Z ZAFTLEEEVN. 



155 



Z, the last letter of the English alphabet, is a sibi- 

 lant and semivowel, representing the same sound 

 which the Germans represent by s, or the soft sound 

 of the English s, the only difference between s and z 

 being that the breath is emitted less forcibly in pro- 

 nouncing the latter : the organs of the mouth are 

 in the same position in both cases. (For further 

 observations connected with this point, see the 

 article S.) The z, in German, has a compound 

 sound, corresponding to our is; and modern Ger- 

 man writers, therefore, omit the t, formerly written 

 before z, in some German words. In Italian, it is 

 sometimes sounded like our ts, sometimes like ds. 

 In Spanish, it corresponds to our th. In French, 

 when pronounced at all, it has the sound of a forci- 

 ble s. Z was originally a Greek letter (). As a 

 numeral, it signified two thousand, according to the 

 verse 



Ultima Z tenens.fi-ieirt bis mille lenelit. 



When a dash was added at the top (Z), it signified 

 two thousand times a thousand. On French coins, 

 Z denotes those struck at Grenoble. 



ZAARDAM, OR SAARDAM; a town in North 

 Holland, near the Y, five miles north of Amster- 

 dam ; population, 10,717. It consists of two vil- 

 lages, East and West Zaardam. It carries on an 

 active trade in timber, tar, train-oil, &c. ; has ex- 

 tensive manufactures of ropes, tobacco, and paper ; 

 but the most important branch of its industry is 

 and has long been, ship-building. It was here that 

 the czar Peter the Great studied the art of ship- 

 building ; and the house which he occupied is still 

 pointed out. 



ZABIANS. See Sabians. 



ZABIRA, GEORGE; a learned Greek, born in 

 Sialista, in Macedonia, and educated in Thessalo- 

 nica. About the year 1764, he went, as a clerk, to 

 Hungary. At Colotscha, he learned Latin, and the 

 modern European languages, and collected a library. 

 He afterwards visited several German universities, 

 and established himself at Szabadszallas, as a mer- 

 chant. In 1795, he caused Cantemir's work on the 

 Cantacuzeni (q. v.) and the Brancowani to be pub- 

 lished. Among his manuscripts is the eiarjav 'EX- 

 >.tiMxit, a biographical catalogue of all modern Greek 

 authors who have lived since the conquest of Con- 

 stantinople. He died Sept. 19, 1804. 



ZACATECAS; formerly an intendancy, now a 

 state of Mexico, bounded north by Durango, east by 

 San Luis Potosi, south by Guanaxuato, and west by 

 Guadalaxara; eighty-five leagues long, and fifty-one 

 where widest, broad ; square leagues, 2353 ; popu- 

 lation, 272,901. It is a mountainous arid arid tract, 

 with a rigorous climate, and very thinly peopled. 

 There are eleven convents for males, and four for 

 females, in the state. The table-land, which forms 

 the central part, rises to upwards of 6500 feet above 

 the level of the sea. It is famous for its rich silver 

 mines. The capital, of the same name, lies 240 

 miles north-west of Mexico , Ion. 101 35' W.; lat. 

 22 50' N.; population, 30,000. It is situated in a 

 mountainous country, in the vicinity of some of the 



richest silver mines in Mexico, which are wrought 

 by great numbers. It is well built, and contains a 

 college, an hospital, a number of churches, and a 

 mint, in which were coined, from 1810 to 1826, 

 32,108,185 dollars. Several other towns, as Som- 

 brerete, Fresnillo, Jerez, Pinos, and Nochisltlan. 

 have a population varying from 14,000 to 18,000 

 souls. Maize, wheat, chile, &c., are among the 

 products. 



ZACH, FRANCIS, baron von, one of the most 

 eminent astronomers and mathematicians of our day, 

 was born at Presburg, in 1754, and died at Paris, 

 of the spasmodic cholera, in 1832. After having 

 entered the Austrian military s'ervice, and passed 

 some years in London, he was appointed grand 

 chamberlain to the duchess dowager of Saxe-Gotha, 

 who then resided at Eisenberg, and, in 1804, and 

 1805, accompanied her on a tour through Fiance. 

 From 1787 to 1806, he had the direction of the ob- 

 servatory at Seeberg. After that time, he resided 

 chiefly abroad, and accompanied the duchess to 

 Paris and Italy. In the latter country, through 

 his influence, an observatory was erected at Naples, 

 and another near Lucca. Baron von Zach also con- 

 tributed much to extend the field of astronomical 

 science by his writings, in which are united clear- 

 ness and profoundness. His Geographical Ephe 

 merides, and the continuation of the same work 

 under the titles of monthly Correspondence for pro- 

 moting the Knowledge of the Heavens and the 

 Earth, and Correspondance Astronomique, are works 

 of great value. He also published several treatises 

 on particular subjects, and was the author of many 

 papers in different periodical publications. Of his 

 works we will mention his treatise L' Attraction des 

 Montagues et ses Effets sur les Fils-a-Plomb (Avig- 

 non, 1814, 2 vols.); his Tabula Montium Solis 

 nova et correctce (Gotha, 1792, 4to.); and his Al- 

 manacca Genovese, which he edited in Genoa. 



ZACHARL33, JUST FREDERIC WILLIAM, one of 

 the German authors who prepared the way for the 

 advancement of German literature after the time of 

 Gottsched, was born in 1726, and died in 1777, 

 professor of belles-lettres in the Carolinum at 

 Brunswick. His Renomist the German word for 

 disorderly students (see Russel's Germany) a 

 comic epos, published in 1742, and some other 

 works, display humour. His works appeared in a 

 second edition, in 2 vols. (Brunswick, 1772). An 

 additional volume was published in 1781. 



ZACHARIAH. See Zechariah. 



ZACYNTHUS. See Zante. 



ZADOC (Sat/oc). See Sadducees. 



ZAFFRE is the residuum of cobalt, after the 

 sulphur, arsenic, and other volatile matters of arse- 

 nical cobalt, have been expelled by calcination. 

 The zaffre that is commonly sold, and which comes 

 from Saxony, is a mixture of oxide of cobalt with 

 some verifiable earth. It is of a gray colour. 



ZAFTLEEVEN, OR SACHTLEEVEN, HER. 

 MANN, one of the most skilful painters of landscapes, 

 was born at Rotterdam, in 1609. He lived in 

 Utrecht, and died in that city, in 1685. His viewa 



