102 



SAUCISSE SAUSSURE. 



vol. page 30.) In the representation of them by 

 some artists, the brute characteristics, such as 

 goats' feet, a tail pointed ears and horns, predo- 

 minate. Others mainly preserve the human form, 

 and n-ii-iiiliK- the brutes only by their goats' ears 

 and tails, and sometimes by the introduction of 

 little horns, in the first stages of their growth. To 

 tlii-i we must add, however, the general cast of the 

 the cheek-bones, the beard, and the flesh 

 hanging down upon the neck from the ears. At 

 other times, the brute characteristics are softened 

 into a mere clownish, rude, and awkward human 

 form. The common difference made between the 

 Fauns and Satyrs is, that the former are represented 

 with pointed ears and short tails; the latter, on 

 the contrary, appear with goats' feet. The Sileni 

 are considered to be the old Fauns. This is, how- 

 ever, erroneous. The Satyrs of the Greeks were, 

 in fact, equivalent to the Fauns of the Romans. 

 The whole race of Satyrs, Sileni, Fauns, and Pans, 

 were generally regarded, among the ancients, as 

 divinities of the woods and rural places, and grew 

 up from different notions. The Satyrs and Sileni 

 were the attendants of Bacchus, the signification 

 of which cannot be determined, as the origin of 

 these representations was early lost. Perhaps the 

 idea of them arose from men dressed in the skins 

 of beasts; or perhaps they were only symbolical, 

 and intended to represent man in a rude state. 

 The parents of the Satyrs were considered, by 

 some, to be Mercury and the nymph Iphtime; but, 

 according to others, they were Bacchus and the 

 naiad Nicaea. They were wanton, and were 

 extremely fond of music; and, at the festival of 

 Bacchus, always appear dancing and playing on 

 musical instruments. 



SAUCISSE, in the military art, is a long train 

 of powder sewed up in a roll of pitched cloth or 

 leather, serving to set fire to mines. To every 

 mine there are generally two, that if one fail the 

 other may take effect. Their length is determined 

 bv circumstances. 



" SAUCISSION, in fortification, a kind of fagot 

 made of thick branches of trees, bound together, to 

 (over the men while exposed to the enemy's fire, 

 when on some hazardous employment. It is also 

 used to repair breaches, stop passages, and make 

 traverses over wet ditches. 



SAUKS, oil SACS. See Indians, American. 

 SAUL. See Paul. 



SAUL; king of Israel about 1050 B. C. He 

 was descended from an humble family of the undis- 

 tinguished tribe of Benjamin, but was noted for his 

 personal beauty and courage, and, when the people 

 became dissatisfied with the theocratico-republican 

 constitution, was selected by Samuel for their king. 

 He was not acknowledged by the whole people un- 

 til after he had gained a victory over the Ammonites. 

 Repeated successes over the Philistines, Edomites, 

 Moabites, Ammonites, and even over a king beyond 

 the Euphrates, confirmed his authority. But Sam- 

 uel, who had reludtantly parted with the supreme 

 power, continued to keep up a party in the nation, 

 and, being offended by the encroachments of the 

 king on the privileges of the priesthood, and by his 

 disobedience to the commands of Jehovah in a war 

 against the Amalekites, secretly anointed David 

 as king. Saul discovered his rival, and his hatred 

 against him was increased by the reputation which 

 the latter acquired by his warlike exploits. A civil 

 war, which broke out between the partisans of 

 David and those of Saul, was terminated by the 



death of the latter, who, after the defeat of his 

 forces by the Philistines, fell upon his own sword. 

 The history of Saul's frenzy has furnished Alfieri 

 with the subject of one of his masterpieces Saul, a 

 lyric Tragedy. 



SAUMAISE. See Salmasius. 



SAUNDERSON, NICHOLAS; a celebrated blind 

 mathematician, born at Thurlston, in Yorkshire, in 

 1682. When a year old, he entirely lost his eye- 

 sight through the small-pox. Notwithstanding this 

 privation, he acquired a knowledge of Latin and 

 Greek, and, having pursued his studies for some 

 time, with the assistance of friends, he was, in 1707, 

 sent to Cambridge. He took up his residence at 

 Christ's college, and soon commenced giving lectures 

 on optics. He became acquainted with sir Isaac 

 Newton, and was chosen mathematical professor. 

 He died in 1739. His treatise on algebra was pub- 

 lished after his death, at Cambridge (1740, 2 vols.). 

 He left other works in an imperfect state, among 

 which were comments on Newton's Principia, which 

 were published at the end of his posthumous treatise 

 on Fluxions (1756, 8vo.). 



SAURIN, JAMES, a French Protestant preacher, 

 was the son of a lawyer at Nismes, and born in 1617. 

 Upon the revocation of the edict of Nantes, in 1685, 

 his father retired with his family to Geneva, where 

 the subject of this article made a considerable pro- 

 gress in learning, but quitted his studies, and went into 

 the army. When the duke of Savoy, under whom 

 he served, made peace in 1696, he returned to Ge- 

 neva, with a view to engage in the ministry. In 

 1700, he visited England, where he preached nearly 

 five years to his fellow refugees in London. He 

 subsequently became pastor to a congregation of 

 French refugees, who assembled in a chapel belong- 

 ing to the prince of Orange, at the Hague. He 

 died in 1730, at the age of fifty-three. This emi- 

 nent preacher possessed great talents, and a fine ad- 

 dress: his voice was strong, clear and harmonious, 

 and his style pious, unaffected and eloquent. He 

 had the happy art of adapting his arguments, with 

 great skill, to the understanding of the audiences 

 before whom he spoke, and was persuasive and pa- 

 thetic, or plain, clear,or argumentative, as best suited 

 his subjects or his hearers. His principles were 

 those of moderate Calvinism. He was the author 

 of twelve volumes of Sermons (8vo.), selections 

 from which were translated into English, and pub- 

 lished, between 1775 and 1784, in five volumes, by 

 Mr Robert Robinson (with a Memoir), a sixth being 

 added, in 1796, by doctor Henry Hunter. Among 

 his other works are Christianity in France (8vo.); 

 Compendium of Christian Divinity and Morality; 

 Discourses on the most Remarkable Events of the 

 Old and New Testaments. Of this, his most con- 

 siderable work, he nearly completed three volumes 

 folio ; to which Roques added a fourth on the Old 

 Testament, and Beausobre two more on the New 

 Testament. 



SAUSSURE, HORACE BENEDICT DE, a celebrated 

 naturalist, was born at Geneva in 1741, and dis- 

 tinguished himself so much at the age of twenty- 

 two by his proficiency in the mathematical and phy- 

 sical sciences, as to be appointed professor of phi- 

 losophy in his native place. He continued to dis- 

 charge the duties of this office, for twenty-five 

 years, with reputation. The leisure which his 

 duties left him was occupied in scientific journeys 

 to the volcanic region of France, to the south of 

 Italy, and to England. A favourite object of his 

 investigations was the structure and height of 



