S E S 



S E S 



of about five rays. Fruit cylindrical, oblcurely llriated, 

 fmooth. 



SESELi-i'ff'f/, in the Materia Medica, the name of the feed 

 of a plant, called alfo by fome libanotis, and growing three 

 or four feet high, with leaves like fennel, but of a paler 

 green. It is a native of warm climates. The feed ought to 

 be chofen moderately large, of a longilh fhape, heavy, clean, 

 and of a greenifh colour, fre(h, and of a grateful fraell. It 

 affords, by diftillation, a very large quantity of an effential 

 oil, and is hot and dry. It incides, opens, and difcufles, 

 and is cephalic, neurotic, peftoral, and nephritic. It is 

 goodagainit epilepfies, apoplexies, vertigos, and all diforders 

 of the head and nerves. Lemery's Diift. of Drugs. 



The fteds of the Jefe/i Creticum, or hart-wort of Crete, are 

 diuretic, uterine, and good in all difoi-ders of the bread and 

 lungs. They are given in fuppreflions of urine, and of the 

 menfes, and in all kinds of flatulencies ; and are, among the 

 German phyficians, a common ingredient in medicines, in- 

 tended to promote expeftoration. 



The feed of the French hart-wort, or fefeli MaJJilienfe, has 

 been elteemed of great virtue in difeafes of the head and 

 nerves, in convulfions and epilepfies, and in weaknefs of 

 the fight. It is alfo given in eleftuaries, intended againlt all 

 diforders of the brealt and lungs, in coughs^ catarrhs, and 

 afthmas, and in obft ructions of the liver. Some have recom- 

 mended it fingly, as a medicine of great efficacy againft 

 obftruftions of the menfes ; and Schroder tells us, that 

 it has the credit of being an antidote to the poifon of hem- 

 lock. 



The common hart-wort is pofTeffed of the fame fort of 

 virtues with the other two, but its feed is more warm and 

 acrid than that of either of them. It is efteemed a very 

 efficacious remedy in obllruftions of the menfes, and in all 

 diforders arifing from indigeition, crudities, and flatulencies. 

 See Sermountaik. 



Seseli Pratenfe. See Saxifrage. 

 SESEME-QUIAN, in Geography, a river of the N.W. 

 territory, in the United States of America, which runs 

 into the Illinois. 



SESEN, or Sesem, . a town of the principality of 

 Wolfenbuttle ; 1 2 miles S. W. of Gofslar. 



SESERINUS, in Ichthyology, a name given by Ronde- 

 letius, and fome other authors, to a broad and fhort fea-fi(h, 

 feeming the fame with the lampuga of Italian fifhermen ; and 

 defcribed by authors in general, and by this very author in 

 another place, under the name oijlromateus. 



SESHA, in Hindoo Mythology. Images of Naga, or 

 Sefha, HI brafs, are faid to be invoked in cafes of ill-health, 

 with appropriate ceremonies, and according to the author of 

 the Hindoo Pantheon, they are very common in India, wliere 

 the idea of the medicinal virtues of fnakes appears to be of 

 very old date. A Hindoo, attacked by a fever, or other 

 difeafe, makes an image of Naga in brafs, clay, or wax, and 

 performs appropriate cerenionies in furtlierance of his re- 

 covery. Such ceremonies are particularly efficacious when 

 the moon is in the naklhatra, or allerifm, called Sarpa, or 

 the ferpent. We have obferved that the fnake, in all 

 mythological language, is an emblem of immortality ; 

 its cndlefs figun;, when its tail is infcrted in its mouth, 

 an adrological mylticifm common to Afia and Europe ; 

 and the annual renewal of its fltin and vigour afford 

 fymbols of continued youth, of duration, and eternity ; and 

 its fuppofcd medicinal virtues, or life-prcferving qualities, 

 may alfo have contributed to tlie fabled honours of the fer- 

 pent tribe. In the mythological machinery of India, Egypt, 

 and Greece, thefe coincidences are numerous. Some 

 learned writers attribute this univerfality of ferpcnt-forms to 



the early and all-pervading prevalence of fin, its firft fliape 

 on earth. For fome notice of fabulous relations connefted 

 herewith, fee Kusa and Sui-erna. With the Hindoos, 

 ferpents are not always of ill omen. A day in the 

 Indian kalendar, called " nagapanchami, is facred to the 

 demi-gods in the form of ferpents, who arc enumerated in 

 the Padma and Garuda Puranas." Cities, towns, moun- 

 tains, rivers, men, women, &c. are commonly, among the 

 Hindoos, named after mythological perfonages. Nagpour, 

 the capital of the rajah of Berar, properly Nagapuri, is after 

 one of the common names of Sefha, as is alfo a town in My- 

 fore, Naugmungalam, properly Naga-mangala. Sec Man- 

 gala. 



One of the fables mofl; commonly alluded to in Hindoo 

 writings, is Vifhnu repofing on Sefha, and it is a favourite 

 fubjedt with painters. In a beautiful ode, by fir W. Jones, 

 addrefi'ed to Lakfhmi, the Magna mater of her feftaries, 

 (fee Lakshmi,) her union with Vifhnu is introduced. On 

 this occafion the bride rofe from the churned fea, hke our 

 Venus, and choofing Vifhnu for her hufband, the fubjeft of 

 this article formed a nuptial couch for her reception : thus 

 poetically deicribed. 



Love bade the bridegroom rife : — 



Straight o'er the deep, then dimpling fmooth, he rufli'd, 

 And towr'd th'unmeafur'd fnake — llupendous bed! — 

 The world's great mother, not reludlant, led : 

 All nature glow'd whene'er fhe fmiled or blufh'd : 



The kingof ferpents hufh'd 

 His thoufand heads, where diamond mirrors blaz'd, 

 That multiplied her image as he gaz'd." 



The operation of churning the ocean, alluded to above, is 

 defcribed under the article Kurmavatara of this work, 

 and a poetical allufion to the reflefting gems or mirrors on 

 the heads of Sefha, will be found under Shitakoontha. 

 See alfo Lotos. 



SESHNAGA, a name of a mighty mythological fer- 

 pent among the Hindoos, otherwife called Sejha ; which 

 fee. 



SESHTI-MATRIYA, a name of Kartikya, the my- 

 thological commander of the celeftial armies of Hindoo 

 fable. The name means having_/7.i' mothers. Shan-matriya 

 has the fame meaning, and is another of his names, and Shan- 

 matura. Shanmuka is another, and means with fix faces or 

 mouths. For the origin of *hefe appellations, and for fome 

 particulars of the iiero fo diftinguifhcd, fee Kartikva, and 

 Skanda, another of his names. 



SESIA, in Geography, a river of Italy, wliich rifcs in 

 the Alps, on the borders of the Valais, and runs into the 

 Po, a little below Cafal. 



Sesia, one of the (x)^ departments of France, into which 

 Piedmont was divided, wIku it was united to the French re- 

 public, Aug. 26, 1802 ; it is compnfed of Verceil and Maf- 

 fcrans, in N. lat. 45° 25', E. of Doire ; and contains 140 

 fquare leagues, and 204,445 inhabitants ; it was divided 

 into three circles, tj;«. Vcrccil, comprehending 79,301 in- 

 habitants ; Santhia, with 36,014 ; and Bielle, having 89,040 

 inhabitants. The climate of this department is unhealthy ; 

 the eminences and hills are favourable for the culture of the 

 vine ; and the cultivated plains yield abundance of grains, 

 fruits, and palluies. 



SESIAL, a town on the N.W. coall of Timor. S. lat. 

 8' 54'. E. long. 125" 26'. 



SESKAR, a fmall ifland in the N. part of the gulf of 

 Bothnia. N. lat. 6j° 38'. E. long. 23" 39'.— AHo, a 

 fmall ifland in the gulf of Finland. N. lat. 59° 57'- E. 

 long. 28° 14'. 



SESLERIA, 



