Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/372

LEFT SEA SLUG 316 SEATTLE dies. It has clusters of edible fruit some- what resembling the currant in appear- ance, a beautiful hard wood which pro- duces a red dye, and yields the extract known as Jamaica kino. SEA SLUG, in zoology, any individual of the Opisthobranchiata. The name is sometimes confined to the Nudibranchi- ates. SEA SNAKE, any individual of the family Hydrophidse. They have depressed heads, dilated behind and covered with shields. Their bodies are covered with square plates; their tails are very much compressed and raised vertically, so as to aid them in swimming. They are very venomous. They are found off the coast of India, in the salt water channels of the Sunderbunds, in the seas around the Indian islands, and in the Pacific. They are eaten in Tahiti. SEA SNIPE, the popular name of a fish, Centriscus scolopax. SEASONS, the alterations in the rela- tive length of day and night, heat and cold, etc., which take place each year. In the United States there are four seasons, spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The Anglo-Saxons reckoned only three, spring, summer, and winter, the words for which are all from Anglo-Saxon; Autumn (q. v.) was borrowed from the Romans. In India there are but three well-marked seasons of four months each, the hot (February-May), the rainy (June-Sep- tember), and the cold (October- January). The essential astronomical fact on which the recurrence of the successive seasons depends is that the axis of the^ earth al- ways points in the same direction, what- ever portion of the orbit the earth may at the time be traversing. The inclina- tion of the equator to the ecliptic is 23° 27'. On June 21, when the sun is at the highest point of the ecliptic, the North Pole necessarily inclines toward the sun, and is as much irradiated as it ever can be by his beams, while the South Pole, on the contrary, is as little. It is therefore midsummer in the Northern and midwin- ter in the Southern Hemisphere. Six months later, Dec. 21, the South Pole points toward the sun. It is therefore now midwinter in the Northern and mid- summer in the Southern Hemisphere. At the intermediate periods (March 21 and Sept. 21), the axis of the earth is at right angles to the direction of the sun; hence, in both hemispheres it is the equi- nox, the vernal at the former date in the Northern and at the latter in the South- ern Hemisphere. SEA SPIDER, or SPIDER CRAB, a marine crab of the genus Maia (M. squi- nado). Its body is somewhat triangular in shape, and its legs are slender and generally long. It lives in deep water, and is seldom seen on the shore. SEA SURGEON, or SURGEON FISH (Acanthnrus chirurgus), a fish belonging to the teleostean section of Acanthop- teri, so named from the presence of a sharp spine on the side and near the ex- tremity of the tail, bearing a resemblance to a surgeon's lancet. It occurs on the Atlantic coasts of South America and Africa, and in the Caribbean seas. Its average length is from 12 to 19 inches. SEATTLE, the largest city of Wash- iMgton, and the county-seat of King co. It is a port of entry and is on the E. shore of Puget sound. It is the terminus of 8 transcontinental railways, four of which, the Great Northern, the Northern Pacific, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, and the Union Pacific-Oregon- Washington railroads, enter the city on their own tracks. The Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk make connections by water. The Canadian Pacific also has connection by rail. There were in 1919 within the city limits, 269 miles of street railway. There is steamship connection with all parts of the world by trans-Pa- cific lines and by the Panama canal. The city is located between the Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges, with Pu- get sound on the W. and Lake Washing- ton on the E. The business and man- ufacturing sections of the city occupy levels nearer the sea, while the residential districts are on the hills. In recent years regrading operations of great magni- tude have resulted in reducing the eleva- tion of many of the streets. Within the limits of the city are two large lakes, one of which is faced by a public park. The climate is healthful, with a tempera- ture ranging from 96 to 11°. Severe cold is practically unknown. The pre- cipitation averages 33.9 inches per year. Seattle is the ocean gateway through which lumber, wheat, fruit, copper, lead, and other raw products of the N. W. part of the United States make their way to tidewater and thence by ships to the At- lantic, to Europe and to world markets. Elliott bay, the main harbor, is a broad sheltered indentation in the E. shore of Puget sound. The mouth of the bay is more than 6 miles across. Between this outer harbor and the main water front stretch approximately 5 miles of deep water which is nearly 3 miles across at its narrowest point. The water front is well supplied with piers. One completed in 1920 has a capacity for berthing eleven 9,000-ton ocean ships at one time. It is 310 feet wide and half a mile long. The ship canal provides facilities for ships