SHEM. 74 SHEOL. populated aftci' the flood. The genealogies in the Table of Nations (Gen. x.) and in tlio line of Abraham (ch. xi.) are compiled from strata of most diii'ercnt ages, and it is impossible to ob- tain a harmonious view of them, or to accommo- date them to our ethnical and political points of view, although archieology is fast contributing to their elucidation. According to ix. 20 et seq. Shem stands in the line of the religion of Jehovah, and x. 21 makes him particularly the ancestor of the Hebrews ; hence it is argued that Shem originally represented Israel and the other two sons races in or about Palestine, and that a later tradition has amplified these terms into a world-wide! connotation. Consult the commenta- ries on Genesis, especially Dillman (Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1897) and Gu'nkel (Gottingen, 1902) ; Budde. Urgeschichte (Giessen, 1883). See Semites; Sejutic Languages. SHEMAKHA, she-nia-Ka', or SHAMAKHA. A town in the Government of Baku, Russian Transcaucasia, situated at an altitude of 2265 feet, 75 miles west of Baku (ilap: Russia, G 6). Its manv ruins testify to its ancient importance. Population, in 1897, '20,000. Shemakha is men- tioned by Ptolemy as Kamacliia, and was the capital of the Khanate of Shirvan. Shemakha has suffered terribly from earthquakes, the most recent having been in 1902. SHENANDOAH, shen'on-dc/a. A borough in Schuylkill County, Pa., 105 miles northwest of Philadelphia; on the Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley, and the Philadelphia and Reading rail- roads (Map: Pennsylvania, E 3). It has a free library in connection with the public schools. The Greek Catholic church here was among the first of the denomination in the United States. Shen- andoah owes its importance to its situation among the richest anthracite coal fields in the State. The government is vested in a burgess, elected every three years, and a unicameral council, and in administrative officials, the ma- jority of whom are appointed by the council. There are two systems of water-works, one owned and operated by the municipality. Shenandoah was laid out in 1862, and was incorporated in 1866, the charter then received being still in operation. The vicinity of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad station here was the scene of rioting during the coal strikes of 1900 and 1902. Population, in 1890. 15.994; in 1900, 20.321. SHENANDOAH, The. A Confederate priva- teer which sailed from England to Bering Strait, captured ten New England whalers, and set fire to eight of them on June 28, 1865. This act was the last hostility of the Civil War. SHENANDOAH EIVEK. A river of north- western Virginia, flowing 170 miles northeast- ward into the Potomac, which it joins at Harper's Ferry (Map: Virginia. G 2). It aflfords im- mense water power, and passes through a beau- tiful and [)opuIois valley between the Blue Ridge and the central Appalachian ranges. This valley was the scene of numerous military operations during the Civil War, and was laid waste by General Sheridan in the autumn of 1864. See Winchester ; Cedar Creek ; Early ; Sheridan. SHENG-KING. See Shing-Iving. SHEN-SI, shen'.se' (Chin., west of the defile: referring probably to the natural barrier and fortresses of Tung-kwan ) . A northern province of China, bordering on Mongolia (Map: China, C 4). Area, 67,400 square miles. It is divisible into two physically distinct regions of unequal area by tho Tsing-ling ranges, with peaks from 5000 to 11,000 feet above sea-level. The larger portion lies to the north of these mountains, and consists of a great sloping plateau of loess of great natural fertility, draining eastward to the Hoang-ho and producing immense crops of wheat — the staple product of this region — and cotton, as well as kao-liang, pulse, millet, maize, pea- nuts, rape seed, and opium. Hemp and tobacco are also extensively cultivated. Owing to the porousness of the loess, rice cannot be raised. Agriculture is the chief industry. The chief river of the region is tlie Wei, a broad but sliallow stream flowing from west to east along the foot of the northern range of the Tsing-ling movmtains into the Hoang-ho. Coal is fovmd in several places. The southern division, which is only half the size of the northern, is mountainous and well wooded, with many deep valleys and small but fertile, well-sheltered and well-watered plains. It is drained chiefly by the Han-kiang (q.v. ). It produces cotton, tobacco, silk, and the different grains. Iron is found near the source of the Han, and the manufacture of steel of specially fine quality is extensively carried on in several places. Population, about 8.500.000. Capital. Si-ngan-fu, where the Governor-General of tile two provinces of Shen-si and Kan-su resides. SHEN'STONE, William (1714-63). An English poet, born in Halesowen. Worcestershire. In 1732 he was enrolled at Pembroke College, Oxford, but he never took a degree. While at the university he published a volume of Poems OH Various Occasions, containing the first vei'sion of the l^choolmistress. In 1741 appeared anonymously Tlie Judgment of Hcrcidcs, which was followed the next year by the i^choolmistress in its complete form. Other poems were published in Dodsley's Collections of Poems bji Several Bands (1748, 1755. 1758). In 1745 Shenstone came into pos- session of the estate of Leasowes. near Ha'.esowen, where he amused liimself at landscape gardening. His grounds, on which he exjjended his income of £300 a year, became famed through England. The Schoolmistress, written in the Spenserian stanza, has gained for Shenstone a secure, if humble, place in English poetry. The Pastoral Ballad is also very graceful. Dodsley collected Shenstone's works in verse and prose (3 vols., 1764-69). In the second volume is a description of Leasowes. Consult also: Dr. Johnson, Lives of the Poets CLondon, 1805) ; Graves (in a series of letters to Shenstone's friend, W. Seward) , Recol- lections of Shenstone (London. 1788) ; Poems. edited by Gilfillan (Edinburgh, 1854) ; and Beers, EnffUsh Uomanticism (New York, 1899). SHE-OAK. See Casuarina. SHEOL, sheTd (Heb. she'ol) . A Hebrew word of freqiiont occurrence in the Old Testament. In the Authorized Version it is rendered 'the grave.' 'hell.' or 'the pit.' In the Revised Version the American conmiittee substitute the Hebrew term sheol for this rendering. A derivation from a stem signifying 'to hollow out' has been sug- gested. Another view connects the word with the verb sha'al. 'to ask,' and makes it signify the 'place of oracles.' An Assyrian word shualu has
