Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/872

SEQUEirCE. 794 SEQUOIA. duct'd iu the Middle Ages as a continuation of the Alleluia before the gospel in the muss, prob- ably with the original idea of supplying words forthe protracted series of notes known as neunies (q.v.). They were also known, especially in Kngland and l-'rance, as proses, because the earlier ones were not metrical. Notker, a monk of Saint tlall, was the earliest great composer of them, and his work spread very widelj- through- out Europe; by 1500 his beautiful sequence for Whitsunday, "Veni sancte Spiritus," was adopted in at least 150 dioceses and religious Unlers. Adam of iSaint Victor is the principal figure in the second period. The sequences were principal- ly used in tlie north of Europe; they are rare in Italian and [Spanish missals, and the Cister- cians and Carthusians never adopted them. In 1570 the revised Koman missal limited the num- ber of sequences to five, including the "Stabat Mater," "Lauda Sion," and "Dies irse." As a term in the theory of music, a sequence denotes the frecpient repetition of a musical phrase, each repetition ascending or descending by a certain interval. Although the older masters frequently made use of sequences, theorists were unable to explain their exact character. Fctis finallj' dis- covered that a sequence is a purely melodic, not a harmonic progression, and that therefore in this particular case the rules of strict harmony nmst be suspended. Consult: Daniel, Thesaurus Hymnologicus (Leipzig, 1844) ; ilone. Lutein- ischc llymneii des Mittelalters (Freiburg, 1S5.3- 55) ; Gautier, Histoire de la poesio Utxtrgique (Paris, 1S8G). SEQUESTRATION (Lat. sequestratio, from sequcslrurr, to surrender, lay aside, remove, from sequester, mediator, agent, probably from sequi, to follow). An equitable process directing a sheriff, or four or more commissioners, to seize and take possession of the property of a de- fendant, or person in contempt of court, and re- ceive the rents and profits, if any, until some decree or order of the court is satisfied, or until litigation in regard to the property is determined. It was employed to enforce the payment of money damages, whiclv are often granted as incidental to the main relief of a court of equity, and to enforce obedience to decrees of the court, where a person was in contempt. In a few States this process is still commonly employed for the above purposes, but in most jurisdictions the process of execution has superseded it, although, imless expressly abolished by statute, the courts of equity may still resort to it in the proper eases. See Equity; Coxtempt; and the autliorities there referred to. SEQUIN (Fr. sequin, from It. zecchino, sequin, frmu -ccco, Sp. seca, seca, mint, from Ar. sikka. die for coins). A gold coin, first struck at Venice toward the end of the thirteenth cen- tury. It was about the size of a ducat (q.v.), and equivalent to $2.33 American. Coins of the same name, but varying in value, were issued by other States. SEQUOIA (Neo-Lat., named in honor of Se- quoya, or George Guess). A genus of coniferous trees closely allied to the cypress. Only two spe- cies persist, both in California. They are the big tree {Sequoia giyantea) and the redwood (q.v.) {Sequoia semperviretis) . The former is the largest American forest tree and one of the largest in the world. The average height of the trees is said to be about 275 feet, although speci- mens exceeding 320 feet, with a trunk diameter of 30 to 35 feet near the ground, have been meas- ured. The trees are buttressed at base, so thao they lose their diameter rapidly for a few feet, after which they taper gradually and are fre- quently 100 to 150 feet without a branch. The wood is light, soft, coarse-grained, and durable, especially when in contact with the ground. The heart wood is red, turning darker upon exposure : the sap wood is tliin and white. The bark of the tree is spongy- and fluted, often two feet thick. The tree contains little resin. and does not burn readily. The big tree is found only on the west side of the Sierra Nevadas, at elevations be- tween 5000 and 7000 feet. It occurs in scattered groves along with other coniferous trees, in no place forming pure forests. These groves, of which there are about a dozen, occur from Placer to Tulare County, a distance of about 250 miles near the centre of the State. The Calaveras and Mariposa groves are the best known. The for- mer contains about 100 trees of large size, and a considerable number of smaller ones. The tallest specimen now standing is the 'Keystone State,' which is 325 feet tall, and what is llelieved to be one of the finest specimens standing is the 'Em- pire State,' with a circumference of 94 feet. A fallen specimen known as the 'Father of the Forest' was broken in falling, but it is esti- mated as more than 400 feet tall. The Mariposa grove contains about 500 trees of all sizes, of< which perhaps 100 are large specimens. A num- ber of fine specimens are to be found in the State and National For- est Reserves, but the finest are upon private holdings. The discovery of the first of these big trees has been attrib- uted to a hunter named Dowd in 1S.50, 1)ut it is claimed that John Bid- well actually visited the same grove, the Cala- veras, in 1841. and to him should be given the credit of their discov- ery. The proper botani- cal name to be applied to this tree has been a subject of controversy. In England it is generally known under the name Wellingtonia gigantea. but as the tree does not differ from Sequoia the name was transferred to Sequoia gigantea. By some laws of nomencla- ture the name should be Sequoia Washingtoniana. but as the specific name gigantea is best known, it is here retained. The tree has been successfully grown in England and elsewhere. Some forest specimens are estimated to be from 1000 to 2000 years old. The genus Sequoia appeared first in the Cre- taceous beds of Atane. Greenland, and in the Potomac group of Xorth America, and is repre- sented by later species in the Tertiary of North America and Europe which are very similar to those remnant species now living in the Western United States. Still earlier ancestors were Lep- SBQtrOIA GIGANTEA.