SIGISMUND 



SIGNALLING 



443 



marshy ground. Cylindrical rootlets proceeded 

 from these long cable-like roots in a regularly 

 spiral manner, and when they decayed they left 

 rounded scars. These roots were formerly sup- 

 posed to be a distinct species till stems of Sigillana 

 were found with Stigmarian roots attached. 



The stem of Sigillaria is not* often so well pre- 

 served as to show any structure, or even its cylindri- 

 cal form. It generally occurs as a double layer of 

 coal exhibiting on the outer 

 surfaces the scars produced 

 by the bases of the leaf-stalks. 

 Indeed from the fact that 

 most coal-seams are underlaid 

 by what appear to be old 

 soils or underclays, which are 

 crowded with roots, it would 

 seem that Sigillariae, and 



probably other trees with Stig- 

 maria-roots, enter very largely 



into the formation of many 

 coal-seams. Some of the more 

 impure coals, which are inter- 

 laminated with shale, &c. , 

 consist principally of the flat- 

 tened stems of Sigillaria 

 mixed with the debris of other 

 plants. From this and other 

 evidence Sir \V. Dawson is of 

 opinion that the growth of a 

 forest of Sigillaria; and other 

 trees having Stigmaria-roots 

 was the first step towards the 

 accumulation of a bed of coal, 

 and that the formation of this 

 coal terminated as it had 

 begun by a forest growth. 

 This i- shown by the fact that 

 Sigillaria restored : a, in some localities erect stumps 

 Sigillaria Brvunii; of Sigillaria rise from the 

 6, S. elegant. upper surfaces of the coal- 



(After Dcwson.) seam, and penetrate the over- 

 lying shales and sandstones. 

 Botanists are still undecided as to the position of 

 Sigillaria. Some eighty species have been described 

 from the Carboniferous system, and many more 

 must have existed ; and it is quite probable, as 

 Sir W. Dawson thinks, that the group of Sigillariie 

 may eventually be divisible into several forms. 

 He considers that some will come to be classed 

 with the Lepidodendroids, while others will prove 

 to be allied to the pines and cycads (Gymno- 

 sjpermefe). See Dawson's Geological History of 

 Plants ( 1888 ), and STIOMABIA. 



Sigismund, emperor of Germany (1411-37), 

 the son of the Emperor Charles IV., was bom on 

 14th February 1368. He was made king of Hun- 

 gary when only nineteen, succeeding to that dignity 

 through his wife. In 1396 at the head of a numerous 

 army he attempted to relieve the Byzantine empire 

 from the Turks, but was terribly defeated at Nico- 

 polis (28th September). Some years later he con- 

 quered Bosnia and Herzegovina and reduced Servia 

 to hU sway. In 1411 he was proclaimed emperor 

 on the death of Rupert. One of his earliest acts as 

 emperor was to induce Pope John XXIII. to call 

 together the Council of Constance for the purpose 

 of putting an end to the Hussite and other schisms. 

 But although he supported the party of reform, 

 he made no effort to uphold the safe-conduct he 

 had granted to Huss, and permitted him to be 

 burned by his enemies. In return for this breach of 

 faith his succession to the throne of Bohemia, after 

 his brother's death, was opposed by the Hussites ; 

 and they maintained their opposition so stoutly 

 that it was 1436 before Sigismund, making conces- 

 sions, could put the crown of Bohemia on nis head. 

 But in the year following he died at Znaim, on 9th 



December. This emperor possessed many of the 

 qualities of a capable ruler, and made praiseworthy 

 attempts to introduce various reforms in the ad^ 

 ministration of the empire ; but his efforts seem to 

 have been frustrated in great part by his own lack 

 of decision and by his chronic want of money. 



See works by Aschbach (4 vols. Hamb. 1838-45), 

 Bezold (Mun. 1875), Lenz (Berl. 1874), and Windecke 

 (Ger. trans. Leip. 1886). For the Polish Sigismunds, see 

 POLAND. 



Sigmaringen. See HOHENZOLLERN. 



Signalling is the means of transmitting intelli- 

 gence to a greater or less distance by the agency of 

 sight or hearing. Incomparably the most powerful 

 medium yet known for this purpose is the electric 

 current (see TELEGRAPH, TELEPHONE). The elec- 

 tric current requires fixed or (as in the case of 

 field telegraphy) travelling apparatus establishing 

 an actual communication between the two points ; 

 and is therefore inapplicable to the ordinary cases 

 of ships interchanging signals with each other or 

 with the shore. For railway signals, see RAIL- 

 WAYS, Vol. VIII. p. 558. 



The ancients seem to have elaborated a fair 

 system of night-signals by torches for military pur- 

 poses (see BEACON ) ; but in naval affairs the ships 

 sailed so close together that orders could be communi- 

 cated by word of mouth, while the turning of a shield 

 from right to left sufficed as sailing directions to 

 the several lines. In the time of James II. a ship's 

 signal could only be expressed by flags, in confus- 

 ing number, hung in different parts of the vessel. 



'Code Signal 'and 



V*- 



' Answering Pennant.' 



N.S. When ned as the 'Code Signal.' thl Pennant is to be 

 hoisted under the 'Ensign;' when used as the 'Answering 

 Pennant,' where best seen. 



c -v 



W 



YILIOW 



a 



HITI 



n 



Fig. 1. Flags of the International Code of Signals. 



Thanks to Sir Home Popham, Marryat, and other 

 inventors, the system has been adopted of hanging 

 a number of flags under one another, each symbol 

 or combination having an arbitrary conventional 



