Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/86

 78 SKELTON processes called the greater and lesser troohan- whi.-h art- attached strong muscles, the ..f which is to rotate the thigh, and also to move it outward and inward. Its low- , mity is expanded like that of the hu- aiuf articulate* with the head of the tibia, the principal hone of the leg. The tibia nrticulate.s at its lower extremity with the as- tragalus, the bone occupying the summit of the arch of the fool, and the latter rests upon the calcis or heel bone, into which the tendo Achil- lis, the tendon of the strong extensor muscles of the calf, is inserted. SKELTO., John, an English poet, born prob- ably in Norfolk about 1460, died in Westmin- ster, June 21, 1529. He graduated at Cam- bridge, entered holy orders, was tutor to the duke of York, afterward Henry VIII., became n-i-t.-r of Diss and curate of Trompington in 1504, and was appointed orator regius to Henry VIII. Anthony d Wood deemed him "fitter for the stage than for the pew or pulpit." He concealed the fact of his marriage, and was ac- cused of keeping a concubine, and suspended by the bishop of Norwich. Among his writings are the drama " Magnyfycence," " The Bowge of Cotirte," " Collyn Clout," and a dirge on 44 Phyllyp Sparowe." The best edition of his works is by the Rev. Alexander Dyce, with an account of his life (2 vols., London, 1843). SKERRYYORE. See LIGHTHOUSE, vol. x., p. 460. SKIDD AW, a mountain near the centre of Cumberland, England, 3,022 ft. in height. It lias the lake of Bassenthwaite Water on its west. Though there are some mountains in the same county of greater elevation, Skiddaw is the mosMmposing, as it stands so as to be seen at one view from the base to the summit. SMMMKK (rhynchops, Linn.), a genus of web- footed birds of the gull family, and subfamily rhynchojmncf. The bill is of singular shape, broad at the base, from which it is suddenly >ps nigra). compressed laterally to the end; the upper mandible is considerably the shorter, curving gradually to tho tip, which is pointed and groored underneath ; tho lower mandible is SKIN straight and truncated, more compressed, with a sharp cutting edge received into the groove of the upper ; nostrils basal ; wings very long and narrow, with the first quill the longest ; tail moderate and forked; tarsi longer than middle toe; feet very small, toes short with indented web, hind toe elevated, and claws curved and sharp. Three or four species are described ; they are most abundant in the trop- ics, where they frequent quiet bays and inlets; they feed chiefly at night on fish and crusta- ceans, which they catch as they skim along close to the water, dipping the under mandible beneath the surface and closing the upper sud- denly upon it when prey is encountered ; the flight is swift, graceful, and undulating, and the gait awkward ; they rarely if ever swim or rest upon the water. The best known species is the black skimmer (R. nigra, Linn.), found on the Atlantic and gulf coasts of North Amer- ica from New Jersey to Texas, on the E. coast of South America as far as the tropic of Capri- corn, and, according to Lesson, on the W. coast. The length is about 19 in. and the alar extent 48 in. ; the general color above is deep brownish black ; the front to the eyes, throat,and under parts white ; inner tips of four inner primaries white, and secondaries broadly tipped with the same ; the central tail feathers dark brown, the others mostly white ; the bill carmine for the basal half, thence black to the end, the upper mandible about 3^ in. and the lower 4 ; tarsi and feet red, and iris hazel ; the female is smaller. They are nocturnal, resting by day on the sand bars, in large flocks. The nest is a slight hol- low in the sand, and the eggs are usually three, If by If in., white with large black or dark patches ; the female sits only at night or in wet and cold weather ; the young closely resemble in color the sand upon which the nest is made ; they migrate to the south when the young are able to fly ; their eggs are as good as those of the gulls. This species is sometimes called ra- zor-billed shearwater, and scissors-bill. Other species are found on the W. coast of Africa. SKIN, the external covering of the animal body, protecting the internal parts from exter- nal violence, and adapting itself by its elasticity to the various movements and changes of po- sition ; it also acts as the organ of touch, and as an excretory and absorbing surface. In the human skin, which may be taken as the type of that of the higher animals, the deepest por- tion is the corium, dermis, or cutis vera, as dis- tinguished from the deciduous cuticle which overlies it, described under EPIDERMIS. This true skin is dense and tough, somewhat elastic, composed of fibres interlaced in all directions, in whose interstices are masses of fat; the whole rests upon a layer of subcutaneous area- lar tissue ; within and below it are the sudorip- arous or sweat glands (see PERSPIRATION), the hair follicles (see HAIR), and the sebaceous glands. From its upper surface rise the sensi- tive papilla, which are minute conical eleva- tions, most numerous on the palmar surface of