piece; the "soldo" in Italy, and the Solidus L.S.D. owe their origin to
this coin.

SOLINGEN (37), a manufacturing town of Prussia, situated near the
Wupper, 13 m. E. of Duesseldorf; has long been famed for its steel and
iron works and cutlery manufactures.

SOLOMON, king of Israel from 1015 to 977 B.C., second son of David
and Bathsheba, and David's successor; in high repute far and wide for his
love of wisdom and the glory of his reign; he had a truly Oriental
passion for magnificence, and the buildings he erected in Jerusalem,
including the Temple and a palace on Mount Zion, he raised regardless of
an expense which the nation resented after he was gone; the burden of
which it would seem had fallen upon them, for when his successor,
following in his courses, ascended the throne, ten of the tribes
revolted, to the final rupture of the community, and the fall of first
the one section and then the other under alien sway.

SOLOMON OF ENGLAND, an appellation conferred on Henry VII., and also
satirically on James I., characterised by Sully as "the wisest fool in
Christendom."

SOLOMON OF FRANCE, a title bestowed on Louis IX.

SOLOMON ISLANDS (167), a large group of islands in the West Pacific,
500 m. E. of New Guinea, the N. islands of which belong to Germany, and
the S. to Britain; are volcanic in origin, mountainous, wooded, and
thickly populated by Melanesian savages, who are totem worshippers, and
still practise cannibalism.

SOLOMON'S RING, a ring worn by Solomon, in which was a stone from
which, according to the Rabbins, he learned whatever he wished to know.

SOLON, the great Athenian law-giver, and one of the seven sages of
GREECE (q. v.), born in Athens, was of royal degree, and kinsman
of Pisistratus; began life as a trader, and in that capacity acquired a
large experience of the world, and he soon turned his attention to
political affairs, and showed such wisdom in the direction of them that
he was elected archon in 594 B.C., and in that office was invested with
full power to ordain whatever he might deem of advantage for the benefit
of the State; he accordingly set about the framing of a constitution in
which property, not birth, was made the basis of the organisation, and
the title to honour and office in the community; he divided the citizens
into four classes, gave additional power to the assemblies of the people,
and made the archons and official dignitaries responsible to them in the