Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/289

* SLOW-MATCH. 2.i3 SMALL ABMS. Slow-match was formerly used by artillerists to ignite the fuming powder of guns and for the explosion of blasts and mines. For the latter purjiose various improved fuzes or electric de- vices (see Blasting) have taken its place. For igniting fireworks quick-match, which burns more rapidly, is used. See Pyrotechny. SLOWWORM (AS. slCiic-yrm, slawerm, slow- worm, from slCait, Goth., OHG. slahan, Ger. schlagen, to strike + ioi/rin, iverm, worm; in- fluenced by popular etymology with Eng. alow). A burrowing, elongated lizard of the family Anguidif. (See Blindworm.) One species {Ophi- saurus ventnilis) occurs in the United States soutii of the Ohio River, and is sometimes called 'joint-snake,' because, on account of a loose articulation of the vertebra", the tail easily sepa- rates from the body. When the tail is cast oli' a new one soon regenerates. Compare Blind- worm. SLUBBER. See Spinning. SLUG (from ME. sluggen, Norw., Swed. sloka, to go draggingly, to droop, Icel. slokr, slouching fellow). A terrestrial pulmonate gastropod, or snail, in which the shell is represented by an in- ternal horny plate overlying the respiratory cav- ity. The slugs are chiefly of two families, Lima- cidse and Arionidse, and most commonly are of the genus Limax. They are vegetable eaters, and often ascend trees in search of food, and then let themselves down by means of a mucous thread spun from a gland opening on the anterior edge of the foot. In Europe they ravage garden and field crops in moist weather; they do little dam- age in the United States. Their general economy is that of the snails (q.v.). The great gray slug, sometimes four inches long, is a European species which has been introduced into and become com- mon in Eastern North America. A native Ameri- can species, very common in the United States, is Lima cainpestris, a small species less than an inch long. SLUTER, sHi'ter, Clal'X (?-c.1405). The principal Dutch sculptor of the later Middle Ages. The earliest record of his life is that in 1389 he became statuary in ordinary at Dijon, to Philip the Bold of Bungundy, whose service he had entered a few years before. In charge of the sculptures for the Carthusian monastery, the Chartreuse de Champmol, which Duke Philip had founded in 1383^ he surpassed in ability all his predecessors and enjoyed a position similar to that of the Pisani in Tuscany, producing works worthy to be ranked with the noblest and most original creations of plastic art in any epoch. In 1398 Sluter. aged and infirm, called to his aid his nephew and pupil. C'laux de Werve, of Hatteni. to wdiom must be attributed a more or less important part in the execution of his uncle's latest productions. The earliest of Sinter's works that still remain on the site of the former Chartreuse, now occupied by a lunatic asylum, are the figures on the portal of the chapel (e. 1390-94). to wit: "Duke Philip in Prayer." "Saint .John," "Duchess Marguerite." and "Saint Catherine." the first and last of which are especially remarkable for the freshness of their realism. Next conies the famous "iloses Fountain" (1395-1404) in the courtyard, a hex- agonal base with the life-size figures of the "Six Prophets," admirable specimens of psychological individualization, polyclironie, according to me- diaeval usage. A reproduction of this work is in the Dijon .Museum which also contains Sinter's masterpiece, the Tomb of Pliilip the Bold ( 1404- 11), in black and white marble, the migbly sar- cophagus surrounded with arcading, tlirough which passes a procession of forty small ala- baster figures of mourners, endowed with great dramatic power and exquisitely finished. The recumbent figure of the Duke is of striking realism. Clau.x de Werne undoubtedly com- pleted this monument. Consult: Liibke. History of l<:culpture (London, 1S7'2) ; Reber. History of Mediwcal Art. (New York, 1887) ; (ion.se, L'art yothique (Paris, 1890); id.. La sculpture fran- [■aise depuis le XlVicme sieele (ib., 1894) ; Rat- cliffe, fichools and Masters of Sculpture (New- York, 1S94). SLUTSK, sliitsk. The capital of a district in the Government of Minsk, Russia, situated 123 miles south of Minsk (Map: Russia, C 4). It has a fifteenth-centuiy church. Population, in 1897, 14,180. Slutsk passed to Lithuania in the thirteenth century and attained great importance as the capital of the Principality of Slutsk. It came into the possession of Russia in 1795. SLY, Christopher. A tinker and bear-keeper who, in the induction to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrea^, is found drunk by a lord, taken to his house and made to believe he is master, while the comedy is performed before him. SMAL'CALD. A town of Prussia. See SCHJIALKALDEN. SMALCALDIC LEAGUE. See Schmal- KALDic League. SMALL ARMS. A military term denoting the firearms carried by the soldier, in contra- distinction to machine guns and artillery. Under this title will be found discussed the history of the development of the modern military rifle, while pistols and revolvers are discussecl under their own heads. Firearms used for purposes of sport ai'e treated under Shotgun. The first hand firearms date from about the fourteenth eentuiy and were in the form of hand cannon or bombardello, which consisted of a small bombard, fired from the shoulder by means of a match applied to a touch-hole. The bombaril was welded on to an iron rod, which was carried suspended from the neck of the soldier. The powder chamber was smaller in its internal diameter than the bore of the gun. but externally larger. These weapons are also known an bastoiis-a-feu (fire-sticks). The hand cnlveriii was a small cannon secured to a stock by iron bands, and had a bore of little more than half an inch, but, nevertheless, it was in general use throughout Europe. The Swiss army at the battle of Morat (1476) included about 6000 culveriners. The hand culverin as fired from a forked rest usually, and required two men to work it. the one aiming and holding the weapon, while the other discharged, loaded, and assisted in carrying it. Further improvements included an enlarged bore, a bent stock, and finally the placing of the touch-hole upon the side. The barrels were octagonal or hexagonal in form. Small cul- verins were used for horseback fighting, and larger ones for the foot soldiery. The first real approach to the modern small arm was the early match-lock, which was the ordinary gun of the