SEA URCHIN 



5287 



SEBASTIAN 



Education. The public schools are under 

 control of a board of education which is inde- 

 pendent of the municipal government. The 

 University of Washington, under the manage- 

 ment of the state, is the largest institution for 

 higher education in the Pacific Northwest 

 (see WASHINGTON, UNIVERSITY OF). Washing- 

 ton Preparatory School for Girls, the Academy 

 of the Holy Name, the College of Our Lady of 

 Lourdes, Adelphia College and Seattle College 

 are all schools of a high order of excellence. 

 The public library maintains nine branches and 

 has over 265,000 volumes. 



Institutions. Seattle contains a number of 

 hospitals, chief among which are the Municipal 

 Hospital, maintained by the city; the County 

 Hospital, in charge of the county commission- 

 ers, and the Swedish, Seattle General, Miner 

 and Providence hospitals. There are a number 

 of benevolent societies in the city and the usual 

 church organizations for charitable work. 



Growth. Seattle has had a rapid but a sub- 

 stantial growth. In 1880 the population was 

 only 3,500; in 1890 it was 42,837; in 1900, 

 80,871; in 1910, 237,194, and in 1916, 348,639 

 (Federal estimate). A very large part of the 

 population has come from the eastern and 

 central parts of the United States. 



, History. The site of Seattle was undoubtedly 

 once well known to the Indians of the North- 

 west. The first white settlement was made in 

 1852. Four years later it survived an attack by 

 Indians, was incorporated as a town in 1865 

 and as a city in 1869. The first railroad from 

 the East was completed in 1884. In 1889 the 

 city suffered from a disastrous fire. This and 

 the financial depression of 1893 delayed its de- 

 velopment. In 1897 gold was discovered in 

 Alaska and the Yukon region, and Seattle im- 

 mediately became the outfitting point of this 

 great field. 



In 1909 the Alaska- Yukon-Pacific Exposition 

 (which see) was held in Seattle for the purpose 

 of exhibiting the resources of that region. At 

 the close of the exposition a number of the 

 principal buildings became the property of the 

 University of Washington. P.N. 



Consult Beaton's A City that Made Itself. 



SEA UR'CHIN, an animal belonging to the 

 same group as the starfishes, sea lilies and sea 

 cucumbers (see ECHINODERMS), the body of 

 which is covered with tiny limestone plates 

 bearing hinged spines. "Without its spines," 

 says one authority, "a sea urchin looks like an 

 old-fashioned door knob." On its lower surface 



the sea urchin has a circular opening contain- 

 ing the mouth; on the upper surface are the 

 eyes and the openings through which the eggs 

 emerge. Through tiny holes in the body cov- 

 ering the animal 

 thrusts out tube 

 feet having suck- 

 ing disks. With 

 these suckers it 

 draws small ani- 

 mals into its large 

 mouth, which has 

 five sharp teeth 

 for grinding the 

 food. The tube 

 feet are used also 

 as organs of lo- SEA URCHIN 



comotion, and some of them are employed as 

 feeling tentacles. The various species are found 

 in shallow water in most parts of the world. 

 In the Mediterranean Sea there is a large spe- 

 cies used as food. A sea urchin found on the 

 California coast can burrow holes into solid 

 rock. These animals all reproduce by eggs. 



SEA 'WEED, any plant that grows in the 

 sea. There are numerous varieties of seaweed 

 and several of them are useful. For instance, 

 blanc-mange, a popular dessert, is prepared 

 from Irish moss, or carrageen, which is also 

 a valuable cattle food. Eel grass is employed 

 in upholstering; the ash obtained by burning 

 kelp is an important source of iodine, and the 

 plant when dried and ground makes a valuable 

 fertilizer, since it contains a large percentage of 

 potash. Seaweed collects in large masses in 

 those parts of the ocean that are free from cur- 

 rents. On account of its bulk and weight it 

 cannot be transported far with profit, but large 

 masses frequently drift near the shore, where 

 they become available. Accumulations of this 

 sort are found near the Philippine Islands and 

 in several places off the Atlantic and Pacific 

 coasts of the United States. 



Related Subjects. For further information 

 on this subject the reader should consult the 

 following articles : 

 Algae Kelp 



Ash Sargasso Sea 



Irish Moss Water Plants 



SEBASTIAN, se bos' chan, SAINT, one of the 

 early defenders of the Christian faith, who was 

 put to death by the Emperor Diocletian. He 

 entered the Roman army without revealing his 

 intent to assist and protect the Christians, 

 found favor with the emperor and became com- 

 mander of the first cohort at Milan. His re- 



