SCRIBE 



5271 



SCULPIN 



by carpenters, and with the screw on the end 

 of bolts. Nearly all vises (1, in Fig. 2) are 

 opened and closed by a screw. The jackscrew 

 (2) is used for raising buildings. The mi- 

 crometer (3) measures minute distances by 

 means of a screw having a very fine thread. 

 The head of the micrometer screw is usually 

 divided into hundredths, so that a hundredth 

 of the interval can be measured. 



Endless Screw. An endless screw consists of 

 a thread on an axle that meshes into the teeth 

 of a wheel. Such a device is sometimes called 

 a worm wheel (4). Fig. 3 shows how the worm 

 wheel may be used for raising heavy weights. 



SCRIBE, skreeb, AUGUSTIN EUGENE (1791- 

 1861), a French dramatist, born in Paris. He 

 was educated for the law, but his tastes were 

 literary, and he soon began to write for the 

 stage. After early successes he undertook work 

 in collaboration with other writers, and the 

 result of this method was an extraordinarily 

 large number of every type of drama comedy, 

 tragedy, vaudeville sketch and opera libretto 

 ascribed to his pen, to the number of over 400. 

 He chose his characters from the middle classes 

 and selected themes that were highly interest- 

 ing and popular. Another reason for his great 

 success lay in his thorough knowledge of dra- 

 matic construction; he was master of the tech- 

 nique of the stage, and later dramatists learned 

 much from him. In 1836 he was made a mem- 

 ber of the French Academy. 



Scribe will always be best known for his 

 librettos of Fra Diavolo and the Huguenots, 

 two operas whose popularity will not wane. 

 Other productions from his pen are now but 

 little known; among these are Robert, the 

 Devil, Valerie and Adrienne Lecouvreur. 



SCRIBES , skrybz, a class of learned Hebrews 

 who were required to copy the Scriptures, ex- 

 pound and interpret the law and keep the offi- 

 cial documents of the kingdom. The earliest 

 scribes were priests (see EZRA), but in later 

 times this was not the rule. Most of the 

 scribes belonged to the party of Pharisees and 

 they constituted the scholarly leaders of that 

 body. In Matthew XXIII, 14 and 25, Christ 

 is recorded as rebuking the scribes and Phari- 

 sees for their hypocrisy. See PHARISEES. 



SCROFULA, skroj'ula, a form of tubercu- 

 losis which is characterized by swelling of the 

 lymph glands and by poor nutrition of the tis- 

 sues. Usually the glands in the neck are af- 

 fected, but the infection may occur in any 

 lymphatic gland, and in many cases abscesses 

 form in the swollen parts. The best course of 



treatment is that which is based on a recogni- 

 tion of the value of fresh air, nutritious food 

 and warm and suitable clothing. Physicians 

 generally prescribe cod-liver oil and similar ton- 

 ics, and the glands are sometimes painted with 

 iodine to reduce swelling; a local operation 

 may be necessary in case of abscess. 



In England scrofula was formerly called the 

 king's evil, because it was believed that a vic- 

 tim could be healed if his sovereign touched 

 him. There is a well-founded story that Sam- 

 uel Johnson at the age of three was taken to 

 London to be touched by Queen Anne. The 

 practice is supposed to have originated with 

 Edward the Confessor. See TUBERCULOSIS. 



SCRUPLE, skru'p'l, a measure of weight 

 used only by apothecaries. It is one-third of 

 a dram, one-twenty-fourth of an ounce and 

 one-two-hundred eighty-eighth part of Ta pound, 

 and is equivalent to twenty grains (see table 

 on page 1765, under DENOMINATE NUMBERS). 

 The word is from the Latin scrupus, meaning 

 a sharp stone and, figuratively, uneasiness of 

 the mind. The word is also used in English to 

 mean reluctance or hesitation. 



SCUDDER, skud'er, HORACE ELISHA (1838- 

 1902), an American author and editor, born in 

 Boston and educated at Williams College. After 

 his graduation in 1858 he taught school for 

 three years in New York City, then entered 

 business life, but soon withdrew to devote him- 

 self to literature. From 1890 to 1898 he edited 

 the Atlantic Monthly; he wrote a sympathetic 

 and important life of James Russell Lowell, 

 edited the "American Commonwealths" series, 

 and published various historical and biographi- 

 cal works, among which are Noah Webster, A 

 History of the United States, George Washing- 

 ton and Men and Letters. Best known of his 

 writings, however, are his works for children, 

 which include Seven Little People and Their 

 Friends and The Bodley Books. 



SCULPIN, skul'pin, a group of oddly-shaped 

 fish consisting of about 250 species, found 

 chiefly around the rocky coasts in regions of 

 the north. Their flesh is too coarse to be of 

 much food value, but is eaten by peoples in 

 the Arctic regions. The typical sculpin has a 

 club-shaped body, spiny fins, large, grotesque 

 mouth, and skin covered with warty projec- 

 tions.. These fish prey upon small sea animals 

 and are voracious eaters, often stealing the 

 bait of anglers. They are themselves preyed 

 upon by larger fish. Several names are applied 

 to them locally, such as miller's thumb, Irish 

 lord and sea raven. 



