SCA'GLIOLA, an imitation of

marble*.
[cal operations.
SCAL/PEL, a knife used in surgi-
SCAM'MON Y, a Syriac gum, of a
bitter acrid taste and nauseous
smell.

SCAR'IFY, to make incisions or punctures in the skin.

SEP'TIC, anything that promotes putrefaction.

SEPTUAGINT, a Greek version of the Old Testament, so called because the translation was effected by seventy Jewish interpreters. [or notched like a saw.

SER'RATED, Something jagged SE'RUM, a thin and transparent fluid, which smooths the various joints of the human frame; the watery part of the blood.

SCHEDULE, (Shed-ule) an inventory or statement of effects. SCHIST, rocks having a tendency to split; they are of a slaty or clayey kind. [natory notes. SEQUESTRATION, (L.) taking SCHO'LIAST, a writer of expla- a thing in controversy from both SCINTILLATION, the act of parties, until the right be desparkling. [things superficially. termined. In Scotland the word SCI'OLIST, one who knows is equivalent to bankruptcy.

SCROF'ULA, a disease of the glandular system.

SECRETION, (Ph.) the process by which the various fluids of the body are separated.

SE'PIA, a colour much used in drawing, prepared from a secretion of the cuttle fish.

SER VITOR, a scholar at Oxford who attends on other students for SECUNDUM ART'EM, according his maintenance; at Cambridge to the rules of art; distinguished he is called a sizar. from secundum naturam, which

SE'TON, (An.) an issue pro

is according to the course of na-duced on the body; the skin is

ture.

SED'ATIVES, medicines which diminish animal energy. SEL'ENITE, (Mi.) a foliated or crystalised sulphate of lime, having a silvery lustre.

SEN'ESCHAL, an ancient office of French origin, answering to that of steward or bailiff.

SENSO'RIUM, the seat of sense,

or organ of sensation.

taken up with a needle, and the wound is kept open by a twist of

silk or hair.

SETA'CEOUS, (Bo.) bristly; set with strong hairs.

SHAL'LOT, a species of onion. SHEK'EL, an ancient Jewish coin, or standard weight.

SHERIFF, an officer to whom is intrusted the execution of the laws.

abounds, is dried, and reduced to a powder resembling meal. This powder is placed in a large sieve, and the finer particles passed through with water; it is afterwards made into a paste, dried, and rendered fit for use.

-

* SCAGLIOLA. This composition is prepared from the purest gypsum, which is first broken into small pieces, and after being calcined is reduced to powder or plaster of Paris. It is then passed through a fine sieve, and mixed with Flanders glue, isinglass, &c. In this state it is mixed up with colouring matter of the hue required; and as it is generally employed for the imitation of veined marble, the different shades are mixed up separately. Thus prepared, it is applied to the intended surface. The next operation is smoothing, and giving it a fine polish; a durable lustre may be then obtained equal to that of the finest and most highly polished marble.

* SOAP.-The white or curd soap is made chiefly from tallow and soda, but for some particular purposes from olive oil and soda; yellow soap is composed of tallow, resin, and soda, to which some palm oil is occasionally added; mottled soap is made from tallow, kitchen stuff, and soda; soft soap is generally prepared from fish oil and potash. There is also a brown soap made from palm oil and resin.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION.-Vegetable substances, when imperfectly dried or closely packed together, will sometimes burst into a flame. This has been the case with hay, with foul linen, with old or oily sacks or rags,

STA'DIUM, an ancient measure corresponding to a furlong. Also a race-course, and ground for athletic exercises.

STALACTITES, drippings of water impregnated with lime *. STAN'NARIES, courts of justice in the mining districts of Devon and Cornwall.

slightest motions of the heart and lungs are thus made audible. STIM'ULANT, an excitation to increased action.

STIPENDIARY, one who performs services for a settled compensation.

STRAT'IFICATION, the process by which substances of the earth have been arranged in layers or beds, called strata. Stratified

STATISTICS, a science comprehending every thing connected with the wealth, resources, popu- rocks are supposed to have been lation, condition, and employ-subjected to the influence of water, ments of a country. but unstratified rocks to be more or less volcanic in their origin.

STE ARINE, the solid constituents of oil and tallow.

STENOGRAPHY, short hand, or the art of abbreviated writing.

STEREOTYPE, a solid plate cast from a plaster impression of a page composed of moveable types.

STETH'OSCOPE, a tubular instrument for the discovery of disease in the chest; one end is placed on the patient's breast, and the other to the physician's ear, the

Sruc'co, a plaster, composed of lime, sand, whitening, and pulverized marble.

STYP'TICS, medicines or applications which check bleeding. SUB-ACID, (Ch.) containing acid in a smaller degree.

SUBJA'CENT, lying under.
SUBPOENA, (L.) a writ com-
manding attendance in court.
SUB SILEN'TIO, in silence.
SUBLIMATION, (Ch.) the pro-

and with similar articles. But there have been also several instances of the spontaneous combustion of human bodies. An eminent surgeon states one of a woman named Clues, aged 52, who was much addicted to intoxication. For about a year, scarcely a day had passed in which she did not drink halfa-pint of some strong spirituous liquor. She was confined to her bed by the jaundice, and had a woman to wait upon her, but was often left alone. One morning a smoke was seen issuing from the window, and some neighbours broke into the room. Between the bed and the chimney they found the remains of the unfortunate Clues; one leg and a thigh were still entire, but there remained nothing of the skin, the muscles, or the viscera. The bones of the upper part of the body were entirely calcined, and covered with a whitish efflorescence. The walls of the room and every thing in it were blackened, and there was a very disagreeable odour; but nothing except the body exhibited any strong traces of fire. The cases of this awful termination of existence have been confined to those who have drunk very large quantities of spirituous liquors, and are supposed to have been occasioned by an ignition of the phosphoric acid, which forms a large constituent of the bones, and of many of the secretions of the human body.

* STALACTITES.-These curious petrifactions are generally found in caverns in limestone rocks, and are formed by the action of water. Whenever water filters through such rocks it forms a drop, the moisture of which is soon evaporated, leaving a small circular plate of pure lime, or chalk. Another drop succeeds, and adds, from the same cause, a fresh coat of

solid matter. These successive additions in time form irregular projections from the roof, from which they depend precisely in the same way as do stalactites of ice, or icicles. When the drops of water succeed each other rapidly, some of them fall to the ground, where, by a similar process, they rise upwards, but in less regular forms. When these processes are unin

terrupted, they increase till they unite, and thus form natural pillars, apparently supporting the roof. They also assume a variety of fantastic shapes. -The representation here given is of the Grotto of Antiparos, a small Greek island, where are several of these natural caverns. The roofs, floors, and sides, are entirely covered with incrustations of alabaster, of the most dazzling whiteness, and assuming an almost endless variety of singular

TALC, a semi-transparent mineral, composed of silica, magnesia, and lime; it is sometimes used as a substitute for glass.

TALMUD, the Jewish book of the oral law, of great antiquity, and containing many Jewish traditions*.

TAM'ARIND, a West Indian tree, producing a rich pulpy fruit, growing in pods.

TAN'GENT, a straight line which touches a curve, without passing through it.

TAN'NIN, a bitter astringent principle in oak-bark, galls, and various other substances, used in the tanning of hides.

TARAN TULA, the largest of European spiders, the bite of which was once held to be venomous, and curable only by dancing to music.

TAR'IFF, a list or table of prices, applied to the custom-house and excise duties chargeable upon goods. TAUTOLOGY, the needless repetition of the same words or ideas in speech or writing.

TAX'IDERMY, the art of preparing and preserving specimens of animals.

TEETO'TALISM, total abstinence from intoxicating liquors. † TELEGRAPH, a machine to communicate intelligence between distant places.

TEL'ESCOPE, an instrument through which distant objects are viewed.

TEM'PLE, a place for worshipt. TEN'DONS, (An.) sinews or ligaments, by which the joints are moved.

TERRA'QUEOUS, composed of land and water.

TER TIAN, an ague, of which there are two fits every three days.

TERTIARY, (Geo.) a word which denotes the later formations in the earth's crust.

a

TES'SELATED PAVEMENT, pavement of coloured stones in regular or figured forms.

TESTA CEA, (Zoo.) those animals which have a strong thick shell, as oysters.

forms; sometimes rising in splendid columns to the very roof, sometimes suspended thence in alabaster icicles, and sometimes covering the surface with very picturesque groups.

* TALMUD.-These writings consist of two distinct parts; 1. The Mishna, in which are preserved the oral or traditional laws of the Jews, with definitions and illustrations; and 2. The Gemara, a supplement to the Mishna, composed of legal expositions, casuistical discussions, historical sketches, scientific fragments, legends, anecdotes, moral treatises, wise sayings, and other various productions of the Rabbins, from a very early period down to the close of the fourth century of the Christian era.

TEETOTALISM.-The word "Teetotal" is a provincial expression, and of Lancashire origin. It has the force of a double affirmative. Applied to total abstinence, it means thorough, entire abstinence, in contradistinction to the partial abstinence practised by some persons. The first Teetotal Society was formed at Preston, in Lancashire, in 1833, and Societies to promote the practice have since been formed in almost every part of the kingdom, and every part of the globe.

TEMPLE. In idolatrous nations the places devoted to religious worship are adorned with figures intended as visible representations, or symbols, of those gods, so called, which are the objects of their adoration,