es, and the heterodoxy of his "Histoire Critique du Vieux
Testament" (1678) brought about his withdrawal to Belleville, where he
remained as cure till 1682, when he retired to Dieppe to continue his
work on Old and New Testament criticism; he ranks as among the first to
deal with the scriptural writings as literature, and he anticipated not a
few of the later German theories (1638-1712).

SIMON MAGUS, a sorcerer, one who by his profession of magic
aggrandised himself at the expense of the people of Samaria, and who,
when he saw the miracles wrought by the Apostles, and St. Peter in
particular, offered them money to confer the like power on himself;
Peter's well-known answer was not without effect on him, but it was only
temporary, for he afterwards appeared in Rome and continued to impose
upon the people so as to persuade them to believe him as an incarnation
of the Most High. Hence Simony, the sin of making gain by the buying or
selling of spiritual privileges for one's material profit.

SIMONIDES OF AMORGOS, a Greek poet who flourished in the 7th century
B.C.; dealt in gnome and satire, among the latter on the different
classes of women.

SIMONIDES OF CEOS, one of the most celebrated lyric poets of Greece;
spent most of his life in Athens, employed his poetic powers in
celebrating the events and heroes of the Persian wars; gained over
AEschylus the prize for an elegy on those who fell at Marathon; composed
epigrams over the tombs of the Spartans who fell at Thermopylae, and in
his eightieth year was crowned victor at Athens; shortly after this was
invited by Hiero to Syracuse, at whose court he died; his poetry was
distinguished at once for sweetness and finish; he was a philosopher as
well as a poet (556-467 B.C.).

SIMOOM or SIMOON, a hot, dry wind-storm common to the arid
regions of Africa, Arabia, and parts of India; the storm moves in cyclone
(circular) form, carrying clouds of dust and sand, and produces on men
and animals a suffocating effect.

SIMPLON, a mountain in the Swiss Alps, in the canton of Valais,
traversed by the famous Simplon Pass (6594 ft. high), which stretches 41
m. from Brieg in Valais to Domo d'Ossola in Piedmont, passing over 611
bridges and through many great tunnels, built by Napoleon 1800-6.

SIMPSON, SIR JAMES YOUNG, physician, born, the son of a baker, at
Bathgate, Linlithgowshire; graduated M.D. at Edinburgh in 1832; was
assistant to the professor of Pathology and one