Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/807

SEA-COW. 731 SEAL. applies specifically to the extinct rytina or Arctic sea-cow {I'll ill iim .sVc/.'cn), which once fre- quented Bering Straits, but was exterminated abdut 17t)7 by seal-hunters and sailors who found its beef-like ilesli excellent eating. When discovered by Hering's expedition in 1741, it lived only on Bering and Copjjcr Islands. G. W. iStellcr. the naturalist (if liic expedition, made sUetchcs and wrote an account of the animal, which he describes as 24 to 30 feet long, with a girth of m or 20 feet and weighing about 8000 jiounds. The head was small, and the jaws had, instead of teeth, horny pads similar to those in the mouth of the dugong. The skin was very thick, dark-colored, and rough. The rytina was gregarious, and dwelt in herds about the mouths of streams, where it lived on seaweeds. It was unable to dive, and hence was restricted to shal- low water, where its feeding was often prevented by ice, so that in winter many starved. It was stupid, sluggish, and comparatively helpless, Stejiieger's writings in the Proceedings of the United States National Museum, vol. vii. (1S84), and in Tlic American Xaturalist, vol. xxi. (1887), contain most of what is known of this e.xtinct race. Consult also Nordenskjold, Voyage of the Vff/ri (New Y(]rk, 1881). SEA-CUCUMBER. A holothurian (q.v.). The name, which refers to the shape, is ajipro- priate only for certain of the pedate species, most of the footless forms being more or less elongated and worm-like. Compare Tkepang. SEA-BEVIL. A devil-fish; especially the great ray {Manta hirostris:) . SEA-EAGLE. See Eagle. SEA-ELEPHANT. See Elephant-Seal; and Colored Plate of Seals. SEA-FAN. An alc.yonarian (q.v.) coral, in which the form of the colony is not unlike that of a fan, being very greatly flattened, so that it becomes wide and high but very thin. Moreover, it is not solid, but consists of an open network, with the meshes of comparatively small size. The forms to which the name is most po]nilarly given are species of Gorgonia. and especially the conunon West Indian species, Gorgonia /tabellum. Fine specimens are sometimes four feet high and nearly as far across. The color is very variable, but is usually yellow or dull reddish purple. Sea- fans are sparingly represented in a fossil state; only a few forms are known from Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks. See Gorgoxiacea. SEAHAM (se'om) HARBOR. A seaport in the County of Durham, England. 5 miles south of Simdcriand (Map: England, E 2). It has a finely equipped harbor, a seaman's infirmary, and the Londonderry Literary Institute. Bottle works, blast furnaces, an iron foundry, and chemical works are its principal industrial es- tablishments. The chief article of- export is coal. Seaham was founded in 1828 by the Mar- quis of Londonderry. Population, in 1001, 10.200. SEA-HOLLY. See Ektngo. SEA-HORSE. One of the small strange syngnathous lishes of the pipefish family, which constitute the genus Hippocampus and its near allies, and take their name from the rude re- semblance of the head to that of a horse. The body is compressed, with an elongated tail, and the integument is a series of large, rectangular Vol. XVII.— 47. ^.i^' '-(■ A BEA-nonsK. bony plates, with a series of spines and projec- tions along the lines of juncture. These spines, together with the divided, streamer-like fins of some species, give them a strong resendilance to the seaweeds among which they live. There are about 20 species in various warm and temperate seas. All keep near shore, often developing in brackish water; and as their powers of swinuning are feeble, they have become able, by the develop- ment of prehensilit}' in the tail, to cling firmly to weeds and other supports and so resist being swept away. Like the pipe- fishes (q.v.), the males take charge of the eggs, which are placed in an abdom- inal pouch, and re- main there until they hatch: and for some time afterwards the fry will, when alarmed, return to the shelter of the ]iouch. ('onsult Gun- ther. Introduction to the Utinh/ of l-'ishes (Lon- don, 1880). SEA ISLANDS. A grouj) of low sandy or marsliy islands (in the coast of South Carolina between Charleston and Savannah. They are separated from the mainland by a series of lagoons, soimds, and narrow, t(u'luous channels. Their soil is especially w(dl adapted for rice and cotton, the latter, for which the islands are cele- brated, being a fine, long-stapled variety. SEA-KALE, or Crambe (Cramhc maritima) . A pcrcnni;il jdant of the natural order Crucifcrie native to Kiiropean seacoasts. Its blanched sprouts are eaten like ;isparagus. Sea-kale is especially popular in England, luit is grown to a limited extent elsewhere. Sea-kale is generally propagated by offsets or cuttings of the roots, and sometimes by seed. A plantation remains productive for several years. SEAL (OF. seel, seel, Fr. sceau, from Lat. sigilliim, seal, mark, diminutive of signum, sign. mark, token). By ancient common law a seal must consist of a piece of wax, lead, or other tenacious metal or substance, stamped with words or a device, according to the fancy of the person adopting it. At present two of the most conunon devices are: a circular bit of paper stamped in some manner and attached to the in- strument liy mucilage; the impress of a design or words in the paper of the instrument itself by means of ii die. Introduced at a time when practically only the clergy c(uild write, and used for a long time instead of signatures on private writings, etc., as well as legal instruments, seals did not orig- inally invest an instrument with any distinctive solemnity, but after the art of writing became a common accomplishment and most private writ- ings, not of a legal nature, were signed instead of scaled, the courts began to attach a peculiar and