Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/123

LEFT STING 89 STIRLINGSHIRE pears to the naked eye a simple needle- shaped organ; but the microscope shows that it is formed of three pieces: A short, stout, cylindrico-conical sheath containing two setae, or lancets, one edge thickened and furnished with teeth di- rected backward, the other sharp and cutting. The poison apparatus consists of two glandular elongated sacs, and terminates by one or two excretory ducts. Morphologically viewed, a sting is an al- tered oviduct. The term sting is some- times inaccurately used for the bite of a venomous serpent, and of the forked tongue of snakes. See Scorpion. STINGRAY, a fish belonging to the gertus Trygon, natural order Elasmo- branchii, family Trygonidae, which is allied to that of the rays proper. It is remarkable for its long, flexible, whip- like tail, which is armed with a protect- ing bony spine, very sharp at the point, and furnished along both edges with sharp cutting teeth. Only one species {T. pastinaca) occurs in the British seas, and is popularly known as the fire flaire. Another species {Trygon centrura) is common on the E. coasts of North Amer- ica. These fishes sometimes inflict se- rious wounds with their tail. STINKWOOD, the Oreodaphne foetida, a tree of the natural order Latiracex, a native of the Cape of Gk)od Hope, re- markable for the strong disagreeable smell of its wood, which, however, is hard, very durable, takes an excellent polish, and resembles walnut. It has been used in shipbuilding. STINT (Tringa), a gallatorial bird, a species of sandpiper. Temminck's stint {T. Temminckii) is the smallest species of the British sandpipers, length 5% inches. It inhabits the edges of lakes and inland rivers, and is said to breed in North Europe. STIPA, feather grass; the typical genus of Stipeas. Inflorescence an erect, somewhat contracted panicle; spikelets one-flowered; glumes two, membrana- ceous, larger than the floret, outer one involute, with a very long, twisted awn, which finally separates at a joint near its base. Steudel describes 104 species. They are widely distributed, but are most abundant in warm countries. S. pennata is the common feather grass. It has rigid, setaceous, grooved leaves, and ex- ceedingly long awns, feathery at the point. It is very ornamental in gardens in summer, and if gathered before the seeds are ripe it retains its long feathery awns, and is sometimes dyed of various colors and used for decorative purposes. STIPPLE, in engraving, a mode of pro- ducing the desired effect by means of dots; also called the "dotted style," in contradistinction to "engraving in lines." See Engraving. STIPULE, or STIPULA (plural, STIPULE), in botany, one of two small appendages, generally tapering at the end, situated at the base of a petiole on each side, and generally of a less firm texture than the petiole itself. They either adhere to the base of the petiole or are separate; they may last as long as the leaf, or fall off before it. In texture they may be membraneous, leath- ery, or spiny; in margin entire or lacin- iated. Stipules are absent in exogens with opposite leaves, in some with alter- nate leaves, and in the great majority of endogens. They are probably trans- formed leaves. Also appendages at the base of leaves in Jungermanniacees and Hepaticse. STIRES, ERNEST MILMORE, an American Protestant Episcopal clergy- man, born in Norfolk, Va., in 1866. He was educated at the University ojf Vir- ginia and at the Episcopal Theologir^al Seminary of Virginia, becoming a dea- con in 1891 and a priest in 1892. After being pastor of churches at West Point, Va., Augusta, Ga., and Chicago, 111., he became pastor of St. Thomas' Church, New York City. He was at various times chaplain of National Guard units, a member of the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy, mem- ber of the General Board of Commis- sions, a trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a director in many charitable organizations, and one of the candidates for the P. E. bishopric of New York, after the deaths of Bishops Greer and Burch. STIRLINGSHIRE, a fertile county of Scotland, on the isthmus between the Firths of Forth and Clyde, and forming part of the border land between the Highlands and Lowlands; area, 298,579 acres. It is bounded N. by Perth and Clackmannan, from which it is separated by the Forth, E. by the Firth of Forth and Linlithgow, S. by Lanark and Dum- barton, and W. by Dumbarton and Loch Lomond. The parish of Alva forms a detached portion of Stirlingshire, and there is another small portion toward the W. extremity of the Ochils. The district of the "Carse," 36,000 acres in extent, stretching along the Forth, is only a few feet above the level, but in the W. and S. the surface is varied by tracts of heath, moss, and pasture. In the N. W. is Ben Lomond, in the N. E.