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frt his Hand ; and the Trial, l£c. ended, he breaks his Staff", and with it, his Commiffion expires.

Zord Steward of the Houjhold, is an Officer to whom the State of the King's Houfe is committed ; to be ruled and guided at his Difcrction. He has Authority over all Officers and Servants of the King's Houfe, except thofe of the Chape), Chamber and Stable ; which are under the Lord Chamberlain, Matter of the Horfe, -and Dean of the Chapel. See Chamberlain, &c.

The Lord Steward, by Virtue of his Office, judges of all Enormities, as Treasons, Murders, Felons, Eioadfneds, $$c. committed in the Court, or within the Verge thereof; which as Ten Miles all around the chief Tunnel of the Court {Lon- don-, only, by Charter, exempted).

The lame Officer miniflers the Oath to the Members of the Houfe of Commons, at the beginning of each Parlia- ment 5 and at the end of the Parliament, adjutts the parlia- mentary Expences.

The Badge of his Commiffion is a white StaSJ which he bears in the King's Prefetice ; but which at other Times is carried by a Footman bare-headed.

Steward of a Ship, is he who receives all the Victuals from the Purfer j and is to fee it well ftowed in the Hold: all Things of that Nature belonging to the Ship's Uie, are in his Cultody : He looks after the Bread, and diftributes out the feveral Me/Ies of Victuals in the Ship. He hath an Ap- partment for himlelf in the Hold, which is called the Steward's Room.

STIGMATA, in Antiquity, certain Marks imprefs'd on the Left Shoulder of the Soldiers, when li i ed.

Stigmata were alfo a kind of Notes or Abbreviations, confining only of Points difpofed various Ways, as in Tri- angles, Squares, Croffes, $£c.

Stigmata, is alfo a Term introduced by the Frmcifc&n$\ to exprefs the Marks or Prints of our Saviour's Wounds, im- prefs'd by him on the Body of their Seraphic Father, St. Fran- cis. See Franciscan..

'T was one Morning, about the Feafl: of the Exaltation, in the Year 1214, that St. France, being at Prayers on Mount Alvernw, whither he had retired to pais the Michaelmas Lent 5 faw a Seraph with Six burning Wings, in other re- fpe&s like a Man ; with his Hanlb and his Feet ftre;ch'd upon a Crofs. With two of the Wings oe covered his Body, two were raifed over his Head, and wit 1 two he ■■-lew fwiftly down. Five Rays proceeded from the ±">v bounds of thePerfon crucified, and were directed to the fame Five Parts of the Body of the Saint

Upon the Virion's disappearing, he faw the Marks of the Nails, SSiG. on his Hands and Feet ; the fame as he had feen them in the Image of the Crucifix. His Hands and Feet were found pierced with Nails in the M:JdIe; the Heads of the Nails were plainlv ieen within theFle'h on one Side, and the Points clench'd on the other. On his right Side, appeared a red Scar, as from a Wound of a Spear, which frequently run with Blood, that flain'd his Grown, 1$g:

The pood Man, we are told, took a World of Pains to hide xhtS.'kwata; but thofe of his Hands and Feet were feen in his Life-time, maugre all his Endeavours, by feveral of the Brotherhood, who affirmed it upon Oath, and by fome Cardinals, fays St. Bonaventure, who arretted the Miracle both by Word and Writing, and exprefs'd it in the Hymns, Anthems, %$c. compofed in Honour of St. Francis.

After his Death, they were feen by Fifty of his Religious, as well as by St. Clara and her Nuns, and an infinite Number of Seculars $ many of whom felt them with their Hands, to be the more certain.

A folcmn Feafl was hereupon appointed to be annually cele- brated, in Memory of the Miracle, called 'The Feafl of the Stigmata of St. Francis ; and a peculiar Mafs or Office com- poftd for the fame.

An Archiconfraternity was erected on the fame Occafion, by Frid.Tiz-zi, a Roman Chirurgeon in the Year 1594,

STIGMATA, in Natural Hiilory, are Points, or Specks ufually feen on the Sides of the Bellies of Infects ; particu- larly theSphondilium, where they are very apparent.

They are nothing but the Extremities of certain Veflels faftcn'd to the Sides in each Knot, and ferving them for Lungs. •

STIBIUM, an ancient Name tor Antimony, how leldom ufed. See Antimony.

STILE and Stilus. See Style.

STILES, in Carpentry, &c. are the Upright Pieces, which go from the bottom 'to the top in any WainTcot.

STILLATITIOUS Oils ; are fiich as are procured by Diftillation, in opposition to thofe got bylnfufion, Expreffion, &c. See Oil and Distillation.

STILLYARD, in Commerce. The Company of the Stillyard was a Community, or Corporation of foreign Merchants, erhiblifh'd at London j thus call'd, from the Place where they had their Refidence, called the Still-yard y near the Bridge, which was affigned them by Aft of Parliament

and which, in fome Records, is called Guilhnlda Tntto- ntCGrtim ; being, as fome write, a broad Place ovTc.rJ. where much Steel had ufed to have been fold.

This Company was created in the Year 11 15, under Henry tH. in favour of the free .Cities of germany^ who had been affiifeant to him in his Wars agairifl France. Sec Com- merce.

It had render'd itfelf Miftrefs of all the Englijfr Manu- factures, particularly thofe of Cloth ; which it was allowed not only to fell throughout the Kingdom, but alfo to tranf- port Abroad. The Prejudice thefe Privileges did, by which; they frequently abufed the Nation, occa/ioncd the Company's being broke, by Sentence of the Judges, under Edward IV. But it redeem'd its Rights, and Iafted to the Year 1552, when it was fuppreis'd by Edward VI. See Hanse.

STIMULATING, a Property in angular or /harp Bodies, whereby they cau/e Vibrations and Inflections of the Fibres- ot the Nerves, and a greater Derivation of nervous Fluid into the Part.afiecled.

Stimulants produce Pain, Heat, Rednefs, &c. They may be reduced to violent penetrating (Depilatories ; gentle Sina- pifms, Veficatories and Caujlicks. See Sinapism, Vesica- tory, £S?c.

STING, an Apparatus in, the Body of certain Infects, in manner of a little Spear 5 ferving them as a Weapon ot Offence. .f "

The Sting of a Bee or Wafp, is a curious Piece of Me- chanifm : It eonfifts of an hollow Tube, at the Root where- of, is a Bag full of /harp, penetrating Juice, which in Stinging, is injecled into the Flefli through the Tube.

Within the Tube, Mr. (Derham has oblervcd, there lie two finall iharp-bearded Spears : In the Sting of a Wafp, he told Eight Beards on the Side of each Spear, fbmewhat like the Eeards of Fifh-hooks.

One of thefe Spears in the Sting or Sheath, lies with its Point a little before the other ; to be ready, as itiou'd feem, to be firft darted into the Flefli : which once fix'd, by means of its foremolt Beard, the other then itrikes in too; and fo they alternately pierce deeper and deeper, their Beards taking more and more hold in the Fle/h ; after which, the Sheath or Sting follows, to convey the Poifon into the Wound 5 which, that it may pierce the better, is drawn into a Point, with a/mall Slit below that Point, for the two Spears to come out at.

By means of thefe Beards it is, that the Animal is forced to leave its Sting behind it, when difturb'd, e'er it can have Time to withdraw the Spears into their Scabbard.

STINK or STENCH, a dilagreeable Smell exhaling from a corrupted or other Body; and which is prejudicial to the Nofe and Brain. See Smell.

A jiiuki:.g Breath, is ufually the Refult either of difeafed Lungs, or of fcorbutick Gums, &c.

h. finking Nofe, fatter $TaHs, is the Refult of a deep Ulcer within the Nofe, whence arife fetid Scabs, &c. Its Cau/e, according to Galen, is a /harp, putrid Humour falling from the Brain, or the 'Prccfjus Mamillaries. .

A finking Nofe is reckoned by the Civilians, one of the legal Caufes of annulling Marriage.

STIPEND, Stipendinm, among the Romans, /ianified the fame with Tribute $ and hence Sfipendiarii were the fame with Tributarii. See Tribute.

STIPULATION, in the Civil Law, the Aa of Stipu- lating ; that is, of treating and concluding of Claufes and. Conditions to be inferred in a Contract. See Treaty and Contract.

Stipulations were anciently performed at "Rome, with abundance of Ceremonies ; the nrff. whereof was, that one Party /liould interrogate, and the other anfwer, to give his Content and oblige him/elf.

By the ancient Roman Law, no Body could Stipulate, but for himfelf; but as the Tabelliones were publick Servants, they were allowed to Stipulate for their Matters ; and the Notaries fucceeding the TabellioneS, have inherited the fame Privilege.

The Word is form'd from the L&tin % Stipula, a Straw 5 becaufe in making a Sale, a Straw was given the Purchafer, in fign of a real Delivery.

Which Cuffom is ftill retain'd in fome Parts of France* particularly at Verdun : The Cuftom always has been on this Occafion, for the two Parties to break a Straw berween them, and each take his Moiety ; which they afterwards join'd again, to recognize their Promife.

The Stipulation had its Origin in the Zex Jqutlia, and another Law of the Emperor Arcadius.

STIRROP, a Reft or Support for the Horfe-man's Foot 5 ferving to keep him firm in his Seat, and enable him to mount. See Saddle.

The great Arr of a Cavalier in a Tournament, was to" make his Anragoniftlofe his Stirrop.

For Combating, 'tis a Rule to have the Right Foot Stirrop fomewhat ihorter than the other. ,

C K k J Matthiohts