Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/839

* SEIGNIORY. uomic rather than political: the political powers flliich they held longest were those of local police. These reuiiuuits of seigniorial authority were swept away by revolution or extinguished by leg- islation in the eighteenth and nineteenth cen- turies. For literature, see under Feuoalism. SEINE, san. One of the principal rivers of France. It rises on the I'latcau of Langres in the Department of Cote-d'Ur, and Hows in ii gen- eral nortliwest course of 472 miles, passing through the city of Paris and emptying into the English Channel through a wide estuary at Havre (IMap: France, F 2). It falls very rap- idly in its upper course, but below Paris its cur- rent becomes slow and its course marked by many windings. Its principal tributaries are the Jlarne and the Oisc, botli joining it from the north near Paris. The Seine is the most im- portant commercial waterway of France, and considerable engineering works have been under- taken to facilitate its navigation, including a number of locks between Paris and Rouen. The river is navigable 3.37 miles to Jlerj', but from Jlarcilly, a little below Mery, a lateral canal follows its course to Troyes. Along the north shore of the estuary a ship canal 14 miles long h^ads from Tancarville into the harbor of Havre, while other canals connect the river through its tributaries with the Loire, the Rhone, the Rhine, the Meuse, and the Scheldt. The traflic passing through the river amounted in 1900 to 7,494,037 tons at Paris. Consult : Lavoinne, La Seine viari- time et son estuaire (Paris, 1885) ; Barron, La Seine (ib., 1889.). SEINE. The metropolitan department of France surrounded by the Department of Seine- et-Oise, and comprising the arrondissements of Paris, Saint-Denis, and Sceaux (Map: France, .1 3). It is at once the smallest and the most populous department in the Republic. Its area is 185 square miles. Population, in 1896, 3.340.514; in 1901, 3,669,930. SEINE-ET-MARNE, a mam. A northern inland department nf France (q.v.). bounded on the west by the Department of Seine-et-Oise (Map: France, J 3). Area, 2275 square miles. Population, in 1896, 359.044; in 1901, .358.325. The department derives its name from the two chief streams that water it, the Seine flowing through the southern and the Marne through the northern part. There are no mountains. Timber is grown in every part, and among the forests is that of Fontainebleau. The soil is gen- erally fertile. Wheat is the principal cereal. Paving stone is quarried at Fontainebleau, and there are manufactures of flour and sugar. Cap- ital, Melun. SEINE-ET-OISE, a wiiz. A northern depart- ment of France, surrounding the metropolitan Department of Seine (q.v.) (Map: France. H 3). Area, 2184 square miles. Population, in 1896, 069,098; in 1901, 707,325. The chief rivers are the Seine and the Oise, which have numerous alfluents. Oats is the principal cereal, and wheal, sugar beets, forage roots, cider apples, and vege- tables are important. The industries include silk. won!, and flax spinning, hosiery making, flour milling, sugar refining, and the manufac- ture nf iron and copper articles. There are sev- eral fine varieties of stone and clays. Porcelain is largely made at the famous S&vres (q.v.) fac- tories. Capital, Versailles. 761 SEISIN. SEINE-INFERIEURE, ii.Nfft'r6-fr'. A north- ern mariliiue de|iartiiiciil of France, bounded on llie northwest by the Fnglish Channel, and on llie south by the Department of Kure (.Map: France, ti 2). Area, 2448 .squari' miles. I'opulalion. in 1S96, 837,824; in 1901, 853,883. The Seine llowa through the southern districts, and a number of important though small streams flow nortliwest across the department. Wheat, oats, sugar beets, colziv. and cider apples are cultivateil, and some cheese is made. There are cotton, wool, and tlax manufactures; iron, copper, locomotive, and uui- chinery works are among the industrial establish- ments. Capital, Rouen. SE'IR (Ileb. .S'c'ir). A synonym f(u- tlii' land of Kdom (e.g. Gen. xxxii. 3), anil especially the name of the Fdoniite mountain land, .Mount Seir (e.g. Deut. ii. 1). It is disputed whether the name is ap])lied only to the mountains or also to the region west. In the patriarchal tradi- tion. Esau, ancestor of the Edomites. is elymolo- gieally connected with Seir, lie being described as a man 'of hair' (sr'ur. Gen. xxv. 25; xxvii. 11). But in Gen. xxxvi. 20 sqq. Seir is the ancestor of the Horites (q.v.), the aboriginal inhabitants. In a papyrus of Ramses III. (u.c. 1300) the Seirites are mentioned as a Bedouin tribe. The name is therefore ancient and its etymology un- certain, whether it is to he derived from the people or from the land. In the latter case, just as Edom, 'red.' describes the prevailing color of these mountains, so Seir, 'hairy.' 'shaggy,' or per- haps 'awful,' may express the roughness of the country. This great mountain ridge, composed of argillaceous rock, porphyry, and sandstone, extends from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of .kabah on the Red Sea. It presents a precipitous front to the west and is broken by deep valleys, hut the vegetation is rich and allows cultivation. Its most famous jjcak is .Mount Ilor, reputed scene of the death of Aaron, and its chief city the fa- mous Petra (q.v.), in the neighborhood of which are to be seen some of the most remarkable and beautiful rock-formations in the world. The mountains were the home of a hardy race, which enriched itself through its command of the trade routes from Arabia to the Mediterranean, and wliieli later spread north into Palestine. Con- sult: Robinson. Ilihlicnl h'rxcdrelits (vol. ii.. Bos- ton, 1841) ; Palmer, Drxirt of the Exodim (Cam- bridge, 1871): Trumbull, Kadesh-ISarnca (New York, 1884). See Edom. SEISIN (OF. seisine. sai::ine, snisine, Fr. sai- sine, from OF. seizir, siiizir, Fr. saiair, to seize, take possession of, probably from OHG. sazznn, sezzati, Ger. setzen, Eng set, to put. place). Ac- tual possession of land by a person entitled to it, or claiming to have a freehold interest therein. This is sometimes spoken of as seisin in deed, as distinguished from seiiin in Inir. which is a mere right of present possession. By the old common law. seisin denoted the completion of feudal in- vestiture of a tenant, accompanied by t!ie rites of homage and fealty, after which he had the elements of a feudal title — possession and right nf possession. This was done by a formal cere- mony on the land, known as the 'livery of seisin' (q.v.). In most of the United States, delivery of a deed is equivalent to livery of seisin, and no formal entry on the land is necessary. How- ever, the term seisin is still retained in our law. but there is some confusion as to its technical