S O R 



fome time, to gather in autumn. In gathering of which 

 for the table, it is proper to lay fome in the fruitery, or other 

 place, a little time, to mellow and become foft and tender ; 

 in which Itate it is eatable, and of an agreeable tafte and 

 flavour. 



Some of thefe forts of trees, as the firft and laft kinds, 

 are very ornamental in pleafure-ground plantations, and 

 large fhrubberies, both in their leaves and fruit. The other 

 fort may alfo be occafionally introduced with good efFeft in 

 particular fituations. 



SORCERER'S Islano, in Geography, a fmall ifland in 

 the Atlantic, near the coalt of Airica, where the Negroes 

 come yearly to facrifice to their deities, near the mouth of 

 the Rio Grande. 



SORCERY, the crime of witchcraft, or divination, by 

 the affillance of evil fpirits. See Magic and Magician. 



Some hold forcery to be properly what the ancients call 

 forti-hgiitm, or divination by means of fortes, or lots. Lord 

 Coke, 3d Inft. fol. 44, delcribes a forcerer, qui utitur forti- 

 ius, et incantat'ionll/us d(smonum. 



Sorcery is pretended to have been a thing formerly very 

 common ; at lead the credulity of thofe ages made it pafs 

 for fuch ; and people fuffered frequently for it. 



This fuppofed crime was made felony by 33 Hen. VIII. 

 C. 8, and I Jac. I. c. 12 ; but this abfurd law was very 

 properly repealed by an aft of George II. See Conju- 

 ration. 



SORCY, in Geography, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Meufe, fituated on the Meufe ; 3 miles 

 S.E. of Commercy. 



SORDE, or Sordes, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment »f the Landes, on the gave of Oleron ; 9 miles E. of 

 Bayonne. 



SORDES, a term applied to the matter difcharged from 

 ijlcers in horfes, when it is rather vifcid or glutinous. This 

 matter is frequently of a brownifh-red colour, fomewhat re- 

 Jfembling the grounds of coffee, or grumous blood mixed 

 with water. Sordes, fames, and Ichor, are all of them terms 

 which imply a difcharge much more fetid than purulent mat- 

 ter, and none of them are altogether tree from acrimony ; 

 but that which is generally termed ichor is by much the 

 moft acrid of them, being frequently fo (harp and cor- 

 jTofive, as to deftroy large quantities of the neighbouring 

 parts. 



SORDINO, Ital, Sourdine, Fr., a mute, or little 

 machine placed on the bridge of a violin or violoncello to 

 enfeeble or deaden the tone, by impeding the vibration of 

 the whole inftrument. The French never ufe this machine, 

 and the Italians but feldom, at prefent. 



SORDITIES, \n Surgery, putrid pus of bad quality. 

 SORDUN, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Seine and Marne ; 3 miles S.E. ef 

 Provins. 



SORE, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Landes, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrift of Mont- 

 de-Marfan ; 27 miles N. of Mont-de-Marfan. The place 

 contains 1450, and the canton 340Q inhabitants, on a terri- 

 tory of 420 kiliometres, in 4 coinmuncs. 



Sore, among Sporlfmen, denotes a buck of the fourth 

 year. 



SOREL, a buck of the third year. 

 SoUEL, in Botany. See SonuEL. 



SouEL, in Geography, a cape on the N. coaft of the ifland 

 of Jerfey ; 7 miles N.E. of St. Hclier. 



SORELLE, a town of Lower Canada, fituated at the 

 mouth of a river of the fame name, which runs from lake 

 Champlain into the St. I^awrence. It was laid out about 

 Vol. XXXIII. 



S O 11 



the year 1787, and on an extenfive plan, with very wide 

 ilreets, and a large fquare ; but at prefent it contains only 

 1 00 houfes, which are all very indifferent, and widely fepa- 

 rated from one another. This is the only town on the St. 

 Lawrence, between Montreal and Quebec, inwhich Enghfh 

 is the predominant language. The inhabitants confift prin- 

 cipally of loyalifls from the United States, who took refuge 

 in Canada. The chief bufinefs carried on here is that of 

 fhip-building ; feveral veflels are annually launched from 

 50 to 200 tons burthen, which are floated down to Quebec, 

 and there rigged. The river of Sorelle is deep at its 

 mouth, and affords good flielter for fhips from the ice, at 

 the breaking up of winter : it is not navigable far beyond 

 the town, even in boats, on account of the rapids ; 24 

 miles N.N.E. from Montreal. Weld's Travels, vol. i. 



SORENTO, or Sorrento, a fea-port town of Naples, 

 in Principato Citra, fituated on the brink of the fteep rocks 

 that overhang the bay of the fame name, and prefenting an 

 enchanting afpeft. The mountains of Vico and MafTa, be- 

 tween which it lies, fhelter it from the W. and S. winds. 

 Its ftreets are narrow ; but this is no inconvenience in a 

 warm climate, where carriages are not ufed, nor any com- 

 munication with the metropolis prafticable by land. Of all 

 the places in the kingdom, this enjoys the moft dehghtful 

 climate, for which it was renowned in ancient times. Silius 

 Italicus extols its foft and wholefome zephyrs : " Zephyro 

 Suorentum molle falubri." At prefent it enjoys fhady 

 groves, excellent water, fruit, fifh, milk, butter, the fineft 

 veal, the belt wine, and every neceflary of hfe at an eafy 

 rate. Its population confilts of about 15,000 inhabitants, 

 being half the population of the whole plain. Thefe are 

 goldfmiths, mariners, or fifhermen. The women are em- 

 ployed in breeding filk-worms, and weaving the filk which 

 they draw from them. It is an archiepifcopal fee, of which 

 the bifhops of Stabia, Vico, Equenfe, and Maffa, are fuffra- 

 gans. Some abbies are alfo fubfervient to it. 



According to Hyginus, it was built by the Greeks ; and 

 was called Syrenetum, or Surenetum, from its having been 

 the refidence of the fyrens Leucofia and Ligia. However 

 this be, it was anciently the abode of the Ofci, Opici, and 

 Picentini, whofe capital it was, and afterwards a Roman 

 colony, and a municipal city, as we may conclude from a 

 multitude of antique marbles. Its numerous ruins of edi- 

 fices fhew that the towm is much reduced from its ancient 

 ftate. It was formerly adorned with feveral magnificent 

 temples, among which were thofe of .Juno and Diana ; but 

 the moft fplendid of them was that built by Pollius, in ho- 

 nour of Hercules, and which Statius has depicted in all the 

 charms of poetry. The place where this temple flood i« 

 now called corruptly Polo, and fome traces are Itill fccn of 

 thofe of Ceres, Neptune, and Apollo. Befides the fruiti 

 and wines for which Sorrento is famous, it was alfo cele- 

 brated among the ancients for its beautiful earthen veflels, 

 efpccially as goblets or drinking cups. Pliny very much 

 applauds them, and Martial prefers them to thofe of thr 

 moft valuable materials, and of the moll exquifitc work- 

 manfliip. Sorrento values itfclf upon having been the birth- 

 place of the celebrated grammarian L. Craffitiui Pafide?, 

 mentioned by Suetonius in his treatifc " l)e illuflribun 

 Grammaticis ;" of the learned Bcrnardin Rota; and of the 

 renowned Torquato Taflo ; 15 miles S. of Naples. N- lat. 

 40° 40'. E. long. 14° 24'. 



The bay of Sorrento is three miles wide : a fcmicircular 

 chain of woody mountains inclofes a rich and beautiful plain, 

 rather Hoping towards the fea, full of white building* 

 peeping out of the groves. This crcfcent terminates in a 

 flraight line to the fea, by a bold coail of black pcrpciidi- 

 3 A cuUr 



