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* SEXUAL SELECTION. 30 SEYFFARTH. females by their powers of song or display of plumage. Darwin concludes "'that when the males and females of any animal have the same habits of life, but differ in structure, color, or ornament, such dilTerences have been mainly caused by sexual selection; that is, by individual males having had, in successive generations, some slight advantage over other males, in their wea])ons, means of defense, or charms, and hav- ing transmitted these advantages to their male ofl'spring." Although Wallace does not accept the theory of sexual selection, claiming that bright colors were originally normal in both sexes, but have been eliminated in the females, yet the facta seem to substantiate the views of Darwin. As observed by Romanes, it is "a theory wholly and completely distinct from the theory of natural selection." BiDLiociE.vpiiY. Darwin, Origin of Species (6th ed., London, 1882) ; The Descent of Mati and Selection in Relatioti to Sex (2d cd., London, 1874) : Wallace, Darwinism (London, 1889) ; G. W. and E. G. Peckham^ Sexual Selection in Spiders (ililwaukee, 1890). SEYCHELLES (sa'shel') COCOANXJT, or Double Cocoanut {Lodoicea eallipyiic). A palm whose fruit somewhat resembles a cocoanut, but which belongs to a difTerent tribe, being allied to the Palmyra palm. It is foimd only in the Seychelles Islands, and was known for many years only by the fruit, which, found floating in the Indian Ocean or upon the shores of the Maldivc Islands, was long the subject of many ridiculous tallies, and is still an object of inter- est and curiosity, and as such is one of the minor articles of commerce. The slender tree grows to the height of 100 feet with a tuft of immense leaves. The 'cabbage' or terminal bud is eaten. The melon-shaped fruit, which it is said requires ten years to ripen, sometimes weigh- ing as much as forty pounds, is often a foot or a foot and a half long. Its outer husk is green, the interior near the base divided into two parts, at first filled with a white sweet jelly, which changes into a white horny kernel. The shells are used for making vessels of various kinds, and are often beautifully carved and ornamented, SEYCHELLES ISLANDS. A group of small islands belonging to Great Britain, and situated in the Indian Ocean 650 miles northeast of Mada- gascar, between latitudes 3° 38' and .'5° 45' S., and between longitudes 52° 55' and 53° 50' B- (Map: Africa. K 5). With the dependent groups, the Amirante, C'osmoledo. and Aldabra Islands lying to the southwest, this archipelago numbers 74 named islands, with a total area of 148 square miles. The largest is Mahe, whose area is 55 square miles. The Seychelles are the summits of a submarine moiuitain range. They are themselves mountainous, Mahe having a height of 2998 feet, are composed mainly of granite, with basaltic intrusions, and are sur- rounded with coral reefs. The climate, tem- pered by the surrounding ocean, is very equable, the extreme minimum and maximum tempera- tures for the year being 74° and 88° respectively. The rainfall is very abundant, averaging nearly 100 inches per year, and the islands are covered with luxuriant forests. The flora, though re- sembling that of tropical Africa, is largely com- posed nf species peculiar to the islands : the fauna is related to that of Madagascar, and mammals. with the exception of bats, are wanting. The soil is fertile, and cotton, rice, and tobacco are cultivated. The exports, chief of which are cocoanut oil, soap, vanilla, guano, salt fish, tor- toise shells, cofTee, and cacao, amount to about $500,000 annually (1901, l,4r7,515 rupees). The islands were administered from Mauritius vuitil 1888, when an administrator was appointed, who in 1897 received the powers of Governor. The capital is Port Victoria on Mahe. Only four of the Seychelles proper are inhabited, and the total population of the combined groups, in 1901, was 19,237, chiefly French Creoles, Indian coolies, and negroes. The Se.ychelles were discovered by the Portu- guese in the beginning of the sixteenth century. They were colonized by the French in the middle of the eighteenth: in 1794 they were taken by the Fnglish. to whom they were formally ceded in 1815, Consult Hartmann, Madagascar und die Inseln Sesehellen (Leipzig, 1886). SEYDLITZ, zit'lits, Fkiedrich Wilhelm von .(1721-73). A brilliant Prussian cavalry officer, liorn at Kalcar, near Cleves. For gallantry at the liattle of Hohenfriedberg, he was made major of hussars, and by 1755 had received the rank of colonel. As the result of his distinguished ser- vices in the Seven Years' War he became known as the first cavalry officer of the period, and for a brilliant charge at Ivolin, in 1757, he was made a major-general of cavalry by Frederick II, At Rossbaeh he gained much glor.y and the rank of lieutenant-general. He took part in the battles of Zorndorf and Hochkireh, and at Knnersdorf was severely wounded. After the last-named battle he was for some time in disfavor with Fred- erick, and was not permitted to take part in ac- tive operations, but in 1762 he was once more in the field and won new renown at the battle of Freiberg. In 1767 he was made a general of cavalry. A marble statue was erected in his honor in the Wilhelmsplatz at Berlin. Consult: Varnhagen von Ense. Biographisclie Dcnkmale ( Berlin, 1834; 3d ed.. Leipzig, 1872) : and Bux- baum, Fricdrich WilheUn, Freiherr von Seydlitz (new ed., P.othenow, 1890), SEYEFARTH, zl'ffirt, Gcstav (1796-1885), A German-American EgA'ptologist. born at Uebi- gau, in Saxony. He studied at the LTniversity of Leipzig, where he became associate professor of philosophy in 1825, and professor of archaeology in 1829, "From 1826 to 1829 he visited the prin- cipal museums of Germany, France, England, and Holland, and made an extensive collection of copies of Egyptian inscriptions and Coptic manuscripts. In 1856 he came to America, and in the same year became professor of Church his- tory and arehieology in Concordia College, Saint Louis, He died in Now York, where he had re- sided since 1859. Seyfi'arth was an earnest stu- dent of Eg-ptology, but proceeded upon an er- roneous theory, holding that the hieroglyphic characters, with scarcely an exception, were pure phonograms, and even reading the determina- tives as separate words. Among his principal works are: Fndimei)ta nierogh/phica (18261; Si/stema Astronomiw .Flgiiptiai'W (1826-33) : Vn- srr Alphahet ein Ahhild des Ticrlcreises (1834) ; ,1 Iphahetn (leniiiiia .Hgi/ptio-i-nm ct Asianorum (1840) : Die Onindsiitze der Mythologie iind der aJtrn Religionsgeschichte (1843); Grammatica .ISgyptiaca (1855).