SERINGAPATAM, sěr-ing-ga-pa-tăm (properly, Sri-ranga-patanam, "city of Vishnu”), India, a celebrated town and fortress, the former capital of Mysore, 245 miles west by south from Madras, on an island formed by two branches of the Kaveri. The fort, a massive structure, stands on the western end of the island and contains within its walls the ruins of the palace of Tippu Saib (q.v.), a mosque built by the same ruler and an old temple. Just outside of the fort is Tippu's graceful summer palace, now in ruins. At the east end of the island, near the suburb of Ganjam, where almost all the inhabitants now reside, is the mausoleum in which Tippu and his father, Hyder Ali, are buried. The fort was three times besieged by the British, first in 1791 and afterward in 1792 and 1799. On the last occasion the fortress was carried by assault, Tippu being slain. The town once contained about 150,000 persons, but its population in course of time has steadily decreased until now it is only about 12,500.

SERINUS, in ornithology, a genus of the sparrow family Pringillida (q.v.), having a stout cone-shaped bill, broad at the base; the nostrils basal, round and hidden by stiff frontal feathers directed forward, gape straight, without bristles. The serinus is small, compact and active; the legs are short and scutelate; the feet strong; the wings which are moderately long and somewhat pointed have a minute outer primary; and the tail is deeply forked. The serin (q.v.), Serinus_hortulanus, the S. canonicus, the S. canarius, the canary, and S. pusillus, the red-fronted finch, are inhabitants of the Western Palearctic regions, but some species are to be found in the Eastern Palæarctic, Oriental and Ethiopian regions.

SERIOLA, in ichthyology, a genus of Carangida, divided into 12 species and inhabiting temperate and tropical waters. The body is oblong and slightly compressed, and the abdomen is rounded; the first dorsal fin is continuous, with feeble spine; villiform teeth in jaws and on the vomer and palatine jaws. The smaller species are valueless, but the larger species which range from four to five feet in length are used as food.

SERIPHOS, se-ri'fos, or SERPHO (now SERPHOS), Greece, a mountainous island of the Cyclades group, 50 miles south of Euboea. It contains iron, copper and lead ore- formerly exploited. The products are chiefly corn and wine. The ancient town participated in the battle of Salamis, furnishing the Athenians with several ships. Seriphos was also a place of exile for the Romans. Pop: 4,000.

SERLIO, sar'le-o, Sebastian, Italian artist: b. Bologna, 6 Sept. 1473; d. Fontainebleau, 1554. He worked as painter and architect at Pesaro for 14 years, leaving that city (1514) for Rome and Venice, where he became Titian's associate. He published at Venice in 1537 his voluminous treatise Regole Generale d'Architectura.) is supposed to have worked with Pierre Lescot on the Louvre. Primaticcio in 1541 was appointed architect at Fontainebleau with Serlio as assistant.

He

SERNA Y HINOJOSA (lä-sār'nä ē ēn-ohō-sä), José de la, famous Spanish general: b. Jerez de la Frontera, 1770; d. Cadiz, 1832. He fought in the Peninsular War against the

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French and served under Wellington in 1813. After working his way up from the ranks to the position of major-general, in 1816 he was placed in command of the Spanish Royalist army in Upper Peru. In this capacity he was in constant conflicts with the natives and numerous uprisings gave him the opportunity to display his military ability. He was, however, defeated by the patriots at Salta and Jujuy, and owing to disagreements with the viceroy in regard to the conduct of the army during the campaign, resigned in 1819, but was at once made lieutenant-general and president of the council of war. Not long after this he was again appointed to the command of the army to suppress the uprising under San Martin, and on 29 Jan. 1821, upon the deposition of the viceroy Pezuela by his officers, he became viceroy. He was not able to stem the tide of San Martin's successes and on 6 July 1821 was forced to evacuate Luna, retreating to Cuzco. From here he directed his army and maintained it for over three years against the patriots without any assistance from Spain, and keeping his ground in the interior with great skill and resolution. He was finally defeated

on 9 Dec. 1824 by the patriot leader, General Sucre, in the battle of Ayucucho. Though outnumbered by the Royalists, the patriots won the battle and Serna with his whole army was captured. He was severely wounded during the fight, and was afterward released and sent back to Spain, where he died at the age of 62.

SEROUS MEMBRANE, a delicate glistening tissue of flattened endothelial cells, supported by a fibrous and elastic layer in which are capillaries and lymphatics, that glistens on exposure. The serous membranes of the human body are so called because moistened by a serous fluid, and form closed sacs. For the most part they line certain cavities of the body and are reflected over the surface of the organ or organs contained in the cavities. The portion of the membrane lining the walls of the cavity is known as the parietal portion, the other is the visceral portion. The serous membranes, six in number, are the peritonæum, lining the abdominal cavity and reflected upon the stomach, liver, intestines, etc.; the two pleuræ lining the thoracic or chest cavity, and reflected upon the lungs; the pericardium, a fibro-serous sac covering or enclosing the heart; and the tunica vaginalis, a closed sac surrounding each testicle. In the female, where the ovum passes from the ovary into the Fallopian tube, the peritonæum is not a closed sac. The serous membranes are kept moistened by a watery lymph-like fluid, a variety of serum, which, if secreted in large quantity, as in dropsy, may produce bad results. Lymphatic vessels open freely on the surface of serous membranes, hence they are sometimes spoken of as lymph-sacs and the cavities they line as lymph-cavities. A grave danger arising from injuries and inflammation of serous membranes is the absorption of septic material by the lymphatics. Dropsical effusions, hemorrhage, formation of pus and deposits of fibrous exudations which cause adhesions and prevent mobility of viscera are the principal results of inflammation of these membranes. See PERITONEUM.

SEROW, a shaggy goat-antelope (Nemorrhædus bubalinus) of the Himalayas, where it

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frequents, singly, or in family parties, the roughest slopes, at an altitude between 6,000 and 12,000 feet. Its habits are similar to those of the goral, Rocky Mountain white goat (qq.v.) and other members of the genus, all of which are called "serows" by some writers. Consult Lydekker, The Game Animals of India' (1907).

SERPA PINTO, sar'pä pēn'tō. See PINTO, ALEXANDRE ALBERTO DA ROCHA SERPA.

SERPENT, (1) in astronomy, one of the 48 varieties of ancient constellations extending serpent-like through a wide expanse of sky. (2) In music, an almost obsolete bass instrument, consisting of a wooden tube, about eight feet long, increasing conically from one inch diameter at the mouth-piece to four inches at the open end, twisted into U-shaped turns, followed by a large circular convolution. This is covered with leather, and has a mouth-piece like a horn or trombone, and keys for the several notes to be produced. The serpent is a transposing instrument, being in B flat, and the part it is to take is, therefore, written a note higher than its real sound. Its compass is three octaves and

one note.

SERPENT-CHARMING, an art largely practised in Egypt, India and other Eastern lands; there are allusions to it in the Hebrew sacred books, namely, Ps. lviii, 5, the adder which will not hearken to the voice of charmers; Eccles. x, 11 and Jere. viii, 17; also in some of the Greek and Latin classics. The power of charming the most formidable serpents, as exercised by the snake-charmers, is unquestionable; nor is it true that before making an exhibition of their art the charmers always extract the poison fangs of the creature, though that is often done. Dr. Davy, in his Interior of Ceylon,' expresses his belief in the reality of this singular power. "I have examined the snakes," he writes, "and have found the fangs in and uninjured. These men do possess a charm, though not a supernatural one- namely, that of confidence and courage. They will play their tricks with any hooded snakes (Naja tripudians), whether just taken or long in confinement, but with no other kind of poisonous snakes." The serpent-charmers are sometimes employed to rid gardens of serpents; and they readily recognize when a serpent is concealed anywhere. In practising their art for this purpose, as also in their exhibitions, they employ a kind of flute in aid of their incantations. When the serpents issue from their hiding places the performer secures them by pinning them to the ground with a forked stick. Those familiar with hypnotism and the French fad for hypnotizing chickens, that flourished in Paris early in the 19th century, will easily recognize that serpent-charming is hypnotic in character.

SERPENT-EAGLE, the secretary-bird

(q.v.).

SERPENT-HEAD, or WALKING-FISH, a fish of the East Indian and African genus Ophiocephalus, the type of a family, allied to the climbing perch, and like it able to live a long time out of the water, and to travel by wriggling through moist grass, from one pool to another. The body is elongate, two to three feet long, and covered with medium-sized scales, those on the depressed head being platelike. About 30

species are known, inhabiting many parts of Asia, the commonest being O. striatus, which is sometimes found torpid in dried-up pools and irrigation tanks. When living in muddy water they must rise to the surface from time to time to take in air, or they will smother to death. These fishes are eaten throughout the Orient.

SERPENT-WORSHIP, or OPHIOLATRY, a primitive form of religion which is still found existing among uncultured races. The serpent's change of skin may well have been suggestive of resurrection and immortality; the more common supposition that the serpent was regarded by his savage worshippers as the personification of evil and of maleficence, and as a power to be appeased by gifts and worship, does not appear to be justified by the reports of travelers, though the Apophis-serpent of the Egyptian Hades, as well as the wicked Aji Dahaka of the Zoroastrians, were undoubtedly worshipped purely through fear. The brazen serpent erected by Moses in the wilderness and afterward preserved until the days of Hezekiah was broken in pieces by that king (2 Kings xviii, 4), the image having been made an object of religious worship; this was apparently a recrudescence of primitive serpent-worship among the people of Judah. The brazen serpent, it is conjectured by Renan (Hist. Peuple d'Israël I, xi), was a primitive idol of Jahve. In the Biblical narrative Satan assumed the form of a serpent; among the ancient Egyptians, Typhon was the evil deity, and this idea has generally persisted in Asia, and is apparent in the hieroglyphics of both the Chinese and Mexicans. The serpent whose head the Messiah was to crush, in heathen fable became the hydra of Hercules, and in India the great monster over whom Krishna triumphed, while Roman mythology developed the 100-headed snake slain by Jupiter. We see a trace, and more than a trace, of a primitive worship of the serpent in the great serpent which guarded the citadel of Athens and which was fed every month_with_honey-cakes; also in the embassage from Rome on the occasion of a plague, to the temple of Esculapius at Epidaurus, whence was brought a living serpent which was received at Rome with great ceremony. Serpent-worship is still extensively practised in India. Among no people has the mystery of this worship weighed more than on the aborigines of America. It has given name to rivers: examples, Kennebec and Antietam. The name for spirit and snake are one among the Dakotas, the Shawnees and the Sacs. The Ojibways and other aborigines dread to kill a rattlesnake, and if they find one in their path they pray it to go away and spare them and their families. In Mexico sculptured images of serpents are found as large and as carefully wrought as those of India. There is a vast amount of literature on the subject, which covers the folklore of all peoples, and the serpent seems to have been worshipped more than any other creature, and to have been associated with the idea of fertility or fecundity. In many East Indian ceremonies the serpent deities are constantly associated with women; certain priestesses were selected for their purity, and other women were chosen as "wives" of the snake, and participated in licentious rites. The lore

of the serpents is much mixed with dragon literature. Consult all folklore books, and Brinton, Myths of the New World' (1896); Hartland, Primitive Paternity' (1909); Frazer, 'Golden Bough'; Deane, Serpent Worship'; Lawson, Modern Greek Religion' (1910); Bourke, Snake Dance of the Moquis'; Fowler, 'Roman Festivals'; 'Fergusson, Thee and Serpent Worships' (London 1869).

SERPENTINE, hydrous magnesium silicate, is an abundant and widely distributed mineral. Its hardness varies more than that of any other mineral, ranging from 2 in the Its variety picrolite up to 6 in bowenite. specific gravity varies from 2.14 in some chrysotile to 2.80 in some precious serpentine. It often occurs in pseudomorphs, over a dozen of which have been described. Among these the most common are the pseudomorphs after chrysolite, enstatite, amphibole and pyroxene. Its varieties are mostly based on structure. The massive include precious serpentine, translucent and of rich, dark or pale green color; common serpentine, similar in color, but nearly opaque. The lamellar varieties include antigorite and marmolite. Williamsite, though more massive, is one of the lamellar varieties. It is applegreen and translucent and is often cut and polished. Chrysotile is fine fibrous, the fibres being easily separable and flexible. Its lustre is silky, color pale green, yellow or brown. It often occurs in veins in massive serpentine. See ASBESTOS,

Serpentine rocks occur in masses often of enormous dimensions. They are formed, as indeed are all serpentines, by the alteration ("serpentization") of other minerals, most commonly olivine (peridotyte), pyroxene or amphibole. They are often more or less mixed with limestone or magnesite, these minerals giving the mass a clouded or veined appearance. Verd antique (q.v.) or ophicalcite and many other serpentine rocks are known as serpentine marbles and are extensively used in interior decoration. Some of them are very highly prized for their rich green, yellow and brown colors, others are beautifully mottled with red. (Consult Merrill, Stones for Building and Decoration'). Many buildings in Philadelphia and other cities are constructed of a green serpentine rock from West Chester, Pa. Among the most noteworthy regions producing serpentine are England, Ireland, Maryland, New Mexico, California and Washington.

SERPENTS, or SNAKES, reptiles of the saurian class Ophidia, characterized by an elongated, cylindrical, limbless, scaly form, and distinguished from lizards (q.v.) by the fact that the halves (rami) of the lower jaws are not solidly united at the chin, but movably connected by an elastic ligament. The vertebræ are very numerous, gastrocentrous and procœlous, Each vertebra is connected with its neighbors that is, hollow in front and convex posteriorly, by free ball-and-socket joints, horizontal connecting projections preventing twisting, while admitting of considerable vertical and horizontal play; and bears ribs, which may exceed 300 pairs in number. No front limbs, sternum or sacrum are ever developed, but vestiges of ancestral hind limbs remain in the boas, pythons and closely related forms, and in some lowly burrowing groups, The ventral tips of each

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pair of ribs are fastened to opposite ends of one of the abdominal scutes (gastrosteges), forming a mechanism for locomotion in the absence of legs. Progression is by three methods. "The animal," says Stejneger, "may glide, perhaps in a perfectly straight line, by use of its ventral scutes, each, on finding some resistance, forcibly pushing the animal forward. It may walk by allowing each scute to act as a pair of feet, the lateral portions being alternately carried forward and pushed back; an undulatory movement, like that of myriapods, would result from this mode. The third method is by pushing, as the underground snakes do almost exclusively. Ordinarily ophidians combine the three methods. The sea-snakes progress by an undulatory movement and by the sculling action of the paddle-like tail.

It is impossible for any ophidian to jump, and it is with extreme difficulty that more than the anterior half of the body can be raised, unassisted, from the_ground."

Structure. The skull of serpents consists of a series of bones homologous with the cranial bones of other vertebrates, but slight and, outside of the brain-box, joined by elastic ligaments, permitting great distention of the mouth and throat, so that serpents are able to swallow objects of large bulk. This arrangement is further facilitated by the quadrate bone, which articulates the lower jaw with the skull, being movable. The jaws are provided with hooked teeth of conical shape, ossified to the jaws, but not lodged in distinct sockets, which are useless for mastication, and are of service only in holding the prey in the mouth. The teeth are never permanent, but are capable of being renewed, like those of fishes, whenever the old ones become worthless. Valuable characters in classification are derived from the conformation and disposition of the teeth. Thus in the typical, non-poisonous serpents, both jaws and the palate bear continuous rows of solid conical teeth and the upper maxillæ are immobile. In the viperine snakes simple conical teeth are absent on the upper maxillary or jaw bones, which are of small size and can be moved upward or downward at will. The upper maxillæ in these latter snakes further bear each a socalled "poison-fang," an elongated canaliculated tooth perforated by a canal which communicates internally with the duct of the poisongland. These fangs are capable of being elevated or depressed. (See RATTLESNAKE; VIPERS). As regards their internal structure serpents present few points requiring notice. The digestive system comprises large salivary glands, a distensible gullet, stomach and intestine, which terminates in a cloaca the external opening of the cloaca being transverse in conformation. There is no urinary bladder, yet serpents drink a great deal of water and must have it in abundance when kept in captivity; at the same time they have remarkable powers of long fasting. The heart (see REPTILES) consists of three chambers only - two auricles and a ventricle, the circulation being of the mixed character characteristic of reptiles and amphibians. The lungs, ovaries and other paired or symmetrical organs exhibit an abortive condition of one of these structures, the left lung, for example, far outgrowing the right one, and doing all the work. "The trachea is long and may be provided with air-cells and the

larynx can be projected during the tedious process of swallowing, when, too, the air-cells and the posterior reservoir come into play." All these modifications are in adaptation to the slender, elongated form of the animal and to its methods of life. The sexes are perfectly distinguished and the penis of the male consists of a pair of organs (hemipenes), grooved on their inner sides, which when erected are pressed together and so form a tubular intromittent instrument. The special modifications of this organ constitute one of the most stable "characters" or criteria by which to classify the subdivisions of the Ophidia. The eggs of the viperine, and some other snakes, are retained within the oviduct of the female until the young escape, so that these species are ovo-viviparous. In the majority of serpents, however, the eggs, which are oblong and have a leathery integument, are deposited in warm soil, among rotting wood, in heaps of decaying vegetation or in some similar warm and concealed place, where they are left to mature; but the pythons coil about their eggs and incubate them by the feeble heat of their bodies; and all kinds wait for and protect their young when born. It is true, to a limited degree, that at times of danger, the little snakes take refuge in the capacious mouth and throat of the mother.

Sense-organs.— The senses of serpents vary in respect to acuteness. The skin is highly sensitive to touch, and a few snakes have tentacle-like outgrowths upon the muzzle supposed to be "feelers"; this sense is principally developed, however, in the tongue, which is thread-like, forked at the end, usually black, very long and far-protrusible through a notch in the upper lip when the mouth is closed. With this tongue. - mistaken by the ignorant for a "sting" the animal tests the quality of all objects as it moves about and gains most of its information. There are no external ears, but the hearing in some, if not in all, is good. The nostrils are at the tip of the snout, and the sense of smell is keen,-serpents find and follow their prey mainly by its aid. The eyes of serpents have no eyelids, yet they sleep; a watch-glass-like layer of the skin overlies and protects the ball and peels off in the annual exuviation of the outer skin (see MOLTING). The pupil is usually round, but in the boas and some others is a mere vertical slit.

Phylogeny. Serpents are the latest and highest development of the reptilian type and seem to be the only representatives of the class which are now flourishing rather than declining. They are distributed principally in the warmer regions, only the smaller forms extending into the northern temperate zone. Where the climate is even moderately cold in winter snakes creep into animals' burrows, holes among loose rocks and other underground places and undergo hibernation,- often many entwine together, especially toward spring, when they are seeking mates. A similar retirement (æstivation) occurs in countries exposed to annual periods of heated drought. By far the greater number of ophidians are terrestrial, although some are arboreal, others amphibious and a few exclusively marine. About 400 recent genera and nearly 1,800 species are known, but only about 35 fossil forms, according to Eastman, who reminds us that many fragmentary remains of the Cretaceous Age, at first regarded as

ophidian, are now known to be dolichosaurian. Tertiary snakes can hardly be distinguished from modern species and occur in all parts of the world, including the Eocene of New Jersey and the Eocene and Miocene of the Rocky Mountain region. These remains and other considerations make it plain that the serpents are an outgrowth from the same ancestral stock (Sauria) as the lizards.

Classification.-- The following is a progressive arrangement of families, from lowest to highest in organization, some of them including several groups formerly regarded as separate families:

1. Typhlopida. Burrowing snakes of southern Asia and the islands of the Indian Ocean. Have vestiges of the pelvis and the eyes covered by skin.

2. Glauconiida. Replace the Typhlopidæ in Africa and tropical America.

3. Ilyside. Burrowing snakes of the tropics with vestigial hind limbs. Tail short and blunt (blind snakes).

4. Uropeltida. Burrowing snakes of Ceylon and southern India. Tail truncate, ending in a flat shield (shield-tails).

5. Boide. Large, typical snakes, with rudiments of hind legs and pelvis and ventral scales transversely enlarged. The family comprises about 70 species, found all over the world in tropical and subtropical countries and noted for their rapacious habits and ability to crush animals, large as compared with themselves. Typical genera are Python (q.v.), with about 20 Palæo-tropical and Australian species, one in Mexico, and the Boa (q.v.), which has many South American species and a few in Madagascar.

6. Xenopeltida, one Malayan species.

7. Colubrida. Includes 90 per cent of all snakes; the pterygoid bone reaches the quadrate. It is divisible into three series: (1) No teeth grooved; (2) the posterior maxillary teeth grooved (poison-fangs); (3) the anterior maxillary teeth grooved (poison-fangs). The first includes the non-venomous colubrine snakes of more than 1,000 species, such as the blacksnake, garter-snake, water-snake, hog-nose and the ordinary harmless serpents of all parts of the world. The second group (2) comprises opisthoglyph, partly poisonous snakes, found in the tropics of both continents, terrestrial, aquatic, even marine species. The third group (3) contains many violently poisonous, proteroglyph snakes. Here fall the cobras, coral snakes and other elapine serpents, whose bite is to be dreaded.

8. Amblycephalida. Tropical snakes, in which the ends of the pterygoids are free, not reaching the quadrates. Harmless, but resembling poisonous snakes.

9. Viperida. Maxillaries, short and movable, so as to erect the poison-fangs, which are the only maxillary teeth. Two subfamilies: (1) the Old World vipers; (2) the rattlesnakes (q.v.) and related pit-vipers.

Bibliography.- Books mentioned under REPTILES; also Hopley, (Snakes' (London 1882); Stejneger, 'Standard Natural History,' Vol. III (Boston 1885); Gadow, Amphibia and Reptiles' (New York 1901); Fayrer, 'Thanatophidia of India' (London 1874); Ewart, Poisonous Snakes of India' (London 1872); Kreft, 'Snakes of Australia' (Sydney