from ship to ship. Until the invention of the electric telegraph, the semaphore was used for transmitting messages over long distances.
SEMELĒ, in Greek mythology, daughter of Cadmus and
Harmonia, and mother of Dionysus by Zeus. It is said that
Hera, having assumed the form of Semelē's nurse, persuaded
her rival to ask Zeus to show himself to her in all his glory.
The god, who had sworn to refuse Semelē nothing, unwillingly
consented. He appeared seated in his chariot surrounded by
thunder and lightning; Semelē was consumed by the flames and
gave birth prematurely to a child, which was saved from the fire
by a miraculous growth of ivy which sprang up round the palace
of Cadmus. Dionysus afterwards descended to the nether
world, and brought up his mother, henceforth known as Thyõnē
(the raging one), to Olympus. Zeus and Semelē probably
represent the fertilizing rain of spring, and the earth, afterwards
scorched by the summer heat. Another tradition represents
Actaeon as the lover of Semelē, and his death as due to the
jealousy of Artemis. A statue and grave were to be seen in
Thebes.
See Apollodorus iii. 4; Pausanias iii. 24. 3, ix. 2. 3; Ovid, Metam. iii. 260.
SEMENDRIA (Smederevo), an important commercial town
and capital of the Smederevo department, Servia, on the Danube,
between Belgrade and the Iron Gates. Pop. (1900) 6912. It is
believed to stand on the site of the Roman settlement Mons
aureus, and there is a tradition that its famous vineyards—supplying
Budapest and Vienna with some of the finest table
grapes—were planted by the Roman emperor Probus (A.D.
276–282). In the 15th century, when the Servian prince George
Brankovich became lord of Tokay, in Hungary, he planted vines
from Semendria on his estates there; and from these came the
famous white wine Tokay. At the eastern end of the town,
close to the river, there is a picturesque triangular castle with
twenty-four square towers, built by George Brankovich in 1430
on the model of the Constantinople walls. Semendria was the
residence of that Servian ruler and the capital of Servia from
1430 to 1459. It is the seat of the district prefecture and a
tribunal, and has a garrison of regular troops. Besides the
special export of grapes and white wine, a great part of the
Servian export of pigs, and almost all the export of cereals,
pass through Semendria. In 1886 the town was connected
with the Belgrade-Nish railway by a branch line.
SEMINARY (Lat. seminarium, from semen, seed), a term
originally applied to a nursery-garden or place where seeds are
sown to produce plants for transplanting. It was early used in
its present sense of a place of education. Its most frequent use
is for a training college for the Roman Catholic priesthood, and in
a transferred sense for a priest who has been trained in a foreign
seminary, also often termed a “seminarist.” A German usage,
adopted in America, applies the term seminar to a class for
advanced study or research.
SEMINOLE (properly Simanoli, “ renegade,” “ runaway,”
in allusion to their secession from the Creek confederacy), a
tribe of North American Indians of Muskhogean stock. They
originally formed part of the Creek'confederacy, but separated
from it early in the 18th century, and occupied the greater part
of Florida. In 1817–1818 (their attacks on the Georgian and
Alabama settlements resulted in the invasion of their territory
by General Andrew Jackson, who defeated them and hanged
two British traders, named Arbuthnot and Ambrister, who were
alleged to be the instigators of the raids. The long Seminole War
of 1835–42, the hardest-fought of all the Indian wars, was due
to the tribe's refusal to cede their lands and remove to
Arkansas in accordance with the treaty (see Osceola) of
Payne's Landing (1832). At the close of this struggle, costing
thousands of lives and millions of dollars, the Seminoles were
removed to Arkansas. They were recognized as “ the Seminole
Nation,” and as one of the “ Five Civilized Tribes,” and
granted autonomy upon the scale permitted the other four,
the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Creek. They live now
mainly in Oklahoma, and a few in Florida.
SEMIPALATINSK, a province of the Russian dominions in Central Asia; administratively it forms a part of the general governorship of the Steppes, although its northern portions really belong to the Irtysh plains of West Siberia. It is bounded on the N. by Tobolsk and Tomsk, on the S.E. by China, on the
S. by Semiryechensk, and on the W. by Akmolinsk. As regards configuration, it differs widely in its northern and southern parts.
The snow-clad ranges (gooo to 10,000 ft.) of the Altai and Narym
enter it in the S.E., stretching S. to Lake Zaisan. Another
complex of mountains, Kalbin, rising 5000 and 6000 ft. above
the sea, continues them towards the west. A broad valley
intervenes, through which the Irtysh finds its way from the
Zaisan terrace to the lowlands of Siberia. Many extensions
of these mountains and subordinate ranges stretch towards the
north. The still lower but wild Chinghiz-tau mountains diversify
the south-western part of Semipalatinsk, sending out their rocky
spurs into the steppe region. In the south, the Tarbagatai
(Marmots') range (9000 to 10,000 ft.) separates Semipalatinsk
from Semiryechensk and Dzungaria. Wide steppes fill up the
spaces between the mountains: e.g. the Zaisan steppe (1200 to
1 500 ft.), between the Tarbagatai and the Altai ranges; the plains
of Lake Balkash, some 300 ft. lower, to the south of the Chinghiztau;
and the plains of the Irtysh, which hardly rise 600 ft. above
the sea. All kinds of crystalline rocks-granites, syenites,
diorites and porphyries, as also slates of all descriptions-are
met with in the mountainous tracts. There also occur rich
gold-bearing sands, silver and lead mines, graphite, coal and
the less valuable precious stones. The geology of the region and
even its topography are still but imperfectly known. Numerous
boulders scattered over the mountains testify to a much wider
extension of glaciers in former times. The chief river of the
province, the Irtysh, which issues from Lake Zaisan, flows north
and north-west and drains Semipalatinsk for more than 760 m.
Between Bukhtarma and Ust-Kamenogorsk it cuts its way
through the Altai by a wild gorge, with dangerous rapids, through
which, however, boats are fioated. Lake Zaisan, 80 rn. long and
ro to 20 m. wide, has depth sufficient for steamboat navigation;
steamers traverse also for some 100 m. the lower course of the
Black Irtysh, which flows from Kulja to Lake Zaisan. The
Kurchum, the Narym and the Bukhtarma are the chief right hand
tributaries of the Irtysh, while the Char-urban, Chagan and
many smaller streams join it from the left; none are navigable;
neither are the Kokpekty and Bugaz, which enter Lake Zaisan
on the west. Lake Balkash, which borders Semipalatinsk on
the south-west, formerly received several tributaries from the
Chinghiz-tau. Many smaller lakes (sorne of them merely ternporary)
occur on the Irtysh plain, and yield salt.
The climate is severe. The average yearly temperature reaches 43° in the south and 34° in the north; the winter is very cold, and frosts of -44° F. are not uncommon, while the thermometer rises to 122° in the shade in the summer. The yearly amount of rain and snow is trifling, although snow-storms are very common; strong winds prevail. Forests are plentiful in the hilly districts and on the Irtysh plain, the flora being Siberian in the north and more Central Asiatic towards lakes Balkash and Zaisan.
The area of the province is 183,145 sq. m., and in 1906 its population was estimated at 767,500. Only about 6 % of the population is settled, the remainder, chiefly Kirghiz, being nomads. The province is divided into five districts, the chief towns of which are Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar, Kokpekty, Karkaralinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk. The Russians are chiefly agriculturists, and have wealthy settlements on the right bank of the Irtysh, as well as a few patches in the south, at the foot of the mountains. The Kirghiz are almost exclusively live-stock breeders and keep large Hocks of sheep, horses and cattle, as also camels. Hunting is a favourite and profitable occupation with the Cossacks and the Kirghiz. Bee-keeping is extensively followed, especially among the Cossacks. Fishing, which is carried on in lakes Zaisan and Balkash, as also in the Black Irtysh, is of considerable importance. Gold is mined, also silver, copper, salt and coal. There are two ironworks, but the only other industrial establishments of any size are a steam flour-mill and a distillery. A considerable amount of trade is carried on within the province, in which twenty fairs are held every year.
SEMIPALATINSK, a town of Asiatic Russia, capital of the province of the same name, on the right bank of the Irtysh, and on the highway from Dzungaria to Omsk, 683 m. by river S.E. of the latter. Pop. (1881) 17,820, (1897) 26,353. It carries on a
