Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/684

* SCALLOP. 616 SCAMMONY. fertilization, nml the shells arc formed when the young is 4S hours old, with the cliaraeteristic stliapf. The scallop spawns when one year old, wlien the average size is about 2Vi inches from the hinge to the ventral margin. It is sup- posed that the scallop docs not live more than two vears, and it is evident that taking scal- lops "less than a year old is most injurious to the industry. Scallops which are marked with the 'line of growth' are those which have spawned. Although the ordinary scallop is re- garded as a delicacy, the great Northern scallop {I'crlcii Itiiiiimxlatus), conimon in retired har- bors on the Labrador coast and in the Ciulf of Saint Lawrence,' is still more delicious eating. Fossil scallops are connnon in the rocks of all formations above the Silurian. For embryology and culture, consult Risser, .ilst Report Commis- siditrr uf liliodc J.ihind Fishcric.f (Providence, HIOl). For fossil species, consult Zittel and Eastman. Textbook of PuUeontology, vol. i. (Lon- don. I!i00). See Colored Plate of Clams and MtSSKI.S. SCALLOP. A device in heraldry. See Es- C.M.Ol'. SCALP (jirobably connected with JIDutch sclieljie. Dutch schclp. OHG. seeliia, dialcctrc Ger. SeJielfe, shell, husk, scale, and ultimately with Eng. shell, .iciile). The term employed to designate the outer covering of the skull. Except in the fact that hair in both sexes grows more luxuriantly on the scalp than elsewhere, the skin of the scalp differs slightly from ordinary skin. Besides the skin, the scalp is composed of the exi)anded tendon of the occipito-frontal mus- cle, and of intermediate cellular tissue and blood- vessels. Injuries to the scalp are to be treated accoriling to the usual antiseptic methods with especial care to drainage, since any extensive sup- purative process beneath the tendon of the oc- cipito-frontalis muscle is likely to cause serious trouble. Extensive injuries with accompanying brain shock of course require absolute rest. Burns of the scalp are very liable to be followed by erysipelas and dilfuse inHammation, but the brain is comparatively seldom aftected in these cases. Tumor of the scalp is not uncommon, the most frccjuent being the cutaneous cyst popularly known as wen (q.v. ), and the vascular tumor. SCALPING. The custom of removing the scalp of a slain enemy, a practice common to all the Indian tribes east of the Rocky Mountains and in the arid Southwest and the region of the upper Columbia, but apparently unknown, unless as an intrusive custom, among the Eskimo, along the Northwest coast, on the Pacific coast west of the Cascade range and the Sierras, excepting with a few California tribes, or in Mexico and southward. It is said to have existed also ainong the ancient Scythians. The reason for scalping seems to be that the scalp was the best possible evidence of the warrior's prowess and the most convenient souvenir for ornamentation and ex- hibition. Men, women, and children alike w-ere scalped, but no scalp was ever knowingly taken from the living enemy. The scalp trophy con- sisted of the skin, with the hair attached, from the erown of the head over a circular diameter of about four inches. With the warriors of the tribes which practiced this custom the hair on this portion of the head was always permitted to grow its full length and was carefully braided and ornamented with beads or other trinkets, it being held a point of honor not to shave the scalplock. The scalp was removed by drawing the knife in a circle around the scalplock and giving a strong pull, sometimes even using the teeth to help the operation. The seal]) was then stretched on a little hoop to drj', after which it was painted on the under side with red paint and mounted at the end of a light rod. to be carried by the women in the svibsequent seal]) dance. It was afterwards kept bv the warrior between the covers of liis shield, to be taken out on ceremonial occasions and fastened at his horse's bridle, or was put with the tribal "medi- einc,' or perhaps sacrificed to the sun by hang- ing it upon a tree or pole in some lonely s])Ot. If opportunity permitted, the remainder of the hair with the skin attached was taken at the same time to be divided into scalplocks for use as fringes upon 'war shirts' or leggings. The custom of scalping was adopted by the whites and extensively practiced, frequently with direct ollicial encouragement, in all the border wars from King Philip's War down to within the last thirty years. The border fighters of a later period invariably scalped their slain In- dians when opportunity permitted, and during the Revolutionary struggle both English and American officers encouraged their Indian allies in the practice by offers of bounties and rewards, even, in some cases, where the scalps taken were those of white people. The Mexican Government formerly employed a company of American scalp- hunters against the Apache at the fixed price of one ounce of gold per scalp. Scalps were taken by troops in the Modoc war in 1873. SCAMAN'DER (Lat., from Gk. XKa/iauSpos, iSkaiiiiiiKlron} . The ancient name of a river in the Trodd, which, according to Homer, was also called Xanthus (Gk.. yellow) by the gods. The Seamander rose in Mount Ida ( q.v. ) . and, flow- ing west and north, discharged itself into the Hellespont, after being joined by the Simois, about two miles from its mouth. Like most other points in Trojan topography, the identity of this river has been disputed. It is now clear that it is the modern Mendereh, though its course has probably changed since ancient times. SCAMAN'DRIUS ( Lat., from Gk. ^Katidvopios, iSIcdnuindrios) . The son of Hector and Andro- mache, called Astyanax (q.v.) by the Trojans. SCAMMONY (OF. scammonee, seamonee, seainnioitic, Fr. scammonee, from Lat. seani- monea, scammonia, from Gk. cKafifiuina, skam- monia, scammony). A gum resin of an ashy gray color, rough externally, and having a resinous, splintering fracture. Few drugs are so imi- formly adulterated as scammony, which when pure contains from 81 to 83 per cent, of resin (which is the active purgative ingredient), (i or 8 of gum, with a little starch, sand, filu-e. and water. The ordinary ajlulterations are chalk, flour, guaiacum, resin, and gum tragacanth. Scammony is an excellent and trustworthy ca- thartic of the drastic kind. The resin of scam- mony, which may be extracted from the crude drug by means of alcohol, possesses the advantage of being always of a nearly uniform strength, and of being almost tasteless. The senmmonti ini.rtKre. composed of four grains of resin of scammony, triturated with two ounces of milk until a uniform emulsion is obtained, forms an