Somascbians, Tiik Oudku ok. The Somaschi- ans arc ;! religions order in the Church of Kome, and their congregations rank with the most important in- stitutions called into being by the effort to retard the progress of the Protestant Keformation in the 16th century. The name is derived from the solitary ham- let of Somascho, between Milan and Bergamo, where Girolamo Miani (Hieronymus .Emilianns), the founder, undertook the definitive organization of the order and wrote its first rule. Jliani was a noble Venetian who served with distinction against Charles VHI and Louis XII. ancl who was given over to frivolity and worldli- ness until the capitulation of Castelnuovo, near Treviso, ■where he commanded, made him the prisoner of the (Jermans un<ler Maximilian I (15(W). He was thrown into a dark dungeon and there abjured his sins, and vowed a thorough reformation of life to God if he should once more become free. It is related that his prayers were heard, and that the Blessed Virgin caused ins shackles to fall from his liml)s and led him through the midst of the guard to freedom. He now renounced the dignity of podesta of Castelnuovo, given him in recognition of his bravery, and accepted an inferior position in Venice itself, where he displayed great be- nevolence in caring for the poor and the sick, especially during a famine and pestilence in 1.528. Eventually, he devoted himself chiefly to the care of poor orphan children and fallen women. He founded an or|)han asylum in connection with the Church of St. Roch in Venice, in 1.'>2H, and afterwards others in Verona, Ber- gamo, and Brescia. In 1532 he established a magdalen asylum in Venice; and tinally he united with a num- ber of like-minded clergymen in fomiding a congrega- tion for the care anil administering of the institutions he had e-iablished, and for the training of young per- sons to siu'ceed in that work. Pope Clement VII high- ly approved of this benevolent order, and favored it. Its seat was fixed at .Somascho, though other houses were subseipienily established at I'avia and Milan. Miani dieil I-'eb. «, 1.537. He was succeeded by Angelus Marcus fiainbarana, under whose administration the community wa-s solemnly constituted an order of regu- lar clergy luider the rule of St. .Viigustine, and denom- inated Cl.riri Ri-ijulares S. Miijoli /'tipitv Coru/reydlionis Somiinrliir, from a church in I'avin presented to them by archbi-ihiip Charles Borromeo of Slilan. The order was afterwards temporarily united with the Thuiliius (1.5-1»'> 5.5 I, and with the I'ulln i:< nf Cluiilinn Ductriiie m France ( 1010-17 ), and increased largely in luim- l)er» and intluencc, so that in KiOl Alexander VII ap- proved its division into three provinces — Lombard, Venetian, nml Roman. It sustained numerous colleges, and was earnestly devoted to the instruction of the young. A French proviixie was subseipienilv added.
The coiiHtilutions i(f (he order are based on the ideas of its fniiiider as collected by the procurator-general, Ant. I'alinuH, anil approved by pope Urban VIII, and they have continued without essential change until now. i'liey pres«-rilK? simple and poor clothing, in all rfii|K-cls like thai of the regular clergy, simple fond, fre- •juent prayers by day and night, fastings, bodily morti-
•Ic'i , ininnial hibi.r. care of the sick and of orphans,
aiid the iustrucii ,f the y..ung. They mav be seen
in Holstenius, Cod. Reg. Mon. iii, 199-292; comp. also the Bollandists' Vitd Hierouynii ^Emiluiiii, February, vol. ii ; Helyot, Gesc/i. d. Klosler- u. Ei/teroi-deii, iv, 203 sij. ; Fehr, Gesch. d. MOnchsorden, ii, 41 sq. — Herzog, Re(d-Kiicijklop. s. V.
Somasquo, Fathers of. See Clekks of St.
JlA.IOI.rs ; So.MASCHIANS.
Somatist, one who denies the existence of spirit- ual substances, and admits that of corporeal or material beings only. See Materialism,
Somatology, the doctrine of bodies or material substances.
Somerville, ^^rs. Mary, a distinguished scientist and mathematician, whose studies tended to the ad- vancement of Christian learning, was born in Jedburgh, Scotland, Dec. 2(3, 1780, and was the daughter of admiral William Fairfax. In her early childhood she gave no promise of genius, but was apparently beneath mediocri- ty. Her mind was awakened to higher aspirations and endeavors by a slow and spontaneous process. At the age of eleven, while spending a vacation at Burnt Island, she occupied her time gathering sea-shells, the beginning of her knowledge of natural history. From her father she inherited a passion for flowers, and turned the gar- den of her home into a studio, the beginning of her love of botany. Two small globes in the house at- tracted her attention, and thus began her study in ge- ography and astronomy. She soon learned to play on the piano, and in a little while became an accomplished painter, studying under Nasmyth in Edinburgh. The love of knowleilge became an irrepressible passion. She took up Euclid alone, which she soon mastered; stud- ied navigation, and taught herself Latin enough to read Cesar's Commentaries. In 1804 she was married to Samuel Greig, and resided in London. After three years she returned, a widow with two children, to Burnt Island, where she resumed her studies with more dili- gence than ever. Prof. Wallace, of Edinburgh L'ni- versify, gives the following catalogue of books which she mastered: Francour's Pure Mathematics, Elements of Mechanics ; Lacrqjx's A Igehra, Differential Calculus, Finite Differences and Series ; Biot's .4 nalytical Geoni- eti~y and A stronomy ; Poisson's Treatise on Mechanics ; La Grange's Theory of A nalytical Functions ; Euler's A lyehra, Isoperimetrical Problems ( in Latin ) ; Clai- rault's Figure of the Earth ; Monge's Application of A nalysis to Geometi-y ; Callet's Logarithms ; La Place's Mecanique Celeste, and Amdytical Theoiy of Proh<d>ili- ties. In 1812 she married her cousin, Dr. William Somer- ville, who deeply sympathized with her in her studies. She soon became a correspondent of such men as F'ara- day and La Place, and was elected a member of most of the learned societies of Europe. Losing her fortune, she was dependent upon a government pension, first of one thousand, later of fifteen hundred pounds, and lived, for economy, many years in Italy. Mrs. Somerville comiiuied to keep nj) her studies in her advanced years, working from 8 A.M. till 12 or 1 P.M.. even in her ninetieth year. She died Nov. 29, 1872. Her works are, MechanUm of the Heavens (Lond. 1831, 8vo; Phila. 1832, 18mo) : — On the Coimectiou of the Physical Sciences (Lond. 18.34. 12mo; 8th ed. 1849. 8vo ; "com- pletely revised, 1859, 8vo ; American editions. N. Y. 1840, etc. Vitno) -.—J'hi/sical Geognijihy (Lond. 1848, 2 vols. 12mo; 2(1 cd. 1819; 3d ed. 1851 ; 4fh ed. 1858,8vo; 5th ed. 18(i2, 8vo; American editions, Phila. 1848, 1850, 18,53, 18,5(), 12mo): — On Molecular and Microscopic Science (Lond, 1809, 2'vols. 8vo).