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STUDIESSTUTTERING. 



STUDIES. See Drawintj. 

 STUFF, in commerce, is a general name for all 

 kinds of fabrics of gold, silver, silk, wool, hair, 

 cotton, or thread, manufactured on the loom; of 

 which number are velvets, brocades, mohair, taffe- 

 ties, cloth, serges, flic. The term is also used 

 more particularly to denote slight woollen articles 

 used principally for linings and women's apparel. 



STUHLWEISSENBURG; or, in Hungarian, 

 SZEKES FEJERVAR; in Sclavonic, BIELI- 

 GRAD; a royal free town of Hungary, capital of a 

 county of the same name, thirty miles south-west 

 of Buda; Ion. 18 25' E. ; lat. 47 12' N. ; popula- 

 tion, 12,244. It was built in the eleventh century, 

 and, during five centuries, was the place where the 

 Kings of Hungary were crowned, and on that ac- 

 count called Alba Regalis. It is now declined from 

 its former importance, and has a mean appearance, 

 though it contains some good buildings. It has a 

 Catholic gymnasium and some manufactures. 



STUM, in the wine trade, is a name for the 

 unfermented juice of the grape, when it has been 

 several times racked off and separated from the 

 sediment. The casks are, for this purpose, well 

 fumigated with brimstone, in order to prevent fer- 

 mentation, through which the juice would become 

 wine. 



STURDY, STAGGERS, GID, TURNSICK, 

 GOGGLES, WORM UNDER THE HORN, 

 WATERY HEAD, and PENDRO, are all popular 

 names for hydatids, caused by an animal now known 

 as the tcEiiias globulus, which, by some unaccount- 

 able way, finds entrance into the brain of the 

 sheep, and settles there, either in some of its ven- 

 tricles, or more frequently in its substance. Their 

 size varies from that of the smallest speck to that 

 of a pigeon's egg; and the sheep attacked are 

 generally under two years old. These animals are 

 likewise occasionally found in all the natural 

 cavities of the body. Stupidity, a disposition to 

 sit on the rump, to turn to one side, &c., are the 

 indications of this disease, which is not incurable, 

 as has been supposed, but can be cured only by a 

 manual operation instruments are thrust through 

 the skin and skull, or a wire through the nostrils, 

 and the hydatid is thus destroyed. The latter is 

 called by the English shepherds wiring. It is 

 always fatal, if not relieved by art. 



STURGEON (acipenser}. A genus of cartila- 

 ginous fishes, allied somewhat to the shark and 

 ray, but differing essentially in structure, as well 

 as in the habits of the species. The mouth i 

 situated beneath the snout, is small, retractile, anc 

 destitute of teeth ; there are several fleshy beards 

 also beneath the snout, and anterior to the mouth ; 

 the body is massive, elongated, and furnished with 

 several longitudinal rows of bony plates implantec 

 in the skin; the gill openings are very large. The 

 sturgeons inhabit the ocean, Mediterranean, Red 

 Black, and Caspian seas, and the Canadian lakes 

 keeping in inaccessible depths during the winter 

 season, and in the spring ascending the larger rivers 

 The common sturgeon of Europe (-4. sturio) is 

 found in most of the large rivers of that continent 

 and sometimes is excessively multiplied in th 

 more northern countries. Its flesh is delicate am 

 well flavoured, somewhat resembling veal, and ha 

 been esteemed in all ages; but modern nations d 

 not consider it so great a luxury as the ancients 

 especially the Romans. Its fishery is an object o 

 importance, and caviar is sometimes made of th 

 eggs of the female. 



The isinglass sturgeon, or beluga of the Russians 

 .1. //so), is the largest species. It is not so 

 extensively diffused as the former, and is chiefly 

 "ound in the Black and Caspian seas, ascending the 

 ributary streams in immense multitudes. It fre- 

 [uently attains the length of twenty or twenty- 

 ive feet: and individuals have been taken weighing 

 icarly three thousand pounds. It enters the rivers 

 n the middle of winter, while they are still covered 

 with ice, is very voracious, and pursues all the 

 smaller fishes, but feeds likewise on vegetables. 

 The fishery of this species is vastly important in 

 he south of Russia; and upwards of a hundred 

 housand are taken yearly. The caviar of com- 

 nerce is chiefly made from its eggs, which exist in 

 such abundance as to constitute nearly one third of 

 :he total weight. This is a very common aliment 

 n Turkey, Russia, Germany, Italy, and especially 

 n Greece, and forms an important article of com- 

 merce, very profitable to Russia. The flesh is 

 white, fat, resembling veal, very wholesome, nutri- 

 :ious, and agreeably tasted. The isinglass of coai- 

 merce is prepared from the air bladder. The fat is 

 also agreeable to the taste, and may be used as a 

 substitute for butter or oil. A kind of leather is 

 made from the skin, and that of the young ones, 

 cleaned and dried, is used for window-glass in some 

 parts of Russia and Tartary. There are a few 

 other species of sturgeon in the rivers of Europe. 



STURLASON, SNORRO, a native of Iceland, of 

 an old noble family, was born in 1179. He lived 

 for a long time at the courts of Norway and Sweden, 

 was at last lagmann of Iceland, and was murdered 

 in 1241, in his castle. He was a man of great 

 talents, and rendered himself famous as a poet, 

 lawgiver, zealous republican, and historian. He 

 composed a general history of the north, from the 

 ancient songs of the sc.ilds, and other historical 

 sources, with taste, and a faithful use of his sources 

 His history is rich in information respecting Sweden 

 and Iceland, somewhat less so in regard to Norway, 

 and affords some notices respecting Russia. Its 

 title is Heimskringla (i. e. Orbis Terr arum}, edr. 

 Noregs Konunga Soegor sen Histories Regurn Sep- 

 tentrionalium a Snorrone Sturlonide conscriptce, 

 edited by John Peringskireld (Stockholm, 1697). 

 A new edition, enlarged and corrected by G. 

 Scheming and S. Th. Thorlacius, appeared in 3 

 vols., folio, at Copenhageii (177782). The con- 

 tinuation by Sturla Thoraldson (of Norway), and 

 an unknown writer, is to be found in Christian 

 Jakobi's Norvegia Monarchica et Christiana (Gliick- 

 stadt, 1712, 4to.) (See our article Scandinavian 

 Literature.) A long account of Snorro Sturlason is 

 to be found in Wheaton's History of the North- 

 men. 



STUTTERING, STAMMERING, or HESI- 

 TATION OF SPEECH, are terms implying an 

 interrupted articulation, accompanied generally with 

 more or less of straining and distortion of feature. 

 If owing to a vicious conformation of the tongue, 

 or other organ of speech, it is incurable; but when 

 merely spasmodic, the cure is possible, and some- 

 times easy. In some cases, stuttering is relievable 

 at once, by avoiding carefully the usual hurried 

 repetition of the same syllable, or by opening the 

 mouth, and allowing simple sound to pass, when 

 any one oral position threatens to become spasmo- 

 dically permanent. Should it arise from the at- 

 tempt to speak being made while drawing in the 

 breath, it may be avoided by filling the chest well 



before beginning to speak. A scale of articulate 



