734 



STITCH 



STOCK-EXCHANGE 



Lowlands, i- bounded by Perth, Clackmannan, 

 Linlithgow, Lanark, ami Ihiinbarton slmev With 

 a maxiiuum length and breadth of 4ii and 22 miles, 

 it Inn* an area of 467 so,, in., or 298,579 acres, of 

 which 3294 are foreshore and 8946 \\.-ii.-r. The 

 Forth traces iniirli of tin- northern and all the 

 north-eastern lioundary ; on the western lies Loch 

 I..iiii.in,l ; and other lakes and streams belonging 

 parily or wholly to Stirlingshire are Lochs Katrine 

 and Arklet, and the Avon, Carron, Bannock, 

 Endrick, and Blane. Ben Ix>mond, in the north- 

 west, attains 3192 feet ; and lesser elevations are 

 the Gargmmock Hills (1591 feet), Kilsyth Hills 

 (1393), Campsie Fells (1894), and Fintry Hills 

 (1676). A considerable part of Stirlingshire is 

 occupied by the carees of Stirling and Falkirk, 

 which were formerly covered for the most part 

 with unproductive moss. On the removal of the 

 moss-soil, part of which was floated off into the 

 Forth by the agency of running water, a rich clay 

 soil, of various depths, from a plough furrow to 20 

 or even 30 feet, was reached, and now is cultivated 

 with the most marked success. About 40 per cent. 

 of the whole area of the county is in cultivation ; 

 woods cover 14,241 acres. Coal and ironstone are 

 largely mined ; and there are the great ironworks 

 of Carron and Falkirk, besides manufactures of 

 woollens, cotton, chemicals, &c. The chief towns 

 are Stirling, Falkirk, Kilsyth, Denny, and Grange- 

 mouth. The county returns one meml>er to parlia- 

 ment. Pop. ( 1801 ) 50,825 ; ( 1841 ) 82,057 ; ( 1881 ) 

 112,443; (1891) 125,608. Antoninus' Wall is the 

 principal antiquity ; and no fewer than six battles 

 have been fought within Stirlingshire Stirling 

 Bridge, 1297 ; Falkirk, 1298 ; Bannockbum, 1314 ; 

 Sauchieburn, 1488 ; Kilsyth, 1645 ; and Falkirk, 

 1746. 



See the articles on the above battles, towns, kc. ; and 

 Nimnio's Hittory of Stirlingshire (1777 ; 3d ed. 1880). 



Stitch in the side is the popular and expressive 

 iime applied to sharp pains felt in various parts 

 of the side. It seems that these may be due to 



various causes ; thus, they may be associated with 

 pleurisy where there is no effusion, or with a 

 stretching of the not uncommon adhesions between 

 two pleural surfaces, or simply with local spasms 

 of the respiratory muscles, as when a person takes 

 violent exercise after a full meal, or perhaps even 

 with a slight twisting of part of the intestine. 

 When the stitch is but slight it is often removed 

 )>> stooping, hence the popular remedy is to make 

 a cross upon the foot. 



Stitchwort. See STARWORT. 



Stiver (Dutch stuiver), a coin of Holland, 

 equivalent to a penny sterling, being the Vo 1 ' 1 f 

 a guilder or gulden. See FLORIN. 



Stoat. See ERMINK. 



Klohii-ns. JOANNES, a native of Stobi in 

 Macedonia, who compiled for his son Septimus, 

 ulioiii 500 A.I)., tin anthology in four books from 

 as many as 500 Greek poets and prose-writers. 

 It has preserved for HH fragments from many works 

 now lost, and is especially rich in quotations from 

 the Greek dramatists. Originally forming one 

 whole, the work in course of time i>ecarne divided 

 into two divisions, each of two Imoks : Ecloga: 

 J'/n/sicif et Ethicte (ed. Gaisford, 1850; Meineke, 

 Isi.u i;i ,. and Anthologion or Florilegium (Wachs- 

 tnnth, 1884), containing the precept* on political 

 and ethical subjects (ed. Gaisford, 1822-25; Mein- 

 eke, 1856-67). 



Sio<-k. or STOCK GILLYFLOWER (Matthiola), a 

 genus of plant* of the natural order Cruciferw, 

 having cylindrical or compressed pods, and a stigma 

 consist ing of two upright appressed plates, the outer 

 ide of which often rises into a knob or horn. The 



are herbaceous, annual or perennial, or half- 

 slmililiy, native- of the countries.around the Medi- 

 terranean S-a, most of them thickly rlothrd with 

 white or grayish stellate hairs ; the flowers in 

 racemes, and generally beautiful anil fragrant. 

 Some of tin- *|xvie.s have long lieen much culti- 

 vated, and many line varieties have been pro 

 duced by cultivation. M. im-unii, a very rare and 

 even doubtful native of England, is probably the 

 parent of the greater number of the cultivated 

 kinds with hoary leaves, known as Brompton 

 Stock, &c. ; whilst those with smooth leaves, 

 called Ten-week Stock, German Stock, &c., are 

 referred to M. annua, M. glabra, and 3f. fenes- 

 tnil is, wliich, perhaps, are mere varieties of one 

 species. The sandy shores of Wales and of Corn- 

 wall produce a species, M. sinnaUt, the large purple 

 Mowers of which are fragrant only at night a 

 characteristic also of several other species. Stocks 

 are always raised by gardeners from seed, which 

 even the double kinds often produce, a multiplica- 

 tion of the petals having taken place without loss 



of the parta of fructification. Of tin- s I lings, 



however, some produce double and others single 

 flowers, so that only some gratify the cultivator. 

 The hoary-leaved stocks are generally treated as 

 biennials, although, in reality, they may almost be 

 reckoned perennial ; and it is not desirable that 

 they should flower in the first year, as the plants 

 become stronger when they remain without nower- 

 ing till the second year, and produce richer racemes 

 of flowers. The smooth -leaved stocks are treated 

 as annuals. The beautiful little annual called 

 Virginian Stock does not belong to this genus, 

 although it is of the same natural order. Its habit 

 is indeed very different. It is Alalcolmia tntiri- 

 tima, and, notwithstanding its popular name, is a 

 native of the shores of the Mediterranean. It has 

 become one of the most favourite British flowers, 

 almost rivalling mignonette, and is all the more 

 esteemed because it grows well in the little garden- 

 plots which are exposed to the smoke of towns. 



M orkliridirr. a little market-town of Hamp- 

 shire, on the Anton or Test, 8 miles W. bv S. of 

 Andover. Till 1832 it returned two members to 

 parliament ; Steele at one time was its representa- 

 tive. It has a well-known racecourse and training 

 stables. Pop. 873. 



Stock-exchange. The London Stock-ex- 

 change as a corporate body only dates from the 

 commencement of the 19th century. Prior to the 

 establishment of the Stock-exchange in 1801 trans- 

 actions in the funds were conducted in a very slip- 

 shod manner by groups of individuals, who till 

 about 1698 used the old Royal Exchange in London 

 as a meeting-place, and then for a century made 

 one of the network of alleys in Cornhill their head- 

 quarters, congregating in Change Alley l>otli in the 

 open air and in the Jonathan and Garraway cofl'ee 

 houses. Dealings in government funds were al-o 

 conducted in the Rotunda Room in the Bank of 

 England. The founders of the Stock-exchange 

 acquired premises in Capel Court, facing the 

 eastern side of the Bank of England. The original 

 capital subscribed for providing the accommodation 

 was 400 shares of 50 paid. Nothing further was 

 required for upwards of half a century in the way 

 of capital, though very considerable expenditure, 

 especially since 1870, has raised the total outlay 

 for the old building and extensions to over half a 

 million sterling. In the early days of stock -dealing 

 transactions were almost entirely in the different 

 forms of British government funds, lottery bonds, 

 and floating debt ; but Change Alley, just as Capel 

 Court in the 19th century, had wild fits of gambling 

 in company schemes, of which the most memorable, 

 the South 'Sea Scheme (q.v.), culminated in 1720. 



