SOMA. 337 SOMEKS. the gods. Only the priests at the present day may drink of it. The Vedie hymns (see Ved.) are chieliy concerned with the Soma cult. In the later Vedic hymns the identihcation with the moon is already complete, and Soma and the war- god Indra are regarded as two allied divinities. The deification of the plant had already begun before the separation of the Indo-Iranians. In the Persian cult, haoma, the Iranian equivalent of the Indian sonni, is a god, but also the tree of life. It is probable that the name has been ap- plied to different plants even in India. Consult: Windischmann, Ucbcr den Soma-cuUiis dcr Aric:: (1840); Muir, Orir/iiiul .S'liHsArif Texts, vol. ii. (London, 1871 ) : Hillcbrandt, ^'edischc Mytltolo- gie, vol. i. (Breslau, 1891). SOMADEVA, so'nia-da'va (eleventh century A.D. ) . A Sanskrit author. Of his life nothing is known. He com]iosed but one work, the Knthfi- saritsufiiira, or 'Ocean of the Streams of Story,' ■which he began about 1070. This is the longest and most important collection of stories which has been preserved in Sanskrit. It contains a series of tales which are of considerable impor- tance to students of comparative literature. They are told in the main for their intrinsic interest, not to point a moral. Although in the main Brahmanistic in spirit. Buddhistic influence is frequently apparent. The KathasaritsCignra was edited and translated into German by Brockhaus (Leipzig, 1839-GO), edited by Durgaprasad and Parab (Bombay, 1880), and translated into English by Taw'ney (Calcutta, 1880-87). SOMALI, s6-mii'le. A Hamitic or Ethiopian people in the extreme eastern part of Africa, partly in Italian, partly in British territory. They are tall (1.72.5m.), dark-skinned, and doli- chocephalic. The infusion of Negro and later of Semitic blood causes much variation in color. Their activities are the raising of .grains, coffee, and spices, camel-breeding, and coastwise indus- tries. The chief clothing of the men is a toga- like robe of cotton. They are not mechanical nor artistic. Being always at strife, they pride them- selves on theirweapons. which are of African ])at- tern. lances, edged weapons, and rawliide shields. Their social or.Lianization is patriarchal, the clans and chieftains ln-ing innumerable. Their religion is fanatical Jlohannnedanism. SOMALILAND. A region on the east coast of Africa. Sec liiuTLSii Somalilajcd; French Somalila.xd; Italian Somaliland. SOMASCHIANS, s6-ni5s'kl-nnz. A Roman Catholic congregation of priests founded by Saint .Jerome Emiliani (1491-1537). The mother- house of the congregation was at Somaseo, Italy, between jSIilan and Bergamo, whence it took its popular name. It was confirmed by Paul III. in 1540: after it had been for a short time xinited ■with the Theatines. Pius V. enrolled it among the religious Orders in 1508, assigning it the rule of Saint Augustine. From 1016 to 1047 the French Doctrinaires (see DocTRrN-E. Fathers of t'liRis- TIAK) were united with them. They have greatly diminished in numbers and now have onl.v about ten houses. Consult Heimbucher, Die OriJen iind Conrirerjntionen der katholischen Kirche (Pader- born, 1897). SOMATOLOGY (from Ok. crSi^a, soma, body, -f- -Xo7(a, -Iiifiia, account, from 'K^yav, legein, to say) . That division of anthropology which treats of the anatomy and physiology of nuinkind, es- pecially by a comparative survey of different races from tills point of view. Anatomical somatology deals with stature, tegument, pigmentation, meas- urements of the body, and the anatomy of special portions of it. Under ph.ysiologieal somatology are included discussions of the functions of nu- trition, respiration, circulation, communication, rejiroduction, and the inllucnce of environment, as well as various problems of a psychological or a pathological nature. Stature, the first anatomi- cal division of somatology, treats of the height of mankind, and thus of giants (q.v.) and dwarfs (q.v. ) also, while the tegumentary study con- cerns itself with the varying plienomena presented in the skin and pelage of ditTerent races. Pig- mentation deals with the complexion (q.v.) or color of the skin, the cohu's of the eyes and hair, and with such deviations from the normal t.vpe as the albino (q.v.). One of the most important provinces of somatology is the measurement of the body, thus affording ratios for comparative study. These ratios form the liasis of the anthro- pometric indexes, of which the chief ones are the cephalic, cranial, nasal, facial, dental, maxillary, and pelvic. The anatomy of special parts of the body is of less importance excepting in the case of the brain, yet there is searcel.y a part of the body which does not undergo ethnic varia- tion. Physiological somatology shows as marked a diversity as the anatomical division, although it has been far less studied. The functions of nu- trition and the temperature of the body show comparatively slight variations, while respiration and circulation are noticeably divergent. The functions of communication, including the ex- pression of emotions, the acuteness of the senses, and similar phenomena, ditl'er to a degree which is remarkable and important. Susceptibility to environment is also marked by great variation, and the same statement liolds regarding patho- logical features, such as relative predisposition to or immunity from diseases. Psychological diver- gencies, like reproductive variations, while mani- festly existent, have not yet been reduced to scientific classification. Consult : Roberts. Man- ual of Anthropomeiri/ (London. 1878) ; Deniker, Jiaces of Man (ib., 1900) ; Livi, Anthropometria (Milan, 1900). See Anthropometry; Inde.x. SOMBBERETE, som'bn'i-rfi'tn. A town of Jlexicn in the Slate of Zacatecas. situated 85 miles northwest of Zacatecas. in a mountainous district celebrated for its rich silver mines, from which Sombrerete derives all its importance (Map: Mexico, G 6). Population, in 1895. 10,- 082. SOMEES, siim'erz, or SUMMERS, Sir George (1554-1010). An English mariner, born at or near L,vme Regis, Dorsetshire. He was an active promoter of the London company formed to colonize Virginia, and in 1609 he sailed for America in command of a small fleet. His squadron was scattered by a hurricane and Somers's vessel was wrecked on the Bermuda Islands, which Somers took possession of in the name of England. He died there while on a sec- ond visit. One of the many contemporary ver- sions of his shipwreck is said to have given Shakespeare the setting for The Tempest.
