S E R 



particularly in cloth, woollen and filk manufaftures, and 

 carry on an extenfive commerce in wiiie, corn, and honey, 

 both with the adjacent provwces and with Germany ; 2 

 miles N. of Centda. 



SERRE, I. A., in B'lography, a miniature painter of 

 Geneva, who had been in England, and fccmed well ac- 

 quainted with Geminiani, and tlie (late of mufic in our 

 country in the middle of the laft certury. He has analyfed 

 the " Guida Armonica" of Geminiani, the " Bafle fon- 

 damentale" of Rameau, and the Treatifes of Tartini, with 

 his difeovcry of the " Terzo Suono." Thefe celebrated 

 works M. S^Te has critically examined in two ingenious 

 ellays, publilhed in 1753 and 1763, in which there are like- 

 wife many curious remarks on difpatable points in the theory 

 and practice of harmony, which will both amufe and inftrudl 

 mufical lludents. 



Sekre, Fr., clofe intervals in m.ufic, fuch as the enhar- 

 monic quarter tunes ia the ancient G-eek mufic ; and in 

 French mufic, fhort and quick. See Spissos. 



Serre, La, in Geo^raphf, a river which runs into the 

 Oife, near La Fere, in the department of the Aifne. 



Serre, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Ifere ; i 2 miles N of Romans. 



SERRES, JoriN de, in Biography, a Proteflant minifter, 

 was born m the fouth of France, and lludied at Laufanne. 

 We fi'.d him in 1572, ferving a country church in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Geneva. Having made himfolf known by va- 

 rious works, he became reftor of the college of Nifmes, 

 and a minitti.r of that city, and he was employed on feveral 

 important occafions by Henry IV.; that prince having afl<cd 

 Serres if it were poflible for a perfon to be faved in the com- 

 munion of the church of Rome, he anfwered in the affirma- 

 tive, whence he has been accufed of promoting Henry's 

 change of religion. Notwithftanding this deciiion, he was 

 a warm controvcrlialift againft the Catholics, and made a very 

 fevere attack upon the Jefuits, entitled " Doflrinse Jefuitics 

 precipua capita." Asa learned author, he is chiefly known 

 by an edition of Plato in three volumes folio, printed by 

 Henry Stephers in 1578, with notes and a new Latin verfion, 

 which however is not remarkable for correftnefs ; and the 

 ilyle of thofe parts <vhich Serres compofed is very unequal 

 to the majjlly of the original. He was author of a number 

 of works in hiftory, and had the title of hiiloriographer <if 

 France ; but his compofitions are faid by the Catholics to be 

 partial and full of mifreprefentations. The principal of them 

 are as toUow ; " Commentariorum de ftatu Religionis et Rei- 

 publicsE in Regno Francix," comprifing the events from 

 1557 to I 576 : " Memoire de la Troifeme Guerre civile fous 

 Charles IX. ;" " Recueil des Chofe memorable avenues en 

 France fous Henri II., Francois II., Charles IX., et 

 Henri III. ;" and " Inventaire General de I'Hiltoire de 

 France." Serres, towards the end of his life, engaged m 

 the hopelefs defign of uniting the Catholic and reformed 

 churches, which brought on him the contempt of one party 

 and the enmity of the other. Hediedin 1598. 



Serres, Or.iviER ue, an eminent agriculturift, was 

 born in 1539, at Vilhneuve de Berg, in the Vivarais. 

 During the civil tumults of his time, his property was pil- 

 laged, and his houfe demolifli. d, and after it had been 

 rebuilt, it was again deftroyed bv lire. He is faid to have 

 borne thefe misfortunes with great equanimity, and to have 

 forgot'en them by engaging his muid in iludy and rural oc- 

 cupations. By his talents he became fo advantageoufly 

 known to Henrv IV., that he lent for him to Paris, and 

 employed himflfin fever.!l iui|)roveraents about his domains. 

 Serres wrote work, which rendered him the oracle of the 

 cultivators in that age, and many of his ideas have been co- 



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pied by later writers without acknowledgment. The chief 

 of thefe, in which he collected the refults of long experience, 

 is entitled " Theatre d'Agriculiure, et Menage des 

 Champs," 1600, and has been feveral times reprinted. It 

 has been delcribed by Haller as " a great and valuable work, 

 written by an experienced man, fond of fimplicity, and not 

 at all attached to expenlive methods." Some of the econo- 

 mical precepts of Mr. 5erres have been thrown into vcrfe, in 

 order that they might be more eafily remembered. He pub- 

 lilhed treatifes on the management of filk-ivorms, the col- 

 lection of the filk, and the culture of the white mulberry- 

 tree, which he introduced into France. This eftimrble man 

 died in 1619, at the age of four-fcore, after having had the 

 fatisfaftion of witnefling the happy effefts of the improve- 

 ments fuggefted by him. 



Serres, in Geography, a town of France, in the depart- 

 ment uf the Higher Alps, and chief place of a canton, in 

 the dillnct of Gap; 24 miles W.S.W. of Gap. The 

 place contains 1219, and the canton 4249 inhabitants, on a 

 territory of 170 kihometres, in 10 communes. N. lat. 44" 

 26'. E. long. 5° 8'. 



SERRET, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in Natoha ; 30 

 miles W. of Cailamena. 



SERRIERES, a town of France, in the department of 

 the Ardeche, and chief place of a Qanton, in the diilridt of 

 Tournon ; 15 miles N. of Tounion. The place contains 

 1924, and the canton 9416 inhabitants, on a territory of 

 115 kiliometres, in 17 communes. 



SERRIS, a town of _Hindooflan, in Bahar ; if miles 

 S.E. of Saferam. N. lat. 24° 51'. E. long. 84° 26'. 



SERRO, a fmall ifland belonging to the duller of 

 Papuan ides. See Papua. 



SERROPALPUS, in Entomology, a genus of infefts, 

 of the order Coieoptera, whofe generic charafter is as fol- 

 lows : antennas fetaceous ; four unequal feelers ; the an- 

 terior ones are the longer, and deeply ferrate, compofed of 

 four joints, the laft very large, truncate, comprefled, pa- 

 telliform ; the pofterior ones are fubclavate ; thorax mar- 

 gined, concealing the head, with a prominent angle on each 

 fide ; the head is deflefted ; and the feet formed for digging. 

 There are two 



Species. 



Striatus. The body of this infeft is brown ; the fliells 

 (Iriate. It inhabits the ifland Runfale, and is defcribed in 

 the Stockholm Tranfaftions for the year 1786 ; where it is 

 faid to be found chiefly on old wooden buildings, in the 

 evening in autumn, and is about the fize of the Elater 

 aterrimus. 



L^cviGATUs. This fpecies is charaClcrized by a black 

 body, and fmooth (hells. It inhabits different parts ef 

 Europe, and is likewife defcribed in the volume of the 

 Stockholm Tranfat\ions already referred to. 



SERRURIA, in Botany, a name rightly altered by Mr. 

 Salilbury and Mr. Brown, from the Serraria jf profedor 

 John Burmaiin, who, 111 his Plaiitx Africana;, 266, eda- 

 blifht s the latter app» Ihuion, in honour of Dr. Jofcph Ser- 

 rurier, Profedor ol Botany at Utrecht ; but it is not eafy 

 to difcover the above author's meanirg In thus perverting 

 the word ; for Serriirler is a lockfmilh, and has no reference 

 to a favv, or fawyer. — Brown. Tr. of Linn. Se^c. v. 10 112. 

 Ait. Hurt. Kew. V. i. 19S — Clafs ai;d order, TumniJria 

 Moiwgynia. Nat. Ord. ylggregatt, Linn. Protcacfx, Jufl'. 

 Broun. , 



Ed. Ch. Corolla in four dep icgmeiits. Stamens in the 

 concave tips of the fegmeiils. NeCtary four fcalcs bein th 



tlio 



