Secretariat (foaled 1970) U.S. Thoroughbred racehorse. In 1973 he became the first Triple Crown winner since Citation in 1948. At the Bel¬ mont Stakes he won by an unprecedented 31 lengths. In his two-year career he came in first 16 times, second 3 times, and third once. He is often regarded as the greatest Thoroughbred in history.
secretary bird African raptor (Sagittarius serpentarius, family Sagit- taridae), the only living bird of prey that hunts on foot. It has long scaly legs, a light-gray body that is 4 ft (1.2 m) long, and a 7-ft (2.1-m) wingspread. It weighs about 8 lbs (3.5 kg). Twenty black crest feathers make it appear to be carrying quill pens behind its ears. Secretary birds kill snakes (their main prey) by stamping on them, flailing them against the ground, or dropping them from aloft. They make their large stick-built nests in thorn trees. Both parents feed the offspring by regurgitation. Secretary birds are protected in most African nations. See photograph opposite.
Secular Games Latin Ludi saeculares Celebrations held in ancient Rome at the beginning of a new saeculum, or generation. Similar games
were originally held by the Etruscans as offerings to the underworld gods. The Romans initially worshiped the underworld gods but later introduced Apollo, Diana, and Leto in a festival that lasted three days and nights. More days were added later. The first known Roman games were held in 249 bc, the second in 146, and the third in 17 under Caesar Augustus. Later games, held in ad 47, 88, 147, 204, 248, and 262, included sports, music, theatre, and circuses. The games ceased in the 4th century ad under Con¬ stantine I, who converted to Christianity.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) U.S. regulatory commission established by Congress in 1934. Its purpose was to restore investor confidence by ending the misleading sales practices and stock manipulations that had led to the stock market’s 1929 collapse (see Stock Market Crash of 1929). It also prohibited the purchase of stock shares without adequate funds to pay for them, initiated registration and super¬ vision of securities markets and stockbrokers, established rules regarding proxies, and prohibited unfair use of nonpublic information in stock trad¬ ing (see insider trading). It also required that companies offering securi¬ ties make full public disclosure of all relevant information. The discovery of fraudulent accounting practices among several large U.S. corporations brought demands for greater SEC oversight in the early 21st century.
security In finance, written evidence of ownership conferring the right to receive property not currently in the holder’s possession. The most common securities are stocks and bonds. Governments, companies, and financial institutions use securities to raise money. Stocks are securities issued in the form of equity ownership. Bonds are securities that take the form of debt. They constitute promises to pay a specified amount at a specified date and to pay interest at a specified rate in the interim. Most government securities are bonds that pay a fixed amount of interest per year; unlike commercial securities, their repayment is guaranteed. Both stocks and bonds are traded publicly on organized exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, and the Tokyo Stock Exchange. External forces such as international troubles, changes in government policies, and trends in foreign stock markets all have an effect on security prices. For individual stocks, the company’s current and pro¬ spective financial performance play an important role, as do overall trends within its business sector. See also investment; saving.
Security Council, United Nations See United Nations Security Council
Sedan \s9-'da n ,\ English \s9-'dan. Battle of (Sept. 1, 1870) Defeat of the French army in the Franco-Prussian War that led to the fall of the Second Empire. At the French border fortress of Sedan on the Meuse River, 120,000 French troops under Maurice, count de Mac-Mahon, were attacked by more than 200,000 German troops under Helmuth von Moltke. After Mac-Mahon was wounded, the confused French command tried unsuccessfully to break through the encircling German lines with massive cavalry charges. Emperor Napoleon III. who had accompanied Mac- Mahon, realized the French position was hopeless and surrendered with 83,000 troops.
Seder \'sa-dor\ Ritual meal served on the first night of Passover, com¬ memorating the flight of the Jews from Egypt. Presided over by the head
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1714 I sedge family ► Sefer ha-bahir
of the family, the Seder follows a liturgy, the Haggadah, that reminds par¬ ticipants of the story of the Exodus. The ritual includes blessings, the pouring of wine, and ritual questions about the meaning of the event (“Why does this night differ from all other nights?”) asked by the young¬ est child present. The meal includes unleavened bread and bitter herbs, the bread symbolizing the haste with which the Israelites left Egypt and the herbs symbolizing the bitterness of slavery. A cup of wine is poured for Elijah, the precursor of the Messiah.
sedge family Family Cyperaceae, one of the 10 largest families of flowering plants, composed of about 5,000 species of grasslike herbs that inhabit wet regions worldwide. Sedges are monocots (see cotyledon) of extraordinary ecological importance; forming the base of food webs, they provide food and shelter for aquatic and wetland animals. They are also important as ornamentals and weeds, and are used in woven products such as mats, baskets, screens, and sandals. Key identifying characteristics that distinguish sedges from grasses are solid stems that are often triangular in cross section; leaves, when present, that clasp the stem with a sheath; and small spikes of minute flowers that are not enclosed in bracts. They range in height from about 1 in. to 13 ft (2 cm-4 m). The genus Carex represents the true sedges. Papyrus and bulrushes are also included in this family.
Sedgwick, Adam (b. March 22, 1785, Dent, Yorkshire, Eng.—d. Jan. 27, 1873, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire) English geologist. A pioneer in the establishment of geology as a university discipline (Trinity College, Oxford), he named the Cambrian Period and (with Roderick Murchison) the Devonian Period. His grandnephew, the zoologist Adam Sedgwick (1854-1913), first established the evolutionary link between the annelids and the arthropods.
sedimentary facies \'fa-shez\ Different, but contemporaneous and juxtaposed, sedimentary rocks. Terrigenous facies are accumulations of particles eroded from older rocks and transported to the depositional site. Biogenic facies are accumulations of whole or fragmented shells and other hard parts of animals. Chemical facies result from precipitation of inor¬ ganic material from solution. The shapes and characteristics of facies may change as conditions change over time.
sedimentary rock Rock formed at or near the Earth’s surface by the accumulation and lithification of fragments of preexisting rocks or by pre¬ cipitation from solution at normal surface temperatures. Sedimentary rocks can be formed only where sediments are deposited long enough to become compacted and cemented into hard beds or strata. They are the most common rocks exposed on the Earth’s surface but are only a minor constituent of the entire crust. Their defining characteristic is that they are formed in layers. Each layer has features that reflect the conditions dur¬ ing deposition, the nature of the source material (and, often, the organ¬ isms present), and the means of transport. See also sedimentary facies.