SAKDOU 



mile* of railway. In spite of Uieir maritime hit na- 

 tion the Sanliiiuuu are not fond of the sea. The 

 Uand ha* numerous fairly good porU Cagliari 

 (Ui capital). Porto Torn*, Terranova, Tortoli. 

 Alghem, Carlofort*. ami How- moot of which are 

 hrtng iiniiio\f<l by llii* const i net ion of harbour- 

 works. About 6000 vemeU of 1 J million ton* enter 

 inhabitant* an- for tin- most purl 

 of mixed race, Spanish ami Italian element* pre- 

 dominating. Pop. ( ISIS) 352.867 ; ( 1840) 094,000 ; 

 6M.660; (1H8I) 683.000; (1885) 7.M .>.", : 

 with an area of 9961 |. in., has a \>]>. of 

 3,484,125). Thin give* s. dcn-ity of SI |MT.OII to 

 t.:e square mile: Italy ha. - >x " t<> tin- -i|iian> mile. 

 Education in in a very liackward Mali s:; |-i cent. 

 of the population lieing unable to read anil write. 

 The two universities at Cagliari and Sassari are 

 frequented by only 260 student* in all. The prac- 

 tire of the vendetta and brigandage were extremely 

 prevalent amount thU people ; Imt !! li have now 

 almost entirely ceawd. The language is a mixture 

 of Latin, Sjuuiish, and Italian ; but the dialects 

 of different part* differ considerably. Classical 

 Italian U the official language, and in used by the 

 educated clame*. The nionlllon or wild sheep, 'with 

 red deer, fallow deer, wild boar, and an abundance 

 of mnalli-r game, such as hares, partridges, wood- 

 cock, snipe, &c., are the creature* chiefly hunted. 

 Administratively the island U divided into the two 

 province, of Cagliari and Kamari There are three 

 archbishopric*, Cagliari, Sauari, and Oristano, and 

 eight bishoprics. Sardinia send* twelve members 

 to t he Italian chamber of representatives anil three 

 to the senate. 



There are numerous remains of a remote and 

 now wholly forgotten antiquity, about which 

 nothing is known beyond the nurhagt or Nuraghe 

 (q.v.) and 'giants' graves,' and other memorials. 

 The 'giants' graves' are excavated spaces, IS to 30 

 feet long ana 4 to 6 feet wide, surrounded by 

 itao 



Hittory. The aboriginal inhabitants are be- 

 lieved to have been of Ilx-iian stock, though tlii* 

 is by no mean* certain. They seem to have been 

 conquered by the Pho-niciamt at an early IMTJ.M! ; 

 Imt little authentic U known before the conquest 

 by the Carl haginians in 512 B.C. For two centuries 

 and a half this people bitterly oppressed the native 

 inhabitant-. HO that when the Roman* came, in the 

 :fd century they "ere hailed a* deliverer*. Hut the 

 Sardinians did not at tirxt dear the Human yoke 

 verv patiently, though afterwards, from the reign 

 of TiWiu* onwards, they enjoyed three, hundred 

 years of continuous peace, and 'prospered greatly. 

 After the fall of the Roman empire evil days again 

 fell tijKin the Wand : it was overrun by 'Vandal* 

 ami ioths. and then for many years was incessantly 

 harass fd by the Saracens. During this time it's 

 nominal mauler* were the l!\ /aiitinc emperor* (till 

 774) and the |>opcs. In the beginning of the llth 

 century toe Piaans and Genoese undertook the task 

 of driving oat the Saracens and holding the island 

 against them ; hut they had a hard to.sk for twenty 

 yean or more. Then, the Moslems beaten oil', they 

 took to quarrelling with one another, and only 

 greed to divide the island lietwcen tlieui in ]>>.>>>. 

 Genoa taking the north, I'i-a the south. Hut the 

 real internal go\eniment wa* in the hands of four 

 'judges ' or chief*, each ruling a separata province ; 

 thi arrangement existed several centuries before 

 iin* came, and continued to exist for several 

 ci-nturi.- longer. The ]><>]. who Mill claimed the 

 over-lord. hip, at this time gave Sardinia to the 

 king of Aragon ; and he made himself definitively 

 master of it in 1416. The Aragonese and their 

 sovereign soooesnoni. the Spaniard*, kept possession 

 of it till the treaty of Utrecht (1713); it then 

 to Austria, but in 1720 wa* given to the 



House of Savoy in exchange for Sicily. Vnited 

 with Savoy ami Piedmont, it gave title to a new 

 kingdom, the kingdom of Sardinia. See SAVO-, 



See Tennant, Sardinia ai</ ill Retovrrei ( Rome, 188S); 



! Tvndsle, Jtland of .s,ir>/ii<i { :( volt. 1849) ; C. Edwardei, 



>/ir(/ir.Mi tit.'f tli .SirWr* ll.oiid. ISS'.t); A nno/t rfi Statit- 



No M. 'Itome, 1887); Aim//r/A Century (June 



1887) ; La Marmora, Voyayr rn fiardaii/nr (5 vein. 2d ed. 



I'.rii, 1837-57); nd the historical works of lianno (4 



Tols. Turin, 1825, and 1 voL Florence, 1858). 



Sardis. the capital of ancient Lydia in Asia 



Minor, stood at tin- northern f<*it of Mount 

 TmoliiB (5900 ftvt ) and 2J mile* S. of the Hermits. 

 Through its market-place (lowed the Paetoln* o\ei 

 sands rich in gold, an allusion in all probability to 

 the wealth of the inhabitants, who wove woollen 

 stuff* and carpets, and organised the traffic between 

 tin' highland* of the interior and the coaM ; it was, 

 moreover, the grand and luxurious capital of 

 Crasus, a monarch of fabulous wealth. In spite 

 of the strength of its citadel, it was destroyed by 

 the Cimmerian Gaul* in tin 1 7th century B.C., by 

 the Athenians in the (ith, by Aiitioclin* the <. 

 in 21."i n.c., and by Tiiniir in 1402; Iwsides this it 

 was overwhelmed by earthquake in the reign of 

 Tilierius. Both Xerxes and Cyrus the Great 

 re-ided here before setting out on their great 

 expedition*. As Byzantium rose to importance, 

 Sanlis lost the advantages of its situation on the 

 great land-route Ix-twecn l'ei-ia and Rome, and 

 gradually declined. At the present day there is 

 nothing left at it- site, Sart, except a small village 

 and min mounds. The cemetery of the ancient 

 city, 4 mile* distant across the Ilermus, is of great 

 ex I cut, and has been in part opened up in recent 

 times. 



Sardonic Smile is a term applied by the 



older medical writers t< a convulsive n flection of 

 the muscles of the face, somewhat resembling 

 laughter. It may occur in tetanus or lock-jaw, and 

 other convulsive affections, or may result from t liv 

 action of certain vegetable poisons. The name is 

 said to be from a ranunculus termed Herba tar- 

 doiuca, a Sardinian plant ; but is probably from 

 the root tar, ' to grin (Gr. saircin ). 



Sardonyx. See ONYX, and SARD. 



Sardon, VICTOKIKN, a French dramatist, was 

 iMirn at Pari* on "th September 1831. He studied 

 medicine, but took to the writing of dramas instead 

 of i>raoti*ing. His first efforts were decidedly 

 failure*, but through his marriage with an actress, 

 who minted him when sick and in the extremity 

 of want, he became acquainted with the cele- 

 brated Dejazet, for whom he wrote two very 

 successful pieces. Monsieur Garat and Let Prtt 

 Sainl-Gervai* (1860). In a few years he had 

 amassed a fortune. He has been almost as prolific 

 as Scribe, with whom he may be fitly compared, 

 but whom he in many respect* excels. \\ ith a 

 fust -rate knowledge of stage-effect he combines an 

 unrivalled instinct for what will just suit the taste 

 of the playgoing public. His comedies are in 

 general loosely constructed, but full of rapid 

 action; the character-sketching and the emotional 

 element! are both superficial; the dialogue i- 

 brilliant and witty, but the episodes are often 

 very improbable. Sardon makes fun of the foibles 

 of nil conteinjMiraries in a very clever, amusing 

 fashion. His works are hardly literature ; they aie 

 much better suited for acting than for being read. 

 Pieces like Not Intimes ami Let Ganacfiet ( 1861 ), 

 Let Vieux Gordons and La Famille li'in.il,,,, 

 (1865), tfos Dons Villageois and Matron Newt 

 (1866), Rabaga* (1872), Dora (1877), Daniel 

 Itochat (1880), Odette (1882), and Marquise (1889) 

 make a fair sample of hi* capabilities and style. 

 For Sarah Benihardt he wrote the well-known 



