NATURAL HISTORY 



765 



most celebrated in the world. The chief manu- 

 facturing centers in England are in Cheshire 

 and Worcestershire; Yorkshire has recently 

 begun the manufacture. Cheshire yields the 

 greater bulk, the chief supply being found in 

 the basin of the Weaver; Norwich is the central 

 point. The salt deposits of the United States 

 extend widely through the geological strata. 

 The most important salt Yielding States are 

 Michigan ami New York, whose deposits are of 

 remarkable richness. The wells, which are in 

 the vicinity of Saginaw Bay, seem inexhaustible 

 In supply. Some are over 1,900 feet in depth. 

 In the valley of the Mississippi salt springs and 

 wells are numerous. In Louisiana, on an island 

 \\ U>eria, is an immense deposit of rock 

 salt of unusual purity. On Virgin River, Ne- 

 vada, there is a bed of rock salt, extending as a 

 bluff along the river, for over twenty-five miles; 

 more than sixty per cent, of the cliff is salt of 

 great purity. California has abundant salt 

 springs and saline marshes. 



Scorpion. Scorpions have an elongated 

 body, suddenly terminated by a long slender tail 

 formed of six joints, the last of which terminates 

 in an arcuated and very acute sting, which 

 effuses a venomous liquid. This sting gives rise 

 inflating pain, but is usually unattended 

 either with redness or swelling, except in the 

 glands of the arm-pit or groin. It is very sel- 

 dom, if ever, fatal to man. The animal has four 

 pairs of limbs borne by the thorax or chest- 

 segments, and the maxillary palpi (organs of 

 touch belonging to the maxillje or lesser jaws) 

 are largely developed, and constitute a formid- 

 iir of nipping claws. With these claws 

 they seize their insect prey, which is afterwards 

 killed by the sting. The eyes, which are of the 

 simple kind, number six, eight, or twelve. The 

 female scorpions are said to exhibit great care 

 for their young, and carry them on their backs 

 for several days after being hatched, whilst they 

 tend them carefully for about a month, when 

 they are able to shift for themselves. Scorpions 

 generally Ijve in dark places, and under stones. 

 They are found in the South of Europe, in Africa, 

 in the East Indies, and in South America. The 

 rock scorpion of Africa, is one of the most famil- 



oies. 



Seal. The name given to the species of the 

 family /'/./ ;,/,i . 'I '};, u are earless; and 



addition to the fact that the construction 

 of their limbs does not permit of their using 

 those organs on land, at once distinguishes 

 them fn.m the allied family of Ear- 



DM, Th- fore limits are short, and arc so 

 attached as to leave little free but the hand : in 

 the hind liml.s the thigh bones are very short, 

 tiir Ire hones relatively IOIIL' ami directed back- 

 m a line \\ith the ^pim-. and closely at- 

 t.iehed I iy membrane to the inconspicuous tail 



us the heel, a const ruction which \ 

 the leg being thrown forwards. The I 



md. and the cyesare large and expressive. 



In -uimming they -.ld.m u-r their fore feet. 



uhile the Eared Seals use them as powerful 



. In their distribution the twenty-one 



- are pretty eauallv dmded Iwtween the 

 Northern and the Southern Hemispheres, in- 

 habiting temperate and cold regions. The 



Ala-kan seal fisheries are among the most promi- 

 nent in the world. The members of this family 

 are of considerable commercial importance on 

 account of the oil they yield, for the sake of 

 which great numbers are* slaughtered. To the 

 inhabitants of the polar regions they afford food, 

 clothing, and fire. 



Sea wolf. A genus of fishes known as blen- 

 nies and also bv the names "sea-cat" and 

 "swine-fish." The mouth is armed with sharp 

 strong teeth of large size, and when captured it 

 is said to bite the nets and even attack the 

 fishermen. It is the largest of the blennies. 

 Around the coast of Britain it attains a length 

 of six or seven feet, but in more southern seas 

 it is said to grow to a still larger size. The flesh 

 is palatable, and is largely eaten in Iceland, 

 whilst the skin is durable, and is manufactured 

 into a kind of shagreen, used for making pouches 

 and like articles. 



Sequoia. A genus of conifers, otherwise 

 called Wellingtonia or Washingtonia, consist ins; 

 of two species only the redwood of the timber 

 trade, and the Wellingtonia of British gardens 

 and shrubberies, the big or mammoth tree of the 

 Americans. They are both natives of \\ 

 America, the latter having been discovered in 

 the Sierra Nevada, in 1852. One specimen in 

 Calaveras County, Cal., has a height of 325 feet, 

 and a girth six feet from the ground or forty-five 

 feet. The Mariposa Grove, sixteen miles south 

 of the Yosemite Valley, contains upwards of 

 100 trees over forty feet in circumference, and 

 one over ninety-three feet at the ground, and 

 sixty-four feet at eleven feet higher. This grove 

 is government property. This tree has been 

 successfully introduced into England, where 

 some of them have already attained a good 

 height. Some of these trees indicate an age of 

 over 2,000 years. 



Shad, a name of several fishes, of the family 

 Clupeidffi or herrings, and including two >peeie<. 

 the common or allice shad, and the twaite shad. 

 The common shad inhabits the sea near the 

 mouths of large rivers, and in the spring ascends 

 them for the purpose of depositing its spawn. 

 The form of the shad is the same as that of the 

 other herrings, but it is of larger -i/e. and in 

 some places receives the name of " hoi-ring kimr." 

 Its color is a dark blue above, with brown and 

 greenish lusters, the under parts being white. 

 The twaite shad is about a half le- than the 

 common species, and weighs on an average about 

 two pounds. An American species of shad 

 varying in weight from four to twelve pounds, 

 is highly esteemed for food, and is consumed in 

 ' quantities in the fresh state. They are 

 found all along the coast from New England to 

 the Culf of Mexico, and have been successfully 

 introduced on the Pacific coast. 



Shark, the general name for a group of 

 fi-hes. celd. rated for the si/.e and \oraritv of 

 many of tin- -pecies. The form of the l>o.i 

 elongated and the tail thick and fleshy, 

 mouth is large, and armed with -c\nal rof 

 compressed, sharp-edged, and some- 

 rated teeth. The skin is usually very rough. 

 covered with a multitude of little osseous t 



placoid scales. They are the ?mt 

 formidable and voracious of all fishes, pursue 



