Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/335

 STAR OF BETHLEHEM STATES GENERAL 323 in holes of trees or old buildings, and the eggs are four to six. The best known species is the common starling (S. vulgaris, Linn.), about 8 in. long, black, with purple and greenish re- flections, and spotted with buff ; the female is much less brilliant, and the young males are brownish gray. This bird is found from N. Europe to S. Africa, and in E. Asia, occurring in as large flocks as the allied grakles (quisca- lus) in North America ; in England it often migrates south in October, returning in March ; it is frequently kept in cages; the eggs are blue. The American starling (sturnella magna, Swains.) has been described under MEADOW LARK. In the genus pastor (Temm.) the bill is shorter and more curved ; it contains about a dozen species in the old world. STAR OF BETHLEHEM, a name for the plant ornitJiogalum umbellatum, which is also called " eleven-o'clock-lady " (Fr. dame (Pome heures), its flowers open about 11 o'clock; and as ley close at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, it is in Star of Bethlehem (Ornithogalum umbellalum).
 * >me localities known as " Johnny-go-to-bed."

tt belongs to the lily family, and has a small ralb, from which arise narrow, grass -like ives, with a white line in the middle, and a scape 6 to 8 in. high, bearing a corymb of a few bright white flowers, consisting of six sepals, which are green in the middle on the outside. A native of southern and central Europe, this was formerly a common garden plant, and has escaped and become naturalized in the older states. The genus ornitJiogalum (Gr. 6pvi?, a bird, and yo/la, milk, a whimsical name) includes several larger and more showy species, cultivated as hardy garden bulbs. STARR, a S. county of Texas, bounded S. W. by the Rio Grande, which separates it from Mexico ; area, 2,100 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 4,154, including 18 colored persons and many Mexicans. There is considerable rich land in the valley of the Rio Grande, producing corn, sugar cane, &c. The rest of the county suf- fers from lack of water, and is suitable only for stock raising, which is the principal occu- pation. There are large herds of horses, mules, sheep, and cattle. Capital, Rio Grande City. STARVATION. See ABSTINENCE. STASSFURT, a town of Prussia, in the prov- ince of Saxony, on the Bode, 20 m. S. S. W. of Magdeburg; pop. in 1871, 10,327. It has one of the largest salt mines in the world, dis- covered about 1837, and worked with steam engines since 1856, and extensive manufacto- ries of chemicals. The salt works have been described by Bischof (Halle, 1864), and by Rheinwarth (Dresden, 1871). STATEN ISLAM), an island of New York, con- stituting with several adjacent islets the county of Richmond, 5 m. S. W. of New York city, from which it is separated by New York bay ; length N. E. and S. W. 13m., greatest breadth 8 m. ; area, 58 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 33,029 ; in 1875, 35,241. It is separated from Long Island on the northeast by the Narrows, from New Jersey on the west by Staten Island sound, about m. wide, and from the same state on the north by Newark bay and the Kill Yon Kull, and is bounded S. E. and S. by the lower bay and Raritan bay. It is divided into five towns, viz. : Castleton, Middletown, Northfield, Southfield, and Westfield. New Brighton (pop. 7,495 in 1870), Port Richmond (3,028), and Tot- tenville (1,571) are incorporated villages. The surface is mostly level or gently undulating. A broad range of hills, reaching a maximum height of 310 ft., extends E. and W. across the N. portion. Iron ore is found. The island is the residence of a large number of persons engaged in business in New York, with which city it is connected by steam ferries. The Staten Island railroad extends from Clifton at the N. E. to Tottenville at the S. W. extremity. Fort Tompkins and Fort Wadsworth, with several batteries, command the Narrows. The New York quarantine establishment is situated on artificial islands off the E. shore. Staten Island is the seat of the " Sailors' Snug Harbor," a retreat for superannuated seamen, and of a hospital for seamen and an asylum for desti- tute, sick, and infirm families of seamen, sup- ported by the " Seamen's Fund and Retreat." (See RICHMOND, vol. xiv., p. 319.) STATES GENERAL. I. An assembly of the nation which existed in France previous to the revolution, and consisted of the representa- tives of the clergy, the nobility, and the third estate (tiers etat). Before the reign of Philip the Fair, the people or unprivileged class had no voice in the general administration of the kingdom ; but that monarch, being involved in his great struggle with the papacy, and de- sirous to have the whole nation on his side, determined to convene an assembly in which, in addition to the clergy and nobility, the principal inhabitants of the towns, or bour- geoisie, forming a third estate, should be rep- resented. The mass of the people, how- ever, never had a voice in these assemblies. The three orders forming the states general