a country of Eastern Africa, formerly an independent kingdom, but now a part of the Ottoman empire, belonging to the province generally known to Europeans under the name of Nubia, called by the Turks the pashalic of Sennar, and by the Egyptians, Beled-es-Soodan, or the Land of the Blacks. Its limits are not very accurately defined; but it extends along the banks of the White and Blue Nile as far north as the confluence of these two rivers at Khartoom, and is bounded on the north by Dar Shendy, E. and S.E. by Abyssinia, S. by the country of the Nuba mountaineers, and W. by Kordofan. It lies between 12. and 15. 45. N. Lat.; has a length of about 260 miles, a breadth of nearly the same; and an area estimated at 60,000 square miles. The greater part of the country lies between the White (Bahr-el-Abyad) and the Blue Nile (Bahr-el-Azrek), but some part of it also lies to the east of the latter, between it and the Athbara, the largest of the affluents of the Nile. The surface consists of an almost unbroken plain, extending from the Athbara across the Blue and the White Nile to the borders of Kordofan. Its general elevation is from 1400 to above 1500 feet above the level of the sea; Khartoom being 1431, and Sennar 1515 feet high. The country has thus a slight slope towards the north. Its uniformity of surface is only interrupted by a few isolated mountains, rising from 800 to 900 feet above the surrounding country. Such are Jebel, Szegeti, and Moje, to the west of the town of Sennar, and Mandera to the east of the same place; which rise like rocky islands in the midst of the sea-like expanse of the country. The southern limit of the plain of Sennar occurs about the latitude of Seru, on the Blue Nile, about 50 miles in a direct line above Sennar. Beyond this rise the mountains in the districts of Roserres and Fassokl, which are offshoots of those of Abyssinia to the east. The chief summits are Fassokl (2659 feet), Kassan (3024 feet), and Akaro (3094 feet). Notwithstanding the level character of the land through which they flow, both the streams of the Nile have here a considerable fall; that of the Blue River from Roserres to Sennar being 0'14 feet per mile, from Sennar to Wood Medineh, 0'33 feet, and from Wood Medineh to Khartoom 0'53 feet; while that of the White Nile is still greater, being 0'87 feet between Eleis and Khartoom. The uniform character of the plain of Sennar must be ascribed in a great degree to its geological formation. It consists, like the land of Egypt, almost entirely of regular horizontal strata of sandstone. The mountains, however, are of a totally different structure. They consist exclusively of crystalline rocks, mingled with gneiss, clay-slate, and limestone. Most of the isolated hills in Sennar are composed of granite; those in the districts of Roserres and Fassokl, on the other hand, consist of chlorite-slate, with veins of auriferous quartz; and the most of the mountains between the Blue Nile and its affluent the Tumat, of gneiss. Besides gold, iron is found among these mountains, and also in the desert between Sennar and Kordofan. Salt is obtained at Khartoom, and along the White Nile; and the granite of Mount Szegeti is very excellent, being superior to that of Syene. With these exceptions there are no important minerals in the country. The soil is very fertile, especially in the region east of the Blue Nile. Along the banks of both branches of the river extend dense forests, especially of doom and date palms, baobab trees, and, in the upper parts of the river, of tamarinds. The flats between the two rivers are generally bare and parched during the dry season. After the rains they are either changed into vast grassy savannahs; or else acquire the character of muddy tracts, on which the natives Sennertus sow the dhurra seed. This grows up in a few months, and gives the country the aspect of one great corn-field; it is then cut down, and the ground reassumes its sterile appearance. This primitive mode of husbandry is the most common in Sennar; but there are also other crops raised, such as wheat, sugar-canes in a few places, cotton, tobacco, and, of late years, indigo. The climate is excessively hot; the mean annual temperature being from 80° to 82°. In spring the temperature at noon is frequently above 100°, and in summer it attains a still greater height. This excessive heat produces opposite effects on the country, according to the nature of the soil; in some parts parching it up into an arid desert, and in others fostering a most luxuriant vegetation. The seasons are two in number, and very well defined, a dry and a rainy one. The latter lasts for four or five months in the summer, and is ushered in by tremendous hurricanes; the former continues for the rest of the year. The first indications of the annual inundation of the Nile take place in May; during June it is steadily rising; and attains its greatest height in September. The hilly parts of the country enjoy a salubrious atmosphere; but in the low, flat regions the climate is very unhealthy. Among the wild animals of Sennar may be numbered the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus. In the dense forests many species of monkeys are found, beasts of prey, such as lions, leopards, hyenas, and wild-cats are numerous, as well as thousands of antelopes in the savannahs of the Blue Nile; giraffes, buffaloes, and goats are also found. Crocodiles abound in the rivers, and many kinds of serpents infest the country. Among birds the most important is the ostrich, which inhabits the desert between Sennar and Kordofan, and whose feathers are an important article of commerce. Of domesticated animals, horses are more numerous here than in the lower valley of the Nile, while the large herds of camels and horned cattle, and the flocks of sheep, form the chief wealth of the wandering tribes in the uncultivated regions. The origin of the people of Sennar is involved in much obscurity and doubt. Their bodies are well built, and their colour is a dark copper brown. They have long and curly, but not woolly hair; and their features are quite different from those of the negro. There are many different classes of people, somewhat differing in their characteristics from each other; some more nearly approaching to the Arab, and some to the negro type. The prevailing religion in Sennar, as in the whole of Nubia, is the Mohammedan, except in the extreme south-east, where there are many Christians and heathens of Abyssinian origin. The kingdom of Sennar was founded in the beginning of the sixteenth century, by a tribe of Shilluk negroes, who invaded and conquered the country; and called themselves by the name of Fungi or conquerors. For a long period this kingdom remained independent, under its own melik or king, until, in 1820, Mohammed Ali, pasha of Egypt, determined to reduce under his sway Sennar and the adjacent countries, and undertook an expedition for that purpose. The result was the conquest of the country and its annexation to the Ottoman empire. The population of the province is estimated at a million and a half. The chief town is Sennar, formerly the capital and residence of the monarch. It stands on the left bank of the Blue Nile, 1150 miles south of Cairo. It has extensive suburbs, about 3½ miles in circuit. The town is ill built, consisting principally of low houses; and it contains several mosques and a ruined palace. There is some trade in basket-work, arms, and silver articles. The population has dwindled from upwards of 12,000 to 7000.

Sennertus, Daniel, called by some the German Galen, was an eminent physician, and was born at Breslau in 1572. In 1593 he was sent to Württemberg, where he made great progress in philosophy and in physic. He visited the universities of Leipzig, Jena, Frankfurt-on-the-Oder, and Berlin; but he soon returned to Württemberg, where he was promoted to the degree of doctor of physic, and soon afterwards to a professorship in the same faculty. He was the first who introduced the study of chemistry into that university, and he gained a great reputation by his works and practice. He died of the plague at Württemberg in 1637. He sought to reconcile the doctrines of Paracelsus with those of Galen, and seems, in all respects, to have been in advance of his age. He thought the seed of all living creatures animated, and that the soul of this seed produced organization. He was accused of impiety for asserting that the souls of beasts are not material, for this was affirmed to be the same thing with asserting that they are immortal; but he rejected this consequence, as well he might. The writings of Sennertus, a number of which were translated into English, were published in folio at Venice in 1645, and subsequently at Lyon and at Paris.