Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/830

SEDAN. 7; lion the way to Jletz, and jjrcssed the Freuch iiortliwaid toward the Jiclgian frontier, which it was a part of the German plan to compel them to cross. JlacMahon. however, after several days' %hting chose the alternative of throwing himself into the fortress of Sedan, and occupied the heights which sunounded the fortress on the east, north, and west. The Germans now pro- ceeded to encircle the French forces, whom they outnumbered two to one. The battle began early on the morning of the first of September. While the W'iirttemberg troops were assigned to hold the line of French retreat to M6zi&res, the Bava- rians. Prussians, and Saxons, with the Guard, delivered an attack along the entire French line. MaeMahon was wounded in the first hours of fighting, and to the conllict of authority between Generals Ducrot and Winipflcn was due no little of the coiifvision which fiillowed. The most des- perate fighting occurred at the village of Baze- illes, to the east of Sedan. In the late afternoon the French had been driven from their positions, and the Germans had planted on the heights around Sedan a circle of .500 cannon, under whose fire the enemy was helpless. The French were driven back on Sedan, and at four o'clock the bombardment of the town began. The futility of resistance was ai)parent, and by order of the Em- peror Napoleon III., who was present in Sedan, a flag of truce was raised. On Septemlier 2d Gen- eral Wimptfen arranged with Bismarck and Moltke the terms of capitulation.. Nearly 2,900 olhccrs and 83,000 men laid dow-n their arms and were made prisoners, with the Emperor. The French loss in battle was 17,000 dead and wounded and 21.000 prisoners. Three thousand men succeeded in escaping into Belgium. The German loss comprised 470 officers and 8500 men killed and wounded. In Paris the news of the •capitulation of Sedan led to the overthrow of the Seciind Empire. SEDATIVES (OF. sedatif, Fr. scdatif, from Lat. sedare, to calm, causative of sedere, to sit). Agents which exert a quieting influence upon the .system or anj' part of it either by diminish- ing pain or e.fcitability or by lessening functional activity. Sedatives may have a general or local action. General sedatives include chloroform, ether, and the hypnotics (q.v. ), such as chloral. Local sedatives are cold, heat, cocaine, opium, jieonite, etc. Typical respiratory sedatives are dilute hydrocyanic acid, squills, ipecac, and vera- trine. Digitalis, aconite, and tobacco are circula- tory sedatives. Among the drugs which have a .>iOothing eflFect upon the nerves and spinal centres are potassium and sodium bromides, gelsemiuni, and physosligmine. Stomachic sedatives comprise sodium bicarbonate, bismuth, and nitrate of sil- ver. Certain drugs are sedative to one organ or system and irritant to another, or they may be sedative in minute doses and irritant in large; any classification, therefore, is apt to be mis- leading. See also Narcotics; Hypnotics; An- -TsSTHETICS. SED'DON, James Alexander (1815-80). An American jurist and politician, born at Fal- mouth, Staifford County, Va. He studied law at the University of Virginia, and began practice in Richmond. In February, 1861. he was a dele- gate to the Peace Convention held in Washing- ton, and presented a minority report recommend- ing the adoption of amendments to the Consti- .2 SEDGWICK. tution suggested by J. J. Crittenden, which tolerated slavery in the Territories, and specific- ally recognized the right of peaceable secession. He was a member of the First Confederate Con- gress, and on November 21, 18ti2, was appointed Secretaiy of War by President Davis. On the expression by the Virginia Congressmen of a want of confidence in the Cabinet, he resigned in February, 18U5. He then retired to his planta- tion in Goochland County, and lived quietly until his death. SEDGE'MOOR. A barren tract of land in Somersetshire. England, between King's Weston and Bridgewater, 5 miles southeast of the latter place. It is noted as the battlefield where the Duke of Monmouth (q.v.) was defeated by the troops of James II., commanded by the Earl of Faversham, in 1685. SEDGLEY, sej'li. A manufacturing town in Staffordshire, England, suburban to Wolver- hampton. Population, in 1901, 15,951. SEDG'WICK, Adam (1785-1873). An Eng- lish geologist, born in Yorkshire. He was edu- cated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and in 1818 became Woodwardian professor of geologj' in that university. In studying the rock formations of North Wales he developed a new stratigraphi- cal grou|) to which he gave the name Cambrian, and which is still recognized in geological nomen- clature. With Murchison (q.v.) he established also the Devonian system and showed its exten- sive develo]iment in Europe. Besides numerous papers to scientific journals, he wrote: Discourse of the Studies of the University of Cambridge (1850) ; and A Synopsis of the Classification of the Paleozoic Rocks (1855). For an estimate of Sedgwick's scientific work, consult Geikie, The Founders of Geology (London, 1897). SEDG'WICK, Catherine SIaria (1789-1867). An American author, born in Stockbridge, Mass., and daughter of Judge Theodore Sedgwick. She opened a school for young ladies (1813), and continued it for fifty years. In 1822. with the encouragement of her brother, Theodore Sedg- wick, she published A New England Tale, which was popular, and followed it in 1824 with Rcduood. Then came a succession of novels, in- cluding the good colonial romance Hope Leslie (1827) and culminating in r/ic Zyi')Hf)ood.s (1835), her last and best novel. The series of novels was succeeded by one of popular stories, illustrating morals and domestic economy. Her later work included Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home (1841), the result of a European trip, and other moral books. Although now little read, she was an important force in early American culture. Consult Life and Letters, by Mary E. Dewey (1.S71). SEDGWICK, Daniel (1814-79). An English hymnologist. He was born in London, and was first a shoemaker, then a second-hand bookseller, and came to have many customers among col- lectors of theological literature. In 1859 he began to reprint rare hymns in his Library of Spiritual Song, and, continuing to study the subject, he became a recognized authority in h^minology. His knowledge was wide and mi- nute, but he was hampered in making use of it by lack of education. He was much consulted by compilers of hymn books, and Julian's Dic- tionary of Eymnology owes much to his manu- scripts.