428 



STRONTITES STROZZI. 



in regular octahedrons, which are perfectly transpa- 

 rent. It is soluble in little more than its own 

 wi'iifht of water, at the temperature of 60 ; but it 

 i> insoluble in alcohol. The hydrous nitrate of 

 Mrontites is formed occasionally, when a solution of 

 nitrate of strontites, sufficiently concentrated, is 

 set aside for crystallization. Its crystals are oblique, 

 rhombic prisms. About one quarter of its weight 

 is water. The carbonate of strontites is slightly 

 .-oluble in water impregnated with carbonic acid. 

 It is easily formed by pouring an alkaline carbonate 

 into a solution of nitrate of strontites. Muriate of 

 strontites is formed by dissolving carbonate of 

 strontites in muriatic acid, and concentrating the 

 solution till it crystallizes. The crystals are very 

 long needles, consisting, most commonly, of six- 

 sided prisms. Water, at the temperature of 60, 

 dissolves one and a half times its weight of this salt. 

 Boiling water dissolves any quantity whatever. The 

 crystals slowly deliquesce in a moist atmosphere, 

 When heated, they undergo the watery fusion, and 

 then are reduced to a white powder. In a strong 

 red heat, it melts into liquid. 



Native salts of strontites. 1. Celestine is found in 

 right rhombic prisms of 104 the primitive form 

 of the species which are sometimes terminated by 

 dihedral summits, and also have their acute lateral 

 edges truncated, besides presenting various other 

 partial modifications. Cleavage takes place readily, 

 parallel with all the faces of the primary figure ; 

 lustre vitreous, inclining to resinous, sometimes, 

 also, a little to pearly, upon the lateral faces of the 

 prism ; colour white, passing to sky and smalt-blue ; 

 also reddish- white ; transparent or translucent; 

 brittle; hardness between calcareous spar and fluor; 

 specific gravity 3-8. Besides occurring in perfect 

 crystals, celestine is found in broad, foliated, in co- 

 lumnar and fibrous masses, as well as compact ; the 

 latter, however, appears to be a mixture of celes- 

 tine and common limestone. It is composed of 

 strontites 56, and sulphuric acid 42. Before the 

 blow-pipe, it decrepitates and melts, without per- 

 ceptibly colouring the flame, into a white friable 

 enamel. Reduced to powder, it phosphoresces upon 

 red-hot iron. Celestine is most commonly found in 

 kidney-shaped masses, disseminated through the 

 more recent limestones, sandstones, and amygda- 

 loidal rocks. It also occurs in gypsum rocks, along 

 with marl. Beautiful crystals, of a prismatic form 

 and massive columnar varieties, occur in the sulphur 

 mines of Sicily ; also, under the same circum- 

 stances, at Bex in Switzerland, and near Cadiz, in 

 Spain. Tabular crystals and lamellar masses are 

 found at Monte Viale, and in the Bristol channel in 

 England. But the most magnificent crystals come 

 from Strontian island, in lake Erie. Handsome, 

 blue foliated specimens are also found at Lockport, 

 in New York. It is also found in several other 

 countries. 



2. Strontianite is found regularly crystallized 

 in the form of six-sided prisms, modified on the 

 edges, and terminated in a pyramid. It affords, 

 on cleavage, a right rhombic prism for its primary 

 form, whose angles are 117 32' and 62 28'. But 

 regular crystals are very uncommon. Lustre vitre- 

 ous, slightly inclining to resinous ; colour asparagus 

 or apple-green, pale yellowish-brown, yellow and 

 gray ; white ; streak white ; transparent or translu- 

 cent ; hardness intermediate between calc-spar and 

 fluor ; specific gravity 3-6. Strontianite is found, 

 for the most part, in fibrous masses, the fibres 

 rijghtly diverging. It is composed of 



Stronlitos 69-SO 



C'arlHiiiic acid 30'00 



Water -50 



1 00-00 



It is soluble with effervescence in the muriatic and 

 nitric acids ; and paper dipped into this solution and 

 afterwards dried, will burn with a red flame. It 

 melts before the blow-pipe, and intumesces, at the 

 same time phosphorescing with a red light. It is 

 dissolved by borax, with a violent effervescence, 

 into a clear globule. Strontianite occurs in metal- 

 lie veins, traversing primitive and transition moun- 

 tains. It is found at Strontian, in Scotland; at 

 Briiunsdorf, in Saxony ; at Leogang, in Salzburg ; 

 and also in Peru. 



STROPHADES ; four small, rocky islands in 

 the Mediterranean, west of the Peloponnesus ; ac- 

 cording to the ancient poets, the residence of the 

 Harpies. The largest abounds in olives and other 

 fruits, and produces a little corn, hardly sufficient 

 for its few inhabitants ; 26 miles south of Zante ; 

 Ion. 21 12' E. ; lat. 37 29' N. 



STROPHE (from the Greek rrfafn, from a<r^u>, 

 I turn) ; a systematic union of several verses. 

 According to the prevailing metre in the verses, stro- 

 phes are called Alcaic, Asclepiadcean, &c. The 

 dithyrambus with the Greeks was confined to no 

 precise rhythm, and rolled along without any divi- 

 sion into strophes. But the hymns and choruses, 

 with which the tragedies were interspersed, con- 

 sisted mostly of long strophes and antistrophes, of 

 uniform measure, with which, also, sometimes alter r 

 nate pro-odes, mesodes, or epodes, of various mea- 

 sure. The single verses of such poems, considered 

 as mere members of strophes, were called cola. As 

 the length of the verses is determined by the num- 

 ber of feet, so the length of strophes is determined 

 by the number of cola. Monocola are lyric poems, in 

 which verse of a uniform character is used, without 

 division into strophes. Dicola are poems in which 

 the strophes contain verses of but two different 

 kinds. Sometimes these verses interchange in equal 

 number : sometimes two or three verses of the same 

 kind are followed by one of a shorter measure. So 

 there are tricola, tetracola, &c. The system of 

 strophes, antistrophes, &c., appears to be most de- 

 veloped in the dramatic choruses of the Greeks. 

 The singing of the strophes on the stage, was ac- 

 companied with a motion or turn from right to left, 

 towards the images of the gods placed on the sides 

 of the orchestra (in the ancient sense of this word); 

 but the singing of the antistrophe, with a contrary 

 motion, from the left to the right ; hence the ap- 

 pellations of strophe and antistrophe, which seems 

 to have been given to these performances of the 

 dramatic chorus alone, as ode and antode were ap- 

 plied to the song, unaccompanied with mimic repre- 

 sentations. The chorus originally consisted of fifty 

 persons, but, by degrees, reduced to fifteen, was 

 sometimes divided, for the purpose of singing the 

 strophe and antistrophe, into two semi-choruses. 

 In the epode, these were again united. The mo- 

 tions were those of a rhythmic dance, and therefore 

 accompanied by flutes, by which the movement of 

 the verse and that of the dancers were made to 

 harmonize, as appears from the circumstance that 

 the leader of the chorus beat, or indicated time, with 

 shoes, the soles of which were covered with iron. 



STROZZI, PHILIP, a celebrated Florentine pa- 

 triot, one of the richest citizens of Florence in the 

 early part of the sixteenth century, was allied by 

 marriage with the Medici, but was too much at- 

 tached to the ancient republican constitution to 



