I 



SHELL. 



HI Kl! IKK. 







and not in the square or Chaldee form, a* it i* called, of the Hebrew. 

 No shekels of this dynasty are known later than the fourth year, 

 aftr which the right of coining silver was suppressed, the Idumean line 

 only issuing small piece* of copper ; but there are later shekels of 

 Barkoxib or Barohochebas, who revolted under Hadrian, of broader and 

 flatter shape, having on one aide the wheaUheaf, or, rather, luUv, 

 composed of palm, olive, and myrtle branches, with the legend 

 "Veil*, Jerusalem, and on the reverse the beautiful gate of the 

 temple, with four Doric column* and a star, allusive to the star of 



Jacob, with the legend "?8TH? % nVtob nflM rOW, thcnat alhat 

 lerfat likraet, " the year one of the redemption of Israel," in a later 

 form of Samaritan : these weigh 218'4 grains. The same Barkozib 

 also recoined Roman denarii, for ra>ut, or quarter shekels, with a 

 bunch of grapes on one side and the legend 11J?CtT, Simeon, and on 

 the other two trumpets crossed, or a lyre with cbct7T"> << minV 

 Itkharut Jihrarl, " the liberty of Israel" 



It is a* well to mention here that. all pretended shekels or half 

 shekel*, with inscriptions in the square characters, are modern forgeries 

 o( the last two centuries, made by Dutch and German Jews for the 

 purpose of deceiving the unwary collectors of ancient coins. According 

 to the Rabbi Raschi the shekel was the same as the Tyrian of 24 obols 

 or main, but St Jerome (in Mica, proph. v. 14) makes the shekel equal 

 to 20 obols, or 4 rabas of 5 obols each : 20 gerahs, the supposed largest 

 bronze coins of the Hebrew series, went to the shekel ; and the gerah 

 itself was subdivided into the khat:< or half, and raba or fourth, both 

 of which expressions are found on the copper coins. There is a sup- 

 posed third of a shekel, but it appears a nominal sum paid for the 

 capitation tax, Nehem. x. 32, after the captivity. There is some diffi- 

 culty in deciding upon what standard the shekel was adopted ; the 

 ancient Egyptian tati or tati, of 140 grs., by no means corresponds, 

 and the Phoenician seems too heavy, although the weight is said 

 to correspond with the tetradrachms of Antiochus VII. stnick in 

 Phipnicia, 



If we assume that the standard was about the same as that of the 

 Roman money, namely, ,th of the weight alloy, the shekel of half an 

 avoirdupois ounce would be equivalent to 210-983 grains of pure silver, 

 or 5^5 of a shilling, that is, to 2. Id. l - 49 farthings. According 

 to this calculation, the following table represents the value of the 

 Hebrew money : 



Gerah . 



Rcba 

 Beka . 

 Shekel 

 Maneh . 

 Klkkar or Talent 



(Hussey, On Ancient Weight! and Money; Winer, Bibluchti Real- 

 vorterbufh, art. 'Sekel;' Calinet's Dictionary; Jahn, Archaol. Jlibl.; 

 Jennings's Jeirith Antiquities ; Cavedoni, Numismata Biblica, 8vo., Mo- 

 dena, 1850 ; De Saulcy, Becherchet ur la Numiomatique Juilaiqui, 4to., 

 Paris, 1854.) 



SHELL, a hollow globe of iron, containing gunpowder, which is 

 introduced at an orifice formed in the ball. In this orifice is driven 

 or screwed the fuse or tube containing the composition by which the 

 powder in the shell is ignited [FUZE] ; and the shell, after being dis- 

 charged from a gun, howitzer, or mortar, is consequently made to 

 burst in pieces when it falls upon or near the object to be destroyed. 

 The diameters of shells for guns vary from 3J inches to 10 inches, and 

 the weight of a 10-inch shell is 70 Ibs. The diameters of shells for 

 mortars and howitzers vary from 4j to 13 inches, and the weight of a 

 13-inch shell is 200 Ibs. The diameters for carronades, which are now 

 never used, varied from 35 inches to 8 inches. [Bonn ; CASE SHOT ; 

 SBRAPXEL-SHELL.] The shells for RIFLED ORDNANCE are described 

 under that head. 



SHELL-LAC. [LAC.] 



SHELLS, Economical met of. Sheik are applied to several useful 

 purpose*, and to still more of an ornamental character. Some of them 

 furnish dyes and pigments. The purpitne contain an intense purple 

 dye, in a few drops of liquid enclosed within a vein or sac in the fish. 

 The mtutJC yields various shades of purple and crimson. The cutllc- 

 Jiik supplies the well-known sepia, of intense blackness. The beautiful 

 substance called mother-of-pearl is described under PEARL FISHERY. 

 The Urge proportion of lime in many shells renders them useful in 

 making cement, and also as a fertiliser in agriculture. Shell-sand, pro- 

 duced by the natural crumbling of shells on the sea-shore, gives 

 moderate fertility to many spot* otherwise barren. Ground cockle and 

 mussel shells are sometimes used as a covering for gravel walks. Cowry 

 hells, inexhaustibly abundant on the shores of Asia and Africa, are 

 used in India for the purpose* of money, at an average value of about 

 200 for an English penny. The same cowries may be converted into a 

 glaze for earthenware, and an enamel for clock- faces. A calcareous 

 spongy plate found in the cuttle-fish is used by workmen as a substitute 

 for emery-paper or sand-paper. The conch shell is in some countries 

 used as a horn or trumpet ; as in the West Indies, where on some 

 plantation* the negroes are summoned to work by a " conch-blow." The 



paliotiituM an iridescent surface which fits it for use as a substitute 

 for raother-of.peail in inlaid work. The Mmet shell supplies pieces 

 large enough for umbrella-handles ; and thinner portions as ornaments 

 for workboxes and other trinkets. Smoked films from oyster-shells 

 are used for large coat-buttons. The clam shells, often of very large 

 sue, are used in Roman Catholic countries as receptacles for holy-water ; 

 while *ome, perfectly white, are cut up for arm-rings and other oma- 

 menU. The fibres with which many kinds of shell-fish attach them- 

 selves to rock*, such as those of the pinna, are fine and strong enough 

 to be worked up in the manner of silk. The chank shells of India are 

 cut up into bangles, armlets, -bracelets, anklets, finger-rings, toe-rings, 

 Ac., sometimes carved and gilt, or otherwise decorated. The fishery of 

 chank shells, off Ceylon, is a very valuable one ; seeing that some of 

 the choice specimens are valued at their weight in gold. [CKYI.ON, in 

 GKOO. Drv.J Shell camtot are noticed under CAJIEO. 



Considered as a working material, all shell is placed in one or other 

 of two categories, porcelanout or naereout. The porcelanous shells 

 contain much lime and little animal matter ; they are brittle, translu- 

 cent, smooth, and not easily cut, and much resemble the enamel of 

 teeth. They can only be worked on the lapidary method, with email 

 grinding wheels. The nacreous shells, partaking of the nature of 

 mother-of-pearl, contain less lime and more animal matter ; they are 

 tougher, softer, and iridescent ; they may be easily sawn, scraped, and 

 filed; and can then be polished with sand or pumice and water. 

 [LAPIDARY WORK.] 



SHERBET, as made in Persia, Turkey, and other eastern countries, 

 is a beverage composed chiefly of water, lemon-juice, and sugar, with 

 the addition of other ingredients to render it more pleasant to the taste ; 

 such as the pulp of fruits, perfumed cakes, amber, rose-water, to. 



SHERIF, an Arabic word which means " noble, illustrious," and a 

 title given throughout Arabia, Egypt, and Barbary, to those who are 

 descended from the Mohammedan prophet. In Turkey they are called 

 amirs, that is, princes, aiid enjoy great privileges, such as not being 

 subject to the payment of taxes; not being obliged to appear before a 

 judge, unless he be one of their class; wearing a green turban and 

 slippers ; occupying a superior place in the mosque, &c. As men and 

 women of this caste often contract marriage with persons who arc not 

 members of the same, and the title of sherif is inherited from either 

 of the parents, the number of persons who enjoy .this distinction lias 

 become very considerable in Turkey, Syria, and" Egypt, where tl.ry 

 may be found employed in the lowest offices. It is one of the privi- 

 leges of Mecca to be governed by a sherif of the posterity of Hasan, 

 sou of AH Ibn Abi Talib, which family enjoys the sole right to the 

 throne. His dominions comprehend, besides the capital, Mecca, 

 Medina, Jambo, Tayif, Sadie, Ghuufude, Hali, and thirteen other 

 smaller districts, all situated in the Hejoz. His principal revenue 

 consists of a tax imposed upon every pilgrim, and the presents made 

 by Mohammedan princes. 



SHERIFF, the Shire-Reve ( scyr-gerefa), from the Saxon word 

 reafan, " to levy, to seize," whence also greve. The German word is 

 graf. The gerefa seems to have been a fiscal officer. In the Saxon 

 period he represented the lord of a district, whether township or 

 hundred, at the folkmote of the county ; and within his district he 

 levied the lord's dues, and performed some of his judicial functions. 

 (Palgrave, ' Rise and Progr.,' i. 82.) He was usually not appointed by 

 the lord, but elected by the freeholders of the district ; and (accom- 

 panied by four of them) was required to be present on its behalf, as 

 well as on the lord's, at the folkmote or county court. In like manner 

 the Saxon prince or king employed in the shires or larger districts hU 

 gerefa or reve, who levied his dues, fines, and amerciaments ; to whom 

 his writs were addressed ; who exercised on his behalf regal rights in 

 the shire, for the preservation of the peace and the punishment of 

 offenders ; presided over the courts-leet or views of frankpledge, and 

 (at least in the absence of the earl in ancient times, and since the 

 Conquest instead of .the earl) presided over the hundred and county 

 courts. It is difficult to determine how far the functions of the 

 sheriff were concurrent with and how far derived from the ealderman 

 or earl of Saxon and Danish times ; and the confusion between these 

 offices has been increased by the translation, in our ancient laws, of 

 the word sheriff in the Latin into rice comrs, and in Norman French 

 into vitconte or ritcount (deputy of the earl) ; whereas certainly many 

 of the sheriff's powers even in Saxon times were derived from the 

 freeholders, or from the crown alone, and the word graf (gerefa) in 

 German was equivalent to our earl That before and for a century 

 after the Conquest the sheriff had powers independent of the earl, 

 is obvious from the fact, that in the circuit (tourn) which he made 

 periodically (Spelman's Gl., ' Vice Comes') of his shire for the adminis- 

 tration of justice (as the Saxon king made a circuit of his realm), he 

 was accompanied not only by the freeholders, but by tho bishop, the 

 earl, and barons, until those noblemen were exempted from the duty 

 by statute 52 Henry III., c. 10, A.D. 1867, 



Sometimes the shrievalty, by grant of the crown, was hereditary ; it 

 was also often held for life, or for many years, and there were some- 

 times more sheriffs than one in a county, the persons choxen .for the 

 office being, according to Spelman, ' totius regni procercs :" but the 

 sherifl' was usually chosen by the freeholders of the shire. The 

 statute 28 Edward I., c. 8, which says that " the king hath granted 

 unto his people that they shall have election of their sheriff in every 



