Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/515

LEFT SKUNK 451 SLADEN immobility of the upper jaw, which is fixed by three buttresses — the nasal, the zygomatic, and the pterygoid. SKUNK, the Mephitis, a genus of small carnivorous quadrupeds of the family Mustelidse. The body is elongated, SKUNK and usually much arched; the tail long and thickly covered with long, fine hair; the head small, with thick, blunt snout; the legs short, and the paws compara- tively large, with five incompletely divided toes. The general color is black and white. The power, characteristic in some degree of all the Mustelidse, of forcibly discharging the fetid secretion of the anal glands is in the skunks enormously de- veloped. SKUNK RIVER, a river of Iowa whose source is in Hamilton co. Its course is S., crossing Jasper, Mohaska, Keokuk and Henry counties. It flows into the Mississippi about 11 miles below Burlington. The North Skunk, which rises in Marshall co., flows into the main river about 10 miles S. E. of Sigourney. The upper part is sometimes called the South Skunk. It is about 275 miles long. SKYE, after Lewis, the largest of the Scotch islands, and the most N. of the Inner Hebrides, is included in Inverness- shire; area, 547 square miles. Separated from Ross-shire in the N. W. by the Sound of Rona, and from Inverness in the S. W. by the Sound of Sleat, it ap- proaches within half a mile of the main- land between these two channels at Kyle Rhea. It is very irregular in shape, and is so cut up by inlets that no part of it is more than 4 miles from the sea. The chief inlets, all toward the W. and N., are Lochs Eishort, Slapin, Scavaig, Bra- cadale, Follart, and Snizort; the princi- pal headlands are Aird Point, Ru-Huinish, Dunvegan Head, and Vaternish Point, which are extremities of the peninsulas of Duirinish, Vaternish, and Trotternish in the N., and Sleat Point in the S. Its extreme length from Aird Point to Sleat Point is 47 miles; its greatest breadth, from Portree to Copnahow Head, 22 miles. Skye is a wild, highland country, and its rocky mountains and pale headlands are shrouded in the mists of the Atlantic. The S. portion, however, is "comparatively soft and green," the long promontory of Sleat being the "best wooded, the sun- niest, and the most carefully cultivated" part of Skye, with its larch plantations and trim hedgerows. The inhabitants are mainly Celtic, and universally speak Gaelic, though the use of English is gradually increasing. There is a strong Norse infusion, and the names of the N. headlands are Norwegian, not Gaelic. The chief families in Skye are the Macdonalds of Sleat, who trace their descent to the Lords of the Isles, and the Macleods, originally Norsemen, who still occupy old Dunvegan Castle. The island is historically interesting as the home of Flora Macdonald and the refuge of Prince Charles. At the old house of Kingsburgh Flora entertained Dr. John- son and Boswell in 1773. The grave of Flora in the churchyard of Kilmuir, was marked by the erection of an Iona cross, a granite monolith 28 feet high, in No- vember, 1871. Pop. about 13,000. SKYROS, or SCYRO, an island of the Grecian Archipelago; the largest of the northern Sporades; 24 miles N. E. of Eubcea; length, 17 miles, area, 79 square miles. Skyros is very mountainous in the S., the mountains being covered with forests of oaks, firs, and beeches; but the N. part, though also hilly, has several fertile plains, which produce fine wheat and grapes for wine. The only town is Skyro, or St. George on the E. coast. This island is associated with the legends of Achilles and Theseus. In 409 B. C, Cimon the Athenian conquered it and carried off to his native city the bones of the hero Theseus. It was likewise cele- brated for its goats and its variegated marble. Pop. about 3,500. SLADEN, DOUGLAS BROOKE WHEELTON, an English poet; born in London, Feb. 5, 1856. He wrote "Frith- jof and Ingebjorg, and Other Poems" (1882) ; "Edward the Black Prince," an epic drama (1886) ; "Australian Ballads and Rhymes" (1888) ; "The Spanish Ar- mada" (1888), a ballad; "Australian Poets" (1888); "A Japanese Marriage" (1895); "The Admiral" (1898); "A Si- cilian Marriage" (1905) ; "Tragedy of