Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/766

* SCORPION. 694 SCOTCH LAW. large insects, which they seize with their claws niid kill by their poisonous sting. They hide by day in crevices, under stones <ir in dark holes, and are largely nocturnal in their habits. They run with great swiftness and with the tail curved over the back. Some species may enter houses and hide in boots, shoes, or garments, and, when disturbed, sting human beings. The sting is very painful, but rarely, if ever, fatal. The poison should 1* pressed" or sucked out of the wound and ammonia should be applied externally and taken internally. Xo scorpions occur in the United States "north of Nebraska, but in the South about 20 species are known. Scorpions are the most primitive of living arachnids, show very close resemblance to the king crab (q.v.), and occur as fossils in the Silurian rocks, but the early forms differ little from modern types. The word 'scorpion' is used in combination in the common names of other closelv related orders such as the false scorpions and whip-scorpions. (See Arachnida.) The false scorpions (order Pseudoscorpiones) are small Arachnida which resemble the true scor- pions, but lack the long jointed tail. The abdo- men is ovate and broader than the cephalothorax, and there is no poison sting. The jaws are fitted for sucking, but the palpi bear large pincers as in the true scorpions. There are two pairs of spiracles and two or four eyes, although some forms are blind. The female lays eggs which she carries attached to the first segment of the abdomen. The false scorpions are swift runners, moving sidewise and backward with eqiuil facility. They feed on mites, psocids, and other minute insects and are found in moss, under the bark of trees, or between the leaves of dusty books. Chelifcr cancroicles is common in store- rooms in old houses. They are often found at- tached to other insects, especially to flies. The whip-scerpions, or 'whiptails' (order Pedipalpi) are arachnids with a long body, segmented thorax, and a long whip-like appendage at the tip of the abdomen. The fore legs have many tarsal joints and are elongated and whip-like. The mandibles are furnished with claws and the palpi are very large and are armed with strong spines. The whip-scorpions are tropical in their distribution. One species (Theh/phoniis ffigrin- teus) is found in the Southern United States, where it is known as the ■nnile-killer.' 'vinaigrier.' or 'vinegarone,' the latter names derived from an acid secretion which has the odor of vinegar, and which is ejected by the creature when dis- turbed or alarmed. Although very dangerous in appearance, it is perfectly harmless to man. It feeds upon insects during its whole life, the adults destroying large grasshoppers and beetles. Consult: Kingsley, l<trind(ird Natural History (Boston, 1.S84) ; C'omstock, Manual for the Htudy of Insects (Ithaca, 189.5); Lankester, "Limulus an Arachnid," in Qunrterly Journal Microscopical -SViVjrcc (London, 1881) ; Laurie (ib., 1890). SCOBPION-FISH, or Scobpene. A fish of the genus Scorpa^na, typical of the Scorpicnidae (q.v.) ; specifically, the common market-fish of southern California (ficorpa-iia r/uttata) . which is about a foot long, and browii, mottled, rosy, olive, and other tints. SCORPION-FLY. Any one of the curious insects belonging to the order Mecoptera, which contains the single family Panorpichr-. Strictly speaking, the term 'scorpion-fly' should be re- stricted to the members of the typical genus Panorpa, which have the terminal segments of the abdomen elongate and very mobile, while the genital organs are curiously enlarged and modified. This tail-like structure is carried in a curved position over the back, somewhat after the manner of the true scorpions. The scorpion- flies have four wings, with many veins, and the head is prolonged to form a deflexed beak which is provided with palpi near the apex. The meta- morphoses are complete. The larva^ are provided with legs and tisually with numerous prolegs like the sawflies. The larvae are carnivorous and live near the surface of the ground. They feed usually upon dead animals, inchiding such soft-bodied insects as caterpillars and grubs. The represen- tatives of the family in the United States are all contained in the genera Panorpa, Bittaeus, and Boreus. The panorpas are very conmion insects in the midsummer in most parts of the L'nited States. Some of them have spotted wings and are seen flying in the bright sunlight in places where tall herbage abounds. The genus Boreus is composed of wingless forms which look some- thing like mintite grasshoppers, and occur in the winter upon snow in the Northern States. SCOB'ZONE'RA (It., black bark). A rather large genus of plants of the natural order Com- posite, natives mostly of Europe and Asia. The common seorzonera or black salsify {ficorzoncra Hispanica), a native of Southern Europe, has long been cultivated for its tapering black escu- lent roots abotit the thickness of a man's finger. The leaves are sometimes tised to feed silkworms. SCOTCH FANCY CANARY. See Canary. SCOTCH LAW. The most ancient records of this body of law indicate that its fundamental principles and institutions are very similar to those of Anglo-Saxon England. At a very early period, however, the jurisprudence of Scotland began to diverge from that of its southern neigh- bor. In England a system of national courts was established as early as the thirteenth century, whose decisions were reported and formed prece- dents for future cases. Not until the middle of the sixteenth century, however, did Scotland se- cure anything in the nature of a complete judicial system. A century earlier, it is true, a. Court of Session had been established, consisting of certain persons named by the King out of the three estates of Parliament, and receiving its name from the fact that it was to hold a certain number of sessions annually at places to be named by the King. It was a court of first in- stance, in the main, and no appeal lay from its decisions. Its ju.dges were so negligent in the performance of their duties, however, that it was abolished in 1.532, and a new Court of Session and College of Justice instituted. Until the middle of the sixteenth century, therefore, there was no opportunity for the development of a national system of Scotch law. Nearly all liti- gation was conducted in local tribunals, of which the most important was the Sheriff's Court (q.v.). In these, local usages and ctistoms were enforced, but a common law of the realm was not and could not be evolved. "A private transcript of Glanvil's Treatise on the Laxcs of England, altered so as to adapt it to the notorious prac-