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rated from the S.W. end of the ifland of Timor by a narrow 

 channel, called the " Straits of Semao." S. lat. io° ij'. 

 E. lonpf. 133^ 45'. 



SEMAR, a river which rifes in mount Cenis, and after 

 forming a boundary by its courfe between Savoy and Pied- 

 mont, falls into the Doria at Sufa. 



SEMARILLARIA, in Botany, a term applied to 

 feeds which are furrounded half way down by an arillus, or 

 any other fimilar covering. 



SEMATAI, in Geography, a town of China, of the 

 third rank, in Pe-tchc-li ; 35 miles N.E. of Pekin. 



SEMAU, an ifland in the Ealt Indian fea ; 9 miles S. 

 from the ifland of Timor. 



SEMAUE, or Semauat, a town of the Arabian Irak, 

 on the Euphrates, where a toll is coUefted ; 115 miles S.E. 

 of Bagdad. 



SEMBEKE, an ifland in the Red fea, near the coaft 

 of Arabia. N. lat. 25° 12'. 



SEMBELLA, among the Romans, a fmall filver coin, 

 equal in value and weight to half tiie libella. 



SEMBEWGHEWN, in Geography, a town of the 

 Birman empire, on the Irawaddy ; 30 miles S. of Pagham 

 Mew. 



SEMBIANI, Sembians, in Ecckftajlkal Hiftory, a fed 

 of ancient heretics, denominated from their leader, Sembius, 

 or Sembianus, who condemned all ufe of wine, as evil of it- 

 felf ; perfuaded his followers, that the wine was a produc- 

 tion of Satan and the earth, denied the refurreftion of the 

 dead, and rejected moll of the books of the Old Teftament. 

 Jovet. 



SEMBR ACENA, in jincient Geography, a town of Ara- 

 bia Felix, near the fea, in the kingdom of the Sabasans, ac- 

 cording to Ptolemv. 



SEMBRADOR, an engine, invented by Don Jof. de 

 Lucatello, for the evenly fowing of feeds, defcribed in the 

 Pliilofophical Tranfaftions under the title of the Spanijh 

 Setftbrador. 



The perfeClion of agriculture is allowed to confift much 

 in fetting plants at proportional dillances, and giving fuf- 

 ficient depth to the roots, that they may fpread, and receive 

 their neceliary nourifliment ; yet there is very little care 

 taken in the praftice of this important part of huftiandry, 

 but all forts of grains are fown byhandfuls caft: at random, 

 by which means four parts in five of the feed are loft. To 

 remedy this inconvenience, the fembrador, or fower, is in- 

 vented, which being failened to the plough, the whole bufi- 

 nefs of ploughing, fowing, and harrowing, is done at once ; 

 the feedfman's trouble is faved, and the grain fpread at 

 equal dillances, and equally deep at the bottom ot the 

 furrow. 



An experiment to this purpofe was made before the em- 

 peror Leopold in the fields of Luxemburgh in Aultria, 

 where the land ufually yields four or five-fold ; but the 

 crop from the ground fowed by this inftnimcnt was fixty- 

 fold, as appears by a certificate of the emperor's officer 

 appointed to fee the experiment ; figned, Vienna, Aug. 1, 

 1663. 



We have a figure of the fembrador, in the Tranfeftions, 

 N^ 60. by the earl of Calllemain. See Plough. 



SEMACHON, or Simaciiok, in Ancient Geography, a 

 lake ot Paleiline. 



SEME, orSuEME. See Seam. 



SEMECARPUS, in Botany, derived from o-i-.^un'.i.', to 

 mart, and «-^ §770;, a fruit ; a name evidently derived from 

 the ufe that is made of its nut, in the Eail Indies, to mark 

 table linen and articles of apparel. If thcfc are put over the 

 nut, and pricked, the juice exuding will make an indelible 



Vol. XXXII. 



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ftain, which ferves as an excellent natural marking ink. — 

 Linn. Suppl. 2J. Schreb. 196. Willd. Sp. PI. v. i. 1476. 

 Mart. Mill. Dia. v. 4. (Anacardium ; Juff. Gen. 368. 

 Lamarck lUuitr. t. 208. Gaertn. t. 40.) — Clafs and 

 order, PentandriaTrtgyma. Nat. Ord. Terciinlacea, Jufl". 



Gen. Ch. Cat. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, bell-fliaped, 

 cloven half way down into five, heart-fliaped, acute feg- 

 ments. Cor. Petals five, lanceolate, bordered, obtufe, larger 

 than the fegments of the calyx. Stam. Filaments five, awl- 

 fliaped, fliorter than the corolla, infertcd into the receptacle ; 

 anthers oblong, fmall. Pifl. Germcn fuperior, globular, 

 flattened ; ftyles three, recurved, fituated on the germen and 

 fl^iorter than it; lligmas club-fhaped, retufe. Perk, none, 

 except the receptacle, which is ercd, flefliy, pear-fliaped, 

 imoolh. Seed, a nut roiling upon the receptacle, heart- 

 ftiaped, flattened on both fide?, fmooth and fliining. 



Obf. Dr. Roxburgh has obferved fome trees of Seme- 

 carpus with male flowers only, on which account proftflbr 

 Martyn has defcribed the genus as belonging to the clafs 

 and order of Polygamia Dioecla. 



Etr. Ch. Calyx five-cleft, inferior. Petals five. Nut 

 fomewhat kidney-fliaped, ftanding on a large, fli-fliy, flat- 

 tened receptacle. 



I. S. Anacardium, Marking-nut tree. Linn. Suppl. 

 182. Roxb. Coromandel. v. i. 13. t. 12. — Native of 

 mountainous, dry woods throughout the Eall Indies, flower- 

 ing in July and Auguft, but ripening its feed in Janu.iry 

 and February. A handfome lofty tree, vvhofe bark is rough, 

 afli-coloured and glutinous withinfide. Branches numerous, 

 fpreading, rather hairy. Leaves alternate, on (hortifli Ilalks, 

 wedge-fliaped, rounded at the tip, entire, firm, nearly fmooth 

 above, whitifli and a little rough beneath. Flowers in large, 

 terminal, eredl panicles, compofed of numerous, fmall fpikes, 

 of a dirty-greenifli-yellow colour. Bradeas numerous, (mail, 

 deciduous. Receptacle yellow, as large as the nut, which is 

 black, containing a corrolive refinous juice, at firft of a pale 

 milk colour, but turning black. 



The -wood of this tree is foft, containing an acrid juice. 

 The flefliy receptacles when roaded have the flavour of 

 apples, and are eaten by the natives. The green fruit, 

 pounded into a pulp, makes gnod bird-lime ; when ripe, its 

 black acrid juice is highly efteemed by the Telinga phy- 

 ficians, as a remedy for various diforders. 



SEMEGONDA, in Geography, a town of Africa, in the 

 kingdom of Wangara, on the Niger, near a lake called 

 by Ptolemy Libya Palus. N. lat. 15° 22'. E. long. 

 22° 30'. 



SEMEIOTICA, trifiiwT.Krt, formed from ai\^uo\, fign, 

 ox fymptom, that part of medicine which confidcrs the iigns 

 or appearances of difeafes, which are the fole guides to the 

 phyfician, by which he can alcertain the feat and nature of 

 difeafes, and their probable termination. It includes, there- 

 fore, the art of d'lagnofis and prognofts, and nojology, or the art 

 of arranging difeafes in methodical order. See thefe words 

 refpeclively. 



SEME LA, in Geography, a town of Africa, in Tripoli; 

 145 miles S. of Mefurada. 



SEMELE, in Mythology, the mother of Bacchus. 



SEMELITANI, in Ancient Geography, a people wlw 

 inhabited the interior of Sicily, according to Pliny. 



SEMEN, m Botany. See Seed. 



Semen, in Phyfiology, an animal fluid fecreted by the 

 male, the contaft of which is ncceilary to render the germs 

 formed by tlie female prolific. See Genekation. 



Semen SanHum, or Santonicum. See Worm Seed. 



SEMENCAN, in Geography, a town of Grand Bu- 

 ckaria ; loo miles S.E. of Balk. 



E e SEMEN- 



