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its confluence with the Vanne, 25-miles N. of Auxerre, and 60S. E. of Paris . Lon. 3. 22. E. Lat. 48. 12. N.

SENSATION, in philosophy, the perception of external ob-jects by means of the senses. See Metaphysics.

SENSE, Common, is a term that has been variously used bothby ancient and modern writers. With some it has been synony-mous with public sense ; with others it has denoted prudence ; incertain instances, it has been confounded with some of the powersof taste ; and accordingly, those who commit egregious blunderswith regard to decorum, say ing and doing what is offensive to theircompany, and inconsistent with their own character, have beencharged with a defect in common sense. But the term commonsense hath in modern times been used to signify that power of themind which perceives truth, or commands belief, not by progres-sive argumentation, but by an instantaneous, instinctive, and irre-sistible, impulse: derived neither from education nor from habit,but from nature; acting independently of our will, whenever itsobject is presented, according to an established law, and thereforecalled sense ; and acting in a similar manner upon all, or at leastupon a great majority of mankind, and therefore called commonsense. See Metaphysics, and Moral Philosophy .

Sense, Moral, is a determination of the mind to be pleasedwith the contemplation of those affections, actions, or characters,of rational agents, which we call good or virtuous.

Sense, Public, is defined by the noble author of the Charac-teristics to be an innate propensity to be pleased with the happinessof others, and to be uneasy at their misery. It is found, he says,in a greater or less degree in all men, and was sometimes calledxoiys*oti|U.<i, or sensus communis, by ancient writers.

Senses, The Five. See Anatomy , Acoustics, Feeling,Hearing, Optics, Seeing, Smelling, Tasting , &c.

SENSIBILITY, is a nice and delicate perception of pleasureor pain, beguty or deformity. It is very nearly allied to taste;and, as far as it is natural, seems to depend upon the organizationof the nervous system. It is capable, however, of cultivation, andis experienced in a much higher degree in civilized than in sa-vage nations, and among persons liberally educated than amongboors and illiterate mechanics. He who has been long accustomedto that decorum of manners which characterizes the polite parts ofthe world, perceives almost instantaneously the smallest deviationfrom it, and feels himself almost as much hurt by behaviour harm-less in itself, as by the grossest rudeness ; and the man who haslong proceeded steadily in the paths of virtue, and often reflectedon the deformity of vice, and the miseries of which it is produc-tive, is more quickly alarmed at any deviation from rectitude,than another who, though his life has been stained by no crime, hasyet thought less upon the principles of virtue, and consequencesof vice. That sensibility, which we either have from nature, ornecessarily acquire, of the miseries of others, is of the greatest usewhen properly regulated, as it powerfully impels us to relievetheir distress; but if it by any means become so exquisite as tomake us shun the sight of misery, it counteracts the end for whichit was implanted in our nature, and only deprives us of happiness,while it contributes nothing to the good of others. Indeed there isreason to believe tiiat all such extreme sensibilities are selfish affec-tations, employed as apologies for withholding from the miserablethat relief, wbieh it is in our power to give ; for there is not a factbetter established in the science of human nature, than that passiveperceptions grow gradually weaker by repetition, while active ha-bits daily acquire strength. It is every man’s duty to cultivate hismoral sensibility, so as to make them subservient to the purposesfor which they were given to him ; but if he either feel, or pretendto feel, the miseries of others to so exquisite a degree as to be un-able to all'wd them the relief which they have a right to expect,his sensibilities are perverted. That the man of true sensibility hasmore pains and more pleasures than the callous wretch, is univer-sally admitted, as well as that his enjoyments and sufferings aremore exquisite in their kinds ; but as no man lives for himselfalone, no man will acknowledge his want of sensibility, or expressa wish that his heart was callous.

Sensibility, in physiology. See Physiology, and Irrita-bility

SENSIBLE NOTE, in music, is that which constitutes a thirdmajor above the dominant, and a semitone beneath the tonic. SeeMusic.

SENSITIVE Plant. See Dionjea, Hedysarum, andMimosa.

SENSORY , [ sensorium commune,'] the seat of the commonsense, or what receives the impressions of all sensible objects,conveyed to it by the nerves of each particular organ, and conse-quently is the immediate cause of perception. This office is, byDr. Willis, attributed to the striated part of the brain; and by DesCartes to the glandula pinealis.

SENTENCE, in law, a judgement passed in court by the judge,on some process, either civil or criminal.

Sentence, in grammar, denotes a period ; or a set of wordscomprehending some perfect sense or sentiment of the mind. Thebusiness of pointing is to distinguish the several parts and membersof sentences, so as to render the sense thereof as clear, distinct,and full, as possible. See Punctuation, and Grammar.

Sentences, Figures op. See Oratory.

SENTTCOSAi, [from sentis, a briar or bramble,] the nameof the 35th order in Linnams’s fragments of a natural method, con-sisting of rose, bramble, and other plants, which resemble them inport and external structure. See Botany .

SENTIMENT , according to Lord Karnes, is a term appro-priated to such thoughts as are prompted by passion. It differsfrom a perception ; lor a perception signifies the act by which webecome conscious of external objects. It differs from conscious-ness of an internal action, such as thinking, suspending thought,inclining, resolving, willing, &c. And it differs from the concep-tion of a relation among objects; a conception of that kind beingtermed opinion.

Sentiments, in poetry. To talk in the language of music,each passion has a certain tone, to which every sentiment pro-ceeding from it ought to be tuned with the greatest accuracy;which is no easy work, especially where such harmony ought tobe supported during the course of a long theatrical representation.To reach such delicacy of execution, it is necessary that a writerassume the precise character and passion of the personage repre-sented ; which requires an uncommon genius, but it is the onlydifficulty; for the writer, who, annihilating himself, can thus be-come another person, need be in no pain about the sentiments thatbelong to the assumed character: these will flow without study, oreven preconception ; and will frequently be as delightfully new tohimself as to his reader.

SENTINEL, or SENTRY, in military affairs, a privatesoldier placed in some post to watch the approach of the enemy,to slop such as would pass without orders or discovering who theyare. They are placed before the arms of all guards, at the tenlsand doors of general officers, colonels of regiments, &c. Allsentinels are to be vigilant on their posts; neither are they to sing,smoke tobacco, nor suffer any noise to be made near them. Theyare to have a watchful eye over the things committed to theircharge. They are not to suffer any light to remain, or any fire tobe made, near their posts in the night-time; neither is any sentryto be relieved or removed from his post but by the corporal of theguard.

Sentinel Perdu, a soldier posted near an enpmy, or in somevery dangerous post, where he is in hazard ol being lost.

SEPABATION, a term sometimes used for what is more usu-ally called departure.

SEPARATISTS, an appellation given to dissenters, from theirsetting up a separate church from the established one.

SEPIA, the Cuttle-Fish, or Ink-Fish, a genus belonging tothe order of vermes mollusca. Body fleshy, receiving the breastin a sheath, with a tubular aperture at its base ; eight arms, besetwith numerous warts or suckers, ami in most species two peduncu-lated tentacula ; head short; eyes large; mouth resembling a par-rot’s beak. Eight species are mentioned. They inhabit variousseas, and in hot climates grow to a very considerable size; theyare armed with a most terrible apparatus of holders, furnished withsuckers, by which they fasten upon and convey their prey to themouth.

S. Loligo,II)c Great C utti e, has short arms and long tentacula;the lower part of the body rhomboid and pinnated, the upper thickand cylindric. They inhabi! all our seas, where having blackenedthe water by the effusion of their ink, they abscond, and with theirtail leap out of the water. They are gregarious and swift in theirmotions: they take their prey by means of their arms; and em-bracing it, bring it to their central mouth. They adhere to therocks, when they wish to he quiescent, by means of the concavediscs placed along their arms,

SEPIARLEi