SOFIA. 322 SOIL. students, colleges for boys and girls, and a mili- tary school and college. It is the industrial cen- tre of Bulgaria and has manufactures of silk, cloth, tobacco, etc. Situated at the converging of the principal highwaj's of the principality and connected by rail with Constantinople, Belgrade, and iSaloniki, the city is well adapted for its prominent position as a commercial centre, and has an extensive export trade in agricultural products, hides, and attar of roses. The popula- tion was 30.400 in 1887 and 67,920 in 1900. prin- cipally Bulgarians. Sofia is identified with the Serdica or Sardica of the Romans, which became the capital of Dacia Riiicnuis, and about 344 was the scat of a C'liurch council. The town was plun- dered by the Huns in the fifth century, and at the beginning of the ninth century it was taken by the Bulgarians. In 1382 it passed to Turkey, and in 1878 it was occupied by the Russians under Gurko. SOFTA (Turk, saffa. from Pers. soxtnli, si'ix- tith. Ipurned [with zeal], p.p. of suxinn. Av. saoc, Skt. sue, to burn). The name applied in Turkey to the students of the theological schools. They are drawn largely from the lower classes and are as a rule opposed to Occidental ideas. Because of this they have often opposed the Turkish Govern- ment. From them are appointed the llollahs and the Ulemas (qq.v.). There are now about 16.000 Sottas in Constantinople. SOFT GRASS (nolcus.) A small genus of grasses. The English name is derived from the soft and abundant pubescence of the two British species, creeping soft grass (Holcus mollis) and woolly soft grass, meadow soft grass, or velvet grass {Eolctis laiiatiis). The latter is found most abinidantly on damp soils, on which it is sometimes sown for forage. The former is gen- erally found on dry, sandy, or other light soils. The roots sometimes extend five or six feet in a season. These grasses are seldom planted for ■ forage, except in situations little suited to more valuable specie*. SOFT-GROUND ETCHING. A species of etching in which the ground ordinarily used is softened by a mixture with tallow. In ordinary etching (q.v. ) the .subject to be represented is scratched directly upon the ground by means of the needle; hut in soft-ground etching it is drawn with a lead pencil upon a piece of fine-grained paper stretched over the ground. The impres- sion thus produced upon the ground, when bitten, gives the effect of pencil or chalk lines in the proof. Soft-gi-ound etching is not much used, be- cause the same effects can be obtained by lithography and heliographic processes. SOFT-SHELLED TURTLE. Any of various fresh-water turtles of the family Trionychidfe, represented in the United States by the two genera Amyda and Aspidonectes. These turtles take their name from the characteristic leathery consistency of the shell, well seen in the common soft-shell (Aspidonectes fcrox) . which is about twelve inches long. Another species, the 'leather turtle.' is Amyda mulicn. They are carnivorous, strongly web-footed, and entirely aquatic, with long serpentine necks. The eggs are laid in the ground near shore. Times of drought and winter are spent in the mud underneath water. The ■flesh of these turtles is said to be of superior quality. SOGDIA'NA (Lat., from Gk. l.oySva.vfi, Sog- dyanc, Av. <S'ii75«, OPers. Suguda, Pers. Huyd). An ancient counlr}' in Central Asia, comprising part of modern Turkestan, bounded on the northeast by the Jaxartcs, which separated it from Scythia, and on the southwest by the Oxus, which separated it from Bactria. It was conquered by the Persians in the reign of Cyrus and was invaded by Alexander the Great, after whose time it fell into the power of the Seleucid;p ( q.v. ) . SOGNE FJORD, sog'"'" f.vord. An inlet in the Province of North Bergenhus, in the eastern part of Norway. It pierces the land for a di.stance of nearly 90 miles, and in some places has ii <leptli of 4000 feet. The region tlirough which it extends is remarkable for its many glaciers and the wild grandeur of its scenery. SOHN, zon, Karl Ferdinand (1805-67). A German painter of the Diisseldorf school. He was born in Berlin and studied there under Willielm von Schadow, whom he followed to Diis- seldorf and afterwards accompanied to Italy. He treated principally mythical and poetic sub- jects of a highly romantic cliaracter. and at- tained great proficiency in color, especially in treatment of the nude. In 1832 he was made professor in the Diisseldorf Academy, where he exercised an important influence in the develop- ment of German painting. Among his best-known Avorks are: The "Ra]ie of Hvlas" and the "Lute Player" (1832), both in the National Gallery, Berlin; "Romeo and .Juliet" (1836) ; "Tasso and the Two Leonoras" (1839, Diisseldorf Gallery) ; "Rinaldo and Arniida„" "Loreley," and "Donna Diana" (1840. Leipzig Museum). His nephew and pupil, Wiliielm (1830-99), born in Berlin, painted at first biblical subjects, such as "Christ Stilling the Tempest" (1853, Diisseldorf Gal- lery), then devoted himself to genre scenes, mas- terly in characterization and drawing and of great coloristie charm, in the manner of the Bel- gian school. Among these are; "A Question of Conscience" (1804, Karlsruhe Gallery); "Con- sultation at the Lawyer's" (1866. Leipzig Mu- seum) ; and "Warrior of the Seventeenth Cen- tury" (1869. Dresden Gallery). SOHO SQUARE. A square in London, dating from the time of Charles II. and once called King's Square, from the name of it« builder. It was at one time one of the fashionable quarters of the citv. SOHRAB AND RUSTUM. A narrative in blank verse by ^latthew Arnold, based on the Persian legend of Rustam (q.v.). SOIL (OF., Fr. sol, from Lat. solum, ground, soil, foundation, sole). A term applied to the superficial uncon.solidatcd portion of the earth's crust (regolith). which is composed of broken and disintegrated (weathered) rock mixed with varying proportions of decayed and decaying organic matter (humus). The processes by which soils are formed from the parent rocks are mechanical and chemical, and in some cases biolo- gical. The fertility of a soil will, therefore, be determined to a considerable extent by the char- acter of the parent rock and the stage of its. decomposition. Thus granite, being richer in the elements of plant food, yields a more fertile soil as a rule than the siliceous sandstones. According to the method of their formatioa
