Saint Marys

Saint Mary's, a S. county of Maryland, bounded N. E. by the Patuxent, E. by Chesapeake bay, and S. W. by the Potomac; area, about 250 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 14,994, of whom 7,726 were colored. It has numerous bays and creeks; the surface is nearly level. The chief productions in 1870 were 152,630 bushels of wheat, 274,457 of Indian corn, 44,-379 of oats, 2,522,917 lbs. of tobacco, and 9,809 of wool. There were 2,577 horses, 2,260 milch cows, 5,714 other cattle, 3,982 sheep, and 11,-302 swine. Capital, Leonardtown.

Saint Mary's Strait, Or River

Saint Mary's Strait, Or River, the connecting link between Lake Superior and Lake Huron, forming also the boundary between Ontario, Canada, and the upper peninsula of Michigan. Beginning at the head of Tequa-menon bay, a frith of Lake Superior, the strait holds a general S. E. course of 63 m. to the head of Drummond island, in Lake Huron. One mile below Lake Superior are the rapids known as St. Mary's falls or Sault de Ste. Marie, and below these the strait spreads out into a broad lake. It is navigable up to the rapids for the largest vessels. These rapids have within the space of three quarters of a mile a fall of 22 ft. A ship canal around the falls was completed May 19, 1855, the greater part of which is cut through solid rock. (See Canal, vol. iii., p. 687).

Saint Michael

Saint Michael (Port. São Miguel), the largest island of the Azores, in the North Atlantic ocean; extreme length 50 m., breadth of main parts 5 to 12 m.; area, 224 sq. m.; pop. about 115,000. The surface is mountainous, the highest peak, Vara, being 3,570 ft. above the sea. It is of volcanic origin, and contains warm mineral springs. The climate is temperate and equable; the thermometer ranges from 48° F. in January to 84° in July; the extremes, 45° and 86°, are of rare occurrence. The soil is fertile, yielding tropical and temperate plants equally well. The orange, pineapple, banana, and sugar cane are extensively cultivated. The annual value of oranges exported to England is about $425,000; the total value of exports is $450,000; of imports, $500,000. Capital, Ponta Delgada.

Saint Moritz

Saint Moritz (Ger. Sanct-Moritz) a watering place of the canton of Grisons, Switzerland, in the Engadine valley, on the right bank of the Inn, about 6,000 ft. above the sea and close to Lake St. Moritz. One of the two principal springs is named after Paracelsus, who visited the place, and the other is called St. Moritz. The water is chalybeate, abounding with carbonic acid, and is used for drinking and bathing, being heated for the latter purpose. It is considered stronger than that of Schwalbach and Pyrmont. The season lasts from June to September. - See "A Season at St. Moritz," by Dr. Burney Yeo (London, 1870), and Der Kurort St. Moritz und eine Eisensäuerlinge, by Dr. August Huse-mann (Coire, 1874).

Saint Nicholas

Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, born in Pa-tara, Lycia, died about 340. He is invoked as the patron of sailors, merchants, travellers, and captives, and the guardian of schoolboys, girls, and children. He takes rank in the Greek church immediately after the great fathers. Justinian dedicated a church to him in Constantinople about 560; he has been reverenced in the West since the 10th century, and became one of the favorite patron saints of Italy and northern Europe about the beginning of the 12th. His feast is celebrated on Dec. 6. In works of art St. Nicholas is represented with three children, or three purses, or three balls symbolical of the purses.