Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/397

SEPTEMBER 341 SEQUOIA cement, because of its properties being the same as a famous hydraulic cement made of ferruginous volcanic ash brought from Rome. Such septaria occur in layers in clay deposits, and are quarried for economical purposes in the clays of the London basin. The septarian nodules of the Carboni- ferous strata consist generally of clay ironstone, and are sometimes employed in the manufacture of iron. SEPTEMBER (from the Latin sep- tem, seven), the ninth month of our year, but the seventh of the old Roman year, which began in March. It has always contained 30 days. SEPTEMBRISTS, in French history, the name given to the agents in the mas- sacre which took place in Paris on Sept. 2, 1792, during the French Revolution. SEPTICEMIA, or SEPTEMIA, in pathology, a state of the blood without secondary abscesses, a kind of pyaemia with intense fever, and great constitu- tional disturbance from blood poisoning. The antiseptic researches of Lister and of Pasteur have done much to counteract septicaemia. SEPTUAGESIMA, the third Sunday before Lent, so called because it is about 70 days before Easter. SEPTUAGINT, a Greek version of the Hebrew or Old Testament Scriptures, the oldest one made into any language. A still extant letter referred to by Jo- sephus, Jerome, and Eusebius, purports to be from a certain Aristeas, officer at the court of Ptolemy Philadelphus. It states that after the king had founded the great Alexandrian library, he wished to have a copy of the Jewish sacred books. By the advice of his chief librarian, Demetrius Phalareus, he sent to the high priest at Jerusalem, requesting him to send six translators from each tribe, 72 in all. The request was complied with; the translators came and completed their work in 72 days. _ From their number, and perhaps the time they occupied, the name Septuagint arose. But the letter of Aristeas is not now believed to be genuine, and Coptic words in the work show that the translators were from Egypt, and not from Jerusalem. The version was apparently made at Alex- andria, and was commenced about 280 B. c, the Pentateuch being the only part translated at first. It is well done. Next in value is the book of Proverbs. Job was translated from the Hebrew text, dif- fering both by excess and defect from that now recognized. Esther, the Psalms, and the Prophets followed, seemingly be- tween 180 and 170 B. c. Jeremiah is the best translated, and Daniel is exe- cuted so badly that Theodotian, in the 2d century a. d., had to do the work again. Jesus and His Apostles frequently quoted the Septuagint in place of the Hebrew. The Jews had a high opinion of the Sep- tuagint, but on finding the Messianic pas- sages used effectively by the Christians in controversy with them, they estab- lished a fast to mourn that the Septua- gint had ever been issued, and had a new translation by Aquila brought out for the use of the synagogues. Three Christian recensions took place late in the 3rd or early in the 4th century. The first mod- ern edition was the Complutensian in 1514-1517; since then others have ap- peared. SEQUENCE, a series of things follow- ing in a certain order or succession; spe- cifically, a set of cards immediately fol- lowing each other in the same suit, as an ace, two, three and four. In music, the recurrence of a harmonic progression or melodic figure at a different pitch or in a different key to that in which it was first given. A tonal or diatonic se- quence is when no modulation takes place. A chromatic or real sequence takes place when the recurrence of a phrase at an exact interval causes a change of key. In the Roman ritual, a rhythm sometimes sung between the Epistle and the Gos- pel. At first it was merely a prolonga- tion of the last note of the Alleluia, but afterward appropriate words were sub- stituted. Wnen the Roman Missal was revised in the 16th century, only four of the existing sequences were retained: Vic- tinse Paschali, for Easter; Veni, Sancte Spiritus, for Pentecost; Lauda, Sion, for Corpus Christi; and the Dies Irse, for Masses of the Dead. The Stabat Mater, for the Feast of the Seven Dolors, is of later date. SEQUOIA, a genus of coniferous trees. It is closely allied to the cypress, and two species are noted, the big tree (gigantea) and the redwood (semper- virens). The big tree species is one of the largest in the world and is the largest in America. In California, where the two species are found, it rises to an average height of 275 feet. The largest exceed 320 feet, with a trunk diameter of from 30 to 35 feet. It is found on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, at average elevations of 6,000 feet, appearing in scattered clusters. The Mariposa and Calaveras groves contain the highest trees. The tallest standing is the Keystone State, which is 325 feet in height, while another magnificent specimen is the Empire State, having a circumference of 94 feet. The Father of the Forest, a fallen specimen, has a