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introduced to him as the properest person to be employed to 
get a copy thereof. Fraser. 
SANSEVIERA [named by Thunberg, in honour, as we 
presume, of some botanist], in Botany, a genus of the 
class hexandria, order monogynia, natural order coronariae, 
asphodeli (Juss.) —Generic Character. Calyx none. 
Corolla inferior, of one petal, funnel-shaped, permanent; 
tube cylindrical; limb in six deep, revolute, nearly equal 
segments. Stamina: filaments six, awl-shaped, inserted into 
the tube at the base of the segments, and equal to them in 
length; anthers oblong, erect. Pistil: germen superior, 
ovate; style awl-shaped, the length of the stamens; stigma 
three-cleft. Pericarp: berry globose, of three cells. Seeds: 
roundish, solitary.— Essential Character. Calyx none. 
Corolla of one petal; tube cylindrical; limb in six deep 
revolute segments. Stamens inserted at the base of each 
segment. Berry of three cells. Seeds solitary. 
The first two species have been described under their 
Linnaean name, Aletris. Thunberg has added, 
3. Sanseviera carnea, or flesh coloured sanseviera.—Leaves 
smooth, two-ranked, lanceolate sword-shaped, keeled. 
Flowers solitary, sessile.—Native of China, introduced by 
the late Mr. Evans, of Stepney. It flowers in the green¬ 
house at various seasons. This is a smaller plant than either 
of the preceding. The leaves are ribbed, of an uniform 
green, and rise much above the pale pink spike of flowers, 
which are solitary, not aggregate. 
4. Sanseviera lanuginosa, or wooly-leaved sanseviera.— 
Leaves linear-lanceolate, with woolly ribs. Style the length 
of the stamens. Flowers aggregate, stalked, without brac- 
teas.—Native of sandy ground in Malabar. A doubtful spe¬ 
cies, most allied perhaps to our zeylanica, but Willdenow, 
on the authority of Rheede, has distinguished it. The 
flowers are said to be reddish externally, greenish within, 
and the fruit green. No bracteas are represented ; which, if 
correct, affords a sufficient distinctive character. 
SANSIGO, a small island in the gulf of Quarnero, in the 
gulf of Venice, belonging to the district of Fiume, in Aus¬ 
trian Illyria. 
SANSONATE, a district and town of Guatimala, to the 
southward of Suchitepec, having for its capital La Trinidad 
or Sansonate, situated on the river Sansonate, at its mouth. 
This town is a sea-port, and is situated 120 miles south-east 
of the city of Mexico, with about 2000 inhabitants, of 
whom 400 are whites. The population of the district is 
about 40,000, consisting almost entirety of Indians, mulat- 
toes, and negroes. 
SANSON (Nicholas), a celebrated French geographer in 
the 17th century, was born at Abbeville, in Picardy, in the 
year 1600. He was educated in the Jesuits’ college of 
Amiens, and discovered an early inclination for that science, 
in which he afterwards excelled, and which was cultivated 
by his father, who had published several maps. At the age 
of 18 or 19, he had drawn a map of ancient Gaul, on four 
sheets, and compiled a Latin explanatory treatise to accom¬ 
pany it, but he was persuaded to defer the publication of this 
work, in order that he might render it more perfect, and by 
the apprehension that, on account of his youth, it might be 
ascribed to his father. He commenced his career in life in 
merchandize, but having met with considerable losses, he 
determined to devote himself wholly to the pursuits of science; 
In 1627 he published his map of ancient Gaiil, which met with 
so favourable a reception, that he had the greatest encourage¬ 
ment to proceed in the career in which he had embarked. 
His next work made its appearance in 1636, under the title 
of “ Gracia: Antiquse Descriptio Geographica,” which was 
followed, in the same year, by a curious piece, entitled “ Bri¬ 
tannia, or an Enquiry into the Antiquity of Abbeville." In 
1637 he distinguished himself by “ A Treatise on the Ro¬ 
man Empire," with 15 maps. His attention in the mean¬ 
time was not only engrossed by his geographical productions, 
but directed to the fortifications of Abbeville, for which he 
was engaged in the capacity of engineer to the king. In 
1641 he published a map of the rivers of France, and in 
1644 he gave the public another work, entitled “ France 
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delineated,” on five' Latin Maps, comprising the ancient. 
Itineraries, and five French ones, and accompanied with 
different illustrative treatises. Soon after this he published 
similar maps, both in Latin and French, of “ The British 
Isles,” “Spain,” and “ Italywith the last he gave “A 
Treatise on the Sovereign Princes of Italy;” and from 
this time he directed his labours to a more particular deli¬ 
neation of France, in which he proceeded, till it was, at 
length, extended to nearly 120 folio sheets. For the great 
services which he thus rendered to the interest of science, he 
was appointed not only geographer to the king, but had a 
pension of 2000 livres settled upon him. This appointment 
made it necessary for him to remove to Paris; and some time 
after his settlement there, in 1646, he published nine maps 
of the course of the Rhine, with an alphabetical table of 
all the cities, their situations, &c. In 1647 he engaged in a 
controversy with father Labbe, who, in his “ Pharus Gallise 
Antiques,” had attacked the notes accompanying M. San¬ 
son’s map of the Gauls, and yet copied them in a variety 
of places without making any acknowledgment of his ob¬ 
ligations. On this occasion M. Sanson published his “ Dis- 
quisitiones Geographies in Pharum Gallias Antiquiae,” in 
which he fully established his charge of plagiarisms against 
Labbe, and also convicted him of a vast number of geo¬ 
graphical blunders. In 1649 he published “ Remarks on 
the map of Ancient Gaul at the time of Caesar and in a 
few years afterwards he gave to the public his “Asia," in 
14 new maps, illustrated by several geographical and his¬ 
torical dissertations, which was a very popular work. He 
next published “ Geographia sacra ex Veteri et Novo Testa- 
mento desumpta, et in Tabulas quatuor concinnata, &c. 
Additse sunt descriptio Terra Chanaan, sive Terra Pro- 
missse, Jesu Christi, et Apost. Petri et Pauli Vitae; turn et 
in omnes eas Tabulas et Descriptiones, Animadversiones et 
Index Geographicus.” Of this work an edition was printed 
by Le Clerc, in 1704, with notes and an additional preface 
by the editor. In 1656 M. Sanson published his “ Africa,” 
consisting of 19 maps, and afterwards his “ America,” in 16 
maps; each set being accompanied with geographical and 
historical treatises. He was author of a great variety of 
other maps, in Latin and French, which, together with his 
works, form a large atlas, in two vols. folio, accompanied 
by a set of “ Methodical Tables,” containing a comparison 
of ancient with modern geography. M. Sanson died in 1667, 
in the 67th year of his age. He left three sons, each of whom 
possessed a portion of their father’s genius, and obtained 
the post of geographer to the king. The eldest, Nicholas, 
was killed during the baricades of Paris in 1648, while de¬ 
fending the chancellor Seguier against the populace. He was 
author of a work entitled “ Europe,” written in the form of 
a dialogue, and illustrated with 20 French and nine Latin 
maps, and of many other works. William, the second son, 
who died in 1705, was author of Latin notes against the geo¬ 
graphical dictionary of Baudrand; also, of “ An Introduc¬ 
tion to Geography.” The youngest son of M. Sanson, 
Adrian, died in 1718. 
SAN-SOUCI, a town of the Middle Mark of Branden¬ 
burg, near Potzdam, where is a royal palace, which has no-, 
claim to grandeur of external architecture. 
SANSOVINO (Jacopo), an eminent sculptor and archi¬ 
tect, whose family name was Tatti, was born in 1479, at 
the town of Sansovino, in Tuscany, from which place he 
took his usual appellation. He became a disciple of the 
famous Florentine sculptor, Andrea Contucci, also called 
Sansovino. At an early age he contracted an intimacy with 
the painter Andrea del Sarto, and a mutual communication 
of studies and ideas took place between them. He was first 
taken to Rome by the architect Giuliano da San-Gallo, 
where he was employed in designing and modelling an¬ 
tiques. After passing some time at Rome, his want of health 
obliged him to return to Florence, where he was engaged 
in several works. In 1514 he was employed to design the 
triumphal arches erected for the entrance of Leo X., and his 
E ’ is were so much approved by that pope, that he ordered 
to give a model for an intended marble front of the; 
church 
