SUNNITES.

ethnic character, the Shiites being found in the lands which were opposed to the Ommiads (q.v.), as Arabia, where independence was characteristic, and in Persia, which only by force of arms had submitted to Islam. But the decision between the two parties was by no means immediately reached. The fall of the Ommiads was brought about by Persian Shiite influences (750), although the new Abbasside dynasty which was installed soon threw in its lot with the Sunnites. In general the geographic centre of the Arab power, Mesopotamia and Syria, remained in the control of this party. But the Shiites maintained the contest. The latter as liberalists and theosophists possessed a strong following, especially among the cultured, and they often enjoyed immunity under free-thinking caliphs. The Empire was honeycombed with Shiite secret societies like the Assassins (q.v.), and Shiite dynasties arose in Egypt and at Bagdad. (See SHIITES.) But by 1100 Sunnism was master in Southwestern Asia. This party was able to maintain itself during the Mongol invasions, and with the favor of the Ottoman Turks it remains as the predominant body in Islam. At the present time orthodoxy outnumbers all its opponents by ten to one, and commands not only the whole Turkish Empire, but the millions of Moslems in Africa, India, China, Malaysia and the Philippines, non-Turkish Arabia, and Northern Africa (Morocco being practically Sunnite).

Within this conservative and orthodox body, apart from outer foes, there early developed all kinds of theological strife. Rationalistic and liberal parties developed, which opposed, one after another, the original principles of Islam, such as its views of God, and of heaven and hell, its doctrines of predestination and of the literal authority of the Koran. On the other hand, the crass views of the fanatical mob opposed anything like philosophy, even though orthodox. Traditionalism was not fitted to meet the dialectic methods of its opponents, who had learned from the ancient schools of culture, and was ignorant of the use of philosophy in self-defense. But the champion of orthodoxy arose in AlAshari (born 882). A member originally of the Mutazilite sect, which had gone to the extreme of rationalizing upon the faith and the Koran (see MOHAMMEDAN SECTS), he was led to the consciousness of this inconsistency, and openly abjured that heresy, henceforth devoting himself to the formulation of a scholastic philosophy in support of orthodoxy. This school encountered for long the opposition of the liberals and the ignorant, but about 1050 Ashari's triumph be came evident. His philosophy was continued and popularized by Al-Gazali (q.v.), who estab lished the pietistic principle of Sufiism, which may be compared to the Christian emotional principle of faith. Since Ashari and Gazali no commanding theologian has arisen and no further philosophic advance has been made in Islam.

With reference to the head of Islam, Sunnism still as ever lacks a definite principle. Since 1658 the Ottoman Sultan has claimed the caliphate, although he possesses but fictions of the traditional requirements, and he holds his power by force and through the agreement of the Faithful. Hence Sunnism is not bound to the dynasty at Constantinople, and many of its thoughtful minds would regard the fall of the Ottoman

power in the light of redemption for the Church. Contrary, therefore, to the original theocratic constitution of Mohammed there has arisen a division between the spiritual and the political forces. Political power is wielded by the Sultan, but the spiritual rule is in the hands of the Ulema (q.v.) of Constantinople, a close corporation of lawyer-theologians. Its chief, the Sheikul-Islam, is appointed by the Sultan, but only out of that body, and he possesses large independent powers which the Sultan dare not invade. He is the chief spiritual person in orthodox Islam. Within the Sunnite body exist four different schools of law, those respectively of the Hanbalites, the Hanifites, the Shafiites, and the Malikites (so named after their respective founders). The first code is confined to the Wahabites (see WAHABIS); the second to Upper Egypt and North Africa; the third prevails in Lower Egypt, Southern India, and Malaysia; the fourth is followed by the Turks and by the Moslems of Central and Northern Asia. These schools arose in the second and third centuries of the Hejira and represent so many different compositions between tradition and progressive law. They are at peace with one another now, and divide orthodox Islam among themselves, each people being allowed to live by its law, and each lawyer electing his choice. But in the Ottoman Empire there exists the contrast between this canon law and the secular law. The latter proceeds from the authority of the Sultan or is the ancient secular law of the land; the other, the law of the Church, is confined mostly to domestic matters, and it is one of the grievances of the orthodox that the legal authority of the Church is thus put into abeyance by the secular arm. again the analogy may be drawn with the dispute which has prevailed in European Christendom between the canon and the civil law. Therefore, both in its past history and in its present condition, Sunnism is by no means to be regarded as a homogeneous body or practice. For literature, see MOHAMMEDANISM; MOHAMMEDAN SECTS.

Here

SUNNYSIDE. A gabled stone house on the Hudson River near Irvington, three miles south of Tarrytown, noted as the home of Washington Irving, and described in Irving's sketch entitled Wolfert's Roost, the former name of the mansion. The house, in which the author's study has been preserved in its original condition, is overgrown with ivy from Abbotsford,

SUNSTONE, or HELIOLITE. A variety of aventurine, oligoclase, or feldspar, which when polished yields internal yellowish or reddish reflections emanating from crystals or flakes of iron oxide that are contained in the mass. The finest specimens, which show a brilliant play of colors, are found in Norway, although gem

varieties occur in the United States at Crown Point, N. Y., and Media, Pa.

SUNSTROKE. See HEAT-STROKE. SUN-WORSHIP. See NATURE-WORSHIP. SUO'VETAURILTA (Lat., sacrifice of a boar, a sheep, and a bull, from sus, boar + ovis, sheep + taurus, bull). A Roman sacrifice, which was offered to Mars, in the lustrum, or purification of the people, on the Campus Martius at the Census, the Ambarvalia in May, the Amburbium in February, and other similar lustrations. It

derived its name from the three animals of which it consisted, a boar, a ram, and a bullock. In all cases the animals were led three times around the gathering or territory to be purified, and then sacrificed.

SUPAN, soo'pän, ALEXANDER (1847-). An Austrian geographer, born at Innichen, Tyrol. Having studied at the universities of Gratz, Vienna, Halle, and Leipzig, and taught at Laibach, he qualified as privat-docent at Czernowitz, Bukowina, and was made professor in 1880, but removed to Gotha in 1884 to assume the redaction of Petermanns Mitteilungen. The publication of its geographical literary reports, since 1885, is due to his initiative. He wrote: Lehrbuch der Geographie für oesterreichische Mittelschulen (1874; 10th ed. 1901); Grundzüge der physischen Erdkunde (3d ed., 1903); Geographie von Oesterreich-Ungarn (1889); Deutsche Schulgeographie (6th ed. 1903); and numerous contributions to the Mitteilungen.

SUPEREROGATION, WORKS OF (Lat. supererogatio, payment in addition, from supererogare, to pay in addition, from super, above + erogare, to expend, especially after asking consent, from e, out + rogare, to ask). A class of good works which, in the Roman Catholic system, are described as not absolutely required of each individual as conditions to his eternal salvation. Roman Catholics found this definition on the distinction between what they believe to be commanded and what they hold to be only counseled. (See EVANGELICAL COUNSELS.) For works of supererogation, as for all supernaturally good works, they hold that the assistance of God's grace is indispensably necessary; and they do not ascribe to them any merit, except that which arises from God's own free and gratuitous promise. A further consequence of this doctrine is that God may accept the superabundant works of one in atonement for the defective service of another; and hence, in the Catholic theory of indulgences (q.v.), along with what they regard as the infinite and inexhaustible treasure of the merits of Christ, they also regard, although in a degree infinitely inferior, the superabundant merits of the saints as forming part of that 'treasure of the Church' which is applied in the form of indulgences.

The idea of such works is rejected by Protestants generally, and the Anglican Articles declare that they "cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety."

SUPERFICIES (Lat., surface). At civil law, the hereditary and alienable right to maintain and use a building on land belonging to another. Unless a term be fixed in the contract, the right is perpetual. The owner of the land is technically owner of the building (superficies solo cedit); but practically the owner has no right except to an annual ground-rent (solarium). Even when the ground-rent has not been paid for several years, the right of the superficiary is not forfeited unless this be expressed in the contract. In the absence of such express agreement, the owner of the land can only attach and sell the superficiary right.

Historically, superficies was first established at Rome in public or municipal land. It was originally lease (locatio conductio), but it soon became a different thing, because the superficiary was recognized as having possessory right (see

POSSESSION) and actions in rem.-advantages which the Roman lessee did not enjoy. In the later development of the Roman law superficiary right could be established on private land and also in a special story or floor of a building. Superficies is analogous to emphyteusis (q.v.), but the rights of the superficiary are greater than those of the emphyteutist.

Medieval jurists regarded superficies and emphyteusis as cases of divided ownership, analogous to the feudal tenures. The landlord had dominium directum, the tenant dominium utile. Some of the modern legislations recognize divided ownership in a different sense: the landlord is said to own the land, the superficiary the house or floor. See DOMINIUM; EMPHYTEUSIS; PROPERTY.

SUPERFŒTA'TION (from Lat. superfætare, to conceive anew when already pregnant, from super, above, over + fœtare, to breed, from fœtus, offspring; connected with Gk. púer, phyein, to generate, Skt. thū, to become, and ultimately with Eng. be), and SUPERFECUNDATION. The circumstance of two distinct conceptions occurring in the same woman at an interval of weeks or months, so that two fœtuses of different ages, and possibly the offspring of different fathers, may coexist in the uterus. True superfœtation takes place when a second ovule has been impregnated while the uterus already contains an ovum which has arrived at a considerable degree of development. By superfecundation is meant the impregnation, at or near the same period of time, of two separate ovules before the decidua lining of the uterus has been formed, which is believed by many to interpose an insuperable obstacle to subsequent impregnation. The possibility of this occurrence has been proved on numerous occasions by the birth of twins bearing the stamp of fathers of different races, i.e. white and black. The question of superfœtation has given rise to much discussion owing to its medico-legal importance. Against the possibility of this occurrence it is urged that ovulation is suspended when impregnation has taken place; that the decidua (afterbirth) so completely fills the uterine cavity that the passage of spermatozoa is impossible, and that their ascent is prevented by the plug of mucus filling the cervix. It is now be lieved that none of these obstacles is insuperable.

The medico-legal aspect of the question may be summed up as follows: A woman may be unjustly suspected of conjugal infidelity when, delivery of a mature or premature child having taken place, she is (without having meanwhile seen her husband, or submitted to coitus), in livered of another child, either mature or prethe course of one, two, or three months, demature. Cases of this kind may be explained, pulsion of the fetuses at an interval of several as indicated above, by twin pregnancy with ex

uterus, the two cavities expelling their contents weeks or months; by the existence of bilobed at different times; or by true superfotation. When the children are of different race or color the fidelity of the female may be justly questioned. See Bonner, in Edinburgh Medical JourJurisprudence (New York, 1894); Playfair, nal (1864-65); Witthaus and Becker, Medical Midwifery (Philadelphia, 1893).

SUPERIOR. A port of entry and the countyseat of Douglas County, Wis., adjacent to Duluth,

Minn.; at the mouth of the Saint Louis and Nemadji rivers, on three bays, inlets of Lake Superior, and on the Northern Pacific, the Eastern Minnesota, the Saint Paul and Duluth, the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic, the Great Northern, and the Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha railroads (Map: Wisconsin, A 2). It is connected with Duluth by two railroad bridges and by ferry. The city is finely situated. It is the seat of a State Normal School, and among other features are a public library, with more than 13,000 volumes, and Saint Mary's Hospital. An excellent harbor, which has been enlarged and improved through national, State, and city appropriations, and good transportation facilities have contributed to Superior's commercial importance. In the year ending June 30, 1901, the total foreign trade was valued at $7,353,553, including exports to the amount of $6,946,547. Wheat, corn, flour, lard and other meat products, iron and steel, cement, and lumber compose the principal shipments. The various industries in the census year 1900 had an invested capital of $5,882,562, and a production valued at $7,527,703. There are lumber mills, foundries and machine shops, breweries, flour mills, boiler shops, iron works, manufactories of chairs and windmills, and shipbuilding interests.

The government is vested in a mayor, elected biennially, and a unicameral council; and in administrative officials, the majority of whom are appointed by the mayor, subject to the confirmation of the council. For maintenance and operation, the city spends annually about $409,000, the chief items being: schools, $120,000; fire department, $25,000; interest on debt, $23,000; and streets, $19,000. Population, in 1890, 11,983; in 1900, 31,091.

On the site of Superior Radisson and Grosseilliers are supposed to have made their headquarters in 1661. Here in 1680 the famous explorer Du L'Hut established a trading post. Superior was first laid out in 1855, and in 1885 the city was considerably enlarged, a company headed by Gen. J. H. Hammond having laid out an addition west of the original town. In 1881 the Northern Pacific Railroad Company built a branch hither.

SUPERIOR, LAKE. The largest and most northerly of the Great Lakes of North America, and the largest body of fresh water in the world (Map: America, North, K 5). It is situated a little to the northeast of the centre of the conti

nent, and is bounded on the north and east by the Canadian Province of Ontario, and on the south by the State of Michigan and a part of Minnesota, the latter State forming also the western boundary. Its shape is nearly a crescent, the horns extending southwest and southeast, while the large Keweenaw Peninsula reaches nearly to the centre of the lake from the middle of the southern coast. Lake Superior has a coast line of 1500 miles; its extreme length from east to west is 412 miles; its extreme breadth is 167 miles. Area, 31,200 square miles. Its mean elevation above sea level is 602 feet, and it lies 20 feet above the level of Lake Huron, into which it discharges through the Saint Mary's River (q.v.). It receives a large number of streams, but they are all short, the basin of the lake being closely hemmed in by the watersheds of the Mississippi and of Hudson Bay.

SUPERPHOSPHATE.

The principal stream entering it is the Saint Louis River, which falls into the extreme western end of the lake, and is considered as the farthest headstream of the Saint Lawrence.

The shores of Lake Superior, except in the southeast, where there are long lines of sand dunes, are generally bold and rocky. On the Michigan shore are the celebrated sandstone cliffs known as Pictured Rocks, which are streaked by the red and yellow deposits of ferruginous waters. In many places, especially along the Canadian shore, there are precipitous cliffs of basalt rising directly from the water to a sheer height of from 300 to over 1000 feet, such as Thunder Cape on the northwest shore. The north shore is also cut up into deep bays surrounded by high cliffs, and forming good harbors, and it is lined with a number of high, rocky islands with precipitous sides and capped by eruptive material. In the greater part of the lake, however, the islands are few, the largest being Isle Royal, 45 miles long and 8 miles wide, belonging to Michigan. In general the country surrounding the lake is covered with pine forests. Lake Superior is deeper than any of the other Great Lakes, its maximum depth being 1008 feet, so that the bottom lies 400 feet below sea level. The water is very clear, and so fresh as to be almost chemically pure. It is cold throughout the year to within a few feet of the surface, and in the deeper portions maintains a nearly uniform temperature of 39°. The lake never freezes except in the shallow water along the shores. The level of the lake is subject to several sets of periodic changes, partly owing to changes in rainfall and evaporation and partly to the winds; a long continued storm will sometimes raise the leeward level seven feet above the normal. Violent storms occasionally sweep over the lake, when the waves may attain an amplitude of 15 or 18 feet.

The basin of Lake Superior is remarkable as being unrelated to those of the other Great Lakes. While the latter are river valleys scooped out of the softer strata of the ancient coastal plain lying northwest of the Appalachian Plateau and skirting the Archæan continent, Lake Superior lies almost wholly within the Archæan region. The most recent investigators are of the opinion that this basin is a primitive depression in the earth's crust antedating the Huronian period. The numerous intrusions of eruptive rocks which encircle the lake are arranged roughly in concentric circles, the most recent being found nearest the lake, and it has been suggested that the depression is an ancient and deep-seated centre of volcanic activity. The formation of the lakes themselves, however, is due to the obstruction of the valleys during the Glacial Period. The country surrounding the lake is rich in minerals, and large veins of copper and iron ore traverse its bottom from the southern shore. Consult Agassiz, Lake Superior: Its Physical Character, Vegetation, and Animals (Boston, 1850). For commerce and navigation on the lake, see GREAT LAKES.

SUPERPHOSPHATE. An orthophosphate in which only a portion of the hydrogen of the orthophosphoric acid has been replaced by a basie radical. The most important superphosphate, agriculturally, that of lime, monocalcium phosphate (CaO.2HO. P2O,), is prepared by treating tricalcium phosphate ([CaO] ̧.P2O、) in the form

of mineral phosphate, bone ash, bone black, etc., with sulphuric acid. It is also called acid phos. phate. See MANURES AND MANURING.

SUPERPOSITION. See CONGRUENCE.

SUPERSEDEAS (Lat., that you set aside). A common-law writ containing an order for a stay or suspension of legal proceedings. Under the common-law practice it is issued in a great variety of cases for the above purpose, and is sometimes used as a substitute for the commonlaw writ of audita querela (q.v.). Probably it is issued most frequently to stay execution, pending an appeal from a judgment. The person applying for the writ is required to give a bond, to secure the other party against loss by reason of the delay. Several writs are said to operate as a supersedeas by implication, as in effect they operate as a stay, viz.: habeas corpus, certiorari, and writ of error. The practice of granting a stay by an order of the court has superseded the above practice in many jurisdictions.

SUPERSTITION (Lat. superstitio, excessive religious belief, superstition, possibly originally a standing over a thing in amazement or awe, from superstare, to stand above or over, from super, above, over + stare, to stand). A term loosely used to include all false faith or belief, its distinguishing characteristic being its irrational estimate of something imperfectly understood. Since the answer to the question of truth or falsity varies with place and time, it follows that the accepted belief of one time or people may be superstition to another. Most of the popular superstitions of the present are survivals of earlier science or religion. At a time when there existed no system of recorded observations of natural phenomena conclusions were of necessity drawn from external characteristics, and objects and events were supposed to exercise influences corresponding to the impression produced upon the senses or imagination. This manner of interpretation, or sympathetic magic (see MAGIC), is responsible for a great mass of superstitions. It is a characteristic of popular credulity that such notions, once prevalent, do not yield to contrary experience. If observation shows the principle to be inaccurate, reasons are always at hand to explain the error, or at the most it is only necessary to introduce additional complexity into the rule. Hence the power of the ancestral habits, which we find arbitrary and call superstitious. With all savage peoples, such beliefs have an immense effect on action; the daily method of nutrition, attire, the chase, agriculture, and warfare are determined by an infinity of regulations which are religiously handed down from generation to generation. In some cases it is possible to discover the principle of expediency which gave birth to the requirement; thus, the discovery of the ill effect of in and in breeding causes to be established a religious necessity, limiting the relations of the sexes according to certain complicated and ingenious rules, of which the prohibited degrees are the modern ecclesiastical survival. But in multitudes of other cases no good reason can be offered for demands and abstentions which originally depend on inferences which it is impossible to reconstruct.

A considerable number of superstitions are connected with the heavenly bodies. From remote times the observation of the stars

and their movements has been considered important, but it has been with the night, especially, that ancient religious ceremonies are associated. The most distinctive differtions in the growth of the lunar crescent; ences between the nights were formed by alteraaccording to universal processes of thought, it was supposed that the time when the planet increases and becomes dominant the principle of growth must prevail, and on the other hand, that her wane must be a season of general decay. operations designed to promote increase ought to Hence it has been everywhere inferred that all

be performed at the time of the new moon, and that then potatoes should be planted, hair cut, and so on. But if it is desired to cause shrinkat the full according to the maxims of tradiing, the work should be done when the moon is tional agriculture, and at this time should be cut alders, spruce, and other undergrowth, because the roots will in this case wither without sprouting.

Not less important in popular usage is the part played by the course of the sun. As he moves in a particular direction, so it has been thought that in order to produce beneficial results, mankind should proceed in a corresponding manner; in worship it was thought necessary to adopt a processional movement in the sunwise direction. Even in the ordinary movements of daily life this order was followed, and traces of it survive to the present day. Thus in order to make good bread or butter, it is essential that the motion should be in the same uniform direction, for reversal of the direction in which the kneading or churning is performed will undo the work accomplished, and insure a failure. From household maxims still preserved, it appears that the hand must be moved in a sunwise circuit. As the route taken by the sun is holy, so the opposite path will be evil, and has been adopted in practices of witchcraft and magic, and in Roman worship the gods below were adored with this reverse circuit.

Among periods of human life, the terror which attaches to death has made it the centre of a vast body of superstitious habits. A great number of actions and experiences are still popularly regarded as signs of approaching departure. The principle on which the phenomena are interpreted is that of association of ideas. Thus ringing in the ears is a sign of dissolution, because the Church has usually rung a 'death-bell' over the departed; carrying a spade through the house has like significance, because a spade is used to dig graves; a blue flame in the candle is ominous, for the lowering of the light forecasts the decline of the life; a flower blooming out of season foreshows a decease; and so on indefinitely. In like manner, the unusual also is a fruitful source of superstition; if every child were born with a caul (that is, a membrane encompassing the head) it is doubtful if this would have been taken as an especial sign of good luck.

A considerable number of superstitions relate to times of the year, and revert to the practices of old religion. Thus Hallowe'en, or the evening before All Saints' Day, is attended with observances which seem to have been dependent on its original character as a feast of the dead, when departed spirits were invited to partake in the fruits of the harvest, and were conceived as present at the sacrifice and merry-making. On this

SUPERSTITION.

night it is usual to perform divinations, now reduced to mere jests, in which an unmarried person is expected to discover his or her companion for life. These practices must be regarded as the remainder of serious necromancy, in which the returning spirits were asked to reveal the future.

While the majority of superstitions are remains of antiquity, their invention has not altogether ceased in historical times. Of this we have examples in the prejudice against the number thirteen, and in objection to Friday as unlucky, since in Christian thought the day of the Crucifixion and the number involving the addition of Judas were of necessity regarded as ill-omened. The superstition of the evil eye, that is, the belief that certain individuals have the power to injure by a look, is still widespread in Eastern countries, where the belief yet lingers that the demoniac (q.v.) is divinely inspired. Nature worship (q.v.) lingers in such superstitions as those connected with the moon, the belief in its mysterious power to work good or ill, its influence on the weather, and the like. The belief in ghosts (q.v.) reflects the earlier ancestor worship. The common notion about the good luck brought by a horseshoe has been traced back to phallicism (q.v.).

The following list, prepared by Bolton (The Counting-out Rhymes of Children, London, 1888), gives the technical names for different forms of divination and the method followed in each:

Lecanomancy. Libanomancy Lithomancy.. Logarithmancy Lychnomancy Margaritomancy Macharomancy Meteoromancy. Metoposcopy Molybdomancy Myomancy Necromancy Oinomancy. Omphalomancy. Oneiromancy. Onomancy.

Onyomancy, or Onychomancy. Oöscopy.. Ophiomancy Ornithomaney. Palmistry. Palpitatio... Pegomancy. Pessomancy. Physiognomy Podomancy. Psephomancy Psychomancy. Pyromancy. Pyroscopy Rhabdomancy Rhapsodomancy. Salisatio Seiomancy Sideromancy. Sortilege Spatilomancy. Stereomancy. Sternomancy. Stichomancy. Tephramancy. Theomancy Theriomancy. Tyromancy

See also FOLKLORE; MAN, SCIENCE OF; MAGIC; MYTHOLOGY; RELIGION, COMPARATIVE.

SUPERTONIC. In music, the note which, in the diatonic scale, is next above the tonic or keynote, and forms with it the interval of the second, as, for example, D in the key of C major. SUPERVISOR (ML. supervisor, overseer, from Lat. supervidere, to overlook, oversee, from super, above, over + videre, to see). A popularly elected officer of a township or other local district in the United States. The name first appeared in New York in 1691. This officer is still the chief administrator of the town organization in New York, while all the supervisors of the county assembled in a board meeting constitute the chief county authority. The New York supervisor system exists in several Western States. In Michigan and Illinois, as in New York, there is a single supervisor for each township, while in Wisconsin and Minnesota there are three for each township. In some States the supervisor is not a member of the county board and his duties vary, as, for example, in Michigan, where he is also tax assessor, and in Illinois, treasurer. See UNITED STATES, section on Local Government.

SUPPÉ, soo-pâ', FRANZ VON (1820-95). An Austrian composer of light opera, born at Spalato, Dalmatia. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory under Sechter and Seyfried. He was kapellmeister successively at the Josephstädter Theater, the Theater an der Wien, and from 1865 until the end of his career at the Leopoldstädter Theater. He was a lific composer, the most important of his works being the operettas Flotte Bursche (1863), Die schöne Galathea (1865), Leichte Kavallerie (1866), Banditenstreiche (1867),

pro