SUXBUEY often exceeding the rest. They are found in the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans, and on the continents of Africa and Asia; they are the humming birds of the old SUNDAY SCHOOLS 477 world, having similar habits and the same bril- liant colors, but are larger. The genus necta- rinia (Hog.) contains more than 100 species, mostly African. The nest, of an elegant form, is usually suspended from the end of a twig, with an opening at the side ; the eggs are two to four. The aercbiwB or guitguits have a shorter, broader, and nearly straight bill, and long pointed wings; they are found in tropi- cal South America and the West Ind plumage is very beautiful. The nest is protect- ed by a long funnel or by two compartments against insects, birds, serpents, and lizards. HbBKKY, a borough and the capital of Northumberland co., Pennsylvania, on the E. bank of the Susquehanna river, 42 m. N. of Hanisburg, and 114 m. N. W. of Philadelphia ; pop. in 1870, 3.131. It has a daily and three weekly newspapers, and several manufactories and machine shops. It is connected by rail with Philadelphia and the Shamokin mining region, and about 200,000 tons of coal are shipped annually. SOTBrRT. a S. central county of Xew Bruns- wick, Canada, intersected by the St. John river : area. 1,203 sq. m. ; pop*, in 1871, 6,824, of whom 2.839 were of English. 2.S55 of Irish, and 55% of Scotch origin or descent. The surface is nearly level; the soil is fertile and heavily wooded. The European and Xorth American railway and Fredericton branch traverse the county. Capital, Oromocto. SITDA ISLAXDS. a former designation of those islands of the Indian archipelago which surround the Java sea. They were divided into the greater and the lesser Sunda islands, the former including Sumatra, Borneo, Ce- lebes, and Java, and the latter the chain of islands which extends from the E. extremity of Java to Papna, exclusive of the Moluccas, SODA STCAIT, an arm of the sea between the island? of Sumatra and Java, which leads from the Indian ocean to the Java sea. The length of the channel upon the Sumatra side, from Flat point, in lat. 5 59* S., to Hog point, is about 85 m. ; and upon the opposite coast, from Java head, lat, 7 o' S., to Bantam point, about 100 m. The breadth of the strait where it joins the Indian ocean is about 70 m., and at' the end next the Java sea about 20 m. SODAY (Sax. Sun nan dag}, the first day of the week, identical with the Roman dit* Soli* (day of the sun). The keeping of this as a sacred day, iu memory of Christ's resurrection and of the descent of the Holy Ghost, dates from the beginning of Christianity. It is probable that the first Jewish Christians kept this day holy, while conforming also to their legal sabbath. It was called the Lord's day in all the churches ; but it was also popularly designated as Sunday as soon as the gentile element began to prevail According to De' Rossi the first monumental inscription calling it the Lord's day is of the year 403. Its first official recognition is in an edict of Constan- tino in 321, ordering that all work should cease in the cities **on the venerable Sunday," but permitting necessary husbandry to be attended to. The Theodosian code prescribed that " on the Sunday, rightfully designated by our an- cestors as the Lord's day, all lawsuits and pub- lic business shall cease." (See LOBD'S DAT.) SODAY SHOOl& The earliest recorded Sunday schools were the schools of catechu- mens, organized, according to Tertullian, in A. D. 180, though less formal instruction of Christian children and novitiates prevailed earlier. The schools of the catechumens flour- ished till the 6th century. In 1527 Luther established Sunday schools in Wittenberg for the instruction of children who could not at- tend the day schools. In 15QQ Knox inaugu- rated them in Scotland. In 1580 Archbish- op Borromeo of Milan established a system of Sunday schools throughout his diocese, and about the same time there were similar schools in France and the Netherlands. In the 17th century the clergy statedly catechised the chil- dren in some parishes of England ; and Joseph Alleine, author of the Alarm," opened a Sun- day school in 1668. There was a Sunday school in Roxbury, Mass., in 1674, and one in Plymouth, Mass./in 1680. About 1740 Lud- wig Hacker established a school in Ephratah, Lancaster co., Pa,, which continued until the building was taken for a hospital during the revolution. Modern Sunday schools, however, were originated by Robert Raikes, who in 1781 gathered poor children from the streets in Gloucester, England, and employed female teachers at a shilling a day for their instruc- tion. The children were taught from 10 A. M. to 12 : then, after an hour's recess, read a les- son and went to church. After church they repeated the catechism till after 5, and were then charged to go home at once and quietly. Raikes published an account of his work in the " Gloucester Journal" in 1783, which was republished in the "Gentleman's Magazine," and schools upon his plan were soon estab-
