STRINGER 



5593 



STUART 



tellectual fields. Strindberg was the son of an 

 obscure tradesman of Stockholm. He studied 

 at Upsala University, but left that institution 

 without taking a degree. Thereafter he taught, 

 engaged in newspaper work, tried his skill on 

 the stage and was 

 otherwise busy. 

 In 1878 he pro- 

 duced his first 

 important play, 

 Master Olof, a 

 work of value 

 because it started 

 a revolt against 

 time-honored tra- 

 ditions in Swedish 

 literature. The 

 next year ap- 

 peared his novel AUGUST STRINDBERG 

 The Red Room, which revealed his gift for sar- 

 castic expression of opinion and realistic de- 

 scription. 



Once started on his literary career he worked 

 with superhuman energy, and for two years 

 (1895-1897) was idle because of a mental break- 

 down. At various times he was a realist, a 

 romanticist, a skeptic and a mystic. He was 

 also a zealous advocate of the theory that 

 woman is inferior to man mentally, physically 

 and morally. Strindberg's numerous writings 

 include A Fool's Confession (autobiographic in 

 character) ; The Natives of Hemso, a novel of 

 Swedish peasant life; Fisher Folk; Utopias 

 Realized, a plea for Socialism ; Speeches to the 

 Swedish Nation, and the plays Gustavus Adol- 

 phus, The Father and Lucky Pehr. 



STRING 'ER, ARTHUR (1874- ), a Cana- 

 dian poet and novelist, favorably known for his 

 lyric verses no less than for his popular detec- 

 tive stories and works of fiction. Stringer was 

 born at London, Ont., and was educated at the 

 University of Toronto and at the University of 

 Oxford. Returning to America he engaged in 

 literary work, was an editorial writer for several 

 years, and was later literary editor of Success, a 

 magazine. His writings are voluminous ; among 

 them are Watchers of Twilight; The Loom of 

 Destiny; Lonely 0' M alley ; The Silver Poppy ; 

 Epigrams; Phantom Wires; The Wire Tap- 

 pers; Gun Runner; Shadow, and Irish Poems. 



STRONTIUM, stron'shium, first found in 

 the lead mines of Strontian, Argyllshire, Scot- 

 land, in 1781, is a pale yellow metallic element 

 whose compounds occur in small quantities in 

 rocks, soil and mineral waters. It is harder 

 than lead, is ductile and malleable, that is, 



capable of being drawn into a wire and ham- 

 mered into a sheet, and gives a brilliant crim- 

 son flame. Strontium and barium (which see) 

 resemble each other very closely. Strontium 

 hydroxide is used to extract sugar from mo- 

 lasses in the beet-sugar industry. The nitrate 

 is used in fireworks because it colors a flame 

 crimson. "Red fire" is a mixture of potassium 

 chlorate, shellac and strontium nitrate. The 

 chemical symbol for strontium is Sr. See 

 CHEMISTRY, subhead Elements. 



STRYCHNINE, strik'nin, or strik'neen, a 

 very bitter, poisonous drug with powerful 

 stimulating properties, obtained from the seeds 

 of the nux vomica (which see) and kindred 

 plants. In doses one-sixtieth to one-fifteenth 

 grain it is often prescribed as a tonic and 

 stimulant, for it increases the flow of digestive 

 juices, and directly affects the spinal cord, and 

 indirectly 'the heart and lungs. One-eighth 

 grain dose will kill a dog; three times as much 

 causes spasms in man, and one grain is usually 

 fatal. The symptoms violent twitching, diffi- 

 culty in swallowing, and convulsions, during 

 which the body is bent backwards appear in 

 about twenty minutes, and death may result in 

 two hours from suffocation or exhaustion. A 

 stomach pump or an emetic should be used at 

 once (see ANTIDOTE, page 282). The drug is 

 deadly to all animals save a bird of the hornbill 

 species which eats the seeds with impunity, 

 and a mite that feeds on the plant. The 

 chemical formula for strychnine is C2iH22N 2 O2 

 (see CHEMISTRY, subhead Elements). C.B.B. 



STUART, stu'ert, CHARLES EDWARD (1720- 

 1788), called the Young Pretender, Bonnie 

 Prince Charlie and the Young Chevalier, was 

 the eldest son of James Edward Stuart and the 

 grandson of the deposed James II of England. 

 James Edward, known as the Old Pretender, was 

 the son of James II by his second wife. In 

 1745 Charles Edward made a determined effort 

 to win back the English throne for the Stuart 

 family. Although he was aided by the High- 

 land clans of Scotland and gained some suc- 

 cesses, there was no uprising in England in his 

 favor, and in 1746 his army was defeated at 

 Culloden Moor. The prince escaped to France, 

 after many thrilling adventures. His life there- 

 after was one of dissipation, and was spent 

 chiefly on the Continent. He died in Rome. 



STUART, GILBERT (1755-1828), an American 

 painter of the early national period, whose por- 

 traits of Washington are the most famous of 

 all likenesses of the first President. Stuart exe- 

 cuted at least forty portraits of Washington, 



