SEP 



leait likely to find any fuch quality ; thefe were chalk, com- 

 raon fait, and teftaceous powders. He mixed twenty grains 

 of crab's eyes, prepared with fix drachms of ox's gall, and 

 an equal quantity of water. Into another phial he put an 

 equal quantity of gall and water, but no crab's eyes. Both 

 thefe mixtures being placed in the furnace, the putrefaftion 

 began much fooner where the powder was, than in the other 

 phial. On making a like experiment with chalk, its feptic 

 virtue was found to be much greater than that of the crab's 

 eyes : nay, what the doftor had never met with before, in 

 a mixture of two drachms of flefli, with two ounces of water 

 and thirty grains of prepared chalk, the flefh was refolved 

 into a perfeft mucus in a few days. 



To try whether the teiluceous powders would alfo didblve 

 vegetable fubftances, the doAor mixed them with barley and 

 water, and compared this mixture with another of barley 

 and water alone. After a long maceration by a fire, the 

 plain water was found to fwell the barley, and turn mucila- 

 ginous and four ; but that with the powder kept the grain 

 to its natural fize, and though it foftened it, yet made no 

 mucilage, and remained fweet. 



Nothing could be more unexpefted, than to find fea-falt 

 a haftener of putrefaftion ; but the faft is this : one drachm 

 of fait preferves two drachms of frefli beef in two ounces of 

 water, above thirty hours uncorruptcd, in a heat equal to 

 that of the human body ; or, which is the fame thing, this 

 quantity of fait keeps fleih fweet twenty hours longer than 

 pure water ; but then half a drachm of fait does not preferve 

 it above two hours longer. Twenty-five grains have little 

 or no antifeptic virtue, and ten, fifteen, or even twenty 

 grains, manifeftly both halten and heighten the corruption. 

 The quantity which had the moll putrefying quality, was 

 found to be about ten grains to the above proportion of fle(h 

 and water. 



Many inferences might be drawn from this experiment : 

 one is, that fince fait is never taken in aUment beyond the 

 proportion of the corrupting qualities, it would appear that 

 it is fubfervient to digeftion, chiefly by its feptic virtue, 

 that is, by foftening and refolving meats ; an aftion very 

 different from what is commonly believed. 



It is to be obferved, that the above experiments were 

 made with the fait kept for domellic ufes. See Pringle's 

 Obferv. on the Difeafes of the Army, p. 348, feq. See 

 Salt and Scurvy. 



From fome experiments of Mr. Canton, it appears like- 

 wife, that the quantity of fait contained in fea-water haftens 

 putrefaftion ; but fince that precife quantity of fait which 

 promotes putrefaftion the moft, is lefs than that which is 

 found in fea-water, he concludes it probable, that if the fea 

 were lefs fait, it would be more luminous. See Luminouf- 

 nejs of the Sea- 



SEPTIEME, Yr.Septima, Lat. Settima, Ital. the feventh. 

 Broffard has been the guide of all fubfequent mufical lexico- 

 graphers. He has been very awkwardly tranflated by 

 Gradineau ; Graflineau has been followed in the laft foho 

 edition of Chambers ; and Rouffeau, who writes clearly and 

 elegantly, has retained the mixture of theory, ratios, and 

 the ufelefs jargon of major and minor tones and femi-tones, 

 with praftice, fo much, as to render tlie ufeful knowledge of 

 this important interval totally unintelligible to young Undents 

 in harmony ; to whom we fliall addrels all we have to offer on 

 the fubjeft of the prefent article, referring fcientific eiiqui- 

 rers to Harmonics, Riit'tos, and the definitions of major and 

 minor tones and femi-tones. 



The 7th in mufic, is one of the principal difcords ; forae 

 fay the only original difcord, as all the reft are derived from 

 it. The 2d and the 9th are only inverfions of the 7th. The 



SEP 



4th in itfelf is a concord, and only made a difcord by 

 another difcord being ftruck upon it ; but the 2d and 

 the oth, however derived from inverfion, are difcords to the 

 ear at all times and in all places. 



There are three kinds of 7ths ufed in pradical har. 

 mony ; the minor, or flat 7th, ten femi-tones, or half notei, 

 above the bafe ; the major, or Iharp 7th, eleven femitonic 

 intervals above the bafe ; and the extreme flat 7th, only nine 



half notes above the bafe or loweft note, as ^ , ^ , and 



Fb 



In counterpoint and thorough- bafe, the 7th is accompa- 

 nied by the ', or common chord, from which its harmony 



only differs by the addition of that fingle found from the 

 triad. And as a bafe, in praftice, is called fundamental, 

 by being accompanied only with the common chord, the ad- 

 dition of the 7th to this common chord docs not rob the bafe 

 figured with a 7th of its title of fundamental. 



The 7th in binding notes is prepared in the 3d, 5th, 6th, 

 and 8th, and refolved on the 6th, 3d, and 5th. 



Dr. Pepufch has given an excellent chapter on 7ths pre- 

 pared and refolved in the treble ; but to his inltrud^ions for 

 7ths prepared and refolved in the bafe, p. 37 of the text, we 

 cannot fubfcribc. See Pepusch, and Analyfisjof his Treatife 

 on Harmony. 



The 7th is the only difcord which need not be always 

 prepared. 



The (harp 7th, which the French call la nolefmfible, till 

 about the middle of the lafl centur)-, was only ufed in re- 

 citative ; but fince that time it hat been rapidly increafingin 

 favour ; firfl in German fymphonies, and afterwards in fongs, 

 and every fpecies of elegant mufic. Its chord is frequently 

 indicated by a ^i a fharp 7th ; but different mailers fre- 

 quently ufe the following numerical expreffions of this 



■J ' ... 



chord : ;, ;, ••, and \. Its origin is an appoggiatura or- 



ganized. 



The extreme flat 7th gives what.has been termed byJRouf- 

 feau the enharmonic chord, confifling entirely of flat 3d8, 

 whence twelve modulations may be acquired, by making 

 each note of the chord the fharp 7 th, or leading note to a 



new key ; by which means thefe three chords A ^1 2 ^» 



B «' ^"^ 36 modulations. See Muftc Plates, and Inter- 

 vals, Chords:, Modulation, and Counterpoint. 



SEPTIER, or Setier, a French meafure, differing ac- 

 cording to the fuecies of the things meafured. 



For dry meaiure, the feptier is very different in different 

 places and different commodities ; as not being any vefl'el of 

 meafure, but only an eftimation of feveral other meafures. 



At Paris, the feptier of wheat confifls of two mines, the 

 mine of two minots, and the minot of three bufhels or boif- 

 feaux, and 12 fcptiersare a muid. The boiffeau contains 16 

 htrons. A muid of wheat weighs about 288olbs. poids dc 

 marc ; and a feptier, 24olbs. But a muid of oats contain* 

 24 feptiers. The boifleau is a cylinder 8 inches 25 lines in 

 height, and 10 inches in diameter : its contents are, there- 

 fore, 644 French cubic inches, or 780 Enghfli ditto ; hence 

 1 1 feptiers of Paris are = 6 EngUfh quarters, and 1 1 boif- 

 feaux — 4 Englifh bufhels. A muid of fait contains alfo 12 

 feptiers, and a feptier, 4 minots, 16 boifleaux, 256 litrous, 

 or 4096 mefurettes, weighing about 40olbs. poids de marc, 

 or 432lbs. avoirdupois. At Abbeville 18.87 feptiers are 

 equal to 10 Englifh quarters, and each feptier is 9364 cubic 



inches. 



t 



