SCLEROT1CA SCOTLAND (HISTORY). 



author adopts the following division: A. The 

 South-Eastern Sclavonic, comprising first, the old 

 Sclavonic, or ecclesiastical language; second, the 

 Russian language and literature; third, the litera- 

 ture and language of the Sclavo-Servians of the 

 Greek church; fourth, the language of the Catholic 

 Scluvo-Servians, with the literature of Ragusa; 

 fifth, the WtMidish language and literatuie; prin- 

 cipal dialect, that of Lower Carniola. B. The 

 North-Western Sclavonic: first, the Bohemians, or 

 t'zeches; second, Slowacs in Hungary; third 

 Toll's; fourth, the Serbians, or Wends, in Lusatia. 



SCLEROTICA, in anatomy; one of the tunics, 

 or coats of the eye. See Eye. 



SCOMBER. See Mackerel. 



SCONE; a village of Scotland, a little above 

 Perth, on the Tay. It was formerly the residence 

 of the Scottish kings, the place of their coronation, 

 and the scene of many historical events. There 

 was formerly an abbey here. The remains of the 

 palace are now incorporated with the mansion of 

 the earl of Mansfield. 



SCORPION (scorpio) a formidable insect, allied 

 to the spider, but differing essentially in form. 

 The body is elongated, and terminates abruptly in 

 a jointed tail, armed at the extremity with a curved 

 and very acute spine : under the point of this spine 

 are two small orifices, which serve to give passage 

 to a poisonous fluid. The anterior pair of feet, or 

 palpi, are very large, resembling those of the lob- 

 ster in form, and serve to seize and bear to the 

 mouth of the animal the various insects on which 

 it feeds: the other feet do not differ essentially in 

 form from those of the spider. At the junction of 

 the thorax and abdomen, are two movable plates, 

 having the form of combs, the use of which is not 

 well understood. Several species of scorpion are 

 known, all inhabiting the warmer parts of the I 

 globe. They shun moisture, living on the ground | 

 in places exposed to a hot sun, and hiding under j 

 stones, or in crevices, and, when disturbed, run, ' 

 rapidly, with their tails curved over their backs. 

 The species of the south of Europe are little more j 

 than an inch in length, while some of the tropical ; 

 species exceed five inches. The sting of the larger | 

 ones is very much dreaded, and is said frequently j 

 to cause death. In some places, they are so nume- 

 rous as to become a constant object of apprehension 

 to the inhabitants, and even force them to abandon 

 their habitations. The scorpions may be divided 

 into two sections, viz. those with eight eyes, and 

 those which have only six. 



SCOTIA, NOVA. See Nova Scotia. 



SCOTISTS. See Duns, and Scholastics. 



SCOTLAND; the northern division of the 

 island of Great Britain ; is bounded on the south- 

 east by England, (from which it is separated by a 

 line drawn from Berwick along the Tweed and the 

 Cheviot hills, to the Sol way frith), and on every 

 other side by vast and stormy seas ; on the west by 

 the Atlantic, on the north by the Northern, or Deu- 

 Caledonian sea, and on the east by the German 

 ocean. Excluding its islands, it lies between the 

 latitudes of 54 40' and 58 40', and longitudes 

 1 47' and 6 7' west. Its extreme length, from 

 the Mull of Galloway to Dunnet Head, is 284 

 miles; its breadth varies greatly, as, in the north, 

 it is only 71 miles between Assynt and Nosshead, 

 and in the south, 134 between St Abb's Head and 

 the point of Knapp. Its territorial surface is about 

 26,286 English square miles, of which about 290 

 are fresh water lakes. Including its islands, the 



extreme latitude of Scotland reari-os to 61 13', 

 and the extreme longitude wot to 8'-' IN'. 

 The area of the islands is computed at 3212 

 square miles, so that the total land of Scotland 

 amounts to 29,498 square miles, exclusive of the 

 water. 



History The history of Scotland may appro- 

 priately be divided into five periods. I. From the 

 earliest glimpses of history to the union of the 

 Scots and Picts, under Kenneth the Second, A. D. 

 843. II. From Kenneth's reign to the death of 

 Alexander the Third, A. D. 1286. III. From 

 Alexander's death to that of James the Fifth, A. I). 

 1542. IV. From James the Fifth's death to the 

 accession of James the Sixth to the throne of Eng- 

 land, A. D. 1603. V. From James' accession to 

 the Union of the two kingdoms, A. D. 1707. The 

 adoption of these periods may seem to be somewhat 

 arbitrary, yet, on consideration, it is presumed each 

 will be found to constitute, in some measure, a 

 characteristic epoch. 



I. Early History, to the reign of Kenneth IT., 

 A. D. 843. Before the Christian era, the aborigines 

 of the island of Britain are supposed to have been 

 supplanted by the Celts, who occupied a large por- 

 tion of the west of Europe. These Celts consisted 

 originally of two vast divisions, namely, the Gael, 

 or Gaul, who were the ancient inhabitants' of all 

 Gaul, and the Cumri, or Cirnbri, who held all Ger- 

 many. The south parts of Britain, it is supposed, 

 were first peopled by Gael from Gaul, and the 

 north part of Britain, by Cumri, from Jutland. 

 About two hundred years before Christ, the Cumri 

 of Scotland were expelled or supplanted by a Gothic 

 race from Scandinavia, called Picts or Caledonians. 

 They were driven by the Picts beyond the friths 

 of Forth and Clyde, but till a later period contrived 

 to keep possession of a portion of Clydesdale and 

 Galloway. These Cumri were of the same stock 

 with the Welsh Celts, who passed from the opposite 

 coast of Germany, and forced the Gael, the then 

 inhabitants of England, to seek refuge in Ireland. 



There has been much dispute among antiquaries 

 whether, in the first place, the Picts and Caledoni- 

 ans were the same race, and whether, secondly, 

 they were of Gothic origin ; but, according to the 

 best authorities, both these points have been very 

 satisfactorily demonstrated. Tacitus describes the 

 Caledonians as being of tall stature, light hair, and 

 blue eyes, and he deduces their Gothic origin from 

 their appearance; the Celts being, on the other hand, 

 a small and dark people, with black eyes and hair. 



These Picts or Caledonians were they who so 

 long and successfully resisted the invasions of the 

 Romans. Britain had been several times visited 

 by Roman arms, but it was not till A. D. 75, that 

 they first penetrated into that part of the island 

 which we now call Scotland. Under the command 

 of Agricola, the Roman army had for several years 

 repeated engagements with the Caledonians, until 

 A. D. 84, when the celebrated battle of the Gram- 

 pians was fought against Galgacus, in which the 

 latter was defeated. The whole open country was 

 abandoned to the invaders, whose progress was 

 stayed by what they termed the Caledonian forest, 

 under which they seem to have vaguely compre- 

 hended the vast pine woods of Glenmore and the 

 steep barrier of the Grampians. Their military 

 occupation is attested by the formation of numerous 

 camps, of which that at Ardoch, ten miles north of 

 Stirling, is the most extensive and complete. From 

 these mountain bulwarks the Caledonians rushed 



