SEX 



SEX 



SEXDRAGA, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in 

 Weft Gothland ; 38 miles E. of Gotheborg. 



SEXES of Plants, in Vegetable Phyfiology. See Fecun- 

 dation, and Fructification. 



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

 ment of Mont Blanc ; 2 miles S.E. of St. Maurice. 



SEXTA Pars, Lat. a fixth vocal part in the motetti 

 and madrigals of old mailers. 



SEXTANS, Sextant, a fixth part of certain things. 



The Romans divided their as, which was a pound of 

 brafs, into twelve ounces : the ounce was called uncia, from 

 untim ; and two ounces Jextants, as being ihsi fixth part of 

 a pound. See As. 



Sextans was alfo a raeafure which contained two ounces 

 of liquor, or two cyathi. Hence, 



" Sextantes, Califte, duo? infundi Falerni." 



Sextans, the Sextant, in Aflrononiy, a conftellation of 

 the fouthern hemifphere, made by Hevelius out of un- 

 formed liars. In Hevelius's catalogue it contains il, but 

 in the Britannic catalogue 41 ftars. See Constelllation. 

 SEXTANT, in Mathematics, denotes the fixth part of 

 a circle, or an arc compreiiending fixty degrees. 



Sextant is more particularly ufed for an aftronomical 

 inltrument, made like a quadrant ; excepting that its limb 

 only comprehends fixty degrees. 



The ufe and application of the fextant is the fame with 

 that of the quadrant. 



In the obfervatories of Greenwich and Pekin, there are 

 very large and fine fextants. 



SEXTARIUS, an ancient Roman meafure, containing 

 two cotylx, or two heminx. See Cotyla. 



SEXTERy-Z,<7«i/f, are lands given to a church, &c. 

 for maintenance of the fexton. 



SEXTILE, Sextilis, the pofition or afpeft of two 

 planets, when at fixty degrees dillance ; or at the diltance 

 of two figns from one another. It is marked thus (*). 

 See Aspect. 



SEXTILIS, in Chronology. See August. 

 SEXTON, a church-officer, thus called by corruption of 

 the Latin facr'fla, or Saxon fegerflane, which denotes the 

 fame. His office is to take care of the veflels, veilments, 

 &c. belonging to the church ; and to attend the miniftcr, 

 churchwarden, &c. at church. He is appointed by the 

 minilter or otliers, and receives his falary according to the 

 cuilom of each parifh. 



Sextons, as well as parifh clerks, are regarded by the 

 common law as perfons who have freehold in their offices ; 

 an^, therefore, though they may be punidied, yet they can- 

 not be deprived, by ccclefiaftical cenfures. 



The office qI fexton in the pope's chapel, is appropriated to 

 the order of the hermits of St. Auguitine. He is generally 

 a bifiiop, though fometimes the pope only gives a bifhopric, 

 in partibus, to him on whom he confers the poll. He takes 

 the title oi prefect of the pope's facrlfly, and has the keeping 

 the vcifels of gold and filver, the relics, &c. 



When the pope fays mafs, the fexton always taftes the 

 • bread and wine firft. If it be in private he fays mafs, his 

 holinefs, of two wafers, gives him one t» eat ; and, if in 

 public, the cardinal, who affilts the pope in quality of dea- 

 con, of three wafers, gives him two to eat. When the pope 

 is defpcratoly fick, he admlnilters to him the facrament of 

 extreme unrtion, &c. and enters the conclave, in quality of 

 firft coiiclavift. 



Sexton's River, in Geography, a river of America, in 

 Vermont, which runs into the Connedicut, N. lat. 43°. 

 W. long. 72° 25'. 

 Vol. XXXIl. 



SEXTULA, a word ufed by feme pharmaceutic writers 

 to exprefs the fixth part of an ounce, that is, four fcruples, 

 or one drachm and one fcruple. 



SEXTUPLA, Ital. Sextuple, Fr. and Eng. in Muftc, im- 

 plies a compound time of triplets mixed with binary time. 

 Sextuple time is never properly ufed but in the faraband, 

 confining of fix even crotchets, or quavers, exprefi'ed by i 

 or J, where triplets are out of the queftion. All other indi- 

 cations of compound meafure, or, as formerly called, jig 

 time, are at prefent the folio win of ; », ", -' s, i^- all 

 which mealures conn It ot triplets. 



Old authors mention five different fpecies of fextuple time : 

 as. 



Sextuple of the Semiireve, by the French called triple of 

 6 for I, as being denoted by thofe two numbers ° ; or be- 

 caufe here are required fix femibreves to a meafure, in lieu of 

 one, viz. three rifing, and three falling. 



Sextuple of the Minim, called by the French triple of 

 6 for 2, as being denoted by 5 ; which fhew, that fix minims 

 are here required to a meafure, inftead of two. 



Sextuple of the Crotchet, called by the French triple of 

 6 for 4, becaufe denoted by C°, or *, which fhew, that there 

 mult be fix crotchets to a meafure, in lieu of four. 



Sextuple of the Chroma, by the French called triple of 

 6 for 8, as being denoted by ;; ; which ftiew, that fix quavers 

 here make the meafure, or femibreve, inllead of eight. 



Sextuple of the Semichroma, or triple of 6 for 16, fo 

 called, becaufe denoted by /',. ; which (liew, that fix quavers 

 are here required to a meafure, inftead of fixteen. 



SEXTUS, Sixth, in the Canon La'zu, denotes a collec- 

 tion of decretals, made by pope Boniface VIII. ufnally thus 

 called from the title, which is " Liber Sextus ;" as if it 

 were a fixth book added to the five books of decretals, col- 

 lefted by Gregory IX. 



The Sextus is a coUeftion of papal conftitutions, publifhed 

 after the colleftions of Gregory IX. containing thofe of the 

 fame Gregory, Innocent IV., Alexander IV., Urban IV., 

 Clement I v., Gregory X., Nicholas I II., and Boniface VIII., 

 by whole order the compilation was made. The perfons 

 employed in making of it were Will, de Mandegot, arch- 

 bifliop of Ambrun ; and Berenger, bifhop of Beziers ; and 

 Richard of Sienna. See Canon Law. 



Sextus, in Biography, an ancient philufopher of the (lo- 

 ical feft, was a native of Chenmca, and the nephew of Plu- 

 tarch. He is celebrated as the preceptor of the emperors 

 Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius. 



Sextus, Empiricus, in Medical Hiflory, a Roman phy- 

 fician, of the empiric feft, who followed Heraclides and others 

 in the adoption of that fyllem which Serapion and Philinus 

 begun. He is faid to have been the pupil of Herodotus, the 

 phyfician, and the preceptor of Saturninu^. 'i'liere are two 

 works extant, with tlie name of Sextus attached to them ; 

 but Le Clerc believes, that they are not both tiie produdtion 

 of this phyfician, who only compoled that which is entitled 

 " Sexti Placiti ;" and that the other work, which containt 

 fix books, treating of the doftrines of Pyrrhonifm, and ten 

 books relative to all the iciences, was the produflion of 

 another Sextus, of Clieronea, who was of the Platonic 

 fchool, a nephew of Plutarch, and preceptor of the emperor 

 Marcus Aureliue. See Le Clerc, Hift. de la Med. p. ii. 

 chap. 8. 



Sextus Oculi, in Anatomy, a name given by Fallopius to 

 one of the mulcles of the eye, called by Albinus, and otliers, 

 the obliquup oculi inferior, and by fome, the obliquus oculi 

 brevis. 



Sextus Tharacit, a name given by Fallopius, and other j, 

 Z z t» 



