boat. SEA-SERPENT, appeared more recently on the coast of Norway, in 1819, and to have been seen daily for a whole month, seeming to doze in the sunbeams; and again there is a story of its appearing in 1822, and another of its appearing in 1837, when it greatly alarmed some fishermen who thought that it followed their Hans Egede mentions its appearance on the coast of Greenland in 1734. Mr M'Clean, the minister of a parish in the Hebrides, saw a sea monster in 1809, which, however, he supposed to be only 70 or 80 feet long, of serpent-like form; which was also seen, about the same time, by the crews of a number of fishing-boats, and caused them great alarm. In his description of this animal, he distinctly states that it seemed to move by undulation up and down,' which is not only contrary to all that is known of serpents, but from the structure of their vertebræ, impossible. (See SERPENTS.) Several instances have occurred of the supposed appearance of the Great Sea-serpent on the Atlantic coasts of North America. In June 1815, and in August 1817, it is said to have been frequently seen, in calm bright weather, near Gloucester, about 30 miles from Boston, on the surface of the water, like a number of buoys in a line, and sometimes moving very rapidly. Testimonies vary as to the length, from 80 feet to 250 yards. We hear again of the Sea-serpent as seen off Nahant, near Boston, in August 1819, in calm and serene weather, making curves 'perpendicular to the surface of the water, and its eye 'brilliant and glistening.' A similar account is given of its appearance off Nahant in July 1833. In Silliman's Journal of Science for 1835 there is a notice of such an animal seen by the captain and crew of an American brig, on her passage from Boston to New Orleans, and also of a similar occurrence in lat. 34°, and long. 48° W. Great interest was excited in 1848 by an account of a Great Sea-serpent seen in lat. 24° 44′ S., and long. 9° 20′ E., and therefore in the South Atlantic Ocean, near the Tropic of Capricorn, and not very far from Sea-serpent. (From Pontoppidan.) the coast of Africa, by the officers and crew of her Majesty's frigate Daedalus. It was not, as in other cases, in bright and fine weather, but in dark and cloudy weather, and with a long ocean swell. The animal was swimming rapidly, and with its head and neck above water. Captain M'Quhae, in his Report to the Admiralty, describes it with confidence as an enormous serpent, with head and shoulders kept about 4 feet constantly above the surface of the sea;' and he adds: 'as nearly as we could approximate by comparing it with the length of what our maintopsail-yard would shew in the water, there was at the very least 60 feet of the animal à fleur d'eau, no portion of which was, to our perception, used in propelling it through the water, either by vertical or horizontal undulation. It passed rapidly, but so close under our lee-quarter, that had it been a man of my acquaintance, I should have easily recognised his features with the naked eye; and it did not, either in approaching the ship or after it had passed our wake, deviate in the slightest degree from its course to the south-west, which it held on at the pace of from 12 to 15 miles per hour, apparently on some determined purpose. The diameter of the serpent was about 15 or 16 inches behind the head, which was, without any doubt, that of a snake; and it was never, during the twenty minutes that it continued in sight of our glasses, once below the surface of the water; its colour a dark-brown, with yellowishwhite about the throat. It had no fins, but something like the mane of a horse, or rather a bunch of sea-weed, washed about its back.' Regret has been very naturally expressed that Captain M‘Quhae did not bestow a shot on it. Figures prepared from a sketch by him were published in the Illustrated London News of 28th October 1848. About the same time, the testimony of another witness, Lieutenant Drummond, appeared, and was found to differ in some important points from the account of the animal given by Captain M'Quhae, and the figures published with his approbation, particularly in ascribing a more elongated form to the head, in the mention of a back-fin, whereas Captain M'Quhae expressly says that no fins were seen; and in a lower estimate of the length of the portion of the animal visible. Lieutenant Drummond's words are: 'The appearance of its head, which, with the back fin, was the only portion of the animal visible, was long, pointed, and flattened at the top, perhaps 10 feet in length; the upper jaw projecting considerably; the fin was, perhaps, 20 feet in the rear of the head, and visible occasionally; the captain also asserted that he saw the tail, or another fin about the same distance behind it; the upper part of the head and shoulders appeared of a dark-brown colour, and beneath the under jaw a brownishwhite. It pursued a steady and undeviating course, keeping its head horizontal with the water, and in rather a raised position, disappearing occasionally beneath a wave for a very brief interval, and not apparently for the purposes of respiration. It was going at the rate of perhaps from 12 to 14 miles an hour, and when nearest was perhaps 100 yards dis tant. In fact, it gave one quite the idea of a large snake or eel.' Lieutenant Drummond's account is the more worthy of regard, as it is derived from his log-book, and so gives the exact impressions of the hour, whilst Captain M'Quhae's was written from memory after his arrival in England. Into the discussion which arose concerning this case, it is out of our power to enter. There is no reason to doubt the truthfulness of the statements made in any of these cases, although, in most of them, there is room for doubt as to the accuracy of observation. It has been suggested, and not without much appearance of probability, that the supposed sea-serpent might in some instances be a mere line of porpoises or such cetaceans, which often follow one another in lines. It has been thought that a line of floating sea-weed might account for the appearances presented. It has also been suggested that the creature seen from the Daedalus might be a sea-elephant or other large seal, swimming for its life, far from land. And Dr Owen has expressed much doubt as to the existence of a Great Sea-serpent on the ground that no bones or other remains of any such recent animal have occurred; and this negative evidence he regards as more than enough to counterbalance all the positive evidence yet adduced in favour of its existence. is, however, to be remembered, that there are many fishes which inhabit the depths of the ocean, and seldom visit the shallower waters near the shores, It SEA-SHORE-SEA-SICKNESS. some of which are scarcely known except by single specimens; and the same thing is true as to Cetacea; so that it is very far from improbable that many species belonging to the ocean depths are still unknown to us. As to the Great Sea-serpent, if we should admit the general accuracy of the accounts given of it by those who supposed themselves to have seen it, there is no reason for concluding it to be a reptile; it might at least as easily be supposed to be a fish of elongated form, and, indeed, much more probably, as a reptile would need to come to the surface to breathe, which a fish would not. The first volume of the Wernerian Society's Transactions contains an account of an animal, 56 feet long, which was cast ashore on the island of Stronsa, one of the Orkneys, in 1808, and of which some of the vertebræ are preserved in the Museum of the University of Edinburgh, but which, unfortunately, did not come under the observation of any competent naturalist in its perfect state. On the high authority of Dr Owen, it is pronounced to have been a basking shark; but other men of science have expressed a different opinion. commonly present. The susceptibility to this troublesome affection varies extremely in different persons. Some never suffer from it, others only on their first voyage, and others, again, in every voyage they undertake; with some it continues but a few hours, while others suffer almost continuously throughout a long voyage. In the great majority of cases, the sickness disappears in a few days, unless the weather be very boisterous. It almost always ceases on landing, although more or less giddiness may prevail for some hours, the patient when walking feeling as if the earth were rising up under his feet. Infants and aged persons are supposed to possess a comparative immunity from sea-sickness, while, as a general rule, women suffer more than men. According to Dr Althaus, persons with a strong heart and a slow pulse generally suffer little from sea-sickness; while irritable people, with a quick pulse and a tendency to palpitation, are more liable to be affected; and he thus accounts for different liability of different nations to this affection; for, as a rule, the French and Italians, being of a more irritable temper, suffer most from the SEA-SHORE, or land bordering on the sea,(On Sea-sickness as a form of Hyperæsthesia,' in disorder, the Germans less, and the English least.' belongs partly to the crown, and the public have Proceedings of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, vol. certain rights in relation thereto. The soil or pro- v. p. 23.) perty in the sea-shore is vested in the crown, and the limit on the land side is defined to be the medium line of high-water of all the tides in the ourse of the year, or the height of the medium ides in each quarter of a lunar revolution during the whole year. But though the crown is prima facie the owner of the sea-shore, the owner of the adjoining manor has sometimes a grant of it, and he proves this grant by ancient use-such as gathering sea-weed, &c. The public have a right to walk on that part of the shore vested in the crown, which holds it as a trustee for them. But the public have no right to trespass on the adjacent lands in order to get at the shore, so that it is only where a highway leads to the shore, or the public land from seaward, that the right can be made available. Thus it has been decided that the public have no legal right to trespass on the adjoining lands in order to get to the shore for purpose of bathing. The public have a right to fish on the sea-shore if they get legal access to it, and may take all floating fish, but not oysters or mussels which adhere to the rock, if the soil belongs to an individual. The public have no right to gather sea-weed or shells, though, as regards the latter, it is of so little consequence that nobody prevents them. Nor have fishermen a right to go on that part of the sea-shore which is private property to dig sand for ballast, or to dry their nets, or similar purposes, though in a few cases local customs permitting this have been held valid. In Scotland, the right to the sea-shore is also vested in the crown, but when a crown grant gives land bounded by the sea-shore, this is held to give to the grantee the fore-shore also. SEA-SICKNESS is a variety of vomiting deserving of special notice. It is often preceded by premonitory symptoms, which appear almost immediately after a susceptible person is exposed to the motion of rolling water in a vessel or boat, and are as distressing as the vomiting itself. Amongst these symptoms may be mentioned vertigo and headache, with a peculiar feeling of sinking and distress about the pit of the stomach. Vomiting, however, in general, soon comes on, accompanied with convulsive heaving of the stomach, and such an indescribable feeling of prostration as to render the patient utterly regardless of what is going on around him, and almost indifferent to life. Moreover, a deadly pallor, a profuse cold sweat, and diarrhoea, are more or less sickness is the motion of the ship; and the pitching SEASIDE GRAPE-SEBASTIAN. Cunard Service, in a letter to The Lancet, December 3, 1864, writes as follows: 'I have tried this remedy in severe cases when other remedies have failed (chloroform, iced champagne, effervescing draughts, fresh air, &c.), and have very generally found it do great good. In no case does it do harm, but in the great majority of instances it soothes the nervous irritability which so commonly accompanies severe sea-sickness, induces sleep, and consequently relieves exhaustion.' We are permitted to publish the following extract of a letter from Dr Hayle of Rochdale, to Dr Chapman, dated June 3, 1865: 'I recommended a patient about to cross the Atlantic, to try one of your ice-bags for sea-sickness. The result was most satisfactory. He was never sick when wearing the bag. Once he went without it, and then, and then only, was he sick. His friend, who had no ice-bag, was frequently sick.' As an ancillary remedy, the drinking of iced water, or the swallowing of small lumps of ice, may be recommended. Dr Chapman prefers the ice, which, 'brought in contact with the peripheral ends of the nerves of the stomach, will act on the same principle as it does when applied to the spinal region.' Those who are susceptible to this distressing affection, and have not the opportunity of trying the ice-bags, may, at all events, diminish the severity of the vomiting by assuming, and as long as possible retaining, the horizontal position, as nearly as possible in the centre of the ship's movement, and keeping the eyes closed. The compression of the abdomen, by means of a broad tight belt, sometimes gives relief. A few drops of chloroform on a lump of white sugar will sometimes check the tendency to vomiting in persons who only suffer slightly. A little arrowroot, flavoured with brandy or sherry, is usually a kind of food that will most easily remain on the stomach, when the severity of the symptoms is abating. Dr Wood, one of the most eminent of the American physicians of the present day, asserts that he has found nothing under such circumstances so acceptable to the stomach as raw salt oysters.' SEASIDE GRAPE (Coccoloba uvifera), a small tree, of the natural order Polygoneæ, a native of the West Indies. It grows on the sea-coasts; has orbicular, cordate, leathery, shining, entire leaves, and a pleasant, subacid, eatable fruit, somewhat resembling a currant, formed of the pulpy calyx investing a bony nut. The extract of the wood is extremely_astringent, and is sometimes called JAMAICA KINO. The wood itself is heavy, hard, durable, and beautifully veined. SEA SLUG. See HOLOTHURIA. SEASONING, a term in Cookery for the materials used to add flavour to food. They are chiefly salt, the spices, and pot-herbs. Salt is the most important, for it not only increases the sapidity of most kinds of food, but also adds to their wholesomeness. SEASONS. In the article EARTH, the motions of the earth on which the changes of the seasons ultimately depend, are explained. The chief cause of the greater heat of summer and cold of winter is that the rays of the sun fall more obliquely on the earth in the latter season than in the former. See CLIMATE. Another concurrent cause is the greater length of the day in summer, and of the night in winter. Within the tropics, the sun's rays have at no time so much obliquity as to make one part of the year very sensibly colder than another. "There are therefore either no marked seasons, or they have other causes altogether, and are distinguished as the Wet and Dry seasons. This is explained in the article RAIN. But in all the temperate parts of the globe, the year is naturally divided into four seasons-Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. In the arctic and antarctic regions, spring and autumn are very brief, and the natural division of the year is simply into summer and winter, the winter being long, and the summer short; and this is very much the case also in regions of the temperate zones lying near the arctic and antarctic circles. In subtropical regions, the distinction of four seasons is, in like manner, very imperfectly marked. This distinction is everywhere arbitrary as to the periods of the year included in each season, which really vary according to latitude, and partly according to the other causes which influence climate; the seasons passing one into another more or less gradually, and their commencement and close not being determined by precise astronomical or other phenomena. The greatest heat of summer is never reached till a considerable time after the summer solstice, when the sun's rays are most nearly vertical, and the day is longest; the greatest cold of winter is in like manner after the winter solstice, when the day is shortest, and the sun's rays are most oblique; the reason in the former case being, that as summer advances the earth itself becomes more heated by the continued action of the sun's rays; in the latter, that it retains a portion of the heat which it has imbibed during summer, just as the warmest part of the day is somewhat after midday, and the coldest part of the night is towards morning. The four seasons of temperate regions are distinguished by the phenomena of nature which characterise them, and which are of the greatest importance in relation to the wants and labours of man. But the renewal of vegetative activity in spring is not to be ascribed entirely to the increasing warmth of the sun's rays. Plants are so constituted that a period of rest is followed by new activity, and this new activity very generally begins in the fresh circulation of sap and enlargement of buds whilst the cold of winter still continues unabated, or before it has reached its greatest intensity. A similar remark may be made with regard to some of the phenomena of animal life, which may as well be said to herald the approach of spring as to attend its first days of genial weather. SEA URCHIN. See ECHINIDA. t SEAWEED and SEA WRACK. See FUCACEÆ and WRACK. SEBASTIAN, SAINT, a very celebrated martyı of the early church, whose memory is venerated in both branches of the church, east as well as west (although the scene of his martyrdom was the city of Rome), and whose story has formed one of the most popular themes of Christian artists from the earliest times. His history is contained in the socalled acts of his martyrdom, which, although partaking of the legendary tone, are regarded as authentic, not only by Baronius and the Bollandists, but also by Tillemont and others of the more stringently critical schools of ecclesiastical history. S., according to this narrative, was born at Narbonne and educated at Milan. | Although a Christian, he entered the Roman army, without, however, revealing his religion, and with the view of being enabled, by his position, to assist and protect the Christians in the persecution. In this way he supported and comforted many of the martyrs in Rome; and he even converted Nicostratus, the keeper of the prison in which the martyrs were confined, and his wife, Zoe, to whom he miraculously restored the use of her speech, after she had been dumb for six years. Still unrecognised as a Christian, S. rose to high favour under Diocletian, while at the same time the grateful pontiff, Caius, named him SEBASTIANI-SEBASTOPOL. This and Brazil to persons who believe in the future SEBASTIANI'STAS, the name given in Portugal return to earth of the king Dom Sebastian, who fell in the battle of Alcazarquebir, 1578 A.D., while belief has continued to be entertained by many in leading on his army against the Moors. Portugal; but the S. are said to be now most numerous in Brazil. On the return of Dom Sebastian, they expect Brazil to enjoy the most perfect prosperity and happiness. 'Defender of the Church.' At length came the or administrator. He died at Paris, July 20, time for his open profession of his faith. Diocletian 1851. used every effort to induce him to renounce the Christian creed, but in vain; and in the end he was condemned to be put to death by a troop of Mauritanian archers, who transfixed him with numberless arrows, and left him as dead. But a Christian lady, Irene, finding that life was not extinct, had the body renioved to her house, where life was restored; and although the Christian community desired to conceal his recovery, S. again appeared in public before the emperor, to profess his faith in Christianity. Diocletian condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs in the amphitheatre; and his body was flung into one of the sewers of the city, in which it was discovered, according to the Acts of Martyrdom, by means of an apparition, and carried by a Christian lady, Lucina, to the catacomb, which is still called by his name. The date of his martyrdom was January 20, 288. By the Greeks the feast is held on the 20th December. The festival was celebrated with great solemnity in Milan as early as the time of St Ambrose; and it was observed in the African Church in the 4th century. There is another saint of the same name, who is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia. SEBASTIANI, FRANÇOIS-HORACE - BASTION, marshal of France, was born November 10, 1772, at Porta d'Ampugnano, a village near Bastia, in Corsica. He was the son of a tailor, but his extreme vanity led him to declare himself of noble descent and a distant relative of the Bonapartes. He entered the army as a sub-lieutenant of infantry, | August 27, 1789. His rise, due to his bravery in the field, was no doubt somewhat aided by his splendid | physique, graceful manner, and facile diction. He became chef-d'escadron in 1797, and brigadier in 1799, and was one of Napoleon's most devoted partisans. He fought at Marengo, executed some important diplomatic service in Turkey in 1802-1803, after which he became general of brigade (August 1803), and was wounded at Austerlitz. On May 2, 1806, he was again deputed to Turkey, this time to break the alliance of the Porte with Russia and England; and before he had been seven months at Constantinople, his mission had obtained complete success, and war was declared. The English fleet forced a passage through the Dardanelles, and cast anchor before Constantinople, their presence causing such terror among the sultan's ministers that a total reversal of foreign policy was imminent, but S., coming to the rescue, revived with his seducing eloquence their failing resolution, and assuming an authoritative superintendence of the preparations for defending the coast, put the batteries in a state fit for action. In five days, he had the coast batteries manned with 600 guns, 100 small gunboats afloat, a line of vessels laid along shore, each with a broadside ready to be discharged on the English fleet, which at last gallantly ran the gantlet, losing two ships and 700 men. But the death of the sultan, and the treaty of Tilsit, put an end to the French intrigues in Turkey, and S. was recalled June 1807, and decorated with the grand cordon of the Legion of Honour. He subsequently commanded the fourth corps-d'armée in Spain. He distinguished himself in the Russian campaign | of 1812, and at Leipzig. On the exile of Napoleon to Elba, he gave in his adherence to the Bourbon government, but joined his old master on his return. After the revolution of 1830, he held for brief periods the portfolios of naval (1830) and foreign affairs, and the embassies to Naples (April 1833) and London (January 1835); but was more distinguished for his elegance, and graceful demeanour in the Parisian salons, than as a politician | SEBASTO'POL, or, as it is sometimes written, in accordance with modern Greek pronunciation, SEVASTOPOL (Sebastopolis, the august city'), a Russian seaport, fortress, and arsenal in the Crimea, in the government of Taurida. It is situated near the south-west extremity of the Crimea, on the southern side of the magnificent harbour or roadstead of S., one of the finest natural harbours in the world. This harbour is an inlet of the Black Sea, stretching inland for about four and a half miles from west to east, about half a mile wide at the entrance, but immediately opening out to the width of a mile, with an average width of about half a mile up to the eastern end. It is sheltered on the north and south by lofty limestone ridges shutting it completely in, with a depth of water varying from 3 to 11 fathoms, and sufficient in several places to allow ships of the largest size to lie close to the shore. At the eastern end, under the heights of Inkermann, the river Tchernaya enters the harbour through low marshy ground. The South Bay, or Dockyard Harbour as it is also called, extending about one and a half miles from north to south, forms the harbour proper of S.; and between it and Quarantine Bay, occupying rather more than half the peninsula thus formed, is built the chief portion of the town of S., on ground sloping irregularly upwards. The town, previons to its destruction in the siege of 1854-1855, was well and substantially built of stone, with lines of streets running from north to south, and smaller ones intersecting them at right angles, containing several handsome public edifices. The docks, constructed for the Russian government by Colonel Upton, an English civil engineer, were among the most important works at S.; the dock basin, docks, and quays were formed in the most substantial way, being partly cut in the solid rock, and lined with cement, partly built of limestone and granite. From the Dockyard Creek, ships were admitted into the Dock Basin by means of three locks, the bottom of the docks being above the sea-level, and the basin was supplied with water by a canal some 12 miles in length from the Tchernaya above Inkermann-itself a work of no inconsiderable magnitude. For the defence of town and harbour from attack by sea, several forts were erected. These forts were works of immense strength, built of limestone faced with granite, on which artillery was found to make but little impression; they mounted a very large number of guns, and by their cross-fire completely protected every spot accessible to a hostile fleet. On the land side, with the exception of a slight loopholed wall extending partially round the western side, the town, previous to the siege, was entirely undefended; but the earthworks and fortifications then successively extemporised by the genius of General Todleben, which for so many months kept the armies of France and England at bay, and of which the Malakoff and the Redan were the most formidable, are now of historic fame. The siege of S. by the allied English and French armies will rank among the most famous sieges in SEBENICO-SECOND SIGHT. history; it lasted for 11 months, from October 1854 to September 1855; the place sustained repeated bombardments, the first of which took place October 17, 1854; and the capture of the Malakoff and Redan, on September 8, 1855, at length forced the Russians to evacuate it, and retire to the north side. The town had been completely ruined; the docks and forts (such as were still standing) were afterwards blown up by French and English engineers. By the treaty of Paris (March 1856), the naval and military works are not to be restored. Before the siege, the population of S., including the soldiers and marines forming the garrison, amounted to about 40,000. Since that time the town has been partially rebuilt and reinhabited, but the population in 1866 was only 10,537. S. was intended to be the station of the Russian Black Sea fleet, and as such to form a standing menace to Turkey; during the siege, the fleet was almost entirely destroyed, many of the ships having been sunk by the Russians across the entrance of the harbour by way of defence. The great disadvantage of S. as a naval station arises from the ravages of the Teredo navalis, which soon render wooden vessels unseaworthy. S. was founded on the site of a small Tartar village called Akhtiar, immediately after the Russian conquest of the Crimea in 1783, under the orders of the Empress Catharine II. The promontory on which S. stands is a spot of considerable classical and historical interest. Here, perhaps on the site now occupied by the Greek convent of St George, west of Balaclava, stood the temple of the Tauric Artemis, in which, according to the legend, Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, was priestess. In later times, the promontory was colonised by Greeks from Heraclea, in Asia Minor, and became known as the Heracleotic Chersonese. Two cities, successively built a few miles apart on the sea-coast to the west of S., have left remains existing to the present day. In after times, the Chersonesus fell into the power of the Genoese, who established their headquarters at Balaclava, where the remains of the 'Genoese castles' on the heights still bear witness to their rule. See History of the Russian War (W. and R. Chambers). SEBE'NICO, a small port on the coast of Dalmatia, 42 miles south-east of Zara. It is built on a steep slope, and rises in terraces, and was formerly defended by walls and towers. Its cathedral, a fine edifice with a bold dome, was built 1443–1536. Its excellent harbour is defended by several forts. Pop. 14,238. disturb others. Since the abolition of physical restraint by chains and strait-jackets, seclusion has become a favoured and useful mode of repression and treatment. That it should be resorted to exclusively as a remedial agent, and by the medical attendant, is now received as an axiom. In 1854, the Commissioners in Lunacy in England ascer tained, by circular, the opinions of almost all those intrusted with the care of the insane in that country, as to the employment of such means of cure; when it appeared that it was generally considered beneficial, if used for short periods and during paroxysms of epileptic and violent mania. Even when not absolutely required for the tranquillisation of the individual, seclusion may become expedient in order to secure the quiet, comfort, or safety of the patients with whom he is associated. That such an instrument may be abused and adopted from the parsimony, timidity, or ignorance of those around, is obvious. One of the lunatics liberated by Pinel, in 1792, had been incarcerated or secluded in his dark cell for forty years; and occasionally even now the duration of the isolation may be unduly prolonged even under medical sanction; but the instances of gross and cruel seclusion in garrets and cellars, and outhouses, are now chiefly to be found in private families, and where, as in the 'Flushing case,' no better course is known to be practicable.-Eighth Report of Commissioners in Lunacy to Lord Chancellor, App. C, p. 123; Bucknill and Tuke, Psychological Medicine, p. 562; Browne, What Asylums Were, Are, and Ought to be, p. 137. SECOND (for the derivation of which see SCRUPLE) is the sixtieth part of a minute, whether of time or of angular magnitude. See MINUTE. In old treatises we find seconds distinguished as minutœ secundæ, from minutes, or minutæ primæ. The sixtieth part of a second was called a third, but instead of this and succeeding subdivisions, decimal fractions of seconds are now employed. The SE'CONDARY, in Geology, is the designation given to that large section of the fossiliferous strata which includes the Triassic, Oolitic, and Cretaceous rocks. It is synonymous with Mesozoic. strata grouped under this title are separated from the inferior and superior deposits more by their organic contents than their petrological structure, and this separation is more evident between them and the older rocks, than between them and the newer; and yet recent discoveries have shewn that the St Cassian Beds form a connecting link between the Permian and Triassic epochs. They contain a series of fossils which are partly Paleozoic and partly Mesozoic in their facies. SEBE'STEN, SEBESTAN, SEPISTAN, or S. PLUM, the fruit of the Cordia Myxa, a tree of the natural order Cordiaceæ, a native of the East Indies. The appearance of the great types of all subseThe tree has ovate leaves, and an egg-shaped fruit, quent organisms in the Secondary rocks, has sugwhich is succulent, mucilaginous, and emollient, gested the grouping of the fossiliferous strata in with some astringency, and was formerly an article respect of their fossils into only two great divisions of the European Materia Medica, being employed-viz., the Paleozoic and the Neozoic-this last for the preparation of a lenitive electuary and of a pectoral medicine. It is believed to be the Persea of Dioscorides. It has a sweetish taste, and is eaten by the natives of the Northern Circars of India, where it grows. SE'CALE. See RYE. SE CANT. See TRIGONOMETRY. SECE'DERS AND SECESSION KIRK. UNITED PRESBYTERIANS. term including the Secondary and Tertiary periods. SECONDING is a temporary retirement to which officers of Royal Artillery and Royal Engineers are subjected when they accept civil employment under the crown. After six months of such employment the officer is seconded, by which he loses military pay, but retains his rank, seniority, and promotion in his corps. After being seconded See for ten years, he must elect to return to military duty or to retire altogether. SECLU'SION (of the Insane). This term has recently been narrowed so as to apply to the removal of the violent insane from the ordinary wards and fellowship of an asylum to an airing court, gallery, or room so situated and furnished that its solitary occupant can neither injure himself, nor injure nor SECOND SIGHT, a superstition or belief once common in the Scottish Highlands and Isles, where it was known by the Gaelic appellation Taisch, signifying a spectral or shadowy appearance. Certain persons, called seers or wizards, were supposed to possess a supernatural gift, by which they |