the English language.” Two terms as senator brought him to the front as an able and patriotic statesman, and when the Republican party was formed he became one of its first leaders. A strong candidate for the presidential nomination in 1860, Seward entered Lincoln's cabinet at its head, filling the office of secretary of state from 1861 to 1869. His moderation in the Trent affair, in which he advised giving up the envoys, as demanded by England, probably saved us from a war with Britain. His claim for damages from the English government, because of the Alabama being fitted out in British ports, was sustained. His most important service to the country, perhaps, was his purchase of Alaska (q. v.) from Russia in 1867. In the spring of 1865 Mr. Seward was thrown from his carriage, breaking his jaw and an arm. While confined to bed, on the night of Lincoln's assassination, April 14, one of the conspirators made his way to the secretary's room and severely cut his face and neck. Seward died at Auburn, N. Y., Oct. 10, 1872. Consult Life and Letters by his son.
Sew′erage, a system of underground pipes or conduits for the removal of sewage or the rain-water of a place. Sewerage is required for sanitary reasons in towns and cities. In the country, where population is not dense, sewage can be disposed of without any elaborate system, though care must always be taken that the water-supply is not contaminated. The construction of elaborate sewer-systems is found in ancient cities, as Babylon, Jerusalem and Rome, but it is only within recent years that it has received the attention it deserves in modern cities. There are two systems in use, — the combined and the separate system. In the combined system the same pipes carry both the sewage and the storm-water; in the separate system, called the Waring system, there are separate pipes for the sewage and for the storm-water. In the latter system the flushing is done by automatic flush-tanks supplied with water from the town waterworks. The separate system is recommended by most sanitary engineers. The liquid sewage may flow due to the fall of the pipes, but in many cases pumping has to be resorted to. Among the methods of sewerage disposal are the following: (a) by dilution by discharge into a large mass of flowing water which is not used for a water-supply, as at New York City and in towns on the lower Mississippi; (b) by running the liquid sewage over a large area of land and letting it oxidize in the air; and (c) by chemical treatment to kill the organic life. In some cases, as at Berlin, Germany, the sewage is used to fertilize land which is cultivated. Chicago has constructed a drainage canal at a cost of $53,000,000 to dispose of its sewage by dilution with a large body of water taken from Lake Michigan and emptied into Illinois River.
Sew′ing-Machine′, a machine which takes the place of the old-fashioned needle and thread in sewing garments. Several attempts were made in England and the United States to invent a machine for sewing, but without much success until Elias Howe of Cambridge, Mass., patented his first machine in 1846. This machine uses the lock-stitch, which is used by most machines now, and from 1854 until the patents expired Howe received a royalty on every machine made, amounting to over $2,000,000. The lock-stitch makes use of two threads, one in the needle which pushes the thread down through the cloth, forming a loop; the other thread is wound on a bobbin and placed in a shuttle which carries the second thread through the loop made by the first one. The rotating hook is used instead of a shuttle in some machines. The loop-stitch is made by a curved needle, which catches the loop made by the upper needle and passes the thread through it. The most important improvement on Howe's original machine was made by Allan B. Wilson in his “four-motioned feed,” which carries the work along and has been adopted in all machines. There are a large variety of machines, differing slightly, and also those made for different purposes. The family sewing-machine has revolutionized the work of the home; the button-hole machine cuts the hole, works it around, bars the ends, stops of itself when it is done, and makes 6,000 buttonholes in a day. The carpet-sewing machine, the cylinder machine for stitching mailbags, satchels, shoes, water-hose and all kinds of leather work; the universal arm-feeder machine for making gloves; the basting and quilting machine; and the pattern-stitching machine are a few of the varieties in use. The largest sewing-machine manufacturing company is the Singer, which has factories in Scotland, Austria, Canada and the United States. Since 1878, when the principal patents expired, the price of sewing-machines has been much reduced.
Sex′tant. See Quad′rant.
Sex′ual Spore (in plants), a spore which has been produced by the union of two gametes, that is, by fertilization. The general name of such a spore is oöspore or fertilized egg. The name is unfortunate, since the spore is not sexual, the full phrase merely meaning a sexually formed spore. See Spore.
Seychelles (sā̇′shĕl′) Archipelago, 89 islands and islets belonging to Great Britain, in the Indian Ocean, off Zanzibar on the eastern coast of Africa and north of Mauritius. Their total estimated area, with dependencies, is about 150 square miles, with a population estimated at 20,767. Formerly administered from Mauritius, the
