SALAMANDER SALIERI. 



77 



other species of siren are found in the same dis- 

 tricts Amphiuma means; likewise an eel-shaped 



animal, but it has four very small rudimentary feet, 

 which have two toes each. It burrows in the 

 mud, in swamps, or in the vicinity of streams, and 

 occasionally visits the dry land. It grows to the 

 length of three feet, and is found in the Southern 

 States. A second species, a tridactyla, distin- 

 guished from the former by having three toes on 

 each foot, has been discovered in Arkansas. 



SALAMANDER. See Gabalis, and Gnome. 



SALAMIS (now Colour!); an island (area, 

 eighty square miles) on the eastern coast of Greece, 

 in the gulf of Argolis, separated from Attica by a 

 narrow channel, about half a mile wide. It is cele- 

 brated for the naval victory gained by the Greeks 

 over the Persians (B. C. 480). See Themistocles, 

 and the article Nun/. 



SAL AMMONIAC. See Ammonia. 



SALANGANE.ORHIRUNDOESCULENTA. 

 See Birds' Nests. 



SALEM. See Jerusalem. 



SALEM, a seaport of North America, and the 

 capital of Essex county, Massachusetts, is chiefly 

 built on a tongue of land, formed by two inlets 

 from the sea, called North and South rivers, over 

 the former of which is a bridge more than 1500 

 feet in length, connecting Salem with Beverly; and 

 the South river forms the harbour. Salem is four- 

 teen miles north-east from Boston, 450 from 

 Washington; lat. 42 34' N.; Ion. 70 54' W.; 

 population in 1820, 12,731; in 1830, 13,886. This 

 town is the second in Massachusetts in respect to 

 population, and probably in respect also to wealth ; 

 but New Bedford now surpasses it in its amount of 

 shipping, and Lowell and some other towns greatly 

 exceed it in manufactures. The trade of Salem is 

 principally with the East Indies, and it employs a 

 very large capital. Salem is, next to Plymouth, 

 the oldest town in the state, and was settled in 

 1628. Its Indian name was Naumkeay, or Naum- 

 kea/t. 



SALEP is obtained from the tuberous roots of 

 one or more species of orchis, and is usually im- 

 ported from Turkey and other parts of the Levant; 

 though it may be prepared in any part of Europe, 

 from many common species of orchis. The pro- 

 cess consists simply in washing the roots, and rub- 

 Ding off the brown skin, when they are dried, and 

 afterwards ground into powder. This powder, as 

 an article of diet, is esteemed highly nutritious, 

 containing a great quantity of farinaceous matter 

 in a small bulk. The roots are dug up as soon as 

 tne flower stalks begin to decay, and the newly 

 formed bulbs, which have then attained their per- 

 fect state, are separated. An ounce of this pow- 

 der and an ounce of portable soup, dissolved in two 

 quarts of boiling water, will form a jelly capable 

 of affording sustenance to a man for a day; conse- 

 quently, it is of great use in long voyages, or tra- 

 vels by land. 



SALERNUM (now Salerno); a city in the pro- 

 vince of Picenum, in Lower Italy, remarkable for 

 the ciritas JJippocratica, or medical institution, 

 called also so/tola Salernitana, which flourished 

 there in the twelfth century after Christ, and was 

 the nursery of all the medical faculties of Europe. 

 This was the principal source of modern practical 

 medicine ; and the dietetical precepts of this school 

 were put into >verse, and widely diffused. See 

 Medicine, Histon/ of. 



SALESIAN NUNS. The nuns of the order of 



the visitation of the Virgin Mary are so called from 

 their founder, Francis of Sales, by whom and his 

 friend Chanta this order was established, in 1610, 

 at Annecy, in Savoy, originally as a refuge for 

 widows and sick females. In process of time, 

 however, it was enlarged, and devoted principally 

 to spiritual exercises and the healing of the sick; 

 the occupants were clad in black, and so numerous 

 that, in the eighteenth century, there were 160 

 convents and 6600 nuns. There are still convents 

 of the Salesian nuns in the principal cities of Italy, 

 particularly in Venice, Trieste and Breslau. They 

 now devote themselves to the healing of the sick 

 and the education of young girls, 



SALFORD; a market-town of Lancashire, in 

 the parish of Manchester and hundred of Salford. 

 Though governed by its own borough reeve and 

 constables, it may now be considered an integral 

 portion of Manchester. At the time of Domesday- 

 book it was a royal manor, and, from its having 

 given name to the hundred, was probably of con- 

 siderable importance. The most conspicuous edi- 

 fice in the town is the New Bailey prison for the 

 hundred of Salford; it is a handsome, strong, and 

 spacious building, constructed upon Mr Howard's 

 plan, and has contained within its walls at one time 

 1000 prisoners. The principal attraction of Sal- 

 ford is the crescent, which commands a rich view 

 of rural scenery, through which the Irwell mean- 

 ders. Population in 18*1, 53,200. See Man- 

 chester. 



SALIANS, SALIC FRANKS; a people who 

 first appeared on the island of the Batavi, and, 

 when they were driven thence, among the Chamari, 

 to the south of the Meuse. As long as the Che- 

 rusci are spoken of, nothing is heard of the Salii ; 

 but as soon as the latter are noticed, the Cherusci 

 disappear, and are no longer mentioned. The Sa- 

 lians probably took their name from that of a river 

 in their former country, and first used it when they 

 emigrated to Batavia, upon which they bordered. 

 From the Salians originated the Salic code of laws, 

 which was probably drawn up in Latin, before the 

 time of Clovis, by four of their most distinguished 

 men Arogast, Bodogast, Salogast and Windagast. 

 It was in force, in some degree, even as late as the 

 eleventh and twelfth centuries. The sixty-second 

 article of this code is very remarkable, according 

 to which, in Salic estates, that is, those which 

 the Salic Franks had obtained by conquest in Gaul 

 and modern France, the daughters were excluded 

 from the inheritance, and the sons alone were con- 

 sidered capable of succeeding to it. Notwithstand- 

 ing this article had reference only to private estates, 

 the application of it was even extended to the 

 throne; and it is certain that, from the earliest 

 periods of the French monarchy, no princess suc- 

 ceeded to the throne, except by force of some law 

 different from the ordinary usage. The Salic law 

 was first alleged against Edward, in the contents 

 between Philip VI. of France and Edward III. of 

 England, about the French crown, and has, since 

 that time, remained always in force. 



SALIC LAW. See Salimu. 



SALIERI, ANTHONY, imperial chapelmaster at 

 Vienna, was born in 1750, at Legnano, a Venetian 

 fortress. He studied at Venice and Naples, under 

 Pescetti, Gassmann, and Gluck. His opera, the 

 Danaides, was at first considered, in Paris, to be 

 chiefly the work of Gluck. Some of his most ce- 

 lebrated works are Tarare (introduced on the Ita- 

 lian stage under the title of Axur, king of Ormus^, 



