SEA 



StA.-LouJe, pedlculus marinus, a name given to the Mo- 

 lucca crab. 



SEA-Lvngs, in the Hi/lory of In/eils, the Enghfh name of 

 a fpecies of medufa. 



SEA.-Man. We have many accounts, even from authors 

 of credit, of fomething refembling the human figure feen 

 at fea, and fancy has carried them to fuch a height, that the 

 truth of the defcription is loft in moft of thcni. 



The fyrens, which we have accounts of even in Bartho- 

 lin, and the fea-man, or iomo marinus, as it was called, feen 

 and defcribed by Barchewitz, give the greateft credit to the 

 ftory ; but writers are fo fond of telling marvellous thmgs, 

 that great allowances are to be made in the reading. 



The general defcription of the fea-man is, that from the 

 navel downwards the whole is only a fhapelefs lump of fleih, 

 without any the lealt mark, either of limbs, fins, or tail. 

 On the breaft there ftand two peftoral fins, which are each 

 compofed of five bones or rays, refembling the human hand, 

 and connefted together by a membrane like the toes of a 

 duck, or fome other water-fowl's foot. 



Thefe fins are what have the appearance of fomething 

 human, and when feen about the bofom of a white-bellied 

 fifh, may be taken for hands with fhort arms, and the refem- 

 blance of a head is eafily fancied. Thefe fins are not pecu- 

 liar to any one kind of fifh ; but the manati or fea-cow, the 

 rana pifcatrix or lophius, and many others, have them. It is 

 probable, from moft of the accounts we have, that the 

 manati, or fea-cow, is the creature which, being feen raifing 

 its head above water at a diltance, and extending thefe 

 peftoral fins, which are what it fwims with, has given rife 

 to the idea of the upper parts of a human figure. 



As to the defcription of a (hapelefs lump of flefli making 

 up the lower part of the animal, it feems too contrary to 

 the courfe of nature in all other fea-animals, to have any 

 foundation in reality, and probably was only the invention 

 of the defcriber, to make out what he did not fee above 

 water. 



It is true, that Barchewitz takes great pains to prove 

 that the fea-man, or homo marinus, he defcribes, was a 

 wholly different creature from the fea-cow ; but his defcrip- 

 tion of it carries too little the air of any thing in nature, to 

 meet with an eafy credit. 



It is wonderful, that fo judicious a writer as Artedi 

 fhould give any faith to the exillence of fo ftrange a fifh as 

 this, but he mentions it with a great air of diftrult, and 

 wifhes a more perfcft iiiilory of it, if it any where exifts. 



The public are often impofed upon by cheats, who fhew 

 different things under the name of fea-men, mermaids, and 

 fyrens ; but if we may judge of the generality of thefe 

 creatures, thus fhewn, by the lateft inltancc among us, they 

 are very wretched counterfeits indeed. This creature was 

 faid to be a young mermaid taken on the Acapulca ihore, 

 and maintained its credit fo well in London, as to afi'ord 

 the proprietor a comfortable fubfiflcnce for ten months 

 among us, though no other than a human foetus of about 

 eight months, with a iiydrocephalus head, and with the 

 two legs growing together, and covered by one common 

 membrane : the toes of this foetus were beat out into a re- 

 femblance of fins. 



Sea- Mari, a point and confpicuous place diftinguifhcd 

 at fea. See L,AND-Mari, Beacon', and Buoy. 



Sea-ATo/s. Sec Coralline and Conkkrva. 



SEA-Moufe, in the Hijlory of InfcEis, the Englifh name of 

 the aphrodita. 



S'E.A-Mud, in Agriculture, that fort of muddy depofition 

 which is often taking place on the fhorcs and coalls of the 

 fea, and which occaiionally forms a conftituent part of the 



SEA 



foil of the lands in fuch neighbourhoods. In fome inftanceg 

 it is of a rich improving quality, but in the otiui cafes it 

 partakes of a clayey unprodudive nalua-, ilpeclaily tii<.t 

 which is of a black, tough, crude defcription. In fome 

 places where this material is found of ufc as a manure, they 

 diftinguifliitinto two kinds, or that which is taken from the 

 furface, and called ^;wn-y«(/ mud, or fludge, and tliat which 

 is raifed or taken before it is covered with green fw;'rd, 

 denominatedy/oi mud. The former is by much the richeft 

 and llrongeft as manure, therefore the beft calculated for 

 application in this way, where it can be procured. 



It is fometimes employed in preference to marie, though 

 that iubftancc may be more ready at hand, in the proportion 

 of about three roods to the flatute acre, being laid on the 

 lay ground in autumn, that is to be broken up in the follow. 

 ing fpring months. It is moitly got by digging it up only 

 one fpit depth from the furface. After being fprcad out, 

 and well broken down and reduced, it is turned down into 

 the foil by the plougli. It is ufeful for oat, barley, po- 

 tatoe, and wheat crops, producing a large return. It is 

 alfo very durable as a fubftance of this nature, lafting 

 longer even than marie, and being never liable to injure 

 grals-lands. This fort of rich fta-mud is mollly met with 

 on the banks or fhores near the mouths of large rivers 

 which empty themfelves into the fea, but in other cafes 

 its fertilizing properties are often lefs to be depended upon. 



The muddy matter which is combined with fandy mate- 

 rials on the fea-coafts in fome diltridts, is alfo found of great 

 utility as a manure. 



SEA-Nett/e. See Nettle. 



SEA-Oai. See Wreck, and Flcus. 



&EA-Officer. See Ori'iOEii. 



Sea-0///o«, in Botany. See SciLLA. 



&EA-Olter. See Otter. 



Sea-OuJc; in /Igriciihurc, a rich fort of mud or depofition 

 raifed from the fea-fhores in different parts of the kingdom, 

 and which has been found in many cafes of much uie as a 

 manure. It might probably be found good, and in large 

 quantities, in many fituations on the fea-coalls, where it 

 has not yet Dcen tiiougiit of by the farmer. As there can, 

 however, be no doubt of its poflefFing a highly enriching 

 property, it fliould be diligently provided in all places 

 where it can be had. It is ftated, in the Norfolk Agri- 

 cultural Survey, tliat Mr. Palgravc, at Colterflial, ulcs much 

 fea-oufy mud fcrapcd up by the bfar from the bottom of 

 Yarmouth Haven. He lays on forty loads per acre, and 

 has tiius manured feventy acres ; the improvement is very 

 great. It was found on trial that it is a calcareous oufy-mud ; 

 and that on fcald.-. or burning-places, and faiid or gravel, it 

 forms a cold bottom, and is an cffeftual cure. Fifty loads 

 per acre of fea-oufe have been ufed on the upland loams of 

 Warham with very great fuccefs ; (uperior crops the con- 

 fequcncc. And another fubftaiice may be confidercd under 

 this head, though in the above Agricultural Survcv it lias 

 been defcribed under that of fea-weed, which it does not 

 fcem fo properly to belong to. It is found on tlio coafl at 

 Thornham, being marked in Mr. Fadcn'8 map of the coun- 

 try for what is termed crabs, fcalps, and oat-roots. It is 

 ftated by the writer on examining it, to be obvioufly the 

 ruins of a foreft of large trees, the flubs and roots remaining, 

 but in fuch a ilate of decay, that with a fpade he dug into 

 the centre of many, and might have done of all, \nth as 

 much facility as into a mafs of butter. Where the flump* 

 are not found on digging, a black mala of vegetable fibrcj, 

 apparently confifting of decayed branches, leaves, rufhcn, 

 flags, &c. is turned up : to what deptli this vegetable 

 itratum extends, has not been afcertained, but at fome 



cricks 



