Sempervivum

(sěm-pür-vī'vùm.) (Bot.) A gen. of shrubby or herbaceous plants, O. Cra ulaceæ, and allied to Sedum, from which they are distinguished by having about twelve petals, and the glands at the base of the ovaries laciniated if present, S. tectorum, the Common Houseleek, is a well-known plant with thick fleshy leaves arranged in the form of a double rose, from among which rise succulent stalks bearing cymes of purple flowers, which on close examination prove no le beautiful than singular. Senate, (sen'at.) [From L. senatus, from senex, an old man.] An a embly or council of senators; that is, a body of the principal inhabitants of a state, invested with a share in the government. The S. of ancient Rome was, of all others, the most celebrated; it appointed judges, either from among the senators or knights, to determine proce es; it also appointed governors of provinces, and disposed of the revenues of the commonwealth, . Yet the whole sovereign power did not reside in it, since it could not elect magistrates; it did not, ordinarily, make laws, or decide on war and peace; in all which cases it was obliged to consult the people. The S. originally consisted only of patricians; its number, it is said, was at first 100, but was doubled on the addition of the Sabines, then increased to 300 by Tarquinius Priscus, on the incorporation of the Enceres. The older were distinguished from the last created, by their names; the former being termed patres major um gentium (fathers of the greater houses); and the latter patres minorum gentium (fathers of the le er houses). The S. was subsequently increased to 500 or 600; and ultimately, by the emperors, to, on one occasion at least, 1,000. The members were first chosen by the kings; afterwards by the consuls, military tribunes, and finally the censors; but certain offices gave a right to the privilege of belonging to the S. At first the S. had supreme power; but this was lost when the right of interce ion, or negativing their proceedings, was given to the tribunes of the people. Under the Commonwealth, however, it remained always very great. The S. subsisted till the occupation of Italy by the Goths. The provincial towns had S. in imitation of that at Rome.-(Fr. Hist.) The title of the upper legislative chamber under Napoléon I. and Napoléon Senatus III.-(Am. Consultum, Pol.) See CONGRESS. (sen'a-tűs kon-sültüm.) (Rom. Hist.) A decree of the Roman senate pronounced on some question or point of law, and which, when pa ed, constituted a part of the law. Seneca, LUCIUS ANNEUS, (sen'e-kah,) a celebrated philosopher of Rome, who was the instructor of the Emperor Nero, and was at last put to death by his order, in65 A. D., under the pretence that he had been engaged in a conspiracy against him. Among those ofhis works which are still extant the treatises De Ira, De Consol at i one, De Provident i a, De Animi Tranquil lit ate, and De Vita Be at a; 124 Letters to Lucilius; 10 Tragedies; and a remarkable work entitled Questionum Naturalium. Sen'eca, in New York, a central co.; area, 330 sq. m.; C. Ovid. Pop. 27,823.- In Ohio, a N. co.; C. Tiffin. Pop. 30,827. Sen'eca Falls, (faulz,) a thriving town of New York, Seneca co., 43 m. W.S.W. of Syracuse. Pop. 5,890. Seneca Indians, a tribe of North American Indians belonging to the Iroquois, and formerly occupying W. Now York and a portion of N.W. Pennsylvania, They were once powerful; and their most famous chief was Sagoyowatha, or " Red-Jacket." They now occupy reservations in Kansas. Lake, in New York, a picturesque sheet of water, surrounded by Seneca, Tompkins, Yates, Steuben, and Ontario cos., emptying its surplus waters into Lake Ontario by the Seneca and Oswego rivers. Length, 25 m.; width, from 2 to 4 m.; depth, 630 ft. [s. 813]