forms the south-west of Thuringia (q. v.), and is traversed in the east and north by the Thuringerwald, offshoots from which also cover the west, while the Rhön-gebirge enters the country at the south-west. Its surface is thus necessarily hilly, in some places even mountainous, Kieferle in the Thuringer-wald being 2700 feet, and Geha-berg in the Rhön-gebirge, 2308 feet above sea-level; but between the mountain ridges are numerous fruitful valleys, and that of the Werra in particular is one of the most fertile and picturesque in Germany. The Werra, Saale, Milz, Steinach, Itz, &c., water the country. Two-fifths of the country is arable land; a nearly equal extent is under wood; and the rest is meadow, garden and vineyard, and waste. In the lower lands, agriculture is in an advanced condition, and is prosecuted with such vigour, that corn enough is produced for home consumption; potatoes, hemp, flax, and tobacco are the other chief crops.

The mining industry of the east and north is important, employing in 1852 no less than 3820 men; and the important mineral products are iron, copper, cobalt, coal, porcelain-clay, sulphur, and salt from the works of Salzungen, Neusulza, and Friedrichshall. S. is also an active manufacturing district, chiefly in woollen, cotton, and linen fabrics, and paper; and brewing, distilling, the making of glass and porcelain, and various other branches of industry, are prosecuted. The fabrication of wooden toys in the district around Sonneburg employs 8000 men, and the produce is bought up by the Sonneburg dealers for export. A rape-sugar factory is maintained. S. is a limited monarchy in accordance with the fundamental law of 1829, and the election act of 25th June, 1853. The diet consists of 24 representatives - 2 from the nobles, 6 from the landowners, 8 from the towns, and 8 from the country. The government is carried on by four ministers, each of whom heads a separate department. The duke had a voice in the plenum, and shared the twelfth vote in the small council of the old Germanic Confederation. The army consisted of 2110 men, and 384 substitutes, and formed a regiment of two battalions in the federal army. The annual budget (1869-1871) is as follows: Revenue of domains, $353,800; and from taxes, &c., $387,240; total revenue, $741,041; expenditure, $715,840; public debt, Jan. 1, 1870, $1,720,719. The present duke is George II., son of Bernard Eric-Freund, who abdicated in 1866, after a reign of 63 years, and who spontaneously gave his subjects a liberal representative constitution in 1824. S. is distinguished as the best governed state in Germany. SAXE-WEI'MAR-EI'SENACH, a large Saxon duchy, and now a state of the new German empire, consisting of Weimar, which lies between Prussia, Altenburg, and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and contains (inclusive of Allstädt, on the Unstrut, within Prussia, 45 English sq. m., and Ilmenau, in the south-east of Gotha, 32 English sq. m.) 685 English sq. m., with a pop. (1867) of 147,681; Eisenach, the western portion, which lies to the north of Meiningen and Bavaria, and contains (inclusive of Ostheim, in the Rhön-gebirge, in Bavaria, 23 English sq. m.) 461 English sq. m., with a pop. (1867) of 84,267; and Neustadt, which lies on the western boundary of the kingdom of Saxony, and contains 239 English sq. m., with a pop. (1867) of 50,980; total area, 1421 English sq. m.; pop. (1867) 282,928, of whom 271,767 are Protestants, 9906 Roman Catholics, 49 Greek Catholics, 1182 Jews; the Jews and Catholics being chiefly in Eisenach. The Eisenach portion is traversed in the north by the Thuringer-wald, and in the south by the Rhön-gebirge, the intermediate districts being also hilly and undulating, and watered by the Werra and its feeders, the Fulda,

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The

Ulster, Suhl, and Orsel. The Neustadt division is traversed from south-east to north-west by several offshoots of the Erz-gebirge, but most of the surface belongs to the plain of the Saale, and is watered by the Elster and Orla, affluents of that river. The Weimar portion is also partly hilly and uneven, and partly belongs to the plain of the Saale, which, with its tributary, the Ilm, traverses it. The highest peak in the grand duchy is Hinkelhahn (2694 feet), in the detached territory of Ilmenau. The climate is somewhat inclement in the high lands, more temperate in the plains, and particu larly pleasant along the valley of the Saale. Of the whole surface, about ths is arable, ths is forest, and the rest is meadow-land, gardens, and vineyards. Agriculture is in an advanced condition, and is diligently prosecuted, there being frequently a surplus of grain over and above that required for home-consumption, in spite of the occasional infertility of the soil; and potatoes, pulse, hemp, flax, hops, and (on the banks of the Saale) vines are also cultivated. Horse and cattle breeding is a common pursuit in Neustadt and Eisenach, and sheep-breeding in Weimar, the sheep having the usual good reputation of the Saxon breed. mineral wealth comprises coal, iron, copper, cobalt, and marble. Eisenach is the chief seat of the manufacturing industry, with the exception of the woollen manufactures, which are principally carried on in Neustadt. The form of government is, according to the revised fundamental law of 15th October, 1849, a limited monarchy; the diet, or landtag, is composed of 31 deputies, 1 representing the landtag nobility, 4 chosen by landed proprietors, with incomes under 1000 thalers, 5 by those who possess the same income from other sources, and 21 by universal suffrage. The government is administered by three heads of departments. The grand duke had one vote in the plenum, and shared the twelfth vote in the little council of the old German diet with the rulers of SaxeMeiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and Saxe-Altenburg. The military contingent was 2345 men, which, with 670 of reserve, amounted to 3015 men, who formed 3 battalions of the federal army. The annual revenue is estimated (for 1869-1871) as follows: Receipts, $1,394,625; expenditure, $1,352,742; public debt, $3,372,000. The Grand Duke of Weimar is the chief of the Ernestine branch of the House of Saxony. The most celebrated of the Weimar family was Duke Karl-August, the Mæcenas of the art, literature, and science of Germany, who took the reins of government in 1775, and displayed extreme anxiety to favour the development of public prosperity and the progress of education. Under his fostering care, the university of Jena became a focus of intellect and knowledge to Germany; and the presence of Herder, Goethe, Schiller, and others at his court, well entitled it to be denominated the abode of the Muses. also elevated the theatre of Weimar to its present position as the chief German school of dramatic art. In 1806, he joined the Confederation of the Rhine with the title of duke, and received from the Congress of Vienna an accession of territory, and the title of grand duke. In 1816, he granted a liberal representative constitution to his subjects, expressly guaranteeing the liberty of the press, and died 14th June, 1828. His successors have followed in his footsteps.

He

SAʼXIFRAGE (Saxifraga), a genus of plants of the natural order Saxifragea, or Saxifragacece. This order has a calyx, usually of five sepals more or less cohering at the base; a corolla usually of five perigynous petals, alternate with the sepals, rarely wanting; perigynous stamens; a hypogynous or

perigynous disc; an ovary, usually of two carpels, cohering more or less by their face, but diverging at the apex; fruit generally a 1-2-celled capsule, the

P. E. Müller, and finished by J. M. Velschov (Copen. 1839). It is furnished with a complete critical apparatus. There are good translations from the original Latin into Danish.

SAXON ARCHITECTURE, the style of building used in England before the introduction of the Norman architecture at the Conquest. There are few specimens remaining which can be depended upon as genuine. The Saxons built chiefly in wood, and all their wooden edifices are now lost. It seems probable that a rude and simple style, not unlike Early Norman, was that used by the Saxons. There

Saxifrage (S. stellaris).

cells opening at the ventral suture, and often divaricating when ripe; the seeds usually minute and numerous. The order Saxifrageæ is sometimes regarded as including above 900 species, divided into several suborders, which are elevated by some botanists into distinct orders-leaving, however, more than 300 species to the reduced order SAXIFRAGEÆ, which contains herbaceous plants, often growing in patches, with entire or divided alternate exstipulate leaves, natives chiefly of mountainous tracts in the northern hemisphere, and often found up to the limits of perpetual snow, some of them forming there a rich and beautiful turf, and adorning it with their very pleasing flowers. A considerable number are natives of Britain. Some of the genus Saxifraga are well known in gardens, and are employed to cover rock-works, &c. S. umbrosa, London Pride, or None-so-pretty, is familiar in all cottage gardens. It is a native of the hills of Spain, and of the south and west of Ireland.

S.

SAXO-GRAMMATICUS (i. e., Saxo the 'Grammarian' or Scholar'), the most celebrated of the early Danish chroniclers, flourished in the 12th c., and was secretary to Archbishop Absalom. He is said to have died at Koeskilde in 1204. undoubtedly formed his style on that of the later Roman historians, particularly Valerius Maximus, yet in his whole mode of representation, he belongs to the school of medieval chroniclers, although ranking first in that school. Erasmus half wondered at his elegance. Moreover, it adds mightily to our respect for S., that although a cleric, he did not in the very least degree allow himself to be swayed in his historical conceptions by the prejudices incident to his profession. His work is entitled Historia Danica, and consists of 16 books. The earlier portions are of course not very critical, but in regard to times near his own, S. is a most invaluable authority. According to his own statement, he derived his knowledge of the remoter period of Danish history-the 'Heroic Age' of the North-from old songs, Runic inscriptions, and the historical notices and traditions of the Icelanders; but he is not sharply critical in his treatment of the Danish sagas, although a rudimentary critical tendency is occasionally visible. The best edition of the Historia Danica is that undertaken by

Tower of Earl's Barton, Northamptonshire.
(From Parker's Glossary of Architecture.)

are several buildings in England which Mr Rickman considers entitled to rank as Saxon. Amongst these, the Tower of Earl's Barton, Northamptonshire, is one of the best examples. The peculiar ‘long and short work of the quoins, the projecting fillets running up the face of the walls, and interlacing like wood-work, and the baluster-like shafts between the openings of the upper windows, are all characteristic of the style.

SA'XON LAND. See TRANSYLVANIA.

SAXON STATES, MINOR. The capitulation of Wittenberg, which followed the rout of Muhlberg (see SAXONY), and deprived John Frederick the Magnanimous of the electorate of Saxony, at the same time despoiled him of a large portion of the hereditary possessions of the Ernestine branch. The remainder, amounting-after the acquisition of Coburg, Altenburg, Eisenberg, &c., in 1554to little more than one-fifth of the whole Saxon territory, was divided into two portions, Saxe-Gotha and Saxe- Weimar, the former falling to John Frederick II., and the latter to John William, the two sons of the deposed elector. Each of these portions was afterwards subdivided, the former into SaxeCoburg and Saxe-Eisenach, and the latter (1573) into Saxe- Weimar and Saxe-Altenburg. It would only bewilder the reader to attempt to follow the endless subdivisions and reunions that followed. Suffice it

SAXON SWITZERLAND. See SAXONY. SAXONS (Lat. Saxones, Ger. Sachsen), a German people, whose name is usually derived from an old German word sahs, meaning a 'knife,' are first mentioned by Ptolemy, who makes them inhabit a district south of the Cimbrian Peninsula. Towards the end of the 3d c., a 'Saxon League' or 'Confederation' makes its appearance in North-western Germany, to which belonged, besides S. proper, the Cherusci, the Angrivarii, and the largest part of the Chauci. In the times of the emperors Julian and Valentinian, S. and Franks invaded the Roman territory; but their piratical descents on the coasts of Britain and Gaul are far more famous. At what period these commenced, it is impossible to tell, but it is believed to have been much earlier than is commonly supposed. Recent investigations seem to prove that S. had established themselves in England long before the time of the mythical Hengist and Horsa (see ANGLO-SAXONS); and we know that as early as 287 A. D., Carausius, a Belgic admiral in the Roman service, made himself 'Augustus' in Britain by their help. They had firmly rooted themselves, at the beginning of the 5th C., in the present Normandy, where a tract of land was named after them, the Limes Saxonicus. They fought against Attila (q. v.) in the Catalaunian Plain, 451 A. D. They also obtained a footing at the mouth of the Loire; but all the S. who settled in France 'disappeared' before the Franks, i. e., were probably incorporated with their more powerful kinsmen of Southern Germany. At home, the S. (called Alt Sachsen, or 'Old Saxons,' to distinguish them from the emigrant hordes who found their way to England and France) enlarged, by conquest, their territory north and north-west as far as the North Sea, the Yssel, and the Rhine; south, as far as the Sieg, and nearly to the Eder; eastward, to the Weser and Werra, the Southern Harz, the Elbe, and the Lower Saale. Along with the Franks, they destroyed the kingdom of the Thuringians in 531, and obtained possession of the land between the Harz and the Unstrut; but this district was in turn forced to acknowledge the Frankish sovereignty. From 719, wars between the S. and the Franks became constant; but the latter, after 772, were generally successful, in spite of the vigorous resistance offered by Wittekind; and in 804, the S. were finally subjugated by the arms of Charlemagne. Wittekind was the last Saxon king, and the first Saxon duke of the German empire. A collection of the old national laws and usages of the S., under the title of Lex Saxonum, was made during the reign of Charlemagne.

During 1830-1840, A. Schmeller published (from two manuscripts, one preserved at Munich, and the other in the British Museum) an 'Old Saxon' poem of the 9th c., called Hêliand, i. e., the 'Healer,' or Saviour,' which narrates in alliterative verse the "History of Christ' according to the Gospels, whence it is also called the Old Saxon Gospel Harmony.' It is probably a part of a more comprehensive work, embracing a poetical treatment of the history of the Old and New Testament, which Ludvig the

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The kingdom is somewhat of the form of a rightangled triangle, with the right angle in the northwest, and the longer side lying along the foot of the Erz-gebirge range, which sends its spurs northward over the southern half of the country, giving to that portion a somewhat mountainous character, while the northern half remains a flat or undulating plain. The whole country, with the exception of a small portion in the extreme east, which belongs to the Oder basin, and is watered by the Neisse, is drained by the Elbe (which is wholly navigable in S.) and its tributaries the Muglitz, Wilde-Weisseritz, Trubsch, Mulde, and White Elster, on the west; and the Wessnitz, Black Elster, and Spree on the east. From the point where the Elbe bursts through the Erz-gebirge chain to within about 8 miles of Dresden, it traverses a district rich in picturesque scenery, to which the somewhat inappropriate name of Saxon Switzerland has been given. This district, which averages about 24 miles long by 23 broad, is an elevated plateau of coarse crumbling sandstone (much resembling the English green-sand); and though destitute of the perpetually snow-clad mountains, glaciers, serrated ridges, and escarped peaks which give a character of lofty grandeur to its namesake, it can boast of features equally peculiar and strikingly romantic. From the soft nature of the rock, it has yielded freely to the action of the mountain rills, which rise from the hills on its east and west borders, and converge to the Elbe, and is cut up in all directions by deep narrow gorges (so symmetrical in their formation as to resemble artificial lanes), the constantly deepening beds of these mountain torrents, which here form cascades, there sullenly glide through deep vales bordered by rocks of the most fantastic forms, or by steep rugged slopes thickly clad with trees. High above the level of the plateau rise towering rocks, some of them pyramidal or conical, others pillar-like, while a few taper almost to a point, and then bulge out at the top all clearly testifying to the agency by which they have been produced. The medieval knights took advantage of these curious results of nature's so-called freaks, to erect castles upon the summits of some of them; several of these castles still exist, and one of them, Königstein, is almost the only virgin fortress in Europe. The most remarkable of these peaks are Königstein (864 feet), Lilienstein (1254 feet), the Bastei (600 feet), Nonnenstein, Jungfernsprung, and seven others, each of which possesses its group of traditionary gnomes and

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