SEE 
child's head, with three pair of wings, viz., two in chief, 
two in fesse, and two in base. 
SERA'PHIC, or Sera'phical, adj. Angelic 5 angeli¬ 
cal.—Love is curious of little things, desiring to be of ange¬ 
lical purity, of perfect innocence, and serapkical fervour. 
Bp. Taylor.—Seraphic arms and trophies. Milton.— 
Pure | refined from sensuality. 
’Tis to the world a secret yet. 
Whether the nymph, to please her swain. 
Talks in a high romantic strain ; 
Or whether he at last descends 
To like with less seraphic ends. Swift . 
SE'RAPHIM, s. [This is properly the plural of seraph, 
and therefore cannot have s added; yet, in compliance with 
our language, serapkims is sometimes written.] Angels of 
one of the heavenly orders.—-To thee cherubim and seraphim 
continually do cry. Com. Prayer.— Then flew one of the 
seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand. Isa. — 
Of seraphim another row. Milton. 
SERAPHIM, Order of, in Heraldry, otherwise sur- 
named of Jesus, was instituted in Sweden, in 1334, by 
Magnus II. king of Sweden, in memory of the siege of the 
metropolitan city of Upsal. 
SERAPIAS [from scrapis, one of the Egyptian idols], in 
Botany, a genus of the class gynandria, order diandria, natu¬ 
ral order of orchidese.—Generic Character. Calyx: spathes 
wandering. Spadix simple. Perianth none. Corolla: pe¬ 
tals five, ovate-oblong, from erect patulous, converging up¬ 
wards. Nectary, length of the petals, excavated at the base, 
melliferous, ovate, gibbous below, trifid, acute: the middle 
segment cordate, obtuse, three-toothed at the base with a 
bifid scar. Stamina: filaments two, very short, placed on 
the pistil. Anthers erect, under the upper lip of the nectary. 
Pistil: germ oblong, contorted, inferior. Style growing to 
the upper lip of the nectary. Stigma obsolete. Pericarp: 
capsule obovate, bluntly three-cornered, with three keels ad¬ 
joined, three-valved, opening under the keels, one celled. 
Seeds numerous, sawdust-form. Receptacle linear, adjoined 
to each valve of the pericarp.—• Essential Character. Nec¬ 
tary ovate, gibbous, with an ovate lip. 
1. Serapias latifolia, or broad leaved helleborine.—Roots 
creeping, perennial, leaves ovate, embracing, flowers droop¬ 
ing, lip entire, pointed, shorter than the petals.—Native of 
Europe, in woods, groves and hedges: flowering in July and 
August. 
2. Serapias palustris, or marsh helleborine.—Roots creep¬ 
ing, leaves lanceolate, embracing, flowers drooping, lip 
crenate, obtuse, equal to the petals.-—Native of Europe, in 
swampy meadows, watery places, marshes, morasses and 
bogs. 
3. Serapias ensifolia, or sword-leaved helleborine.-—Root 
fibrous, leaves- sword-shaped, bractes much shorter than the 
germ, flowers erect, lip obtuse, half as long as the petals.— 
Native of several parts of Europe. 
4. Serapias grandifiora, or white helleborine.—Root creep - 
ing, leaves elliptic-lanceolate, bractes longer than the germ, 
flowers erect, lip obtuse, rather shorter than the petals.— 
Native of Europe in woods and thickets, 
5. Serapias nivea, or snowy helleborine.—-Leaves lan¬ 
ceolate, flowers loosely racemed, erect, bractes very small, 
lip obtuse, twice as short as the petals.-—Native of Algiers, 
on hills, 
6. Serapias polystachya, or many-spiked helleborine.— 
Roots fibrous, stem subdivided, jointed, leaves oblong-lan¬ 
ceolate, raceme compound, terminating, lip of the nectary 
ovate, recurved.—Native of Jamaica and Hispaniola. 
7. Serapias flava, or yellow helleborine.-—Roots fibrous, 
stem subdivided, jointed, leaves oblong-lanceolate, racemes 
compound axillary, lip of the nectary erect, acuminate.— 
Native of Jamaica. 
8 . Serapias rubra, or purple helleborine.-—Root creeping, 
leaves lanceolate, bractes longer than the germ, flowers 
erect, lip acute, marked with waving lines.—Native of 
Europe. 
S E E 43 
9. Serapias Lingua, or narrow-leaved helleborine.—Bulbs 
roundish, lip of the nectary trifid, acuminate, smooth, longer 
than the petals.—Native of France, Switzerland, Carniola, 
Italy and Africa near Algiers. 
10. Serapias cordigera, or heart-lipped helleborine.—Bulbs 
roundish, lip of the nectary trifid, acuminate, very large 
bearded at the base.—Native of Spain, Italy, the Levant and 
Africa, about Algiers: flowering early in the spring. 
11. Serapias Capensis, or Cape helleborine.—Leaves con- 
duplicate-ensiform, stem almost naked above, sheaths spa- 
thaceous.—Native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
12. Serapias erecta, or upright helleborine.-—Leaves ovate, 
embracing, flowers erect.—Native of Japan. 
13. Serapias falcata, or sickle-leaved helleborine.—-Leaves 
ensiform, convoluted, sickle-form, flowers erect.—Native 
of Japan, on the mountain Fakona : flowering in April. 
14. Serapias regularis.—Bulbs ovate, fibrous, leaves 
sheathing ensiform, keeled, scape erect, spiked, corollas six- 
petalled.—Native of New Zealand. 
Propagation and Culture. —These plants being difficult 
to preserve and propagate, few have attempted to keep them 
in gardens. They may be taken up from the places where 
they grow naturally when their leaves begin to decay, and 
planted in a shady moist place, where they will thrive and 
flower. 
SERAPIS, in Mythology, an Egyptian deity, who was 
worshipped under various names and attributes, as the tute¬ 
lary god of Egypt in general, and as the patron of several 
of their principal cities. 
SERAVALLE, a town in the east of Austrian Italy, in 
the district of Treviso, on the small river Mischio, with a 
population of 5000. It has manufactures of woollen and 
silk stuffs, and carries on a brisk trade with Germany; 20 
miles east-by-north of Asolo. 
SERAVALLE, a small town of the north-west of Italy, 
in the Sardinian part of the Milanese, on the Scrivia. It is 
slightly fortified, and has a population of 2400 ; 18 miles 
north of Genoa. 
SERAVEZZA, a hill of Italy, in the Ecclesiastical States, 
near Carrara, remarkable for its beautiful marble, which is 
variegated with white and purple. 
SERAVI, a village of Egypt, on the Eastern branch of 
the Nile; 21 miles north of Cairo. 
SERARWA, a town of Abyssinia, in the province of 
Avergale, on a sandy plain. 
SERASKER, a Turkish word, composed of ser, which 
in Persian signifies head, and as her, i. e. soldiers. This is a 
military degree, that admits of no superior, somewhat like 
generalissimo, and is a title given to those who command 
on the frontiers, or are detached with a considerable body of 
troops. 
SERASS, in Ornithology, a bird of the genus Co- 
lumba, which comes yearly to Surat, in the East Indies, 
from Mount Caucasus, and is distinguished by a plication of 
the asperia arteria. 
SERAVAN, in Ornithology, the name given by Buffon 
to the Loxia Astri/d; which see. 
SER AW OOLLIES, a people of Gal lam, in Central Afri¬ 
ca, called by the French Saracolets. They are black as jet, 
active and intelligent. The trade of this part of Africa is 
entirely in their hands, and they are every way fitted for ' 
conducting it. Mr. Park says, they are tolerably fair in their 
dealings, though fond of money, esteeming a man almost 
wholly in proportion to the amount of his property. Saug- 
nier, however, cautions those who deal with them, to carry 
on their transactions in a room cleared of all property, other¬ 
wise it would run an imminent risk of disappearing. They 
are also very jealous of the respect paid to them, and expect 
that, while present, they shall be the exclusive object of at¬ 
tention. Their language is less harmonious than that of the 
Foulahs, but is generally spoken in this part of the con¬ 
tinent. 
SERBADJE, a village of Egypt, on the eastern hank of 
the Nile; 20 miles north of Cairo. 
SERBAH : 
