S E B 



two acids, as almoft to eftablilh their identity. See Ben- 

 zoic Acid. 



SEBACOOK, or Sebaco, in Geography, a pond or 

 lake of America, in the ftate of Maine, equal in extent to 

 two large townthips, and connefted with Long Pond on 

 the N., W. by Sungo or Songo river; thefe waters reach 

 nearly 30 miles from N.W. to S.E. ; i8 miles N.W. of 

 Portland. 



SEBjEA, in Botany, a name adopted by Mr. Brown, 

 from Dr. Solander's manufcripts, in memory of Albert 

 Seba, an apothecary of Amilerdam, who prepared a fplcndid 

 defcription, with plates, of his own mufeum, in four large 

 folio volumes, which came out between the years 1734 and 

 1765. The author indeed died in 1736, fo that his three 

 latter volumes were pofthumous publications. Many Cape 

 plants are here engraved, and amongll them one of the prefent 

 genus. Yet Seba does not deferve to rank as a fcientific 

 iDOtanift, nor did LinnEUS, who knew him, and by whofe 

 recommendation he employed Artedi to arrange his filhes, 

 ever think him worthy to be commemorated in a genus. 

 If, however, we compare him with numbers who have been 

 fo commemorated, he will not appear to fo much difad- 

 vantage ; for as a cuUeftor he ftands rather high. Brown 

 Prodr. Nov. Holl. v. i. 451. — Clafs and order, Tetrandria 

 Monogynia. Nat. Ord. Rotacet, Linn. Gentians, .lull. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, deeply 

 divided into four ovate, acute, keeled, (lightly fpreading, 

 permanent fegments, folding over each other at the bafe. 

 Car. of one petal, withering, falver-fhaped ; tube fwelling, 

 the length of the calyx, contraftcd at the upper part ; limb 

 in four deep, elliptical, fpreading fegments. Stam. Fila- 

 ments four, thread-lhaped, inferted into the tube, projefting 

 out of its mouth; anthers crett, (horter than the limb, ob- 

 long, burftiiig longitudinally, fubfequently recurved and 

 callous at the tip. Pijl. Gcrmen fuperior, roundifh, filling 

 the tube ; ityle thread-rtiaped, ercft, the length of the 

 (lamens; ftigmas two, oblong. Perk. Capfule roundifli, 

 with a furrow at each fide, compredcd, of two cells and two 

 valve=;, the length of the calyx ; partitions from the inflexcd 

 margins of the valves, inferted into the edges of the large 

 central receptacle, from whicli they finally feparate. Seeds 

 numerous, minute. 



Obf. The flowers in fomc fpecies are five-cleft. 

 EIT. Ch. Calyx deeply four-cleft, keeled. Corolla falvcr- 

 fllaped, with an inflated tube. Anthers burfting longitu- 

 dinally ; finally recurved and callous at the point. Cap- 

 fule with two furrows, two cells and many (eeds ; the par- 

 tition from the inflexed margins of the valves. Stigmas two. 

 Mr. Brown has feparatcd the prefent genus from Exacum, 

 whofe genuine fpecies, accnrdmg to him, are E./e^/eznd 

 pedunculntiim ef Linn. Sp. PI. with which the albens and 

 tordatum of tlie Supplementum are, in tlie laft-mcntioned 

 ■work, confounded. (See Exacum.) Perhaps alfo, as 

 Mr. Brown conceives, E. pundntum of the faid work may 

 make a third, and a nondelcnpt Eatt Indian one in his pof- 

 feffion a fourth, fpecies. He confidcrs as eliential to Exacum 

 a lefs-deeply divided calvx ; anthers without a callous tip, 

 burfting by a pore, or (hort flit, and continuing ftraight 

 after the flowers fade ; llyle declining ; an undivided IHgma ; 

 and receptacle of the feeds conncftcd with a partition origi- 

 nating from the middle of each valve. 



1. 5. albens. Whitifh Seb<ca. ( Exacum albens ; Linn. 

 Suppl. 123. Willd. Sp. PI. V. I. 634. but not E. fedun- 

 culatum, Sp. PI. 163. Centaurium fubrotundis foliis, flo- 

 rlbus comofis ; Burm. Afr. 207. t. 74, f. 4 ; excluding 

 the reference to Piukcnct.) — Flowers in the upper forks of 

 the ftem feflile. — Gatliered by Thunberg, Sparrraann, and 

 Voz.. XXXII. 



S K B 



others at the Cape of Good Hope. The root n annual, 

 hbrous. Stem ercCt, four or five inches high, much branched, 

 repeatedly forked, leafy, fmooth, with four ftiarp angles, 

 level-topped, many-flowered. Leaves feflile, fcarcely at all 

 decurreiit, ovate, entire, fmooth, flefliy, fomewhat glau- 

 cous. Flowers four-cleft, though Burmann defcribes them 

 otherwife ; the loweft more or lefs ftalked, as well as thofe 

 which crown the ultimate lateral branches ; but thofe Ctuatcd 

 in the upper forks of the ilem are quite feflile. Segments 

 of the calyx flightly keeled, their points a little recurved. 

 Corolla apparently whitifti, or pale pink. Thunberg's fpc- 

 cim.en agrees belt with Burmann's figure ; that of Sparr- 

 mann has broader leaves and larger flowers ; yet we cannot 

 trace out a falisfaftory difliuftion. One of them may pof. 

 fibly be the unpublifhed Cape fpecies, amiounccd by Mr. 

 Brown, without any definition or defcription, but we can- 

 not guefs which, and, all things corifidcred, we do not feel 

 authorized in feparating them. 



2. S. aurea. Yellow Sebxa. (Exacum aureum ; Linn. 

 Suppl. 123. Willd. Sp. PI. V. 1.63J. Centaurium minus 

 aureum, flofculis numerofis, asthiopicum ; Pluk. Almag. 94. 

 t. 275. f. 3.)— All the flowers ihlked.— Gathered by Sparr- 

 mann, at the Cape of Good Hope. About half the fizc 

 of the laft in every part. Flowers yellow, four-cleft, each 

 on a (lender quadrangular ftalk, even from the uppermoft, as 

 well as the lower, forks of the ilem. Linniiis juftly com- 

 mends Plukenet's figure, though he had originally, in Sp. 

 PI. cited that fynonym doubtfully under his Exacum fejjile, 

 a widely different plant. It is remarkable that he defcribes 

 the calyx in the Supplement as of five leaves, whereas it has 

 only four, as it ought, the corolla being five-cleft. 



3. S. cordata. Heart-fhaped Sebaea. (Exacum cor- 

 datum ; Linn. Suppl. 124. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 636. 

 ^utnol E./cjlJile, Sp. PI. 163. Gentianacxacoides ; Linn. 

 Sp. PI. 332. Centaurium perfoliatum, florum calyce mcm- 

 branaceum ventricofum ; Burm. Afr. 2o3. t. 74. f. 5, 

 C. perfoliatum :Ethiopicum, flofculis exiguis flavelcentibus, 

 ex calyculis magnis quadripinnatis erumpentibus ; Pluk. 

 Almag. 94. t. 275. f. 4. " C. capenfc minus, czpfulA 

 quatuor alis donata ; Seb. Muf. v. i. t. 22. f. 7.") — 

 Flowers five-cleft. Segments of the calyx with a dilated, 

 half-heart-fhapcd, veiny keel. Leaves heart-fhaped. — Na- 

 tive of the Cape of Good Hope. The fize and habit agree 

 with the firft fpecicf, but xhcjlowers are larger, apparently 

 yellow, with a longer tube, and five-cleft limb. Calyx A\l- 

 tinguiilied by the dilated veiny keels of its fegments, which 

 are five, not (as Plukenet and Seba fay,) four only. All 

 xhejloivcrs have ^zrUsXJlalLs, though fliorter in the upper 

 ones than the lower. The whole hillory of thefe three 

 fpecies, in the Supplement, was written by Linnius him- 

 ielf, not by his fon, who only defcribed the fourth, Exacum 

 puntlatum. 



4. S. oi'nia. Ovate Sebia. Brown n. I. (Exacum 

 ovatum; Labill. Nov. Holl. v. i. 38. t. 52.) — Flowera 

 five-cleft. Segments of the calyx fimply keeled. Le»vei 

 ovate. — Gathered by M. Labdiardicre at Cape Van Diemen, 

 ar.d by Mr. Biown at Port Jackfim, New South Wales. 

 Taller and more (lender than the foregoing, beiiig about a 

 fpan high. Such of the upper /focixTx, as grow from the 

 forks of the yAm, are nearly leliile, like thofe of S. alliens. 

 Segmer.ts of the ra/y-r lanceolate, with a fimplc, not dilated, 

 keel. Corc/Ai witha Imall, fhort, five-cleft limb; nothing 

 IR recorded of its colour. 



SEBAGENA, in Ancient Geography, a towu of Cjppa- 

 docia, in the prefe(5\ure of Cilicia. Ptolemy- 



SEBA I A, in Geography, a town of Arabia, in tlic pro- 

 vincf of Hcdsiat ; 5< miles S. of Medina. 



" T SEDAKET 



