the dynasty of Bijanagur, by rajah Wadeyar, and made his capital of Mysore. His successors continued to enlarge the town, and increase its fortifications; but it was not till the reigns of Hyder Aly and Tippoo Sultan that it attained its first degree of splendor and strength. It was frequently besieged by the Mahrattas and by the Nizam, but without any other effect than compelling Hyder to pay sums of money. In February 1792 it was invested by the British and allied armies, under the command of lord Cornwallis, amounting, with their followers, to the immense number of 400,000 men. Terrified by such a host, Tippoo Sultan relinquished half his dominions, and paid the sum of three millions and a half sterling to the conquerors. In 1799, a war having again broken out between the British and Mysore, Seringapatam was again invested by the British and Nizam's forces, on the 14th of April, and was stormed about two o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of May. On this occasion Tippoo Sultan, and nearly 8000 of his followers, fell, and the whole of his family and treasures were taken by the conquerors. Previous to the siege, the city and island are said to have contained 150,000 inhabitants; but in the following year the number of inhabitants was reduced to less than 32,000. Seringapatam has of course declined since, and, having proved unhealthy, it has been in contemplation to demolish the fortifications. By the treaty made with the allied powers, Seringapatam became the property of the British, and is now protected by a garrison, and is the residence of a judge, collector, &c. Besides the city, the island contains a very celebrated temple, dedicated to Vishnu, and a handsome garden, called the Loll Bang, in which are deposited the remains of Hyder Aly and his son Tippo Sultan under a handsome mausoleum. See MYSORE.

SERINGHAM, an island of Hindostan, formed about six miles north-west of Trinchinopoly by the river Cavery, which divides itself into two branches; that to the northward takes the name of Coleroon, but the southern branch preserves its name the Cavery. Each of these rivers, after a course of about ninety miles, falls into the sea; the Coleroon at Devicottah, and the Cavery near Tranquebar, about twenty miles from each other. In this island, facing Trinchinopoly, stood a famous pagoda surrounded by seven square walls of stone, twenty-five feet high and four feet thick. The space between the outward and second walls measured 310 feet, and so proportionably of the rest. Each enclosure had four large gates, with a high tower; which were placed, one in the middle of each side of the enclosure, and opposite to the four cardinal points. The outward wall was about four miles in circumference, and its gateway to the south was ornamented with pillars, some of which were single stones thirty-three feet in length and five in diameter; while those that formed the roof were still larger; and in the inmost enclosure were the chapels. About half a mile to the east was another large pagoda called Jumbikistna, which had but one enclosure. The pagoda of Seringham was held in great veneration, from a belief that it contained the VOL. XX.

identical image of the god Vishnu; and pilgrims came here from all parts of india with offerings of money to procure absolution. A large part of the revenue of the island was allotted for the maintenance of the Brahmins who inhabited the pagoda; and these, with their families, formerly amounted to no fewer than 40,000 persons, all maintained by the superstitious liberality of the adjacent country.

SERIOLA, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the order of polygamia æqualis, and to the class of syngenesia; natural order forty-ninth, composite. The receptacle is paleaceous; the pappus is somewhat plumose. There are four species. 1. S. Ethnensis, a native of Italy. 2. S. Cretensis, a plant of Crete. 3. S. levigata, another native of Crete or Candia, which flowers in July and August. 4. S. urens, the burning seriola, is a native of the South of Europe. SE'RIOUS, adj. SERIOUSLY, adv. SERIOUSNESS, n.s. viour: the adverb and sponding.

Fr. serieux; Lat. serius. Grave; solemn; not volatile, or light of behanoun substantive corre

I'll hence to London on a serious matter. Shakspeare. Henry VI. There's nothing serious in mortality! All is but toys. Id. Macbeth.

All laugh to find Unthinking plainness so o'erspread thy mind, That thou couldest seriously persuade the crowd To keep their oaths, and to believe a God. Dryden. ration to any one, sober and in his wits, to think seriously with himself, what horror and confusion must needs surprise that man, at the last day of account, who had led his whole life by one rule, when God intends to judge him by another. South.

It cannot but be matter of very dreadful conside

Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Lactantius, and Arnobius, tell us, that this martyrdom first of all made them seriously inquisitive into that religion, which could indue the mind with so much strength, and overcome the fear of death, nay, raise an earnest desire of it, though it appeared in all its terrors.

serious round about us: God is serious, who exerAh! my friends, while we laugh, all things are ciseth patience towards us: Christ is serious, who shed his blood for us; the Holy Ghost is serious, who striveth against the obstinacy of our hearts; the holy Scriptures bring to our ears the most serious things in the world; the Holy Sacraments represent the most serious and awful matters; the whole creation is serious in serving God, and us; all that are in heaven or hell are serious; how then can we be gay? To give these excellent words their full force, it should be known that they came not from the priesthood, but the court: and from a courtier as eminent as England ever boasted. Young.

SERIPERES, the lowest and most degraded class of the meanest tribe of Hindoos. See PARIAS.

G

tory than this an ovation was a remarkable honor; and was given only for some signal exploit that did not deserve a triumph. See OVATION. The skin was kept for several years after in the capitol; and Pliny says he saw it there. At present, indeed, such ravages from serpents are scarce seen in any part of the world; not but that in Africa and America, some of them are powerful enough to brave the assaults of men to this day.

If we take a survey of serpents in general, they have marks by which they are distinguished from all the rest of animated nature. They have the length and the suppleness of the eel, but want fins to swim with; they have the scaly covering and pointed tail of the lizard, but they want legs to walk with; they have the crawling motion of the worm, but, unlike that animal, they have lungs to breathe with: like all the reptile kind, they are resentful when offended; and nature has supplied them with terrible arms to revenge every injury. 1. Though they are possessed of very different degrees of malignity, yet they are all formidable to man, and have a strong similitude of form to each other. With respect to their conformation, all serpents have a very wide mouth in proportion to the size of the head; and can gape and swallow the head of another animal which is three times as big as their own. However, it is no way surprising that the skin of the snake should stretch to receive so large a morsel; the wonder seems how the jaws could take it in. But the jaws of this animal do not open as ours, where bones are applied to bones, and play upon one another: on the contrary, the serpent's jaws are held together at the roots by a stretching muscular skin; by which means they open as widely as the animal chooses to stretch them, and admit of a prey much thicker than the snake's own body. The throat dilates to admit the morsel; the stomach receives it in part, and the rest remains in the gullet, till putrefaction and the juices of the serpent's body unite to dissolve it. 2. Some serpents have fangs or canine teeth, and others are without them. The teeth in all are crooked and hollow; and, by a peculiar contrivance, are capable of being erected or depressed at pleasure. 3. The eyes of all serpents are small, if compared to the length of the body; and though differently colored in different kinds, yet the appearance of all is malign and heavy; and, from their known qualities, they strike the imagination with the idea of a creature meditating mischief. In some the upper eyelid is wanting, and the serpent winks only with that below; in others, the animal has a nictitating membrane of skin, resembling that which is found in birds, which keeps the eye clean and preserves the sight. The substance of the eye in all is hard and horny; the crystalline humor Occupying a great part of the globe. 4. The holes for hearing are very visible in all but there are no conduits for smelling, though it is probable that some of them enjoy that sense in tolerable perfection. The tongue in all these animals is long and forky. It is composed of two long fleshy substances, which terminate in sharp points, and are very pliable. At the root it is connected very strongly to the neck by two

tendons, that give it a variety of play. Some of the viper kind have tongues a fifth part the length of their bodies; they are continually darting them out; but they are entirely harmless, and only frighten those who are ignorant of the real situation of their poison. 6. If from the jaws we go on to the gullet, we shall find it very wide for the animal's size, and capable of being distended to a great degree; at the bottom of this lies the stomach, which is not so capacious, and receives only a part of the prey, while the rest continues in the gullet for digestion. When the substance in the stomach is dissolved into chyle, it passes into the intestines, and thence goes to nourishment, or to be excluded by the vent. 7. Like most other animals, serpents are furnished with lungs, which seem serviceable in breathing, though we cannot perceive the manner in which this operation is performed; for though serpents are often seen apparently to draw in their breath, yet we cannot find the smallest signs of their ever respiring it again. Their lungs, however, are long and large, and doubtless are necessary to promote their languid circulation. 8. The heart is formed as in the tortoise, the frog, and the lizard kinds, so as to work without the assistance of the lungs. It is single; the greatest part of the blood flowing from the great vein to the great artery by the shortest course. By this contrivance we easily gather two consequences; that snakes are amphibious, being equally capable of living on land and in the water; and that also they are torpid in winter, like the bat, the lizard, &c. 9. The vent in these animals serves for the emission of the urine and the fæces, and for the purposes of generation. The instrument of generation in the male is double, being forked like the tongue; the ovaries in the female are likewise double: and the aperture is very large, in order to receive the double instrument of the male. They copulate in their retreats. 10. As the body of this animal is long, slender, and capable of bending in every direction, the number of joints in the back-bone are very numerous. In the generality of quadrupeds they amount not to above thirty or forty; in the serpent kind they amount to 145 from the head to the vent, and twenty-five more from that to the tail. The number of these joints must give the back-bone a surprising degree of pliancy; but this is increased by the manner in which each of these joints is locked into the other. In man and quadrupeds the flat surfaces of the bones are laid one against the other, and bound tight by sinews; but in serpents the bones play one within the other, like ball and socket, so that they have full motion upon each other in every direction. 11. Though the number of joints in the back-bone is great, yet that of the ribs is still greater; for, from the head to the vent, there are two ribs to every joint, which makes their number 290 in all. These ribs are furnished with muscles, four in number; which, being inserted into the head, run along to the end of the tail, and give the animal great strength and agility in all its motions. 12. The skin also contributes to its motions, being composed of a number of scales, united to each other by a transparent membrane, which grows harder as it

grows older, until the animal changes, which is generally done twice a-year. This cover then bursts near the head, and the serpent creeps from it by an undulatory motion, in a new skin much more vivid than the former. If the old slough be then viewed, every scale will be distinctly seen like a piece of net-work, and will be found greatest where the part of the body they covered was largest. There is much geometrical neatness in the disposal of the serpent's scales, for assisting the animals' sinuous motion. As the edges of the foremost scales lie over the ends of their following scales, so those edges, when the scales are erected, which the animal has a power of doing in a small degree, catch in the ground, like the nails in the wheel of a chariot, and so promote and facilitate the animal's progressive motion. The erecting these scales is by means of a multitude of distinct muscles, with which each is supplied, and one end of which is tacked each to the middle of the foregoing. In some of the serpent kind there is the exactest symmetry in these scales; in others they are disposed more irregularly. In some there are larger scales on the belly, and often answering to the number of ribs; in others, however, the animal is without them. Upon this slight difference Linnæus has founded his distinction of the various classes of the serpent tribe. 13. When we come to compare serpents with each other, the first distinction appears in their size; no other tribe of animals differing so widely in this particular. This tribe, like that of fishes, seems to have no bounds put to their growth: their bones are in a great measure cartilaginous, and they are consequently capable of great extension: the older, therefore, a serpent becomes, the larger it grows; and, as they seem to live to a great age, they arrive at an enormous size. Legnat assures us that he saw one in Java that was fifty feet long. Carli mentions their growing to above forty feet; and we have now the skin of one in the British Museum that measures thirty-two. Mr. Went worth, who had large concerns in the Berbices n America, assures us that in that country they brow to an enormous length. He one day sent out a soldier, with an Indian, to kill wild fowl for the table; and they accordingly went some miles from the fort: in pursuing their game, the Indian, who generally marched before, beginning to tire, went to rest himself upon the fallen trunk of a tree, as he supposed it to be; but, when he was just going to sit down, the enormous monster began to move; and the poor savage perceiving that he had approached a boa, the greatest of all the serpent kind, dropped down in an agony. The soldier, who perceived at some distance what had happened, levelled at the serpent's head, and, by a lucky aim, shot it dead: however, he continued his fire until he was assured that the animal was killed; and then going up to rescue his companion, who was fallen motionless by its side, he to his astonishment found him dead likewise, being killed by the fright. Upon his return to the fort, and telling what had happened, Mr. Wentworth ordered the animal to be brought up, when it was measured, and found to be thirty-six feet long. He had the skin stuffed, and then sent to Europe as

a present to the prince of Orange, in whose cabinet it was lately to be seen at the Hague: but the skin is shrunk, by drying, two or three feet. In the East Indies they grow also to an enormous size, particularly at the island of Java, where we are assured that one of them will destroy and devour a buffalo. See BoA. 14. But it is happy for mankind that the gluttony of these frightful creatures is often their punishment; for whenever any of the serpent kind have gorged themselves in this manner, whenever their body is seen particularly distended with food, they then become torpid, and may be approached and destroyed with safety. Patient of hunger to a surprising degree, whenever they seize and swallow their prey, they seem, like surfeited gluttons, unwieldy, stupid, helpless, and sleepy: they at that time seek some retreat, where they may lurk for days together, and digest their meal in safety: the smallest effort at that time is capable of destroying them; they can scarcely make any resistance; and they are equally unqualified for flight or opposition: that is the happy opportunity of attacking them with success; at that time the naked Indian himself does not fear to assail them. But it is otherwise when this sleepy interval of digestion is over; they then issue, with famished appetites, from their etreats, and with accumulated rage, while every animal of the forest flies before them. 15. But though these animals are of all others the most voracious, and through the morsel which they swallow without chewing is greater than what any other creature, either by land or water, can devour; yet no animals upon earth bear abstinence so long as they. A single meal, with many of the snake kind, seems to be the adventure of a season; it is an occurrence of which they have been for weeks, nay sometimes for months, in patient expectation. When they have seized their prey, their industry for several weeks is entirely discontinued; the fortunate capture of an hour often satisfies them for the remaining period of their annual activity. As their blood is colder than that of most other terrestrial animals, and as it circulates but slowly through their bodies, so their powers of digestion are but feeble. Their prey continues, for a long time, partly in the stomach, partly in the gullet, and is often seen in part hanging out of the mouth. In this manner it digests by degrees; and in proportion as the part below is dissolved, the part above is taken in. It is not therefore till this tedious operation is entirely performed that the serpent renews its appetite and its activity. But, should any accident prevent it from issuing once more from its cell, it still can continue to bear famine for weeks, months, nay for years together. Vipers are often kept in boxes for six or eight months without any food whatever (see ABSTINENCE); and there are little serpents sometimes sent over to Europe from Grand Cairo that live for several years in glasses and never eat at all, nor even stain the glass with their excrements. 16. Other creatures have a choice in their provision; but the serpent indiscriminately preys upon all; the buffalo, the tiger, and the gazelle. One would think that the porcupine's quills might be sufficient to protect

it; but whatever has life serves to appease the hunger of these devouring creatures; porcupines, with all their quills, have often been found in their stomachs when killed and opened; nay, they even frequently devour each other. A life of savage hostility in the forest is a most tremendous scene. In those burning countries, where the sun dries up every brook for hundreds of miles round, a lake that is never dry, or a brook that is perennial, is considered by every animal as the greatest convenience of nature. When they discover one of these, no danger can deter them from attempting to slake their thirst. Thus it becomes the place where all the hostile tribes draw up for engagement. On the banks of this spot thousands of animals are seen venturing to quench their thirst, or preparing to seize their prey. The elephants, the buffaloes, the gazelles, rely upon their swiftness; the lion and tiger wait a proper opportunity to seize; but chiefly the larger serpents are upon guard, and defend the accesses of the lake. Not an hour passes without some dreadful combat; but the serpent, defended by its scales, and capable of sustaining a multitude of wounds, is of all others the most formidable.

In comparing serpents as to their voices, some are found silent, some have a peculiar cry; but hissing is the sound which they most commonly send forth, either as a call to their kind, or as a threat to their enemies. In the countries where they abound they are generally silent in the day, when they retire from the heat of the sun; but, as the cool of the evening approaches, they are heard issuing from their cells with continued hissings. As to motion, some serpents, particularly vipers, move slowly; while others dart with amazing swiftness. The motion in all is similar; but superior strength in some gives a different appearance. The viper, that is but a slow feeblebodied animal, makes way in a heavy undulating manner; advancing its head, then drawing up its tail behind, and bending the body into a bow; then, from the spot where the head and tail were united, advancing the head forward as before. This, which is the motion of all serpents, is very different from that of the earth-worm. The serpent has a back-bone with numerous joints; and this bone the animal has the power of bending in every direction, but without being able to shorten or lengthen it at pleasure. The earthworm has no back-bone; but its body is composed of rings, which, like a barber's puff, it can lengthen or shorten as it finds necessary. The earth-worm, therefore, to move forward, lengthens the body; then by the fore-part clings to the ground where it has reached, and contracts and brings up its rear: then the fore-part is lengthened again for another progression, and so on. serpent, instead of shortening the body, bends it into an arch; and this is the principal difference between serpentine and vermicular progression. We have instanced this motion in the viper, as most easily discerned; but there are many serpents that dart with such amazing swiftness that they appear rather to leap than crawl. The manner of progression in the swiftest serpent we know, which is the jaculus, is by instantly coiling itself upon its tail, and darting thence to its

The

full extent: then, carrying the tail as quick as lightning to the head, coiling and darting again and thus proceeding with extreme rapidity without ever quitting the ground. Though all serpents are amphibious, some are much fonder of the water than others; and, though destitute of fins or gills, remain at the bottom, or swim along the surface, with great ease. From their internal structure we see how well adapted they are for either element: and how capable their blood is of circulating at the bottom as freely as in the frog or the tortoise. They can, however, endure to live in fresh water only; for salt is an effectual bane to the whole tribe. The greatest serpents are most usually found in fresh water where they find their prey in the greatest abundance. But that all will live and swim in liquids appears from an experiment of Rhedi, who put a serpent into a large glass vessel of wine, where it lived swimming about for six hours; though, when it was by force immersed and put under that liquid, it lived only one hour and a half. He put another in common water, where it lived three days; but, when it was kept under water, it lived only about twelve hours. Their motion there, however, is perfectly the reverse of what it is upon land; for, to support themselves upon an element lighter than their bodies, they are obliged to increase their surface in a very artificial manner. On earth their windings are perpendicular to the surface; in water they are parallel to it. Some serpents have a most horrible fœtor attending them. This proceeds from two glands near the vent, like those in the weasel or polecat; and, like those animals, in proportion as they are excited by rage or by fear, the scent grows stronger. Such serpents as are most venomous are least offensive in this particular: the rattle-snake and the viper have no smell whatever: nay, we are told that at Calecut and Crangannon, in the East Indies, there are some very noxious serpents whose excrements are sought after and kept as perfumes. The Esculapian serpent is also of this number. Some serpents bring forth their young alive, as the viper; some bring forth eggs, which are hatched by the heat of their situation, as the common black snake, and the majority of the serpent tribe. The viper hatches her eggs, and brings them to maturity within her body; the snake is more premature in her productions, and sends her eggs into the light some time before the young ones are capable of leaving the shell. Thus, if either are opened, the eggs will be found in the womb, covered with their membranous shell, and adhering to each other like large beads on a string. In the eggs of both the young ones will be found, though at different stages of maturity: those of the viper will crawl and bite the moment the shell that encloses them is broke open: those of the snake are not yet arrived at their perfect form. Labat took a viper that was nine feet long, and ordered it to be opened in his presence. He then saw the manner in which the eggs of these animals lie in the womb. In this creature there were six eggs, each of the size of a goose's egg, but longer, more pointed, and covered with a membranous skin, by which also they were united to each other. Each of these eggs contained from thir