SUMACH SUMATRA. 



447 



of all the women of the seraglio, unless her son dies 

 before the sultan, and another of the wives has a 

 son older than any of hers surviving. The title of 

 sultana is applied properly only to one of the wives, 

 who is actually declared wife and empress ; but 

 this is rarely done, on account of the expense of a 

 second court, which would be necessary. At Con- 

 stantinople, only the daughters of the sultan are 

 called sultanas : and they retain this title even after 

 marriage with the officers of the sultan. The 

 daughters of such a marriage are termed kanum sul- 

 tanas (ladies of the blood). If the mother of the 

 sultan is living, she is styled Walidet-sultana, or 

 sultana Valide. She is treated with great respect, 

 and her son cannot choose a new wife or concubine 

 without her consent. (See Harem.) Sultana is 

 also the name of a Turkish ship of war, carrying 

 about sixty-six guns, with 800 men. 



SUMACH (rhus) ; a genus of plants, belonging 

 to the natural family terebinthacetz, consisting of 

 shrubs or small trees, with small, inconspicuous 

 flowers, disposed in racemes or panicles, and leaves 

 usually pinnate, somewhat resembling those of the 

 walnut, but in some species ternate or simple. 

 More than seventy species are known : all have a 

 lactescent juice, more or less acrid, and containing 

 a gum-resin. R. coriaria is found in the countries 

 about the Mediterranean. The young branches, 

 dried and powdered, were used by the ancients for 

 tanning leather ; and at the present time, in some 

 parts of Spain and Italy, the black morocco is chiefly 

 prepared with this plant. The roots contain a 

 brown, and the bark a yellow dye. The seeds are 

 in common use at Aleppo, at meals, to provoke an 

 appetite. Both leaves and seeds are used in medi- 

 cine, as astringent and styptic R. typhina is a 

 shrub, twelve or fifteen feet high. The young 

 branches are thick, and covered with a dense coat- 

 ing of hairs ; hence the common name of stag's horn 

 sumach. The leaves are pinnate, and composed of 

 eleven to fifteen serrated leaflets. The flowers are 

 small and numerous, disposed in an upright hairy 

 panicle, and are succeeded by small berries, which 

 finally turn red, and render this shrub a conspicuous 

 object in the woods. It has been long cultivated 

 in the European gardens for ornament. The berries 

 possess the same properties as those of the preced- 

 ing, and a very abundant milky juice flows from the 

 bark. This last is pulverized, and employed for 



tanning R. glabra is distinguished by the smooth- 



ness of the leaves and young shoots. The berries 

 dye red, and the branches boiled with the berries 

 afford a black, ink-like tincture. It is likewise 

 cultivated for ornament, in the European gardens, 

 and possesses the same properties as the preceding. 

 R. pumila is a low, pubescent species, which is 

 said to be the most poisonous of the genus. R. 

 venenata, commonly called dog-wood or poison sum- 

 ach, attains the height of twelve to twenty feet. 

 The leaves are smooth and entire : the flowers 

 greenish-white, disposed in loose panicles, and suc- 

 ceeded by whitish berries. The poisonous qualities 

 of this plant are well known. Some persons are 

 affected by touching or smelling any part of it, or 

 even by coming within a certain distance ; while 

 others appear to be entirely exempt from its influ- 

 ence. When the poison has been communicated, 

 inflammation appears on the skin, in large blotches, 

 in a day or two ; soon after, small pustules rise in 

 the inflamed parts and fill with watery matter, at- 

 tended with intolerable itching and burning, and 

 lasting several days R. copallina is easily distin- 



guished by the leafy expansion on each side of the 

 common petiole. The flowers are greenish-yellow, 

 and are disposed in panicles at the extremities of 

 the branches R. radicans, often called poison ivy, 

 is a climbing, woody vine, which adheres to the 

 trunks and branches of trees, by means of root-like 

 suckers. The leaves are ternate, and the flowers 

 are disposed in little axillary racemes. It affects 

 certain individuals in the same manner as the poison 

 sumach ; but it seems to be less virulent, and fewer 



persons are exposed to its influence R. arotiiatica 



differs widely in habit from the others. It is a 

 small shrub, yvith ternate leaves, having the flowers 

 disposed in aments. The berries are hairy and red. 

 The celebrated Japan varnish is obtained from a 

 species of rhus, which vvas formerly considered iden- 

 tical with our poison sumach ; but now is recognised 

 as a distinct species, having the under surface of 

 the leaves downy and velvety. This varnish oozes 

 from the tree, on its being wounded, and grows 

 thick and black when exposed to the air. It is so 

 transparent, that when laid pure and unmixed upon 

 boxes or furniture, every vein of the wood may be 

 clearly seen. With it the Japanese varnish over 

 the posts of their doors and widows, their drawers, 

 chests, boxes, cimeters, fans, tea-cups, soup-dishes, 

 and most articles of household furniture made of 

 wood. 



SUMAROKOFF, ALEXANDER PETROWITSCH, 

 a distinguished Russian tragic poet, who formed 

 himself on French models, was born in 1718, and 

 died at Moscow in 1777. His tragedies, in point 

 of harmony, taste, and purity of style, are compared 

 to those of Racine, though inferior in poetical in- 

 spiration. His principal works are Sineus and Tru- 

 wor (which appeared in 1755) ; Semire, Jaropolk- 

 und Demise, Korew and Aristone ; all of which 

 were translated into French in 1801. He also wrote 

 Hamlet, Ritschelas, and the Pseudo-Demetrius. 

 The last is considered his best work (translated 

 into French in 1800, also into English). Sumaro- 

 koff also wrote comedies, fables and epigrams. 



SUMATRA ; an island in the eastern seas, the 

 largest and most westerly of the Sunda islands, se- 

 parated from the continent by the straits of Malac- 

 ca, and from Java by the straits of Sunda. It is 

 divided obliquely by the equator into almost equal 

 parts, and its general direction is from N. W. to S. 

 E. ; lat. of one extremity 5 5& N., of the other 

 5 56' S. It is about 1000 miles long, and 165, on 

 an average, broad ; square miles, about 160,000. 

 A chain of high mountains runs through the whole 

 extent of the island, and the ranges are, in many 

 parts, double and treble. Mount Ophir, immediately 

 under the equinoctial line, is supposed to be the 

 highest visible from the sea, its summit being ele- 

 vated 13,842 feet above that level. Among the 

 ridges of mountains are extensive plains of great 

 elevation, and of temperate climate, the most valu- 

 able and best inhabited portion of the island. Here, 

 too, are found many large and beautiful lakes. The 

 ridges of mountains lie towards the western shore ; 

 in consequence, all the greatest rivers are found on 

 the eastern side. The climate varies with the 

 height of the ground ; but on the plains, the heat 

 is not so great as might be expected from the posi- 

 tion ; the thermometer, in the greatest heat, about 

 two o'clock p. m., generally fluctuating from 82 to 

 85 : at sunrise, it is usually as low as 70. The 

 soil is generally fertile ; the population for the 

 most part thin ; and a great portion of the island is 

 covered with an impenetrable forest. The most 



