he wrested Egypt from the Mamelukes and annexed Syria. He also forced the caliph of Cairo to yield the headship of the Mohammedan world and the standard of the prophet. The sacred cities of Mecca and Medina, also fell into his hands. This able yet savage ruler, however, improved the condition of the people he had conquered, kept the janizaries in order, and was a lover of literature. He died in 1520.
Seljuks (sĕl-jūks′), a division of the Ghuzz confederacy of Turkish tribes. Togrul Beg, grandson of Seljuk, founder of the dynasty, crippled the empire of Ghazni (1040), conquered Persia and, ten years later, Baghdad. Togrul's nephew and successor, Alp-Arslan, wrested Syria and Palestine from the caliph of Egypt, and in 1071 captured Diogenes, the Byzantine emperor. Diogenes' ransom was the best part of Asia Minor. The empire at the close of this reign (1092) began to break up into smaller kingdoms. Even before this, strong chieftains like Saladin had been really independent. In the 13th century the orders of dervishes arose, and the Mongols began to gain the power which they wielded over this part of Asia till the rise of the Ottoman princes, who, like the Seljuks, were Turks and had been driven westward by the Mongols. Out of their supremacy grew the Turkish empire (q. v.).
Sel′kirk, Alexander. See Juan Fernandez.
Selkirk Mountains, an outlying range of the Rocky Mountains, in British Columbia, reaching southward almost to the United States boundary. The range contains enormous glaciers, and is the home of bears, big-horned sheep and Rocky Mountain sheep. See W. S. Green's Among the Selkirk Glaciers.
Sel′ma, Ala., city and county-seat of Dallas County, on Alabama River, 50 miles from Montgomery. The city is in a cotton-growing section, and has an extensive trade in cotton, coal, lumber and iron-products. It has cotton-factories, a cotton-warehouse, cottonseed-oil mill, car-wheel shops, ironworks and railroad machine shops. Selma has public and parochial schools, Dallas Academy, Selma University (Baptist), opened in 1878, for colored pupils, private business schools, the Y. M. C. A. library and reading-rooms. During the Civil War the city had a Confederate navy-yard, arsenal, powder-works and artillery-foundries. It was captured by the Union forces on April 2, 1865. Selma has the service of four railroads, and is at the head of steamboat navigation on the Alabama. Population 13,649.
Selous′, Frederick Courteney, African explorer and hunter, was born in London, Dec. 31, 1851, and educated at Rugby and in Switzerland and Germany. He left England for South Africa in July, 1871, went to Matabeleland the year after, and supported himself for 19 years by elephant-hunting and collecting natural history specimens. In 1890 he guided the pioneer expedition to Mashonaland, and in 1892 took part in the first Matabele war. He has been awarded the Cuthbert Peek grant, the Back premium and the Founder's gold medal by the Royal Geographical Society, and is a corresponding member of the Zoölogical Society. His published works include A Hunter's Wanderings in Africa, Travel and Adventure in Southeast Africa, Sunshine and Storm in Rhodesia and Sport and Travel. He lives at Worplesdon, Surrey, England.
Selwyn (sĕl′wĭn), Alfred Richard Cecil, was born in Kilmington, Somerset, July 28 1824, and educated partly in Switzerland. His pursuit of his favorite science began officially in 1845 when he was appointed assistant-geologist on the geological survey of Great Britain, a post he resigned in 1852 to accept that of director of the geological survey of Victoria. In 1869 he came to Canada as director of the Canadian geological survey, a post he held until 1895. He wrote the Canadian part of Stanford's Compendium of Geography, and was the editor of and an important contributor to the annual reports of the survey of Canada from 1869 to 1894. He died in 1904.
Sem′aphore. This is an apparatus for visible telegraphy by means of flags, lanterns or similar signals. It is employed in connection with the block-system (q. v.) on railroads and at sea by means of flags. Different combinations of the flags, lanterns or movements of signal-arms may serve to indicate the different letters of the alphabet. Sometimes they are used to indicate numbers. Semaphores are of importance not only to indicate the movements of trains and shipping; but in war-signaling, when special codes are employed.
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Sembrich (zĕm′brĭk), Marcella. (Real name, Praxede Marcelline Kochanska). An Austro -Polish opera-singer, born at Lemberg in Galicia, Feb. 15, 1858. She first studied violin and piano, her master on the latter being Franz Liszt. When her remarkable voice was discovered, she went to Milan to study with Lamperti. She made her début in opera at Athens in I Puritani in 1877. Soon she became attached to the company of the Royal Opera-House, Dresden, remaining till 1880. That year she first appeared in London. She became a great favorite in the characters of Terlina, Susanna, Constance,
