SM 



SHEKINAH 



SHELL 



138 B.C. The emblems are sacred branches, 

 sheaves, flower*, vases, &c., and the legend (in 

 archaic Hebrew) contains the date, the name nf 

 the Jewish ruler, and the inscriptions 'Shekel of 

 Israel,' 'Jerusalem the Holy,' ' Redemption of 

 Israel.' The latest coins with Hebrew inscription* 

 date from the revolution of Bar-cochba under 

 Hadrian. The value of the silver shekel is 

 reckoned to be something over two shillings. 



Micki nali. See ARK OF THE COVENANT. 



She Iburne, WILLIAM PETTY, EARL OF, son 

 of the first earl, and maternal grandson of the 

 famous Sir William Petty (q.v.),was born in 

 Dublin, 20th May 1737, and, after studying at 

 Oxford and serving in Germany, entered the 

 House of Commons for the pocket- borough of 

 Wyeombe in 1761, but only sat for a few weeks, 

 the death of his father calling him to the House 

 of Lords. When George Grenville succeeded Bute 

 in 1763 Lord Shelburne was placed at the head of 

 the Board of Trade, and when Chatham formed 

 his second administration in 1766 he became one 

 of the Secretaries of State. Upon the fait of I ..ml 

 North's ministry in ;782 George III. sent for Sliel- 

 bnrne, and proposed to him to form a government. 

 He declined, not being the head of a party, and 

 was sent by the king to the Marquis of Rocking- 

 ham with an offer of the Treasury, himself to be 

 one of the Secretaries of State. It soon appeared 

 that Shelburne was not so much the colleague as 

 the rival of Lord Rockingliam, the chosen minister 

 of the court, and the head of a separate party in the 

 cabinet. Upon Rockingham's death in the follow- 

 ing July the king sent at once for Shelburne, and 

 offered him the Treasury, which he accepted with- 

 out consulting his colleagues. Fox thereupon 

 resigned, and Shelburne introduced William Pitt, 

 then only twenty-three, into office as his Chan- 

 cellor of the Exchequer. Shelburne's ministry, on 

 the occasion of the king's announcement of his 

 determination to concede the independence of the 

 American colonies, found itself outvoted by the 

 coalition between Fox and Lord North (February 

 1783). He resigned, and the coalition ministry 

 took his place, but soon broke up. The nation 

 expected that the king on this event would have 

 sent for Shelbnrne, but William Pitt received the 

 splendid prize, anil Shelburne was consoled by 

 being made in 1784 Marquis of Lansdowne (q.v.). 

 The rest of his days he spent in retirement, amus- 

 ing himself by collecting in Lansdowne House a 

 splendid gallery of pictures and a fine library, and 

 with the friendship of Priestley, Jeremy Bentliam, 

 Sir S. Romilly, Mirabeau, Diimont, and others. 

 He died at Bowood Park, Wiltshire, 7th May iso:,. 

 See Lift of Shelburne, by his great-grandson Lord 

 Edmund Fitzmauriee (3 vols. 1875-76), in which he 

 is shown to have l>een an advocate of reform, free 

 trade, and Catholic emancipation. 



Sheldrake ( Tadorna}, a genus of birds of the 

 Duck family Anatidie, having the hind-toe free. The 

 Common Sheldrake (T. cornuta or vnlintni-r) is one 

 of the most remarkable of all the duck trilie for its 

 size and the beauty of its plumage. It is fully 2 

 feet long. The head and neclc are dark glossy green ; 

 below tliis is a collar of white, and Tower still a 

 collar of rich chestnut extending over part of the 

 back ; the rest of the back is white ; the middle of 

 the under-parts is black ; the wing speculum green, 

 the primaries and part of the secondaries black ; 

 tne oil! and frontal knob bright carmine; the legs, 

 feet, and welw llesh pink. The female is rather 

 smaller and duller, and has no frontal knob. The 



sheldrake i- ronli 1 to salt water, and is found ii]mn 



flat shores, links, and sand-bars on various part* of 

 the coasts of the British Isles. It is abundant in 

 Sweden, Denmark, the Baltic, nnd Norway ; it is 



a winter visitor to the Minliterranean, but resident 

 in the Black Sea and the Caspian ; it U found in 

 Asia in salt lakea, and as far an Japan. It breed* 

 in burrows made by rabbits and foxes in sand-dunes 

 ( hence the name Burrow Duck by which it is oom.- 



ti s called ). or it may make its own burrows. In 



some sandy islands off' the coast of Jut hind burrows 

 are made by the inhabitants, who protect the binU 



Common Sheldrake (Tadorna rulpatucr). 



for the sake of their eggs and down. The food 

 consists of small molluscs, sand-hoppers, and sea- 

 weed. The flesh is coarse and unpalatable. The 

 note of the male is a shrill whistle; the female 

 utters a harsh bark. The Rudd^y Sheldrake (T. 

 rui i In or riixiirm) is rare as a British bird, and not 

 common anywhere north of the Alps and Car- 

 pathians. It is not uncommon in Spain and various 

 parts of North Africa. It is more abundant in the 

 Black Sea area, southern Russia, and the elevated 

 parts of Asia as far as China and Japan. In India, 

 where it is known as the Brahminy Duck, it is 

 very common during the cold season. Four other 

 species are found respectively in South Africa, the 

 Malay Archipelago, Australia, and New /ealand. 

 The name is doubtless derived from xhii-hl, from 

 the markings on the plumage. Other names are 

 Skeel-duck, Skeeling-goose, Sly-goose, St George's 

 Duck, and Bargander. 



Shell, a term applied to the hard outer covering 

 or skeleton of many animals, to the internal 

 skeleton of some invertebrates, and to the outer 

 covering of the eggs of various animals. Shells 

 differ so much from one another in structure and 

 chemical composition that a small piece of ten serves 

 to distinguish not only the family or the genus, 

 but even the species to which an animal belongs. 

 In the class Protozoa, which consists of uni- 

 cellular animals usually of microscopic size, the 

 shell is very diversified in form and eom]>osition, 

 being formed of calcium carlxmate, as is typically 

 seen in Foraminifera ; flint, as in manv Heliozoa 

 and Foraminifera ; acanthin. in some Rudiolaria ; 

 and chitin, as in some Foraminifera. In the 

 <',.], ntcrata (Sponges, 

 Corals, &c. ) the shell may 

 be either continuous or 

 more or less interrupted 

 or formed of snicules or 

 granules ; and it may lie ^ <JV 

 composed of salts of cal- " 

 rium and magnesium, 

 flint (silica), or 'horny' 

 or chitinoid material. 

 Among the Echinoder- 

 mata the skin becomes Fig. 1. Shell of Echino- 

 calcified BO aa to form <" minified, 



generally a very complete 



skeleton. The shell of a starfish or of a sea-urchin 

 presents the appearance seen in fig. 1, which shows 



