s S, s, the 19th letter and the 15th conso- nant of the English alphabet. It repre- sents a hissing sound and is classed as a sibilant. There are two sounds attached to this letter in English; the one surd, or uttered with breath merely, the other sonant or voiced. The first is a mere hissing sound, as in sin, so, etc.; the other is exactly the same as that of z, as in music, muse, etc. S in some words, as isle, island, viscount, is silent. It is closely allied to r, and even in the oldest English we have traces of the interchange, as in frore=froren=frosen (frozen), ge- coren=chosen, etc. S has become st in hoist=hoise, whilst=whiles, etc. It has been changed into c, as in mice=01d English mys, once=01d English ones, hence=01d English hennes, etc. With a following h it forms a digraph, a weaken- ing of an older and stronger sound sc, as shall=01d English sceal, fish=01d Eng- lish fisc, etc. S is an exceedingly common letter in English. It is the characteristic sign of the genitive case and plurals of nouns. S as an initial is used for South, as in S. W.=Southwest ; for Society, as F. R. S.=Fellow of the Royal Society; for Saint, or double (SS.) for Saints. S as a symbol is used as a numeral for 7, and with a dash over it, for 70,000. Also in chemistry for the element sulphur. SAALE, a river of Germany; distin- guished from smaller rivers of the same name as the Saxon or Thuringian Saale, rises on the W. slope of the Fichtelge- birge (Bavaria), and flowing N. through several minor States, finally across Prus- sian Saxony, past the towns of Hof, Ru- dolstadt, Jena, Naumburg, Weissenfels, Merseburg, and Halle, falls into the Elbe, about 25 miles above Magdeburg, after a course of 226 miles. It is navigable from Naumburg to its confluence with the Elbe, a distance of 99 miles, for ves- sels up to 200 tons. SAALFELD, a town in the former Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen, Germany, situated on the left bank of the Saale, 87 miles S. W. of Leipzig. Its importance is based on its manufacturing, its indus- tries being principally knit goods, paints, and machinery. Pop. about 15,000. SAARBRUCK, or SAARBRUCKEN (French, Sarrebruck), a town of Rhenish Prussia; on the Saar; 40 miles S. E. of Treves; the center of a large coalfield, and of iron and glass works, with manu- factures of tobacco, chemicals, metal utensils, etc. Here, on Aug. 2, 1870, the first engagement took place between the French and Germans, the latter retreat- ing. As a result of the Versailles Peace Treaty, the town came, at least tempo- rarily, under French control. See Sarre Basin. Pop. about 106,000. SABA, a small island in the Leeward group of the West Indies, a little N. of St. Kitt's and near the island of St. Eusta- tia. Though a Dutch colony the Island of Saba is an independent republic. Pop. (1918) 2,229. The island rises abruptly from the sea, and is about 12 miles in circumference. On the S. side there is a break in the perpendicular rock-walls where a "ladder" of 1,000 steps and a gallery leads to the habitable part of the island. The natives raise cotton, fruit, and vegetables for export, and build boats of considerable size. A cabbage is the coat-of-arms of the republic. The Sabans are pure-blooded white people, descen- dants of Dutch, Swedish, and Danish pi- rates of the 17th and 18th centuries. SABADILLA, CEBADILLA, or CE- VADILLA, the name given in commerce to the pulverized seeds of two plants, the Asagrsea officinalis of Lindley, and the Veratrum Sabadilla, both belonging to the natural order Melanthaceae. SAB-ffiANS, the name of the ancient inhabitants of Yemen in southern Ara- bia. They are the people called Sheba in Gen. x. 28, xxv. 3; Job vi. 19; and other passages in the prophets; and it was 164
