SHEEPSHANKS 



SHEFFIELD 



381 



the early part of summer. Where it fixes its head 

 in the skin a round tumour is formed. The body 

 of the insect is compressed and smooth, of a rusty 

 colour, the head and thorax 

 are small, the abdomen is 

 large. The female does not 

 lay eggs, but, like the other 

 Hippoboscidse, hatches the 

 egg and nourishes the larva 

 within her own body, till 

 it passes into the pupa 

 state, when it is deposited, 

 oval-shaped and shining, 

 and fastened to the wool of 

 Sheep-low* (Metophagu, the 8nee P' Sheep-farmers 

 minus ) use various arsenical ana 



a, natural .ize ; b, minified ; carbolic washes or dips for 

 c, the papa, magnified. the destruction of these 

 parasites. The sheep-tick 



is not a tick proper, not being one of the Ixoaidae. 

 See TICKS. 



Sheepshanks, JOHN, a munificent art-patron 

 who left his priceless collection of pictures to the 

 nation, was born at Leeds in 1787, and succeeded 

 on his father's death to the management of an 

 extensive and prosperous cloth manufacture. Re- 

 tiring from business, he devoted himself to collect- 

 ing the works of modern British artist*, especially 

 those of Landseer, Mulready, and Leslie. These 

 in 1856 he presented to the nation ; and his collec- 

 tion of over 230 oil-pictures and some 100 drawings 

 and sketches were sufficient to furnish out three 

 rooms at South Kensington. He died at London, 

 6th October 1863. His brother, the Rev. Richard 

 Sheepshanks (1794-1855), did valuable work as 

 an astronomer, and in helping to restore the British 

 standards of weights and measures, destroyed in 

 1834 by the burning of the Houses of Parliament. 



Sheeptthead (Diplodus probato cephalu*), an 

 American fish of the family Sparida-, allied to the 

 perches. It occurs along tlie east coast from 

 southern Florida to Cape Cod. The name refers 

 to the shape and colour of the head, and to the 

 teeth, which are broad blades in front and grinding 

 molars on the sides of the jaws. The sheepsheads 

 live near the bottom, especially about oyster and 

 mussel beds or about wrecks, feeding on molluscs 

 and barnacles. In the south they often ascend rivers. 

 Except in spring, when they spawn, they live gre- 

 gariously. In size they vary greatly, from 2 to 12 

 pounds weight. They 'afford good sport to anglers. 

 The Scup or Porgie (Stenotomas chrysops) is nearly 

 allied, and not very far removed is the fresh-water 

 Driimfish (Haplotfinotus gruniens), to which the 

 name sheepshead is also applied. 



Sheep-stealing, in England, is a felony, and 

 by statute 24 anil 28 Viet. chap. 96, sect. 11, is punish- 

 able with penal servitude to the extent of fourteen 

 years. In Scotland it is an aggravated species of 

 theft, and under certain old statutes was punishable 

 by death. These statutes have been long ignored, 

 and sheep-stealing, like other thefts, has been 

 punished by imprisonment or penal servitude at 

 the discretion of the judge. And by the Criminal 

 Procedure (Scotland) Act, 1887, a capital sentence 

 is no longer competent in the Scotch courts except 

 on conviction of murder or murderous offences. 



SheerneSS, a strongly fortified seaport and 

 royal dockyard in Kent, on the north-west ex- 

 tremity of the Isle of Sheppey, at the confluence 

 of the Thames and Medway, 11 miles ENE. of 

 Chatham and 52 E. of London by rail. It consists 

 of fourdivUions, Blue-town, Mile-town, Banks-town, 

 and Marina town, and of these the first is within 

 the limit* of the garrison. The dockyard, dating 

 from 1814, is one of the finest in Europe, and covers 

 60 acres, comprising wet and dry docks, immense 



storehouses, and official residences. The harbour 

 is usually crowded with vessels of all descriptions. 

 At Garrison Point are the residence of the port- 

 admiral, the telegraph, coastguard station, and 

 barracks. The chief trade is in supplying the 

 requirements of the employees in the various 

 government establishments and of the shipping, 

 and in the export of oysters from the neighbouring 

 oyster-beds. The neighbourhood was once thought 

 to be very unhealthy, but important sanitary 

 works have been carried out, and there are now 

 few towns the population of which enjoy better 

 health. The sea-bathing is excellent. Pop. ( 1851 ) 

 8549; (1881) 14,286; (1891) 13,841. Sheerness 

 was captured by the Dutch under De Ruyter in 

 1667, and here the mutiny of the Nore (q.v.) broke 

 out in 1798. 



Sheers. The elemental form of a pair of sheers 

 consists in two spars fastened together near the 

 top with a pulley at the point of junction, and 

 held by a rope fastened to any convenient object, 

 in such a position that the weight lifted hangs 



Diagram of Sheers. 



nearly between the spars. This forms an easily 

 improvised crane. An apparatus of this kind of 

 great height and strength is used for masting 

 vessels. In the principal dockyards there are tall 

 permanent sheers, mounted either on the side of a 

 masting-dock or on a floating sheer-hulk, often an 

 old dismasted ship devoted to this use. 



Sheffield, a municipal, parliamentary, and 

 county borough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 

 in a hilly country, at the confluence of the Sheaf 

 with the Don, 46 miles SSW. of York, 18 SW. of 

 Doncaster, 38 S. of Leeds, 41 E. of Manchester, and 

 165 NNW. of London. In 1875 and the succeeding 

 years a street improvement scheme was carried out 

 at a cost of upwards of half a million ; and now 

 the town, generally, is well built. It possesses 

 many fine public buildings, such as the original 

 parish church of St Peter, supposed to have oeen 

 erected in the reign of Henry I. , 240 feet long by 

 130 feet broad ; St Mary's Roman Catholic Church 

 (1850), surmounted by a spire 195 feet high ; the 

 Albert Hall (1873), cutlers' hall, corn exchange; 

 the new market-hall, or Norfolk Market, with a 

 roof of glass and iron, erected in 1851 by the Duke 

 of Norfolk at a cost of about 40,000 ; music-hall, 

 assembly rooms, theatres, &c. The magnificent 

 new municipal buildings, begun in 1891, were 

 opened by the Queen in May 1897. There are 

 extensive botanic gardens and several fine ceme- 

 teries ; many churches ; numerous educational 

 establishments, such as the Free Grammar-school, 



