Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/493

 SKY

Fijfures of the Skull, cracks in the bone of the Jkull, made by falls, blows, or other injuries. When thefe are attended with no other bad fymptoms but white, yellow, or brown fpots upon the face of the bone, they may be remedied with boring feveral fmall holes through the furface of the Jkull, down to the diploe, and dreffing with balfamic medicines : but where violent fymptoms come on, which demonftrate an extravafation of blood in the cavity of the cranium, the tre- pan is to be ufed without delay.

Deprcjfions of the Skull, a denting in of the bone of the Jkull by a blow, without any manifeft fracture, or, at the utmoft, with fuch a fracture, that from its flexibility it does not ftart out by means of it, but continues to adhere ■firmly to the neighbouring bones, 'Thejhtlls of infants are frequently fubject to this, but in adults this cafe cannot hap- pen ■ for the bones in them are become fo rigid, that it is impoflible to beat in any part of the cranium, without beat- ing the bone to pieces. Thefe injuries of the cranium are called by the furgeons fraflures, and the brain is frequently

" injured by thefe accidents, and its actions difturbed. The firft thing to be done, to give relief in this diforder, is to lift up any part of the bone that is deprefled, or beaten in up-

' on the brain, or to remove any other body by which it is compreffed. Sometimes a fplinter, which is quite feparated from the reft of the bone, is driven into the cavity of the ■cranium, and lies conftantly vellicating the brain and its membranes with its pointed parts ; this is to be removed without delay.

When flight depreffions are made in the jkulls of. infants, without bringing on any bad fymptoms, the forcible methods of raifing the deprefled part are not to be ufed, but medi- cated bags, boiled in fpirit of wine, warm fomentations, and fuch remedies, are to be applied j and laftjy, a platter of me- lilot to cover all. Thefe flight applications frequently cure fuch little depreffions, and prevent the mifchievous confe- quences which might be expected from them. When a very large depreflion, however, happens to infants, the elevation, or reft it ut ion of the parts is to be performed in the following manner. After {having the part, apply a platter made of gummy and very flicking ingredients, and fpread upon very ftrong leather, with a cord fattened to the middle of it : this platter is to be laid on pretty warm, and left in its filiati- on till grown cold ; the hugeon then taking hold of thecordj which is fattened to it, is to pull it directly upwards, and with it the deprefled part of the cranium will often rife, and be reftored to its place. When this method does not fucceed at the firft trial, it is to be repeated ; and when this fails, the application of a cupping-glafs to the deprefled part will - fometimes. fucceed, efpecially if you flop the patient's breath, both at the nofe and mouth, during the operation: but if neither the platter nor cupping prove fuccefsful, it will be necefiary to take in the affiftance of an inftrument. But when the cranium is fo deprefled, whether in adults or infants, as to fuffer a fracture or divifion of its parts, it mutt inftantly be relieved. Some praife very much the ufe of a fternutatory powder on this occaflon, affirming, that the dif- tention of the brain is fo violent in the act of fneezing, that it will reftore the deprefled parts of the bone to their former Situation : but the ill confluences, that may attend this practice, are fo grievous, that it ought wholly to be reject- ed, and the trepan and elevatories always to be ufed. Heifer's Surgery, p. 87.

Wounds of the Skull. In wounds of the cranium, or Jkull, the firft bufinefs is to find whether they are terminated in the external parts of the cranium, or whether they penetrate in- to its cavity. This is to be known by the eye. 2. By the probe, which however mutt be ufed very gently here, for fear of bringing on farther mifchief. 3. By examining the inftrument with which the blow was given, and confidering the degree of force with which it was impelled. And laftly, the prefence, or abfence of violent bad fymptoms. A violent blow upon the head will always be attended with vomitings and vertigoes, and blood will be difcharged by the nofe, ears, and mouth, and the wounded perfon will lofe alfo his fpeech and fenfes. Thefe diforders will appear fometimes fooner, fometimes later, but always are more violent than otherwife, when the wound is made by a fall, or by fome blunt inftru- ment; in which cafes the cranium is ufually much mattered. The blood which difcharges itfelf by the wound, when that is made by a fharp inftrument, will infmuate itfelf between the common integuments and the cranium : in the contufi- ons that are made with blunt inftruments, fometimes it will be concealed under the cranium, and by corrupting -the peri- ofteum and cranium, will bring on ulcers, and caries of the bone, and frequently occafions fevers, convulfions, and death. Heifer's Surgery, p. 82.

SK.Y [Cycl.) — SKY-cokur. To give this colour to glafs, fet in the furnace a pot of pure metal of fritt from rochetta, or barillia, but the rochetta fritt does beft ; as foon as the me- tal is well purified, take for a pot of twenty pound of metal fix ounces of brafs calcined by itfelf, put it by degrees, at two or three times, into the metal, ftirring and mixing it Well every time, and diligently fcumming the metal with a ladle : at the end of two hours the whole will be well mixed,

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and a proof may be taken ; if the colour be found right* let the whole ftand twenty four hours longer in the furnace* and it will then be fit to work, and will prove of a mbft beautiful Jky-colour. Neri's Art of Glafs, p. 40.

SLABBERING-&7, in the manege. See the article MastI- gadour.

SLABS of tin, the lefTer manes, which the workers at the tin- mines caft the metal into : thefe are run into moulds made of ftone. Rafs Englifh Words, p. 124.

SLACK a leg, in the manege, called in French tnottir la jam fa is faid of a horfe when he trips or ftumbles.

Slack the hand, is to flack the bridle, or give a horfe head;

SLACKEN, in metallurgy, a term ufed by the miners to ex- prefs a fpungy and femi vitrified fubftance, which they ufe to mix with the ores of metals, to prevent their fuflon; It is the fcoris or.fcum, feparated from the furface of (he former fufions of metals. To this they frequently add Jime- ftone, and fometimes a kind of coarfe iron-ore, in the run- ning of the poorer gold-ores.

SLATCH, at fea. When a rope or cable hangs flack, fhe feamen call the middle part, which hangs down, theflatcb of the cable, or rope: fo alfo, after long foul weather^ if there come a fmall interval of fair, they Yay, this is a flatch of fair weather.

SLATE (Cyrf.)— The ftrata of this ftone ufually lie very much inclining, and are of a confiderable. extent. At Mullineqke, in Wales, the flat? 'Hesthus, and reaches from near the fur- face to the level of the tide that flows up the river, in the cliffs of which it lies. It may go much deeper, for it has not been examined to the bottom there ; but what is obfervable in this place, is, that there are evident flexures or bendings in feveral parts of the ftrata, and thefe always run from the top downwards ; in the other parts of the fame ftrata there safe feveral perpendicular fiflhres or cracks, but they are fmall like cracks, and always empty.

It appears from this, that at the time when the bed of fats cracked in fome places, it was fo tough, as to abide being bent in others, by which means thefe flexures were formed; Sometimes the beds of fate are cracked at the angles of thefe flexures, the intermediate mafs, though parted from the reft, lying obliquely. It is qbferved thus cracked, alfo, in many parrs of Yorkfhire. Woodward's Cat. of Foffils, Vol. 2 p. 5;

frijh Slate. See Tegula Hybernica.-.

SLAVE. For the cuftom of marking, or ftigrnatizing flaves.j fee Stigmatizing.

SLAUGHTER fC;r/.),— -Slaughter-/'/^, a term ufed. by our curriers and lcather-drefters for the fkins of oxen, or other beafts, when frefh, and covered with the hair: fuch as they receive them from the faugbter-houfes where tha butchers flea the carcafe.

SLEDGE [CycL)— Sledge is a large fmith's hammer, to be ufed with both hands: of this there are two forts," the uphand- fedge, which is ufed by under workmen, when the work is not of the largeft fort ; it is ufed with both the hands -be- fore, and they feldom raife it higher than their head. But the other, which is called the abevt-jiedge, and which is ufed for battering or drawing out the lafgefl work, is held by the handle with both hands, and fwung round over their heads, at their arm's end, to ftfike as hard a blow as they can.

Sledge, among miners. See Digging.

SLEEPERS, in natural hiftory, a name given to fome ani- mals, which Jleep all the winter : fuch are bears, marmotes,' dormice, bats, hedge-hogs, fwaJlows, &c. Thefe do not feed in winter, have no fenfible evacuations, breath little, or not at all, and moft of the Vifcefa ceafe from their functions; Some of thefe creatures feem to be dead, and others to re- turn to a ftate like unto that of the fcetus before birth. In! this condition they continue, till by length of time matu- rating the procefs, or by new heat, the fluids are attenu- ated, the folids ftimulated, and the functions begin where they left off. See Dr. Stevenfon in Med. Eft. Edinb. Vol. 5; Art. 77.

Sleepers, hi the glafs trader are the large iron bars' crofting the fmaller ones, and hindering the paflage of the coals, but leaving room for the afhes. Neri's Art 6f Glafs, Ap- pendix.

Sleepers, in a fhip, timbers lying before and aft in the bot- tom of a fhip, as the rung-heads do : the lowermoft of them is bolted to the rung-heads,' and the uppermoft to the futtocks,- in order to ftrengthen and fatten the futtocks and rungs.

SLICH, in metallurgy, the 01'e of any metal, particularly of gold, when it has been pounded, and prepared for farther working. The manner of preparing, the Jlich at Chremnitz,- in Hungarv, is this : they lay a foundation of wood three yards deepi upon this they place the ore, and over this there are four" and' twenty beams, armed at their bottoms with iron;- thefe, by a continual motion, beat and grind the ore, till they reduce it to powder : during all this operation, the ore is covered with water. There are four wheels ufed to move thefe beams, each wheel moving fix; and the water, as it runs off", carrying fome of the metalline particles with it, is received into feveral bafons, one placed behind another ;

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