ancient sect among the Jews, still subsisting in some parts of the Levant, under the same name.

Its origin was in the time of Rehoboam, under whose reign the people of Israel were divided into two distinct kingdoms, that of Judah and that of Israel; when the capital of the latter being Samaria, the Israelites obtained the name of Samaritans.

They were anciently guilty of idolatry, and the Rabbins pretend, that they worshipped the figure of a dove on mount Gerizim; but the present Samaritans, who are but few in number, are far from being idolaters. They celebrate the passover every year, on the fourteenth day of the first month, on Mount Gerizim, and begin that feast with the sacrifice appointed for that purpose in Exodus: they keep the Sabbath with all the rigour with which it is enjoined in the book of Exodus, none of them stirred out doors but to the synagogue. They sacrifice nowhere but on mount Gerizim: they observe the feasts of expiation, tabernacles, harvest, &c. and never defer circumcision beyond the eighth day: they never marry their nieces as the Jews do; have but one wife; and in fine, do nothing but what is commanded in the law.

Sambucus, elder; a genus of the trigynia order, belonging to the pentandra class of plants. The most remarkable species are, 1. The nigra, or common blackelder-tree, rises with a tree-stem, branching numerously into a large spreading head, twenty or thirty feet high; pinnated leaves, of two or three pair of oval lobes and an odd one; and large, five-parted umbels of white flowers towards the ends of the branches, succeeded by bunches of black and other different coloured berries, in the varieties, which are—Common black-berried elder-tree—White-berried elder—Green-berried elder—Laciniated, or parsley-leaved elder, having the folioles much lacinuated, so as to resemble parsley-leaves—Gold-striped-leaved elder—Silver-striped elder—Silver-dusted elder. 2. The racemosæ, racemosæ red-berried elder, rises with atree-like stem, branching ten or twelve feet high, having reddish-brown branches and buds; pinnated leaves of six or seven oval deeply-sawed lobes; and compound, oval, ramoseous clusters of whitish-green flowers, succeeded by oval clusters of red-berries. This is a resident of the mountainous parts of the south of Europe, and is retained in our gardens as a flowering shrub, having a peculiar singularity in its oval clustered flowers and berries. 3. The Canadensis, or Canada shrubby elder, rises with a shrubby stem, branching eight or ten feet high, having reddish shoots; somewhat bipinnated leaves, often ternate below, the other composed of five, seven, or nine oval lobes; and towards the ends of the branches, cymose quinquepartite umbels of flowers, succeeded by blackish-red berries. All the sorts of elder are of the deciduous tribe, very hardy, and grow freely anywhere; are generally free shooters, but particularly the common elder and varieties, which make remarkably strong, jointed shoots, of several feet in length, in one season; and they flower mostly in summer, except the racemosæ elder, which generally begins flowering in April; and the branches being large, spreading, and very abundant, are exceedingly conspicuous; but they emit a most disagreeable odour. The flowers are succeeded in the most of the sorts, by large bunches of ripe berries in autumn, which, although very unpalatable to eat, are in high estimation for making that well known cordial liquor called elder wine, particularly the common black-berried elder. The merit of the elder in gardening may be both for use and ornament, especially in large grounds.