422 



STRATH STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. 



tic markings of the bust. This monument was 

 erected within seven years afti-r his death, and con- 

 tains the Latin distich cited in the article Shak- 

 t/>care. On the grave-stone beneath are the fol- 

 lowing lines, attributed to himself: 



Good frit-mi, fur Jesus' sake, forbear 

 To tlisf tin- ilu-t iMirlost'd IHTI- , 

 lilost l>f the man that spares those stones, 

 And curst be he Uuit moves my bones 



Stratford on Avon was a place of consider- 

 able consequence previous to the conquest, and 

 \vas famous for a monastery, founded in the reign 

 of Ethelred. It suffered severely by fire in the 

 reign of Elizabeth, by a flood in 1588, and also by 

 the effects of the civil wars between Charles I. 

 and the parliamentary forces. The town is well 

 built and paved, and consists of twelve principal 

 streets. The trade consists chiefly in corn and 

 malt, and considerable quantities of grain and flour 

 are sent to Birmingham and its neighbourhood. 

 The Avon is navigable to the Severn, and a canal 

 opens a communication with the northern parts of 

 the kingdom, since the completion of which the 

 trade has been rapidly improving. The townhall 

 is a fine modern building of the Tuscan order, 

 erected in 1768, and in the following year dedi- 

 cated to the memory of the immortal bard, by 

 David Garrick, who honoured it with the name of 

 Shakspeare's Hall, and presented a grand statue of 

 the poet, which is placed in a niche at the north 

 end of the building. The principal room is sixty 

 feet long, and thirty wide, and contains whole- 

 length portraits of Queen Anne, John Frederick, 

 Duke of Dorset, Shakspeare, and Garrick. Here 

 are also two public libraries, one of which is called 

 the Shakspearian library, and a neat theatre, built, 

 on the site of a part of Shakspeare's garden. Po- 

 pulation of the town in 1831, 3,488. in 1841,3321. 



STRATH, in Scotland, is generally understood 

 to mean a valley broader than a dale or glen, which 

 receives its peculiar appellation from a river pass- 

 ing through it, as Strathbogie, Strathspey, &c., or 

 some particular characteristic, as Strathmore, the 

 Great Valley, &c., which traverses Scotland on the 

 south side of the Grampian mountains. 



STRATUS. See Clouds. 



STRAW. In the manufacture of straw hats, 

 the culms of several kinds of glasses are used. 

 The Leghorn straw is the culm of a sort of wheat 

 sown on poor soils, and cut green. Rye straw is 

 much used in this manufacture. The straw is cut 

 at the joints; and the outer covering being removed, 

 it is sorted of equal sizes, and made up into bundles 

 of eight or ten inches in length, and a foot in cir- 

 cumference. They are then to be dipped in water, 

 and shaken a little, so as not to retain too much 

 moisture : the bundles are afterwards to be placed 

 on their edges, for the purpose of bleaching, in a 

 box which is sufficiently close to prevent the eva- 

 poration of smoke. In the middle of the box is an 

 earthen dish, containing brimstone, broken in small 

 pieces: this is set on fire, and the box covered over 

 and kept in the open air several hours. It is the 

 business of one person to split and select the straws 

 for fifty others, who are braiders. The splitting is 

 done by a small machine, made principally of wood. 

 The straws, when split, are termed splints, of which 

 each worker has a certain quantity: on one end is 

 wrapped a linen cloth, and they are held under the 

 arm, and drawn out as wanted. Plaiters should be 

 taught to use their second fingers and thumbs, in- 

 stead of the fore-fingers, which are often required 



to assist in turning the splints, and thus much faci- 

 litate the plaiting; and they should be cautioned 

 against wetting the splints too much. The finest 

 hats are made in the neighbourhood of Leghorn, 

 whence they are exported in great numbers. The 

 Dunstable manufacturers in Bedfordshire, England, 

 are of a fine quality. In the English plait, the 

 straws are flattened in a hand mill, previous to 

 working; but in the Leghorn, the pressure is ap- 

 plied after the plaiting is made. 



STRAWBERRY (fragaria). This is one 

 the most wholesome and most delicious of our fruits. 

 The pulp is light, melting, and, notwithstanding, 

 but little watery, and does not undergo the acetous 

 fermentation in the stomach. It exhales a most 

 delightful perfume, and the flavour is exquisite, 

 especially immediately after being plucked from the 

 stem. The plant belongs to the natural family 

 rosaceas, together with the rose and raspberry. The 

 root gives out several long, slender, creeping shoots, 

 which take root at intervals, and form so many 

 new stocks; the leaves are composed of three leaf- 

 lets, supported on a long foot-stalk, which is pro- 

 vided with stipules at the base. From the midst 

 of the leaves arise two or three simple, slender, 

 silky stems, from four to six inches high, and ter- 

 minated by a few white flowers, disposed in a sort 

 of corymb. After flowering, the receptacle in- 

 creases, acquires a pulpy and succulent consistence, 

 and finally a red colour, when the strawberries have 

 attained maturity. The strawberry is easily cul- 

 tivated, and numerous varieties have been produced ; 

 some of great excellence have been obtained re- 

 cently. It forces well, and, with a little trouble 

 in choosing a succession of sorts, may be had almost 

 every month in the year. An open situation, and 

 rich, loamy soil, rather strong, is required for most 

 varieties ; and from their large mass of foliage and 

 flowers, they must, till the fruit is set, have copious 

 supplies of water. The row culture is most con- 

 venient, and frequent renewal ensures vigorous 

 plants and large fruit. A palatable jam, wine and 

 vinegar are prepared from strawberries; and they 

 are sometimes preserved entire, in sirup or in wine. 



STREAKS; the uniform ranges of planks on 

 the bottom or sides of a ship, or the continuations 

 of planks joined by the ends to each other, and 

 reaching from the stem, which limits' the vessel 

 forward, to the stern-post and fashion pieces, which 

 terminate her length abaft. 



STREETS, PAVEMENT OF. See Pave- 

 ment. 



STRELITZ (Russian, strielzi, or strelzi, guards) ; 

 the life-guards of the Russian czars, until the reign 

 of Peter the Great. They were instituted in the 

 latter half of the sixtenth century, by Ivan Wasilie- 

 witsch, and formed, also, the standing infantry of 

 the empire, amounting, sometimes, to 40,000 men. 

 Their numerous privileges and their frequent in- 

 surrections, rendered them as formidable as the Ro- 

 man pretorians or the Turkish janizaries. Peter 

 the Great dissolved the corps in 1697, in conse- 

 quence of an insurrection, put several thousands to 

 death, and banished the rest to Astrachan. Hav- 

 ing been guilty of some disturbances here, they 

 were entirely dispersed and destroyed in 1705. 



STRENGTH OF MATERIALS. [The follow- 

 ing article is extracted from Arnott's Elements of 

 Physics.^ " Strength depends on the magnitude, 

 form and position of bodies, as well as on the degree 

 of cohesion in the material." Of similar bodies the 

 largest is proportionally the weakest. Suppose two 



