M7 



SHROrDS. 



by the ordinary service charge, and be made to bunt at any distance 

 up to 1SOO yard*, the muaket ball* which it contain* being freed, will, 

 spreading out like a fan, and covering (OHM extent of ground, itrike 

 effectively. For at the instant of the explosion they have the velocity 

 ..f the shell, and they will proceed forward, generally in the direc- 

 tion in which the shell was going, for the path of the common centre 

 of gravity after exploeion will (disregarding the greater effect of 

 atmosphere) be the name ai that of the ahell before the exploaion, and 

 the velocity with which the bullet* itrike will be the aanie a* that of 

 -Ml. or at least *ufficient to make them effective. 



The common spherical case wa* attended with many inconveniences, 

 and in the larger description* at ordnance more especially, was very 

 liable to bunt in the gun. Thi* WM supposed to be caused by the 

 hell, which was necenarily thin, not being strong enough to. resist the 

 exploaion of the full service charge ; the charge was therefore reduced, 

 but the experiment, besides not bring always successful, had the dis- 

 advantage of reducing the Telocity o much that the bullets were not 

 effective. Captain Boxer, It. A., ahowed that the cause of the shells 

 bunting was the concussion caused by the different relative motions of 

 the external case and the bullets in the interior, when the former was 

 tint put in motion by the charge a concussion sufficient to ignite the 

 charge of powder. He therefore invented the diaphragm ahell, in 

 which the bunting charge is kept separate from the bullets in a 

 chamber formed by a thin iron diaphragm fixed in the shell when it in 

 osjri 



The form of the shell will be readily understood from the accom- 



Scction of Hoier't Diaphragm Shrapnel Shell. 



A, the face ; B to B, the diaphragm ; c, c, shell ; D, the aperture for inwTting 

 bnlletn, which ia afterwards plugged ; x, the bursting charge inserted at fuze 

 hole. 



panying cut. It baa been found perfectly efficient. The Shrapnel 

 from the Armstrong guns is described under RIFLED ORDNANCE. 



SHKOUDS. [SHIPBUILDING.] 



SHKOVE-TIDE, or SHROVE-TUESDAY (from the Anglo-Saxon 

 tcrifaii, to confess), signifies the time of confessing sins; for which 

 purpose this day was anciently set apart by the church of Rome as a 

 preparation fur the austerities of Lent. This season was likewise 

 called Pattin'j-tide, Fatten*, and Fail-mats, by all of which titles it is 

 yet designated in different parts of the North. 



In the Reformed Church the ancient practice of shriving or con- 

 fessing at Shrove-tide is discontinued. 



After the people had made the confession required at this season by 

 the discipline of the ancient church, they were permitted to indulge in 

 festive amusements, although not allowed to partake of anything 

 beyond the usual substitutes for flesh ; and hence arose the custom 

 yet preserved of eating pancakes and fritters at Shrovetide, which has 

 given this day the vulgar appellation of Pancake Tuesday. The Mon- 

 day preceding was, by the vulgar, called Collop Monday, a name which 

 it even yet retains in some places from the primitive custom of eating 

 eggs on collops or slices of bread, which the less scrupulous and more 

 luxurious moderns have extended to collops of meat. 



On these days of authorised indulgence all kinds of recreations were 

 tolerated, provided a due regard was paid to the abstinence com- 

 ' manded by the Church; and from this origin sprang the Carnival. 

 [CARNIVAL.] 



To the pastimes of this early age are also to be traced the diversions 

 of football, cock-fighting, and cock-throwing, as well as the discon- 

 tinued customs of whipping-tops, roasting of herrings, Jack of Lent, &c., 

 which three last-named sports were evidently niumt as types of the 

 rigour of church discipline. The cock-fightings and cock-tnrowings in 

 England, which have gone into disuse, were once general throughout 

 the kingdom at this season. 



(Brady's darit Calmdaria, vol. i. ; Brand's Popular Antiq., vol. i.) 



SI, in music, the name given by the English, Italians, and French 

 to the seventh of the syllables used in solmisation ; and, by the 

 two last, also to the note, or sound, called B by the Germaus and 

 English. [SomisATio.f.] 



SIALAGOGUES (from <r,'aAo-, "saliva." and LyuyAt, " that which 

 leads or brings"), agents which increase the flow of saliva and other 

 fluids from the parotid and other glands in the vicinity of the mouth. 



SIBYL. MS 



They' operate in different ways, and are distinguished into local or 

 remote. Of the local, some are gaseous, othen are solid ; these last 

 are also termed wuuiifatoria. Of the gaseous, the most familiar is the 

 odour of savoury food, which produces an immediate secretion from 

 the salivary glands, being the primary step in the process of digestion, 

 for the perfect performance of which thorough insalivation of the food 

 is requisite. By the motion of the jaw in the act of mastication a 

 further flow of saliva is occasioned, and this result occurs however 

 i.UBipiil or insoluble the substance may be which is moved about in the 

 mouth. Hence even a pebble will cause it. But if the substance 

 possess an agreeable aroma, or a considerable degree of pungency or 

 acrimony, a greatly augmented secretion is the consequence. In hot 

 climates piquant articles are extensively used to stimulate the languid 

 action of the digestive organs. [AKOMATICS ; FOOD.] In local affections 

 of the mouth, nose, or even head, relief is often obtained by exciting 

 the salivary glands to increased secretion, and this is effected by chewing 

 pcllitory root and other pungent articles, or holding in the mouth an 

 infusion or tincture of these. Remote sialagogues are first received 

 into the system by the stomach or other channels, and then exert a 

 peculiar influence on the salivary glands. Of these the most familiar 

 is mercury. This often proves highly remedial, especially in the fevers 

 of tropical countries, in which the occurrence of salivation is always 

 regarded as a forerunner of recovery. In persons whose systems cannot 

 sustain mercury, or to whom it is objectionable, a deficiency of saliva, a 

 frequent accompaniment of indigestion, is removed by the Virginian 

 snake-root, alone, or in combination with preparations of copper. 



The excessive salivation which results from even a small dose of 

 mercury should cause the utmost caution to be observed in its use ; 

 especially as it is extremely difficult to remove it when once established, 

 or even to mitigate its effects. [MKRCURY.] But solution of chloride 

 of soda or infusion of cloves is useful. 



SIBYL (2//3uAAa) is the name by which several prophetic women 

 were designated, all of whom belong to the mythical ages of .1 

 history. But Pausanias (x., c. 12), who gives an account of the sibyls, 

 applies incorrectly the same name to the female soothsayers of the 

 historical times. (Strabo, xiv., p. 645.) It was believed that the sibyls 

 were maidens who were directly inspired with a knowledge of the 

 future, and of the manner in which evils might be averted, and espe- 

 cially of the manner in which the wrath of the gods might be appeased, 

 and that they communicated their knowledge in inspired verses. 

 (Varro, ' ap Lactant.,' i. ti ; Cic., ' I)e Div.,' i. 2 ; Plat., ' Phaxlr., 1 p. 

 244.) The number of such prophetesses appears to have been very 

 great in ancient times, and we know of Egyptian, Hebrew, Persian, 

 Babylonian, Greek, and Italian sibyls. Varro enumerates ten sibyls, 

 while others only knew four. (.!'! inn., ' Var. Hist.,' xii. 35; ' 

 Suidas, v. 2/01/AAo.) Varro, however, appears in some cases to make 

 two sibyls out of two epithets belonging to the same person, while on 

 the other hand he does not mention the Hebrew sibyl, Sabbe. (Paus., 

 x. 12, 5.) We shall in this article only mention the most celebrated 

 sibyls. 



The most ancient sibyl was Herophile, a daughter of Zeus and Lamia 

 (Paus., x. 12, 1). The Erythraean sibyl was supposed to be a native 

 of Babylonia, but some thought that she was born at Erythrae. She 

 lived before the Trojan war, the cause and issue of which she was 

 believed to have predicted. (Varro; Paus., x, 12, 1.) The Sami.in 

 sibyl was supposed to have been a priestess in the temple of Apollo 

 Smintheus. She spent the greater part of her life in Samos, but. like 

 most other sibyls, she is described as travelling about and communi- 

 cating to men her inspired wisdom. Thus we find her at Claros, Delos, 

 and Delphi. She is said to have died in Troas, where a monument 

 was erected to her in a grove sacred to Apollo Smintheus. (Paus., x. 

 12, 3.) Cuiugc in Ionia was also celebrated for its sibyl ; but the sibyl 

 of CUIIKO in Campania, called Demo, has acquired more celebrity than 

 any other. The ancient legend about her is related by Virgil (' vKn.,' 

 iii. 441, &c.). In the reign of Tarquinius Priscus, or, according to 

 others, in that of Tarquinius Superbus, there appeared before the king 

 a woman, either herself a sibyl or sent by a sibyl, who offered to the 

 king nine books for sale. The king refused to purchase them, \ 

 upon the woman burnt three of the books, and returning, asked for 

 the remaining books the same price as she had asked for tli 

 The king again declined purchasing; but when the woman, after 

 burning three books more, returned and asked for the three remaining 

 the same price which she had before asked for the nine, his ci. 

 was excited, and he purchased the books; whereupon the M 

 woman vanished. These three books were the Sibylline Hooks which 

 play such a prominent part in the history of Rome : they con' 

 the "fata urbis Romas." (Dionys., iv., p. 259; Varro, 'ap Lactant.,' 

 i. 6; Qellius, i. 19 ; Plin., ' Hist. Nat.,' xiii. 27.) Now who this sibyl 

 was, is differently stated. Some of the ancients represent her 

 Erythncan sibyl, others say that ske had come from Cuma; in Ionia, 

 and others that she was the sibyl of the Italian Cmme. -V 

 writers are likewise divided in their opinions. The Sibylline Honks, 

 which were henceforth in the possession of the Roman state, are said 

 to have been written on palm-leaves, partly in verse and partly in 

 symbolical hieroglyphics. The public were never allowed to ii 

 them, but they were kept in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, WBM 

 they were preserved in a stone chest in a subterraneous vault, and 

 under the care of especial officers (duumviri sacrorum, interpretes, or 



