous objects are the Roman Catholic cathedral, a massive edifice, and the lofty spire of the Baptist chapel. The temples present the same general appearance met with in all Chinese cities. Every city has its Ching-hwang, or temple of the tutelary gods; that of S. is in a picturesque position on a rocky islet, surrounded by a serpentine sheet of water, which is crossed by zigzag bridges. In close SHANNON, the largest of the rivers of Ireland,. juxtaposition to these finest specimens of Chinese rises in the Cuilcagh Mountains, county of Cavan, taste, is the beautiful foreign settlement that has and after a course of 220 miles, falls into the sprung up on the banks of the river to the east of Atlantic Ocean between the headlands of Loop the city. Merchant princes have reared for them- and Kerry Head. It is commonly divided into selves, to occupy during a brief residence, edifices two portions, the Upper S. from its source to that may be justly termed palatial. First, on emerg- Limerick, and the Lower S. from Limerick to the ing from the east gate, the native finds himself in sea, a distance of 56 miles. In its upper course it the French Reservation, which is gradually being passes from its source in Cavan to Lough Allen in filled up with buildings, forming a city under the the county of Leitrim; thence through a difficult jurisdiction of that power. On crossing a canal, he channel, where the navigation is in part transferred beholds a city apparently as large as his own-the to a canal, to a small expansion called Corry Lough, English quarter; streets parallel with, and at right and, with alternations of river and lake, to Lough angles to the river, paved and well lighted, bearing Forbes, in the county of Longford, on leaving which English names, and faced with substantial stuccoed the river for a time attains an average width of 250 brick buildings, ornamented with colonnades, having yards as far as Lanesborough. Here it is again garden space in front of each filled with choice merged in a lake called Lough Ree, which stretches Howers. He sees, at the rear of this marvellous city ten miles southwards to within two miles of Athlone. which has suddenly sprung up before his eyes, a At this point great natural difficulties have been race-course and a church-two things to be found overcome, and the course of the river, by Shannon wherever Englishmen congregate abroad. The river Harbour and Portumna, and through the picturesque in front of the Chinese town is thronged with junks, Lough Derg to Killaloe, has been so deepened and lashed side by side for a couple of miles, the reach improved that a regular passenger and goods. in front of the foreign settlement being crowded traffic is maintained. From Killaloe to Limerick with square-rigged vessels, numbering sometimes the navigation, owing to the rapid fall, is again in above 100. Lower down are the ship-yards, machine- part transferred to a canal. On approaching Limeshops, and dry-docks, which foreign commerce has rick the river divides into two branches, and on called into existence. Tugs are constantly steaming the island thus formed stands what is known as the to and fro, towing ships and junks against the Irish Town, in contradistinction to the English impetuous tides of the Yangtse. Under the arrange- town, of Limerick. From the city, where an ment by which the foreign custom-house dues are extensive and commodious range of quays has been collected by foreigners, facilities have been created built, to the sea, the S. is navigable to sea-going for the navigation by stationing a light-ship, buoys, vessels; and although for a distance of eight or and signals, rendering safer the approach to this nine miles below the city it is very shallow at low important mart. There is also a system of foreign water, the navigation for the last 40 miles is pilotage, giving additional security to the mariner. free and unimpeded at all times of the tide. The There are a chamber of commerce, reading-room, entrance between Kerry Head and Loop is seven library, and literary institution-nothing being want- miles across. About ten miles from the entrance the ing to render the port of S. the metropolis of Eastern river narrows to about a mile and a half in width. commerce. The municipal government of the foreign At present, however, the most important part of Bettlement is highly creditable to the mercantile the outward navigation commences at the harbour traders. Three gentlemen, generally two English of Foynes, which is connected by railway with and one American, are elected annually by the Limerick, and from which steam-boats daily ply to holders of land, for the purposes of local government, Kilrush, Tarbert, and the intermediate stations

SHAN-SE-SHARK.

SHARK-SHARP.

brought up-or at least those of the outer rows-
by means of muscles with which each tooth is inde-
pendently provided. The tail, as in all the sharks,
is heterocercal, but its lobes are more nearly equal
than in most of them. The S. is often captured by
sailors, by means of a great hook baited with a piece
of meat, and attached to a chain, as the S.'s teeth
readily bite through any rope.
When the S. is
hooked and hauled on board, great care is requisite
to avoid danger both from the mouth and from the
tail, the powerful action of the latter being gener-
ally interrupted by a sailor springing forward and
cutting it above the fin with a hatchet. A curious
method of catching the S. is practised in the South
Sea Islands; a log of wood is set afloat with a strong
rope attached to it, at the end of which is a noose,
and the sharks gathering about it as if from
curiosity, one of them may be expected soon to get
its head into the noose, and is at last wearied out by
the log. Formidable as the S. is, men have some-
times successfully braved it in its own element,
watching its turning-as from the position of its
mouth it must do-to seize its prey, and stabbing it
in the belly.

The BLUE S. (Carcharias glaucus) is much smaller than the White S., seldom exceeding eight feet in length. It is also of a more slender form. The upper parts are of a blue colour, the belly white. This species is common in the Mediterranean, and in the warmer parts of the Atlantic. It is not unfrequent on the south-western coasts of England in summer, apparently coming in pursuit of pilchards, and often doing great mischief to the nets and lines of fishermen, its sharp teeth biting through a net or line with the utmost ease.

The BASKING S. (Selache maxima) belongs to the family Lamnide, having two dorsal fins, spout-holes, and no nictitating membrane. The snout of the Basking S. is short and blunt; the teeth are small, numerous, conical, and curved backwards. The skin is much rougher than in the White S. and Blue Shark. This species attains a great size, being sometimes 36 feet long, but it is not so thick in proportion as the White Shark. It is of a blackishbrown colour, glossed with blue. It does not exhibit a ferocious character, and is supposed to feed on medusæ, crustaceans, and the like. It is often seen swimming slowly with its dorsal fin above the surface of the water, whence it has obtained the name of Sail-fish. It permits itself to be quite closely approached by a boat, but on being struck with a harpoon, it plunges suddenly down, and swims off with great rapidity, so that its capture is attended with danger. It is not uncommon on the northern and western coasts of Britain.

The GREENLAND S. (Scymnus borealis) is of the family Scymnidae. It has large spout-holes, two dorsal fins, no anal fin, and no nictitating membrane. It inhabits the northern seas, and is rarely seen so far south as even the northern Scottish islands. It attains a length of 14 feet or more, is thick, and tapers suddenly at the tail; the fins very small; the teeth in both jaws so arranged as to diverge from a centre. It bites and annoys whales, but feeds also on small fishes and crustaceans. When a whale has been killed, a S. will often come even whilst men are occupied in cutting off the blubber, and scoop out one great lump after another, and will return to its repast after having been severely wounded.

The rough skin of sharks is employed by joiners for polishing fine-grained wood, and for covering the hilts of swords to make them firmer in the rasp.-The flesh is coarse, but is sometimes eaten. The fins abound in gelatine, and are much used by the Chinese for making a rich gelatinous soup. Dried sharks' fins are a considerable article of

import into China. The liver yields a large quan.
tity of oil, which is now also, in some parts of the
world, an article of commerce. For the sake of
this oil a S. fishery is prosecuted on the coast of
Ceylon.
Fossil Sharks make their first appearance in the
Oolitic rocks from which eight species have been
described. They become more numerous in the
Cretaceous deposits, in which no less than 60 species
have been found. In the Tertiary strata, their
remains are still more abundant. But as the deter-
mination of fossil species depends entirely on the
teeth, which, with the exception of the spines and
vertebræ, are the only portions preserved, it is
probable that the species and genera are too greatly
multiplied.

SHARP, a sign in Music, which, when prefixed
to a note, elevates it by a semitone in the scale,
raising, for example, F
to F sharp

When placed at the beginning of a

piece of music, it denotes that all the notes on octaves above and below, are to be played sharp. the line or space on which it is placed, and their A double sharp x raises a note two semitones.

SHARP, JAMES, Archbishop of St Andrews, was the son of William Sharp, sheriff-clerk of Banffshire, and was born in the castle of Banff, May 1618. Educated for the church at the University of Aberdeen, where he attained distinction as a student, and where he is said (on the authority of a tract, entitled A True and Impartial Account of the Life of the Most Reverend Father in God, Dr James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews, published in 1719) to have protested against the Solemn League and Covenant;' he afterwards visited England, and became acquainted with several eminent English divines, such as Hammond, Sanderson, and Taylor. Returning to Scotland, he was appointed a professor of philosophy at St Andrews, through the influence of the Earl of Rothes, and soon after minister of the parish of Crail, an office which he held during the ascendency of Cromwell. In August 1651, when Monk was reducing Scotland to obedience, he was carried off, along with several other ministers, to England. S. quickly regained his liberty, and he possessed, for some years, the confidence of the more moderate party in the church. In 1656, he was chosen by them to plead their cause in London before the Protector, against the Rev. James Guthrie, a leader of the extreme section (the Protestors or Remonstrators), which he did with so much dexterity, that Cromwell is reported to have said: "That gentleman, after the Scotch way, ought to be termed Sharp of that Ilk.' When the Restoration was on the eve of happening, S. was appointed by the moderate party to act as its representative in the negotiations opened up with Monk and the king. This is the crucial period of his career, and on the view we take of his motives depends our whole estimate of his character. Was he sincere, or did he mean to betray the church to which he owed allegiance? Presbyterian writers are nearly unanimous in affirming his perfidy, although the evidence is doubtful. Among the first things the Scottish parliament that met 1st January 1661 did, was to repeal or rescind every act passed since 1638, in consequence of which Episcopacy remained the Church of Scotland, as 'settled by law'-a dishonourable evasion of a promise made by Charles in a letter written to the Presbytery of Edinburgh