whites have the predominating influence. The people, on the whole, are quiet, lazy and shiftless, but subject at times to great political excitement. They are Spanish in their mode of life and habits of thought. Spanish too is the common language, though both French and English are spoken in the towns.
History.—After the downfall of Toussaint l'Ouvertu1e (see Haiti) there followed the initiation of the black Haitian Empire under jean Jacques Dessalines in 1803. Spain, however, established herself anew on the eastern end of the island in 1806, Haiti remaining independent. Santo Domingo continued thus a Spanish possession until 1821, when, under the authority and flag of Colombia, a republic was proclaimed, and the Spaniards withdrew. In the following year the Haitian president Boyer invaded Santo Domingo, joined it to Haiti and ruled the entire island till his fall in 1843. The Spanish part of the island again became independent of Haiti in 1844, when the Dominican Republic was founded, and since that time the two political divisions have been maintained, and their respective inhabitants have grown more and more estranged. The earlier years of the new republic were marked by the struggles between Pedro Santana and Buenaventura Bäez, who with the exception of a few months under jiminez, occupied the presidency in turn until 1861. In that year Santana, with the consent of the people, proclaimed the annexation of Santo Domingo by Spain. The Spaniards, however, did not long enjoy their sovereignty, for the harshness of their rule provoked a successful revolution under José Maria Cabral in 1864; and in the following year they withdrew all claim to the country. Bäez was again chosen president, but was driven out by Cabral after a year of power.
From 1868 to 1873 Bäez was once again in office, and during this term overtures were made to the United States with a view to annexation. General O. E. Babcock was dispatched by President Grant to report on the condition and resources of Santo Domingo, and while there, in 1869, he negotiated a treaty by which the republic was to become part of the United States. Although ratified by the Dominican Senate, this treaty was opposed in the United States Senate, under the leadership of Charles Sumner, and was finally rejected. In 1871 three commissioners were appointed by President Grant to report further, but although their report was favourable to annexation, no action was taken.
Bäez was succeeded by Gonzalez (1873–1879), under whom the country enjoyed a period of tranquillity. Great political agitation followed, which terminated in 1882 with the election of Ulises Heureaux, a negro, and capable statesman. Under his despotic rule of nearly 17 years, the republic enjoyed greater prosperity and tranquillity than it had ever known. He was assassinated in July 1899, and was succeeded by Jiminez, who was driven out by General Vasquez in 1902. Vasquez, in turn, was deposed by a revolution headed by General Wos y Gil, who became president in 1903, but was overthrown by Jiminez in November of that year. In 1904 Jiminez was expelled and C. F. Morales became president. Ramon Caceres was installed in 1906, and in 1908 a new constitution was proclaimed and Caceres was elected for the term 1908-1914.
Bibliography.—B. Edwards, Hist. Survey of the Island of Santo Domingo (London, 1801); Monte y Tejada, Historia de Santo Domingo (Havana, 1853); J. de Marles, Hist. descript. et pittor. de Saint Dominique (Paris, 1869); S. Hazard, Santo Domingo, Past and Present (London, 1873); J. G. Garcia, Compendio de la Historia de Santo Domingo (Santo Domingo, 1879); F. A. Leal, La République Dominicone (Paris, 1888); H. Thomasset, La République Dominicane en 1890 (Santo Domingo, 1890); J. R. Abad, La República Dominicana (Santo Domingo, 1889); El Padre Merino, Elementos de geografia fisica, politica, e historica de la Republica Dominicana (Santo Domingo, 1889); Bureau of American Republics, Bulletin No. 52, 1892. (See also Haiti.)
SANTO DOMINGO, the capital of the republic of the same name, in the island of Haiti, West Indies. Pop. about 25,000. It is situated on the S. coast, at the mouth of the river Ozama. Founded in 1496, it is the oldest existing settlement of white men in the New World, and perhaps the most perfect example of a Spanish colonial town of the 16th century. It is surrounded by ancient walls with bastions. The streets are straight, narrow, and intersect at right angles. The massive houses are built of stone with coloured walls pierced with huge doors and windows. The cathedral, in the Spanish Renaissance style, dates from 1512, and contains the reputed tomb of Columbus (q.v.). The cell in which he and his brother were confined by order of Bobadilla is still shown in the old fortress. The city is the seat of an archbishop. It has a small and rather poor harbour, but the river is navigable for 4 m. from its mouth. The climate is healthy and cool.
SANTONIN, a drug used in the U.S.P. and B.P., consisting of
colourless flat prisms, turning slightly yellow from the action of
light and soluble in alcohol, chloroform and boiling water. It
is derived from santonica which is the unexpanded flower-heads
of Artemisia maritima. The dose is 2 to 5 grs. The only B.P.
preparation is the trochiscus santonini, but the preparation
sodii santoninas is official in the U.S.P. Santonin is an anthelmintic
used to poison the round worm Ascaris lumbricoides.
It has no influence on tape-worms. It must be administered
fasting and be followed by a purgative in order to expel the worm.
The most convenient mode of administration is in capsules.
For thread worms which infest the anus of young children, a
suppository containing 2 to 3 grs. of santonin and used on alternate
nights for three nights is effective. The U.S. preparation
sodii santoninas is useless as a vermifuge and is used in diseased
conditions of the optic nerve. Even small doses of santonin
cause disturbances of vision, usually yellow vision or perhaps
green (xanthopsia or chromatopsia). The urine also turns
yellow and finally purple or red. These effects usually pass off
in a few days. Large doses, however, produce toxic effects,
aphasia, muscular tremors and epileptiform convulsions, and
the disturbances of vision may go on to total blindness.
SANTORIN (corruption of St Irene; anc. Thera), a volcanic
island in the Aegean Sea, the southernmost of the Sporades.
In shape Santorin forms a crescent, and encloses a bay on the
north, east and south, while on the western side lies the smaller
island of Therasia. The encircling wall thus formed, which is
elliptical in shape and 18 m. round in its inner rim, is broken in
two places—towards the north-west by a strait a mile in breadth,
where the water is not less than 1100 ft. deep, and towards the
south-west by an aperture about 3 m. wide, where the water
is shallow, and an island called Aspronisi or White Island lies
in the middle. The cliffs rise perpendicularly from the bay,
in some places to the height of 1000 ft.; but towards the open
sea, both in Santorin and Therasia, the ground slopes gradually
away, and has been converted into broad level terraces, everywhere
covered with tufaceous agglomerate, which, though bare
and ashen, produces the famous Santorin wine. Towards the
south-east rises the limestone peak of Mount Elias, the highest
point of the island (1910 ft.); this existed before the volcano
was formed. In the middle of the basin lie three small islands,
which are the centre of volcanic activity, and are called Palaea,
Mikra and Nea Kaumene, or the Old, the Little and the New
Burnt Island; the highest of these, Nea Kaumene, is 351 ft.
above the sea. Owing to the depth of the water there is no
anchorage, and vessels have to be moored to the shore, except
at one point in the neighbourhood of the modern town, where
there is a slight rim of shallow bottom. The cliffs of Santorin
and Therasia are marked in horizontal bands by black lava,
white porous tufa, and other volcanic strata, some parts of which
are coloured dark red. The modern town of Thera (or Phera,
as it is more commonly pronounced) is built at the edge of these,
overlooking the middle of the bay at a height of 900 ft. above
the water, and the foundations of the houses and in some cases
their sides also, are excavated in the tufa, so that occasionally
they are hardly traceable except by their chimneys. Owing
to the absence of timber—for, except the fig, cactus and palm,
there are hardly any trees in the island—they are roofed with
barrel vaults of stone and cement. Both wood and water have
occasionally to be imported from the neighbouring islands,
for there are no wells, and the rain water, collected in cisterns,
does not always suffice, The largest of the other villages is
Apanomeria, near the northern entrance, which is, crowded
