Page 1778 : SODIUM — SOLEMN LEAGUE AND COVENANT
Individual articles:
- Sodium
- Sodom and Gomorrah
- Sofia
- Soils
- Sokoto
- Solar Microscope
- Solar System
- Solemn League and Covenant, The
salts, the phosphate, the nitrate and sodium-chloride or common salt (q. v.).
Sodium (sō′ dĭ-ŭm) is a metal very much like potassium, of a bluish-white color, and burning with a yellow flame. The compounds of sodium are the only form in which it is found in nature, as borax, soda-felspar and, especially, chloride of sodium, which is common salt.
Sod′om and Gomor′rah, two cities mentioned in the Bible and thought to be on the southern shore of the Dead Sea. The Scripture account represents them as being destroyed by a shower of fire for the great wickedness of these cities, and the popular belief has assumed that the waters of the Dead Sea cover their sites.
Sofia (sô′ fḗ-yȧ), the capital of Bulgaria since 1878, stands in a valley of the Balkans. It has been improved since 1891, the old Turkish city with its tumbledown houses and crooked streets being replaced by new French houses, wide boulevards, fine public buildings and electric lights. Railroads connect it with Vienna, Constantinople and Belgrade. It is the seat of the National University, which supports three faculties of 49 professors and lecturers and has about 800 students. The city also has a free library. Its trade is mainly in corn, hides and wheat. Its hot mineral springs have been celebrated for centuries. Sofia was known as Serdica by the Romans, and was the seat of a famous council in 343. It belonged to the Bulgarians from the 9th century until 1382, when it was captured by the Turks. In 1878 it was occupied by Russia. Population 102,769.
Soils, the different forms of earth on the surface of the rocks, formed by the breaking down or weathering of rocks. The soils will vary with the minerals in the rocks, the principal ones being quartz, felspar, clays, mica and limestone. When the soil is made from the rocks in their original position, they are called sedimentary; but if formed from rocks above them and carried to them, they are known as transported soils. When the soil is carried by glaciers, it forms drift soils; when carried by running water, it is known as alluvial soil. They are also known as clays, loams etc. Plants also make soil by their decay. So do animals, especially earthworms (q. v.). A mixed soil or loam is usually better than a clay or a sandy soil. The plants grown in the soil take from it from 200 to 600 pounds per acre yearly of the minerals found in it, and the passage of water through it also carries away other quantities, so that, where crops are removed, the soil would gradually lose its power of supporting plant life, were it not enriched. This is done naturally by the gradual decomposition of the minerals composing the soil, and also by the artificial process of applying manures and other fertilizers. Another mode of overcoming the difficulty to some extent is by changing the crops grown, as different kinds of crops take up the ingredients of the soil in different proportions. Agricultural scientists are constantly studying soils. See Agriculture, Fertilizers, Manure and Nitrogen-Gathering Crops. Consult the Department of Agriculture Experiment-Station’s Bulletin 106; the Soil-Bureau's Publications; the Weather Bureau’s Bulletins 3, 4 and 5; Fream: Soils; King: The Soil; Roberts: Fertility of Land; and Shaler: Origin of Soils (in U. S. Geological Survey’s 12th Annual Report, 1890–1, Vol. One, pp. 213–45).
Sokoto (sō′ kṓ-tṓ) is a Sudanese province of Northern Nigeria in Central Africa. It lies between Bornu on the east, Gandu on the west, Benue River on the south and the Sahara on the north, and has an area of 200,000 square miles and a population of possibly 12,000,000. The Fulahs are the ruling race, the Hausas and other Negro tribes the subject population. The sultan in 1885 put his kingdom under British protection, granted the Niger Company a monopoly of trade, and afterward received a resident. The country is fertile and well-watered, and has extensive deposits of excellent iron. The people are intelligent, industrious and peaceful, good farmers, great traders and manufacturers of ironwork, muslin and shoes. Sokoto the capital is a city of 80,000, and is well-built in the Moorish style.
So′lar Mi′croscope, a modified form of magic-lantern, not much used now that gas-lanterns and electric lanterns have become so easily available. The only essential difference between the solar microscope and the ordinary magic-lantern is that in the former a beam of sunlight, reflected from a heliostat or porti-lumiere, is employed instead of oil, gas or the electric arc for illuminating the slide.
Solar Sys′tem, a term used in astronomy to include the sun, planets, satellites of planets, asteroids and any “captured” bodies, as possibly periodic comets. See Asteroid, Astronomy, Moon, Planet and Sun.
Sol′emn League and Covenant, The, was a contract entered into by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and the Commissioners from the English Parliament in 1643 to secure uniformity of doctrine, worship and discipline throughout Scotland, England and Ireland “according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches.” By this agreement the Scotch army came to the aid of Parliament in its war against Charles I. On the other hand, Presbyterianism was introduced into England and Ireland. Royalist successes had made Scotch aid indispensable. So the covenant was signed by members of the House of Commons and
