[Somnus], the god of Sleep, a brother of Death, and a son of Night, represented, he and Death, as two youths sleeping or holding inverted torches in their hands; near the dwelling of Somnus flowed the river of Lethe, which crept along over pebbles, and invited to sleep; he was attended by Morpheus, who inspired pleasing dreams.
[Sonata], a musical composition chiefly designed for solo instruments, especially the pianoforte, and consisting generally of three or four contrasted movements—the allegro, adagio, rondo, minuetto or scherzo; reaches its noblest expression in the sonatas of Beethoven.
[Sonderbund], the name given to the union of the Catholic cantons (Lucerne, Zug, Freiburg, and Valais) of Switzerland, which led to the civil disturbances of 1845-1846, and the war of 1847.
[Sonnet], a form of poetical composition invented in the 13th century, consisting of 14 decasyllabic or hendecasyllabic iambic lines, rhymed according to two well-established schemes which bear the names of their two most famous exponents, Shakespeare and Petrarch. The Shakespearian sonnet consists of three four-lined stanzas of alternate rhymes clinched by a concluding couplet; the Petrarchan of two parts, an octave, the first eight lines rhymed abbaabba, and a sestet, the concluding six lines arranged variously on a three-rhyme scheme.
[Sons of the Prophets]. See [Nebiim].
[Sontag, Henrietta], a German singer, born at Coblenz; made her début at 15; had a brilliant career twice over (1806-1854).
[Soochoo] (500), a large city in China, 50 m. NW. of Shanghai; is intersected by canals, walled all round, and manufactures fine silk.
[Sopherim, The], the name by which the [Scribes] (q. v.) are designated in Jewish literature.
[Sophia, Electress of Hanover], youngest daughter of [Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia] (q. v.), and mother of George I. (1630-1714).
[Sophia, St.], the personification of the Divine wisdom, to whom, as to a saint, many churches have been dedicated, especially the Church of Constantinople.