SAXONY
505
SCALA
gravity coincides with the centre of the world. More-
ov(!r, the terrestrial mass has not everywhere the same
density, so that its centre of gravity does not coincide
with the centre of its figure. Thus the lightest part
of the earth is more distant from the centre of gravity
of the earth than the heaviest part. The erosion pro-
duced by rivers constantly draws terrestrial particles
from the continents to the bosom of the sea. This
erosion, which, by scooping out the valleys, has
shaped the mountains, constantly displaces the centre
of gravity of the terrestrial mass, and this mass is in
motion to bring back the centre of gravity of the
earth to the centre of its figure. Through this motion
th(^ submerged portions of the earth constantly push
upwards the emerged parts, which are incessantly be-
ing eaten away and afterwards replaced by the sub-
merged parts. At the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury this theory of Albert's strongly attracted the
attention of Leonardo da Vinci, and it was to confirm
it that he devoted himself to numerous observations
of fossils. Albert of Saxony, moreover, ascribed the
precession of the equinoxes to the similar very slow
movement of the terrestrial element.
His "Tractatus proportionum " went through eleven editions; one bears no date or indication of its origin; three were i.ssued at Padua in 14S2, 1484, and 1487; four were printed at Venice in 1487, 1404, and twice in 1490; two were printed at Venice in 1.502 and 1506; finally, an edition without date or printer's name was issued at Paris. The " Subtilisimte qua^s- tiones super octo libros Physicorum" were printed at Padua in 1493, at Venice in 1504 and 1516. The "Quffistioncs in Aristotelis libros de Cct'loet Mundo" were published at Pavia in 1481, at Venice in 1492 and 1497. The "Qua'stiones in libros de generatione et corruptione", with the commentaries and qu(\stions which Gilles of Rome and Marsilius of Inghen had compiled on the same subject, were ])rinted at \'enice in 1504, 1505, and 1518. Albert's "Qua-stiones" on the Physics, the "De Qelo", and the " De genera- tione", followed by the questions of Themon and of Buridan on the "De anima", were i>rinted in Paris in 1516 and 1518. The "Qua;stiones super libros posteriorum /Vristotelis " were printed at Venice in 1497; the "Sophismata" at Paris in 1489; the "Tractatus obligationum" at Lyons in 1498; the two last-named works, joined with the "Insolubilia", were published at Paris in 1490, 1495, and at an un- known date. In 1496 was printed at Bologna the "Expositio aurea et admodum utilis super artera veterem, edita per venerabilem inceptorem fratrem Gulielmum de Ocham cum questionibus Alberti parvi de Saxonia". Finally, the "Logica Albertucii" was edited at Venice in 1522.
Prantl, Genchichte der Logik im Abendlande, IV (Leipzig, 1867) ; Thurot, Recherches historiques sur le principe d' Archimide, 3rd article in Revue archSologique, new series, XIX (1869); Bon- COMPAGNI, Intorno al Tractatus proportionum di Alberto di Sas- aonia in BuUetino di Bihliografia e di Storia delle Scienze jnale- matiche e fisiche, IV (1871); Jacoli, Intorno ad un comento di Benedetto Vittori, medico Faentino, al Tractatus proportionum di Alberto di Sassoniaiuibid.; Suter, Der Tractatus, " De quadratura circuli" des Albertus de Saxonia in Zeitschrift fiir Mathematik und Physik, XXIX (1884); Suter, Die Queslio " De proportione dyametri quadrati ad costam ejusdem" des Albertus de Saxonia, ibid., XXXII (1887); Duhem, Les origines de la statigue, II (Paris, 1906); Idem, Etudes sur Leonard de Vinci, ceux qu'il a lus et ceux qui I'ont lu, 1st ser. (Paris, 1906) ; 2nd ser. (Paris, 1909); 3rd ser. (in press).
Pierre Duhem.
Saxony, Vicariate Apostolic of. See Saxony.
Scalabrini Fathers. See Missionaries op Saint Charles Borromeo, Congregation of.
Scala Sancta (Holy Stairs), consisting of twenty- eight white marble steps, at Rome, near the Lateran; according to tradition the staircase leading once to the prajtorium of Pilate at Jerusalem, hence sancti- fied by the footsteps of Our Lord during his Passion. The historians of the monument relate that the Holy
Stairs were brought from .Jerusalem to Rome about
326 by St. Helena, mothesr of Constantine the Great.
In the Middle Ages they were known as *Scata
Pilati, the Stairs of Pilate. From old plans it can
be gathered that they led to a corridor of the Lateran
Palace, near the Chapel of St. Sylvester, were covered
with a special roof, and had at their sides other stairs
for common use. When Sixtus V in 1589 destroyed
the old papal palace and built the new one, he ordered
the Holy Stairs to be transferred to their present site,
before the Sancta Sanctorum (Holy of Holies). The
latter is the old private papal chajiel, dedicated to St.
Lawrence, and the only remaining part of the former
The Scala Sancta
Church of S. Salvatore, Rome
Lateran Palace, receiving its name from the many precious relics preserved there. The Sancta Sanc- torum also contains the celebrated image of Christ, "not made by human hands", which on certain occa- sions used to be carried through Rome in procession. These holy treasures, which since Leo X (1513-21) have not been seen by anybody, have recently been the object of learned dissertations by Grisar and Lauer.
In its new site the Scala Sancta is flanked by four other stairs, two on each side, for common use, since the Holy Stairs may only be ascended on the knees, a devotion much in favour with pilgrims and the Roman faithful, especially on Fridays and in Lent. Not a few popes are recorded to have performed this pious exercise; Pius IX, who in 1853 entrusted the Passionist Fathers with the care of the sanctuary, ascended the Holy Stairs on 19 Sept., 1870, the eve of the entrance of the Piedmontese into Rome. Pius VII on 2 Sept., 1817 granted tho.se who ascend the stairs in the prescribed manner an indulgence of nine years for every step. Finally Pius X, on 26 Feb., 1908, granted a plenary indulgence to be gained as often as the stairs are devoutly ascended after con- fession and communion. Imitations of the Scala Sancta have been erected in various places, as in Lourdes and in some convents of nuns, and indul- gences are attached to them by special concessions.
Thurston, The Holy Year of Jubilee (London, 1900), 185- 196; Manner of visiting and devoutlij asrt'ndinq the Holy Stairs (Rome, 1907); Tomasi, Scalx Sanctw pice deosculatxones
