STUKELEY 



STURGEON 



773 



kings of Hungary were crowned and buried. The 

 town was in the possession of the Turks almost 

 continuously from 1543 to 1688. It is now greatly 

 decayed, but lias celebrated horse-fairs. Pop. 

 (1890) 27,548. 



Stllkeley, WILLIAM, antiquary, was born at 

 Holbeach, Lincolnshire, 7th November 1687, and 

 from the grammar-school there passed in 1703 to 

 Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Having taken 

 his M.B. (1709) and studied at St Thomas' Hos- 

 pital, he practised successively at Boston, London, 

 and Grantham, meanwhile proceeding M.D., and 

 being admitted an F. R. C.P. But in 1729 he took 

 orders, and, after holding two Lincolnshire livings, 

 in 1747 was presented to the rectory of St George 

 the Martyr in Queen Square, London, where he 

 died, 3d March 1765. His twenty works, published 

 between 1720 and 1726, and dealing with Stone- 

 henge, Avebury, and antiquities generally, en- 

 shrine a good deal that is curious, and have pre- 

 served much that might else have perished, out 

 they are marred by a credulity and fancifnlness 

 which won for him the title of the 'Arch-Druid.' 

 See his Family Memoirs, edited for the Surtees 

 Society (3 vols. 1884-87). 



SI iinilNl >. See RUSSIA, p. 36. 



Sturdy, or the GID, affects young sheep, and 

 sometimes young cattle, and is due to the presence 

 within the brain of a Hydatid or bladder-worm, 

 the Coenurus cerebralis, which is the embryonic or 

 cystic stage of the tapeworm the T&nia ccenurus, 

 mostly found in dogs. The bladder or cyst, some- 

 times the size of a hen's egg, consists of an envelop- 

 ing membrane, formed by the membranes of the 

 brain, and contains a water)' fluid. Upon its sur- 

 face the membrane is covered with white dots in 

 groups, ami if these are closely examined with a 

 slightly magnifying glass they will be found 

 to be the heads of the Tsenia in various stages 

 of development. This hydatid, when given to 

 dogs, is known to produce tapeworms, and con- 

 versely itself originates from the ova of the tape- 

 worm ejected on the pastures with the faeces of 

 dogs. In the state of ova, or in some of its earlier 

 minuter transitional forms, the hydatid embryo is 

 picked up along with the grass, passes into the 

 blood, and is thence laid down in the soft loose 

 textures of the brain. It is but rarely seen where 

 no dogs are kept, or perhaps where no foxes abound, 

 and amongst sheep from six to twenty months old. 

 The animal cannot properly seek its food, loses 

 condition, staggers when moved, turns stupidly 

 round almost in one spot, and usually towards the 

 side on which the hydatid lies. The parasite and 

 its sac may generally be removed by placing the 

 sheep, with its feet tied, on a table or bench, 

 searching for the softened portion of the skull, 

 which generally overlies the hydatid, laying back 

 a flap of skin, and introducing the trochar and 

 can n I a, and, when the sac is deep-seated, cautiously 

 withdrawing it with the help of a small syringe. 

 Protected by a leather cap and simple water-dress- 

 ings, the wound may heal and the sheep recover. 



Stare, a noble family of Sweden, which fur- 

 nished three successive regents to that country 

 during the period (1470 to 1520) it was nominally 

 united with Denmark. The first of these was STEN 

 STURE THE ELDER (died 1503), an enlightened 

 and far-seeing statesman, who, relying upon the 

 peasantry, combated the pretensions of both clergy 

 and nobility, successfully withstood the Danes, 

 and encouraged learning by founding the university 

 of Upsala, introducing printing into Sweden, and 

 inviting thither learned men. He was succeeded by 

 his nephew, SVANTE NlLSSON STURE (died 1512), 

 who also fought bravely against the Danes; and 

 the third regent of the family was STEN STURE THE 



YOUNGER (died 1520), who was mortally wounded 

 in battle against the Danes. 



Sturgeon (Acipenser), a genus of Ganoid fishes 

 of the family Acipenseridje, order Chondrostei. The 

 Chondrostei are Ganoids without ganoid scales, the 

 skin being either naked or with bony plates, as 

 in the sturgeon. The skull is cartilaginous, but 

 covered externally with bony plates belonging to 

 the skin. The tail is asymmetrical or heterocercal, 

 and the gelatinous notocliord persists in the centre 

 of the vertebral column throughout life. Spiracles 

 like those of sharks and skates are present in some 

 genera. The distinguishing features of Acipenser 

 are these : the body is long and narrow, and the 

 skin is provided with five longitudinal rows of bony 

 shields, each bearing a projecting keel. One row 

 of these bony plates is along each side of the body, 

 one along the back, and one on each side of the 

 ventral surface. The skin between these rows of 

 plates is naked, but contains minute scales which 

 give it a rough surface. The head projects into a 

 flat, pointed snout, provided with fleshy tentacles 

 or barbels ; and on the under surface of this snout, 

 some distance behind its extremity, is the mouth, 

 which is without teeth, and capable of protrusion. 

 The gill-opening is wide. There are two pairs of 

 fins, the pelvic being situated a long way back, 

 close to the anus. There are two median tins, one 

 dorsal and one ventral, both near the tail. The 

 fin-rays are jointed and flexible. Spiracles are 

 present behind the eyes. The air-bladder com- 

 municates with the gullet. There are many species 

 of sturgeon, all confined to the northern Hemi- 

 sphere. They live in the sea and great lakes, and 

 ascend the great rivers. All are of considerable 

 size, and supply valuable commodities, for which 

 they are regularly captured on a large scale. These 

 commodities are their flesh, which is palatable and 

 wholesome, their roe (Caviare, q.v.), and their air- 

 bladders, from which isinglass is made. The eggs 

 are small and numerous, like those of bony fishes ; 

 there is no copulation, the ova being laid and fertil- 

 ised on the bottom of the upper parts of rivers, like 

 those of the salmon. The food of sturgeons consists 

 of worms, Crustacea, and molluscs, which they seek 

 by routing in the sea-bottom with their snouts. 



The Common Sturgeon (A. stitrio) is the only 

 species which occurs in British seas and rivers. 



Sturgeon (Acipenser stttr/o). 



The specific characters distinguishing the species 

 are minute, consisting in the number of the bony 

 scales, position of the fins, length of the snout, &c. 

 A. sturio is sometimes taken by trawlers at sea, 

 more often in salmon stake-nets, and in estuaries, 

 especially in the Severn. It enters the rivers in the 

 early part of the year for the purpose of breeding. 

 When adult it is from 6 to 10 feet long. It occurs 

 in the Mediterranean, western and northern Europe, 

 and on the Atlantic coast of America, but is absent 

 from the Black Sea and Danube, and from the 

 Caspian Sea. In England, as early as Edward 

 II. 's reign, the sturgeon was a royal fish, belong- 

 ing to the king when captured. The Sterlet (A. 

 ruthenus ) is a much smaller species, which is com- 

 mon in the Black and Caspian Seas, and ascends 

 the Danube as far as Vienna. It is one of the 



