SER 



655 



SER 



tween the nostrils. 2. The plates di- 

 viding the chambers of mululocular shells 

 are called septa. 



SE'QUENCE, Lat. sequentia. In music, a 

 similar succession of chords. 



SEQUESTRA'TIOX, from low Lat. seques- 

 tra, to sever. In law, the act of separating 

 a thing in controversy from the possession 

 of both parties, until the right be deter- 

 mined. 



SEauiu' (sometimes written zechin and 

 chequin). A gold coin. That of Genoa is 

 worth 9s. 5jrf., those of Milan and Pied- 

 mont are worth 9s. 43<f., that of Naples is 

 worth 6s. 7i<i., that of Rome is worth 9s. 

 3d., that of Tuscany the same, and that of 

 Venice about a farthing more. In Turkey 

 the old sequin is worth 7s. Sd., whereas 

 the sequin fonducti is worth only 7s. 6irf. 



SERAGLI'O. The palace of the Turkish 

 Sultan, in Constantinople. 



SE'RAI. A place of accommodation for 

 travellers in the East, thus named in 

 India and Tartary; but the Turks call 

 them Khans, and the Persians Caravan- 

 serais, which is the name commonly em- 

 ployed in Europe. 



SER'APHINE. A musical wind instru- 

 ment of the organ species, adapted to the 

 size of a chamber. 



SER'APHS. In the celestial hierarchy, the 

 angels of the highest rank. 



SERAS'KIER. A Turkish general, or com- 

 mander of land forces. 



SEREXA'DE, Lat. serenus, clear. Origin- 

 ally music performed in the open air on a 

 serene evening ; latterly, a nocturnal ex- 

 hibition by gallants under the window of 

 some favourite lady ; the custom was for- 

 merly common in Spain and Italy. 



SERENA'TA. A piece of music of a vocal 

 description. 



SERGE, Fr. serge, Sp. xerga, It. sergia. 

 A woollen quilted stuff of various kinds. 

 It is worked with four treddles. 



SER'GEANT, Fr. sergent, It. sergente. 1. A 

 lawyer of the highest rank, under a judge. 



2. Formerly this title was borne in 



England by an officer answering to our 

 modern bailiff of the hundred ; and also 

 by an officer whose business was to at- 

 tend on the king and the lord high stew- 

 ard in court, to arrest traitors and other 

 great offenders: the same is now called 



Sergeant-at-arms or mace. 3. At present, 



several petty officers have the name of 

 sergeant. 



SER'ICEOUS, Lat. sericeus, silky; sericum, 

 silk. Applied, in botany, to the fine down 

 of some plants. 



SE'RIES (Lat.), sequels; order; course. 

 1. In chronology, &c., a continued succes- 

 sion of things of the same order, and 

 which have some relation or connection 

 with each other. 2. In analysis, a suc- 

 cession of terms, or progressive quantities, 

 connected together by the signs plin and 



minus, and proceeding according to some 

 law or determinate relation. See PRO- 

 GRESSION. 



SE'RON, A buffalo's hide, used for pack- 

 ing drugs, &c. 



SER'PENS. In astronomy, a northern 

 constellation. 



SER'PENT. 1. A venomous reptile. See 



SERPENTIA and OPHIDIA. 2. A musical 



brass wind instrument, bass to the horns 

 or cornets. 



SERPENTA'HA. 1. The name of a genus of 

 plants now distributed among the genera 

 Arum, Aristolochia, and Scorzonera (q. v.). 

 2. The plant called snake-root, a spe- 

 cies of Aristolochia. 



SERPENTA'RIUS, Lat. from serpcns,*. ser- 

 pent. 1. In ornithology, the snake-cater 

 or secretary, an African bird of prey. It 

 forms one of the divisions of the genus 

 Milvus, Bech. 2. In astronomy, a con- 

 stellation of the northern hemisphere, 

 named also Ophiuchus. 



SERPEN'TIA. Serpents. A family of rep- 

 tiles of the order Ophidia. Name from 

 serpo, to creep. The true serpents com- 

 prise the genera without a sternum, and 

 in which there is no vestige of shoulder, 

 but where the ribs still surround a great 

 part of the circumference of the trunk, 

 and where the body of each vertebra is 

 still articulated by a convex surface to a 

 cavity in the succeeding one. They are 

 subdivided into two tribes, the Amphis- 

 beenes, founded on the genus Amphisbcena, 

 Lin., and the serpentes, or serpents properly 

 so called. These again are divided into 

 venomous and non-venomous : to the 

 former belong the boa, anaconda, python, 

 crotalus (rattlesnake), and viper. 



SBR'PENTINE. A mineral of the mag- 

 nesian family : the ophites or serpent stone 

 of the ancients. It is usually of a green 

 colour, with many tints (like a serpent's 

 skin): sective, tough, and therefore easily 

 cut into ornamental forms. It sometimes 

 forms whole rocks, as at Lizard Point, in 

 Cornwall. It differs from hornblende in 

 containing more magnesia and less iron. 

 "When intermixed with' patches of marble 

 it constitutes the stone called verde-an- 

 tique. 



SERpr*oo. In surgery, the ringworm or 

 tetter, from serpo, to creep. See HERPES. 



SER'PULA, a genus of Articulata; order 

 Tubicela. Animal, a terebella ; shell a tu- 

 bular univalve, which twines round and 

 covers stones, shells, and other submarine 

 bodies. Species numerous. Their petrified 

 remains are called serpulites, 



SERRA'NUS. The name of a genus of 



canthopterygious fishes of the perch 



family. The genus contains a vast number 



of species, and is divided into severalsub- 



ge&era. 



ER'RATE, Lat. terrains, from serra, a 

 saw. Toothed like * iw. 



