Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/870

SEPP. 792 Parliament in 1848, to the German Customs Par- liament in 18(J8, and to the Bavarian Chamber in 1849 and 1809. He was an eiithusiastiu advocate of a united Germany. His principal writings in- clude: IhiK IaUii Jcsu Christi (2d ed., 18r);i-U2) ; Thuttn und hchren Jesu in ihrcr welt geschicht- licheii Bcglaiibiyiiiig (18G4); Geschichie der Aposlcl toiii Tudc Jcsu bis zur Zcrstiiritng Je- rusalcms (2d ed. 1860) ; Dos Ecidciitum und dessen Bcdeuiung fur das Chrislcntum (1853); Jenisalcin und das Ueilige Land (2d ed. 1878) ; a biography of Oorrcs (1890); and numerous contrilintions to the local history of Bavaria. SEPPHOR'IS (Heb. .Si>/)on' or tiippurln). A city of (ialilee. fanious in later Jewish histoiy, the modern SalTuriye. It lies on the slope of a high hill three miles west of Cana of Galilee, in the midst of a regi(m once famed for fertility. The place is not named in the Old Testament, but is identified by the Talmud with Kitron (Judges i., .30). It is lirst mentioned by Josephus for the date B.C. 104. He speaks of it as "the great- est city in Galilee and built in a very strong place." Gabinius made it the capital of Galilee (about B.C. 57). Originally a strong .Tewish cen- tre. Varus expelled the Jewish element (B.C. 4), and it became for a time predominantly Gentile. Herod Antipas handsomely I'ebnilt it. and it alternated with his other creation of Tiberias as the Galilean capital. In the Jewish revolt it was plundered by Josephus. Under Antoninus Pius it was called Dioc;psarea and had the right of coinage. It is famous in the history of the Talmud as the residence for 17 years of Rabbi Judah ha-Jfasi, the compiler of the Mishna (died A.D. 217), who made it the great school of Galilee until the rise of that of Tiberias. It thus became again a centre of Jewish life, and was the scene of a Jewish insurrection in 339, W'hich caused its destruction by the Romans, It was early regarded as the scene of the annuncia- tion to the Virgin Mary and the home of her parents. Considerable remains of a large Cru- sader church exist. Consult the Surt^ct) of ^Yest- ern Palestine, vol. i. (London. 1881 ) , and Baedek- er's Palestine and >S'yrio ; for the Greek refer- ences, consult Schiirer, History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ (Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1890) ; for Talmudic references, Neubauer. Geographie du Talmud (Paris, 1868), SEPTARIA (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Lat. septum, swptum, inclosure, hedge, fence, from sepire. scepire. to hedge in, from sepcs. swpes, hedge, fence). Ovate nodules of argillaceous lime- stone or clay ironstone, usually divided into angu- lar fragments by reticulating fissures that have been filled with calcite or barytes. The fissures are due to cracking of the nodule while drying. Some organic substance, such as a plant or shell, is frequently found in the interior of septaria and evidently formed the nucleus about which the mineral materials were deposited from solu- tion. SEPTEMBER, See Calendar, SEPTEMBRISTS (Fr. Septemhriseurs) . The name given to the perpetrators of the 'Septem- ber massacres' in the prisons of Paris from September 2 to 7, 1792. See French Revolu- tion. SEPTENNIAL ACT (from Lat. septennium, space of seven years, from septennis, of seven SEPTICEMIA. years, from scpteni, seven + annus, year). An act of the English Parliament passed in 1716 fixing the Parliamentary term at seven years. Since 1694 the term had been three years, but on account of the inconvenience of general elections at such short intervals and the desire of the Whigs to secure steadiness and fixity of political action by maintaining themselves in power the longer term was substituted. Moreover, the fear on account of the Jacobite revolt rendered it un- safe for the Whig Jlinistry to run the risk of a general election. The right of a Parliament to perpetuate its own existence beyond the legal term was the sul>ject of general opposition and was violently contested. The Septennial law is still in force, although by usage the length of a Parliament seldom exceeds six years. SEPTET (from Lat. sepiem, seven). In music, a composition for seven voices or instruments. Instrumental septets are almost invariably cycli- cal works in sonata form. Beethoven's famous septet (op. 20) is written for violin, viola, horn, clarinet, bassoon, 'cello, and double bass: but there is no general specification as to what in- struments shall be used in the septet, SEPTICEMIA (Neo-Lat., from Gk. <n,irTiK6,, sepiikos, putrefying -f- al/jia, haima, blood), Sepsls, or Septic Inj'ECTION'. A diseased con- dition of the body due to ali.sorption of bacteria and their circulation in the blood. It is com- monly termed blood-poisoning, and was thought to be due to entrance of decomposed tissue into the blood. It is now definitely known to be ]iro- duced by the bacteria streptococcus and staphy- lococcus. It is to be differentiated from toxse- mia on the one hand and pyaemia (q.v. ) on the other. Toxsemia is properly used to designate a systemic condition in which the poisons or toxins alone of pathogenic bacteria present in the body are absorbed and diffused throughout the body by means of the blood and lymph. In septic;vmia not only the poison, but also some of the bacteria themselves are distributed through the body through the same channels. In pyemia not only are both toxins and bacteria present in the blood, but the latter find lodgment in dif- ferent parts of the body, there to set up new foci of infection. The micro-organisms responsible for septiciemia are the same as those concerned in the production of pyaemia. The bacteria may ijsually be found in the blood. The changes in the internal organs may be slight or there may be the usual evidences of infection in albuminoid degeneration of the liver, kidneys, and other organs. The lymph glands are usually swollen and the spleen congested and enlarged. The mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines commonly shows an acute catarrhal condition. The blood is apt to be thin, somewhat tarry in color, and its coagulability is lessened. When septic infection results from an external wound, the wound itself may appear healthy, or may show evidences of more or less infection. In such an infection as medical students incur by cutting themselves while dissecting, the wound usually shows marked evidence of the condition, while red streaks running up the arm along the course of the veins and lymphatics show the course which the infection has followed. In very severe cases oedema of the tissue surrounding the wound may develop. Septicaemia is a surgical disease. It was fre-