Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/435

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SCHWALBEA, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe. The perianthium con- fifts of one leaf, and is of a very Angular figure, being tu- bular, inflated, and ftriatcd on the furfa.ee, and terminated by an oblique mouth, lightly divided into four fegments. The upper fegment is fmatlcft of all, the two fide ones are longer, and the bottom one is longer and broader than thefe, and is emarginated. The flower confifb of one leaf, and is of the labiated kind. The tube is of the length of the cup, and the limb erect. The upper Up is eredt, hollow, and undivided ; the lower lip is of the fame fize, but is di- vided into three obtufe and equal fegments. The ftamina are four capillary filaments, of the length of the flower, but two of them are a little fhorter than the others. The an- thers are incumbent. The gcrmen of the piftil is round. The ftyle is of the length and figure of the ftamina, and is placed in the fame (Situation. The ftigma is thick and crook- ed. The feed is fingle, roundifh, and fmall. Linnai Gen. PI. p. 291. Flor. Virgin, p. 71. SCIADEPHORI, E«»*&,#.£ 01) among the Athenians, an ap pellation given to the ftranger women refiding in Athens, becaufe they were obliged, at the feftival Panathenaa, to carry umbrellas to defend the free women from the weather. Potter, Archaeol. Grsec. lib. 1. cap. 10. Tom. I. p. 56. The word comes from Sxta&ia, an umbrella, and $eg carry. SCI/ENA, in the Linnsean fyftem of zoology, the name of a diftin£t genus of fifties, the characters of which are ; thai the opercula of the gills are fcaly, and the back fin is bifid, Of this genus are the umbra, &e. Linntei Syft. Nat. p. 54, The characters of this genus, according to the Artedian fyftem, are thefe. The whole head, and the coverings of the gills, are fcaly, and one of the laminae of thefe cover- ings is fcrrated at the edge. The body is compreflH and broad ; the back is acute ; and the teeth are only in the jaws and fauces, the palate and tongue being bare. There is only one fin on the back, but it is bifid, being fo deeply divided at the middle, that it feems to make two. The tai* is not forked, but even at the end. The appendices of the pylorus are feven or eight in number.

There are only two known fpecies of this genus. 1. Tht fciana with the upper jaw longeft, and the lower jaw beard- ed. This is the /nana and umbra of authors, and is called by Bellonius chromis. 2. The fciana variegated with black, and with very black belly fins. This is the umbrino of th< Italians, and is the nth called corvuhts and coracinus by many authors. The lines are of various lengths and breadths, and arc laid obliquely on the fides. The mouth is large, the eyes brown. Jrtedi, Gen. Pifc. p. 29. See Umbr and Coracinus.

The name fciana is of Grecian origin, derived from the word E*i«, a fhadow. The fifh had this name from its be- ing of a dufky or fhadowy colour. SCIAMACHIA, the fighting with a perfon's own fhadow, a fort of exercife prefcribed by the antient phyficians, in which the motion of the arms, and other parts of the body, were of very great fervice in many chronic cafes. ECIAPODKS, £*(flraro.£ei?, a fabulous race of men, mentioned by Pliny, who had only one leg.

They were called fciapodes from c-Kt* t« woco?, becaufe in fummer they held up their leg, and flickered themfelves from the heat with the fhadow of their foot. Hcfm. Lex. in voc. See the article Mono Co LI, ECIARRI, in natural hiftory, the matter which runs down in burning torrents from the craters of Mount iEtna. This matter, when cold and hard, is hewed and employed at Catania, and other places. It is chiefly ufed for the bafe- ments and coinage of buildings. It probably contains mi- neral and metallic particles, being a ponderous, hard, grey ftone. Philof. Tranf. N°48i. p. 327, 328. See the article Stone.

Some of the fciarri are coarfe, and others fine and poliihed on the furface ; fome of them are black, others reddifh, and others of the colour of iron j and many of them have cover- ings of pure fulphur over the whole furface, or a part of it. Some very fine and fmooth ones, refembling iron, but very light, are found in, or near the mouths of the eruption, and fome are very hard and heavy, and of a mixed nature, feeming to be the refult of many forts of minerals melted together. Thefe latter, when the mountains have poured out fh-eams of fire, always remain in the places, and are the fubftance that was on fire cooled again. At the time of the nioft terrible eruptions of this kind, thefe heaps of fciarri, which fometimes appear to be folid rocks of metalline matter, are only a fort of covered arches, under which the melted matter yet continues liquid and running, and burfts out, at times, in the feveral parts of their fides or furfaces. The general appearance of a train of thefe fci- arri, left after the eruption of fuch a rivulet of fire, is much Jike that of the Thames, or fome other fuch large river, in the time of a fevere froft, the rocks of fciarri rifing above the general furface, like the clods of ice in thatfeene ; the colour only differing, the great quantities of the fciarri in thefe places being of a deep bluifh hue. ' Svpsi. Vol. II.

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It is remarkable, that the fubfiance of thefe fcidrri, even while melted and running in ftreams down the hill, is (a firm and folid, that no weight will (ink into it, nor any in- flrument make its way through the furface, any more than a folid mafs of cold metal. It has been fuppofed by fome, that the flowing matter concreted into the common pumice ftone, but that is a vulgar error, the pumice being a wholly different fubftance. Philof. Tranf N*4Q. SCIATHER1GA, a name given to dialing. See DlAL and

Dialing, Gycl. SciAthericum ukfeepium, a horizontal dial with a telefcope, adapted for obferving the true time, both by day and night, to regulate and adjuft pendulum-clocks, watches, and other time-keepers. It is the invention of the ingenious Mr. Molyneux, who has publifhcd a book with this title, con- taining an accurate defcription of this inftrument, its ufes, and application.

SCIERIA, Exiwta:, in antiquity, a feftival in honour of Bac- chus, kept in Arcadia.

It was fo called, becaufe that God's image was expofed Zn» •fh ffKidhy i. e. under an umbrella. At this time the women were beaten with fcourges, in the fame manner with the Spartan boys at the altar of Diana orthia, which they un- derwent in obedience to a command of the Delphian oracle. Potter, Archaeol. Grate, Tom. I. p. 430.

SCILLONEORTE, rx ( xWED f 1„, in antiquity, the feftival 01 i .a onions. It was obferved in Sicily. The chief part of it was a combat, wherein youths beat one another with fea onions. He that obtained the victory was rewarded, by the gymnafiarch, with a bull. Potter, Archaeol. Grate. Tom. I. P-43 r -

SCIMPODIUM, Yxw-Kotw, among the antients, a fmall couch or bed, on which one perfon only could reft at a time. It was on the fcimpodium that the Romans ufed to lay them- felves, when weary or indifpofed.

The fchnpodium was fometimes ufed infteacl of the Utl'ica, to cany both men and women, not only through the city, but likewife in journeys into the cquntry. Pitifc. in voc. See Lectica.

SCINCUS, the fkink, m zoology, the name of a (peek's of lizard, called alio by fome the land crocodile, crocodile Ur- rejlrh, and well known in the druggifts ihops as an ingre- dient in feveral compofitions.

It refembles the fmaller fort of lizards, being ufually about fix inches long, and its ufua] thicknefs is that of a man's thumb. It is of a filvcry greyifh colour, fcaly, and has a rounded tail; its head is of an oblong figure; its nofe fharp ; and its feet, as it were, alated, having five toes each, armed with very fharp claws. It is very common in Egypt and Arabia. lf%rm. Muf. p. 86.

The dried flefh of the fcincus is greatly commended, as pof- feffing all the virtues of that of vipers, but in a more exalted degree. It is faid to do wonders as a rcftorative, and pro- vocative to venery. For this laflr purpofe the bellv is pre- ferred to any other part of it ; but there appears no reafon for this in the dried animal. The people of Egypt cut the flefh to pieces, and boil it down to a ftrong broth or jelly j in which form it may do fome fervice, though it fails with us. The only ufe made of it at prcfent in the fhops, is as an ingredient in fome of the old compofitions.

SCINDALMOS, a word ufed by the antients to exprefs a nAure of the cranium, or of any other part.

SCINTILLA veneris, a term ufed by Paracelfus to exprefs a refolution of the limbs, or deprivation of motion from a ve- nereal caufe.

SCIOGRAPHY, the art of fhadows, or dialing. Aifo in architecture, it is fometimes ufed to denote the draught of a building, cut in its length or breadth, to ftiew the infide of it; aj alfo the thicknefs of the walls, vaults, floors, timber works, &c.

SCIOMANTIA, s:«of*a^ia, in antiquity, a kind of divina- tion, by raifmg the dead, who were faid to appear in airy forms like fhades. Potter, Archatol. Grate. Tom. I. p. 350.

SCIOPODjE, in hiftory, the name given by Pliny, and other of the old writers, to a nation of people which they place in /Ethiopia, on the burning fands ; and who they fay, when too hot, lie down upon their bellies, and fhadow themfelves from the fun by lifting up their feet, which arc very^ large and broad, againft it. Thefe are fome of the gentei mirabms figures of Pliny, and are worthy to ftand among the mono- coli, and other fuch monfters.

SCIRA, £x£tf«, a feftival among the Athenians, otherwife called fcirrophoria. See the article Scirrophoria.

SCIRONA, a word ufed by fome of the antients to exprefs the autumnal dews.

SCIRPUS, the ruJJj, in the Linuatan fyftem of botany, makes a diftindt genus of plants, the characters of which are ; that the cup is an imbricated fpike, made up of oval and bent fcales, parting the feveral flowers. The flowers have no petals. The ftamina arc three long filaments ; and the an- thers are oblong. The germen of the piftil is extremely fmall. The ftyle is long and thread like. The ftigmata are three in number, and extremely flender. The feed is fingle, three cornered, pointed, and is covered with hairs, 2 A a a which