pnugues/EB7 huggingface dataset:
SEGURA, a city of Spain, the capital of a department of the same name, lying between La Mancha and Granada, in the province of Murcia Near to it rises the river Seguro, which traverses the whole province, and falls into the Mediterranean Sea about sixteen miles to the south-west of Alicant. The town is surrounded with walls, and is an episcopal see. It contains 820 houses, and 4000 inhabitants, who are mostly occupied in agriculture, producing wine, fruit, especially figs, and oil. Another town bears the same name in the province of Zaragoza, and department of Daroca. It stands on the river Xiloca, and contains 1800 inhabitants. There is also a Segura in the province of Guipuscoa, and department of St Sebastian, on the banks of the river Oria. It was once fortified, but its works have gone to decay.
SEGWIN, a small territory in Northern Hindustan, situated between Nepaul and Bootan, about the 28th degree of north latitude, and extending along the banks of the river Teesta, which bounds it to the west. In 1792, when the Chinese invaded Nepaul, the rajah of Segwin submitted to become a subject of China; and here accordingly the Chinese established a military post immediately adjoining the dominions of the East India Company in Bengal.
SEIGNIOR, or Signior, is, in its general signification, the same with lord, but is particularly used for the lord of the fee or of a manor, as seigneur among the feudists is he who grants a fee or benefit out of the land to another; and the reason is, because, having granted away the use and profit of the land, the property or dominion he still retains in himself.
SEIGNIORAGE is a royalty or prerogative of the king, by which he claims an allowance of gold and silver brought in the mass to be exchanged for coin. See Coinage.
SEIGNIORY is borrowed from the French seigneurie, which means dominatus, imperium, principatus, and signifies with us a manor or lordship, seigniory de sokemans. Seigniory in gross seems to be the title of him who is not lord by means of any manor, but immediately in his own person; as tenure in capite, by which one holds of the king, as of his crown, is seigniory in gross.
SEIZE, in nautical language, is to make fast or bind, particularly to fasten two ropes together with rope-yam. The seizing of a boat is a rope tied to a ring or little chain in the fore-ship of the boat, by which means it is fastened to the side of the ship.
SEIZURE, in commerce, an arrest of some merchandise, moveable, or other matter, either in consequence of some law, or some express order of the sovereign. Contraband goods, those fraudulently entered, or landed without entering at all, or at wrong places, are subject to seizure.
SEJANT, a term used in heraldry, when a lion or other beast is drawn in an escutcheon sitting like a cat with his fore-feet straight.
SEJANUS, Aeuus, a native of Vulsinum, in Tuscany, who distinguished himself in the court of Tiberius, against whom he formed a conspiracy, and was by the senate condemned to death, and strangled.
SEJUR, a small river of Syria, which rises a little to the north of Antakia, and, after a course of about thirty miles, loses itself in the ground. It is also the name of a small town in Syria, fifteen miles south of Antakia.
SELAME, a cluster of small islands near the coast of Arabia, of which Selame is the chief, at the entrance of the Persian Gulf, near Cape Mussendoon.
SELANG, an island in the Eastern Seas, of inconsiderable size, flat and low. It lies off the southern coast of the island of Batchian, one of the Moluccas. The straits which it forms with this island are narrow, and not five feet in depth. The island forms two harbours with the mainland. Long. 124. 10. E. Lat. 0. 50. S.
SELBISTAN, a town of Persia, in the eastern part of the province of Fars, in a well-peopled and cultivated country, bordering on Kerman.
SELBY, a town of the wapentake of Barton Ash, in the west riding of the county of York, 178 miles from London. It is situated in a level country on the banks of the Ouse, and having a canal which unites that river with the Aire and Calder, has a considerable trade carried on by inland navigation. It has a fine bridge over the Ouse, constructed so as not to impede the vessels. There are some establishments for building large trading ships. The church is a conventual edifice, formerly belonging to the Benedictine monks. There is a good market, which is held on Wednesdays. The population in 1821 amounted to 4097, and in 1831 to 4600.
SELEFKEH, the ancient Calicadnus, in Asia Minor, in the province of Caramania, situated near the mouth of a river called Ghiuk Sooyoo. The modern town is merely an assemblage of mud and wooden huts; it is, however, the residence of an aga under the governor of Cyprus. It is on the site of the ancient Seleucia, the remains of which are still to be seen scattered over a large extent of ground on the western side of the river. Here are found the remains of a theatre, with portico in front, and other large buildings. Farther on is a temple which had been converted into a Christian church, and several large Corinthian columns about four feet in diameter, a few of which are still standing. A little farther to the southward, near a marble quarry, which seems to have supplied materials for the town, is seen an extensive cemetery, containing sarcophagi of coarse workmanship; and also catacombs, which have been all opened and emptied. On all these remains are inscriptions denoting their origin and object. Near the catacombs is an enormous reservoir hewn out of the soft stone, one hundred and fifty feet by seventy-five, and thirty-five feet in depth. To the west of the town are seen the remains of a citadel. Long. S3. 35. E. Lat. 36. 20. N.
SELENGA, a large river of Siberia, in the southern part of the government of Irkoutsk, which rises beyond the frontier, in the country of the Mongols, where its stream is increased by the accession of the Kharatale and the Iga. It becomes navigable as it approaches the frontiers of the empire, and, flowing from south-east to north-west, it falls by three mouths into Lake Baikal. On its banks are several considerable Russian towns, namely, Verschnei, Oudinsk, Selenginsk, and Kiachta, the great point of commercial intercourse with China.
SELENGINSK, a town of Asiatic Russia, in the government of Irkoutsk, situated on the right bank of the Selenga, in a country consisting chiefly of naked and sandy mountains; and it is ten miles farther down the river before any lands are found fit for the purposes of agriculture. In 1566 a wooden fort or ostrog was built on this spot, which was afterwards converted into a regular fortress, and gave rise to the town, which now contains three churches and a hundred and fifty houses. It is supported, notwithstanding its dreary situation, by being the great thoroughfare of the China trade through Kiachta. Rhubarb is imported in large quantities from the adjacent country of Mongolia. Long. 107. 3. E. Lat. 51. 6. N.
SELENOGRAPHY, a branch of cosmography, which describes the moon, and all the parts and appearances thereof, as geography does those of the earth.
SELEUCIA, in Ancient Geography, surnamed Babylonia, because situated on its confines, at the confluence of the Euphrates and the Tigris. Ptolemy places it in Mesopotamia. It is called also Seleucia ad Tigrim, being washed on the south by the Euphrates, and on the east by the Tigris. It is generally believed to have been built or enlarged by Seleucus Nicanor, master of the east after Alexander by means of which Babylon came to be deserted. It is said to have been originally called Coche, though others, as Arrian, distinguish it, as a village, from Seleucia; and, according to Zosimus, the ancient name of Seleucia was Zocha-sia. It is now called Bagdad. Long. 44. 21. E. Lat. 33. 10. N. There were many other cities of the same name, all built by Seleucus Nicanor.
SELEUCIDAE, in chronology. The era of the Seleu cidae, or the Syro-Macedonian era, is a computation of time, commencing from the establishment of the Seleucidae, a race of Greek kings, who reigned as successors of Alexander the Great in Syria, as the Ptolemies did in Egypt. This era we find expressed in the books of the Maccabees, and on a great number of Greek medals struck by the cities of Syria. The Rabbin call it the era of contracts, and the Arabs therik dilkarnain, or the era of the two horns. According to the best accounts, the first year of this era falls in the year 311 before Christ, being twelve years after Alexander’s death.
SELIGENSTADT, a city of the grand duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, in Germany, in the province of Starkenburg, and the capital of a bailiwick of the same name. It stands on the river Maine, is surrounded with walls, and contains an ancient monastery, 420 houses, and 2640 inhabitants.
SELINO, a town of the island of Candia, in the Levant. It is the capital of a circle of its own name, situated at the south-west point of that island, with good anchorage in the road, which is defended by a fort.
SELINGAN, a small island in the Sooloo Archipelago. Long. 118. 15. E. Lat. 6. 4. N.
SELINTY, a bold and romantic headland in Caramania, situated on the ruins of the ancient Trajanopolis. On the highest point are the ruins of a castle, which commands the ascent of the hills in every direction.
SELLA, a town of Spain, in what is called the kingdom of Valentia, in the province of Alcoy. It is situated on the banks of the river Alcoy, and near to its entrance into the Mediterranean Sea. It contains about 2000 inhabitants, who are chiefly employed in making cordage and fishing-nets from esparto, which grows abundantly in the neighbourhood.
SELMAST, a town of Persia, in the province of Azerbijan, containing about 2000 inhabitants, principally Nestorian Christians. It is famed for its lofty poplars and delightful gardens. It is seventv-five miles west-south-west of Tabreez.
SELTERS, or Seltzers, a village of the principality of Nassau, in Germany, about ten miles from Coblentz. The name of the mineral spring here is celebrated in every part of Europe. Seltzer water is brought to this country in stone bottles, which are closely corked and sealed, and contain about three pints each; and when they are well secured, it keeps unchanged for a considerable time. Seltzer water, according to the analysis of Bergman, contains, in an English wine pint,

Grains.

Carbonate of lime 3

Ditto of magnesia 5

Ditto of soda 4

Muriate of soda 17∙5

29∙5

The same quantity of water also yields seventeen cubic inches of a gaseous substance, which is found to be almost entirely pure carbonic acid gas. This water has been long in high repute on account of its medicinal virtues, and we have no doubt that it may be used with considerable benefit in many of those complaints which arise from a deranged state of the stomach and bowels. The usual dose of this water is from half a pint to a pint; but in most cases it may be drunk freely. From its agreeable taste, and its exhilarating effects on the spirits, it is extensively employed at table as a common drink in Germany and Holland. In this country also both the real and the artificial Seltzer water is largely used for the same purpose. Seltzer water may be artificially imitated, by adding the ingredients discoverable by analysis, and in the same proportion.
SEMAO, an island in the Eastern Seas, about twenty-four miles in length from north to south, and from six to ten in breadth. A strait, called the Strait of Semao, separates it from the south-west end of the island of Timor. This strait, which has a good depth of water, affords secure shelter to ships during the strength of the westerly monsoons. Long. 123. 45. E. Lat. 10. 15. S.
SEMENDRA, a city in the north-west of Turkey in Europe, the capital of a province of the same name in the ancient Servia. It is built on the western branch of the river Morava, where it falls into the Danube. It is fortified and defended by an ancient castle, and contains the cathedral of a Greek bishop, several mosques, and about 8000 inhabitants, who subsist by trading and fishing on the rivers. Long. 21. 23. E. Lat. 44. 37. N.
SEMENTINAE Feriae, in Antiquity, were feasts held annually among the Romans, to obtain of the gods a plentiful harvest. They were celebrated in the temple of Tellus, where solemn sacrifices were offered to Tellus and Ceres. These feasts were held about seed-time, usually in the month of January; for, as Macrobius observes, they were moveable feasts.
SEMI, a word borrowed from the Latin, signifying half but only used in composition with other words.
SEMI-ARIANS, in Bcclesiastical History, a branch of the ancient Arians, consisting, according to Epiphanius, of such as, in appearance, condemned the errors of that heresiarch, but yet acquiesced in some of his principles, only palliating and hiding them under softer and more moderate"terms. Though they separated from the Arian faction, they could never be brought to acknowledge that the Son was “ho-moousios,” that is, consubstantial, or of the same substance with the Father; they would only allow him to be “ho-moiousios,” that is, of a like substance with the Father, or similar to the Father in his essence, not by nature, but by a peculiar privilege.

The Semi-Arianism of the modems consists in their maintaining that the Son was from all eternity begotten by the will of the Father, contrary to the doctrine of the orthodox, who seem to teach that eternal generation is necessary. Such, at least, are the respective opinions of Dr Clarke and Bishop Bull.
SEMICIRCLE in cometry, is half a circle, or that figure which is comprehended between the diameter of the circle and half its circumference.
SEMICOLON, in Grammar, one of the points or stops used to distinguish the several members of a sentence from each other.

The mark or character of a semicoon is (;), and it has its name from being of somewhat less effect than a colon, or as demanding a shorter pause.

The proper use of the semicoon is to distinguish the conjunct members of a sentence. Now, by a conjunct member of a sentence is meant such a one as contains at least two simple members. Whenever, then, a sentence can be divided into several members of the same degree, which are again divisible into other simple members, the former are to be separated by a semicoon. For instance, “If fortune bear a great sway over him, who has nicely stated and concerted every circumstance of an affair; we must not commit every thing, without reserve, to fortune, lest she should have too great a hold of us.”
SEMIDIAMETER, half the diameter, or a right line drawn from the centre of a circle to its circumference; being the same with what is otherwise called the radius.
SEMIPALATNOI, a fortress of Asiatic Russia, in the southern part of the government of Tomsk, erected for the[7:20:87] purpose of protecting the trade carried on with the Calmucks and Bucharians. It was first built in the year 1718; but, owing to the inundations of the river, it was swept away, and had to be removed successively from one spot to another. The principal fortress forms a square composed of wooden ramparts, and surrounded by a ditch. There are two villages, the one above and the other below, both palisaded, like the fort, and containing above two hundred houses. The trade carried on by the Russians with the Kirghises consists of an exchange of toys and trifles for horses and cattle. It is also frequented by traders from Little Bucharia, who bring chiefly cotton goods of inferior quality. Long. 80. 10. E. Lat. 50. 20. N.
SEMIRAMIS, queen of Assyria, reigned about five generations before Nitocris, and constructed some wonderful works to restrain the waters of the Euphrates within its banks. Diodorus gives a more detailed account of her, which is copied principally from Ctesias. Omitting the fabulous statements respecting her youth, we there find that she had a son, Ninyas, from Ninus; and that after her husband’s death she thought herself capable of governing the empire. She founded the city of Babylon, which she surrounded by walls of immense strength, and adorned by very wonderful buildings. On the top of the temple of Belus she placed three statues of massive gold, and from[7:20:90] the middle of the temple rose a tower higher than the highest pyramid of Egypt. Some have thought that this was the tower of Babel. She made warlike expeditions against the Medes, Persians, Libyans, and Aethiopians. She is said to have executed many wonderful works in different parts of her kingdom; changing mountains into plains, and constructing canals and palaces. Hearing of the riches and power of India, she determined to make war on that kingdom, and prepared an immense army; but she was in a great measure unsuccessful, and returned with the loss of nearly her whole army. When she reached Babylon, her son laid snares for her; and as it had been predicted by the oracle of Jupiter Ammon that she would disappear from the world when this took place, the prediction was fulfilled. Semiramis was no more seen, having died in the sixty-second year of her age, and the forty-second of her reign.
SEMITONE. See Muste.
SEMLIN, a city of the Austrian dominions, on the frontier towards Turkey. It stands in that district which forms a part of the military colonies of Austria, distinguished by the name of the Sclavonian boundary. It is situated on a point of land where the river Drave falls into the Danube; and it is strongly fortified, and tolerably well built. The Catholics have one church and four chapels; the Greeks have two churches, over which a propapa presides. There are a convent of Franciscans, a German normal sch∞l, a hospital, a Jews’ synagogue, and 1250 dwelling-houses, with about 8700 inhabitants. At this place is the lazaretto, where all persons arriving from Turkey must exhibit bills of health, and perform quarantine. In a meadow between this place and Belgrade a daily market is held, where two rows of palisades separate the dealers, and where sentinels are continually on the watch, to see that no hazardous communication takes place; and all goods bought from the Turks must be exposed to the air and fumigated. It is a place of considerable traffic with Turkey. The communication by steam-vessels between Vienna and Constantinople has given a stimulus to its commerce, and is likely to occasion a much greater increase. There are now more than 120 mercantile houses established here, some of which are Greek, others Turkish, and a part Austrian. There are 380 persons employed in manufactures, and more than 100 hotels or taverns. The colonists regimented here form the Pe-terwarden branch of the army. Long. 20. 19. 39. E. Lat. 44. 51. 22. N.
SEMUR, an arrondissement of the department of Côte d’Or, in France, which extends over 598 square miles. It is divided into six cantons, and these into 145 communes, with a population, in 1836, of 70,505 inhabitants. The capital is the city of the same name, standing on a rock washed on three sides by the river Armançon. It contains a fine collegiate church, built in 1065, a public library with 12,000 volumes, and 920 houses, with 4035 inhabitants, who make some woollen goods, and trade largely in wine, cattle, corn, and hemp. Long. 3. 30. E. Lat. 47. 18. N.
SEMYLE, a fortress of Hindustan, in the province of Assam, situated on the banks of the Brahmapootra river, which it commands. It was taken by the Mahommedans in the year 1662.
SENAN-FOU, a city of China, of the first rank, in the province of Koeitchoo, situated on a fine river, in an extensive plain, surrounded on all sides by mountains, among which dwell a barbarous race, who have little intercourse with the Chinese. Long. 107. E. Lat. 27. 56. N.
SENATE, in general, is an assembly or council of senators, that is, of the principal inhabitants of a state, who have a share in the government.

The senate of ancient Rome is of all others the most celebrated. It exercised no contentious jurisdiction, but appointed judges, either from among the senators or knights, to determine processes. It also appointed governors of pro vinces, and disposed of the revenues of the commonwealth. Yet the whole sovereign power did not reside in the senate, since it could not elect magistrates, make laws, or decide of war and peace; for, in all these cases, the senate was obliged to consult the people.

The senate, when first instituted by Romulus, consisted of a hundred members; to whom he afterwards added the same number when the Sabines had migrated to Rome. Tarquin the ancient made the senate consist of three hundred, and this number remained fixed for a long time; but afterwards it fluctuated greatly, and was increased, first to seven hundred, and afterwards to nine hundred, by Julius Caesar, who filled the senate with men of every rank and order. Under Augustus the senators amounted to a thousand; but this number was reduced, and fixed at six hundred. The place of senator was always bestowed upon merit. The monarchs had the privilege of choosing the members; and after the expulsion of the Tarquins, it was one of the rights of the consuls, until the election of the censors, who from their office seemed most capable of making choice of men whose character was irreproachable, whose morals were pure, and whose relations were honourable. Only particular families were admitted into the senate; and when the plebeians were permitted to share the honours of the state, it was then required that they should be born of free citizens. It was also required that the candidates should be knights before their admission into the senate. They were to be above the age of twenty-five, and to have previously passed through the inferior offices of quaestor, tribune of the people, edile, praetor, and consul.

The senate always met on the first of January for the inauguration of the new consuls; and in all months, universally, there were three days, the kalends, nones, and ides, on which it regularly met. But it always met on extraordinary occasions, when called together by consul, tribune, or dictator.

To render their decrees valid and authentic, a certain number of members was requisite, and such as were absent without some proper cause were always fined. In the reign of Augustus, four hundred senators were requisite to make a senate. Nothing was transacted before sunrise or after sunset. In their office the senators were the guardians of religion; they disposed of the provinces as they pleased; they prorogued the assemblies of the people; they appointed thanksgivings, nominated their ambassadors, and distributed the public money; and, in short, they had the management of every thing political or civil in the republic, except the creating of magistrates, the enacting of laws, and the declaration of war or peace, which were confined to the assemblies of the people.
SENATOR, in general, denotes a member of some senate.

The dignity of a Roman senator could not be supported without the possession of eighty thousand sesterces, or about L.7000 English money; and therefore such as squandered away their money, and reduced their fortune below this sum, were generally struck out of the list of senators. This regulation was not made in the first ages of the republic, when the Romans boasted of their poverty. The senators were not permitted to be of any trade or profession. They were distinguished from the rest of the people by their dress. They wore the laticlave, half-boots of a black colour, with a crescent or silver buckle in the form of a C; but this lost honour was confined only to the descendants of those hundred senators who had been elected by Romulus, as the letter C seems to imply.

Among us, senator is a member of parliament. In the laws of Edward the Confessor, we are told that the Britons called those senators whom the Saxons called afterwards aldermen and borough-masters, though not on account of their age, but their wisdom; for some of them were young[7:20:91] men, but very well skilled in the laws. Kenulph king of the Mercians granted a charter, which ran thus: consilio et consensu episcoporum et senatorum gentis suce largitus fuir dicto monasterio., &c. In Scotland the lords of session are called senators of the college of justice.