Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/828

* SECRET SERVICE. 750 Post inliiM' Inspccloio uud Mail Depredations, or- gnnizeil in 1S7-. SECTION (I.nt. scctio, from secure, to cut). lu architecture, the adiue.ition of buildings on a vcrticnl jjlanc through any part of them — as a pUw ij tlic horizontal projection. SECTOR (Lat. sector, cutter, from secarc, to cut). -^n instrument used in mathematical drawing and ealeulations, which consists of two strips of wood, ivory, or metal jointed together like a carpenter's foot rule. The centre of the joint must always be the vortex of the angle whose sides are formed by the inner edges and anv of the corresponding pairs of lines drawn from the joint obliquely along the rule. These oblique lilies are graduated in different ways, so as to give, on each limb, a line of equal parts, a scale of chords, .scales of sines, tangents, and secants, a line of polygons, etc. (all of which arc gradmited from the centre of the hinge, which is their zero point), besides a number of common scales on the blank portions of the sector. The special >ise of this instrument is in the finding of a fourth projiortioiKil to three given quantities. This instruiiicnt l)ccomes more inaccurate as the angle formed liy the limbs increases. The sector is said to have been invented by Guido Ubaldi about 15G8, though Gasper Mordente of Antwerp describes it in 1584, and attributes its invention to his brother Fabricus in 15.54. It was described by .several German and English writers in the same century, and again by Galileo, who claimed to have invented it in 1604. SECTOR. In geometry, a portion of a circle (q.v.) included between two radii and the in- tercepted are of the circumference. Its area is expressed by one-half of the product of the length of the arc and the radius of the circle. SECULAR GAMES (Lat. ludi swculares) . Roman games deriving their name from the theory that their performance marked the close of a sceciduiii, or period of extreme duration of liuman life. Tliis was reckoned as 100 years, or, after the time of Augustus, 110. These celebra- tions were usually instituted as purifications or to check some evil, the belief being that with the declaration of a new age a limit was set which the evil could not pass. The earliest celebration of which we hear occurred during the great plague of R.c. 40.3, and at this time the ceremony consisted in driving a nail in the wall of the Temple of Jupiter on the Capitol, apparently to symbolize the securing and destruction of "the plague. This was repeated in the years 363 and 263. Soon after this the distress of the First Punic War led to the consultation of the Sibylline Books, and in n.c. 249 a new sceculum began with the performance of Iitdi Tareniini at a spot in the Campus Martius called Tarentum. The cele- bration occupied three nights and on each a black bull and a black cow were oflfered at a subterranean altar, uncovered for the occasion, to Dis Pater and Proserpina, the Greek gods of the Low^er World, ■whose worship was thus introduced to Rome. It obviously is essentially a funeral ceremony for the age that is past. The rite was repeated in n.c. 146, but the civil wars seem to have prevented the next repetition, and in B.C. 17 Augustus cele- brated new and splendid ludi scrciiirirrs. which marked the opening of a new era. and which are known to us from the official record discovered in 1891. The old nocturnal offerings were continued SECURITY. at the old altar, but the deities honored were now the Fates, Eileithyia, helper in childbirth, and the Earth. Three daj's were also given up to splendid processions and offerings in honor of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, Juno Regina, and Apollo and Artemis of the Palatine. On the third day the procession moved from the Palatine to the Capitol and back, led by a chorus of 27 youths and as many maidens, who sang the Carmen Seeculare of Horace. These games were repeated in A.D. 88 by Domitian, and in a.d. 204 by Septimius Severus. Another series in celebra- tion of the foundation of the city was begun A.n. 47 (800 A.u.c), and repeated in 147 and 248. Consult: Wissowa, ''Religion und Kultus dcr Romci-," in Miiller's Hamlhuch der klassischen AUertumswissenschaft (JIunich, 1902) ; and Die Siicularfeier des Augustus (Marburg, 1894). SECULARISM (from secular, from Lat. secu- lari.s. su'Ciihiris, relating to an age or period, worldly, from seculum. sceculiim, age, period, world). The term applied to a system of ethical and social principles first advocated about 1S46 by G. J. Holyoake. As it names implies, it con- centrates its attention upon the present life, neither den.ying nor affirming the existence of another. It inculcates an ethics not dependent in any way on religion, although it does not formailj' deny the truth of any religion. It is, in fact, utilitarianism cut loose from all connec- tion with theologv". A society was formed in London, of which Holyoake was president, but in 18.58 Charles Bradlaugh (q.v.) succeeded him and imder his administration the society carried on a political propaganda, advocating disestab- lishment and disendowment of the Church of England, abolition of the House of Lords, and many economic changes. Consult Holj'oake, Principles of iSecularisni (London, 1855). SECULAR VARIATION. See JMaonetism, TeI!I!E.STRI.L. SECUNDERABAD, se-kun'dSr-a-b;id'. A suburb and military cantonment of Hj'derabad (q.v,), Nizam's Dominions, India. SECUN'DUS, .JoA>-XES (1511-30). A Dutch poet, .Jan Xicolai Everaerts by name. He was born at The Hague and was educated for the law in Bourges, but devoted himself to poetry, painting, and sculpture. In 1533 he went to Toledo as secretary to the Cardinal Archbishop Tavera. After his death was published Basia. a collection of Latin love poems distinguished by their classic beauty. His elegies, odes, epistles, and epigrams were collected in 1541 under the title of Opera Poetica. SECURITY (Lat. securitas, freedom from cai-e, from securiis. free from care, from se-, apart -f- eura, care, anxiety). Instruments or property which, in contemplation of law, render the enjoyment or enforcement of a right more secure. A personal sccurit)/ is a promise or ob- ligation, such as a negotiable instrument or a bond given by a debtor or by a third person, in addition to the original liability intended to be secured. Even when a debtor gives his own promissory note or check or bill of exchange for the debt, this new engagement is properly spoken of as a security, because his liability thereon is more easily proved than on the original debt. .4 seetiritii on propert;/ exists when the property is mortgaged or pledged to