SEN 



united with great modefty, and became poflefled, by his in- 

 dultry in the practice of his profeffion, of much found 

 medical knowledge. His merits obtained for him the 

 favour of the court, and he was appointed confulting phy- 

 sician to Louis XV., and fubfequently fucceeded Checoy- 

 neau in the office of firft phyfician to that monarch. He 

 was alfo a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at 

 Paris, and of the Royal Society of Nancy. He died in 

 December, 1770, at the age of about 77 years, and the 

 king appointed no phyfician as his fucceffor, as long as he 

 lived. 



This able phyfician left fome works, wliich will probably 

 maintain a reputation as long as medicine is ftudied. We 

 allude more efpecially to his treatife on the heart and its 

 difeafes, " Traite de la Strufture du Cceur, de fon Aftion, 

 et de fes Maladies," Paris, 1749, in two volumes, 4to. 

 which is ftill a Itandard work upon this interefting fubjeft. 

 An eflay " De recondita febrium intermittentium et remit- 

 tentium natura," AmlL 1759, is generally afcribed to 

 Senac. He alfo publifhed, when young, an edition of 

 Heiiler's Anatomy, with fome interefting comments and 

 obfervations of his own, entitled, " Anatomie d'Heifter, 

 avec des Efi'ais de Phyfique fur I'Ufage des Parties du Corps 

 Humain," Paris 1724, and afterwards " Difcours fur la 

 Methode de Franco, et fur celle de M. Rau touchant 

 POperation de la Taille," 1727. " TraitC- des Caufes, des 

 Accidens, et de la Cure de la Pelte," 1744. A work 

 under the aftiimed name of Julien Morifon, entitled " Let- 

 tres fur la Choix des Saignces," 1730, was from his pen; 

 as well as a paper in the Memoirs of the Academy of 

 Sciences for 1725, under the title of " Reflexions fur les 

 Noyes," in which he combatted fome erroneous opinions 

 refpefting the caufe of death by drowning, and the treat- 

 ment founded upon them. A work, entitled " Nouveau 

 Cours de Chymie fuivant lea Principes de Newton et de 

 Stahl," Paris, 1722 and 1737, has been attributed by mif- 

 take to Senac ; it was in fail a compilation of notes taken 

 at the leftures of Geoffrey by fome ftudents, and is un- 

 worthy of his pen. See Eloy, Dift. Hift de la Medecine. 



SENACIA, in Botany, a genus of Commerfon's, ap- 

 parently named by him in honour of the French phyfician 

 Senac, (fee the preceding article,) who might perhaps have 

 patronized the expedition of Commerfon, Ijut of whofe bo- 

 tanical merits we find nothing recorded. Jufheu, Gen. PI. 

 378, merely mentions this genus under Celajlrus, as differing 

 from that in having a longer ftyle, oblong anthers, and a fruit 

 with generally two cells, two valves, and fix feeds. Our 

 predeceffor, the Rev. Mr. Wood, feems to have intended to 

 adopt Scnacia ; fee Cela.strus, at the end. We do not 

 however find that any other writer has done fo, nor do we 

 know of what fpecies the genus in queflion ought to confift, 

 except thofe mentioned in the place jufl cited. The precife 

 ftruAure of the capfule, and the number of the feeds, are fo 

 little afcertained in fome reputed fpecies of Celajlrus, and the 

 variablenefs of thefe charafters, in others, is fo well known, 

 that while Gsertner himfelf has even doubted the diilinftion 

 between Euonymus, (fee that article,) and Celajlrus itfclf, we 

 feel little inclination to fubdivide the latter. The compara- 

 tive length of the ftyles in thefe plants, variable in different 

 Hates of the flowers, can afford no certain mark of generic 

 ditlin£tion. 



SENAILLE'E, John Baptiste, in Biography, a 

 French mufician, born about 1688. He was a great per- 

 former on the viohn for his time. Haying travelled into 

 Italy, the manager of the Opera at Modena engaged him 

 to perform in his orcheflra, and did him the honour to prepare 

 for his reception a feat more elevated than what was allowed 



SEN 



to the reft of the band. The duke dcfired him to play fome 



folns between the ads of the opera, and he obeyed his 

 ferene highnefs, to the great joy of the whole audience. 

 He has left five books of folos, which had great reputation, 

 till thofe of Le Claire appeared ; which are now as little 

 known as thofe of Senaillee, though infinitely fuperior to 

 them. What a fluftuating art is mufic, and how tranfient 

 the fame of its profeffbrs ! fince we may be certain, that 

 the works of him who now enjoys the higheft reputation, 

 will be for ever plunged into oblivion, at the latelt, in a 

 period of 25 years ; or appear as ridiculous to our children, 

 as our ancient mufic now does to us ! 



SENAMARIBO, in Geography, a river of Guiana, 

 which runs into the Atlantic, N. lat. c° «o'. W. long. 

 54° 6' ^ 



SE-NAN, a city of China, of the firft rank, in the pro- 

 vince of Koei-tcheou, furrounded on all fides by moun- 

 tains ; 845 miles S.S.W. of Peking. N. lat. 27° 56'. E. 

 long. 107°. 



Senan, a town of Algiers ; 20 miles S. of Oran. 



SENANLU, a town oif Afiatic Turkey, in Caramania; 

 30 miles N,W. of Selefkeh. 



SENAPSE', a town of Egypt, on the left bank of the 

 Nile ; 17 miles W. of Dendera. 



SENARPONT, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Somme ; 22 miles W. of Amiens. 



SENATE, Senatus, an alTembly or council of fena- 

 tors ; that is, of the principal inhabitants of a ftate, who 

 have a fhare in the government. 



Such were the fenates of Rome, of Carthage, &c. among 

 the ancients ; and fuch are the fenates of Venice, of Ge- 

 noa, &c. among the moderns. 



The fenate of ancient Rome was, of all fenates, the 

 moft celebrated, during the fplendour of the republic. 

 Cicero in his oration for Milo, defines it, templum fanaitat'ut 

 ampHtudinis, mentis, conjtliique pubiici Romani, caput orbts, 

 ara fociorum, portufque omnium gentium. The Roman fenate 

 exercifcd no contentious jurifdittion : it appointed judges 

 either out of the fenate, or among the knights ; but it 

 never ftooped to judge any procefles in a body. Tlie fenate 

 concerted matters of war, appointed who fhould command 

 the armies, fent governors into the provinces, took order, 

 and difpofed of the revenues of the commonwealth. Yet 

 did not the whole fovereign power refide in the fenate ; it 

 could not alone eleft magiftrates, make laws, nor decide of 

 war and peace : but in all thefe cafes, the fenators were to 

 confult the people. Under the emperors, when the fenate 

 became defpoiled of moit of its other offices, they began 

 to hear caufes. For thofe of lefs confequence they ap- 

 pointed particular judges ; the reft, principally criminal 

 caufes, they referved for their own cognizance, to be judged 

 by them in a body, and that frequently in the emperor'* 

 prefence. This was put in their way to keep their heads 

 from ftate affairs. Nero farther committed to the fenate 

 the judgment of all appeals; but this did not hold long; 

 nor do we find any footfteps of it any where but in the 

 fixty-fccond Novel. 



With regard to the jurifdidion of the fenate, Dr. Mid- 

 dleton obferves, that the fupreme power at home was in the 

 colleftive body of the people ; yet where halte, perhaps, 

 or fecrecy was required, and where the determination;] of 

 the fenate were fo jull and equitable, that the confent of 

 the people might be prefumed, and taken for granted, the 

 fenate would naturally omit the trouble of calling them 

 from their private affairs to an unnecelFary attendance on 

 the pubhc ; till by repeated omiffions of this kind, begun 

 at firft in trivial matters, and proceeding infcnfibly to more 



feriout, 



