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S E M 
SELWOOD, a track in the east part of the county of 
Somerset, in England, about 15 miles long by 6 broad. 
It was formerly a forest The neighbouring country was 
called Selwoodshire; and the chief town still bears the 
name of Frome-Selwood. 
SELWORTHY, a parish of England, in Somersetshire; 
2| miles west of Minehead. Population 458. 
SEMANA. See Samana. 
- SEMAO, an island in the Eastern seas, about 24 miles 
long from north to south, and from 6 to 10 broad; separated 
from the south-west end of the island of Timor, by a narrow 
channel, called the strait of Semao. It is of considerable 
extent, and moderately elevated. The channel, which is 
navigable with deep water, affords secure shelter to ships 
during the strength of the westerly monsoons. Lat 10. 
15. S. long. 123. 45. E. 
SEMATAI, a town of China, of the third rank, in 
Pechelee ; 55 miles north-east of Pekin. 
SEMAU, an island in the Eastern seas; 9 miles south 
from the island of Timor. 
SEMAVAT. See Sa mavat. 
SEMAYLA, a rich gold mine of Rambouk, in Central 
Africa. It is situated in a hillock about 200 feet high, but 
5000 in circumference. The gold is contained in a kind of 
reddish sandstone, extremely hard, which is mixed with a 
Species of calculous emery, and very hard red marble. 
These substances cannot be subjected to ablution, the only 
African process for the extrication of the gold, without being 
first pounded, and reduced completely to powder. This 
constitutes a very tedious and laborious process, especially 
as the instruments employed are merely a pestel and mortar 
of hard wood, which are soon worn by the superior hardness 
of the pounded substances. At the depth of about 30 feet, 
the miners find a solid stratum of red marble, richly im¬ 
pregnated with gold, upon which their skill does not enable 
them to make any impression. These difficulties in working 
Cause the mine of Semayla, though the richest in Bambouk 
to be considered only of secondary value. , 
SEMBELLA, among the Romans, a small silver coin, 
equal in value and weight to half the libella. 
SEMBIANI, or Sembians, a sect of ancient heretics, de¬ 
nominated from their leader, Sembius, or Sembianus, who 
condemned all use of wine, as evil of itself; persuaded his 
followers, that the wine was a production of Satan and the 
earth, denied the resurrection of the dead, and rejected most 
of the books of the Old Testament. 
SE'MBLABLE, adj. [semblable , Fr.] Like; resembling. 
Then be abhorr’d 
All feasts, societies, and throngs of men ! 
His semblable , yea himself, Timon disdains. Shakspeare. 
With semblable reason we might expect a regularity in the 
winds. Bacon. 
SE'MBLABLY, adv. With resemblance. 
A gallant knight .he was, his name was Blunt; 
Semblabli/ furnish’d like the king himself. Shakspeare. 
SE'MBLANCE, s. [ semblance , Fr.] Likeness; resem¬ 
blance ; similitude; representation. 
She’s but the sign and semblance of her honour; 
Behold how like a maid she blushes here! 
O, what authority and shew of truth 
Can cunning sin cover itself withal! Shakspeare. 
He with high words, that bore 
Semblance of worth, not substance, gently rais’d 
Their fainting courage, and dispell’d their fears. Milton. 
Appearance; show; figure. 
Be you the soldier; for you likest are. 
For manly semblance and for skill in war. Spenser. 
Their semblance kind, and mild their gestures were, 
.Peace in their hands, and friendship in their face. Fairfax. 
SE'MBLANT, adj. [semblant, Fr.] Like; resembling; 
having the appearance of any. thing. Little used. 
S E M 
Thy picture, like thy fame; 
Entire may last; that as their eyes survey 
The semblant shade, men yet unborn may say. 
Thus great, thus gracious look’d Britannia’s queen; 
Her brow thus smooth, her look was thus serene. Prior. 
SE'MBLANT, s. Show; figure ; resemblance; repre¬ 
sentation. Not in use. 
Her purpose was not such as she did feign, 
Ne yet her person such as it was seen; 
But under simple shew, and semblant plain, 
Lurks false Duessa, secretly unseen. Spenser. 
SE'MBLATIVE, adj. Suitable; accommodate; fit; re¬ 
sembling. 
Diana’s lip 
Is not more smooth and ruby; thy small pipe 
Is as the maiden’s organ; shrill and sound; 
And all is semblative a woman’s part. Shakspeare. 
To SE'MBLE, v. n. [sembler, Fr.] To represent; to 
make a likeness. Little used. 
Let Europe, sav’d, the column high erect. 
Than Trajan’s higher, or than Antonine’s, 
Where sembling art may carve the fair effect. 
And full achievement of thy great designs. Prior. 
SEMBRADOR, an engine, invented by Don Jos. de 
Lucatello, for the evenly sowing of seeds,- described in the 
Philosophical Transactions under the title of the Spanish 
Sernbrador. 
SEMD, a small town of the west of Germany, in Hesse- 
Darmstadt, near Umstadt. Population 1000. 
SEMECARPUS [from a-riga, a mark , or sn^etow, to 
mark, and uapno<;, a fruit ], in Botany, a genus of the class 
pentandria, order trigynia.—Generic Character. Hermaphro- 
dite—Calyx : perianth one-leafed, bell-shaped, inferior, half- 
five-cleft ; segments cordate, acute. Corolla: petals five, lan¬ 
ceolate, margined, obtuse, larger than the calyx. Stamina: 
filaments five-awl-shaped, shorter than the corolla, inserted 
into the receptacle. Anthers oblong, small. Pistil: germ 
superior, globular-depressed. Styles three, recurved, incum¬ 
bent on the germ, and shorter than it. Stigmas club-shaped, 
retuse. Pericarp none: receptacle erect, fleshy, pear-shaped 
(or globular-depressed), smooth. Seed a single nut, resting 
upon the receptacle, heart-shaped, flattened on both 
sides, smooth and shining. Male flowers on a se¬ 
parate tree, smaller than the hermaphrodites. Calyx 
and corolla as in the hermaphrodites. Stamina: filaments 
five, length of the petals; anthers much larger. Pistil none ; 
but in its place a semiglobular, hairy glandulous body. In 
the younger Linnaeus’s supplement, the fruit is considered gs 
a drupe.— Essential Character. Calyx inferior, five-cleft; 
corolla five-petalled; nut kidney-form, inserted into a large 
fleshy flattened receptacle. 
Semecarpus anacardium, or marking-nut tree.—This is a 
large tree, straight, lofty trunk, covered with gray scabrous 
bark; the bark of the younger parts is smooth, and of a 
light ash-colour; its inner substance contains in crevices a 
quantity of a white, soft, almost insipid gum. Branches 
numerous, spreading. Leaves about the extremities of the 
branchlets, alternate, petioled, wedge-form, above pretty 
smooth, below whitish and scabrous, from nine to eighteen 
inches long, and from four to eight broad. Petiole an inch 
and half or two inches long, halt-round. Panicle terminat¬ 
ing, very large, composed of many simple spikes; that of 
the male tree much more slender, but as large or larger. 
Bractes many, small, falling. Flowers numerous, small, of a 
dirty-greenish yellow colour.—It is a native of all the mouq- 
tainous parts of India: flowering in July and August. The 
seed is ripe in January and February. 
The wood of this tree is reckoned of no use; not only on 
account of, its softness, but also because it contains much 
acrid juice, which renders it dangerous to cut down and 
work upon. The fleshy receptacles on which the seed rests 
are roasted in the ashes, and eaten by the natives: the taste 
is 
