SWI 
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Tliese doctrines, to say the least of them, 
are ingenious. Many persons indeed, of great 
respectability, Snd not a few men of learning 
and talent, even of the present day, believe 
that these doctrines are something more than 
ingenious. It is, however, not a little ex- 
traordinary, that, although the Swedenbor- 
gians openly deny the commonly received 
doctrine of a trinity of persons in the God- 
head, and believe, as they certainly do, that 
to assert that doctrine is nothing less than 
tritheism ; and when it is also considered 
that the system of the highly-illuminated 
baron has excluded that other orthodox 
doctrine of a vicarious sacrifice by the 
death of Christ, we say, under these con- 
siderations, it is not a little to be wondered 
at, that there should be found any persons 
still in communion with our established 
chiircb, who profess themselves members 
of the New Jerusalem church, as revealed 
by Emanuel Swedenborg. But the wonder 
increases much, upon the consideration that 
some, even of the regular clergy of the Eng- 
lish Church, are to be found among the dis- 
ciples of the honourable baron ! The pre- 
sent venerable and respectable minister of 
St. John’s, Manchester, the Reverend Mr. 
Clowes, is not only an open professor of 
the faith of the New Church, but is also 
the well-known translator of all the baron’s 
theological publications ! The forbearing 
temper of many of our present ecclesiasti- 
cal governors, and the liberal spirit of the 
times, are circumstances not a little ho- 
nourable to the national character in gene- 
ral, and to our national clergy in particu- 
lar. May this spirit and this forbeaiance 
continue to increase, until no discrepancy 
of meie opinion whatever, while unaccom- 
panied by errors of conduct or depravity of 
heart, shall be made the foundation of ha- 
tred, or the pretext for exclusive civil and 
religious privileges ! 
SWERTIA, in botany, so named in ho- 
nour of Eman. Sweert, a genus of the Pen- 
tandria Digynia class and order. Natural 
order of Rotaceas. Gentian®, Jussieu. 
Essential character : corolla wheel-shaped ; 
nectariferous pores at the base of the seg- 
ments of the corolla ; capsule one-celled, 
two valved. 'I'liere are six species. 
SWIETENIA, in botany, mahogany tree, 
so named, iu honour of the illustrious Ge- 
rard, L. B. k Swieten, arebiater to Maria 
Teresa, Empress of Germairy, a genus of 
the Decandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Trihilat®, Melim, Jussieu. 
Essential character : calyx five-cleft ; petals 
SWI 
five ; nectary cyliudric, bearing the anthers 
at the mouth ; capsules five-celled, wmody, 
openingat the base ; seeds imbricate, winged. 
There are three species. The S. mahogani, 
mahogany tree, is very lofty and spreading, 
with a wide handsome head ; leaves reclin- 
ing, alternate, shining, eight inches long, 
numerous on the younger branches ; leaf- 
lets mostly in four pairs, quite entire, acu- 
minate, bent iu backwards, petioled, oppo- 
site, an inch and half long ; racemes sub- 
corynibed, with about eight flowers in each, 
axillary, solitary, two inches long; flowers 
small, whitish. The mahogany tree is a na- 
tive of the warmest parts of America, and 
grows plentifully in the islands of Cuba, 
Jamaica, and Hispaniola; in these islands 
the tree grows to a very large size, so as to 
cut into planks of six feet breadth : those 
on the Bahama Islands are not so large ; 
these, however, are frequently four feet iu 
diameter, and rising to a great height, not- 
withstanding they are generally found on 
the solid rock, where there seems to be 
scarcely any earth for their nourishment. 
The wood brought from the Bahama Islands 
has usually passed under the name of Ma- 
deira wood ; this the Spaniards make great 
use of for building ships ; it is better adapt- 
ed to this purpose than most sorts of wood 
yet known, being very durable, resisting 
gun shots, and burying the shot without 
splintering. The excellency of this wood 
for all domestic purposes has been long 
known in England. 
SWIMMING, the art, or act, of sustain- 
ing the body in water, and of moving there- 
in; in which action the air-bladder and fins 
of fishes bear a considerable part. Some 
have supposed, that the motion of fish in 
the water, depends principally upon the 
pectoral fins, but the contrary is easily 
proved by experiment ; for if the pectoral 
fins of a fish are cut off, and it be again put 
into the water, it will be found to move 
forward or sideways, upward or downward, 
as well as it did when it had them on. If a 
fish be carefully observed, whila swimming 
iu a bason of clear water, it will be found 
not to keep these pectoral fins constantly 
expanded, but Only to open them at such 
times as it would stop or change its course ; 
this seeming to be their principal, if not 
their only, use. The pectoral and ventral 
fins, in the common fishes of a compressed 
form, serve in the same manner in keeping 
the fish still, and serve in scarce any other 
motion than that towards the bottom : so 
that this motion of the fish, which has beta 
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