ST A 



STA 



lared basalt, the pillars being generally 

 arched over b}' trap rock which is often 

 prismatised in an irregular manner. 



STA'LACTITE (o-raXafw, to drop). 

 Substances found suspended from the 

 roof of mountain caverns, being formed 

 by the oozing of water charged with cal- 

 careous particles, the former of which 

 evaporates, leaving the latter behind, 

 which hang down in long rods, like 

 icicles. The oriental alabaster appears 

 to be of stalactitic origin. 



STA'LAGMITE {aTaKa-ifxoi, a drop- 

 ping). The crust composed of layers of 

 limestone, which is formed when water 

 holding lime in solution drops on the 

 floor of a cavern : the water evaporates, 

 the lime remains. 



STA'MEN {(TTi]nu>v, the thread of the 

 warp). The male organ of flowering 

 plants, placed immediately inside the 

 petals, and constituting collectively the 

 androceum, or male apparatus of the 

 flower. The stamen consists of the 

 filament, the anther, and the pollen, the 

 first of which is not essential : a stamen 

 may exist without a filament, but it 

 cannot exist without an anther and pol- 

 len. See Adelphia. 



STAMINI'DIA {staminidium, a little 

 stamen). A term applied to small sta- 

 men-like organs occurring in some crypt- 

 ogamous plants. These are the sperma- 

 tocystidia of Hedwig ; they are found in 

 Jungermannia and in some species of 

 mosses, but no analogy of function to 

 that of the stamen in flowering plants 

 must be inferred from the name. 



STANDARD. Vexillum. The upper, 

 erect, and expanded petal of a papiliona- 

 ceous corolla. 



STANDARD STARS. The name 

 given by astronomers to those stars which 

 are best known and best adapted for ac- 

 curate observation. 



STANNOUS OXIDE {stannum, tin). 

 Protoxide of tin. Stannic oxide is the 

 peroxide of the same metal. By stan- 

 nate, is meant a salt of tin or the proto- 

 chloride. 



STAR. A general term for all the 

 heavenly bodies. In Astronomy, how- 

 ever, there are several classes of stars : 

 fixed stars are those which, in the revo- 

 lution o^,JtilS,sphere, seem always to 

 occupy the same fefative position, and 

 to preserve the same distances one from 

 another; erratic stars, or planets, are 

 those which, besides the daily revolution, 

 have a motion peculiar to themselves, 

 which alters their relative distances from 

 314 



the other bodies around them. See 

 Planet and Nebula. 



Binary Stars. By this term are de- 

 noted sidereal systems, composed of two 

 stars revolving about each other in regu- 

 lar orbits ; the individuals are equidistant 

 from the eye ; or, at least, cannot diflTer 

 more in distance than the semi-diameter 

 of the orbit they describe about each 

 other, which is quite insignificant when 

 compared with the immense distance 

 between them and the earth. These 

 must be distinguished from the double 

 stars, already noticed, in which these 

 physically connected stars are con- 

 founded, perhaps, with others only opti- 

 cally double, or casually juxtaposed in 

 the heavens at different distances from 

 the eye. Herschel. 



STARCH. Fecula; amylin. An organ- 

 ized substance separated from the grains, 

 roots, and stems of many plants. It is 

 contained in the cavities of the vege- 

 table cells, in the form of small, white, 

 and brilliant grains, which are not crys- 

 talline, but have a rounded outline with- 

 out any determinate form. Varieties o 

 this substance occur in arrow-root, ami- 

 din, dextrin, &c. 



STATICS ((TTaTjKof, causing to stand). 

 That division of the science of mechanics 

 which relates to the condition of bodies 

 as influenced by forces which are in equi- 

 librium. It thus differs from the other 

 division, or Dynamics, which treats of 

 forces which produce motion. 



1. The general laws of Statics and 

 Dynamics are applicable to fluids ; but, 

 owing to the peculiar difficulty attending 

 the consideration of this class of bodies, 

 they are generally treated separately, that 

 part of the mechanics of fluids which 

 relates to equilibrium being termed hy- 

 drostatics, while that which investigates 

 their motion is termed hydrodynamics. 



2. Statical figure. The figure which 

 results from the equilibrium offerees. 



STATION. A technical term em- 

 ployed in botanical language to denote 

 the peculiar nature of the locality where 

 each species of plants is accustomed to 

 grow, and it has reference to climate, 

 soil, humidity, light, elevation above the 

 sea, and other analogous circumstances. 

 See Habitation. 



STATIONARY. This term is applied 

 by astronomers to the condition of a 

 planet, so far as visible motion is con- 

 cerned. The planets move sometimes 

 from west to east, sometimes from east 

 to west, but much more in the former 



