- : 



STKRF.OTYPINO. 



STIMULANTS. 



in 25 fur object* 50 feet or more distant ; tome hare even recom- 

 mended that the camera should be removed to a distance of 4 feet in 

 order to take views of an object only 20 feet distance. But the effect 

 of such an arrangement u obviously to make one picture represent 

 much more of the right side, the other more of the left side, of an 

 object falling within the field of vision, than could be seen by a person 

 standing, say midway, between the two positions. And the two pic- 

 tures so taken must, when united in the ctereosoope, present an exagge- 

 rated and therefore untrue representation. In fact there will be, what 

 is so commonly seen in the stereoscope, an unnatural appearance of 

 separation between the chief object ami the accessories. You see 

 round the figure in fact, just as in life you see round a statuette or 

 small model ; and hence there arises that detached model-like appear- 

 ance which is often, and very properly, objected to in stereoscopic repre- 

 aentations. What the stereoscope ought to show is, the representation 

 of an object or objects in nearly the same relative solidity, relief, and 

 separation as the reality possesses ; and that is what the stereoscope 

 would exhibit if the stereographs were taken, as they ought to be, and 

 as the most successful (though not the most popular) are taken, from 

 positions little, if at all, exceeding that of the eyes apart The great 

 importance of strict accuracy in views of countries beyond the reach of 

 the ordinary traveller, of antiquities, objects of special scientific and 

 archaeological interest, &c., will be at once acknowledged; and the 

 value of the stereoscope for affording such representations in their 

 greatest attainable perfection is daily becoming more apparent. 

 STEREOTYPING. [PRINTING] 



STERLING, a word applied to all lawful money of Great Britain. 

 In Ruding's work on ' Coinage,' vol. i, p. 13, 4to. edit., the various 

 Hupposed derivations of the word are given. Huding says, ' its origin 

 and derivation are still unsettled ;" but he inclines to attribute it to an 

 abbreviation of Esterlings. people of the north-east of Europe, some of 

 whom were employed in the 12th century in regulating the coinage of 

 England. But, looking at the facts that sterling meant a penny, not a 

 species of coinage ; that it was used in Germany, and in Scotland 

 before Eastern coiners were employed in England; that it is spelt 

 tlarliny by some, as by Spelman, and etUllin by some of the French 

 writers, we reject the derivation above, and agree with Polydore 

 Vergil and Bishop Nicolson in deriving the name from the tittle itart, 

 which were very common on the penny coins. (See the Companion 

 to the Almanac for 1856.) 



STERLING'S RULES (or Simpson's Rules). Useful formula; used 

 principally in estimating the " displacement " of a ship when afloat. 

 They are derived from the equation to the parabola, and have been 

 already noticed under Sun 1 . 

 STERN. [Sim-.] 

 STKKNUTORIE8, called also Ptarmica, agents which cause sneezing. 

 The most familiar are snuffs of different kinds, many of which cause 

 likewise a flow of the natural secretion from the nose, when they are 

 termed errhines. [ERRHINKS.] Sternutories are chiefly employed to 

 occasion a violent succussion of the frame, either to restore suspended 

 respiration, as in some cases of fainting, or to dislodge some foreign 

 body from the nasal passage or windpipe, or more rarely to cause the 

 bursting of abscesses in the tonsils. They are also used to avert 

 impending fits of hysteria or epilepsy, or to terminate prolonged hiccup. 

 Their use requires caution iu individuals disposed to apoplexy or 

 affected with rupture. They are generally improper for pregnant 

 women and young children. They occasionally excite too violent and 

 continued sneezing, which may be controlled by creosote ; breathing 

 diluted carbonic acid ; putting a sinapism round the throat ; or 

 inhaling chloroform. 



STKTHOSCOPE. [AUSCULTATION.] 

 STEWARD, LORD HIGH, OF ENGLAND; one of the ancient 

 great officers of state. Under the Norman kings and the early kings 

 of the Plantagenet line it seems to have been an hereditary office 

 Hugh Grentmesnil held the office in the reign of Henry II., and it 

 passed with his daughter and co-heir in marriage to Robert de Bello 

 mont, who was Earl of Leicester. Robert's son held it, on whose death 

 without issue it passed to the husband of his sister, the elder Simon 

 de Montfort, who had also the dignity of Earl of Leicester. From him 

 it passed to his son, the second Simon de Montfort, who was slain ai 

 the battle of Evesham in 1265. This high dignity then reverted to 

 the crown, but was immediately granted to Edmund, king Henry th 

 Third's younger son, together with Montfort's earldom of Leicester, it 

 whose descendants, the earls of Lancaster and Leicester, it continued, 

 and in the person of Henry the Fourth, who was duke of Lancaster 

 was absorbed into the regal dignity. 



From this time no person has been invented with this high dignity 

 as an heritable possession, or even for his own life, or (/iiamfliii K bene 

 geacrit ; but only for some special occasion, the office to cease when 

 the business which required it was ended ; and this occasion has usuall 

 been when a person was to be tried before the House of Peers 

 Before this court a peer may be impeached for treason, felony, mis 

 prision of treason, and misprision of felony ; but a commoner only for 

 high misdemeanors, and not for any capital offence. The lords ore 

 summoned to appear, and the decision is by a majority, but no con 

 viction can take place unless the majority consist of twelve or more 

 The spiritual lords may be present at the trial, but cannot vote. On 

 such occasions there is a lord high steward created, who presides, anc 



when the proceedings are doted, breaks his wand, and dissolves the 

 court; but if the trial take place during the session of jarliam.-nt, 

 hough a lord steward is apjwinted, it in not considered on his court, he 

 laving none of the functions of thu judge, only voting with the rest as 

 peer, although he presides. 

 STIHDIAM YL. [OnoANOMETALLlo BODIES.] 



STIIM-TH Yl.. [Hi;.. \NOJIETALLIC BOI)I 



STIHMKTII V I.. (OINIAXOMETALUO BODIES.] 



STIBTKIAMYL. [OIUIASOMKTAI.LIC BODIES.] 



s'l'Il.r.KXE. (C,,?!,,) A crystalline hydrocarbon produced by the 

 listillation of the hydride of sulphobenzoyl. Thinnaiale (C,,H 1 ,S,), 

 another white crystalline body, is also produced at the same time. 



STII.HKSOfS ACID. A product not fully investigated, obtained 

 >y the action of chlorine upon essence of bitter almonds. 



STILBIC ACID. [STILBYL.] 



STILBYL. (C^K,^.). The hypothetical radical of a small group 

 of organic compounds of which the following are the name 

 brmula) : 



Ben/Gin or hydride of stilbyl 



Bcnrllo 



Bcnzilic acid, ttilbylic acid, or stilbic acid 



Chloride of itllbyl 



C U ". }0. 



^O. \ 

 Cl } 



STILBYL1C ACID. [STILBYL.] 



STILL. [DISTILLATION.] 



STII.I.ISTKAKIC ACID. A crystalline organic acid obtained by 

 ;he saponification of the vegetable fat expressed from the fruit of the 

 Stillinyia nebiffra. 



STIMULANTS or E.raltiult (in medicine), agents which increase 

 vital action, first in the part to which they are applied, then of the 

 system generally, and perhajw ultimately of some particular organ ; 

 and when this organ is a gland or secreting organ, a renewed or 

 augmented secretion is observed. The nervous system seems to be 

 the part which they chiefly influence, and through it the vascular, 

 and in many cases the muscular. This is well seen in the simple effect 

 following the employment of ammonia in a fainting fit, where the 

 application of the vapour of ammonia, or its carbonate (smelling salts) 

 to the nostrils, stimulates the brain, and so restores the heart's action, 

 by which the circulation is resumed, and all parts dependent on it 

 vivified. Aromatic vinegar, electricity, galvanism, and the sudden 

 application of cold, especially alternated with heat, and chloric ether, 

 have a like effect. 



The agents which constitute this class, though often confounded 

 with others, are perfectly distinct ; differing from all by their sc'ii.-il.lc 

 qualities, their chemical composition, the nature of their physiological 

 effects, and of the therapeutic indications they are calculated to fulfil. 

 They arc often confounded with tonics [ANALKPTICS], antiajvismodies, 

 and even narcotics, to all of which they have relations of affinity, but 

 are not identical with any. In so far as they both act on the nervous 

 system, they have most affinity with antispasmodics [AjrriSFASHODtCs], 

 but differ from them inasmuch as stimulants increase the actions 

 which arc natural to the different organs of the body ; while antispas- 

 modics allay or diminish inordinate or abnormal action. Nearly the 

 same may be said of the distinctions between them and narcotics 

 [NARCOTICS], for though the increased action excited by an agent of 

 this class, if extreme or long continued, is followed by a greater or less 

 degree of collapse, still this is very different from that which follows 

 the employment of a narcotic, which is much greater, as well as more 

 speedy. Certain articles, such as opium and alcohol, may be made to 

 act in either way ; but while opium is not unfrequeutly used to Rtimu- 

 late, alcohol is never used medically as a narcotic, though tin 

 and stupor which ensue from an excessive dose of it are as profound, 

 and often as fatal, as from an overdose of opium. 



Above all, stimulants are most frequently confounded with tonics ; 

 but independently of the consideration that stimulants ojierate 

 directly on the nervous system, while tonics affect the muscular and 

 sanguiferous systems, their operation, as well as the nature of tli.-ir 

 effects, is entirely different. Stimulants render the movements 

 generally more frequent ; tonics render them stronger ; stimulants too 

 freely or too often used, exhaust the excitability; tonics, within a 

 certain limit, maintain it. The action of the one is immediate and 

 transient ; that of the other slow, scarcely perceptible, and progt - 

 but permanent. This is best seen in their effects on tin- stomach. 

 Tonics render the digestion more jjerfect; stimulants quicken it: 

 moreover, most tonics must be themselves digested before the system 

 can benefit by them ; while stimulants display their effects as soon as 

 they touch the lips or reach the stomach. In many I'.-vcrs cinchona 

 bark produces no abatement of the syinj)toms for which it is usually 

 prescribed, as the stomach is too weak to digest it ; but capsicum or 

 cayenne pepper given along with it, so rouses the stomach that the 

 febrifuge power of the bark is then manifested. 



Stimulants are of two classes : one comprising medicinal Mil 

 stances; the other, warmth, cold, electricity, galvanism, and mental 

 agents, such as music (when lively), joy, hope, &c. Many of the latter 

 class have been already treated of [BATIIJM;; IVLKLTKICITY ; QAIc 



