Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/633

* STEARIC ACID. 539 STEEDMAN. the addition of an excess of water separate into an acid salt which is deposited in silky crystalline plates, and tlic free alkali, or nwre proljably a basic salt, which remains in solution. (.Sec Soap.) The stearates of the alkalies are soluble also in alcohol. Chloride of sodium (common salt) has the property of separating the alkaline stearates from their aqueous solution. Free stearic acid has been found in decom- posing pus and in the caseous deposits of tuljcr- culosis. In adipocere and in faeces stearic acid occurs in the form of its calcium salt ; in blood, chyle, and in serous fluids, in the form of sodium salts. See Candle; Fats; Oils; Soap. STEARIN (from Gk. ariap. stear, tallow), or Tui-Steahin, C3Hi(Ci;H35CO;)3. One of the chief constituents of fats. It is considerably harder than jialmitin (q.v.) and is less soluble than both palniitin and olein, the other char- acteristic constituents of natural fats. It may be obtained in a tolerably pure state from mutton- suet, by repeated crystallization 'from ether. The only wa}- in which it may be obtained chemically pure is by synthesis : first, anhydrous gl^'cerin is heated with an equal weight of stearic acid, the product being a compound called mono- stearin ; the mono-stearin, freed from the excess of glycerin, is then heated with a further excess of stearic acid, and the product, tri-stearin, is carefully freed from the excess of stearic acid. Like palmitin and certain other tri-glycerides, it presents a remarkable peculiarity in melting: it melts first if heated to 55° C; on further heat- ing, however, it resolidifies and then melts again wlicn the temperature of 72° C. is reached. STEARNS, William Augustus (1805-76). An American clergyman and educator, born at Bedford, Jlass. He was educated at Harvard and at Andover, and was ordained in the Con- gregational Church in 1831. In 1854 he became president of Amherst College, his term being marked b}' extensive improvements of the institu- tion and by the establishment of more than fifty scholarships. His publications include Dis- coKises and Addresses (1855), and A Plea for the yiition (1876). STEATITE. See Soapstone. STEB'BING, Thomas Eoscoe Rede (1835—). An English naturalist. He was born in London and was educated at King's College, London, be- coming a fellow of Worcester College in O.xford. In 1858-84 he was engaged in teaching, and there- after devoted himself to literary and scientific pursuits. He made a special study of Crustacea, and besides being a large contributor to various reviews wrote Essays on Darwinism (1871), The 'Naturulist of Cumbrac, a True Story, Being the Life of David Rohertson hy His Friend (1891), and -I History of Crustacea (1893). STECCHETTI, ste-ket't<*, Lorenzo. The pseudnnvm of the Italian poet Olindo Guerrini (q.v.). ■ STED'MAN, Charles (1753-1812). An Eng- lish military historian, born at Philadelphia. He was educated at William and IMary College and studied law. At the outbreak of the Revolution- ary War he adhered to the Crown. He served in the British Army at Lexington and Bunker Hill and the subsequent operations about Boston, later became commissary to the army of Sir William Vol. XVIII.— 35. Howe, and during the latter part of the war was with Cornwallis in the South. In 1783 he settled in England. He publislied a History of the Oriyin, J'luyress, and Termination of the American Mar (1794), which renuxins the best conteniiioniry account of the Revolution from a Britisli stand- point, and is of particular value for its military maps. It called forth from Sir Henry Clinton a reply, Some Obserrations upon Mr. Stedman's Uistory (1794). STEDMAN, Edmund Clarence (1833—). Am American poet, critic, and essayist, born at Hartford, Conn., and educated at Yale. In 1S5'2 he entered journalism as editor of the Norwich (Conn.) Tribune and the following year he be- came editor of the Winsted (Conn.) Herald, where he remained till 1855. He then went to New York and in 1859-61 was on the stall' of the 'Seio Yoric Tribune. At the outbreak of the Civil War he was sent to the front liy the New York ^'orld as war correspondent, and there con- tinued till 1863. In the meantime he studied law and was for a time private secretary to At- torney-General Bates in Washington, D. C. In 1864 he was interested in constructing and financiering the first Pacific railroad. The fol- lowing year he entered Wall Street, New York, as a broker and banker, becoming a member of the Stock Exchange and holding liis seat till 1900. His chief volumes of verse are: Poems, Lyrical and Idyllic (1860) ; Alice of Monmouth, An Idyll of the Great War (1864) ; The Blame- less Prince (1869) ; Uawthorne and Other Poems (1877); Lyrics and Idylls (1879); and Poems Xoiv First Collected (1897). His prose works include The Victorian Poets (1875) and The Poets of America (1885) and The Nature and Elements of Poetry (1892), a work of sound ap- preciation and technical knowledge. These vol- umes of critical Avriting he supplemented by A Victorian Anthology (1895) and An American Anthology (1900). He was also editor, with Ellen M. Hutchinson, of A Library of American Literature (1888-90, 11 vols.), and, with George E. Woodberrv, of the Works of Edgar Allan Poe (1895, 10 vols.). Upon the death of Lowell many accorded to Mr. Stedman the primacy among living American poets and critics. STEED'MAN, Charle.s (1811-90). An American naval officer, born at Charleston, S. C. He was appointed a midshipman in the na^^y in 1828. He distinguished himself in the Mexican War at Vera Cruz and at Tampico. From 1847 to 1855. with slight interruptions, he was at- tached to the United States Naval Observatory at Washington, attaining the rank of commander in the latter year: and in 1859 he commanded the Dolphin in the Paraguay expedition. He was loyal to the Union during the Civil War. He took part in DuPont's attack and capture of Port Royal, and in the capture of the Savannah forts and of Fort McAllister. In October, 1862, he captured the Confederate batteries at the mouth of the Saint John's River, Florida. In 1865 he was placed in command of the Mediter- ranean Squadron, and in 1860 was made a com- modore. He commanded the Boston Navy Yard from 1869 to 1S72. became a rear-admiral in 1871, and was retired in 1873. STEEDMAN. James Barrett (1818-83). An American soldier, born in Northumberland