accepted favourite with the public both as an oratorio and operatic
singer; has published a volume of reminiscences; _b_. 1834.

SANTORIN or THERA (17), a volcanic island in the AEgean, one of
the Cyclades; is the southmost of the group, and lies 70 m. N. of Crete;
the vine grows luxuriantly, and there is a good wine trade; has many
interesting prehistoric remains; chief town, Thera or Phera, on the W.
coast.

SAO FRANCISCO, one of the great rivers of Brazil, for the most part
navigable; rises in the SW., near the source of the Parana, and flows N.,
NE., and SE. till it reaches the S. Atlantic after a course of 1800 m.,
forming in its lower part the boundary between the maritime provinces
Sergipe and Alagoas; higher it divides Bahia and Pernambuco.

SAO PAULO (35), a manufacturing town of Brazil (minerals, coffee);
capital of a productive and healthy State (1,387) of the same name,
situated on a plain 310 m. W. by S. from Rio de Janeiro; has pretty
suburbs, electric light, &c.; is the chief centre of the Brazilian coffee
trade, and has manufactories of cotton, tobacco, spirits, &c.; is the
seat of a law-school.

SAONE, a tributary of the Rhone; rises among the Faucelles
Mountains, in Vosges, and flows SW. and S. to the Rhone at Lyons; length
282 m., of which one-half is navigable.

SAONE, HAUTE- (281), a department in the E. of France, near the
Alsace border, between Vosges (N.) and Doubs (S.); forests abound; about
one-half is under cultivation, and there are fine cherry orchards;
watered by the Saone and its affluents.

SAONE-ET-LOIRE (620), an east-midland department of France, bounded
SE. and W. by the Saone and Loire; has a fine fertile surface, and is
noted for its cattle and abundant output of wine; iron and coal are
wrought, and its towns are busy with the manufacture of cotton goods,
pottery, machinery, &c.

SAPPHIRE, a precious stone of the corundum class, and differing from
the RUBY (q. v.) only in colour, which is a blue of various
shades; the finest specimens are found in Ceylon; its value depends
chiefly on quality, and not so much (like the ruby) on size.

SAPPHO, a lyric poetess of Greece of the 7th century B.C., and a
contemporary of Alcaeus; was a woman of strong passions and of
questionable morality, but of undoubted genius, her lyrics being among
the masterpieces of antiquity, though only two of her odes and some short
fragments of others remain; of her history little is kno