Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/570

* STAGE. 488 STAHL. and the scene-shifters. The stage manager is responsible for the smooth working of the per- formance. He sees that the stage is properly pre- pared for each act, he 'rings' the curtain up and down, and makes sure that each actor is ready for his cue to come on. Tlie stage manager usu- ally plays a small part that will give him time to attend to his other duties. In large com- panies there is also a stage director, who re- hearses the play, calls extra rehearsals when he thinks they are necessary, and is generally re- sponsible for the artistic part of the performance. Each part is studied by two persons in the com- pany, so that in case of sickness the understudy can step in. Rehearsals made neeessaiy by the substitution of an understudy are conducted by the stage manager, who also has charge of the music, the behavior of the supernumeraries, stage hands, etc. The 'greenroom,' where in the old days the actor could wait while not on the stage, has been sacri- ficed in most modern theatres to the need of room for the elaborate scenery now used. In Europe it is still an institution and in important theatres, such as the Theatre Frangais of Paris, it is a reception room handsomely fitted up, to which the favored patrons of the house are admitted. All important European theatres maintain stock com- panies, the important members of which are State employees. The company as a whole seldom plays outside of the home theatre, but leading actors are allowed to appear elsewhere as 'guests,' when they receive double pay. This visiting system, which is much in vogue in Germany, enables the chief actors to see what is done in rival theatres and provides variety of entertainment. BiBLlOGKAPHT. Pougin. Dictionndire histo- rique et pittoresque du theatre (Paris, 1885), a good account of French theatres and actors; llalone. History of the Stage (London, 1821), an exhaustive account of the English stage to the beginning of the nineteenth century; Lewis, On Actors and the Art of Acting (New York, 1880) ; Dunlop, History of the American Theatre and Anecdotes of the Principal Actors (ib., 1832), the best account of the early American theatres; Hubert, The Stage as a Career (ib., 1900), an account of the actor's life, its requirements, re- wards, and hardships: Blum, Allgemeines Thea- ter-Lexikon (Leipzig, 1842). STAGGEB BUSH. See Andromeda. STAGGERS. Various afTeetions of animals. In horses, mad or sleepy staggers is attributed to inflammation of the brain and is considered fatal. Grass or stomach staggers is said to result from indigestion. In sheep a tapeworm in the brain cavity is held accountable for the phenomenon. STAGHOXIND. See Hound. STAGING. Staging and scaffolding are in- terchangeable terms for the temporary frame- works of timber erected about a building under construction or repair, to furnish platforms for the workmen and for the materials and imple- ments of construction required for immediate use. For exterior work the staging may be built up in one of three ways: by series of movable trestles or 'horses' supporting planks, in suc- cessive tiers or stages: by 'putlogs' projecting horizontally through temporary holes in the ma- sonry, to support the platforms; or by rows of lofty poles or posts standing on or in the ground, to which are nailed, bolted, or lashed with ropes the necessary girts and cross-pieces, with braces to prevent the sidewise racking of the frame. In cities a very hea-y staging is also built of hea^y timbers over the sidewalk for the protection of passers-by. Materials are hoisted bj- derricks, or in France by means of scaffold-towers of poles, often of elaborate construction. For the erection of interior trusses, as in railway sta- tions, stagings on wheels or rollers are often used, being moved from one trviss to the next, as each is completed. Similar stagings are used in decorating and repairing the vaults, domes, or ceilings of lofty interiors. The construction of stagings often calls for a high degree of engi- neering skill. The stagings erected to support the trusses of bridges while building are called falseicork. STAGI'RA or STAGIRUS. An ancient town in southeastern Macedonia, on the Strymonic Gulf, celebrated as the birthplace of Aristotle. It was founded in the seventh century B.C. by a colony from Andros, but declined during the Peloponnesian War. The modern village of Stavro is on its site. STAGIRITE, The. A name frequently given to Aristotle from his birthplace, Stagira. STAGNELItrS, stag-na'le-us, Erik Johan (1793-1823). A Swedish poet born on the island of Onland, and educated at Upsala and Lund. He was deeply interested in Gnosticism and treated all sides of this question in his books. He is considered a master of form. He published the epic poem 'Wladimir den store (1817), the philosophico-religious Liljor i Saran (1821), Martyrene, his best drama (1821), and the trag- edy BarcAan/crna (1822). STAHL, stal, Ern.st (1848—). A German botanist, born near Strassburg, and educated there, at Halle, and at Wiirzburg. He became professor in Strassburg in 1880. and professor and director of the botanical gardens at Jena the following year. He visited Ceylon and Java in the winter of 1889-90. Among his books are Ent- icickelung und Anatomie der LenticeUen (1873), Einfluss des Lichtes auf den Geotropismus ei- niger Pflanzenorgane (1884), Zur Biotogie der Myxomyceten (1884), and Regenfall und Blattgcstalt (1893). STAHL, Friedrich Julius (1802-61). A German politician and political philosopher. He was born in Munich of Jewish parents, turned Protestant in 1819, studied at Wiirzburg, Heidelberg, and Erlangen. and in course of time became professor of law at Erlangen, Wiirzburg, and Berlin. In 1849 he was made a member of the Upper House of the Prussian Legislature, and in 1850 he was a member of the Erfurt Parliament. Stahl was a leader in the Lxitheran Church, and became one of the most powerful influences for reaction in Germany. He stood for an absolute monarch and an absolute Church that should control the monarch. The basis of his political philosophy was the conception of the subserviency of all things lay and clerical to the will of God as expounded by the clergy. His most important work is the Philosophic des Rechts nach geschichtUcher Ansicht{iS30) . Some of his other works are ITcber Kirchenzucht (1845), Das monarchische Primip (1845), Der