Sequoia
a genus of coniferous trees.
It is closely allied to the cypress, and two species are noted, the big tree (gigantea) and the redwood (sempervirens). The big tree species is one of the largest in the world and is the largest in America. In California, where the two species are found, it rises to an average height of 275 feet. The largest exceed 320 feet, with a trunk diameter of from 30 to 35 feet. It is found on the west slopes of the Sierra Nevadas, at average elevations of 6,000 feet, appearing in scattered clusters. The Mariposa and Calaveras groves contain the highest trees. The tallest standing is the Keystone State, which is 325 feet in height, while another magnificent specimen is the Empire State, having a circumference of 94 feet. The Father of the Forest. a fallen specimen, has a SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK length of over 400 feet. These great trees are in the Calaveras grove. The Mariposa grove has about 500 trees of various sizes, of which about 100 are of the tall variety. A hunter named Dowd discovered the big trees in 1850. Some of the trees are supposed to be nearly 2,000 years old.
SERBIA and ruler of Hades. The god had a magnificent temple, the famed Serapeum at Alexandria, to which was attached the celebrated library; another at Memphis, in the vicinity of the cemetery of the mummies of the Apis, which was excavated by Mariette in 1850; and another temple at Canopus. It appears that he represented or was identified with the Hesiri Api, or Osorapis, the "Osirified" or "dead Apis," who was also invested with many of the attributes of Osiris.
The worship of Serapis, introduced into Egypt by the Ptolemies, subsequently became greatly extended in Asia Minor; and his image, in alliance with that of Isis and other deities, appears on many of the coins of the imperial days of Rome. In A. D. 146 the worship of the god was introduced into the city of Rome by Antoninus Pius; but it was not long after abolished by the senate, on account of its licentious character. A celebrated temple of Serapis also existed at Puteoli, near Naples, and the remains of it are still seen. In Egypt itself the worship of the deity subsisted till the fall of paganism, the image at Alexandria continuing to be worshiped till destroyed, A. D. 398, by Theophilus, archbishop of that city.