Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/557

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number of branches, which divaricating more and more, are at length encreafed, or divided into a prodigious number ; and thefe being cylindric in figure, refemble very much the branches of plants.

This general diftin&ion being eftablifhed, the general and particular arrangements are naturally deduced from the fub- ordinate diftinctions : from the moft remarkable differences in each feries of JlelU of every dafs are conftituted the ge- nera; from the lefs remarkable difference among each genus, the fubordinate diftindh'ons, and from the minuter diftinc- tions among thefe, the fpecies are diftinctly feparated from one another. The accurate Linkius has hence eftablifhed a very regular method of thefe animals, calling them by names exprefiive of their differences, as oligaclis, for fuch of the firft general divifion as have lefs than five lobes, or rays, and the like. Several of the fpecies of the fiar-fifo are eatable, and fome of them afford a very good nourishment. Some are prefcribed by phyficians as ingredients in plaifters. The foflile world has been greatly enriched by the fragments and remains of the feveral kinds of ftar-fifli which have been converted into ftone, and have been varioufiy gueffed at in that ftate, as to their origin. The afterias are by many affirmed to be the foflile radii of thejlar-ffo of the decem- pede, or ten-rayed kind ; and others have thought it evident, that fome fpecies of them have been the remains of the com- mon coriaceous kinds. The encrinos, or lilium lapideu?n, feems to be a part of one of the ten-rayed kinds ; and the trochita?, and entrochi, are plainly owing to the fragments of feveral of thefe kinds. Linkius, de Stellis Marin. Stella arborefcens. See Arborescent and Basket-^. Stella Occident, a word ufed by fome of the chemical writers

to exprefs fal armoniac. StelVa feshpendroides, in natural hiftory, a name given by Linkius to a kind of Jlar-fijh with an undivided body, and five rays, refembling the bodies of the fcolopendrae, as thofe of the more ufual kind, called Jlella lumbricalis, do the bo- dies of common earth-worms. See the article Stella marina, fupra. Stella vermiformis, in natural hiftory, a name given by Linkius, and other authors, to a common kind of Jiar-fifl), which has five rays parting from the body, each fomewhat refembling the body of a large worm. See the article Stella marina, fupra. STELLARIA, in botany, a name ufed by fome authors for

the carduus jlellatus, or_/?rtr-thiftle. Ger. Emac. Ind. 2. STELLARIS lapis, a name given by many authors to the va- rious fpecies of ajlroites. See the articles Astroites and Starts*.

The near alliance between this name and the afteria, though they are the names of two foflils of an extremely different kind, has been the occafion of great errors. Authors, not converfant in foflils, have too haftily attributed to one of them the properties of the other.

Cambden tells us, that about Bevor-Caftle there are found ejiroita, which he very well defcribes, as confiding of the reprefentation of feveral Jiars fixed together by a flinty, or other extraneous matter. STELLATE leaf, among botanifts. See Leaf. STELLIO, in zoology, the name by which authors call the fwift, or fpotted lizard. The fpots which diftinguifh this kind are not, however, ftellated, as might be fuppofed from the name, but round % fome (mail, and fcattered irre- gularly all over the body ; and others larger, and difpofed in thirteen zones, or femicircles. The fpots are much more diftindf. and clear on the back than on the belly. It is com- mon in Syria, and fome other places. Stellio adujia, an affected term ufed by fome chemical writers

for cinnabar. STELLITES, in natural hiftory, a name given by fome writers on foflils to a kind of white ftone found on Mount Libanus, and in fome other parts of Syria, containing the lineaments of the ftar-fifh compleat.

The fame ftones frequently contain the lineaments of other fifties, principally of the bones, or fkeletons of them ; and it is very certain, that the real bodies of thefe ftar-fiih.es, and the bones of other fifh, after the flefh and fkin had been corrupted and worn off, have been received into this ftone while yet foft, and afterwards retained in it after its con- cretion : our own coal-flates fnew us innumerable inftances of leaves of plants ; and the black flate of ifleb (hews us, fillies thus preferved. STEM [Cycl)—Falfe Stem, in a fhip, that fixed before the right one. When a (hip's Jlern is too flat, fo that ftie can not keep a wind well, they ufe to put a falfe Jlern above, which makes her rid more way, and bear a better fail. STEMPHYLA, a word ufed by the antients to exprefs the hulks of grapes, or the remains of the preftings of wine, The fame word is'alfo ufed by fome to exprefs the remain- ing mafs of the olives, after the oil is preffed out. STEMPHYLITES, a name given by the antients to a fort

of wine prefled hard from the hulks. STEMPLES, in mining, crofs bars of wood in the fhafts which are funk to mines. In many places the way is to fink a perpendicular hole, or

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fliaftj the fides of which they frrenfcthen from top to bottom with wood-work, to prevent the earth from falling in : the tranfvcrfe pieces of wood, ufed to this purpofe, they Call JiempIeS) and by means of thefe the miners in fome places defcend, without ufing any rope, catching hold of thefe with their hands and feet. Ray's Engl. Words, p. 118. STENO'j duff, a name given from its difcoverer to the fu- perior falival du&. SeeSALiVAL, Cycl. Several anatomifts, particularly Heifter and Palfyn* have difputed whether Stem's duel is pervious in recent fub- jedts, as well as in the fkeleton. Dr. Kulm affirms, he has demonftrated it to feveral to be pervious in deer, bears, wild goats, hares, calves, and in the human fubjedrs ; and mentions the manner of tracing it. See Med. Efl* Edinb. Abridg. Vol. 2. p. 421. STENOMARGA, in natural hiftory, a name ufed by fome authors for a light marly earth, more ufually called agaricus mineralis, and lac luna by the later writers, and terra, or creta Seleneufiaca, by Diofcorides and Galen. Agricola, de re Metal, p. 378. STENTATO, in the Italian mufic, is ufed to fignify that the voice fhould be forced in fome part of a fong, or on fome particular found, to exprefs an extraordinary emotion. STEP {Cycl.) — Step, in a fhip, that piece of timber whereon the mafts or capftans do ftand at bottom, is called the Jlep of the maft or capftan. STEPHANITjE, ETffavflai, in antiquity, art epithet given to games and exercifes, where the prize was only a garland. Potter, Archaelog. Graec. Tom. I. p. 45r. STEPHANOPHORUS, Tr^^tpc^, in antiquity, the chief prieft of Pallas, who prefided over the reft. It was ufual for every God to have a chief prieft ; that of Pallas was the Jlephanophorus, juft mentioned, and that of Hercules was called dadouchus. Potter, Archasol. Grasc. Tom. I. p. 206. See Dadouchus. Stephanophorus was alfo a prieft that aflifted the women in the celebration of the feftival Thefmophoria. Id. Tom. I. p. 403. See Thesmophqria. STEPHENS'j medicine for thejlonc (Cycl,)— Mrs. Stephens hav- ing fold medicines for the ftone in the bladder or kidneys* Dr. Hartley publifhed feveral cafes of their fuccefs; and fo much was faid of them, that the parliament appoint- ed truftees to examine into the truth of what was al- ledgcd in their favour. The report of thefe truftees being favourable, ihe had five thoufand pounds fterling ordered her for publifhing the receipt. Dr. Hartley leaving out the fuper- fluous part of Mrs. Stephens's prefcription, reduces her receipt to a more Ample form ; to wit, to two ounces and an half of foap, and feven fcruples and an half of egg-fhell powder, as the mean dofe of the medicines to be taken. Dr. Hales, after feveral trials on the different ingredients, found that the diffolving power of them lay in the lime, which Dr. Rutty confirmed ; and Dr. Jurin having taken foap-lees, the ingredients of which are pot-afhes and lime, beginning with a few drops, and increafing the quantity till he took an ounce, or an ounce and an half every day, in a proper ve- hicle, was cured of bloody urine, pain, &c. and palled feveral fmall ftones ; after which he had no uneafinefs. STERA, in anatomy, a word ufed by fome of the barbarous writers to exprefs the uterus. It feems to have been only a corruption of the word hyjlera. STERCORARIUS fifth, the duvg-fjh, the name of an Eaft- Indianfifh; fo called, from its frequenting n e cellar y-houfes" which are over the water, and other places, where the like naftinefs is to be found. It is for this reafon fuppofed un- wholefome by fome, but is really a very well-tafted fifh, and eaten by moft people where it is to be had. It is a broad and thin fifh, of about fix or feven inches long, and breadth. Its back is variegated with bluifti,

Rafs Ichthy&gr.

nearly as much. fpots of deep brown 5 its belly Append, p. 2. STERCUMEZEFF, an affedted word ufed by fome of the

chemical writers for litharge. STEREO-Jtatics, is ufed by fome for the Jlatks, or fcience of the equilibrium of folid bodies. Cartel. Math. Univ. p. 79. STERN (Cyt'/.J— Stern-/^/?, aboard a fhip, fome faftenings of ropes, &c. behind the Jlern of a fhip, to which a cable or hawfer may be brought, or fixed, in order to hold her Jlern to a wharf, &c, STERN- pafts, in a fhip, a great timber let into the keel at the Jlern of a fhip, fomewhat Hoping, into which are fattened the after-planks ; and on this poft, by its pintle and gudge- ons, hangs the rudder. STERNA, in zoology, a name by which Turner, and fome others, have called a bird, known among authors by the name of the hirundo marina, or fea-fwallow. It is of the fmaller kind of lari, or gulls, and has a forked tail. It is called the fea-fwallow, from its having very long wings, very fhort legs, and a forked tail, and its being al- moft always on the wing. Its ufual weight is about five ounces. Its body is of a long and (lender fhape, the upper part of its head is black, but it has a white line furrcunding it ; the belly, and under part of the wings, are white, the

breaft