Servia

(sür've-ah.) (anc. Mæsia Superior,) a principality of European Turkey, forming aso rt of quasi-sovereignty, bet. N. Lat. 42° 20′-45°, E. Lon. 19° 10′-22° 45', b. on the N. by the Danube which separates it from the Austrian Military Frontier, E. by Bulgaria and Wall a chia, S. by Roumelia (from which it is divided by the Balkan Mts.), and W. by Bosnia. Area, 12,600 sq. m. Surface mountainous, with many forests and moors. The soil in the valleys is sufficiently fertile to produce the cereals, hemp, flax, and tobacco. The Save, Morava, and Driva are the chief rivers. C. Belgrade. The Serbs are a race of Sclavic origin, po e all the characteristic qualities of a mountaineer people, and belong to the Greek Church. They settled in this country in the 10th cent., and made of it an independent kingdom in 1217. During the century following, S. was subjugated by the Turks, who retained po e ion of it till 1717. Austria next held a tenure of it till 1791, when it reverted back to Turkey. In 1805 the Servians revolted, and kept their independence till 1813-14, when it again came under Ottoman rule. In 1815, however, it again freed itself from the yoke, and its independent existence was secured to it by the Treaty of Paris, 1850; when the sovereignty was settled hereditarily in the Obrenovitch family, Turkey retaining only a nominal authority over the country. A new constitution was pa ed in 1868. The Berlin Treaty, 1878, made S. absolutely independent, with increased territory. Pop. (1876)1,366,923. Service-tree, (sür'vis.) (Bot.) See PYRUS. Servile, (sür'vīl.) [From L. servus, a servant.] (Gram.) An element which is foreign to the primary root;- as opposed to radical. Servitude, (sür've-tūd.) [Same der iv.] (Law.) The right to an enjoyment of a thing, without ownership in the same, for a special purpose. Servius Tullius, (sür've-ŭs tülle-ŭs,) the sixth mythical king of Rome, was murdered by his son-inlaw, Tarquinus Superb us. Sesostris, (se-sostris,) one of the greatest kings of Egypt, whose native name was Ramses. Hewas a great conqueror, but his history is very legendary. Said to have flourished B. c. 1500. Sesqui, (ses'kwe.) [L., once and a half.] A term commonly used in compound scientific terms, and signifying that a something is taken one and a half times.(Geom.) The expre ion of a ratio in which the greater term contains the le once, leaving a certain aliquot part of the le over; when the part remaining is half the le term, the ratio is called sesquialtera; when a third, sesquitertia; and so on. The word sesquiduplicate is used when, in a ratio, the greater term is twice and ah alf times the le . (sěs'a-mum.) (Bot.) The Sesame, a genus of plants, 0. Pedaliace ӕ, consisting of annual herbs indigenous to the E. Indies, but cultivated in various other tropical and subtropical countries. The leaves are opposite or alternate, quite entire or variously lobed; the flowers axillary, and of a yellow or pinkish color. The seeds of S. Fig. 588.- SESAMUM INDICUM. indicum (Fig. 588) contain an abundance of a fixed oil, as tastele as that of the olive, for which it might be substituted, and which is expre ed in Egypt in great quantities. It is sometimes called Gingelly oil, and, if of very good quality, is employed for adulterating oil of almonds. It is, however, apt to become rancid. [s. 816]