Chapter Serapis to Set Off of S by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

of Alexander the Great.

"When glides a silver serpent, treacherous guest!
And fair Olympia folds him to her breast.”
Darwin: Economy of Vegetation, i. 2.

   Jupiter Capitolinus, in a similar form, became the father of Scipio Africanus.
   The serpent is emblematical-
   (1) Of wisdom. “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matt. x. 16).
   (2) Of subtilty. “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field” (Gen. iii. 1).
   It is said that the cerastes hides in sand that it may bite the horse's foot and get the rider thrown. In allusion to this belief, Jacob says, “Dan shall be ... an adder in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward” (Gen. xlix. 17).
   It is said that serpents, when attacked, swallow their young, and eject them again on reaching a place of safety.
   Thomas Lodge says that people called Sauveurs have St. Catherine's wheel in the palate of their mouths, and therefore can heal the sting of serpents.
   The Bible also tells us that it stops up its ears that it may not be charmed by the charmer. (Ps. lviii. 4.)
   The serpent is symbolical -
   (1) Of deity, because, says Plutarch, “it feeds upon its own body; even so all things spring from God, and will be resolved into deity again.” (De Iside et Osiride, i. 2, p. 5; and Philo Byblius.)
   (2) Of eternity, as a corollary of the former. It is represented as forming a circle and holding its tail in its mouth.
   (3) Of renovation. It is said that the serpent, when it is old, has the power of growing young again `like the eagle,” by casting its slough, which is done by squeezing itself between two rocks.
   (4) Of guardian spirits. It was thus employed by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and not unfrequently the figure of a serpent was depicted on their altars.
   In the temple of Athen'a at Athens, a serpent was kept in a cage, and called “the Guardian Spirit of the Temple.” This serpent was supposed to be animated by the soul of Ericthonius.
   To cherish a serpent in your bosom. To show kindness to one who proves ungrateful. The Greeks say that a husbandman found a serpent's egg, which he put into his bosom. The egg was hatched by the warmth, and the young serpent stung its benefactor.

“Therefore think him as a serpent's egg
Which, hatched, would (as his kind) grow dangerous.”
Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar, ii. 1.

   Their ears have been serpent-licked. They have the gift of foreseeing events, the power of seeing into futurity. This is a Greek superstition. It is said that Cassandra and Helenus were gifted with the power of prophecy, because serpents licked their ears while sleeping in the temple of Apollo.
   The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head (Gen. iii. 15). The serpent bruised the heel of man; but Christ, the “seed of the woman,” bruised the serpent's head.
   Serpent's food. Fennel is said to be the favourite food of serpents, with the juice of which it restores its sight when dim.
   Serpents. Brazilian wood is a panacea against the bite of serpents. The Countess of Salisbury, in the reign of James I., had a bedstead made of this wood, and on it is the legend of “Honi soit qui mal y pense.”

Serpentine Verses Such as end with the same word as they begin with. The following are examples: -

“Crescit amor nummi, quantum ipsa pecunia crescit.”

(Greater grows the love of pelf, as pelf itself, grows greater.)

“Ambo florentes aetatibus, Arcades ambo.”
(Both in the spring of life, Arcadians both.)

Serrapurda High screens of rep cloth, stiffened with cane, used to enclose a considerable space round the royal tent of the Persian army.

Servant (Faithful). (See Adam .)

Serve I'll serve him out - give a quid pro quo. This is the French server, to do an ill turn to one.
   To serve a rope. To roll something upon it to prevent it from being fretted. The “service” or material employed is spun yarn, small lines, sennit, ropes, old leather, or canvas.

Servus Servorum (Latin). The slave of slaves, the drudge of a servant. The style adopted by the Roman pontiffs ever since the time of Gregory the Great is Servus Servorum Die.

“Alexander episcopus, servus servorum Dei, Karissino filio Willielmo salutem.” - Rymer: Foedera, i. p. 1.

Sesame (3 syl.). Oily grain of the natural order Pedaliaceae, originally from India. In Egypt they eat sesame cakes, and the Jews frequently add the seed to their bread. The cakes made of sesame oil,